Sony’s iPod-lovin’ AIR-SA20PK S-AIRPLAY music system reviewed
We’ll just cut to the chase: if you’ve been cautiously eying Sony’s S-AIRPLAY system in hopes of it solving your multi-zone audio desires, you’ll be sorely disappointed at how it performs in real world use. The AIR-SA20PK showcased just decent audio quality, odd design choices, unintuitive controls and a wireless range that was less-than-stellar. ‘Course, the unit was being held to some pretty high standards, but given the $400 sticker, we can understand that. In the end, critics determined that the unit wasn’t an outright failure, but for four bills, they’d prefer it to be much easier to use and sound quite a bit better. Good thing you didn’t pull the trigger already, huh?
Fedora 10 goes live: your download awaits
Just six short months after Fedora 9 hit the tubes, in flies Fedora 10 to give you something new to tinker with over Thanksgiving break. The latest iteration of the Linux-based OS bundles in OpenOffice 3.0 and touts a “wide range of improvements in areas such as virtualization management, networking, boot time and security.” Don’t mind us, though — you can delve as deep as you like in the release notes while your download progresses.
[Via PC World]
Creative’s $200 Vado HD pocket camcorder ready for pre-order
We’ve seen these Amazon “leaks” time and again. So while the December 7th date for the Vado HD might be an educated guess, the details including that $200 price tag certainly look real enough. The display still measures 2-inches, but the beefier 3.3 x 7.9 x 6.3-inch solid state camcorder now brings 8GB of storage for up to 2 hours of 720p MPEG-4 recordings — 8 hours at VGA quality. It also ships with an HDMI cable for instant playback to your like-equipped television. Otherwise, slot the cam into your PC’s (XP and Vista, only) USB port to instantly share your works to YouTube and others with the help of the cam’s built-in Vado Central Software. With this, the Kodak Zi6, and Flip Mino HD, there certainly won’t be any shortage of pocket HD cameras of suspect-tweener quality to choose from this holiday season.
[Via epiZENter]
Toshiba unveils 16GB microSDHC card of its own
SanDisk was first out of the gate with a 16GB microSDHC card, but Toshiba’s just two months behind with the announcement of its iteration. Slated for mass production in January of 2009, the capacious SD-C16G should provide plenty of room for your EMF albums and that Rage Against the Machine discography. In related news, Tosh also introduced the soon-to-come SD-F16G and SD-F08G, 16GB / 8GB Class 6 SDHC cards that should handle even the quickest of cameras when they launch over the next few months. No prices to chew on just yet, but we’d wager they’ll be competitive.
German labs set new mark for energy efficient white OLEDs
BASF and OSRAM ticked the OLED progress meter up one recently, with news out of Germany about new diodes that are both efficient (60 lumens per watt) and reproduce color accurately enough to meet international Energy Star standards. The most power sipping organic light-emitting diodes ever created they aren’t, but the ability to keep their color under varying levels of intensity leads to the next step, producing stable deep-blue colored emitters for increased efficiency (100 lumens per watt or more) so they can start illuminating surfaces near you. Isn’t it lucky, we know some folks in South Korea BASF might want to have a chat with.
[Via OLED-Info]
Acer’s 16-inch Aspire 6930 reviewed: right on the money
In the battle between new 16-inch multimedia notebooks, it’s safe to say that Laptop Mag prefers Acer’s rig over Samsung’s R610. The Aspire 6930 (or 6930G-6723, if we’re talking specifics), was said to have an eye-catching design, great Blu-ray playback and solid all-around performance suitable for a media-minded lappie. Not to mention the sub-$1,000 sticker — that helped, too. In actuality, the only real knock was the fact that a 1080p display wasn’t included at the $999 price point, but we all know that’s just being greedy. These critics didn’t hesitate to dish out a 4 out of 5 star rating for Acer’s latest 16-incher, calling it “a winner” for anyone looking for a “relatively lightweight desktop replacement that’s not too expensive.”USB powered lunch bag will keep your food hot while you “work”
[Via Everything USB]
HP shows off Atom-powered mini-Q nettop in Taiwan
It’s no slate PC / digiframe hybrid, but it is a touch unorthodox. HP Compaq is reportedly preparing to launch a mini-Q nettop, though it could ship under a totally less exciting Presario 2030 / 2020 moniker. Packed within the diminutive box will be an Atom 330 / 230 CPU (respectively), Windows Vista / XP (also respectively), 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB 7,200RPM hard drive, dual-layer DVD writer and a 6-in-1 card reader. No mention of a release date just yet, but pricing is expected at around NT$9,900 ($296) / NT$12,900 ($386).
[Via Electronista]
HP shows off first hybrid memristor-transistor chip
HP broke some considerable new ground by creating the very first “memristor” earlier this year, but it looks like it didn’t rest on its laurels for very long, as it has now also taken the wraps off the first hybrid memristor-transistor chip at (where else?) the inaugural Memristor and Memristor Systems Symposium. According to the researchers at HP Labs, the memristors are able to do the job of the transistors they replace more efficiently, letting you use less of them when space is a priority, or the same amount or, conceivably, more of ‘em to get some increased performance, which the researchers say could “give Moore’s Law a boost.” As if that wasn’t enough, the researchers also say that memristors could also allow for faster, smaller, and more energy-efficient flash storage, and allow for field-programmable gate array (or FPGAs) that are not only more efficient, but considerably less expensive as well. Of course, there’s plenty more experimenting that needs to be done, but HP says that the first commercial circuits using memristors could arrive within the next three years.
[Via Slashdot]
Jobo introduces 8.4-inch PDJ800 / PDJ801 digital photo frames
Jobo’s spent the bulk of its time over the past year simply reintroducing its photoGPS geotagger over and over and over again. Now, however, we’re finally looking at some fresh kit that might be out by 2012 or so based on the outfit’s history. On the real, the company has unveiled the PDJ800 and PDJ801, both of which tout an 8.4-inch panel with an 800 x 600 resolution and a 500:1 contrast ratio. You’ll also find a USB port, rechargeable 1,500mAh Li-ion battery and a multicard reader on both, with the only difference being in the amount of internal storage; the former packs just 128MB, while the latter offers 1GB. Both units are readily available in Europe for €159 ($198) / €179 ($224).