Hasta La Gadget!

Yeah, we saw this when it first hit the FCC, nabbed blurrycam spyshots before the debut, got the drive-by snaps of the laptop at launch, and pitted this thing against an assortment of laptops the other night, but now that we’ve finally gotten some quality time with the thing, we’ve got a better idea of what the VAIO P is — and isn’t — capable of, outside of inspiring deep, deep gadget lust and nerdy debates about netbook terminology. Check out our thoughts and some video after the break.

Continue reading VAIO P in-depth impressions

Filed under: Laptops

VAIO P in-depth impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Here’s a cool little computer accessory–literally. Created by ThermaPAK, the Heatshift is a battery-free cooling pad for your notebook.

Rather than relying on fans, the Heatshift has passive heat dissipation, thanks to a crystalline core than slowly changes from solid to gel. According to the company, when the pad is not in use, the material shifts back the other way, giving the Heatshift a longer shelf life.

The ThermaPAK people gave me a sample unit, whcih is currently sitting under my MacBook–a notoriously hot running computer. The pad seems to be doing the trick.

ThermaPAK also has a laptop bag that utilizes the HeatShift.

WiFi cameras are far from new — over the past couple of years, we’ve seen P&S after P&S arrive with minimal functionality that would allow it to sync pictures with one specific online photo portal (or similar). Sony has stepped up the game for cameras to come with the Cyber-shot DSC-G3, which is the first of its kind to include a web browser for logging into pay-hotspots and uploading to practically any photo sharing site on the web. Popular Science got to handle one for a few weeks, and in the end, they were in love with the idea but hesitant to praise the execution. The T700-turned-wireless took satisfactory pictures, but the browser experience was less than awesome. You can hit the read link for all the dirty details, but unless you’re willing to deal with “agonizingly” slow load times, you’re probably better off waiting for the next revision. Or for some other company to whip out a bona fide competitor.

Filed under: CES, Digital Cameras

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G3 WiFi camera reviewed: wait for generation two originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

LAS VEGAS — Despite the recession, more than a hundred thousand people flooded the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding hotels this week to get a glimpse of the electronics industry’s latest gadgets and gear. They were not disappointed.

The Consumer Electronics Show remains the biggest, the most exciting and the most frustrating tradeshow in America. It is also home to some of the most interesting product debuts: for instance, the VCR, the CD and the DVD all made their first appearances on the world stage here.

This year’s highlights:

• The ambitious Palm Pre, a touchscreen phone with a QWERTY keyboard and a brand-new OS. It was the talk of the show, though Palm let few people actually touch the thing. We did manage to get a close look, though: check out Wired.com’s video of the Palm Pre.
• Microsoft’s decision to release the beta version of Windows 7, free, to anyone who wanted to download it. (The beta wound up being somewhat delayed — for more details and download links, see Windows 7 Public Beta Delayed on our sister blog Epicenter.)
• Sony’s impressively tiny Vaio Lifestyle PC.
• A remarkably innovative lineup of new hardware mashups from Asus, including a PC concealed inside a keyboard, a laptop with an embedded secondary screen in the touchpad, and a pair of tablet netbooks.
• The increasing credibility of netbooks as business computers.
• Apple’s likely inclusion (coming soon, our sources suggest) of Surround Sound audio in iTunes — and perhaps the iTunes Music Store.
• A crop of interesting but ultimately doomed budget all-in-one PCs.

For more gadgets and scenes from CES 2009, check out these two galleries:

• Gadget Roundup: Innovation is Back at CES
• Vicarious Vegas: On the Ground at CES 2009

Below, we’ve got a 3.5-minute video in which I run down the show’s highlights from inside the Las Vegas Convention Center.

And for more action from the show floor, go to Wired.com Video, and get the latest news from CES 2009 as it develops.

Photo: Jonathan Snyder / Wired.com

Video: Producer – Annaliza Savage, Camera – John Ross, Editing – Michael Lennon.

Ross: “Woody Woodpecker officially hits the lowest point of his career.”
Tim: “World’s biggest Twitter fan shows up at CES.”
Ittousai: “Alien Guts from Ultra Seven?”
Ryan: “Twitter has officially jumped the shark.”
Joe: “I guess Geek Squad wasn’t hiring.”
Thomas: “I think you should stop blowing now.”
Jose: “I’m a big, big thinker.”
Josh T: “The doctor will see you now.”
Steve: “I’m looking for some headphones.”
Chris: “Did you see that redhead bird by the Casio booth?”
Sean: “Man, I thought that pimple would pop all by itself”
Nilay: “The chicks in Vegas are crazy.”
Richard: “This really reinforces my reputation as an untouchable”
Paul: “So, what do you guys think about the Pre?”

Filed under: CES, Wearables

CES Caption contest: What happens in Vegas originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments