For most computer makers a simple processor update isn’t a big deal to consumers. If Dell tosses a recently announced CPU in a notebook, most people don’t think much about it. When Apple changes something though, the hoards of fans get very excited.

Some Apple fans are probably giddy right now after an email from Intel sent to members of the Intel Retail Edge program was sent out showing a MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i5 CPU up for grabs. The email invited the members to enter to win one of two new MacBook Pro notebooks with the Core i5 processor.

An e-mail sent to members of Intel’s Retail Edge promotional program highlight an upcoming MacBook Pro from Apple with a new Core i5 processor. The promotion was included in an e-mail sent to members of the Intel Retail Edge Program. It reads: “January Prize Draw: Win a MacBook Pro. Pass this month’s trainings for 2 chances to win one of 2 MacBook Pro laptops with the accelerated response of an Intel Core i5 processor.”

Right now, the top MacBook Pro has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Last week at CES, Intel formally introduced the new line of processors, which included the new Core i3, i5 and i7 chips. The mobile Core i5 has been considered a likely candidate for a MacBook Pro refresh.

[Appleinsider]

If only the PS3 could record and process high-definition video. Well Sony is finally taking care of it, announcing Torne, a DTV adapter for Japan that will allow you to record television and even video playback while surfing the web.

The Torne ships in March, priced at ¥9980 (or $110) on its own. Or you can get it in a bundle for ¥42,800 (or $465). As for the US getting it? Don’t hold your breath.

[Engadget]

Razer has a new motion gaming controller for PCs, which obviously works similar to the Wiimote. The device is called the Razer Sixense Motion Gaming Controller.

It’s designed to let gamers control a wide range of functions on the PC, like moving around and controlling weapons, but most importantly the company claims that it will be extremely accurate down to the nearest millimeter. Two controllers are used to perform various functions in the game. Much like the Wiimote/nunchuk combo.

A luxury green HTPC. That’s what we have here. A sexy one at that, what with its sexy styling and all. It comes from Seoul-based designer, Design Hara. It’s green because it has a recyclable chassis, handcrafted cypress wood or rose wood side panels and a front cover made from natural sheep leather.

All of the internal parts are connected using bolts and nuts, which helps make the recyclable e-waste separation process much easier. This HTPC requires only 33% of the energy that its desktop equivalent uses. Some other specs include a Mini-ITX motherboard with HDMI and DVI outputs, an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM and a 1TB hard drive.

The latest ebook reader to hit the market is the new Hanvon N618 ebook reader from the WISEreader line. This one features a 6″ Vizplex e-paper display, Wi-Fi, a 3.5mm headphone jack, USB connectivity, 320MB of internal memory and an SD memory card slot.

The Hanvon will play nice with TXT, HTXT, HTML, PDF, DOC, XLS ebooks, JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF and TIF file formats. It also boasts handwriting recognition so you can jot down notes on your TXT ebooks. It’s just a tad expensive and costs half a grand in China. Keep in mind that this doesn’t even have an ebook store connection.

Is it cold and dry where you live? You may want to consider this humidifier. This model from Japan looks nothing like the usual humidifiers we see around here. It has an elegant charm to it for sure.

The Mast Humidifier is carved out of Japanese Cypress and absorbs water from the hull, diffusing it through the air with the natural lemony-scent of the wood. Its even rot resistant and requires no electricity. Be moist while making a stylish and artistic statement.

As we told you yesterday, Google took a stand against the Chinese government by refusing to censor their search results. Well, it looks like some citizens are already in mourning.

Chinese citizens have been placing flowers on the Google logo as if it were a gravestone. And it just may be if the Chinese government decides they don’t like Google’s stance.

Forget paper greeting cards. Euri, Inc. is offering up the new Digital Slide Show Card, in partnership with American Greetings. The digital greeting card line is touted as “the world’s first” and it’s basically a digital picture frame with a 2.4-inch LCD that comes to life when the card is opened.

When powered up it will last for about three hours of playback and storage for fifty images, or five minutes of MP3 audio. The cards can be recharged via USB and are priced at $19.99. You can get them now at Target.

That model sure looks happy about having three new Samsung all-in-ones. And why not? It’s good news. Korea will be getting three new all-in-one PCs from the company. The MU100 packs an Intel Atom N450 CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and Intel GMA 3150 graphics.

The 20-inch MU200 has an Intel Pentium T4400 processor and GeForce G310 graphics with 512MB of VRAM. Lastly, the 23-inch, full HD MU250 has an Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 CPU, 3GB of RAM, a 500GB of HDD, GeForce G310 graphics with 512MB of VRAM.

Too many e-readers. Do people really love them or are OEMs just all going crazy? Anyhow, Teclast, the portable media player guys, have now entered this crowded market with the K3. It supports the usual document formats and packs a 6-inch E Ink display, an MP3 / MP4 player and text-to-speech either in English or Chinese.

They call it a “Talking Portable Library”, but we are guessing that the voice leaves something to be desired. Call it a hunch.

Not sure why we haven’t seen this guy on more things. The Android Robot does fall under the Creative Commons license after all, but check this out Android fans. This cute little guy can’t be found in stores sadly, but we still want one.

Some guy got tired of waiting for Android Robot merchandise to appear and made this himself as a birthday present for a friend. It’s a hand crafted, one-of-a-kind, Android Plush Bag. Great for your Google phone or whatever.

There are many computer users out there waiting for the SSD to come down in price enough that it is easy to afford the new tech. The SSD has many benefits over the standard HDD and once the price comes down many more computer users will probably upgrade.

Kingston showed off a new SSD at CES that is very well priced. The SSD is called the SSDNow V series 30GB Boot Drive and it ships with Windows 7 TRIM functionality. The SSD will be priced at $79.99 when it launches in February after rebates.

Lots of people around the country take tons of pictures and video with the new iPhone 3GS. Many of the people who take lots of pictures like to share them on ImageShack and Twitter as well. ImageShack has announced a new update for its iPhone app that makes sharing easier.

The app is now at version 2.0 and lets the user directly upload photos and video to ImageShack for sharing. The app also lets the user use yfrog to upload pics to Twitter. Multiple login options allow you control over where and how your images are uploaded.

You can put all the newest hardware available inside your PC, but if you put it in a junky looking case, no one will think it’s cool. Gamers and enthusiasts want a cool case, but they don’t want to spend so much on the case that they have to skimp on hardware.

NZXT has announced a new case that should be reasonably priced called the Hades. The chassis is good looking and is designed to offer nine 5.25″ drive bays. If you don’t need that many 5.25″ bays four of them can be converted to 3.5″ drive bays.