Here’s the newest member to PC Koubou’s desktop PC line-up, the Amphis BTO Di MD6000-Ci7-SPTR. Specs-wise, the system is equipped with a 3.40GHz Intel Core i7-3770 processor, an Intel Z77 Express Chipset, a GeForce GTX 670 2GB graphics card, an 8GB DDR3 RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a DVD Super Multi Drive, a 600W 80PLUS power supply and runs on Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1) OS. Price itself is set at 99,980 Yen (about $1,210). [Product Page]
Here comes a new portable notebook cooler from Deepcool, the N1. Measuring only 26mm thick, this slim USB-powered cooler supports for all notebooks up to 15.6-inch in size and comes with a fully covered metal mesh front panel, a USB pass-through connector for additional USB device and a 180mm cooling fan with fan speed control button that operates at 600 to 1000 RPM. Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing and release date yet. [Deepcool]
iiyama has unleashed another Full HD monitor for the European market. Called the ProLite B2481HS, this new 24-inch LED-backlight (TN panel) monitor provides 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution, 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 250 cd/m2 brightness and 2ms response time. Not to mention, it also comes with two built-in 2W speakers and has D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI connectors. The ProLite B2481HS retails for 198 Euro (about $257). [Product Page]
Team Group has announced a new line of SSDs, the Team Ultra L1. Coming in 60GB, 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities, these ultra-thin 2.5-inch SSDs (7mm thick) are equipped with a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, NCQ and TRIM support, a MTBF of 1.5 million hours and capable of delivering read and write speeds of up to 550MB/s and 520MB/s, respectively. Prices unannounced yet. [Team]
Pioneer is about to release their latest portable BDXL writer, the BDR-XU02J. Claimed as the world’s smallest and thinnest BDXL writer (W133mm x D133mm x H12mm / 245g), the device comes with a slot-loading mechanism, a USB 2.0 connection interface and provides write speeds of 6x for BD-R (SL/DL), 4x for BD-R (TL/QL), 6x for BD-R (LtH) and 2x for BD-RE. The BDR-XU02J will start shipping from late December for around 22,000 Yen / $266 (DiXiM BD Burner 2013 disc writing software included). [Pioneer]
After a lengthy delay, there will finally be a Thunderbolt expansion dock ready for actual purchase tomorrow, according to MacRumors. The Matrox DS1, first unveiled back in June and then updated in September, will be a real shipping device beginning tomorrow, with a $249 price tag.
The DS1 will provide your Mac with a Gigabit Ethernet port, two additional USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0/2.0 port, dedication audio in and out 3.5mm jacks, and either an HDMI or DVI out, depending on which model you choose. It’s the first time we’ve seen anyone deliver USB 3.0 over a Thunderbolt connection, so that’s interesting in itself. The other elements are stuff you can get via other alternatives, like a Thunderbolt Cinema Display, but those will cost you a lot more than $250.
Speaking to MacRumors, Matrox product manager Charles Amyot said there were a number of engineering challenges involved in getting the DS1 docking station to market, owing to the relative youth of Thunderbolt tech. Macs have boasted Thunderbolt ports since 2011, but they’ve seen precious little uptake in the consumer accessory market, with the exception of external hard drives, where they appear generally on more expensive, SSD-toting models. A bevy of added ports is a much more useful addition to most notebook setups, especially for a home or office docking situation, than simple storage that is available much cheaper in USB 2/3 incarnations, which serve the needs of most.
Big name accessory maker Belkin still also has a Thunderbolt expansion dock in the works, one that offers a second Thunderbolt port for daisy chaining, a FireWire 800 port and three USB 3.0 ports in addition to the other things the DS1 brings to the table (though it lacks dedicated display options). That was originally supposed to launch in Summer 2012 for $299, but it has since been pushed back to Q1 2013.
A few years ago in Prague I met a guy named Jeffrey Martin who is one of the world’s best panoramic photographers. At that time he had a bunch of weird hardware that took mostly panoramic photos but he’s since branched out to video, building his own methods for capturing 360-degree scenes. The Sphericam is his invention and it looks pretty amazing.
The project is now on Kickstarter and for $599 you can get the entry-level model which includes:
More expensive units include more features topping out at $2,000 for a unit with WiFi streaming and a huge battery for field reporting. Obviously this isn’t for the the dabbler, but it’s still cool that you can get a device that essentially videos an entire environment for less than a price of an entry-level DSLR.
The device takes 1280×1024 video using four 640×512 cameras with 170-degree fisheye lenses. It records directly onto an SD card (or via the network) and includes a small monitor. Jeffrey is doing the engineering in Prague and hopes to commercialize the technology after completing the Kickstarter. He’s off to a very good start.
Why would you want this? Well, you can grab some odd and clever effects like this fisheye video of, well, fish.
You can also take wild video like the bike ride above, which is perfect if you’re making something to show at your next rave or LSD-ingesting party. He’s looking for $10,000, which shouldn’t be hard considering the pricing.
You can check out the Sphericam project here and look at more video.
The number of options out there for iPad styli at this point is almost crazy. But Ten One Design has always made solid ones, and the Pogo Connect also adds pressure sensitivity via Bluetooth 4.0. It’s a slightly different take than others in this space, and one that benefits immensely from extremely low-power consumption.
… a pressure-sensitive stylus that you don’t need to pair, and that you don’t need to turn off. It’s almost like having a regular, dumb stylus in terms of how long it can go without juice, but with the added benefit of very good pressure sensitivity that works in a variety of apps, including Photoshop Touch and Paper by FiftyThree.
… any aspiring artists you know, with the condition that they also own an Apple device that can support Bluetooth 4.0, which is iPhone 4S or later, iPad 3rd generation or later, or the iPad mini. The Connect’s main benefit vs. competitors (low power, instant Bluetooth connectivity) is also its greatest limiting factor in terms of reaching a broad audience. But with every new iOS device Apple sells, that becomes less of an issue.
… while there are a number of pressure-sensitive options out there, and they mostly provide relatively similar function in terms of responsiveness and accuracy in my opinion, this is the only one that uses the power-frugal Bluetooth 4.0 standard. Ten One Design makes good products, too, and has teased upcoming interchangeable magnetic tips that means the Pogo Connect could also become upgradeable. And at $79.95, it’s also one of the cheapest options out there in this category.
Short of an iPad, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 and Nook HD+ are about as good as it gets in the 10-inch media tablet space, so we thought it only fitting to Fly or Die these bad boys side-by-side.
Though John and I did disagree a bit on which is best, we can both agree that either of these media tablets is an excellent buy for the avid reader and movie lover. Both have excellent displays — the Nook HD+ technically has a slightly higher ppi and laminated screen, while the Fire HD offers stereo speakers.
In almost every way, though, it comes down to software.
Truth be told, Barnes & Noble has come along way in terms of bringing a solid UX to the table, and has done so with Personalized User Profiles and Nook Today (which offers a list of daily tidbits like weather, recommendations, etc.).
Features like Scrapbooking take that simple progress and accelerate into the lead where magazine readers and catalog enthusiasts are concerned. The HD display paired with the interactivity of over 100 supporting catalogs and the ability to save your faves make the Nook HD+ very well suited to anyone who prefers the steady stream of magazines and catalogs over novels, movies, and other one-offs.
The Nook HD+ is also cheaper, starting at $269 as opposed to $299.
If, however, you would rather have a pseudo reader tablet (with the priority on e-reading, and not surfing or email) the Fire HD 8.9 may be the way to go. It too has personalized user profiles for family use, and comes with its own unique features like X-Ray and WhisperSync. It’s great for watching movies, and offers an excellent reading experience too.
All this requiring that you are new to the space and don’t already own a library full of content in either Amazon’s or Barnes & Noble’s cloud.
FreedomPop, the wireless broadband company that started out offering free mobile data plans with 500MB of bandwidth for free, today began offering its Hub Burst modem for pre-order with an early 2013 expected arrival date. The modem uses Clearwire’s WiMAX network to provide customers with in-home broadband connections at speeds it claims exceed DSL connections. FreedomPop is offering the first gig of data free for the new service, citing median household usage of less than 5.5GB as a clear sign that there’s room at the bottom for both free and cheap plans that significantly undercut those from more established providers.
For home users, FreedomPop doubles the free monthly allowance of bandwidth to users, but other elements remain the same. The company is still rewarding users with additional bandwidth for inviting their friends to join the service, much like web-based service startups Dropbox have done in the past. Users can also earn more usage via standard promotions, like signing up for a free service trial, or they can pay starting at around $10 to get access to more capacity. And to add a true social element, FreedomPop allows individuals to both offer up spare capacity, and request that others in their network share excess data with them. That way, if someone in your circle isn’t even using their full 1GB, they can give some to a relative or pal, rather than just letting that additional capacity go to waste, as happens with most plans from major providers.
The home service will be available beginning in Clearwire’s top 80 markets for WiMAX by subscriber numbers, with the exception of San Diego and Phoenix, covering approximately 100 million people. FreedomPop CEO Stephen Stokols told me in an interview the company is intentionally limiting the launch pool only to markets where it can guarantee speeds faster than DSL, since they really want to provide a home internet experience that can contend with traditional connections, rather than a second-class experience.
“For a home device, we want to make sure the speeds are better than a home device,” he said. “So anywhere where there’s a little bit weaker coverage, but it’s still showing clean on a coverage map, those aren’t going to cut it. Part of what we’re saying here is that you’re going to get faster service than what you’re using already, as well as cheaper.”
Stokols also updated me on the progress his company is seeing with their ongoing mobile bandwidth offering which included introducing a WiMAX-friendly iPod touch case for turning Apple’s media player into something more akin to a phone in late October. So far, so good says Stokols, since they’re seeing around 15 invites per user, with over half of the users sharing their bandwidth with groups of friends. And despite the fact that FreedomPop only charges for users with demands above and beyond their basic service, nearly half of all users are signing up for paid plans so far, making for a promising conversion rate thus far.
Many remain skeptical that FreedomPop’s social model can work in a market where traditionally companies have succeeded often by milking low use customers, but Stokols things there remains a huge opportunity to better serve the bottom of the market, both on the go and now at home, too, and he argues the numbers are starting to back that up.
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