Archive for October 15th, 2009

You’d be surprised how many requests we get for more gadgets that help our readers celebrate their love of the Caribbean culture and music. Luckily for us, the kids at Vat19 are now hawking a mini steel drum set that seems like it just might do the trick (that is, if the ‘trick’ can be ‘done’ by putting more red, yellow, and green-colored crap on your desk). By all accounts, this thing is pretty unexceptional — it’ll let you bang out an 8 note major scale, let you record your performance, and that’s about it. Hell, it doesn’t even really sound like steel drums! But the distributor did manage to get it to play Just A Friend by the incomparable Biz Markie — and in our eyes, that’s definitely worth a mention. All the same, we’re rather have the Stylophone Beatbox. Yours for $18.95. Video after the break.

[Via Engadget German]

Continue reading Pocket steel drums aren’t made of steel, aren’t really drums (video)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Pocket steel drums aren’t made of steel, aren’t really drums (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Props to Lenkeng for dressing up their otherwise anonymous VGA-to-HDMI converter box with a PSP-related angle — the LKV8000 comes with the necessary cables to take your PSP-2000 or above’s 480p video output and push out a 720p HDMI signal complete with stereo audio. Not a bad idea — except that we can’t think of an HDTV that lacks either component or VGA jacks and that doesn’t have a built-in scaler to do the same job. Maybe you’re just out of ports? In any event, this guy needs a Stateside distributor before we can tell you pricing or availability, so you’re stuck swapping cables for a while, Sparky.

[Via Oh Gizmo!]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio, Portable Video

PSP to HDMI, all with one giant converter box originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Word of an e-reader from txtr GmbH — an platform for online document hosting and storage — has been making the rounds for a while now, with the thing finally making the leap from vaporware to full fledged gadgethood at the Frankfurt Book Fair yesterday. Built around an ARM11 CPU and a 6-inch grayscale e-Ink display, this guy features support for ePub format documents, microSD card storage (ships with 8GB) and access to your documents either via USB, WiFI, or the txtr Net wireless service — which, as near we can tell is Germany-only — where you can expect to pay about €14.99 ($22) a month for a three month contract or $11.99 ($18) per month for the year. Among the many enticements offered to lure you away from Amazon (or, perhaps, Barnes and Noble), the company is promising that this will be an entirely open platform for devs, and they’re throwing in a novel by Thomas Klupp (which, as far as we can tell, is only available in German). Pre-orders start December 1st, 2009 for €319 ($477), with plans to get these guys in European and American customer’s hands before Christmas. PR after the break.

[Via NewGadgets.de]

Continue reading txtr’s e-reader offers a 6-inch e-Ink display, plenty in the way of Teutonic content

Filed under: Handhelds

txtr’s e-reader offers a 6-inch e-Ink display, plenty in the way of Teutonic content originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Redefining the way we interact with computers is a pretty ambitious task as far as things go, but that’s just what R. Clayton Miller is looking to do with his so-called 10/GUI project, and he may just be onto something. Miller begins with the notion that the traditional mouse-based interface lacks the “interaction bandwidth” afforded by multitouch interfaces, and that touch-enabled desktops (or laptops) are inherently problematic since they can’t be used for prolonged periods of time — even a flat surface will do a number on your neck if you use it all day. To solve that problem, Miller proposes separating the touch surface from the display and placing it below the keyboard in the form of a large, hybrid capacative / resistive touch panel. That’s just the beginning, however, and Miller has also devised a whole new interface that makes use of all your fingers, and a new linear means of displaying windows that strikes a balance ease of use and the ability to manage numerous applications. Of course, there are some drawbacks — you’d still likely pull out a mouse for Photoshop or a marathon Left 4 Dead session — but we’d certainly be curious to see how this would play out in practice. Head on past the break for a full video overview.

[Via Slashdot]

Continue reading 10/GUI interface looks to redefine the touch-enabled desktop

Filed under: Desktops, Software

10/GUI interface looks to redefine the touch-enabled desktop originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wouldn’t it be nice if your home phone charger could double as a charging device itself when taken on the road? Yes, yes it would. Technocel undoubtedly agrees, as its PowerPak does just that. When plugged into a standard wall outlet, it can simultaneously charge whatever USB device is plugged into it (amongst others, considering the bundle of tips that are included) and juice up its internal cell; once unplugged, the integrated battery can provide enough power to a dead mobile to let you yap for around three hours, or just enough to make it through whatever sobfest your ill-willed SO has planned for you next week. It’s expected to go on sale in around a fortnight at various retail locations and Sprint stores.

Continue reading Technocel PowerPak pulls double duty as portable battery and home charger

Filed under: Peripherals

Technocel PowerPak pulls double duty as portable battery and home charger originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ripxx is already targeting athletes-in-training with its GPS-enabled Personal Measurement Device, but it looks as if that very unit may have a little competition. Satsports GPS claims to be the world’s first device to combine “true real time interactive navigation for skiing, snowboarding, golfing, running, cycling and automotive enthusiasts in a portable, all-weather device.” Granted, it’s not like you couldn’t get your hands on a rugged navigator before, but the software here is what takes things to another level. It promises athletes real-time routing and data logging, and after your runs are through, you can sync the data with Google Earth to get a good look at what all you just accomplished. As for specs, you’ll find a 2.7-inch touchscreen, 400MHz Samsung processor and a microSD expansion card. Oh, and if you’re not down with dropping $490 on this, you can opt for the Satski, Pocket Caddy and / or Sports Log apps for WinMo and Android. Check the details in the press release and demo vid after the break.

Continue reading All-weather Satsports GPS handles navigation duties for snow bunnies, other athletes (video)

Filed under: GPS

All-weather Satsports GPS handles navigation duties for snow bunnies, other athletes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our usual rule is to ignore attention-seeking class-action lawsuits until they make it past the critical step of being certified by a judge, but we think it’s pretty wild that the Sidekick debacle has already resulted in two separate suits in two different states. That’s a turnaround time of just a few days, really — and now that Microsoft is saying it can restore most of the lost data, it’ll be interesting to see if these cases can push on past the early stages. Both the California and Washington state cases allege that T-Mobile misled customers into thinking their data was secure, but for some reason we’re particularly amused at the California case filed by aspiring model and singer-songwriter Maureen Thompson, who says she lost “photos and song lyrics” she’d entrusted to her Sidekick — honestly, what judge can’t relate to her situation?

Filed under: Cellphones

First Sidekick class-action lawsuits predictably get underway originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Whereas all of those old episodes of Dexter available on the torrent trackers are not going to download themselves.
• Whereas no man or woman in a civilized society should be denied access to Garfield Minus Garfield.
• Whereas Finland has a population 61 times smaller than that of the United States.
• Whereas no household deserves to be “farther than 2 kilometers from a connection capable of delivering broadband Internet with a capacity of at least 100 megabits of data a second” (unless, of course, you’re “in far-flung corners of the country,” in which case you’re out of luck).
• Whereas this is the same nation that brought the world Nokia and public restrooms that can only be accessed via SMS.
• Now, Therefore YLE reports that FINLAND has made 1-megabit broadband Web access a LEGAL RIGHT starting in JULY 2010, with the ultimate goal of making 100Mb available to all in 2015. Now APOCALYPTICA has no excuse for never updating its MySpace page.

[Via CNET]

Read – Finnish government promises fast broadband by 2015
Read – 1Mb Broadband Access Becomes Legal Right

Filed under: Networking

Finland says that 1Mb broadband is a right, not a privilege originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows fans expecting Apple to let Microsoft have its moment in the sun next week when Windows 7 launches should probably know better by now — the Mac maker is actually planning a marketing counter-offensive to hit alongside 7′s debut. According to Phil Schiller, the convoluted upgrade path from Windows XP to Windows 7 represents a big opportunity for Apple, since users have to back everything up and reformat. “Any user that reads all those steps is probably going to freak out. If you have to go through all that, why not just buy a Mac?” Well — we’re sure most of you can think of several reasons. Of course, Microsoft has long said that most people will actually get Windows 7 when they purchase a new machine, which is one reason we’re seeing such an absolute flood of interesting and innovative new PC hardware — but Phil seems to remember that was also the company line about Vista, and homeboy isn’t backing down. “We’ve been through these transitions before, and no matter how you look at it-it’s still Windows.” Harsh burn, amigo. Any last predictions? “I expect Snow Leopard will have an amazing upgrade rate, and Windows 7 won’t.” We thought you might say something like that. Good thing we’re giving Steve Ballmer a chance to respond live on the air next week, no?

[Via AppleInsider]

Filed under: Software

Phil Schiller on Windows 7: ‘No matter how you look at it, it’s still Windows’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It wasn’t that long ago that a bathroom scale was the only gadget you needed to track weight loss. Today even videogame consoles, once the bane of the fitness industry, are trying to help you recycle that spare tire, and of course there’s no shortage of specialty doo-dads getting in on the action. The Fitbit is one of those, a little accelerometer that pledges to keep an eye on what you do so that you can just go ahead and do it, reporting back at the end of the day on how well you did at staying active. It sounds nice, but it’s not quite that self-sufficient. Read on to see if it’s worth the commitment.

Continue reading Fitbit review

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wearables

Fitbit review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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