Jun 15

Toshiba Satellite L600 and C600 series laptops think of the struggling students

Posted in: impressions, Laptops, preview, satellite, Today's Chili, Toshiba

We’re starting to think Toshiba’s got more Satellites than NASA, but for those that can’t squeeze together the cash for a new A or M Series laptop, Tosh has its L600 or C600 machines standing close by. The 13-inch L635, 14-inch L645, 15.6-inch L655, and 17.3-inch L675 have all been remodeled with that new Fusion X2 finish, which looks glossy from afar but is actually fingerprint resistant. They don’t get the new chiclet keyboards, but the flush keys are smooth and there are dedicated right / left mouse buttons under the touchpad. Internally there’s your pick of Intel Core i3, Core i5 CPUs and AMD Athlon II, Turion II dual-core, Phenom II Triple Core and Quad Core processors. While the entry level $515 model won’t be equipped with the discrete ATI Radeon 5145 GPU, it’ll be a configuration option. Lower down on the spectrum you’ve got the 14-inch C645 and 15.6-inch C655, which are your typical set of bargain basement laptops. Both are available with Intel Celeron and Pentium processors as well as AMD’s Athlon V120 chip. Not the most attractive pair of laptops we’ve seen, but it’s hard to complain when they start at $449. Check them out for yourself in the gallery below, and then hit the break for more details in the full press release.

Gallery: Toshiba Satellite L600 and C600 series hands-on

Gallery: Toshiba Satellite L600 and C600 series press shots

Continue reading Toshiba Satellite L600 and C600 series laptops think of the struggling students

Toshiba Satellite L600 and C600 series laptops think of the struggling students originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 03

Toshiba redesigns Satellite ultrathin laptops, we go hands-on

Posted in: AMD, CoreI5, impressions, intel, preview, satellite, Today's Chili, Toshiba

It’s no secret that the Toshiba Mini NB305 is one of our favorite netbooks on the market, mostly because of its chiclet keyboard and wide touchpad. Thankfully for us, it looks like Toshiba is planning to spread the same design to its ultrathin Satellite lineup sometime soon. Shown above is what appears to be a minty fresh update to the Satellite M135 on the Computex show floor. The 13-inch laptop looked mighty attractive — it’s about an inch thick, and as mentioned has the same sturdy keyboard as the Mini NB305. We’re not the biggest fans of the pattern etched into the metal palmrest, but on the plus side its touchpad has dedicated right and left buttons. We can’t tell you much in the way of specs, but it was on display at the Intel booth with a Core i5-U520 processor and also hanging out at the AMD booth with one of those new Athlon II Neo CPUs. This thing is bound to be official sometime soon, but in the meantime check out the hands-on shots below and start saving up for what could be one of the best ultrathins headed to the market.

Gallery: New Toshiba Satellite ultrathin

Toshiba redesigns Satellite ultrathin laptops, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 28

Pentagon Warns of Space Junk Collisions

Posted in: gps, military, NASA, politics, satellite, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
NASA_Space_Junk.jpg
The Department of Defense has issued a warning in its Interim Space Posture Review that the amount of space junk orbiting the earth has “reached a critical tipping point,” one that could result in a series of chain-reaction collisions that “brings everyday life on Earth to a grinding halt,” according to Popular Science.
That may be overstating the case slightly, but it’s still an important issue. Here’s the situation: there are about 1,100 satellites orbiting the earth right now. Contrast that to about 370,000 pieces of space junk orbiting the earth, ranging from lost nuts and bolts from spacewalks, to entire decommissioned satellites–all speeding around at about 4.8 miles per second, the report said.
The Pentagon warned that a collision–numerically probable at some point–could generate thousands of pieces of additional junk, which could then cause additional crashes, and so on. This has actually happened a few times in the past, notably with a defunct Russian satellite in 2009 and an errant Chinese missile back in 2007.
A collision could cripple communications, along with civilian and military GPS systems, and the resulting debris clouds could seriously inhibit future satellite deployments, according to the article. (Image credit: NASA)
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May 22

Toshiba ships Core i7-equipped Satellite P505 gaming laptop, all 18.4-inches of it

Posted in: CoreI7, intel, laptop, on sale, OnSale, satellite, Today's Chili, Toshiba

Looking for the most gargantuan laptop money can buy? How’s about the biggest laptop that the least amount of money can buy? Toshiba’s Satellite P505 — a machine we spotted briefly at CES this year — has now been put on sale over at Microsoft’s own webstore, complete with an 18.4-inch LCD (1,680 x 945), a 1.6GHz Core i7-720QM processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, 500GB SATA hard drive, Windows 7 Home Premium, a DVD SuperMulti drive, ExpressCard slot, integrated memory card reader, NVIDIA’s GeForce 310M (512MB), four USB 2.0 sockets and a beastly 12-cell Li-ion battery. Best of all, you can pop in a coupon (see the links below for details) in order to score this behemoth for $689, or just $687.95 more than freedom. Hop on past the break if you need an explanation.

Update: Seems that code down there has expired — anyone got an alternate?

Continue reading Toshiba ships Core i7-equipped Satellite P505 gaming laptop, all 18.4-inches of it

Toshiba ships Core i7-equipped Satellite P505 gaming laptop, all 18.4-inches of it originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 May 2010 03:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink I4U News  |  sourceMicrosoft Store  | Email this | Comments

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May 20

What Is Google TV? [Google TV]

Posted in: Android, cable, Chrome, Google, GoogleTv, logitech, netflix, satellite, sony, Today's Chili, top

Google TV was announced today. But what exactly is it? Give us two minutes. More »

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May 13

Toshiba updates Satellite Pro line with Core i3 / i5, Athlon II-based models

Posted in: AMD, CoreI5, intel, satellite, Today's Chili, Toshiba
New laptop processors mean new laptops, and Toshiba has now joined the party with four new Satellite Pro models packing Intel’s latest Core i3 and i5 processors and AMD’s new dual-core Athlon II. Those include the 15.6-inch C650 / C650D, the 13.3-inch L630, the 15.6-inch L650 / L650D, and the 17.3-inch L670 / 670D, all of which are available with Intel Core i3 or Core i5 processors, while those with a “D” suffix pack an Athlon II. Otherwise, each boast either a 1,600 x 900 or 1,366 x 768 LED-backlit display, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5145 or integrated Intel GMA HD graphics, up to 8GB of RAM, an optional Blu-ray burner, and Toshiba’s own Media Controller software to let you stream content to other networked devices, among other standard fare. Still no indication of pricing or availability over here, but the whole lot should at least be available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa sometime in the second quarter of this year. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look at the complete, nearly identical-looking lineup.

Gallery: Toshiba updates Satellite Pro line with Core i3 / i5, Athlon II-based models

Continue reading Toshiba updates Satellite Pro line with Core i3 / i5, Athlon II-based models

Toshiba updates Satellite Pro line with Core i3 / i5, Athlon II-based models originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 04

Look Out: Zombie Satellite Out of Control in Orbit

Posted in: satellite, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
Intelsat18_Satellite_Oribital_Sciences.jpg
An intense solar storm in early April may have knocked an Intelsat communications satellite out of its orbit, and could cause possible signal interference with other nearby spacecraft, Space.com reports.
“In what industry officials called an unprecedented event, Intelsat’s Galaxy 15 communications satellite has remained fully ‘on,’ with its C-band telecommunications payload still functioning even as it has left its assigned orbital slot of 133 degrees west longitude 36,000 kilometers over the equator.”
The report said that the satellite, launched in 2005, first stopped communicating with ground controllers last month, and that it has begun moving eastward into the path of other satellites.
Everyone is apprised of the situation, including competing firms. The satellite is still pointing towards Earth, and will likely continue to do so until late July or August, assuming ground control can’t recover it before then.
The satellite was built by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia; the first possible satellite in its path is the AMC-11 C-band satellite, owned by SES of Luxembourg. (Image credit: Orbital Sciences/Intelsat 18 rendering)

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Apr 06

Dish Network’s SlingLoaded ViP922 DVR to hit store shelves tomorrow (finally!)

Posted in: satellite, set-top-box, Today's Chili
We saw it at CES 2009 — and then we waited. And waited. And finally last month Dish’s SlingLoaded DVR made it to the FCC. And now? We’ve just received word that the ViP922 should be hitting Dish Network retailers April 7 (like, tomorrow). The long-awaited device carries an MSRP of $649, although existing customers who want to work it into their lease can expect to pay closer to the $200 – $400 range. Unless, of course, you live in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, or the US Virgin Islands — in which case you’ll have to do without altogether. That what the Dish Network calls “tough love.” We’ll let you know if the company changes its mind. PR after the break.

Continue reading Dish Network’s SlingLoaded ViP922 DVR to hit store shelves tomorrow (finally!)

Dish Network’s SlingLoaded ViP922 DVR to hit store shelves tomorrow (finally!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 01

GPS pioneer Roger L. Easton inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame

Posted in: gps, satellite, Today's Chili
Well, it looks like it’s the season for pioneering inventors to be honored, with Chuck Thacker’s recent Turing Award win now followed up by Roger L. Easton’s induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Pictured at left above, Easton started working at the Naval Research Laboratory in 1943, and later helped develop MINITRACK, the very first satellite tracking system, which in turn led to the concept Easton dubbed TIMATION (short for “time navigation”). That was used to aid in the launch of four experimental satellites over the course of the 1960s and 1970s, the last of which was the first satellite to fly in the GPS 12-hour orbit and the first transmit GPS signals. In fact, the relativistic offset correction Easton applied to that satellite is still used by every GPS satellite now in orbit, and it also helped to experimentally verify Einstein’s theory of relativity for good measure. Easton didn’t call it quits when he left the lab, however, and eventually served two terms in the New Hampshire State Assembly, and even ran for Governor in 1986.

GPS pioneer Roger L. Easton inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 29

CubeSail parachute to drag old satellites from orbit, keep atmospheric roads clear

Posted in: galaxy, nanotechnology, research, satellite, science, space, Today's Chili, uk, university, video

It’s not something laypeople think about very often (space debris, for those wondering), but it’s clearly on the minds of boffins at the University of Surrey. Over the years, the amount of defunct equipment hovering around beyond our view has increased significantly, with some reports suggesting that over 5,500 tonnes of exhausted kit is currently hanging around somewhere up there as a result of “abandoning spacecraft.” In order to prevent the problem from growing (and to possibly reverse some of the damage), the CubeSail has been created. Put simply (or as simply as possible), this here parachute could be remotely deployed once a satellite had accomplished what it set out to do, essentially dragging it back through a fiery re-entry that it would never survive and clearing out the orbital pathway that it was using. We’re told that it’ll be ready for deployment in late 2011, but for now you can check out an all-too-brief demonstration vid just beyond the break.

Continue reading CubeSail parachute to drag old satellites from orbit, keep atmospheric roads clear

CubeSail parachute to drag old satellites from orbit, keep atmospheric roads clear originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceScience Daily, University of Surrey  | Email this | Comments

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