Archive for May 25th, 2009

Well, what do you know? It looks like our favorite fingerpainter is really making a name for himself with his handset artwork. Like his other New York City-scapes, Jorge Colombo’s cover for the June 1, 2009 issue of The New Yorker was composed entirely in the Brushes iPhone app. And it looks like the artist’s switch to a digital format is no gimmick — he tells The New York Times that the device allows him to work “without having to carry all my pens and brushes and notepads with me.” And he can work in anonymity — to complete the cover he spent about an hour on 42nd Street, with no interruptions (try doing that with a canvas, an easel, and a full compliment of art supplies). Mr. Colombo, if you’re out there: we’d like to add you to our Mafia Wars family. Drop us an email.

Filed under: Cellphones

iPhone-generated artwork featured on cover of The New Yorker originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 10:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What a wild ride this thing has had. Originally announced back in November of 2007, the PSP Extended Life Battery Kit promised to provide right around 20 percent more battery life in exchange for $45 and an additional bulge. Then, Sony seemingly canned the thing abruptly in August of 2008. Just a month later, Sony’s US director of hardware marketing John Koller confessed that the PSP-3000′s new screen would eat away more severely at the battery, but that an extended cell would solve the quandary for a few of your hard-earned dollars. Now, it seems he’s finally making good on that proclamation, with the PlayStation Portable Extended Life Battery Kit back on the outfit’s website for $44.99. At least one user over at the official PlayStation forums has already received one, but at the moment, SonyStyle is showing the item as backordered. Might as well get in line, yeah?

[Via PlayStation Forums, thanks Eric]

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Peripherals

Sony apparently puts PSP Extended Life Battery Kit back on sale originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 09:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Archos 2 ain’t much to write home about, and in reality, it ain’t too revolutionary compared to simplistic DAPs that emerged years back. The reason for its existence? To get portable music into shallow pockets. The crew over at ArchosFans were able to grab hold of the diminutive media player and take it for a spin (in the park, at the cubicle, etc.). We won’t spoil the eight minutes of fun that await you after the break, but we can say this: the main selling point here is the price, and while you won’t find anything exceptionally fancy, it’ll get the job done for $39 (4GB), $59 (8GB) or $99 (16GB).

Continue reading Archos 2 PMP gets video walkthrough and review

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Archos 2 PMP gets video walkthrough and review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may be a Japan exclusive for now, but Hitachi’s Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Wooo has folks drooling from sea to shining sea. The cats over at Akihabara News were able to take a glimpse while KDDI unveiled its summer lineup, and they seemed to be quite impressed with the video quality and ease of use. Check the read link for a video of the flip phone in action, but remember, don’t get too attached unless you call Japan home.

Filed under: Cellphones

Hitachi’s 720p Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Wooo gets hands-on treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 08:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might recall that this happened right about this time last year when we were all patiently waiting for the iPhone 3G to be announced, and once again, it’s been discovered that the latest beta of the iPhone SDK has icons for an unreleased version of Cupertino’s finest. We’ve been able to verify that two icons tucked away in a deep folder refer to black and white versions of the “iPhone2,1″ (black is pictured above), which is one of the internal model codes we’ve been hearing get thrown around for a while now. Thing is, the icon is identical to the one being used for iPhone1,2 — better known as the iPhone 3G — so Apple’s either smartly using a placeholder until the final SDK build, or the latest and greatest model is a dead ringer for the old. We’re betting on the former.

[Thanks, Matthew]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

iPhone SDK contains icon for unreleased model — again originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japan’s Tmsuk and Waseda University have certainly proven themselves capable of pushing the boundaries of robotics on their own, but few could have been prepared for what they were able devise when they teamed up, their creation itself included. That somewhat startled face you see above is the KOBIAN Emotional Humanoid Robot, which is not only able to walk about and interact with humans, but use its entire body in addition to its facial expressions to display a full range of emotions. That’s apparently possible in part thanks to a new double-jointed neck that lets it achieve some more expressive postures and, of course, a slew of motors in its face that lets it move its lips, eyelids and those all-important eyebrows. Still sleeping a little too comfortably? Then head on past the break for the video. There’s always a video.

[Via Pink Tentacle]

Continue reading KOBIAN humanoid robot packs full range of emotions to creep you out

Filed under: Robots

KOBIAN humanoid robot packs full range of emotions to creep you out originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 07:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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All we’ve got are these model numbers to go by, but it’s pretty clear that Sony’s cooking up a new series of Alpha DSLRs. The screengrab above (which we replicated ourselves) comes courtesy of SonyStyle Canada’s registration page. A field populated by a well-meaning, yet misguided soul since Sony has yet to announce DSLRs carrying the A500, A500S, A550, A550S monikers. It’s just a guess, but Sony’s lineup has a glaring omission when compared to the competition in the consumer DSLR space: HD Video.

[Via PhotoRumors and Dyxum]

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Sony Canada hints at Alpha A500 series of DSLRs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 07:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen NVIDIA’s Ion placed within a nettop, a motherboard, and now (at long last), a laptop. Yep, the machine you’re inevitably peering at above (Lenovo’s S12) is both the company’s first 12.1-inch netbook and the planet’s first netbook with Ion baked in, and it’s likely just a snippet of the kind of material we can expect to see at Computex. Frankly, this is one of the first netbooks in ages that has managed to get our blood moving, with a 100-percent full-size keyboard, the promise of 1080p video playback, a sub-3 pound weight and a starting tag of just $449. Other specs include a WXGA (1,280 x 800) resolution LED-backlit panel, Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom CPU (the one big “ugh”), 1GB of DDR2 memory, 160/250/320GB HDD options, an optional 6-cell battery, Ethernet jack, WiFi, Bluetooth, three USB 2.0 sockets, an ExpressCard slot, a 4-in-1 card reader and VGA / HDMI outputs. Thankfully you’ll find Windows XP running the show, and you’ll be able to grab your own starting next month. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Lenovo’s $449 IdeaPad S12 now official: first netbook with NVIDIA’s Ion chipset

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo’s $449 IdeaPad S12 now official: first netbook with NVIDIA’s Ion chipset originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The IdeaPad S12 isn’t the only new kit flowing from RTP today, as Lenovo is also choosing to celebrate Memorial Day with two new lappies and an all-in-one desktop. Starting things off is the IdeaPad U350 (shown above), a thin-and-light machine that packs a 13.3-inch LED-backlit display (1,366 x 768), an HDMI output, an ambient light sensor and your choice of Intel’s 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo SU3500, the 1.3GHz SU2700 or 1.2GHz Celeron 723. There’s also room for a 500GB hard drive, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a GMA 4500M / 4500 MHD graphics set, 1.3 megapixel camera, multi-touch trackpad, twin 1.5-watt speakers, Vista Home Basic / Premium and an optional 8-cell battery good for up to 10 hours of use.

Next up is the business-like G550, which sports a 15.6-inch display, a non-nonsense enclosure, WiFi, Bluetooth, DVD burner and a numeric keypad for crunching those end of quarter numbers. You’ll also get upwards of 4GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 320GB of hard drive space, a Core 2 Duo processor, GMA X4500 or GeForce G105M graphics, HDMI output and up to five hours of battery life with the included 6-cell Li-ion.

Wrapping things up is the IdeaCentre C300 all-in-one, which aims squarely at the low-end with a lackluster Atom 230 processor, integrated Intel graphics and a preposterously low price tag. The machine features a 20-inch LCD, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB to 640GB HDD, Ethernet, WiFi, 1.3 megapixel camera, FireWire, six USB 2.0 sockets, a 6-in-1 multicard reader and a starting price tag of just $449. Not a terrible choice for the devout web surfer in your family, we must say. The full release and specifications list awaits you just past the break.

Continue reading Lenovo gets budget-friendly with IdeaPad U350, G550 and IdeaCentre C300

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Lenovo gets budget-friendly with IdeaPad U350, G550 and IdeaCentre C300 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The universal acclaim for BenQ’s GP1 LED projector is deafening. Naturally, some trade-offs were made in brightness, contrast, and resolution in order to squeeze things down to a palm-sized 5.4 x 4.7 x 2.1-inch footprint. But at just 1.4-pounds, it won’t cause your bicep, atrophied by pantywaist netbooks, too much strain. Thanks to a LED light source with a 20,000 hour lifespan, this $499 DLP projector manages to spread 100 lumens across 858 x 600 pixels with a 2,000:1 contrast — specs that give solid results when projecting a 40-inch image in a bright, shades-drawn room on up to 80-inches in near-black environments. Better yet, pop in a USB stick loaded with images (JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF) or videos (MPEG4, MJPEG, xvid, 3ivX) and the projector will automatically launch a media playback menu — no laptop required. The lack of zoom, an ailment common in all these tiny projectors, will limit placement and a measured 38dB (from a distance of 30cm) operational hum will be distracting to home theater buffs or cubical monkeys forced into the sleepy corporate dens of PowerPoint. But all-in-all, BenQ’s come up with a winner, and truth doesn’t make a noise.

Read — TrustedReviews
Read — TrustedReviews (video)
Read — SlashGear
Read — iLounge

Filed under: Displays

BenQ GP1 LED pocket projector reviewed: loved, possibly lurved originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 05:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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