Hasta La Gadget!

The fine people at iFixit have taken the extremely awesome step of tearing down some very retro gear this week, and up first, they’ve got the Magnavox Odyssey 100 which dates from 1975. The gaming console, which boasted two (count them ) games — Tennis and Hockey — was built around four Texas Instruments chips and powered by six C batteries. It was also the first home gaming console, so we were pretty interested in seeing its insides. What struck us in looking at the photos was the most obvious thing: how much emptier it is than modern gadgets. It was also completely dismantled in just seven steps. Hit the source for more photos and keep your eye out for more vintage disassemblies as the week progresses.

iFixit tears apart a Magnavox Odyssey 100, doesn’t find a disco ball inside originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When ATI, makers of graphics processors and video cards, was purchased by AMD, CPU and chipset maker, back in 2006, most people wondered whether or not the two arms could co-exist under the same roof. After today, it will be all but a moot point, as AMD announced that they would be dropping the ATI name from all of its branding and graphics products, renaming them “AMD Graphics.” Fans of the Radeon line of graphics cards and EyeFinity multi-display technology will find them renamed as “AMD Radeon” and “AMD EyeFinity” starting later this year.

AMD claims that today’s announcement is a move designed to simplify their product offerings and reduce consumer confusion. It’s also likely due to the coming release of its Fusion combination Graphics and CPU technology in a single package, and is an attempt to present a single, unified front against their major GPU challenger, NVidia, and their major CPU competitor, Intel. 

Between Nintendo’s Wii, Sony’s PlayStation 2, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, is there really any room for another major video game console on store shelves? Lenovo apparently thinks so. The Chinese PC manufacturer is readying its own competition–the eBox.

Lenovo is apparently taking the Wii’s ball and rolling with it. The eBox is set to be an entirely controller-free console, controlled entirely by gestures, in manner similar to Microsoft’s own soon-to-be launched XBox 360 Kinect.

The eBox, according to Lenovo, “targets the entertainment needs of 120 million Chinese urban households.” The console will be targeted primarily toward China, where it currently controls about 20 percent of the PC market.

The eBox will then be slowly rolled out to other Asian countries and the, eventually, the rest of the world.

This is Pikachu. He is a Pokemon. Perhaps you have seen and/or caught one at some point in the past. If Pikachu is one thing (besides, you know, adorable), it’s helpful. In fact, Pikachu wants to help you thiiiiiiiis much. If you have a Nintendo DSi, Pikachu will use his electric-type Pokemon powers to help charge it up for you.

For 3,981 yen (around $50), you can pick up arguably the most adorable Nintendo DSi charger of all time (mine’s a lame little plug–it does fold up though, which is handy, if not especially cute). The DSi or DSi XL slips into the Pokeball and Pikachu starts to work his magic.

It’s just one step closer to what we all want most in this world–a Jigglypuff alarm clock iPod dock.

Fwoosh! Clack-clack-Clack DING! Clack-clackety-clack. The iPhone’s death cries?

Not if you have New Potato’s latest toy, the Pinball Magic. The dock transforms your iPhone or iPod Touch into a miniature pinball machine.

Pinball Magic comes with flipper buttons, a ball-launching plunger, a credit/select button, and an LED-lit animated backbox. The legs fold for easy transport. You will need to download the free app to play.

The app uses the iPhone’s motion sensors to support tilt detection, so jostling the tiny machine works like the real thing. The game offers four possible multi-ball modes, end-of-ball and replay bonuses and advanced multi-level and multi-player competition.

Priced at $39.99, New Potato says it will be available online “August 2010” and Best Buy is also accepting pre-orders.Those folks better get cracking, though, there’s only seven days left!