Hasta La Gadget!

There it is, folks — the BeBook 2. We knew Endless Ideas was bringing its next-generation BeBook to CeBIT, but we had no idea it’d be this well under wraps. We chatted with the company’s CEO and managing director a bit about the direction of the BeBook as a whole, and they’re very much believers in keeping format support wide open and giving readers the choice of where to pull content from. We were blessed with a few minutes of hands-on time with the new and improved e-reader, and while the software was still not finalized (thus our inability to photograph it more), we were impressed with what we saw.

The next iteration of the BeBook should be a serious contender in the e-reader market, particularly in Europe where Amazon’s Kindle has yet to invade. The inclusion of WiFi and 3G is a good move (great move, actually), as those two additions open up all sorts of possibilities that non-connected readers simply can’t access. As for the device itself? We’re digging it. The build quality felt remarkably sturdy, the aesthetics were beautiful and the thinness was certainly notable. The e-ink display has also stepped up the greyscale level from the original BeBook, and battery life should remain the same despite not being as bulky. As you can tell, the screen also supports doodling, and it tracked inputs as well as we could’ve hoped. We still couldn’t pry out a price, but you can be on the lookout for this to drop worldwide somewhere in the Q3 to Q4 2009 time frame.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

BeBook 2 e-reader revealed and in the wild at CeBIT 2009! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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QNAP’s CeBIT showstopper was unquestionably the all new NMP1000, but given that we already took a few shots of Acer’s mass storage devices, we couldn’t pass up the chance to capture these as well. QNAP’s styling is decidedly “business-like,” though not in the bad way… if you get what we’re on about. Anywho, have a glance below if you’re teetering on adding one of these to your home / business network.

Filed under: Storage

QNAP’s family of NAS drives arrives at CeBIT: eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In an effort to better market its flash drives as more than just this generation’s floppy drive, Corsair has stepped up at CeBIT this year to introduce the Voyager Port. Put simply, this flash drive dock connects to one’s PC and provides one-touch backup straight to whatever USB stick is plugged in. By including the NovaBackup 10 software, the docking station transfers a copy of a user’s hard drive to any USB drive (provided that it’s large enough), and while you may argue that an external HDD could do just the same, this could be a cheaper option for someone who already threw down for a capacious USB stick. Pop down below for a look at the admittedly simple device.

Filed under: Peripherals, Storage

Corsair launches Voyager Port at CeBIT: eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A number of you bemoaned the fact that MSI’s WindBOX lacked an oh-so-necessary HDMI port, so maybe the better option for you is an LCD mounted Eee Box 206. Yep, the HD-minded mini PC was set up here in Hannover, with one of the units hosted up nicely on the rear of a flat-panel monitor. The fit was flush and the connections were easily accessible, so those looking for a nice, if not underpowered media center should definitely give this one a glance. Speaking of glances, you do cast some right now in the gallery below.

Filed under: Desktops

HDMI-equipped ASUS Eee Box 206 eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASRock had a surprisingly large presence at CeBIT this year, so it follows logic that it would bring along some new kit to show off. The MultiBook G12 is its 12-inch offering to the bursting-at-the-seams netbook arena, and while it didn’t look all that different from the units it’s going up against, we suppose a little more competition can’t hurt matters. Details on specs were rather scant, with ASRock only telling us that it will ship with a dual-core Intel CPU, up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, integrated graphics, a 12.1-inch panel (1,280 x 800), room for a single 2.5-inch SATA drive, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, audio in / out, a built-in optical drive, four USB 2.0 ports, a 56k modem, VGA output and a fancy-ish design on the lid. The on-hand rep wouldn’t give out a hard price to quote, but he did say that it would be priced “very competitively” when it ships worldwide in the April / May time frame.

Filed under: Laptops

ASRock launches MultiBook G12 at CeBIT, we go eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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