Gadgets Base

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 8:04PM
Remember that Gaze prototype we showed you, oh, not even a week ago? Turns out, a similar setup has received a healthy amount of funding from the EU, and unlike sluggish systems of the past, this one may enable people with severe motor disabilities to engage in 3D gaming. Communication by Gaze Interaction (COGAIN) is designed to speed up the eye-computer interfacing by recognizing when users look off screen; in doing so, the system can switch between modes or perform any number of tasks not easily accomplished by simply peering in a different direction. Reportedly, Stephen Vickers (the creator of this fantastic stuff) is hoping to begin software trials within the next dozen months, though future implementation still remains somewhat fuzzy at the moment.

[Thanks, Iddo]

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Filed under: Displays, Misc. gadgets, Gaming

While the official announcement of the Tony Hawk branded Sidekick LX showed us a neat new limited edition model, it also gave up some details on just what every other current Sidekick LX users had to look forward to, most notably the soon-to-come video capture support.

Well the good news is that the update will begin to roll out in a little over a week from now. Coming in the form of an over-the-air update it is scheduled to begin on June 25 and will be rolling out, as opposed to hitting everyone at the same time. Which means that in the past it has taken upwards of 4 weeks to reach everyone, so while the update is well worth the wait, try and be patient if yours does not arrive on the first day.

Aside from the video capture support, there is a whole slew of other features which include the ability to send or receive photos, videos, or music via Bluetooth, QuickFind, and no more restarting after a download.

• Capture videos using the new video mode
• Playback from the SD card or email attachments using the media player
• Share videos via email, Picture messaging, and Bluetooth
• Listen to songs or videos using a stereo Bluetooth device
• Send and receive photos, videos, or music via Bluetooth
• 3 IM clients & enhancements to AIM® and Yahoo!® Messenger
• Create and join group chats
• See who is logged into IM from the address book or email and instantly start a conversation
• Set a custom status message then keep chatting
• Search for friends in a buddy list
• Got more buddies than you can keep track of? See who’s online right from the address book or email, and search for friends in your buddy lists
• Select how Web pages are displayed based on preference
• PC-like, full-size layout to pan & scan while reading o Standard Sidekick screen-size layout to simply scroll down the page to read · Mini Page to zoom out on an overview of an entire Web page
• Save images from Web pages to the SD card Personalize the way you want to surf
• Device does not restart after a download. Just install an item, and it’s ready to use
• Capture videos and share them directly from the Camera app
• Video integration for playback, send, and save to gallery
• QuickFind: search for keywords across applications to find messages or information
• Spell Checker

Via [BGR]

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by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 3:29PM
NVIDIA just launched its new GeForce GTX 280 graphics cards earlier today, but you know the crazy kids over at Alienware don’t like to wait for the latest and greatest — Dell’s gaming division has already announced Area-51 configurations that include the new cards. The Area-51 7500 will support one GTX 280-based card, while the top-of-the-line Area-51 ALX will offer a three-way SLI option that’s sure to render an image of your empty wallet in no time — it’s a $1,700 option. No word on when these are scheduled to ship, but seeing as the cards are out tomorrow, we’d guess it’ll be soon.

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 3:41PM
We can’t say we know exactly what Microsoft has in mind with this patent application for a mobile device with a slide-out keyboard, flip-up screen, and a numeric keypad, but apparently it’s based around the idea that users won’t have to understand the inner functions of a computer if provided with enough hardware controls. According to the application, “in device mode, the computing system truly assumes the look and feel of a less intimidating multi-media device, rather than that of a sometimes more intimidating computer.” Similarly, the keypad lets you simply start dialing to use the phone — all very well and good, but we’ve got a feeling most people would rather figure out how to use a smaller handheld than cart this monster around.

[Via Unwired View, thanks Staska]

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Filed under: cellphones, Handhelds

FROM GAMERTELL - Alienware’s Area 51 m15x notebook is not as steeply priced as other Alienware products yet steeped with the brands trademark technological brilliance.
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by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 3:20PM
NVIDIA’s Tesla GPU-based high-performance computing workstations and add-in cards have been on the market for a whole year now, and to celebrate, they’re getting birthday cake, balloons, and an upgrade to GT200-based chipsets. Like AMD’s recently-announced FireStream 9250, the new T10P processing units are capable of breaking the teraflop barrier, up from the first gen’s paltry 518 GFlops, and they’re up to 240 cores from the first gen’s 128. You’ll have to shell out to get all that horsepower, though: the entry-level, 900GFlops C1060 PCI card will sell for $1699, while the four-GPU 1U S1070 blade will sell for $7995 for two PCIe-interface version or $8295 for the single PCIe connect model. The standalone Tesla workstation has been discontinued, as customers were increasingly buying the cards, so it looks like those are really fast collectors’ items for now. So, who’s going to be the first to add one of these bad boys to the Engadget Folding@Home team?

[Via Tom’s Hardware, thanks Matan]

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 4:38PM It’s not all that often we see a video card get dissected, but it’s also not very often that we see a card with as much hardware as NVIDIA’s new top-end GeForce GTX 280, which proved to be enough to get the folks at Custom PC to crack one open for a looksee. As you can see above, after removing more than a few screws, they were able to take a peak at the card’s lone, massive GPU, which not surprisingly produces enough heat to require the huge cooler and heat sink that conceals it. Of course, they also put the card through its paces and, while they did find that it’s bar-none the fast single GPU card out there, the performance compared to a GeForce 9800 GX2 makes the situation a bit murkier, especially given the GTX 280’s hefty price tag and lofty system requirements. That apparently wasn’t enough to keep it from getting their seal of approval, however, with it earning a more than respectable 84% rating.

Read - Custom PC, “Taking apart the GeForce GTX 280″
Read - Custom PC, GeForce GTX 280 Review

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 1:10PM
As we understand it, RIM’s so-called Javelin is a new blackberry completely devoid of 3G that’s currently on track for a mid-2009 (yes, 2009) launch. That sucks, yes, but at least it’ll look mighty purty if these shots of an engineering dummy in the wild are any indication. The whole phone is an interesting study in modern, high-end 2.5G design, actually, on account of the rumored WiFi, GPS, expansive display, and generous (by RIM standards, anyway) 3.2 megapixel camera. Don’t get us wrong, the Bold would still find its way into our pockets long before this one would — but hey, diversity in the product line is a good thing. As long as it doesn’t involve a Burberry-clad 8800.

Gallery: BlackBerry Javelin in the wild

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Filed under: cellphones, Handhelds

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 8:07AME3 is set to roll next month from July 15th to the 17th. With it comes the annual deluge of gaming rumors. Today we’ve got a pair for Microsoft. No, not another Blu-ray Xbox 360 whisper. Rather, we’ve got a resurrection of the 60GB Xbox 360 courtesy of Trusted Reviews as well as a US hardware price cut (and a nod towards a new SKU) according to EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich. Trusted Reviews’ source claims that the 60GB rig will drop sometime in the first 10-days of August after an E3 announce. Hear that Sony, care to respond?

Read — Price cuts
Read — 60GB Xbox 360

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Filed under: Gaming

Alright, I admit that this technically isn’t a gadget or at least not by most standards.  In all fairness though, I looked up the word just to see if there was a loophole in the dictionary and it turns out there is.  A gadget is also any ingenious article, so although I find this key chain to be beyond ridiculous I’m sure someone thought it was ingenious.  Likely they were inebriated at the time of thinking it, but surely someone did indeed think so.  Personally, I just find it highly disturbing.

For those that don’t live in heavily wooded areas or just don’t really ever go camping, ticks are annoying.  Annoying and gross, they have to be removed in such a way that they won’t cause Lyme disease.  Typically, we used something hot to get it to back out of the skin and that worked well enough.  It didn’t cost us any money, which is always grand if you’re feeling particularly cheap.  However, for those that would like to add another key chain to their key ring there is this odd little Tick Grabber.  Just put the tick’s body through the largest part of the opening and then slide it to the smallest.  Then you of course, pull.  The device is being sold for $5.99.

Source: bookofjoe

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