As of Monday, T10 speakers and EP610 headphones now come in Jet Black, Plum Purple, Tangerine Orange, Flamingo Pink, Midnight Blue, Ruby Red and Spring Green. The T10 speakers will set you back $40, and the headphones are $24.
An insider at one of Taiwan’s motherboard manufacturers has reported that Nvidia called a meeting this week to discuss its future development of chipsets. The insider also stated that it’s a good possibility that Nvidia will quit the chipset business altogether.
The motherboard manufacturer in question has yet to respond to the claim. On the other hand, Nvidia snapped back claiming the report is completely groundless. Michael Jong, senior director of corporate marketing, said that Nvidia is planning to release new MCP products to the market for Intel and AMD.
If the insider is right, this will end the rumor that Apple will be using Nvidia chipsets for the new Macbook. Hopefully Apple didn’t burn too many bridges over at Intel if this does turn out to be true. It’s all rampant speculation at this point; we’ll keep you informed.
The band we all know as Buckcherry recently put out a press release stating that they were pissed off that someone leaked their music online. The tracks in question were being distributed via BitTottent. This prompted TorrentFreak to track down who leaked the album. Well, it turns out Buckcherry’s own manager was the one that leaked the album. Uh ohs!
I don’t think I need to tell you the different ways in which this is stupid. Seriously, Scooby Doo and Shaggy could have figured this little scheme out.
In a last ditch effort Gary McKinnon, the UK hacker who allegedly hacked in to the Pentagon, is now taking his case to the European Court on Human Rights. McKinnon feels that his human rights were violated when the U.S. offered him a plea-bargain (something the UK courts to not do) to get a lighter sentence. He felt that by accepting this he would be opting himself out of a fair trial. Of course, he’s already admitted he did the crimes, having left a melodramatic note on the system saying among other things:
“I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels…”
Since he didn’t take the plea-bargain he now faces 8-10 years in a medium- or high-security U.S. prison if he gets extradited. So I don’t blame him for trying to keep it in the EU, but it looks like he’s prolonging the inevitable at this point.
Today Activision announced that they plan to collaborate with Logitech to develop “premium” instruments for the new Guitar Hero game. Supposedly the new instruments will be compatible with all the new features found in “World Tour”. Charles Huang, VP of business development for RedOctane said:
“With Logitech, we know we have found the right partner who can deliver top-quality premium hardware that consumers have come to expect from Guitar Hero.”
I think someone (cough — Charles) likes to toot their own horn. Top-quality hardware is not what I expect from Guitar Hero. What I expect is a cheap plastic guitar to rock out on and then break after a few months of playing.
I couldn’t find any pictures of the designs Logitech plans to create, but as soon as I do, expect to find them here. I imagine the guitar will be silver and black, like everything else Logitech makes.
If this product from China can really do what they say it can, it could make working from in the pool a reality. Not that I would want to work while I was relaxing in the pool but I still would be nice to be able to check if I got an impotent email from the boss man.
So far the only information about this product is written in Chinese so I was not able to get any real details on it. By looking at the pictures it looks like any other Internet device with a small keyboard and screen. It also attaches to a floating tube so you don’t have to tread water furiously to use it.
If this product ever makes it to the United States and I have a pool by that time, I will cover this again. From my pool.
Well it looks like the case between Psystar and Apple is going to get interesting. It’s been reported that a law firm that has taken on Apple in the past and won, has been retained by Psystar.
The name of the California law firm is Carr & Ferrell and they specialize in intellectual property cases. You may remember them from the Burst.com case where in the end, Apple settled and paid them $10 million. Also worth noting is that they went up against Microsoft and took in $60 million.
This doesn’t guarantee that Psystar is going to win, it just means that Apple is going to have a fight in its hands. Psystar’s deadline to respond to the lawsuit was moved to August 18th, so it looks like this battle royale may kick off in the fall and probably last into next year.
I thought I’d seen everything when I saw a website dedicated to selling shirts with bacon on them.
However, I was proven wrong when I saw a website dedicated to selling a USB flash drive in the shape of a huge nail.
The name of this USB flash drive is “Nailed” and you can learn all about it at Plankton Station. With a name like Plankton Station you’d think the site would be selling fish food for your expensive saltwater aquarium and not a USB novelty. You’d also think they’d want to wait to go live until they had more than a single product and a mission statement.
The drive itself is a little pricey, it comes to about $46.50 USD and features only a 1 GB storage. I guess that is a small price to pay for the illusion if hammering a nail in to your beloved and/or hated computer. (No actual hammering required or recommended)
When I was in the 8th grade, friendship bracelets were all the rage — so much so that I started my own bracelet-making business. I would make them in study hall and then sell them for about 2-5 bucks. Demand got so high I ended up talking other kids into making them for me (I would pay them $1 a bracelet). Doing this got the attention of The Man and I had to shut down my little operation.
If I only had some LEGOs and a little engineering experience back then. I could have constructed a LEGO friendship bracelet maker and made millions! If I had that machine I wouldn’t have had to run a sweatshop in study hall, and wouldn’t have gotten punked by The Man.
Vonage has launched a new package called Vonage Pro, which enables users to place VoIP calls anywhere they have a broadband connection. Jamie Haenggo, Vonage’s chief marketing officer had this to say about the service:
“Vonage Pro is the VoIP offering that prosumers have been asking for to help them stay connected while on the go.”
Strong words from a strong man (or lady, possibly). The package comes with an updated version of Vonage Companion (Mac version coming soon), which is a SoftPhone powered by CounterPath. All you need to do to use this service is install the software, hook up a headset, and you’re ready for business. If you’re wondering, incoming calls ring on both the home phone and the SoftPhone. You can also make two different outgoing calls at the same time (one over VoIP and the other on the home phone). It also has the other expected features like personalized ring tones, call recording, and call blocking.
If this sounds like something you interested in, expect to pay $35 a month (new customers only) for their unlimited calling package. If you’re an existing customer you can upgrade to Pro for an additional $10 a month.
A few months ago, we told you about the $3,000+ radio from Meridian named the F80. One of the features the F80 was missing was an iPod dock. Well, they are going to fix that problem this August with a $400 iPod dock named the i80.
Most audiophiles snub the iPod since it plays compressed audio, but Meridian says they can fix that. They say the i80 can process the files from the iPod to reveal more of the recording. This supposedly helps your music sound better.
The i80 will allow you to control the iPod with your F80’s remote or front panel buttons. It will also pull song information and display it on its own OLED screen. Even though this $400 dock has a few neat features, I don’t think any of them justify the price.
The FCC has just posted information about the HTC Touch Pro (aka HTC Raphael). In a report published by the FCC the phone will have Quad-Band GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and Wi-Fi (sadly, 3G was not mentioned). Other than that, everything else about the phone the FCC is keeping confidential at the request of HTC.
Still no word on which carrier will get this bugger. A few people are leaning towards T-Mobile since AT&T already has the HTC Tilt. I guess we will have to wait for an official press release from either company.
Legendary Pictures and New Line will supposedly co-finance and co-produce the Gears of War movie. This is good news for fans of the game that would want to see this movie. I still have a bad taste in my month over the whole Halo movie fiasco, so I’m still having trouble believing this will ever be made. Read More
Samuel has made a video of his creation and hopes its gets 50,000+ views. Once it does, he will send a proposal to Sony asking them to pay for half his education if they like the idea (no joke, that’s really his plan).
The design itself looks pretty slick and it has the one thing I crave, a QWERTY keyboard. I can’t stand using Internet devices without them.
AT&T has been working on a research project based on the WATSON speech recognition engine. The project, named Speech Mashups, is a web service that is only activated when the iPhone (or any other modern phone) connects to it. So that means that the actual voice recognition is happening on a remote server and not the phone itself; there is no need to install a plug-in or any other software on the phone.
So far the only one working prototype is a mobile version of the YellowPages website. There is a video on Apple Insider showing a demonstration of it working.
Hackers are now using ASF (Advanced System Format) to trick PC users into installing malicious software. If you’re not familiar with ASF, it’s a Microsoft-defined container format for media streams that contain additional content like links to websites and images. You don’t see it around quite as much these days (most sites use FLV or some such these days) but it’s still out there. Click below for more info on how these villains are spiking the venerable format.
It has been reported that Motorola is suing Michael Fenger, a former executive who is now working for Apple. According to the complaint, Motorola is accusing Michael of telling Apple their trade secrets for global marketing.
Michael was the VP of mobile business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa when he was at Motorola for six years. He is now Apple’s VP in charge of taking the iPhone global.
They are suing Michael Fenger for one million dollars (every time I read that I think of Dr. Evil). Apple is not named in the case, since it’s not their fault the guy has loose lips (although I’m sure they didn’t try to shut them up).
If you like spoiling your kids and buying them things they will use for a week and then lose, then Bandai’s Smart Barry is worth a look. If you’re wondering why I’m being so hard on this device/toy, read on.
The Smart Barry is a game/text messaging device that allows you to send messages to 4 other devices that are no more the 10 meters away. On top of that your message can only for 64 characters long, which is even more limiting than standard text messaging. But to try and make up for that limitation, they toss in a virtual pet game.
Now I understand that is toy, and not a text messaging replacement. But when I found out the price of this thing I almost kicked a wall. The thing costs 96 dollars, for a toy that you can only use with other 96 dollar devices in a 10 meter range. I don’t see anything here that justifies that kind of price tag. Did I miss something?
["Smart Barry," I love it. Couldn't bring myself to correct that. -- Editor]
The fine forks from MobileRoar are reporting that they got some hot details on a LG Voyager update from a “reliable” source. LG is calling this update the Voyager Refresh and it’s basically a firmware update free to all Voyager owners. The hardware has supposedly been improved too and you should be able to notice some cosmetic differences. People buying a Voyager for the first time will get the updated hardware and a new USB wall charger.
For old Voyager owners they will be able to take their phone to a Verizon store and have the firmware updated to version V10. The update will include support for visual voicemail, drag and drop icons, copy and paste, and a drawing pad.
These details are from a “reliable” anonymous source so who knows if any of this is true. We should find out in August, since visual voicemail will be rolled out then. I would imagine this update will be released at the same time.
It was reported this morning at 6am EDT that all models of the new iPhone were sold out in 21 states. Jim Neal, who is a retired PR guy (keyword retired), used the iPhone availability widget on Apple’s website to check the stock of all its Apple stores.
“All told,” said Jim, “117 Apple stores reported having sold out of all models and only 27 stores indicated they had all three models in stock.”
Apple’s website says that new shipments of iPhones arrive daily, so you just have to get there early to get one. They also say to call 9pm the night before to make sure they got a shipment in.
Jim didn’t have any insight on the stock at the AT&T stores (I feel he dropped the ball), but its well known that most of them sold out the first day. No one is sure when they will be getting another shipment. Maybe we should ask Jim?
If you like the fuel-efficiency of a motorcycle and the comfort of a car, the Carver One might be what you’re looking for. The Carver One is a hybrid car/motorcycle that is compact and fuel-efficient. It only has three wheels and uses Dynamic Vehicle Control to bank the vehicle around turns. Just like if it was a bike and had only two wheels.
The body is 11.2 feet long, 4.3 feet wide, and 4.6 feet high, so I would image it would be easy to park on a small crowded street. The driver seat is said to be comfortable, but the optional backseat leaves much to be desired. The Carver’s speed maxes out at about 115mph and has a manual five speed transmission.
Drivers of the Carver One say it’s like driving a roller coaster — which I can understand since it banks around turns, much like roller coasters do. People have also said that it handles smoothly in varied weather conditions.
This one part car, one part motorcycle is currently only for sale in Europe for around $44,000. They are working on getting past all the regulations so they can release it in the US before 2010.
A report that came out today says a majority of color laser printer manufactures are using technology that leaves microscopic yellow dots on the pages you print. The information in the yellow dots varies, some have just the serial number of the printer and others also have the date printed. Since color laser printers are coming down in price we are starting to find them in more homes, which is making privacy advocates worry.
Advocates of the technology say it is only used in counterfeit cases and law-abiding people have nothing to worry about. Supposedly the Secret Services are the only authorities able to read the codes, but I am sure there other people out there working to crack it.
Once they popped the thing open they saw that Apple combined the logic and communication boards, making more room for the battery. They also didn’t solder the battery on this time, so that will make it a snap to replace (well, relative to before). Also worth noting is the LCD and touchscreen, among other parts, are now easier to replace (not glued together with extra bits). You can tell that Apple worked hard to make this better then the first generation iPhone, though many of these updates are found in the iPod Touch as well.
The guys at iFixit said they plan to keep updating their post with more information as they figure things out. If they find anything earth-shattering we’ll let you know about it.
Today D-Link is shipping a new 10 inch Wi-Fi digital frame (DSM-210) that will seemingly make it a snap to share photos from sites like Flickr and Facebook. Also, since it connected to the internet you can pull streaming content from websites and widgets. If you’re one of those “it must be green” types you’ll be happy to know that this frame has motion detection so it can automatically turn on or off.
To help you manage all the content your frame can show, D-Link partnered with a company called FrameChannel. They will provide a web-based tool so can manage your frame remotely (hope it’s secure, unless you like being goatse’d). The site also features 400 pre-made content streams that you can send to the device. If you’re not connected to the internet you can also load your photos using the standard methods other D-Link frames come with.
If you’re in the market for this web-ready frame, it’ll run you around $289.99 and is available now.
Hackers are now using ASF (Advanced System Format) to 
