Gadgets Base

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 5:54PM
Although Linux-based Tomato and DD-WRT firmwares work with a plethora of routers, Netgear is getting savvy with its marketing by actually aiming its WGR614L at tweakers who just melt upon hearing either term. The so-called open source Wireless-G router features a 240MHz MIPS32 CPU, 4MB of flash memory, 16MB of RAM, an external 2 dBi antenna and a second internal diversity antenna to enhance range. Additionally, the unit will “soon” support OpenWRT, and there’s also four 10/100 Ethernet ports in case you’re looking for a bit of wired action as well. Potentially best of all, the WGR614L is available as we speak for a very manageable $69.

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Filed under: Networking

by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 4:19PM
Nikon’s D700 hasn’t exactly been doing the best job staying under cover as of late, and it looks like Germany’s ProfiFoto magazine has now pulled back whatever veil of mystery remained around the camera, with its current issue prominently featuring the high-end DSLR in a two-page spread. Among details discernable via the translation is confirmation of a 12-megapixel sensor, along with a sensor cleaning system, an end of July release date, and a €2,600 price tag — or just over $4,000, although we’re guessing that’ll even out a bit with the North American release. Needless to say, we’d recommend staying tuned for more details on this one.

Update: User heavymeister at the dpreview forums has some way higher-res scans of the same issue — anyone care to translate?

[Thanks, Albert]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Table football, or Foosball, might be known as the most unglamorous form of gaming in the world. Mostly known for being spotted in seedy sports bars and dirty basements, there’s not much you can say about the foosball table that makes it seem fitting for the luxurious crowd. BlingMyThing says “Think again!”

BlingMyThing’s Crystallized Foosball Table is table football for a whole new crowd. What you get is this back-and-forth eye following game for the luxurious bunch. The details of the Crystallized Foosball Table seems to be on a need-to-know basis, because we certainly can’t find any details about this monstrous piece of luxury, but more details are sure to emerge soon.

What we can tell you is that this is not a table game you’ll be spotting in any local bachelor pad apartments. Sure to be the most expensive Foosball table ever made, it’s more of a piece of art than an actual game piece. Though of course, it’s fully playable if buyers are so inclined.

Euro football is moving full-speed ahead. There’s no doubt that at times like these, there are many people who are thinking about whipping out their old Foosball tables, or perhaps upgrading to something a little more worthy of their wealthy surroundings. If you have enough money to waste on a crystal Foosball table, something tells us that you might just be the kind of person who doesn’t have much time to even play the game.

Product Page via BornRich

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by Darren Murph, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 3:08PM
HCL’s MiLeap has long been forgotten amongst the swarm of other low-cost laptops to emerge post-CES, but a kind fellow over in Bahrain was able to handle one for a tick, snap a few photographs and dish out some early impressions. Essentially, this 7-inch netbook was more akin to a V-Tech toy than a bona fide computing instrument, and typing on the thing was apparently a very non-enjoyable experience. Still, those anxious to see what this critter looks like in the flesh can head on down to the read link, but don’t even pretend that you’re not going there with full intentions of pointing and laughing.

[Thanks, Mo]

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Filed under: Laptops

Philips holds the distinction for being the first company in the world to light up its office with nothing but LED solutions. This office is owned by Generali and located at 100 Champs-Elysées Avenue, Paris, making it famous by being a milestone in lighting history. The entire LED effect also goes down well with scene and atmosphere effects that are also LED based. The whole idea can be attributed to architect Anthony Béchu who had been commissioned by Generali, in order for the former to come up with ‘an innovative window in the world of LEDs’. Research has shown that LED lighting solutions improve people’s well-being in addition to providing designers a greater amount of flexibility in the layout of open spaces and the ceiling design. This frees designers from the lighting orientation too often given by fluorescents tubular lamps. Thanks to the relatively long lifetime of LEDs, maintenance costs are reduced to a bare minimum - a good thing in today’s ever rising energy cost scenario.

Throughout the office spaces, the functional office lighting is realized through 422 luminaires integrated in a false ceiling with 600 x 600 grids. Each luminaire is powered by 16 or 12 high power LEDs of 2.6 W depending on their location in the office space. This provides an average of 300 lux everywhere and 500 lux on the working planes. Philips has given special care to the development of optics. In addition, recessed SpotLed 3 K2 luminaires each with 3 LUXEON high-power LEDs are applied in the corridors. The solution complies with lighting norms and standards on energy consumption, illumination levels and visual comfort.

The building would definitely be a sight to behold in its entirety, as when the glass façade of the top two floors are lit, anyone looking at it will get the sense that the building is more like a a beacon in the night to the outside world.

Press Release

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by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 11:20AM
It looks like MSI’s taking another page from ASUS’s Eee playbook — the Wind netbook is getting a desktop sibling. MSI was actually showing off the Atom-based minitower at Computex last month, and while final specs and pricing aren’t official, it sounds like the machine will include Windows XP, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB drive, DVD drive, and WiFi for somewhere between $200 and $300 when it goes on sale sometime in September — but you’ll have to be in Europe or Asia to snag one, as MSI says they won’t make it to the US. That’s a shame, as the power-sipping machine is pretty intriguing: the 1.6GHz system at Computex was able to play back 720p video using just 30 watts of power — compared to 242 watts for a normal PC. (MSI says the Wind desktop isn’t quite capable of 1080p playback yet, but it hinted that future versions will get there.) Hopefully MSI will have a change of heart between now and September.

Read - Hands-on with the MSI Wind desktop
Read - Infoworld article with estimated specs and pricing

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Filed under: Desktops

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 11:20AM
It looks like MSI’s taking another page from ASUS’s Eee playbook — the Wind netbook is getting a desktop sibling. MSI was actually showing off the Atom-based minitower at Computex last month, and while final specs and pricing aren’t official, it sounds like the machine will include Windows XP, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB drive, DVD drive, and WiFi for somewhere between $200 and $300 when it goes on sale sometime in September — but you’ll have to be in Europe or Asia to snag one, as MSI says they won’t make it to the US. That’s a shame, as the power-sipping machine is pretty intriguing: the 1.6GHz system at Computex was able to play back 720p video using just 30 watts of power — compared to 242 watts for a normal PC. (MSI says the Wind desktop isn’t quite capable of 1080p playback yet, but it hinted that future versions will get there.) Hopefully MSI will have a change of heart between now and September.

Read - Hands-on with the MSI Wind desktop
Read - Infoworld article with estimated specs and pricing

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Filed under: Desktops

The Asus Eee PC has certainly set an unpredecented, er, precedent, moving thousands of units and proving to the world that there is a market for a tiny notebook which does the most basic of tasks minus the bloated bells and whistles of much more expensive devices. 3K Computers has taken up this challenge, and they recently announced their second generation of RazorBook 400 mini-notebook computer in the form of the 3K RazorBook 400 Mini Notebook Ultra Mobile PC which is powered by Windows CE. It tips the scales at just under a kilogram (now that’s worth lugging around in press conferences and events such as CES), boasting a highly affordable price tag of $299. At that price, what can you expect? Head on after the jump for more details.

The RazorBook 400 is perfect as a low-cost portable internet appliance for mobile professionals, students, internet browsing on the go, playing Flash games, secure online shopping, instant messaging, and playing music and movies while on the road. With a boot-up time of less than 8 second, the RazorBook 400 was designed to be turned on and off instantly just like any other appliance in your home. The energy-saving RISC architecture processor is fan-less and offers completely quiet computing with very low energy consumption. Without a spinning hard disk drive, the RazorBook 400 is shock-resistant and touts 4GB of solid-state storage for your documents or media files.

It really sounds like a direct competitor the the first generation Asus Eee PC, although it does run on a Windows platform instead of Linux, making it more user friendly to people who are just starting out. This second generation UMPC is tipped for a July or August release, which is by no coincidence the middle of the “back-to-school” season.

Press Release

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Now that summer is in full swing, people are flocking to amusement parks everywhere, searching for the latest thrill from the best roller coaster. The Evento BuzzBall is made for those who wish to take that experience home.

The best part is that the owner of the BuzzBall would not need to build some giant structure with tracks and rails, but any open space, flat or hilly, will do.

The BuzzBall is essentially a huge hamster ball designed for a person. Only the BuzzBall is a ball-within-a-ball, with dual electric motors. The first motor controls the outer edge of the ball, so the driver has complete control of the physical movement of the ball.

The second inner ball controls the movement of the driver. It can roll in any direction, regardless of what direction the BuzzBall is rolling.

When these two motors are used in combination, the results are sudden spins, corkscrews, and barrel rolls that simulate the experience of being on a roller coaster. Something tells me it will probably take a while to get used to, and you will be missing the high views that really make roller coasters scary.

I’m not really certain when the BuzzBall intends to reach the market, but it will definitely be the next thing for thrillseekers.

Source

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I had a great experience last week, I was invited to Dell’s latest product launch which was made cooler than most launches as it was held at the Silverstone racetrack during F1 testing and we had to fly in .

The main product to be announced was the new range of Dell Studio Laptops. The Studio range is designed with the personal touch in mind and comes in a range of colors, but if you think “Flamingo Pink” is a bit too in your face you can still personalise with the less gaudy graphite grey with blue trim (full color selection).

The overall design is pretty sleek and is one of Dell’s thinnest to date (it’s no Airbook mind). Due to the wedge shape and hinge mechanism the screen appears lower than normal which makes it easy to use in confined spaces (planes, trains and automobiles). It also incorporates a cool back-lit keyboard for night browsing.

Feature wise it packs in what you’d expect from a mid range laptop with a few extra innovative features, including

• 15.4″ or 17″ Widescreen Display
• Fingerprint reader for the security conscious
• Optional Blu-ray drive
• HDMI output to connect to your large HD screen
• 5.1 Sound
• Optional built-in mobile broadband (this is going require an additional monthly charge)

Prices for the Dell Studio range start from £379 (~$750), further info and availability over on the Dell site. As well as being able to buy the Studio laptops from the Dell site you’ll also be able to purchase them from more traditional stores such as Tesco, PC World, etc. which will save you from paying Dell’s somewhat legendary delivery charge.

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