Gadgets Base

Posted Jan 17th 2008 10:11AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Storage
Your good pals at Buffalo are injecting some new storage options into your life, so you might want to pay attention (especially if you’re a Japanese citizen). The company is introducing a new line of RAID 0, four-drive models called the QSIBSU2 HD / R, featuring eSATA, USB, FireWire 400 / 800, and TurboUSB functionality. A 1TB version of the array will run you ¥74,300 (or around $695) and will be available in at the end of the month, while the 2TB model clocks in at ¥106,300 ($995) and will ship in late February.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

The Cloudbook (CE1200V) with the 7-inch display is not even in stores Wal-Mart as of this posting and it is already being reported by Computerworld that Everex has a new model with a 9-inch display in the works.

With little details being made public as of yet a few things are certain, the display will be 9-inches and they are planning a price tag of $500 or less, which would most likely mean $499. Hopefully they will include a larger hard drive, higher resolution and possibly some more RAM at that price. If that were the case I may be tempted to trade my current Eee for the future Cloudbook.

Via [jkOnTheRun]

Euphonix MC Control. This new home studio controller is designed to turn your computer based music studio software like Pro-Tools or Cubase into a full fledged DIY studio system. You get some pretty fancy technology thrown in to the system for your $999.99, including a multi-configurable touchscreen panel which automatically sets itself for the software you’re using, motorized auto-recall faders just like the big boys use and full-on jog/shuttle controls for those intimate editing moments. Just another reason why the music industry is becoming irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, who needs a massive studio budget now, eh? Oh, and you’ll need an Apple Mac by the way.

  Building a powerful editing and mixing system has never been easier. MC Control and MC Mix units snap together and are designed to fit between keyboard and screen. Because each unit has its own Ethernet connection the units may be snapped side-by-side or placed anywhere – yes anywhere! MC Control and MC Mix Consoles Build your own recording, editing and mixing system with any combination of MC Control and MC Mix.

Posted Jan 17th 2008 5:16AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Displays, Gaming
Vuzix, once known as Icuiti, is back with a modified video eyewear design for gamers which they claim is a world’s first. The AV902-C starts with their AV902 headset’s twin 640 x 480 LCDs. They then add the ability to segment multi-player displays so that the person wearing the AV902-C only sees their half (2-player) or quadrant (in 4-player) of the screen presented as a 62-inch virtual display. Up to four of the AV902-C’s can be daisy chained together for distraction-free (and cheat-free) gaming. Available February for an undisclosed price.

[Via Gizmag]

Steve Jobs announced an update to the Apple TV at Macworld San Francisco this week as well as iTunes Movie Rentals, which were already rumored to be part of his Macworld keynote speech.

Jobs admitted that Apple’s online video plan had been a disappointment and that users didn’t take to watching online video the way Apple had expected. When Jobs first announced the Apple TV last January, Apple’s initial video plan was too complicated for many people. Getting a movie or TV show onto your Apple TV required customers to buy the video from the iTunes Store, download it to their computer, then sync/stream the file using an Apple TV.

Although Apple has already sold 7 million movies, Jobs said: “That’s more than everyone else put together, but it did not meet our expectations.”

Apple plans on overhauling their strategy by making 2 major changes:

1. Adding a new online movie rental service
2. Updating the Apple TV’s software so that viewers can stream movies direct from the internet sans (that’s Latin for without) computer.

Jobs thinks that viewers would prefer to rent movies, not buy them. As a result, the new Apple TV software will allow users to rent first run films from every major movie studio including Fox, WB, Paramount, Universal and Sony in HD. Jobs called it “A better way to provide movies to our customers.” Blockbuster and Netflix can’t be happy right now.

1000 films ready for rental will be available on iTunes starting in February. Going forward, movies will be available to rent 30 days after they are released on DVD. Broadband users won’t have to wait for these giant movie files to download. Moments after you rent the film using your Apple TV, it will be watchable immediately via streaming. How much are movie rentals? $2.99 to rent older titles, $3.99 for new releases. Add one more $1 to those prices if you want to rent the movie in HD.

Thomas Lesinski, president of Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, joined Jobs on stage at Macworld and called the rental service a “defining moment” for the distribution of digital video content. “This is really going to take things to the next level,” he said.

The new Apple TV software features will be included in a free Apple TV update scheduled to be released in February. You can update your Apple TV by selecting “Update Software” from the Settings menu.

methodshop

Posted Jan 17th 2008 3:59AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
It seems that Elgato was most proud of its totally revamped EyeTV 3 software, but we couldn’t help but notice two rather substantial hardware updates that it also chose to announce (albeit quietly) at Macworld 2008. Starting today, the firm’s EyeTV Hybrid USB tuner and its EyeTV 250 Plus TV receiver / video converter (shown after the break) are both available with built-in support for unencrypted digital cable (Clear-QAM) channels. ‘Course, they’ll both still pull in NTSC / ATSC signals, but the addition of Clear-QAM support is a real boon for OTA addicts. Pricing for the extra versatile devices remains unchanged at $149.95 and $199.95, respectively, but unfortunately, existing owners will not be able to receive the newfound functionally with a simple firmware update.

Read - Elgato EyeTV Hybrid
Read - Elgato EveTV 250 Plus

With the display resolution of 160 x 160 pixels, Garmin Rino 120 two way radio is shaking the owner by its outstanding output with the help of FRS and GMRS frequency band. Its 4-level grayscale LCD gives the visual satisfaction to viewers at anyplace. You can thoroughly enjoy the service of this product due to the presence of its several important features like VOX (voice activation), Location reporting (send and receive GPS positions), Voice scrambler etc. It can give you the pleasure of 22 channels up to range of 2 miles over FRS and 5 miles over GMRS. Its 15 hour battery life with the back up of 3 AA batteries gives you the security to take this product anyplace anytime.

To mention its more astonishing attributes, Garmin Rino120 two way radio comes equipped with:

• Vibration alert
• Basemap
• Map adding ability
• Area calculation
• Sun and moon information
• Hunt/fish calendar

Here are the screen shots of the gadget:

It can further enable you to avail the facility of 20 routes, log tracking (2,048 points, 20 saved tracks) etc. It can store various information and data with the help of its 8mb memory. With the support of 0.5 watts FRS and 1.0 watt GMRS transmit power, it has become one of the most user-friendly gadgets ever. It is now available in the market and at the Garmin website with the price of $ 267.84 USD - $ 642.84 USD.

<!– ch_client = “mmliewcf”; ch_type = “mpu”; ch_width = 468; ch_height = 180; ch_color_title = “0065CE”; ch_non_contextual = 1; ch_default_category = “200001″; var ch_queries = new Array(”Garmin Rino 120 two way radio”); var ch_selected=Math.floor((Math.random()*ch_queries.length)); if ( ch_selected

Posted Jan 17th 2008 1:25AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Laptops, Peripherals
Sure, we were all quite awestruck when Steve casually pulled the MacBook Air out from within a manila envelope on stage, but we didn’t exactly expect to-be owners to snag one from the supply cabinet and put it to use. Nevertheless, the quick-thinking duo that is Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans had an idea to take Apple’s clever marketing icon and create — surprise, surprise — a fully functional case resembling a manila folder. Reportedly, this sleeve is handmade from “durable upholstery-grade vinyl and lined with fuzzy, soft fleece,” which should protect your forthcoming MBA from all but the nastiest of bumps. Supposedly, you can pre-order one now for $29.95 and expect it to arrive right alongside your new rig, but if these truly are handmade, we’d go ahead and expect a backlog. Oh, if only we were this clever.

Posted Jan 17th 2008 1:13AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Displays
It’s here. Dell’s 24-inch, Ultrasharp 2408WFP monitor is up and dancing on Dell’s US page. $748 buys into a 1,900 x 1,200 resolution, 178-degree viewing angle, 1,300:1 contrast ratio, 400 cd/m2 brightness, 6-ms response, and 102% color gamut. Standard stuff until you get to the vast suite of jacks: HDMI, 2x DVI, DisplayPort, VGA, Composite, S-Video, Component, a single USB upstream, and 2x USB downstream. Just another reason why Round Rock, Tejas is the world’s focal point for computer monitors. Who’d have thunk?

[Thanks, Brad]

Read — Order page
Read — User guide

Posted Jan 17th 2008 12:47AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Desktops, LaptopsAccording to rumblings on the internet, the new Cloudbook from Everex that’s worming its way into Wal-Marts across the US this weekend will be getting a big brother soon. If you believe what they say (they being Paul Kim, director of marketing at Everex), we can expect a 9-inch version of the Eee-competitor to make an appearance in June, boasting a larger keyboard, more memory, and possibly new “skins” (but please, no tattoos). The Linux-equipped computer will clock in around $500, and will be part of the Ubuntu-based gOS family. The company also has plans to introduce a variant of the smaller CloudBook called the DevBook, a $400-500 laptop aimed at developers with a touchscreen and swappable side-panel accessories, plus a $399 standard size 15.4-inch laptop, and a “mini” desktop with a dual-layer DVD drive, as well as DVI and S-Video outputs for $499.

[Via Eee Site]