Mar 06

VR headset offers the sights, sounds, and smells of cyberspace – and tastes, and hot air

Posted in: Today's Chili, uk, united kingdom, UnitedKingdom

In an effort to bring the other three senses up to par with sight and sound in the virtual landscape, researchers in the UK have developed a headset that not only offers a stereoscopic display and four speaker surround sound, but throws in smells, tastes, and a fan for heating your grill up (or cooling it down) for good measure. The Virtual Cocoon doesn’t look too terribly comfortable (this thing would be burdensome without the required tubes for the user’s mouth and nose), but Professor Alan Chalmers of Warwick University doesn’t seem to think this is a problem. If anything, the team is betting that you’re going to welcome the opportunity to smell your co-workers when telecommuting, or your fellow cybernauts when running around Second Life. The device, which will have an estimated cost of £1,500 (around $2,100), should be ready for production within five years. More pics after the break.

Continue reading VR headset offers the sights, sounds, and smells of cyberspace – and tastes, and hot air

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VR headset offers the sights, sounds, and smells of cyberspace – and tastes, and hot air originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 04

O2’s Joggler, formerly OpenFrame, launches in UK this April

Posted in: o2, Today's Chili, uk, united kingdom, UnitedKingdom

Our friend Mr. Blurrycam was right on the money: OpenPeak’s OpenFrame 7-inch MID touchscreen is on its way to the UK care of O2, albeit with a rather odd name change. The Joggler, as it’s now called, connects via WiFi or Ethernet and has no SIM card for mobile use. In addition to the standard lot of apps — news, weather, sports, media player, etc. — its calendar can send out SMS reminders to other phones. Interestingly, though not apparently available at launch, it’ll be able to send up to 50 free text messages to any UK-based phone, as well as receive an undisclosed number of messages. It’s on track for an April release for £149.99 ($220), or free if you decide to pick this up instead of a handset when upgrading your plan.

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O2’s Joggler, formerly OpenFrame, launches in UK this April originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 06

HP UK spurns Linux in its new netbook offerings

Posted in: HP, Linux, Today's Chili, uk, united kingdom, UnitedKingdom

Looks like anyone in the U.K. hoping to buy a new HP netbook with Linux is going to be sorely disappointed. For reasons unspecified, the company’s decided not to offer the Mini 1000 or the Mini 2140 with a pre-install of Linux — standard options for the U.S. versions of both. Current U.K. HP Linux offerings include the 2133, but it’s an older model, so the lack of it for the newer models may signal a trend moving forward. HP will apparently offer its Ubuntu-based Mobile Internet Experience as a download, however, so all hope’s not dead. Well, you can’t always get what you want, can you?

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HP UK spurns Linux in its new netbook offerings originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 05

Samsung NC20, 3G NC10 now available for pre-order in the UK

Posted in: pre-order, PreOrder, samsung, Today's Chili, uk, united kingdom, UnitedKingdom

The Russians have already declared their love, and soon you’ll be able to get your mitts on the Samsung NC20 and see for yourself what all the fuss is about. It’s now available for pre-order from UK retailer BT Shop, priced at £390.98 ($565) VAT included, with a white model due out in February and a black iteration in March. Both models sport a 12.1-inch WXGA display, Windowx XP Home Edition, 1.3GHz VIA Nano U225 CPU processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, Bluetooth, 3-in-1 card reader, 1.3 megapixel camera, and a 6 Cell battery — no SSD option at the moment. Additionally, the shop is also showing a new NC10 equipped with HSDPA coming next month for £416.63 ($602) with VAT, which is £107 ($154) more than its non-3G equivalent. Not to worry, US readers, we’re sure Sammy will be asking for your Benjamins soon enough.

[Thanks, Darpan]

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Samsung NC20, 3G NC10 now available for pre-order in the UK originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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