Archive for July, 2010

Next-gen iPod touch to get front-facing camera? September release?

Posted in iPod Touch by Conner Flynn on July 8th, 2010

There’s no way to confirm this one just yet, but Apple might be working on a new iPod touch. Some iPod touch parts have showed up on several Chinese websites, which show a hole on the front of the device that’s likely for a front-facing camera.

There are also some new comments from an exec at UK retailer John Lewis, who said that a major iPod touch refresh is coming in September, and that it will match many of the iPhone 4′s features, including a 5-megapixel camera with HD video recording, a gyroscope and even FaceTime support.

MSI Limited Edition Dodgers MLB Computers

Posted in MSI by Conner Flynn on July 8th, 2010

LA Dodgers fans can now get their favorite team branded on their computer. MSI and the Dodgers have teamed up to announce these exclusive Dodgers computers.

These machines will feature the Dodgers logo and digital Dodgers content. They include the limited edition MSI Wind Top AE2220 and the Wind U135DX netbook. The Wind Top features a Core 2 Duo T6600 CPU, NVIDIA Ion graphics, a 21.5-inch screen, and 4GB of RAM.

Sony T99, WX5 and TX9 Cybershots with BIONZ processors

Posted in Cameras by Conner Flynn on July 8th, 2010

Sony has extended the Cybershot line with a trio of new cameras. The T99 is an underwater camera that is capable of shooting panorama shots and 720p HD videos at 30fps. The TX9 is a full HD 1080i with Sweep Multi Angle for 3D style imaging. It also has a ‘background defocus’ feature that gives it the DSLR like effect for sharper foreground images with backgrounds that appear blurry.

The WX5 has no water-resistance but a 5x optical zoom and a Sony G lens. Looks like the WX5 will be $400, the TX9 will cost $512 and the T99 will cost $330.

Concept iPad case adds missing camera

Posted in iPad accessories by Conner Flynn on July 8th, 2010

Check out this iPad Camera Case design by Chet Rosales. It makes sense to put the camera in a case since you want a case for your iPad anyway. It’s actually a swiveling camera.

If you are worried that a front-facing camera will drain the battery, there’s extra room for an extra battery or two in this case as well. The least Apple can do is approve this thing and give people a camera, but you know they never would. Too much bulk on the left side.

Burger King in Japan offers Personal Music Showers

Posted in News by Conner Flynn on July 8th, 2010

Don’t like the music at Burger King? Folks in Tokyo Japan can now enjoy their own personal choice of music at outlets with “musical showers”, which basically is a hanging speaker above your table that will play your preferred music which will be more or less confined to your table.

The music comes from an iPod/iPhone dock installed on the wall, where you can dock your device and send the music directly to the speaker above your head.

Patriot whips out 64GB SDXC card

Posted in Storage by Shane McGlaun on July 8th, 2010

Patriot has been around for a long time and makes a variety of gear for the computer enthusiast. Patriot has a bunch of SSDs for storage and makes system memory and other devices as well. The company has announced its latest memory card is now available.

The card is the 64GB Patriot LX Series SDXC card. The thing has 64GB of storage, which is a ton of storage space for a small SD card form factor. The LX card is a UHS-1 device meaning it has bus speed up to 104MB/s.

Canon DSLRs get ugly 3D lens from Loreo

Posted in Canon by Shane McGlaun on July 8th, 2010

When it comes time to shop for a new gadget, I’m not one to buy based on looks alone. If you show me an ugly device and a cool device with the same performance, I will go for the attractive gadget for sure. If the ugly device is the only option then ugly it is.

Such is the case with this new 3D lens from Loreo for Canon DSLR cameras. The lens is not pretty in a silver looking color attached to a camera that is black. The fact that the massive lens is wider than the camera in the picture makes it look even stranger.

Adidas unveils Han Solo SL-72 shoes

Posted in clothing by Shane McGlaun on July 8th, 2010

When it comes to clothing, I rarely choose gear that has characters on it. You won’t catch me rocking a t-shirt with Darth Vader for instance. I might rock these shoes with Han Solo bling though.

Adidas has unveiled a new pair of shoes for its Star Wars collection that is called the Han Solo SL-72. It appears that the tongue of the shoe has a shot of Solo encased in carbonite.

Toilet cart is the coolest geek chariot ever

Posted in Automotive by Shane McGlaun on July 8th, 2010

Sometime I run across stuff that is so great it’s just amazing. Today is such a day. A guy named Dave has created the coolest go-cart ever. It’s perfect for cruising at the racetrack and would make the perfect golf cart for drunkards.

The cart is made out of what appears to be a normal enough go cart frame and motor. Rather than seats, the thing has a pair of toilets on it. The tanks for the toilets are replaced with red coolers.

Pioneer CDJ-850 DJ media player unveiled

Posted in Pioneer by Shane McGlaun on July 8th, 2010

Pioneer makes all sorts of DJ gear for the pro DJ that costs a ton of money. If you are a DJ somewhere between the pro and beginner level looking for high-end gear without the pro price tag, Pioneer has a new media player for you.

The device is called the CDJ-850 and it uses the same club-inspired layout as the more expensive CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900 units. The 850 has a big 206mm jog dial, rotary selector knob, and enhanced mixing features.

HTC Ace Android 3.0 phone rumored

Posted in HTC by Conner Flynn on July 7th, 2010

Take this with whatever size grains of salt you must, as this is just a rumor at this point, but word is that HTC is prepping the HTC Ace. It is rumored to look something like the HTC Droid Incredible.

It’s too early to tell when this phone will be arriving, if true, but some specifications reportedly include a large 4.3-inch AMOLED display, an 8-megapixel camera with flash, Android 3.0, and it will be powered by a dual-core Snapdragon CPU.

Philips Blu-ray players to come with Blockbuster On Demand

Posted in Blu-ray by Conner Flynn on July 7th, 2010

Philips Blu-ray players will now be shipping with BLOCKBUSTER On Demand, offering another way for Blockbuster to offer consumers instant access to the latest movies. It will work with the Philips 5320 and 7320 Blu-ray models.

They are a little late to the party on this one and we don’t see them knocking Netflix down anytime soon. Most of us already have a PS3, after all. But if this catches your movie viewing fancy, the On Demand service offers comprehensive on-screen search and browsing capabilities, as well as full details, ratings, trailers and additional information concerning each movie.

Motorola Charm gets official from T-Mobile

Posted in T-Mobile by Conner Flynn on July 7th, 2010

The Motorola Charm is now officially official having been announced from T-Mobile. They hope to charm you with this touchscreen handset with a social networking focus and Motorola’s MotoBLUR. It ships with Android 2.1, but hopefully T-Mobile will roll out a FroYo update soon.

The Charm should hit the States this summer as a T-Mobile exclusive. Some features include a 2.8″ touchscreen display, full QWERTY keyboard and a Backtrack navigation pad. This will be the first device in the US with an enhanced version of Motoblur built on the Android 2.1 platform.

Asus Bamboo notebooks now available for pre-order at Best Buy

Posted in ASUS by Conner Flynn on July 7th, 2010

This is not for those who keep Pandas as pets, not that any of you do that. At least I hope you don’t. Those cute bears will kill you and eat your bamboo notebook. If you want an Asus Bamboo notebook in the US, you can now place a pre-order on Best Buy for a couple of 14″ systems.

They include the U43JC and U43F. The latter will cost $950 and runs an Intel Core i5 2.26GHz with 4GB of RAM and a 640GB hard drive. The U43JC costs $50 more, with NVIDIA’s GeForce 310M graphics chipset with Optimus graphics switching capability to help with battery life.

It’s hot! Here’s a DIY air conditioner

Posted in DIY by Conner Flynn on July 7th, 2010

It’s hot here in the Northeast. Very hot! If your air conditioning fails or you simply don’t have air conditioning, here’s a DIY solution. You wont have real AC cooling power, but it beats having nothing.

You just need a cooler, a fan, some tubes and a water pump. Then you just need to run cool water in front of the fan for it to cool off the air that blows out, making it only slightly more effective than a regular fan.