Gadget Info

The folks at Konami have been trolling the forums again, kids, and this time they're fighting back. Reps from the game-maker have issued a statement on the company forum addressing the furor over the inflated cost of the forthcoming, limited edition Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle. According to Konami, the bumped up price ($600 for a 40GB version of the PS3, plus Dual Shock controller and MGS4 game) is due to the special material used to create the gunmetal gray system and controller casing. The company seems to take issue with the fact that some are calling it simply a "paint job," and points out that the run of units is only 10,000, and the package also includes a version of the game with an extra disc of additional content. To put it another way: this is the deal of a lifetime!

Audi has already manged to work some LEDs into a few of its cars (concepts and otherwise), but the automaker has gone all out with its latest Audi R8, which employs LEDs for seemingly every lighting function. That includes the 24-LED running lamps the R8 had before, along with some brand LED high and low beam headlights, and LED turn signals, which add up to some 54 LEDs in all. Of course, given the prices that single LED bulbs demand these days, it should come as no surprise that this is quite the pricey option, with it adding a full €3,590 (or about $5,560) to the R8's already lofty sticker price.

MSI's been making a lot of noise with the Wind lately, but we'd heard the company was going to be bringing personal navigators and PMPs to the US back at CES, and it looks like the first one has hit the FCC -- say hello to the MS-5654. As always, the gov's photographers don't exactly bring out the inner beauty of the device, but there's enough to see that the unit features a 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 touchscreen, a 372MHz Centrality processor running Windows CE 5.0, 1GB or 2GB of internal storage with SD expansion, and the usual basic PMP features. Of course, there's no pricing or availability info, but if you're into detailed RF reports, heaven is just beyond the read link.

According to a churning rumor-mill, Apple desperately wants to make over-the-air downloads of iTunes content a reality on the 3G iPhone. Apparently, a record label executive "familiar with the discussions" states that the Cupertino gang is hoping for a "big launch in June" which includes OTA music downloads, ringtone sales, and ringback tones (the substitute music you hear instead of a ring when calling someone). There's only one problem: the labels want a higher premium for those services than a typical MP3 download. Of course, Apple's iTunes pricing has been a point of contention for some time, though its recent rule-bending for HBO could lead to upped charges for the new services. Something tells us Apple has the tenacity and bullheadedness to make this work -- let's just hope they can temper the labels' greed with the end user's economic realities.

Shortly after hearing of rearrangements amongst the XPS / Alienware dev teams, along comes word the outfit's current CFO will be headed out in June. Donald J. Carty (pictured), who was just hired as chief financial officer 1.5 years ago, will be resigning in June and will be replaced by longtime General Electric executive Brian T. Gladden. Mr. Gladden stated that he was "excited to be joining Dell at a time of transformation," and considering the $700,000 annual base salary along with the $2 million signing bonus (amongst other monetary perks), we highly doubt he's fibbing. It should be noted that the Round Rock powerhouse will keep Carty on its board, and that he actually "indicated several months ago that he wanted to retire as CFO."

Fujitsu has a MHZ2 for nearly any application: hardcore security, tight spaces and now continuous operations. The 2.5-inch MHZ2-BK (7,200 RPM) and MHZ2-BS (5,400 RPM) SATA drives are being offered up in sizes as large as 250GB, and as you could likely guess, they'll keep right on keepin' on even under heavy nonstop loads. Designed specifically for use in "business critical and industrial applications that require higher storage capacity," these HDDs are meant to survive the most grueling of tasks, though we're not specifically told what all they actually can live through. Nevertheless, trusting souls can snap up a couple of the MHZ2-BS units right now (pricing not disclosed), while the quicker MHZ2-BK series won't be available until July.

It took 'em a year, but iriver is finally ready to unleash its P10 touchscreen mega-PMP upon the world -- or at least Korea. The player rocks T-DMB, an 800 x 480 4.3-inch LCD, 33GB of storage and quite unique UI. There's also an included stylus and built-in handwriting recognition, with dictionaries for English, Chinese and Japanese. For about $312 US you can get a DMB-free unit, or spring for mobile TV at a $390-ish pricepoint, but again, those are both Korea only. If you're looking to spice up your life this side of the Pacific, iriver is also bringing its D5 clamshell multimedia dictionary to the States, at $300 for 2GB and $350 for 4GB.

1. Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV650 Notebook w/ Built-In TV Tuner and HD DVD ROM Drive

The Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV650 Notebook with built-in TV Tuner is an incredible notebook PC that includes dual hard drives for 200GB of recording space and 1GB of memory. Record from satellite, cable, antenna or any video playback device, and burn to dual-layer DVD. Includes an HD DVD ROM Drive for watching new HD DVD movies. Includes the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition OS for managing all your digital media. This is a great notebook PC for Digital Video Recording.

2. Sony VAIO AR190G Notebook w/ Blu-ray Recordable Drive

The Sony VAIO AR190G Notebook PC is a slim and lightweight notebook that comes with a TV/PVR docking station for watching and recording TV. It also includes a Dual-Layer DVD Drive and Blu-ray recordable drive for saving your videos and TV shows to DVD or new Blu-ray Disc. With 1GB of memory and a 200GB Hard Drive, this Sony Vaio Notebook PC is all you need for great Digital Video Recording from a Notebook PC.

3. HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC

The HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC includes the Windows Vista Home Premium O/S and a built in TV Tuner. Pause, Rewind and record TV on this notebook with the NTSC Analog TV Tuner/ATSC Digital Tuner. Fully upgradable to 4GB of memory and a 500GB Hard Drive. A good Media Center notebook from HP.

4.Alienware Area-51 m9750 Notebook PC

One of the fastest and best Notebooks for Digital Video Recording is the Alienware Area-51 m9750 Notebook PC. It comes with the Windows Vista Home Premium O/S, which allows users to record, rewind and pause live TV as well as record 2 shows at once. This is one of the fastest notebooks out there, and upgrades to 4GB of memory and 2 x 320GB Hard Drives.

From :http://dvr.about.com/od/capturetvwithacomputer/tp/laptop.htm

iKey's done this whole rugged keyboard thing a time or two before, so when it builds one meant to operate like a champ around environments laden with grease, you know it means business. The new line of Membrane keyboards -- which arrives in a trio of flavors -- boasts a stainless steel enclosure, or customers looking to integrate can snag the OEM edition and do as they please. The board possesses a "hard-coated, textured, polyester film that is more rugged than industrial silicone rubber keypads," and it's designed to withstand "directed hose water, disinfectants and environmental contaminants." Seems as though you'll have to phone up iKey to find out what this Apocalypse-approved device will run you, but it should get along quite well with that impenetrable Iron Drive of yours.

AMD's managed to distract us a bit from its troubles lately with some interesting chip announcements and bold predictions, but reality keeps setting in -- the company announced another executive shuffling today as the company keeps losing money and ground to Intel. Out this time are former EVP of Computing Solutions Mario Rivas and "Chief Talent Officer" Michel Cadieux, as well as 1600 workers being laid off worldwide. Former server chief Randy Allen will replace Rivas and Allen Sockwell is getting Cadieux's old job, but the more interesting move is the creation of a new division called Central Engineering, which will oversee all of the company's roadmaps from here on out. Hopefully that means we'll see fewer incomprehensible roadmap updates and more shipping chips -- that's the only way things are going to improve in Sunnyvale.

What could make a game of Missile Command more exciting? If you said playing it on a gigantic multi-touch screen, you're probably right. Luckily for you, someone has gone to all the trouble so you won't have to. A gentleman named Steve Mason has created a large-scale version of the game that can be played by hand using multiple contact points. The result? Extreme awesomeness. Don't believe us? See the video after the break, then just try and tell us you don't want to get in on that action.

Considering that mechanical beings will be fighting our real wars here in just a few years, it's no shock to see more focus placed on the areas where actual humans will still be the ones waging. DARPA is looking to create what it calls a National Cyber Range, which would essentially act as a training ground for cyber warriors. The setup would enable defense gurus to simulate battle against attacks our on nation's most highly prized data, and of course, give victors over virtual phishing scams immense bragging rights. Come to think of it, Estonia could have totally benefited from something like this last year.

As lovely as the D2 is, we've always had a secret wish for it to offer up a bit more internal capacity. Apparently the higher-ups at Cowon have heard our inner cries, as a 16GB edition of the player is now available through JetMall. Aside from being more capacious, nothing else has changed, but if this was just the thing to push you over the edge, you can hand over your $240 right now and join the club.

Rolling around jacking up innocents and tossing Molotov cocktails is pretty enthralling on your vanilla 46-inch HDTV, but can you even imagine the rush of swiping a hot dog, burning out in someone else's whip and then snagging a new pair of kicks on this? Researchers (and gamers, obviously) down at UC San Diego have re-engineered their middleware to enable such masterpieces as this to be played on the big monolithic HIPerSpace screen, and needless to say, we can't imagine much real work getting done with this new functionality coming to light. Head on down to the gallery to see what you're missing -- science, research and 4.0 GPAs are such beautiful things.

Now you can have soccer playing, dancing salsa fighter robot. The Kondo robot KHR-2 HV has improved its looks taking up a more Robocop-ish style. Its features are much more robust and curved then the square-like head the previous one had. And this pretty, very entertaining little robot can be yours for just $152. And there’s not one of us who didn’t want his or her own robot when growing up.

You can also buy him a couple of soccer strips to make the whole thing more real. They only cost $10 each. Now go on and buy yourself a little robotic friend.

While looking for a Blue tooth headset that doesn't look like all the others on the market, we stumbled upon the EX-01 made by Messiah Entertainment that offers 4-6 hours of continuous talk time and charges via USB. We're taking bets that this headset will show up in a low-budget science fiction "made-for-TV-movie" within months after it is released in May.

Get ready to pay atelier sneaker prices for these babies, because designer MSTRPLN (not to be confused with MSTRKRFT) and Ubiq (not to be confused with Ubiquio) teamed up to produce some straight black Nike Dunks with built-in WiFi detection. It's called A Step in the Right Direction, and we might actually agree.

The following top shows that almost everyone can buy a nice laptop for himself, without big sacrifices. You can get great gadget for the price under 00, but you will be able to decline some extra - features of the more powerful laptops.

Number 5. In our top Toshiba Satellite Pro A210-EZ2201 laptop takes the fifth place because it is the cheapest of all. You can find this gadget at the price of 9. Of course, the price of the device defines some features that you may or may not like. Unfortunately, battery life is short and the gadget works rather slowly.

But I have to admit that this laptop will do its work without any problems and your shattered nerves. This device works on an AMD processor (a 1.8-GHz Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core TK-55) and features just 1 GB of RAM. Then, the 15.4-inch and 1280-by-800-resolution screen is not of the best quality.

Then, it also has great features that partly make up the deficiencies. The first is the possibility to add the second hard drive, because standard HD has just 80 GB. The second is that the device has surprisingly clear sound.

And the third group of advantages is that it has a DVD writer, a FireWire port, and an ExpressCard/54 slot. This laptop is for those people who buy it to enjoy, to listen to music, watch films and just sometimes will use it to work.

Number 4. Fujitsu Lifebook S7211 is another kind of laptops. It is intended for work. It is more powerful, but according to the price 9 it also has disadvantages: the speed leaves much to be desired, and it can't record DVDs. This device is perfect for traveling. With the second battery (not included) it sustains 6.5 hours of intensive work. Actually, using a 1.6-GHz Pentium Dual-Core T2330 processor and only 1GB of RAM the speed of its work could be faster.

The laptop has a few features that usually more expensive notebooks have, such as Bluetooth connectivity and a FireWire port. Unfortunately, the 14.1-inch, 1280 by 800 resolution screen is not of the best quality as well. The advantage of the gadget is that there can be also added one more HD. The Fujitsu Lifebook S7211 including its price is nice for trips and everyday work on it.


Number 3. Here we are: the third place takes Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop that opens the next level of quality. At the price of 9 this model is faster. The battery of the device was improved, so it works without charging for 4 hours. Unfortunately, this device is not for gamers, because its limit is the simplest games and 2D applications. But it is great for entertainment: an instant-on button, a Webcam, and even dual headphone jacks will help to enjoy and have fun.

15.4-inch 1280 by 800 resolution screen is better and clearer than the previous laptops have. Nice feature is that this device has a DVD writer. The greatest advantage of the Dell laptop is that there can be added a few devices, such as Bluetooth, mobile broadband card and built-in wireless USB. Taking into consideration all the characteristics of this gadget, it looks like it is nice both for work and entertainment.


Number 2. The Acer Aspire 5920-6954 is worth the price 9. It is solid and nice laptop that has all the functions you need. The battery life is usual - 3.8 hours. The only thing that may annoy is that it is the heaviest of all - 7.3 pounds. Its 15.4 - inch screen is clear and bright. 250 GB hard drive will allow you to keep all the necessary data there and not to buy extra-HD.

Such features of no small importance as Bluetooth, HDMI port, an HD DVD reader and subwoofer, that guarantees impressive sound, make it really great gadget. Additional buttons on the keyboard let easier access to multimedia files.

Moreover, this Acer laptop is the most powerful and allows playing 3D games. Featuring a 1.66-GHz Core 2 Duo T5450 and 2GB of memory it honestly deserves the second place in our top. If you can afford yourself this notebook, it will be great for using it at home or office.


Number 1. The winner of today's top is HP Pavilion dv2660se. Let's find out why. At first, its price is lower - just 9. Then, it features a 1.5-GHz Core 2 Duo T5250 processor coupled with 2GB of memory shared with the laptop's Intel 965 Express integrated graphics, which means you may play 3D games.

The battery life is the longest - 6.3 hours. You will be impressed with the keyboard for easier typing. HP's QuickPlay menu saves your time and makes the most comfortable access to CD/DVD player without starting Windows first. The 14.1-inch, 1280*800 pixel screen is qualitative and allows you to enjoy films.

Built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, gigabit Ethernet, a fingerprint reader, DVD writer and an ExpressCard slot give you the possibility just to use your computer and not to buy these extra-devices. This HP laptop has a lot of advantages and an affordable price. All its features will make your work on it pleasant and productive.

The following gadgets aren't available for buying yet. But you have a chance to schedule to obtain them very soon, if there is something you like.



The first gadget can be called universal, because it implements a lot of functions. The device is called Panasonic Viera P905i. It is the smallest 'big-screen' TV in the world. The gadget features a 3-inch screen, powerful image processing and mobile broadcasting service. The quality of the display can be compared even with a full-size TV.

On the one hand you may use it as a usual modern mobile phone, but if you turn it 90 degrees you have the possibility to watch TV or play 3D games. Finally, the device also has a 5-megapixel camera, high-speed broadband and GPS tracking. The list of the possibilities of this gadget really impresses.



Have you dreamed to have a laptop with over a pound weight? Raon Everun UMPC - is what you need. Thanks to the device's weight and 7 inches length it is perfect for travelers. The gadget features full QWERTY keyboard, a 4.8-inch touch screen and is based on Windows XP.

Moreover, you may choose between 60 or 6 GB hard drive. The built-in Wi-Fi opens you access to the Internet. The battery life is incredible: 7-11 hours. This UMPC (ultra mobile personal computer) is the next step into our world of technologies.



At first sight Samsung 'Soul' SGH U900 might seem a usual mobile phone, but it has a few innovations that will make the use of this phone more comfortable. The device is very thin - just 13 mm. But its features impress.

The gadget has a 5-megapixel camera with 4X digital zoom, image stabilization, face detection and support for blazingly fast 7.2-mbps data connections. This mobile phone has both a numeric keypad and a touch screen for your choice. The touch screen vibrates when you push it. Thus, the interface shows just the icons relevant to the task at hand.



NEC ValueStar W is an entertainment PC. The name of the gadget comes from words 'Water Silence'. The device wraps a liquid-cooled hard drive. So, it produces encompassing noise of just 25 to 30 dB that is really quite.

It means you can enjoy every movie and every song, and you won't hear the machine working. The Vista Media Center PC is supplied with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 22-inch LCD, and a combo Blu-ray/HD DVD drive.



Toshiba ApriPoko Robot will make you either lazy or your energetic life easier. This lovely 11-inch-tall robot is a voice-activated remote control. The device features artificial intelligence.

There is an example of its work: if you press the buttons on your TV's remote control, the robot will inquire you what you are doing. The next step is the following: it will memorize the IR codes associated with your actions. Thus, when you ask it to turn on the TV the robot will do it for you.

Do you have MP3 songs that can take 500,000 GB of the memory? If not, then you should start preparing and find such a big amount of songs. All our modern devices can keep around 40,000 songs, no more. I bet you can't even imagine an MP3 player that can store so much information. But the concept idea will become reality very soon.
A nanotechnology breakthrough was developed by scientists from Glasgow. The achievement is the following: they consider that soon it will be possible to increase storage capacity by 150,000 times. That's why we are waiting for 500,000 GB on a single chip and inch square.
The scientists worked to make the molecule-sized switch that would be in the middle of the gadget. They have already found the way to increase the data storage capabilities that is a great breakthrough. The scientists created a functional nanocluster that includes two electron donating groups; and are positioned precisely 0.32 nm apart. Thus, they compose up-to-date model of molecular switching device. The molecule sized switches would provide the increase of the data storage capabilities up to 4 Petabytes per square inch. Their conceptual idea points the fact that everything is possible. Moreover, thanks to the fact that the switches work on carbon, the whole system will become more flexible, because they can be built into plastic chips and there will be no need for the silicone.
I think that the realization of the idea means that everything, starting from CDs, DVDs and continuing with mechanical hard-drives will become useless. But there wasn't discussed the point about the read/write speed. So, this question is still opened.

Finally, OLED technologies become a part of design of our homes. It is important that the designers have realized their profit, effectiveness, because this is one of the most inexpensive ways both to decorate and illuminate a house. Ingo Maurer’s Early Future lamp looks like a small tree with lucent leaves. This is world's first device that packs energy efficient OLED lighting and creates a nice tabletop lamp.

Thanks to newest OLED printing system organic light emitting diodes are very effectual and long lasting. Moreover, there is no need for many inputs to produce them. Why is this solution perfect for interior lighting applications? The answer is that the two-dimensional panels give off broad swathes of diffuse light.

You shouldn't be afraid that these gadgets don't look traditionally. They neither demand reflectors directing the light into the right direction nor large sockets. It is a kind of handy long-standing lighting.

The device has a fashionable set of ten small (132 x 33 mm) OLED panels. This modern lamp shows the transformation from abstract object to functional designer lighting. The price is not going to be law. But this conceptual idea has just recently been realized. It is one more stage of the latest developments when we get both style and effectiveness. This is a brilliant use of new technology, combined with a stunning form.

Linksys has launched a completely new design for its upcoming routers, and today I got my hands on the first one: the RangePlus Wireless Router (WRT110).

A second Blu-ray home theater system has joined Samsung’s product lineup. The HT-BD2S is essentially identical to its predecessor, the Samsung HT-BD2T, but with two important distinctions: the BD2S has small satellite speakers (versus the four tallboy models that anchored the BD2T), and it’s available for an even $1,000 (a 33 percent discount off the BD2T’s asking price).