Posted Mar 4th 2008 1:40PM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Misc. gadgets
As CeBIT continues to struggle with its enterprise vs. consumer identity, one thing remains constant: it’s always a freak show. Alligator girl knows it even as she schleps it. See what we mean after the break.
Following earlier rumors and reports about this mysterious metallic slider, Sony Ericsson has officially announced that it will be the T303, a low-end, quadband GSM/GPRS slider-style phone that’s best for that not as “tech friendly” person in your life. With features such as Bluetooth, FM radio and a 1.3-megapixel camera, this new metal and chrome finished slider won’t be something to phone home about. It’s best bet for trying to win the hearts of those in the mid-level market is its proficiency with basic phone features. But isn’t proficiency with the basics something all phones are supposed to have? Well, at least Sony Ericsson is on the right track.
The Sony Ericsson T303 is really a low-end phone, but still offers classic SE features such as TrackID, Speakerphone, USB Mass storage profile and USB connectivity. These features could easily make it the handset of choice for those who want a no-frills, just-gets-the-job-done kind of phone. Shimmering Silver and Shadow Black are the official available colors as of the initial release, although this might change depending on local availability.
One thing I don’t understand about this semi-great phone is why they offer USB connectivity as one of the phone’s features, considering the built-in memory is only a paltry 8MB. And no, it doesn’t offer any support for external memory cards. You think maybe they overlooked this teensy flaw? The T303 will be available in mid-2008.
Read [Sony Ericsson]
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Posted Mar 4th 2008 12:55PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Desktops, Gaming
AMD’s deliverance of two 45-nanometer CPUs wasn’t the only thing new from the company today, as now we’re getting wind of an all new motherboard GPU that’s DirectX10 compatible. The AMD 780 Series is hailed as “the industry’s most advanced” mobo GPU, and is slated to be “widely available” in a variety of boards in Q2. Essentially, AMD’s hoping the chip will enable casual gamers to join in on the fun without having to fork out big bucks for pricey discrete graphics cards, but for those that eventually do pick up such a device, the ATI Hybrid Graphics technology ensures that the power from both will be harnessed in order to boost overall performance. Check out the read link for all the nitty-gritty, and head on past the break if you’re scouting a couple of educational videos.
It is no secret that Microsoft makes its fortunes in packaged software on CDs. Pop in almost any store and you’ll see 1,323 varieties of Vista neatly packaged, waiting for you (OK, that number may not be accurate). Unveiling plans yesterday, Microsoft announced a strategy that will put them in the hunt for users of online applications in the second half of 2008.
Microsoft is making this move to get into smaller and medium sized business who are choosing to go with Google’s offerings. Google says they have upwards of 500,000 businesses signed up for their service and growing everyday. No one seems to be expecting an all out war just yet, as Microsoft has too much too lose.
For sure, Microsoft is wading slowly into Google’s pool, likely figuring that every online customer is one less package they don’t sell. Will Microsoft find success built on their desktop app dominance? Anyone remember the Lotus suite?
Read [VentureBeat]
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I’ve reported on some great PC Speakers before, and I would have to say that most of the satellite speakers usually look all the same. I have to give the Fred 500XL PC Speakers points for creativity.
What you are seeing here is not a magnified shot of earbuds along with a normal sized shot of a regular laptop. No, someone actually went and created speakers like giant earbuds.
The purpose of these speaker stereo earphones is to connect with your mp3 player or PC. There is a built-in amp with 3-way power which gives some serious sound action. As for power, it can run on batteries or a computer USB port.
Hopefully, there is some sort of OSHA warning that says: caution, do not put these speakers into your ears. Of course, you would need ears like Plastic Man or Mr. Spock in order to get these things to work like actual earphones.
I’m wondering if this will begin a fad about overly large iPod accessories. For example, maybe someone will make an iPod dock the size of a HDTV. Maybe someone will make an overly large ipod that has a clicker wheel the size of a steering wheel.
Until then, we’ll settle for this. The Fred 500XL Computer Speakers are available for pre-order for about $36.99.
Source
When Asus launched their Eee PC, they took the industry by storm. While the tiny notebook was too small to suitably replace most people’s laptops, the low price and portability made it tempting to people of all walks of life. Asus knows that they hit gold with the Eee PC, and will be announcing what can only be described as its big brother later today.
The new notebook which is rumored to be called the Eee PC 900 will feature a much larger 8.9-inch screen, which will look absolutely gargantuan next to the 7-inch screen of the original. The other rumors peg this new machine at having 1GB of RAM and up to 12GB of storage space. Of course the biggest question on everyone’s mind is price. We’ll have to wait until the official announcement later today for that info.
Source: CrunchGear
OpenMoko, the makers of the Neo 1973 Linux-based open source smartphone is currently taking a new strategy in cell phone design. Now offering a build your own case option. Using the philosophy of, “If you can’t open it, you don’t own it.” they have been very into using open and unlocked software and this new case design option is taking this to a new level.
The catch here, which is really a nice idea is that your creations have to be shared back with the community. OpenMoko is releasing the CAD files under a ShareAlike Creative Commons license.
Read [OpenMoko] Via [Gizmodo]
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Posted Mar 4th 2008 6:58AM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Storage
Ruh roh, Shaggy — you remember that disk encryption attack that involved cooling off your target’s RAM and yanking it to get a bitdump before the contents faded? Well, it looks like things just got a lot simpler for would-be attackers — check out this USB flash key designed by security researcher Robert Wesley McGrew, which can boot your machine and dump the RAM to itself without altering its contents. That means you no longer need to actually pull the DIMMs or carry around an air duster; all an attacker needs is enough time to reboot your machine and copy the contents of your RAM. Of course, that takes time — McGrew says things are running quite slowly right now, but he suspects his test machine is dropping down to USB 1.0 speeds. That’s still not too reassuring — looks like we’ll be spending even more time with our machines from now on.
[Via Hack a Day]
Posted Mar 4th 2008 3:01AM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Peripherals, Storage
If you just thought to yourself Holy crap Iomega is still around? And they still make the Rev drive? Wasn’t that introduced almost four years ago?, well, you aren’t alone. Apparently the company is introducing a new backwards compatible version of the drive in 120GB capacities, which is sure to be ignored just as roundly as every other non-optical product the company’s made since peoples’ Zip and Jaz drives started going click in the 90s.
Another hot new gaming PC has turned up a CeBIT, this time its the Asus ARES CG6150, and while a current press release has been made, the stunning looking piece of machinery is sure to have hearts racing. It promises to bring a hardcore gaming experience from a case that looks like a cross between the Starship Enterprise and red lights like the car from Knightrider. Wow!
If you opened it up, you would find a Core 2 Extreme processor, up to 8GB of RAM and up to a massive 4TB of hard drive space. This thing has better air cooling than my car and will probably use more power than my house!
Via [SlashGear] Via [Engadget]
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