Archive for September, 2010

4th-gen iPod touch teardown reveals stealth antenna

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

The folks at iFixit continued their investigation of the latest round of iPods with a teardown of the fourth-generation iPod touch. They went deeper than the FCC teardown, and confirmed that the Wi-Fi antenna has been moved to the front, eliminating the need for the black plastic window on that earlier models had. It also shows that Apple is using Toshiba flash memory for the main storage on the iPod; other Apple devices usually use Samsung.

The A4 processor model number is the same one as in the iPad and confirms that it’s using 256MB of RAM. The iPhone 4 has a different label to indicate that it has 512MB. The headphone jack is removable for the first time, and there’s a gap around the battery that simplifies removal.

Droid 2 R2-D2 Edition boot animation

Posted in Motorola by Conner Flynn on September 8th, 2010


A new animation for the R2-D2 Edition Motorola Droid 2 has shown up online and it looks like the official version. Star Wars fans will love this one for sure. The Droid 2 R2-D2 edition features the same specifications as the standard edition, with a 3.7 inch WVGA TFT display with a resolution of 480 x 854.

Other specifications include a 1GHz processor, 8GB of built in storage plus a microSD card slot that comes with an 8GB card as standard, and it can be upgraded to a 32GB micro SD card.

Xtreme Mac launches two new iPhone and iPod Audio Docks

Posted in iPhone Accessories by Conner Flynn on September 8th, 2010

Xtreme Mac has launched a new pair of audio docks for the iPhone and iPod, The Luna SST alarm clock dock and the 3 in 1 Microdock. The Luna SST alarm clock has dual independent alarms and a detachable speaker. It’s the perfect size for your nightstand and delivers full stereo sound.

The 2 in 1 Microdock lets you charge your iPhone or iPod, and you can also play music though the built in speaker. It comes with a free Alarm clock app which is available for both docks.

Apple iOS 4.1 now available to download

Posted in Apple by Conner Flynn on September 8th, 2010

Apple just launched the latest version of their iOS for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it is now available to download from iTunes. Some of those new features to the iPhone and iPod Touch include a bunch of bug fixes for the iPhone 3G which should speed things up. There’s also a fix for the proximity sensor issues on the iPhone 4.

New features in iOS 4.1 include HDR Photos, the ability to upload HD video over WiFi, TV show rentals for your iOS device and Game Center.

A-Data C008 USB Flash Drive now available in Europe

Posted in USB Flash Drives by Conner Flynn on September 8th, 2010

A-Data’s newest line of USB flash drives, the C008, was announced back in August. Now they have arrived in European retail stores. These drives come in both 4GB and 8GB capacities.

They are capless flash drives with a matte-textured, scratchproof body and feature a slide-out USB 2.0/1.1 connector. They come in two color options, blue/white and black/red as seen above.

Seiko active-Matrix EPD Watch on sale this December

Posted in Watches by Conner Flynn on September 8th, 2010

The Seiko active-Matrix EPD watch will be available soon since the company has now decided to release this watch in Japan during the busy holiday season. It’s available in silver, gold and black. This one features a 300dpi EPD (Matrix Electrophoretic) display with a 180-degree viewing angle.

Some other features include world time with 32 cities, automatic synchronization via radio signal and a stainless steel case with a sapphire crystal. It also sports a built-in solar panel, offering roughly 30 months of display time on a full charge.

iPhone apps save UK government millions

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

The UK take their apps seriously. The government is reportedly saving millions of Pounds (about $350 million US dollars) just by developing iGovernment apps that help citizens. The Local Government Association (LGA) implemented the apps to allow iPhone users to get information on road conditions, pay for parking and lots of other stuff.

They can send in complaints or inform the government about any issue they want. One app allows users to send in hygiene ratings of local restaurants, another is used to complain about vandalism, snap a picture and send it in as a report.

Compumax Android tablet with Tegra 2 chipset

Posted in Tablet PC by Conner Flynn on September 8th, 2010

Another day, another tablet. This one comes from Compumax of Colombia. It’s an Android-powered tablet that features the Tegra 2 chipset. The Tegra 2 should help in the graphics department. There’s also a dual core 1GHz Cortex A9 processor, 512MB RAM and a hard drive.

Looks like it will cost $387 when it debuts in Peru this October. This tablet, at that price sounds almost too good to be true. We will have to see it to believe it.

Pioneer HDJ-500 DJ headphones

Posted in Pioneer by Conner Flynn on September 8th, 2010

Pioneer’s latest DJ headphones look ready to rock in red. They almost look like a Ferrari item. The HDJ-500 was specially made for comfort and performance. The main body is made out of magnesium alloy so it is lightweight and strong, with a rotating arm design that lets you twist the right earpiece backwards and forwards up to 60 degrees.

So get spinning and mixing and look good with these headphones. The Pioneer HDJ-500 DJ headphones will go on sale in January 2011 for $125.

T-Mobile G2 Keyboard has keys for Google shortcuts

Posted in T-Mobile by Conner Flynn on September 8th, 2010

The upcoming T-Mobile G2 has some interesting features. If you check out the keyboard, you’ll notice that there are a few new keys called Quick Keys. Word is getting around that they’re designed for Google shortcuts, which allows users to customize the keys to access commonly used functions.

The G2 should be announced around the 15th of September and will be launched on the 29th, so we don’t have a long wait for this one anymore.

HP Zeen C510 Android Tablet spotted in the wild

Posted in HP by Conner Flynn on September 8th, 2010

Looks like we now have some pictures of HP’s 7-inch Zeen C510 Android-powered tablet. The stock Android user interface has been removed in favor of HP’s TouchSmart UI and there’s no sign of the Gmail app or Android Market, though an email client is included, along with Yahoo services like Mail and Messenger. Facebook is also onboard.

Nook compatibility should also be included since the Barnes & Noble logo was spotted. The Zeen C510 tablet might show up as early as late September, and it also might be priced at $399.

Nikon announces Coolpix S80 compact camera

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

Nikon has announced the S80 compact camera, a 14-megapixel shooter powered by Nikon’s Expeed C2 image processor. Nikon has gone so far as to include a 3.5-inch OLED touchscreen with the S80. You can expect the Coolpix S80 to arrive this fall for $329.95 in red, black, blue, pink, gold, and silver/brown.

Some of the specifications of the S80 include that 3.5-inch OLED touchscreen display, 14-megapixels image sensor, Expeed C2 image processor, 720p HD movie recording, Stereo microphone and a 5x zoom.

Xbox 360 250GB plus Kinect bundle, $399 in US, £300 in UK

Posted in Xbox 360 by Conner Flynn on September 8th, 2010

Microsoft has finally announced the pricing of its second Kinect bundle, which will launch along with the standalone and 4GB options on November 4 in the US and November 10 in Europe. The new package consists of the 250GB slim version of the Xbox 360, the motion tracker, a spare controller, and a copy of Kinect Adventures.

Pricing is on the high side. Kotaku is reporting $399 for the US and Microsoft confirmed £300 for the UK. You won’t have a long wait now.

Willow Garage ships PR2 robot for $400,000

Posted in Robots by Shane McGlaun on September 8th, 2010

I have seen the Willow Garage PR2 robot a few times around the web and the thing is really cool. When you consider the fact that the PR2 was only being sold to research institutions and universities it was easy to imagine that meant the bot was very expensive.

Willow Garage is now selling the PR2 to anyone who can afford it. That list of people who can afford the PR2 will be short considering the thing costs $400,000. For that much money, you get two arms with grippers, an omnidirectional mobile base, a sensor suite, and dual onboard Xeon servers each with 8-cores, 24GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage, and a power system on board.

Cooler Master USNA 95 notebook power adapter is world’s smallest

Posted in Computers by Shane McGlaun on September 8th, 2010

Notebook users know that the power adapter for their machines often seems as big and heavy as the notebook itself. It can be a real challenge to fit that adapter into your notebook bag or suitcase when going on the road because of the bulk. Cooler Master has unveiled a new universal 95W adapter for small notebooks that is very thin and small.

The adapter is called the USNA 95 and it has 95W of power with 150W peak. The small adapter measures 2.4″ x 0.7″ x 4.1″ and is billed as the world’s smallest 95W power adapter. The device ships with nine tips that work with the majority of notebooks on the market.