by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 24th 2008 at 10:41AMIt may have once talked about toppling both Intel and AMD within a decade, but South Korea’s Hynix looks to have been knocked back on its heels a bit amid a general downturn in the DRAM market, and it’s now taken the rather drastic step of closing down its plan in Eugene, Oregon, eliminating some 1,100 jobs in the process. As EE Times points out, that move is at least partly due to the fact that 300mm plants are ramping up faster than expected, making 200mm plans like the one in Oregon far less cost effective to operate and, apparently, too expensive to upgrade. (Read the full post about ‘Hynix set to close its Oregon plant, cutting 1,100 jobs’…)
by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 24th 2008 at 1:22PM We’ve already gotten word of most of the details of Samsung’s i8510 INNOV8 (get it?) smartphone, but things just got a whole lot more official for the device in Europe and, coincidentally, a number of sites recently got to spend some time with the phone in NYC (despite the lack of an official US release). Of course, there’s not a whole lot of surprises to be found, but it certainly seems like the phone will get the job done and then some, with its built in camera not only boasting an impressive 8 megapixels, but auto-focus, image stabilization, and a flash as well. The rest of the specs aren’t too shabby either. (Read the full post about ‘Samsung’s i8510 INNOV8 gets official in Europe, shown off on video’…)
by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 24th 2008 at 2:03PMIntel’s got big plans for Moblin, that Linux-based “core stack” that’s being optimized for all sort of mobile devices, from MIDs to carputers, and a big part of those plans is letting the community play a part in its development — the company is just about to release the source for the first version of Moblin, with an alpha-level release of Moblin 2 to follow. Intel says its focus right now is decidedly on Atom, but that it’s looking forward to seeing the community drive Moblin in other directions. There’s no word on what Moblin 2 will offer, but it sounds like Intel is hoping that by getting Moblin out in the open, it’ll become a de facto standard. (Read the full post about ‘Intel getting ready to release Moblin source, working on Moblin 2′…)
by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 24th 2008 at 4:04PMOkay, so there’s clearly a tube that dispenses marshmallows to the ASUS marketing department whenever it comes up with another product to slap the Eee brand on, because this just getting silly. In addition to the countless Eee laptops, Eee Box desktop, Eee monitor, Eee televisions, and other Eee-branded crap, we’re hearing the company is working on a line of accessories, including an external hard drive, optical drive, and WWAN card. (Read the full post about ‘Eee hard drive, optical drive, and 3G card continue to reduce meaning of Eee brand’…)
I am always amazed with the new ways that we find to communicate. Ten years ago, most people didn’t use cell phones, and email capability was somewhat limited. Don’t even get me started on Instant Messaging or text messaging. Were they even around back then? Now, there is new way to communicate with Speak-A-Message. This is a free audio recorder that can make or send voice messages through email. It is available for download, and shows up on the computer screen as a separate window. The user has the option of putting a different “skin” on that window based on pre-programmed patterns or can even customize the skin with a digital photo. The user also has the option of adding sound effects to their message if they want. (Read the full post about ‘Speak-A-Message brings sound to your messages’…)
Chinavasion recently unveiled their new MP4 player that they claim is the world’s thinnest portable media player. It even beats Brando’s disappearing screen mp3 player, in fact this 4GB CVSJ-1304 beats the former record holding device by a whole millimeter! To give you some perspective on how thin this 4.5mm thin device is, it would take 4 credit cards stacked on top of each other to be at equal thickness. It comes with a 1.8 inch touch screen, with a resolution of 160 x 128, supports media formats such as MP4, MP3, WMA, ASF, and WAV. Additionally, it comes with an FM tuner, a rechargeable battery and USB connectivity. (Read the full post about ‘Chinavasion claims they have created world’s thinnest MP4 player’…)
We have seen plenty of leaked images for the upcoming clamshell-styled blackberry Kickstart, so I guess seeing an early hands-on report surface should not be all that surprising. The crew over at CrackBerry were able to get their hands on RIM’s first venture into the world of the clamshell, and while the BlackBerry Bold and Thunder may be stealing some of the recent spotlight, it seems the Kickstart is going to be a solid offering. A few items to point out is that the display is big, and although not quite the same quality as what is found on the Bold it was noted as “looks good.” The Kickstart 8220, as indicated by the number pattern will feature Wi-Fi, it also has the “next gen” SureType keyboard which was described as “massive” and easy to use, which sounds like it will be a nicer typing experience as compared to the Pearl. (Read the full post about ‘BlackBerry Kickstart 8220 reviews begin to trickle-in’…)
Sony has just announced that they are opening up their Sony Reader to be compatible with other booksellers. An update, that is expected to be available today will allow Sony Reader owners to purchase books in the protected EPUB format from any retailer and not just the Sony e-book store. The EPUB format is supported by publishers which include Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group, HarperMedia, Hachette Book Group, HarperMedia and Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. This will, at least from Sony’s perspective make the Reader a little more attractive as compared to some others currently on the market, namely the Kindle which has more than 140,000 books available. (Read the full post about ‘Sony opens the Reader; now compatible with other booksellers’…)
There’s nothing that I love more than covering new concept gadgets, and this is one of the coolest that I have ever seen. Introducing the ball-shaped PC from designer Apostol Tnokovski. This PC ball is a 6-inch orb, that is said to be the smallest PC ever made. This is assuming that it has been made. Some of these pictures that I’ve seen of it (including the one here) look a little CG to me, but these days, you can hardly tell. The PC ball has legs that fold out, and remind me of the droidikas from Star Wars: The Phantom Menance. (Speaking of CG) As for the keyboard, it is one of those laser keyboards that I have seen before on other applications. As for the mouse, it is a pop-out job that affixes to ball. (Read the full post about ‘Ball Shaped Concept PC Could Change the Shape of Computing’…)
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Whether you want to tell people that this table is supposed to represent blood or red paint, the awesome design is totally inspirational. The “Paint or Die But Love Me” Table designed by John Nouanesing seems to be melting. And if not melting, than not even solid in the first place, but rather a paint spill suspended in motion. There’s a very good reason that people put sheets all over their furniture when they paint their homes. Paint has a tendency to drip from a surface when wet or heavily applied. Once you get some paint on your carpet or on your plush sofa, you can say goodbye to that particular space. (Read the full post about ‘Paint Drip Table’…)
