Hasta La Gadget!

Oh sure, Seagate did it first, but since when have we been ones to kvetch about one-upmanship? Over in South Korea, Samsung has debuted an all new high-density hard drive family for use in “high-end computing environments,” or in more comestible terms, your next desktop / workstation. The Spinpoint F3 hums along at 7,200RPM, uses a 3Gbps SATA interface, packs 16/32MB of buffer memory and will be made available in sizes as large as 1TB by utilizing a pair of 500GB-per-platter disks. The boost in areal density provides up to 30 percent higher performance when compared to a three platter 1TB drive in the same 3.5-inch form factor, and the reduction in mechanical parts also makes it less likely to fail prematurely. Sammy isn’t being too forthright when it comes to MSRPs, but those looking to snag one regardless can find the 500GB model on shelves now and the 1TB edition later next month.

Filed under: Storage

Samsung’s 1TB Spinpoint F3 hard drive serves 500GB per platter originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 06:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, at least some of the mystery is solved. If a machine translated source is to be believed — not to mention a healthy gathering of screengrabs — Philips’ elusive V808 smartphone will be a China Mobile exclusive. As with other Android-based phones on the operator, it’ll be the reworked OPhone OS handling the dirty work, which basically means a carrier-customized app market and a few other tweaks that seem to be frowned upon in the Chinese community. We’re also told that the phone will lack support for 3G, WiFi and multitouch, leaving us grieved, lugubrious and lachrymose. C’mon guys — why hamstring a good thing?

[Via Cloned In China]

Filed under: Cellphones

Philips V808 smartphone to run Android-based OPhone OS on China Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 06:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One well crafted pitch from Photojojo and we’re hooked. Here’s the opening of the blurb which describes the Monsterpod: “If there were a tripod equivalent to the hoverboard, the Monsterpod would be it.”

Unbeatable. So what is it? The Monsterpod is a fat disc of viscoelastic polymer with a tripod mount up top. Screw on your camera, scooch the pod onto almost anything (bricks, glass, stone) and there it sticks for up to ten minutes, holding your camera steady for a quick low-light shot or self-portrait.

Viscoelastic Polymer is a material that acts like rubber honey — once deformed it creeps slowly back into shape. Think Stretch-Armstrong, only more useful. The Monsterpod costs $30, and you’ll need to spend another $10 on the zip-up carrying case. This makes it a little more expensive the the other favorite mini-camera holder, Joby’s Gorillapod, although the uses of each are different enough that you might want both. Maximum camera weight, 20oz.

Product page [Photojojo]

See Also:

• Gorillapod Go-Go: Miniature, Flexible Tripod
• CES: Joby Gorillapod Attaches Cameras to Anything

Over at BoingBoing Gadgets, Rob “The Boss” Beschizza takes a Wiz on modern games. To be precise, he has reviewed the tiny, retro game-playing handheld console, the GP2X Wiz, and decrees it “The best portable yet for retrogamers.”

I’m a retro-gamer. I used to beat all comers at Street Fighter 2 (SNES) playing with my feet. I once lent that same SNES and a copy of Super Mario Kart to an apartment full of weed-smoking stoner friends so they could practice and “offer me more of a challenge” (result, a thrashing for me). So I’m well into the idea of putting these classics in my pocket, but for one thing…

The price. The GPX2, from Korean company GamePark, costs $180. This is steep, even on a million dollar per year blogger’s salary. On the other hand, the machine has a 320×240 2.8” AMOLED touch screen display, a gig of memory and an SD card slot. It also runs a flavor of Linux, meaning that once I have laid out my $180, I can keep my cash and use emulators and hypothetical collection of legal ROMS. In short, $180 puts every old game, ever, on a handheld. Is this starting to excite you yet?

Gp2X Wiz Runs Retrogaming Rings Around Mainstream Rivals [BBG]
Product page [ThinkGeek]

Streaming media provider Vudu has partnered with LG to include its software into upcoming LG high-definition TVs. The move will get rid of the intermediary set-top box and allows consumers to directly watch on-demand content from the internet on their TVs.

“Smart TV’s are part of an exciting new industry trend,” says Alain Rossmann, CEO of Vudu. “Vudu is partnering with leading consumer electronics vendors to embed the new Vudu service directly into the TV, eliminating the expense and hassle of purchasing, installing or connecting another device to the TV.”

The new Vudu service delivered through LG TVs allows consumers to discover and watch high definition movies on-demand. The service will be available on upcoming models of LG’s broadband TVs later this fall.

Licensing Vudu’s software to consumer electronics makers such as LG though is a strategy that allows Vudu to go out of the box and focus on delivering the service.  It’s a strategy similar to what GPS-navigation devices maker Dash had adopted. Dash started out by producing standalone GPS boxes with its software that offered services such as local search. But the company soon abandoned the hardware-based GPS systems and instead focused on licensing its applications and services to run on other products.  BlackBerry maker Research In Motion acquired Dash earlier this year.

In the last two years, streaming media boxes that bring online movies, TV shows and content to the TV have become popular with consumers, though they are still a small fraction of audience that rents movies. Apple launched its Apple TV in 2007.  Meanwhile, Roku, a company that started by offering $100 boxes in partnership with Netflix included access to content from Amazon.com earlier this year. Netflix rival BlockBuster also has a streaming video box available.

Vudu says its service differs from rivals in that it can offer movies in 1080p definition and high resolution Dolby Digital surround sound. Vudu also offers features such as instant fast forwards, rewind and instant start for all its movies. Customers can instantly buy or rent from the company’s library of movies with no monthly fees.

See Also:

• Vudu Movie Streamer Plummets to $150
• Vudu Summons Pandora as a Web-based App
• Vudu Application Brings Remote Rentals to iPhone
• Vudu Software Update
• Vudu Software Update Adds More HD Content