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Asus EP 20 - EeePC Desktop
2008-03-15 18:56:00
I was wondering what happened about this little Linux based desktop as the rumours seemed to have faded since the first mention of such an animal back in November. The Asus Eee EP20 desktop was unveiled at CeBIT. Information about this machine is still scarce other than it will feature the Linux OS but I have heard talk that it will boast a Intel dual core processor at 1.87GHz, a 2.5″ hard disk instead of flash memory. Pricing, following the EeePC’s ethos, should be ball-parking at around 200€. I may consider this as a replacement for my current desktop as it’s: a) huge, b) old, c) ugly and d) a Dell! and the EP 20 is none of those :0P Matbe
More About: Desktop

Motorola Concept - Stereo Camera as Standard
2008-03-13 14:22:00
This is Motorola s new concept phone that has been deigned by Paris based Lysandre Follet. One of the most interesting features on this mobile is that it’s packing a stereo camera! Connectivity is via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It shares its looks with Motorola’s Q phone but without the QWERTY. The phone has e-mail support and dedicated hard keys for multimedia. I’m loving the minimalist look that, for me, makes it look classy rather than a fashion victim.
More About: Camera , Standard , Concept

Take Control of Your Media Centre and PS3 - diNovo Mini
2008-03-13 11:42:00
Logitech’s groovy looking diNovo Mini Bluetooth thumboard is finally ready to to give you control of your PC based media and even your PS3 - from the comfort of your sofa. It has a 2 colour backlit QWERTY keyboard  and a touchpad and is “the perfect size for your coffee table” - apparently.  It will last about a month between charges. Yours now for $150.
More About: Media , Control , Centre

Synth in Your Pocket - Korg DS-10
2008-03-13 10:53:00
If you cast your mind back to my acrticle about iBand - 2iPhones and a DS yo! - pocket music makers should be taken seriously. Now mini music makers can kick it with the new Korg -approved DS-10 synthesizer from AQ Interactive. This synth is not a gimmicky toy; it boasts two patchable virtual synths with a pair of oscillators each, a drum machine, a sequencer, and a full range of effects - and more. You’ll be able to hook-up wirelessly to several systems to play together or simply exchange sounds and songs, although you’ll apparently have to make do without MIDI support. This wonderment hits Japan in July for ¥4,800, or around £25. Via Create Digital Music
More About: Pocket , Synth

Alienware m15x is Cracking Up!
2008-03-12 17:39:00
Owners of Alienware ’s M15x have started to find that their machine is overheating and/or developing cracks in the frame for no apparent reason. This isn’t the first issue that has plagued the m15x - the edge lighting had a few problems before a software fix.  Not what you’d expect after forking out over £1500!!  For that you could get a NovaTech X80r Pro! Alienware have said that the company is “aware of the issue and working hard to figure out what’s going on.” Hmmmmm…………&he llip;……
More About: Cracking

MonkEee SEee, MonkEee Do
2008-03-12 16:19:00
Since Asus launced the EeePC many of its rivals have come up with similar alternatives. Each one is designed to shoulder in on the budget ultraportable market. Some are better spec’d and/or cheaper but they’re all tiny. Check out Craves reviews on machines such as Elonex, OLPC, EasyNote, MSI Wind, etc

N96 Update - August Release Date
2008-03-12 14:07:00
Here’s an update regarding the N96 release date. It should be unleashed in the UK by August according to The Carphone Warehouse. Their site was updated to reveal that the successor to the N95 was coming in 5 months. There’s no pricing details on the site, but the HSDPA and Wi-Fi enabled blower will come with a 5 Megapixel camera, 16GB flash memory, 2.8 inch display, DVB-H tuner, GPS and all the other N gadgets we have come to expect.
More About: Update , Release

Star Trek future is NOW
2008-03-12 13:37:00
New Launches - Star Trek for real There’s a rather fabby article (click the link above) about the Star Trek technology that has actually happened. Most Trekkies/Trekers know how the series has predicted future tech.  So, have a gander at these little beauties :0)  Communicator Medical Tricorder Translator QUIDS GPS Engineering Tricorder Ultrasound Surgery Transparent Armour (force field) Military Phasr Life Detectors - “but not as we know it”
More About: Future

Goodbye F117 - Stealth into Retirement
2008-03-12 12:08:00
Say farewell to the F-117 stealth fighter. They will all be making their final trip on April 21st from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico to Tonopah Test Range Airfield in Nevada, the home of their first flight. The aircraft is being replaced by a newer model, the F-22 Raptor, and the government says it has no plans to bring the radar-dodging planes out of retirement. There has only ever been 59 F-117s, 37 of which have already been taken out of the skies and another seven which have crashed.  OOooopsy! Good bye Stealth y.  We’ll all miss you - Whatever it was that you did.
More About: Retirement , Goodbye

A Decade of MP3 - Happy 10th Birthday!
2008-03-11 16:14:00
This is the MPMan F10 -the 1st Mp3 player! Manufactured by Korea’s Saehan Information Systems, the device was launched in March of 1998 at CeBIT, and went on sale in the Summer through Eiger Labs for $250. Packed with 32MB of flash memory (which could be upgraded to 64MB via mail-in scheme) it hooked up to PCs via a parallel port and sported an LCD for playback info.  Swish huh? Following the MPMan’s release Rio then put forward their PMP300 which received a warmer reception and all-but eclipsed the F10’s status as “first” amongst players. I bet you’ll look at your iThingies and Creative Jobbies a lot more thankfully now :0)
More About: Happy , Birthday

Talk Talk to Get Phorm
2008-03-11 15:19:00
Talk Talk is one of three UK ISPs to sign up to the Webwise service which sees user’s surfing habits tracked. It follows 1,000 people signing a Downing Street online petition saying the system breaches customer privacy. “We will be endorsing and recommending take-up of the system but we want to ensure that customers make their own decision,” said a spokesman for TalkTalk. Talk Talk believes that there are 2 main benefits for customers who sign up. “We feel customers will welcome the opportunity to get fewer irrelevant advertisements as well as benefit from the real-time anti-phishing alerts,” he said. Phorm works by placing a cookie on a user’s machine that contains a randomised identifying number.  That cookie tracks websites visited and draws conclusions about a user’s behaviour in order to target more relevant adverts.  Spyware? Read on at the BBC site.
More About: Talk

Nine Inch Nails New Release on Bit Torrent Sites
2008-03-06 10:55:00
I love pretty much everything that Trent Reznor has done. So this is quite exciting for me and other Industrial fans; hopefully this will pave the way for other bands and musicians. Nine Inch Nails has released its new album, Ghosts I-IV, online but in a slightly different way.  If you cast your minds back to when Radiohead released In Rainbows I remarked about Trent Reznors plans to take this idea and in a NIN way - twist it slightly. Here are the ways you can get it: $0 - get Ghosts Vol. I which is 9 high-quality DRM-free MP3 files and the PDF of the album notes. This can be downloaded from both the album’s site as well as via BitTorrent sites. $5 - get all 36 tracks of Ghosts I-IV and a 40-page PDF booklet. These tracks are available in a number of formats. $10 - get Ghosts I-IV in a 2 CD set. This physical version will be available April 8th, but if you order via the site you can download all the tracks immediately. $75 - the deluxe edition package including the 2...
More About: Sites , Release

XBOX 360 Cheaper than Wii!!
2008-03-06 10:26:00
Word from techradar.com is that Microsoft is going to hack £38 from the price of XBox consoles across Europe. It’s as yet unconfirmed by the big M but this would mean that the basic 360 Arcade console will cost as little as £150 when the expected price cuts come into play on March 14th - yup, that’s next week folks! That’s cheaper than the Wii, and around half the price of the PS3!  Nice. The XBox 360 Elite will also come down to around £240. I think that we can take this as a sign that Microsoft are taking Blu-ray’s win in the format wars (and the expected surge in PS3 sales) seriously indeed.  Let’s wait for this new round of warefare to gain momentum!
More About: Xbox , Xbox 360

Asus will kick your ARES! - CG6150
2008-03-04 10:16:00
If you love Alienware’s iconic cases then prepare to require new under-garments after seeing the new Asus gaming desktop - the ARES CG6150. This evil robotic head looks like it’ll start barking orders at you at any moment - and you will comply! It’s brain is a liquid cooled Core 2 Extreme processor, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, three-way NVIDIA SLI, and up to four terabytes of storage all powered by dual power supplies. As you can see, it’s no slouch and personally I think Alienware and Voodoo should be looking over their shoulders………… … Engadget via Gadget Lab
More About: Kick , Ares

Acer Buys Glofiish - The News at E-Ten
2008-03-03 22:40:00
It can’t be much more than a month since Acer dropped a big wad of cash to acquisition 75% of Packard Bell. Not satisfied with that, Acer has now thrown $290 million at E-TEN, the makers of the rather fabby Glofiish smartphones, and for that they acquire 100%! Acer chairman J.T. Wang said that the “acquisition of E-TEN increases Acer’s global footprint by giving us a strong and highly credible presence in the mobility segment.” Via Phone Scoop
More About: News , The News

Sony Xperia will be Released as Planned - X1
2008-03-03 22:22:00
There has been a smattering of rumours and grape-vine murmers that the Xperia would not be outed til 2009. Word of these delays surfaced when the unofficial Sony Ericsson blog noticed SE’s official site touting a release date of 10th February 2009 - exactly a year after its announcement at Mobile World Congress.  Booo!!!! Thankfully this date turned out to be an error from SE and the spanky new X1 will enter the mobile markey later this year, as planned.  Rah!! In a statement issued to T3.com this lunchtime Senior UK Marketing Manger Richard Dorman said: ” (the) X1 will, as previously communicated, launch during 2H 2008. Any other information is merely rumours and speculation.” So there. Wohoooo!!
More About: Released

Baby Bot to Talk
2008-03-01 17:35:00
Although it looks like the stuff of techno-nightmares this baby bot, called iCub, is to be taught to communicate with humans by scientists in Devon. The big baby which stands 1 metre tall is the centre of a 4-year project which is to look into how parents teach their babies to talk. The staff at the University of Plymouth will work with language development specialists and it is hoped that the project may lead to the developing of humanoid robots which learn, think and talk. ~gulp!~ iCub is to be delivered by a giant robot stork to the University of Plymouth next year. It will be given simple tasks as a child would - such as putting shapes through holes and will also be asked to name objects and actions. No doubt all the non-relatives will be called auntie and uncle. It is hoped that iCub will then acquire basic phrases such as “robot puts stick on cube” and “robot wants to watch cartoons!”. The BBC reports that the University of Plymouth beat 31 other te...
More About: Baby , Talk

Heat-Ray Trials - Cooks 60 Minutes Reporter
2008-03-01 13:06:00
This is just comical. The military have a heat ray which apparently feels like “scalding water”. Not enough to take the war-machine at their word, 60 Minutes sent out a report to get hit. All together now - One, One-thousand, Two, One-thousand, Three, AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrr rrgh!! Click to see it on YouTube
More About: Heat , Reporter , Trials , Cooks

Do You Prefer Your Talk Trash, Sweet or Dirty?
2008-03-01 12:47:00
In my mind, if I was to get a BlueTooth headset I’d go for a Jawbone. They work fantastically and they look pretty swish. Or so I thought. Now, Yves Behar has somehow managed to make it even more lustworthy with the creation of the ‘Love To Talk ’ family. This threesome, which will reportedly be made available “in a very limited quantity,” consists of a gold ‘Sweet Talk’ version, black ‘Dirty Talk’ edition and white ‘Trash Talk’ model. As usual - no word on a price nor where to actually find one. I just love the idea of someone going to a counter and paying for white-trash talk :0P

Blu-Ray USB - DX-4O1S
2008-03-01 12:35:00
Now that the war has finished and Blu-Ray stands victoriously brushing the dust off its shoulders whilst wearnig a smug grin it was obvious that, all of a sudden, the people on the sidelines would start to make stuff for the winner. First up here is one from Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLODS?). This is the world’s first USB-connected external BD-ROM drive.  Named the Lite-On DX-4O1S, it can read BD media at 4x, single layer DVD at 12x, dual-layer at 8x and CD at 32x maximum. The DX4O1S allows users to play back Blu-ray discs on any PC via a USB 2.0 cable. However, the units won’t start shipping ’til the second quarter of this year and there is no news yet on pricing.

Apple Sued - iPhone Caller ID
2008-02-29 15:36:00
One Romek Figa claims to have patented a caller ID system that has been infringed by the iPhone. Figa’s patent, which was granted in 1990, refers to a two-line LCD screen and external caller ID equipment and describes a way to associate incoming numbers with stored contact names. He is ultimately looking to halt sales of the iPhone and have Apple  cough up some hefty wedge and license his patent.  Apple have obviously said………….errr r…no. According to statements by Figa’s attorneys Moto, Nokia and Samsung have already licensed the patent but Apple “refused to take a license on the terms offered.” Apparently Figa sent his demand letter directly to Steve Jobs.  Do you reckon that’s the best way to win Apple over?
More About: Iphone , Sued

Squeezebox Duet - Nice Couple
2008-02-08 10:11:00
Slim Devices have their cool ‘Duet’ ready for preorder! For $399 you get the controller, charging stand and one reciever. It’s pretty much like the Sonos system (but cheaper) and you will be able to tap into Rhapsody and Pandora. There is a possibility for buying additional receivers later on - but these are not available on their own yet. I’m really tempted but would like to read a few reviews before I hand over the cash - but the other Squeezeboxe reviews have been all positive.
More About: Couple , Nice

Modu - The Modular Mobile
2008-02-07 10:38:00
Meet Modu! There has been a great deal of deliberation as to what Modu was going to be - and now I’ve found out the answer I feel slightly silly. Modu is a Modular Mobile - the clue was there all along - spose that’s the reason why I’m a muso and not a detective! The idea is that the actual handset can be slipped into “modu jackets” which will let the owners completely change the look of their handset without having to replace it. The other half of the deal is slinging the Modu into different modu-enabled consumer electronics, or “modu mates”.  I’m talking car stereos, photo frames, DAPs, and whatever else you can dream up.  It is pretty exciting as Blaupunkt, Universal Music, and SanDisk are already onboard, the Q4 launch should be a big deal!!

Ebay - No Negatives
2008-02-06 10:12:00
I for one have bought loads on Ebay  and sold quite a bit on there as well so when the change in fees was announced I was a little unsure and, as it turned out, rightly so.  These lower fees actually end up costing more for items sold - just a little lower if you are unlucky enough not to get a punter.  I suppose that’s fair. But in an unusal move they have banned sellers from giving “negative” feedback on buyers. What’s THAT about? The whole point of the feedback ratings was to inform the would people that they will acutually receive their goods, on time and as described - and that the buyer would pay equally promptly. I know that there has been some instances where negative feedback to a seller has resulted in the buyer receiving the same, just out of spite and vice-versa - but in the larger picture all seems to have worked pretty well in my experience. I can only assume that this move may hurt Ebay a little.

Stop Press!! 16gb iPhone and 32gb iPod Touch Official!!!!!
2008-02-05 17:16:00
Apple has officially confirmed its outing a 16GB iPhone and a 32GB iPod Touch . The Apple store was down Stateside for over an hour, with bloggers suggesting some O2 stores have already taken delivery of the beefed up Jesus phone. You can go and grab one right now! It’s going to cost £329 over here, the same as the new 32GB flash iPod. To be honest; the latter was quite a surprise.  The touchscreen ‘pod is also yours now if you fancy.  You are being spoilt aintcha? For now, the phone remains on the EDGE network rather than getting a bump to 3G, so if you haven’t splashed out, maybe you should keep your hands in your pockets for now….who knows what’s round the corner……
More About: Iphone , Ipod , Press , Stop

DIY Lightsaber
2008-02-05 14:10:00
To truly be one with the Force a young Jedi should let it flow through them - let it guide them in making their own weapon, the Lightsaber . Failing that, get a kit online - namely the Force FC Lightsaber Construction set. The kit contains instructions and all the parts which enable you to create the weapon of your dreams from 1,000 or so different designs!! You can change the color (red, blue or green) of your saber with the flick of a switch and they can’t do that in the films. The Lightsaber kit is available from Play for £49.99

Slim n Light PS3 - Playstation Next To Go On Sony Diet
2008-02-01 14:34:00
Those well informed folks at T3 have news that Sony are getting ready to drop a new, lithe PS3 later in the year. I’m guessing that the S-meister is going to send it to the same health farm as they did with the PSP last year. I’m crossing my fingers that it will look like the pic taken from T3 - that would be totally awesome, as long as it doesn’t lose anything in the shrinkage - could it be that this is the rumoured 160gig version? That’s more-or-less everything that’s being said out there.  Keep watching this space!!
More About: Diet , Playstation , Light , Slim

Pirate Bay could be Scuppered!
2008-01-31 16:36:00
The founders of The Pirate Bay, one of the best directories for BitTorrents, have been broadsided by charges of conspiracy to break copyright law in their homeland, Sweden. Before now they’ve managed to dodge anything like this as they don’t actually hold any dodgy stuff on their server - instead they just act as a go-between. The 4 are having their collars felt because they’re making money through copyrighted material - not by selling anything but through ads on the site.  The Swedish authorities have long been under pressure from major record companies and film studios to clamp down on The Pirate Bay’s activity. Plaintiffs in this new case include Warner, Columbia Pictures, MGM, EMI and Universal. If they’re found guilty they will go down for 2 years each. They say they’re not causing any harm.  I think I’ll leave that to the Judge.  What do you reckon?
More About: Irate

Garmin; Can I have a Nuvifone?
2008-01-31 15:23:00
Here’s a turn up - we’ve seen plenty of phones with GPS so now Garmin have gone all flip-reverse on us and released a phone! It’s a handsome beast to be honest and has really come up to the big boys and said - “whatcha got?” The ‘nüvifone’ can be best described as an iPhone-alike that incorporates the bits that Apple forgot; like 3G mobile broadband connectivity and full blown GPS (natch). It comes as no surprise that including GPS was a foregone conclusion as Garmin is pretty clued up in this area.  Included are maps of North America and Eastern and Western Europe as well as millions of POIs and turn-by-turn voice prompted instructions. They’ve even thrown in Google’s local search so you can search using phrases like ‘kebab’ or ‘Spearmint Rhino’ and the results will come up based on current location and relevance. You also get access to ‘Garmin Online’.  This gives you up-to-date i...
More About: Armin

Own Halo Weaponary! Laser Pursuit Style
2008-01-31 14:28:00
You love Halo ?  You got quite excited when the weapons were shown at CES? Corgi is going to bring them over to the UK!!!  The Laser Pursuit guns, which are based on the Conevnant weapons will cost between £49.99 and £79.99 and appear later in the year. The Covenant weapons provide  you with vibration, sound, light and even recoil to get you in the zone.  They mimic pretty much what the game weapons do.   For instance; when you’re blasting away at your buddy’s laser target and the Plasma Rifle overheats the heat exchange flanges open from the side and you have to reload it to carry on.  Likewise the Plasma Pistol allows you to do a plasma burst as well as single shot mode.  The best thing is that Corgi were flashing around the Covenant Energy Sword at the Toy Fair here in London. The Energy Sword will come in two models, a display model that has electronic sounds and lights.  The other one will work with the Laser Pursuit system.  It will cost £79.9...
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