Archive for April 23rd, 2009

If you’re at the Shenzhen Metro station any time soon, you’ll unlikely happen across the beautiful, beautiful sight above. The station — which is in Shenzhen just north of Hong Kong — has installed some keyboard art that really speaks to the typist in our souls — we even type in our dreams occasionally. The keys function as seats to relax in while you wait for your train, though why they chose the keys they chose (Enter, M, <, L, P and is anybody’s guess.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Giant keyboard art in Shenzhen metro station offers tech-friendly seating originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sure, SIM cards are small, but they’re not tiny, and fitting the entire assembly into an embedded device requires a lot of space — so T-Mobile’s new embedded SIM system should make it possible to build even smaller connected devices like hospital monitors and smart energy meters that can report back to a server. The new SIMs are the size of a pinhead and made of silicon instead of plastic, which allows them to be coded at the factory and hard-mounted directly to a device, skipping the provisioning and installation steps that would come with regular SIMs. Devices with the new SIMs are expected to be out and sending data over T-Mo’s network in as little as six months — the first is an energy meter from Echelon that should hit soon.

Filed under: Wireless

T-Mobile announces tiny new “embedded SIM” for connected devices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Just when you though you’d had your fill of insanely detailed benchmarks of processors you may or may not have ever heard of, AMD’s new Phenom II X4 955 and 945 hit the scene to get those overclockers all in a tizzy. The top of the line is the 955 “Black Edition” at 3.2GHz, while the 945 plays with a petty 3GHz. And the verdict? They’re clearly AMD’s fastest so far, but that might not be fast enough. AMD offers great value, but only really matches Intel’s Core 2 offerings on performance — Core i7 is still out in front. There is the fact that Phenom II offers a nice upgrade path for certain people who already do the AMD thing and are looking to upgrade, along with “enthusiasts” who are “enthused” by easy-access overclocking, but overall it looks like AMD is still playing catch-up with Intel.

Read – HotHardware
Read – Neoseeker
Read – PC Perspective
Read – Tech Report
Read – TechSpot
Read – EXTREME Overclocking

Filed under: Desktops

AMD Phenom II X4 955 and 945 benchmarked to high heaven originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

As promised, Philips has now taken the wraps off its first few Lumiblade OLED lighting concepts which, judging from Philips’ boasting, could well change your life and ours. Now on display at the Euroluce International Lighting Fair in Milan, the concepts are divided into consumer and professional groups, the former of which includes ceiling-mounted products like the one pictured above, as well as some slightly more straightforward desk lamps like the one pictured after the break. What’s more, each lighting device also boasts at least some degree of interactivity, including the ability to recognize hand gestures or, in the case of the professional lighting fixtures, react to passers-by. Interestingly, however, none of the products are actually full-on OLED lamps, with each also supplemented by some LUXEON Power LEDs to provide some more usable lighting.

Continue reading Philips shows off Lumiblade OLED lighting concepts

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household

Philips shows off Lumiblade OLED lighting concepts originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Good news for unmanned lawnmower enthusiasts (we know there are at least two of you out there). Husqvarna’s latest, the Automower 260 ACX, can be programmed to send you an SMS text message if something should interrupt the mow job — because sometimes looking outside to see if your robot is still tending to the lawn is just too much to ask. This bad boy gets an hour on a single charge — which should be plenty of time to take down about half an acre of lawn — and upon returning to its docking station, the battery is recharged in roughly forty minutes. Recommended retail price: €4,000 (that’s over $5,200). No word yet on a stateside release.

[Via News Market]

Filed under: Household

Husqvarna’s SMS-enabled Automower 260 ACX: ur lawnz mowed kk? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We haven’t been hearing a whole lot about the planned video distribution service for the Wii as of late, but looks like folks in Japan will soon be able to try it out first hand, as the service is set to launch in the country on May 1st. Dubbed the “Wii no Ma Channel,” the service is rolling out with a little help from advertising firm Denstu, and includes both free and paid content, as well as some other various services and special offers from sponsors. Even more interesting, however, is word that a free DSi app will launch alongside the service, which will let you download video from the Wii to the DS, and even download coupons from advertisers, which can then be scanned directly from the screen. Head on past the break for a quick video overview — which, of course, doesn’t include any word of a launch ’round here.

Continue reading Japan getting Wii video service May 1st, complete with DSi connectivity

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Japan getting Wii video service May 1st, complete with DSi connectivity originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Looks like those ultra-blurry photos of a new Pentax cam weren’t just a Sunday morning fever dream — the company’s now teasing the release of a new K-series DSLR on May 21. Obviously official details on what’s alleged to be the K7D are incredibly light, but there are already some rumored specs floating around — a square sensor with a 1.3 crop factor that may or may not be related to the one in the K20D, 1.0x viewfinder, new AF system, 3-inch screen, and 720p video are the highlights, but honestly, it’s all conjecture at this point. We’ll keep our ears to the ground — and our fingers crossed that this thing comes in white. Check a non-blurry pic of… something we were sent on Sunday after the break.

[Via Electronista]

Continue reading Pentax teases a new K-series cam for May 21

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Pentax teases a new K-series cam for May 21 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Not that we haven’t seen LCD monitors get less demanding when it comes to energy, but we’ve yet to see a company take eco-friendliness this far. Professional LCD maker Eizo has just announced a new pair of panels (the 20-inch FlexScan EV2023W-H and the 23-inch EV2303W-T) that boast a “human presence sensor.” As the phrase implies, these displays are designed to shift to power saving mode when it realizes that its master has vacated the area, and when they return, it automatically flips back on in order to keep from being bashed by one of many USB-connected peripherals. Unfortunately, it seems the human detection timer can’t be changed from 40 seconds, and no, there are no current plans to implement a robot presence sensor once the Apocalypse is realized.

[Via FarEastGizmos]

Filed under: Displays

Eizo’s FlexScan EV2023W / EV2303W LCD monitors turn off when humans are away originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Not that we haven’t seen LCD monitors get less demanding when it comes to energy, but we’ve yet to see a company take eco-friendliness this far. Professional LCD maker Eizo has just announced a new pair of panels (the 20-inch FlexScan EV2023W-H and the 23-inch EV2303W-T) that boast a “human presence sensor.” As the phrase implies, these displays are designed to shift to power saving mode when it realizes that its master has vacated the area, and when they return, it automatically flips back on in order to keep from being bashed by one of many USB-connected peripherals. Unfortunately, it seems the human detection timer can’t be changed from 40 seconds, and no, there are no current plans to implement a robot presence sensor once the Apocalypse is realized.

[Via FarEastGizmos]

Filed under: Displays

Eizo’s FlexScan EV2023W / EV2303W LCD monitors turn off when humans are away originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dell’s Mini 10 netbook has been a bit more of a work in progress than some early adopters may have hoped, but it is at least getting increasingly more usable, with Dell now finally offering the oft-requested six-cell battery as a selectable option. That’ll set you back just $30, and should give you a sizable boost over the stock three-cell battery, which is lucky to get three hours on a charge. If you’re looking for a little something extra, you can now also now get the netbook emblazoned with some of the snazzy designs seen on other Dell laptops, although those will set you back up to $60 extra compared to the basic black or white options.

[Via Portable Monkey]

Filed under: Laptops

Dell Mini 10 gets six-cell battery option, added pizzazz originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments