AMD and Microsoft, two great tastes that taste great together, are teaming up to sell a new PC, the IQ, in Bangalore and Pune, India for about $513. The PCs run Windows Vista Basic — no flying windows for you, kids — and Works along with some test prep and English learning programs as well as an MSN IQ Education Channel. The PCs will be distributed by Zenith Computers. Microsoft launches new low-cost PC effort in India [News.com] → Read More
Logitech today announced two new webcams that each incorporate hot Carl Zeiss lenses. The QuickCam Pro 9000 (above) is true 2-megapixel cam intended for desktop use, while the QuickCam Pro for Notebooks incorporates the same features into compact and portable unit that includes a tripod. Both of the units carry a price point of $99 and should be available soon. I had the opportunity to look at these a couple of weeks ago and I can attest that they have the best image quality of any webcam I’ve seen. It’s game changing sort of stuff. The interesting part though, is that Logitech now has an exclusive arrangement with Zeiss Optics that allows them to be the sole producer of Zeiss-equipped webcams. → Read More
In the past two weeks, Peer-to-Patent has opened up a USPTO approved project allowing an open review of pending patent applications. Registered members are encouraged to read through the patents available and provide opinions on prior art and obviousness that can then become part of the PTO Examiners review of non-patent references. Today, Peer-to-Patent announced that they have taken a space on Democracy Island on Second Life allowing members to interact with videos and see information on the project. Go to where your target audience is, that’s what they say. Peer-to-Patent Opens in Second Life [Peer-to-Patent Blog] → Read More
Greetings, readers. The Best Commenter Ever has been MIA for the past few days but now it will be up daily at about 9PM EST. Thanks for your great comments, they have been increasing in quality and we are really grateful that we have such an active readership. Anyway, ProfessionalGun earned the first spot after telling us what he thought about Apple fanboyism. We agree. Cheers to that, Nicholas. Apple makes very inspired products that pull a very devoted fan-base. . . → Read More
So now that we’re almost exactly half-way through 2007, it’s time to start looking at the holiday shopping season. While iPhones and new Zunes and stuff will get most of the attention, the Consumer Electronics Association has pointed out that it expects 16 million HDTVs will be sold this year, putting the percentage of households with HDTVs at 36% by the beginning of next year. That’s a significant number. If over 1/3 of us are watching HDTVs, then the carriers are going to start giving us more HD content, and that is a good thing. One of the only real disadvantages to HDTV right now is the dearth of Hi-Def video that cable and satellite operators give us. More is better. The time will come soon when almost everything we watch will be in HD, and it will be glorious. Anything taking us a step closer is welcome news. 36% of U.S. to have HDTV by 2008 [ministryoftech] → Read More
I’ve spent the better part of the last half hour trying to decide if I should tell you about this. I’ve decided I owe it to the public at large to share. And I think I get credit towards my community service hours, too. Meet MizPee. MizPee is a Web 2.0 site that helps you find a public bathroom. That’s about what it does. You bring it up on your mobile phone, enter your location, and let MizPee show you the way to an empty bladder. Awesome. And if you’re not part of the mobile Web generation yet (you luddite), you can send a text message and receive directions. And just to make this post carry some weight this week, it’s fully compatible with the iPhone’s built-in Safari browser. So there. MizPee [via Mike's little blog] → Read More
Dirty mouse? You’ve tried scrubbing, bleaching, even burning the dirt away — but nothing seems to work! Introducing Belkin’s Washable Mouse. Take an ordinary mouse, make it water-resistant and slap a $30 price tag on it and you have a mouse that can be cleaned in your the sink. Oh, and it “works on many household surfaces, including upholstery and wood.” The mouse, not the cleaning. And you wouldn’t be caught dead carrying your new Belkin Washable Mouse around in your hands, would you? These days it seems that even ordinary backpacks, purses and backpacks that turn into purses aren’t fit to carry such precious cargo. If only there were some sort of mouse pad-like device that zipped up around your mouse, creating a protective, but flexible satchel. Enter the Belkin Mouse Trap, a mouse-pad like device that zips up around your mouse, creating a protective, but flexible satchel “perfect for moving from your bed to the couch to the dining room table.” My friends, we are living in the golden age of mousing technology. Remember these years forever. New Belkin Washable Mouse Endures Spills and Stays Clean Carry and Store Your Mouse with the Belkin Mouse Trap → Read More
Google rolled out two new features for its Picasa (think Flickr, only by Google) online photo sharing site yesterday, both of which are useful for showing your friends just how crazy and unpredictable your life is. The first allows you to tag your photos with the location of where they were taken. Then, when sharing the photo album online with your friends, they’ll see all the photos on a Google Map, just like this . Google has also launched a version of Picasa specifically designed for cellphones. This version adapts itself to the small screen and uses the phone’s built-in Web browser. Apparently, BlackBerry users, soulless beings that they are, may have to adjust their browser settings to get Picasa to display properly. Serves ‘em right. You know, as I type this, I’m using the whole gamut of Google apps: Google Docs, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Reader. I’ll be testing out the Picasa client in just a bit, expecting it to be as solid as the rest of the company’s widgets. ‘Cause if it’s not… Put your photos on a map, and Picasa on your phone [Google Blog] → Read More
The JVC TH-L1 home theater speaker system contains five satellite speakers, a subwoofer and a control unit. If you have $299, you can trade it for the privilege of keeping the aforementioned items in your home until it or you die. Here’s what else you get: 360 watts Two 1080p-capable HDMI ports Two component inputs Two digital audio inputs Two composite inputs Two S-video ports Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital, and DTS encoding An iPod dock with track control, video output, and charging Front-mounted USB port with support for MP3, WMA, WAV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4, and JPEG That’s a spicy meatball for just under three Franklins. Were you to meet a girl in a bar and get up the nerve to approach her, you could invite her over to either listen to music, watch high-definition television and/or movies, watch downloadable iTunes content, take turns playing Turok complete with loud sounds and flashy graphics or maybe just have a quiet night at home flipping through whatever sounds, photos and movies you had on your killer Swiss Army flash drive. JVC TH-L1 → Read More
I had an interesting and very informative conversation with Ken Lowe of Sigma Designs and what he had to say about the next-gen DVD format war blew me away. But first, a little bit about Sigma Designs and why this man’s opinion should matter to those of you on the fence. Sigma Designs’ media processors work with both standards and currently power six of the nine Blu-ray players available on the market today including Sharp, Sony, Panasonic, and Pioneer. He’s not playing favorites, just telling it like it is. → Read More
We’re not entirely sure any current phones can actually use them, but SanDisk has gone ahead and upped the capacity of its MicroSDHC cards to 8-frickin’-GB. That’s huge news for musicphone fans. 8GB holds about 2,000 MP3s. That’s good enough for me. Who needs an 8GB iPhone when you can have an 8GB, I dunno, Blackberry Pearl? That’s right, I can hear you thinking about it. Keep up the good work. SanDisk Press Release [via Jason Chen's Gizmodo] → Read More
FASA Studio’s Shadowrun has been hacked to run on XP, despite being a Vista-only title. Microsoft has been pushing its new DirectX 10 gaming architecture to get people to upgrade to Vista in order to play the newest games. Problem is, most of the new games are still running on DirectX 9 – Shadowrun and Halo 2 included. Microsoft has pigeonholed these games into the Vista-only category, creating a fine case of nerd-rage amongst gamers still running XP. Hacking group Razor 1911 takes a pebble to Microsoft’s forehead with the release of a cracked version of Shadowrun, set to run on XP. Could Halo 2 be next? Vista-only game cracked to run on XP [Ars Technica] → Read More
Sprint is striking out on its own and is wiping the Nextel brand from its slate. Seems the problem lies within botched advertising and a faulty network, which caused many customers to drop Sprint as a carrier. So what happens when you’re trying to invent a new image for yourself? You use a new tagline, that’s what. Sprint is now adopting the slogan, “Sprint ahead” in hopes of getting people to focus on Sprint and not Nextel. One of the biggest blows to Nextel will be the removal of their name from the NASCAR Cup series – a final blow that will leave Nextel buried in the dirt. Maybe with a new focus and service improvements, Sprint can come out of the hole its been buried in for years. Sprint Ad Campaign Leaves Nextel’s Name in the Dust [Washington Post] → Read More
Nike seems to get the youth of today. Aside from making cool kicks, the company took some time to whip up this concept cleaning system. Modeled after a floor hockey set, there’s a vacuum that doubles as a goal. You must sweep dirt and rubbish into it with a broom that resembles a hockey stick. You score some points, Mom is happy and the living room is no longer a mess. Sounds like a winning design to me, Nike. If only it weren’t a silly concept. Nike Floor Hockey Cleaning concept [Ubergizmo] → Read More
San Francisco, CA
