Hasta La Gadget!

It’s a song as old as rhyme, as Mrs. Potts would say: new AMD and Intel chips are out, and there are new desktops to take advantage of them. HP’s playing its part with three new budget-friendly Pavilion desktop series: the p6700 (starting at $300), s5700 ($330), and HPE-500 ($600). They all offer a wide range of configurations, with the standard-sized p6700 starting out at a Pentium E5700 proc and ranging up to an Athlon II 445 triple-core processor, the slim s5700 ranging from Athlon II 260 dual-core up to Phenom II 511 dual-core, and the HPE-500 blazing away with Phenom II 1045T six-core chips and discrete Radeon HD 6450 graphics, on up to Phenom II 1090T six-core and Radeon HD 6770 graphics. All of the desktops have “Beats Audio,” an Envy feature that HP is spreading out across its product line. Other than that little perk, there are few surprises in any of these when it comes to specs and options: prepare to be generally nonplussed. Still, with these new (cheap!) chips from AMD and Intel, budget buyers should get a lot more power for their buck when these desktops land on January 9th… until the next round of procs comes out, of course.

HP unveils new Pavilion desktop lineup, packs new Intel and AMD chips originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Lenovo has just made it rain laptops over here (literally — we got hit in the head a few times) with the addition of 18 new IdeaPads to its lineup. First up, the S Series netbooks include the IdeaPad S205 and the S100. The S205 boasts up to and AMD dual-core E-350 CPU, an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768 resolution) 16:9 widescreen panel, up to 8GB of DDR3 SDRAM, and an up to 750GB HDD. It also packs Bluetooth and 802.11b/g/n WiFi, HDMI out, USB 2.0 and a 6-in-1 card reader, plus optional 3G. The smaller netbook on offer is the 10.1-inch IdeaPad S100. It has choice of processors up to a dual-core Intel Atom N570, Integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics, up to 2GB of DDR3 memory, and an up to 320GB HDD. The S100 also boasts Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, USB 2.0 connectors, 2 megapixel webcam, and a 2-in-1 card reader. Both the IdeaPad S205 and S100 weigh in at about 2.2 pounds, and will be available starting in March for the base price of $329. Full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Lenovo busts out S Series netbooks just in time for CES

Lenovo busts out S Series netbooks just in time for CES originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Iomega TV with Boxee chooses function over form, packs in a hard drive to boot originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Things are just getting underway here at CES in Las Vegas, and Kodak’s on-hand in order to serve up its latest smorgasbord of optical treasures. Without further ado, allow us to present to you the Easyshare Touch — a $149.95 offering with a three-inch capacitive touchpanel, a dedicated video record button, a 14 megapixel sensor, 5x Schneider-Kreuznach lens and an HDMI output. Next up is the $99.95 Easyshare Mini, described as Kodak’s smallest camera yet. It’s “around the size of a credit card,” offering a 3x wide-angle optical zoom lens, a built-in front mirror (you know, for those glorious self-portrait sessions), a ten megapixel sensor and a 2.5-inch rear LCD. Moving right along, there’s the $79.95 Easyshare Sport, which is the outfit’s first waterproof camera that can go up to ten feet underwater without any significant consequences. It’ll also shrug off dirt and dust while snapping 12 megapixel shots and previewing them on the 2.4-inch LCD. Sashaying over to the video realm, there’s the $149.95 Playfull camcorder, which touts an ultraslim design (it’ll “fit in the pocket of your skinny jeans,” according to Special K), a 1080p capture mode and an unmistakable ‘Share’ button to get your footage onto YouTube or a social network without any wasted time.

The company’s also using CES as an opportunity to launch the next generation of its Playsport video camera, with this $179.95 model being waterproof up to ten feet, shockproof, dustproof and capable of logging clips at 1080p. You can also snap stills at five megapixels, and that previously mentioned ‘Share’ button is predictably tacked on here as well. Speaking of revisions, the Pulse digital photo frame is also seeing a gentle refresh, with this one available in 7-inch ($129.95) and 10-inch ($199.95) sizes. The newcomers add the ability to comment on the pictures you receive from friends and family, with our favorite predetermined response being “Such a KODAK MOMENT!” Seriously. Oh, and these also have an ingrained activity sensor that turns the frame off when you walk away, and brings it back to life when you re-approach. Finally, the ESP C310 all-in-one printer will be selling for $99.99, but so far as we can tell, Kodak would rather extol the virtues of its ink-saving abilities than drum up interest in its cutting-edge feature set. Further details can be spotted in the full release after the break.

Continue reading Kodak intros Easyshare Touch, Mini and Sport cameras, Playfull and Playsport camcorders

Kodak intros Easyshare Touch, Mini and Sport cameras, Playfull and Playsport camcorders originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Like it or not, we’re stuck in a world fascinated with convergence, and while Spot’s Satellite GPS Messenger did its job well, it still required users to tote around a dedicated, non-integrated, standalone device. Unfortunately, we’re still no closer to seeing a mainstream smartphone with a legitimate GPS module within, but Spot’s edging ever closer with the Spot Connect. This GPS puck is equipped with a Bluetooth transceiver, enabling it to “sync with smartphone operating systems like Android” when you’re too deep in the brush to nab a cellular signal. From there, it’ll allow your smartphone to determine location via the Globalstar satellite network, and even transmit that information to personal contacts or an international emergency response center. Users can send location-based texts or emails via satellite, update social networks from remote locations, track progress on Google Maps / My Tracks and store up to ten predefined messages for quick referencing and sending. Just imagine the Foursquare check-ins you could manage with this bad boy! The puck itself is waterproof to an IPX7 standard and weighs just 3.7 ounces, and we’re told that more mobile operating systems will be supported “later this year.” The Connect will go on sale this month for $169.99, though the services described above will run argonauts $99.99 per year. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Spot Connect brings GPS tracking and communication to your Bluetooth phone

Spot Connect brings GPS tracking and communication to your Bluetooth phone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments