Hasta La Gadget!

Colorware’s been making the products you buy look better (or worse, if you’d like) for years on end, but up until now, it has never actually created a product from scratch. Enter the Grip for iPad, a simplistic new iPad holster that’s less of a case and more of a handle. It’s a metal frame that you bolt around the edges of your tablet, and as you can tell, it adds a major grabbing point to the side. But here’s the rub: it’s $300. Yeah, three Benjamins. We get that it’s manufactured in Minnesota using that high-priced American labor, but seriously? The major problem is just how awkward that $300 price tag looks beside the $499 MSRP of the device it’s supposed to hold; imagine buying a $13,000 set of tires for your $17,000 vehicle. It just doesn’t sit well in the cranium. And then there’s the problem of using it.

You see, as nice as it is to have a handle on your tablet at all times, it makes actually using the iPad in portrait mode practically impossible. You’re constantly trying to figure out how to work around that bulge that’s now there on the left side. Furthermore, it does essentially nothing for protection. The back is still wide open and susceptible to drops / scratches, and the front isn’t recessed in the least. Adding insult to multiple injuries, there’s not enough room to have a case wrapped around your iPad while it’s inside of the Grip. Oh, and did we mention that the slightest bump against a rough surface will rip the paint right off of the device? We’d love to love the Grip — it’s mighty pretty and it’s built like a tank — but it simply makes no sense whatsoever at $300. Even at $100, you’ve got way better options when it comes to actually protecting your iPad.

Continue reading Colorware ships its first original product: the $300 Grip for iPad (hands-on)

Colorware ships its first original product: the $300 Grip for iPad (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re tucked away in Leica’s high-brow design preview event here in Köln, and while it appears that the vast majority of those in attendance showed just to boast about their suit, we’re strictly here for the gear. That being said, let us be the first to formally introduce you to the now-official D-Lux 5 rangefinder. Or, sort of official D-Lux 5. Unlike the M9 ‘Titanium’ — which the company spent a solid two hours boasting about — the D-Lux 5 (a rebranded / tweaked LX5?) has been given nothing but a passing glance of affirmation, though we’re anticipating a more formal release with specifications and the like tomorrow. Leica aficionados have likely been hearing whispers of this beaut for the past dozen months, but at long last, the unicorn has apparently transformed into a Gypsy Vanner. Though, still a mysterious one.

In case that’s not exactly your cup of million-dollar tea, it appears that Panasonic’s DMC-FZ100 — deemed the world’s best megazoom by critics back in August — has been reborn as a Leica, though the shell doesn’t appear to have changed at all. Of course, we’ve seen Leica pull this rebranding trick before, but we’re sure the so-called V-Lux 2M is far superior in some way that we’ve yet to be informed about. Rounding out the round of mystique is the gently refashioned X1, which was seen sporting a far more luxurious casing compared to the original. Feel free to drown yourself in the images below, and keep it locked right here for more as we hear it.

Leica quietly showcases D-Lux 5, redesigned X1 and rebranded DMC-FZ100 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, sure — we’ve seen an Xbox 360 enclosure stuffed with x86 innards, but we can’t say we’ve ever seen anything quite like this. Gaming upstart Origin PC has just shattered every preconceived notion about its potential with the Big O, an appropriately titled luxury machine that combines a liquid-cooled gaming PC with a liquid-cooled Xbox 360 Slim. In one box. A pair of base configurations are available (though customizations are limitless), with both of ’em rigged up to run the PC and Xbox concurrently. In other words, these bad boys can actually crunch SETI@home data while you explore the vastness of Halo: Reach. The $7,669 build includes an overclocked 4.0GHz Core i7-930 CPU, Rampage III Extreme mobo, twin NVIDIA GTX480 graphics cards, 6GB of Corsair memory, a 1,500 watt power support, 12x Pioneer Blu-ray burner, two 50GB OCZ SSDs wired up as a boot drive, Windows 7 Home Premium, a liquid-cooled Xbox 360 and bragging rights the size of Texas Alaska. For those still unsatisfied, there’s a $16,999 version that’s frankly too lust-worthy to spell out here (but is in the gallery below). Hit the source link if you’re feeling ambitious, but don’t blame us for blowing your kid’s college fund in one fell swoop.

Continue reading Origin PC’s Big O desktop: half gaming PC, half Xbox 360, all muscle

Origin PC’s Big O desktop: half gaming PC, half Xbox 360, all muscle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Runco” and “cheap” have never, ever been used correctly in the same sentence before, but being elite apparently doesn’t mean that you can just turn a blind eye to rambling bandwagons. With just about every other projection company flipping out 3D-ready alternatives, Runco has decided it best to follow suit. The company has just added a fanciful pair of PJs to its Signature Cinema line, with the SC-50d and SC-60d both offering 3D playback with support for Active3D (active shutter) or passive glassed-based solutions. The duo also packs a 3-chip system that outputs 1080p natively, and these are also the company’s first projectors to include its Smart Lens system — which offers a controllable motorized lens and iris that can be preset in memory. Hit the source links if you’re interested in learning more about the Fall-bound pair, but be sure you’re willing to pay upwards of $88,995 before wasting the bandwidth.

Continue reading Runco intros 3D-ready Signature Cinema projectors: $90k+, still require glasses

Runco intros 3D-ready Signature Cinema projectors: $90k+, still require glasses originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For all its luxurious sapphire crystal glass and genuine alligator skin, the TAG Heuer Meridiist has always struggled to keep up with the times — but don’t expect that two megapixel camera or 1.9-inch QVGA screen to change in the handset’s latest iteration. No, the Merediist GMT’s only new feature is — you guessed it — to literally keep track of Greenwich Mean Time. “Switch between home time and destination time,” a flashy new ad teases, as a pair of (presumably) filthy rich individuals take the TAG Heuer Tesla for a cross-country drive. We’re not quite sure how one originally forgets about world time with 150 years of watchmaking experience under one’s belt, but at least the company has pledged to include the function in all future $4000+ models.

TAG Heuer Merediist GMT keeps your Monte Carlo arrivals on time originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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