Archive for May 23rd, 2009

We’ve got to hand it to ‘em — these guys aren’t ashamed to be clearing out excess inventory, and honestly, we’re still fond of the choice. Sure, HD DVD may be defunct, but what’s the harm in having the capability in your HTPC should an old friend pop over with a disc to watch? All that aside, Kinetic UK’s trio of media center PCs are now shipping after being introduced initially in March, with Blu-ray / HD DVD compatibility, up to 6TB of storage space, Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Quad / Core i7 processor choices and a healthy array of CTO options elsewhere. As for prices, you’re looking at starting tags of £849.00 ($1,351) for the Mini HD:Hub, £1449.00 ($2,306) for the Home HD:Hub and £1569.00 ($2,497) for the flagship X HD:Hub.

Filed under: Desktops, Media PCs

Kinetic’s HD:Hub HTPC now shipping, HD DVD still a selectable option originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 May 2009 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While a good number of its machines are already running the OS — about 13 percent at this point — the United States Army has mandated that before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, 2009 that all of its Windows-powered computers must switch from XP to Vista, presumably and hopefully with Service Pack 2. Additionally, all Office 2003 users will have to upgrade to the 2007 variant, but thankfully, someone with a little Vista experience made sure to omit standalone weapons systems from the mandate — you know, because there’s not really time to click through eight confirmation boxes when launching a time-sensitive homing missile. All jesting aside, we’re flummoxed that the Army didn’t just wait for Windows 7 to roll out in a few months before making this decision, but hey, what’s a few more billion in upgrade costs next year, right?

[Via HotHardware]

Filed under: Desktops

US Army equipping all Windows PCs with Vista by end of 2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 May 2009 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quite a bit has gone down in the cellular realm since Barcelona opened its beautiful doors to host Mobile World Congress 2009, but how could we ever forget this gem? Samsung’s M7600 Beat DJ is about as close as we’ll ever come to a real live Pilotfish Ondo, and after months of waiting, it’s finally on sale across the pond. Available for purchase right now at O2 UK, the Bang & Olufsen-infused handset packs a 2.6-inch OLED panel, perfect for mixing, scratching and texting your mum when you stay out too late. It’s all yours for between £0.00 and £146.80 ($233) depending on your choice of contract, and if any of you kind, gentle Britons feel like importing a few for the deprived Yanks over here, drop us a note in comments.

[Thanks, Todd]

Samsung’s M7600 Beat DJ music phone on sale at O2 UK originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 May 2009 14:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the App Store, App Catalog, App World, Ovi Store, and all shades of third-party mobile software stores out in the wild, Microsoft’s undoubtedly looking at Windows Marketplace as being one of the more important features it’s bringing to the table in the fanfare surrounding WinMo 6.5. Differentiating features that Redmond can pimp against the competition — all of which sound like identical concepts from a quick glance on paper — could be a key offensive weapon in keeping 6.5 playing with the big boys long enough to get WinMo 7 out of the door, but one thing we now know won’t be a part of that is a useful app sharing concept. As it was originally understood, the idea was that the Windows Marketplace would allow you to share purchased apps with up to a total of five devices, meaning friends, family, and coworkers could exchange wares. Seems like a good idea to casually spread the word about great software, but Microsoft’s now followed up to clarify: turns out you’ll only be able to share the app with five of your own phones, the idea being that you’ll be able to easily transfer software licenses when you upgrade to new hardware. To verify the link, you’ll need to use the same Windows Live ID on all devices — so unless you plan on sharing your htc_blue_angel_4_lyfe@hotmail.com with everyone you know, you’re out of luck.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Microsoft wants you to share WinMo apps with yourself; others, not so much originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 May 2009 12:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s funny, really. We’ve figured out how to put men an women on the moon and repair an orbiting telescope, but we can’t concoct an AA battery that lasts more than four days inside a Teddy Ruxpin. Thanks to a revolutionary new design from the labs at the University of St Andrews, all that could be well on the way to changin’. Researchers at said institution have teamed up with partners at Strathclyde and Newcastle in order to design an air-fuelled STAIR (St Andrews Air) cell that could theoretically last up to ten times longer than current batteries. Put as simply as possible, this design utilizes oxygen in the air as a re-agent instead of heavy, costly chemicals; the result is a lighter, cheaper battery with loads more capacity. Needless to say, gurus within the project are already dreaming of a prototype to fit in small gizmos such as cellphones or MP3 players, though we wouldn’t expect one anytime soon — after all, there’s still two years of research left to complete.

[Thanks, Khattab]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Science

Air-fuelled STAIR battery could last ten times longer than traditional cells originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 May 2009 11:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Modu may be down, but unlike one Ricky Hatton, it ain’t out. We haven’t heard a whole heck of a lot from the niche handset maker since it handed out pink slips to around one-forth of its workforce, but now that things are looking a bit brighter, it seems as if innovation is back in full force. In fact, a new report on the outfit has it that its next cellphone will pack a touchscreen in order to fit the mold of today’s finger-friendly array. Aside from being “iPhone like” (its words, not ours), little else is known about the forthcoming device, though we’re told that development should be complete in around eight months. So, anyone wagering that R&D accelerates that just a touch to get this thing out by CES 2010?

[Via Talking Mobile]

Filed under: Cellphones

Modu’s next handset to sport a touchscreen? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 May 2009 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS is doing what it can to bump up its gaming cred a few notches with its Republic of Gamers (ROG) OC Station. The bay-mounted overclock assistant lets you tweak parameters on the fly, even in the middle of a game, without ever having to dive into the BIOS. It’s got a 3-inch LCD display, too, for keeping an eye on things or, apparently, showing your pictures in a slideshow. All this power comes at a cost, and not just financially: you’re gonna have to give up two 5.25-inch bays to install this bad boy. It also looks like it only works with ROG motherboards, which is gonna limit the market even further. If you are, however, an anxious and willing member of that demographic, we hate to say you’re gonna have to wait an undisclosed time before you can pick one up for an undisclosed number of Benjamins.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

ASUS introduces ROG OC Station for all your on-the-fly overclocking needs originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 May 2009 08:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AMD had (and still has, arguably) a lot riding on HP’s Pavilion dv2, with it being the first notable machine to arrive with the outfit’s Neo platform. We’ve already heard what the so-called professionals think, but we’re interested to hear from the folks who really matter — the consumers. Is HP’s BD-friendly dv2 priced right? Is it sufficiently sexy? Is the 1.6GHz Athlon Neo MN-40 living up to the hype? Are you stoked with running Windows Vista on this? As with Sony’s VAIO P, this here “netbook” is definitely on the pricier end of things, so we’re pretty sure owners won’t hesitate to give HP a mouthful. The forum’s open, so speak!

Filed under: Laptops

How would you change HP’s Pavilion dv2? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 May 2009 05:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like North Korea — a place not known for its liberal attitudes toward communication of information — may slowly be taking another baby step toward the 21st century. The country, which only began allowing limited access to cell phones last December, has announced that now, limited access to the internet will be available on mobiles as well. Apparently about 20,000 of North Korea’s estimated 23 million citizens now have cell phones, and though there is scant detail about what the internet access will constitute, an estimated 400 million dollars was spent to construct the 3G network in the country. So while there’s no real bright side to the story, at least those lucky few who can look at Kim Jong Il’s official website will have a decent connection.

Filed under: Cellphones

North Korea to allow limited access to “the internet” on cellphones originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 May 2009 02:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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	Google Chrome celebrates version 2 release with autofill, fast-paced video We know you’ve been avoiding Chrome because it puts your most visited sites on a display the size of the JumboTron in Times Square, and we don’t blame you.		Microsoft dropping three app limit from Windows 7 Starter Edition Now the only thing holding you back from simultaneous Skype, AIM, browsing, DVD playback, and Plants vs. Zombies will be the space on your screen and the specs in your portable.
	Entelligence: Time for Microsoft to tell a better Zune tale A lot’s been made of the new Zune commercial that Microsoft aired recently. Now don’t get me wrong.I think there’s a lot that Microsoft can do with Zune, but this ad doesn’t quite do it for me.	Other news of import Windows 7 branding leaks out Palm Pre available at a single store in NYC on launch day? Unlikely. Japanese college giving away free iPhones, using them to track students’ attendance
	Is the future of Windows Media Center with Windows Home Server? With all the bad news around Windows Media Center this week, many enthusiasts are wondering about the future of Media Center.		32GB iPhone placeholder appears at T-Mobile Austria We hate to remind you that loads of smoke generally leads to fire, but hey, June 8th ain’t too far off anyway.
Sharp’s 20-inch AQUOS DX LCD HDTV has a built-in Blu-ray player, no 1080p panel Nielsen stats find 33% of U.S. households with at least one HDTV		Rogers to sell HTC Dream, Magic for $199.99 on contract Virgin Mobile getting contract-free data card next month

The Daily Roundup: here’s what you might’ve missed originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 May 2009 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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