Archive for January, 2009

Samsung Armani Night Effect now available in the UK

Posted in Mobile Phones by Conner Flynn on January 11th, 2009

Samsung Armani Night Effect now available in the UKIt was previously announced that Samsung’s Armani Night Effect would be available for 300€ on November 2008 in Europe. As for other regions, we have no idea. There’s some good news for people in the UK however. The Samsung Armani Night Effect is available now in the UK, from January 9th 2009.

The phone comes with 2.2-inch AMOLED display screen, 3.2-megapixel camera, 120 MB internal memory, microSD card slot and supports HSDPA/GSM network. It’s by no means the top of the range in handsets, but it’s focus is on the beauty of simple design and ease of use.

Sennheiser HD 800 high end headphones

Posted in Sennheiser by Conner Flynn on January 11th, 2009

Sennheiser HD 800 high end headphonesThe latest entry from Sennheiser is the HD 800 a pair of high end headphones that have some style. If you have the scratch to buy them. Sennheiser’s stunning HD 800 headphones stood out when they debuted at CES, because of the innovation that went into making them.

The HD 800 features a new technology in the driver system which helps reduce the low-end distortion that all headphones suffer from. They’re doughnut shaped with Teflon-insulation and fabric-coated earpads. If you have a spare $1399.95, why not give them a go and let us know how they perform.

Maxell’s M&M Earbuds will melt in your ears, not in your hand

Posted in Maxell by Conner Flynn on January 11th, 2009

Maxell’s M&M Earbuds will melt in your ears, not in your handiPod accessory maker Maxell is all set to release some music player earbuds that look like kid’s candy. Hmmm. I wonder if some young and dumb kids will try to eat them. I’m guessing yes. Even the packaging makes them look delicious. Plus, just like the candy, these earbuds come in many colors: Red, pink, blue, orange, and white.

You’ll note that the packaging proclaims “Sweet sounds”, which to a toddler who can’t read, simply says “Look at the funny candy people who want me to eat them.” It does say “Not candy!” but anyone old enough to read that probably knows better anyway. At $10, it’s a bargain choking hazard for the home with a curious toddler.

New Koss earbuds screw-to-fit your ear holes

Posted in Earbuds by Conner Flynn on January 11th, 2009

New Koss earbuds screw-to-fit your ear holesI don’t know about you, but I have problems with most earbuds. They just don’t stay put and fall out because they don’t fit my ears properly. Well, here’s an awesome solution. Koss’s CC_01 earbuds replace those foam or rubber tips with an expandable and contractable system.

All you need to do is turn the metal screw on the back of the earbuds, and the tips will adjust to fit you. Simple and amazing engineering. And great news if you, like me, are annoyed by regular old earbuds. It’s a little odd to see Koss, a manufacturer of low-priced ear-stuff, with earbuds priced at $150, but perfectly adjustable fit is a great idea. And I for one have had so much trouble with earbuds, that I find it tempting.

Eee HTPC keyboard specs

Posted in Keyboards by Conner Flynn on January 11th, 2009

Eee keyboard: A touchscreen Home Theater PCLast week we had a look at Asus’ HTPC keyboard concept, but now we’ve got some specs to go along with it. The only thing we don’t know about are pricing and availability. The keyboard boasts a 5-inch built-in display, a 1.6 GHz Atom processor, 1 GB of RAM, 16/32 GB SSD, WiFi, flat Mac-like keys and Bluetooth.

Where ports are concerned, it’s got wireless HDMI, 2 USB 2.0, VGA, HDMI, and audio in/out. It’s OS of choice is Windows XP home, which is a bit odd for something that wants to be a home theater PC, though it’s not packing a TV tuner either. No info on price or release date, but according to the Asus CEO, it’ll be available in the next 3 to 6 months.

Intelligent Cash Registers concept

Posted in Concepts by Conner Flynn on January 10th, 2009

Intelligent Cash Registers conceptYou knew it was coming. They’ve been dumb for too long. But it makes perfect sense for cash registers to get an IQ upgrade soon, and that’s what the Intelligent Cash Registers concept is all about. They are supposed to remember who you are know what your interests are.

Intel is going to release a prototype at the National Retail Federation show in New York on Sunday. It’s actually a collaboration between Intel and Frog Design. Frog Design will handle the hardware end, making sure its 3″ touchscreen terminal functions with Intel’s latest processors. The device will feature RFID card compatibility and rely on the Internet to up-sell and appeal to your impulse buying.

The Donkey Kong quilt looks pretty comfy

Posted in Games by Conner Flynn on January 10th, 2009

The Donkey Kong quilt looks pretty comfyWhile you will never get to the famous Donkey Kong kill screen with this quilt, it will keep you comfy on these winter nights. Unless you choose to hang it on your wall. It’s a faithful rendition of the classic game we all know and love. It measures 64 square inches and is made from 100% cotton.

Etsy seller CarolinaPatchworks did a great job. I would say that it’s pixel perfect. And isn’t it time you changed those Star Wars bedsheets? Of course, fine geek craftsmanship like this isn’t cheap. It will cost you $450. That’s 1800 quarters, in case you were wondering.

Samsung shows off uber thin display

Posted in Displays by Nino Marchetti on January 9th, 2009

Samsung P2370L

One of the last new product cards Samsung had to deal at CES this year happens to be a rather nice looking new LED monitor. It is called the P2370L and it prices around $400.

The Samsung P2370L is of a super thin design, sporting a wrapper of just 0.65-inches. It makes use of a LED BLU, producing what Samsung says are more vibrant color and higher contrast ratios than other monitors. The contrast ratio is some 2,000,000:1.

OQO details smallish model 2+ laptop

Posted in Notebooks by Nino Marchetti on January 9th, 2009

OQO model 2+

OQO showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show this week its new model 2+ small form laptop. The company said will be available in the first half of the year for around $1,000 starting, through pre-orders can be placed now.

The OQO model 2+ weighs less than a pound and measures 5.6- x 3.3- x 1-inches. It sports an embedded Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display, increased brightness and contrast with better outdoor readability. It is available with a 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 CPU and 2GB of RAM.

Digeo debuts HD DVR with no monthly fees

Posted in DVR by Nino Marchetti on January 9th, 2009

Digeo Moxi HD DVR

Digeo, a developer of cable set top boxes, rolled out officially at CES this week its new Moxi HD DVR. This non-subscription fee competitor to TiVo costs around $800.

The Digeo Moxi HD DVR sports a 500GB hard drive which Digeo says can hold up to 75 hours of recordings at full 1080 resolution. It sports an award-winning menu system which is designed to let users easily find TV programs and movies as well as photos, music, games and other Internet services.

FyreTV gets its wireless streaming porn box on

Posted in Set Top Boxes by Nino Marchetti on January 9th, 2009

BoXXX

FyreTV, which first got noticed at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show, kicked off its porn streaming to your home media room via wireless IPTV set-top box service at this year’s CES. The box itself is called, suggestively enough, the BoXXX.

The BoXXX comes with the service, which has a starting price of around $10 a month. For that virtual equivalent to a roll of $1 bills you get access to “streaming DVD quality adult content.” The pay-for options look to be ala cart though, unless you purchase one of the all you can view porn packages (you do get some FyreCredits as part of the service). Otherwise you pay something called 1 FyreCredit roughly per minute of adult entertainment, though this seems to vary depending upon the particular adult production studio content you are watching.

dreamGEAR offers quad controller chargers

Posted in gaming accessories by Nino Marchetti on January 9th, 2009

dreamGEAR PS3 Quad Dock Pro

Video game accessories maker dreamGEAR debuted this week a rather innovative charger for Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 controllers. It is called the Quad Dock series and models for each gaming console platform will be available this month.

The dreamGEAR Quad Docks feature four charging wells and custom LED charging indicators that signal when the controllers are dead, charging, or fully charged. The PS3 Quad Dock Pro has the capability to charge up to four Dual Shock 3 controllers at once, while the Xbox 360 Quad Dock Pro charges up to four Xbox 360 rechargeable battery packs.

ASUS debuts 18.4-inch W90 gaming laptop

Posted in ASUS by Conner Flynn on January 9th, 2009

ASUS debuts 18.4-inch W90 gaming laptopAsus has introduced their latest high-end gaming notebook at CES. Known as the ASUS W90, the laptop provides a 18.4- or 17-inch display, depending on model with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2 or HD 3850 X2 dual graphics, or a single NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GS GPU, and the Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

The W90 uses the Intel X38 chipset and has three SO-DIMM slots for up to 6GB of DDR2 memory. Some other neat features include up to 1 terabyte of hard drive storage space using two HDDs, DVD burner or Blu-ray optical drive, six built-in Altec Lansing surround sound speakers, optional TV tuner, AI Touch Media, a 2MP webcam, 802.11 Draft N wireless, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet LAN, and a 56k modem just for good measure.

Mio Moov Navigators at CES

Posted in CES 2009 by Conner Flynn on January 9th, 2009

Mio Moov Navigators at CESMio has unveiled not one, not two, but five new GPS navigators at CES 2009. The new devices include the Mio Moov S300, S556, and S700. The devices support the “Spirit” software platform.

The S300 features a 3.5-inch display, text-to-speech and 12 million POIs. The S500 offers a 4.7-inch panel. The Moov S556 comes with the same 4.7-inch display with Bluetooth and Junction View features. While the S700 offers a huge 7-inch display. The Mio Moov S300, S300, S556, and S700 are priced at $199.99, $249.99, $299.99 and $299.99 respectively.

LG BD390 Blu-Ray player with Wi-Fi

Posted in LG by Conner Flynn on January 9th, 2009

LG BD390 Blu-Ray player with Wi-FiThe LG BD390 Blu-ray player gets a couple of added features that take it to the next level when compared with most other competing players. With internet connectivity being this year’s mantra for TVs at CES, the BD390 decided to include Wi-Fi connectivity.

To complement it’s new tricks, the player has 1GB of onboard memory, so there’s no need for a USB stick to access BD-Live features, and 7.1 channel analog outputs for some killer sound and compatibility.