Hasta La Gadget!

It’s not like Apple could very well keep it a secret anymore, so today we’re being treated to the official unveiling of the Magic Trackpad. This wireless touch input receptacle — already thoroughly leaked, trademarked, and FCC-approved — has just made its debut in, of all places, Apple’s Store app for iOS 4. It’s basically exactly what you’d expect: a glass-covered, aluminum-shelled replicator of the glorious multitouch experience on offer in Apple’s MacBooks, only for the desktop. The Trackpad is battery-powered, communicates via Bluetooth fairy dust, and is ready to ship out right this minute for a dollar under 70 bucks.

Apple Magic Trackpad official, shipping now for $69 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, you just sprung for a multitouch-enabled Battalion CZ-11, eh? Too bad there’s hardly any software out there for you to take advantage of. Er, was out there. iBuyPower — a company most often associated with new hardware — has just flexed its software muscle by creating a new system that will enable any game to played via multitouch, regardless of whether the game’s creators gave it so much as a thought. Magic, which is short for Multitouch Advanced Gaming Interface and Control, is a proprietary piece of code designed specifically for the company’s own touch-enabled laptops, and it works by linking a multitouch gesture to a command the game already understands, emulating multitouch commands by mapping keystrokes or mouse clicks. Best of all, it’s available now as a gratis download, and we have little doubt that the hackers in attendance will have this working on Dells, Alienwares, Lenovos and HPs before you can spin around twice and add another smudge mark to your LCD.

Continue reading iBuyPower’s Magic makes any game playable through multitouch (video)

iBuyPower’s Magic makes any game playable through multitouch (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is far from the most flattering angle from which to view eviGroup’s multitouch tablets, but it shows off an important facet of design — should you buy the pricy Paddle (pictured at left), you’ll be able to swap the battery, memory and hard drive. Units ship today with yesteryear’s netbook specs, including a 1.6GHz Atom CPU, 160GB hard drive, 0.3 megapixel webcam and 1GB of RAM, but also the ports many tablets lack, including three USB jacks, VGA-out, an SD card slot and wired LAN. 802.11a/b/g WiFi comes standard while 3G connectivity costs an extra €150 (roughly $186), and if you’d rather not tinker with operating systems or hardware upgrades yourself, the factory will handle both for €50 ($62) and €79 ($98) respectively. The questions remaining are if the hardware can handle your applications — and whether you’re willing to pay iPad-plus prices for a device with just three hours of estimated battery life. Video after the break, full specs at the source link.

Continue reading eviGroup Paddle gets specced and splayed, now available from €599

eviGroup Paddle gets specced and splayed, now available from €599 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 06:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s hard to justify rolling into summer school with just an electronic wooden ruler, but pairing that with one of N-trig‘s new Digital Pencils just seems like a match made in detention heaven. The company responsible for pushing out that snazzy DuoSense technology back in 2008 is hitting back with yet another digital writing instrument, with this particular one designed to work with multitouch devices. Being a part of the DuoSense family, the battery-powered device can actually act as either a fingertip (you know, for those capacitive screens) or a digitizer pen, enabling it to play nice with a smorgasbord of third-party peripherals. The company claims that the two-pronged approach will give users far more flexibility, and the DuoSense software identifies the position of the Pencil and the pressure level, removing the need for an excitation coil within the DuoSense digitizer. Curiously enough, there’s no public mention of a price, but we’re guessing it’ll sell for far more than you’re willing to pay here in just a few days.

Continue reading N-trig’s Digital Pencil plays pen and fingertip roles, claims mastery of both

N-trig’s Digital Pencil plays pen and fingertip roles, claims mastery of both originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 08:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want to draw attention to an otherwise ordinary piece of consumer electronics? Do something emotive like, say, smash a giant Apple ice sculpture in front of the world’s Chinese press. Besides putting the boys in Cupertino on notice, Hanvon‘s officially launching the company’s TouchPad B10 — a 10.1-inch multitouch capacitive slate that we went hands-on with back in March. A €500ish device that runs Windows 7 on a retired 1.3GHz Celeron M ULV743 processor and Intel GMA 4500 graphics capable of delivering about 3.5 hours of battery life. Other specs include 2GB of memory, a regular ol’ 2.5-inch 250GB or 320GB hard disk, HDMI-out, and WiFi. Watch the theatrics after the break while we wait for Hanvon’s 1 million units sold announcement.

Continue reading Hanvon CEO smashes Apple effigy at TouchPad launch (video)

Hanvon CEO smashes Apple effigy at TouchPad launch (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 06:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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