Hasta La Gadget!

Think you’ve been gaming on the PC for awhile? If you can’t vividly remember gushing over this thing (and scrounging up pennies from under the couch in order to finance one), move along. If, however, you’re still the proud owner of an attic-bound Belkin Nostromo n52, you can definitely prepare yourself for a healthy dose of nostalgia here. After co-developing Belkin’s n52te Speedpad a few years ago, it looks as if Razer has now fully taken over the gamepad by today introducing the Nostromo. Yeah, just Nostromo. The design is certainly a familiar one, boasting a 16-button keypad, a soft-touch rubberized wrist pad, 16 fully-programmable Hyperesponse gaming buttons and an eight-way directional thumb pad. As for improvements, you’ll get the ability to switch instantly between eight keymaps (up from three), and the flexibility of storing up to twenty gaming profiles (up from the previous limit of ten). It’s available to order now for $69.99 / €69.99, with an estimated ship date of November 29th worldwide. You know, in plenty of time to stuff your own stocking.

Continue reading Razer Nostromo gaming keypad supplants Belkin’s n52te Speedpad, does it proud

Razer Nostromo gaming keypad supplants Belkin’s n52te Speedpad, does it proud originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Bluetooth, then USB and now PCI Express. It’s clearly the era of version 3.0, and given that the PCI Express specification has been humming along at 2.0 speeds for over two years now, we’d say an update was definitely due. Thankfully, the PCI-SIG has announced the availability of the PCIe Base 3.0 specification to its members today, and the highlights are certainly notable. There’s a new 128b/130b encoding scheme and a data rate of 8 gigatransfers per second (GT/s), doubling the interconnect bandwidth over the PCIe 2.0 specification. And since we’re sure you’re fretting it, we’ll go ahead and affirm that it maintains backward compatibility with previous PCIe architectures. We’re also told that based on this data rate expansion, “it is possible for products designed to the PCIe 3.0 architecture to achieve bandwidth near 1 gigabyte per second (GB/s) in one direction on a single-lane (x1) configuration and scale to an aggregate approaching 32 GB/s on a sixteen-lane (x16) configuration.” A lot of technobabble, sure, but one thing’s for sure: your next graphics card is bound to murder your current one if paired with a PCIe 3.0 motherboard.

Continue reading PCI Express makes the 3.0 leap, doubles bandwidth over PCIe 2.0 spec

PCI Express makes the 3.0 leap, doubles bandwidth over PCIe 2.0 spec originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 03:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Better late than never, right? That’s the mantra that Altec Lansing is following with the introduction of the Octiv Stage. It’s certainly not the first iPad-specific sound system on the market, but it’s definitely one of the least invasive. Color us crazy, but we’re thinking this subtle guy could actually sneak away in a rear corner of your home without drawing unnecessary amounts of attention to it, and we get the feeling that’s exactly what Altec’s after. Designed to operate in both portrait and landscape modes (courtesy of a rotating connection arm), this here dock can also tilt back and forward to give you lots of viewing angles. It’s out today for a somewhat understandable $149.95, and just in case your long lost cousin busts out a Zune, the 3.5mm auxiliary jack will ensure that no one’s made to feel ashamed. No promises on that last one, though.

Continue reading Altec Lansing’s Octiv Stage iPad speaker dock is delightfully understated

Altec Lansing’s Octiv Stage iPad speaker dock is delightfully understated originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re planning to pick up a new Samsung Galaxy Tab, you’ll probably want a case to keep it protected when you travel or even a standing dock for a desk or a car dashboard. Thankfully Scosche has you covered with a new array of peripherals designed specifically with the Galaxy Tab in mind.

The new Scosche foldIO gt1 is a folio-styled case for the Galaxy Tab with a suede interior and a screen cover that you can use to carry your tab like a folder when not in use, but folds back and out of the way when you want to use the tablet in portrait or landscape mode. It retails for $44.99 and comes in black or white.

If you’re looking for a case that stays clear of the screen and protects the back of the tablet, the gloSEE gt1 is a rubber case and the snapSHIELD gt1 is a firm polycarbonate case both fit snugly around the Galaxy Tab and come in a variety of colors. The gloSEE gt1 will set you back $29.99 and the snapSHIELD gt1 retails for $24.99.

If the first thing you want for your Galaxy Tab is a stand or car dock, the dashDOCK gt1 has a suction cup at the bottom and uses a non-adhesive grip to keep your tablet in place when mounted in the dock. The dashDOCK gt1 lists for $29.99.
 

The mid-range earbud wars are raging harder than ever these days, with high-end stalwarts and newfangled boutiques all striving for your hard-earned cheddar in the $100 to $200 range. Take Shure, for example, who is better known industry-wide for upper-end headphones and in-ear monitor systems than consumer-level ‘buds. That said, none of those truths are keeping the company from pushing out a new set today in the SE210m+, which arrive with an obligatory three-button iDevice remote to control playback on your iPod, iPad or iPhone. For all intents and purposes, these are just a set of SE210s with an inline remote thrown in, but that’s probably enough to catch the eye of quite a few consumers who would otherwise flock to any competing model that was doused in white. You’ll find these guys at your local Apple store right now and online starting November 19th, but you’ll need to bring $169.99 (or a really bodacious ski mask) to take ’em home.

Continue reading Shure’s SE210m+ sound isolating earbuds include iPhone remote, $170 price tag

Shure’s SE210m+ sound isolating earbuds include iPhone remote, $170 price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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