Pinnacle Systems is launching yet another wave of new USB TV tuners for those who want to bring television to their computers. These compact tuners are known as the HD mini Sticks and they’ll be available in PC or Mac offerings for around $120 or $130, respectively.

The Pinnacle HD mini Sticks are USB-powered tuners which, in general, let you view and record digital over-the-air TV (ATSC) and unencrypted digital cable TV (ClearQAM) for SDTV and HDTV with resolutions of up to 1080i. One can make use of these devices as PVRs with timeshifting capabilities that enable users to record, pause or rewind live TV. Recordings can be scheduled as well via programming data from an Internet-based guide.

I have said it before, and I will say it again — PC gamers need a good set of headphones. Headphones are a great way to keep the neighbors/wife/girlfriend/mom from complaining every time you fire up Call of Duty to frag some noobs. Headphones also let you hear more nuances of the sound as well.

Plantronics makes all sorts of headphones and headsets for different tasks — including PC gaming. The latest gaming headphones from Plantronics are called the GameCom 777 and are connected to the PC and powered by one USB connection. The headphones have a built-in USB sound card and utilize Dolby Pro Logic II and virtual 5.1 surround sound.

The new Samsung X360 laptop looks like it might be something special, measuring in at only 0.66-inches thick and weighing 2.8-pounds, it obviously wants to compete with the MacBook Air. The 13.3-inch laptop is powered by a Centrino 2 ULV processor and sports 1GB of RAM and can support up to 4GB.

You can choose from 64GB or 128GB SSD, or a 5400RPM 120GB HDD, X4500 integrated graphics. Some other features are a 7-in-1 card reader, three USB ports, PCI ExpressCard/34, HDMI, VGA, LAN, docking port, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR and a 1.3 megapixel camera. No optical drive. The battery will supposedly give you 6 to 10 hours. No word on price yet.

This thing looks like it’s alien in origin, but it’s made right here on Earth. It’s the future people! It’s the size of a small apple. And they crammed a lot inside. A 300 MHz processor, 16MB of onboard flash memory, 64MB of SDRAM, and a 1GB CompactFlash card loaded with Red Hat Linux. On the outside, it’s got a single USB port, VGA, Ethernet port, RS232 port, and mic and speaker plugs.

The entire deal is powered by a 5V plug. But that’s not all. It’s also got a “Space Wire” port, which is a proprietary interface used by people like the ESA, NASA and JAXA, for when the Cube actually goes into space. Get it? Space cube. But it’s not just for space, you can get your own soon, “once a few technical issues have been ironed out”. They will retail for as much as $2,769.

USB hubs being the neccessity they are, it’s always nice to see one that looks like it could class up the joint. And this one really is a nice bit of architecture. They merged a Newton’s Cradle with a USB hub. The Boynq Swing gracefully suspends four USB cables underneath an arch. It just sits and waits and looks classy.

Aside from it’s awesome design, it’s pretty much your typical USB hub, sporting DC power for multiple high-powered USB devices and fuses to protect against power surges. It’s got a sweet look and I hope other hub designers are taking note. We’d like to see more like this.

Speakers that look like ice aren’t just for the desktop in Superman’s Fortress Of Solitude somewhere in the arctic. They’ll look good on your desk too. And they are extremely portable and said to be the smallest performance stereo USB speakers you can get for your desktop and notebook.

They only have a 1 watt per channel rating, but hey, they’ll look good on your desk. Like icy bling. They’ll probably make you feel cool on a hot day just looking at them. They’re powered via USB, and acoustically engineered to direct sound waves towards an adjacent chamber for $39.99.

We first told you about the Bat Signal spotlight back in March. But back then no one had seen the latest Dark Knight flick yet. So it’s only natural that we would see another version now that the movie has come out. In this DIY version, they’ve updated the Bat Symbol itself to the one from the new films.

See, that’s why Batman never showed up when you called. You were using an outdated bat symbol. This one looks much cooler. You’ll need a couple of old bottle caps, tinfoil(Some of you already have hats you can tear a piece off of), cheap USB light, small piece of clear plastic, cardboard, soldiering iron, hot glue gun, paint, and some time. Then you’ll be annoying your cubicle mates in no time.

Newer Technology was busy this past week showing off a new  FireWire/USB hub for data storage. It is called the Newertech miniStack v2.5 and pricing, depending upon hard drive storage size, runs up to around $280 for 1TB.

The Newertech miniStack v2.5 is a FireWire 400/USB 2.0 powered hub storage solution, according to its maker. At its maximum storage offering of 1TB it can reportedly store upwards of 1 million JPEGs, 350,000 MP3s or 500 DVD quality movies.

Antec has unveiled a new computing kit for those wishing to upgrade their existing PCs into being more multimedia focused. It is called the Antec Multimedia Station and there will be four models available, ranging in price from around $30 to $120.

Antec said these four new bundles, which include  IR receiver, remote and media management software, offer “1080p resolution, can play nearly all media formats and is compatible with Windows Media Center Edition, Windows Vista and XP.” More details on the four offerings can be found after the jump via Antec.

When it comes to backing up data on our computers most of us never do it. The sheer amount of data that could be lost to a hard drive crash on most user’s computers is disturbing to think about. External hard drives are the storage solution of choice for users that have more data than a flash drive will hold or want an automated backup solution.

Addonics has a new external enclosure called the Portable Dual Drive Enclosure that supports dual hard drives and RAID configurations for even more data safety. The enclosure can hold dual 2.5-inch SATA hard drives 9 to 9.5mm in height. Using SATA-CF adapters, you the enclosure can also support up to four compact flash cards.

It used to be that a portable hard drive had to be plugged into the wall AC outlet to be able to operate. Over time, some smaller capacity hard drives could be powered by the USB port totally, making them much more portable. Today even some larger capacity portable drives are powered by the USB port.

Memorex announced its new line of portable hard drives today that are completely USB powered. The line is called the Memorex Essential TravelDrive. All of the drives are 2.5-inch and are compatible with both Mac and PC systems and backup software is included with the drives.

Another Samsung flat panel line up riding the waves of the consumer electronics company’s big annoucements last week is the Series 7 Plasma HDTVs. They will be available in August in 50-inch, 58-inch and 63-inch screen sizes (model numbers: PN50A760, PN58A760 and PN63A760), pricing around $2,800, $4,500 and $5,500, respectively.

The main highlights of the Series 7 displays include the hint of red blended into the outer edges of the artsy panels, 1080p resolution and Internet-based content provided by USA Today. You can get the full details after the jump.

Samsung had a little mid-year coming out party yesterday as it unveiled a bunch of new flat panels and associated home theater gear. One of these upcoming releases is the new Series 8 850 and Series 8 860 LCD HDTVs, pricing between around $2,700 and $3,500.

Four models make up the Series 8 850 and 860, consisting of two each 45.9- and 52-inch televisions. All units will be available in September and unique features include a slim, narrow bezel with a touch of color around the edges and support for RSS feeds from USA Today. For full details, check out the press release after the jump.

Toshiba earlier this week introduced a new laptop series that integrates Garmin GPS technology into the fold. It is called the Toshiba Qosmio F55 and pricing starts at around $1,400.

The Toshiba Qosmio F55 sports a 15.4-inch screen and is powered by the Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and NVIDIA GPUs. The integrated GPS technology by Garmin lets you do all the things you’d typically do with a free-standing GPS system and the system include face recognition technology as well.

Sony is now offering up a new line of professional notebook computers powered by the new Intel Centrino 2 processor. It is called the Sony VAIO BZ Series and you’ll find pricing starting around $1,000.

The Sony VAIO BZ Series offers up a 15.4-inch widescreen display and full-size keyboard while weighing less than six pounds. It sports a magnesium alloy casing to help protect against bumping. Also noteworthy for day to day work is the shock protection on the hard drive and spill-resistant keyboard.