Gadgets Base

We saw all the recent hype that followed the Eee PC 900 series at CeBIT, we even saw some “in-the-wild” style shots, but Asus held back a few of the important details, namely just how much it will set us back and when it will be available. Well wait no longer, they have officially announced both the price and expected shipping dates.

The Asus Eee PC 900 series, complete with 9-inch 8.9-inch display is expected to begin shipping here in the US sometime next month, sadly they did not give an exact date just yet and it will retail for $499. In addition to the larger display the Eee PC 900 will feature your choice of either 8GB of flash-based storage running Windows XP or 12GB or 20GB of storage running Xandros Linux. The display will also offer a much nicer 1024 x 600 resolution as compared to the current 800 x 480 resolution offered on the 7-inch Eee PC 701.

Lets hope the 9-inch Eee has a smoother roll-out than its 7-inch little brother. Of course the question will come up, how many current 7-inch Eee PC users and fanatics will “trade-up” for the 9-inch model? It will be tempting.

Via [jkOnTheRun]

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As it has always been doing, Kyte introduced yet another premium player that could contribute to the declining music industry. Launched during SXSW, the new Kyte Premium Player is an impressive web-based media player that allows fans and artists to directly communicate with its applications. Together with the Premium Facebook Applications, Kyte users will also be able to share other multimedia content as well as buy and sell merchandise.

The Kyte Premium Player brings more functional and visual enhancements and includes custom player branding, elevated viral elements, and custom linking according to the Kyte blog.

CEO and co-founder of Kyte, Daniel Graf said,

“It’s no secret the music industry is in a time of struggle and looking for new and innovative ways to turn artists into brands, so they can capitalize on their image instead of relying on album sales”.

Raheem DeVaugn, a recent Grammy finalist, even plans on using Kyte to promote his music and communicate with new people, and since Kyte Premium Player is designed to meet the needs of entertainment and media partners, it can be expected that a new standard in online brand building and digital artist promotion will be set. As a custom branded Facebook application, the Kyte Premium Player is also expected to make artists and fans to connect real-time on the Internet.

The Kyte Premium Player is more than a widget, and more than just the social communications that are made possible, monetization is also a key feature.

Read [Business Wire]

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Posted Mar 11th 2008 2:20AM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Misc. gadgets
It’s really about time someone released a portable power strip with USB charging. Really, honestly, we don’t know what took ‘em so long — it’s frigging 2008, everything’s been USB-powered for a couple years now. Hat tip to you, Belkin, for the Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger, which goes for $25 or so.

[Thanks, Alex]

Posted Mar 11th 2008 4:08AM by Ryan Block
Filed under: StorageSSDs definitely seem like the boldest new frontier in computer electronics these days, and Intel, which lately has been making some solid developments in the NAND memory department, is apparently still on track to do that whole SSD thing they’ve been talking about. According to CNET, Intel’s NAND marketing manager Troy Winslow supposedly said the company would be coming up with some 80 - 160GB capacity drives in Q2, and 128GB capacity drives in Q3. Sounds to us like someone got something wrong, but there’s no denying Intel and its respective partners Micron and STMicroelectronics are out to make a dent in the hard drive market of tomorrow.

Following the much hyped released of its rival web browser IE8, Firefox has, as expected released version 3 beta 4 of its web browser. Unlike IE8 which allowed anyone to download the browser even in the early stage of its version, Firefox explicitly recommend that the beta 4 version be downloaded only by testers and developers.

Firefox 3 beta 4 milestone releases has the following 4 new features:

• Improved users interface which includes, enhanced search support in the download manager, ability to zoom in an entire page or just the text, and over all improvement in interface when running on Windows Vista, XP, MAC OS X and Linux.
• Richer personalization feature which includes location bar using an algorithm based on site recency and frequency for better matching of history and bookmarks and an adaptive learning algorithm that matches user browsing habits.
• Enhanced platform feature including support for HTML5’s windowpostMessage and window.messageEvent, Javascript 1.8 improvements and offline data storage for web application.
• Improved performance of web based applications running even faster than in the previous releases. Memory consumed during long web browsing time is dramatically reduced as well.

For users who can’t wait till version 3 is officially released, exercised caution when installing this beta release.

Read [Mozilla Blog]

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Welcome Tengu, a cute little white plastic brick with a face made of LEDs. Using a tiny microphone in the base sounds are picked up in the rock. Tengu moves his mouth in time like he is lip synching to a song or making fun of your loudmouth boss through copy.

Little Tengu is USB powered, so plug him in and set him near your favorite sound-source and watch Tengu perform like Britney Spears or Ashley Simpson!

Gimmie!

Suggested Price: $49.99

Posted Mar 11th 2008 12:39AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals
Although Nyko’s wireless FrontMan axe is slated to land for Xbox 360 this June, it seems as though it has been beaten to the proverbial punch by some random rival from who knows where. Known only as “3rd Party,” the aforementioned company has seemingly crafted a wireless Explorer that plays nice with the Xbox 360, and better still, it looks to be available right now. Still, considering the fact that it’s labeled “Guitar for Games” and designed to function with the “X 360,” we’re not entirely sure we’d be willing to risk our $41.94. But hey, if you see “quality” written all over that image pictured above, we certainly aren’t going to stop you from pulling the trigger and hoping for the best.

[Via XBox 360 News]

After Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead and other musicians have utilized the power of the web to promote and sell their music along comes REM with their latest album Accelerate. REM is making their 14th album available through audio streaming at a social music discovery service iLike.

To promote the release of REM’s album on its online music service, iLike will be holding a Worldwide Listening Party beginning March 24 and will be running through March 26, which is a full 6 days before the album will be release in North America on April 1, 2008.

The best-selling band will be recording an exclusive video message to introduce and promote their new album. The message will be distributed as well through iLike’s music service. REM band lead singer Michael Stipe said that the planned album release via web audio streaming is the bands way of keeping with the spirit and immediacy of their new album.

“We wanted to do something superfast and super real. Music, art, and pop culture are about right now, and nothing else matters. Accelerate is our turbo-charged response to the times we live in,” said Stipe.

The WorldWide Listening Party and REM’s video message will be made available on iLike’s website, as well as a sidebar desktop plugin on iTunes and Windows Media Player. Also to attempt in reaching a wider audience, these will also be available on various social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo, hi5 and iphone as part of the iLike application.

To listen to REM’s Accelerate and watch the band’s exclusive video message, please visit: REM on iLike.

Read [Business Wire]

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British company ThruVision announced the T5000, a high-powered camera that can detect weapons, drugs or explosives hidden under people’s clothing. In what could be a breakthrough innovation, the T5000 can detect hidden objects up to 80 feet away and will be effective even when people are moving.

The T5000 camera uses what ThruVision calls “passive imaging technology” that identifies a hidden object through natural electromagnetic rays, known as Terahertz or T-rays. Although it can detect objects hidden underneath people’s clothes, the camera does not however unveil physical body details. So, women don’t anything to worry about, should the camera go on mass production and implementation in airports and other public places. Likewise, the rays emitted by the camera do not also harm humans in whatever ways.

Clive Beattie, CEO of ThruVision said that due to threats from widespread terrorism, security precautions worldwide have been tightened.

“The ability to see both metallic and non-metallic items on people out to 25 meters is certainly a key capability that will enhance any comprehensive security system,” said Beattie.

Despite the potential of the T5000 in enhancing detection and possibly preventing crime, ThruVision does acknowledge the possibility of concerns rising up. Britain already has hundreds of thousands of closed-circuit television cameras and adding the T5000 might create the impression that the country is becoming a surveillance society.

Another issue that ThruVision is predicting relates to health. So as early as now, the company is saying that Terahertz rays lie somewhere in between infrared and microwaves in the electromagnetic spectrum, and hence pose no threat to human health.

Read [Reuters]

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Posted Mar 10th 2008 10:56PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: NetworkingIf you’ll recall, the IEEE gave the all important thumbs up to 100G as the next Ethernet speed, and while we’ve seen such a milestone met on the Internet2, Verizon’s looking to bring it to the masses in just twelve short months. According to Fred Briggs, Verizon Business’ executive vice president of operations and technology, the firm is aiming to “deploy 100G network capabilities over all its major routes within the United States.” Verizon actually tested out its 100Gbps capabilities last year on a video transmission from Tampa to Miami, Florida, and apparently, the results “showed that it could deploy 100G on routes and not disrupt current wavelengths.” Granted, we wouldn’t expect many consumers to actually be able to take advantage of all this speed right away, but even if you’re not down with (or nearby) any of Verizon’s forthcoming offerings, there’s always DOCSIS 3.0.

[Image courtesy of Futurenet]