Electronic Toy World

Posted Jan 15th 2008 8:03AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: LaptopsWell here you have it. After the rumors surfaced back in July, Acer is offering Ubuntu 7.10 as a pre-load on their 14.1-inch Aspire 4315-100508C model with 1,280 x 800 resolution, 1.86GHz Celeron M 540, 512MB memory, 80GB disk, and DVD optical drive. Better yet, the price is just NZ$699 — that’s $553 in US greenbacks. The offer appears to be good in New Zealand only for the moment. Toe dipping the consumer waters are we Acer?

[Via Geekzone]

Are you the frequent target of police brutality? Do you want to have video evidence of what your teenager does behind the wheel? Ever wish you had a video black box to record an accident to help argue your side? When is the last time you took your new car around your city’s beltway at 130mph only to be laughed at by your non-believer friends?

I’ve got a million of these, seriously… do you want me to continue?

Anyway, intended use of this gizmo is to record crucial information about the scene of a collision. The portable DVR can record important details about the scene of an accident including the weather, road conditions, and the position of traffic immediately before and during a traffic collision. Video evidence is detailed and objective and could be useful for law enforcement and insurance companies. Arguing your side of what occurred during an accident is a whole lot easier when you have video footage to support your case.

Gimmie!

Suggested Price: $78.99

Posted Jan 15th 2008 3:05AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Cellphones
According to a report from the market-mindful Bloomberg, old Jobsy could be dropping the iPhone on Canada come tomorrow’s keynote. If you believe what RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky says (and that’s a big if), Apple will unleash the phone via Rogers Communications — the country’s largest mobile service provider. “There’s a very good chance that Apple will announce or discuss some kind of other carrier roll-outs, beyond the ones it has done in Europe and the U.S.” He said, adding that, “There is definitely very strong demand and interest here.” To which we say, “Duh,” and, “Hey, we’ve heard this before.” Though we’re not sure Steve will have time for the Canadian launch in his keynote, what with all the algae-based hard drives, unicorn laptops, and rays of pure energy he’ll be introducing.

[Thanks, Paolo]

Posted Jan 15th 2008 12:34AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Gaming
If you’re the kind of cat or kitten that listens to “reports” on “things,” then you’ll want to turn your furry ears in this direction. Apparently, a stray Target receipt containing some elicit information made its way out onto the internet today (you know how those get around). Just what does this slip of paper tell us? According to the supplier (a Target employee), the store has begun listing the Wii as “White” in color, as opposed to just “Wii-colored” or “sold-out.” The suggestion is that with the sudden delineation of color, more than “White” may be on the way — speculation due mostly in part to Target’s receipt-prescience on things like iPod deletions and the like. Of course, we’ve been hearing this kind of stuff for awhile, so we’re not holding our breath on the issue, and suggest you do the same. Er, don’t do. Don’t hold your breath.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

Over the last week, Sony introduced 17 new HDTVs for 2008 for the US. I’m sure some of these will make it over to Europe. The Sony Bravia B4000 has just been announced by Sony Europe as a “portable” HDTV. Sony are aiming the B4000 series at people who wish modern sets were not so big and bulky and hard to move around. The Sony B4000 series are available in three smallish sizes, 20-inch, 23-inch and 26-inch.

All three sets feature an all in one design, with no separate stand, and includes a convenient handgrip at the rear, for easy and save portability, making the Bravia B4000 the perfect HDTV for moving from room to room, or placing in a space limited area. Available in two colours, pearly white, or glossy mocha.

The Sony B4000 also includes the Bravia Engine which enhances the image quality by boosting colours, contrast and image sharpness to get the very best in image quality. Also featured is Virtual Dolby Surround and BBE ViVa audio signal processing for crisp, clear, immersive audio.

Sony Bravia B4000 Series:

• Sony KDL20B4000
• Sony KDL23B4000
• Sony KDL26B4000

Sony-Europe Press post

While most MP3 players have a similar design, and the functionality is also alike, the players that come from Asia are always different.

Made by Shenzhen Bmorn and named BM532, this portable media player features a CTW500 chipset, and is compatible with images (JPEG, GIF), and videos (AMV). Obviously, MP3 is the file format for the audio.

The most notable point is certainly its strange shape, with the screen located on the left side, and all the controls on the opposite side. The small 2-inch TFT display screen sports a 220×176 resolution, which might not be good enough to check the videos.

Interestingly, the BM532 has a built-in speaker, and last but not least, support for microSD memory cards, and a USB port to transfer files easily.

FM radio, e-book reader and audio recording capability are included, along with seven EQ settings.

Via PMPToday

Posted Jan 14th 2008 5:56PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Tomorrow morning the tech world will tune in as Steve gets on stage to kick off another Macworld expo — an event Apple usually uses for only its biggest product announcements. There are all kind of crazy rumors going around, but this year there are a few picks that have seem to stuck: an ultraportable MacBook (Pro) of some kind, iTunes movie rentals, and, of course, the iPhone SDK. But what rabbit will El Jobso pull out of his hat marked one-more-thing? Find out tomorrow when we bring you our live coverage at 9AM PT (and check out other local times here).

SeaLife ECOshot is a 6-megapixel digital camera specifically created to withstand harsh outdoor conditions. SeaLife claims it is the world’s first truly waterproof and shockproof digital sports camera. For those of us that have dropped the camera or submerged one, here’s an idea that makes loads of common sense.

Ideal for any outdoor and water sports, it is compact, lightweight, guaranteed shockproof up to 6 feet and waterproof up to 75 feet or 23 meters. Since almost all outdoor activities are fast paced, it has virtually no shutter lag to capture the precise precious moments.

ECOshot boasts its unique feature called the SPY mode, enabling users to take photos continuously based on the time intervals set. Capturing images of difficult subjects such as undersea creatures is now trouble-free. It will only stop when the memory card is full or if the shutter button is pushed again.

Priced $230, it is now available in selected outdoor and photo retailers nationwide. Other key features include:

6.0 mp CCD Sensor - For sharp images
Large accessible shutter and menu buttons for wearing gloves
Depth Rated to 75ft / 23m
Shockproof Tested to 6ft/2m
Large 2” LCD for easy viewing and aiming
Land & Sea - Exposure Modes for vivid colors on land or underwater
Video mode with audio
Fast start-up time and shutter response so you don’t miss the action
Long battery life powered by 2 AA Batteries
Instant Focus - from 2ft / 60cm to Infinity
Fully rubber armored for sure grip and extra shock protection
14 MB built-in memory
SD Card Expanded Memory up to 1 GB

Read [SeaLife ECOshot] Read [PR Newswire]

In a multi-iPod/iPhone household like mine, this device looks like it could be a godsend for tidying up the rats’ nest of cables on our kitchen countertop. Here’s a single charging dock that can recharge up to four iPods or iPhones simultaneously.

The new Griffin PowerDock will come in both a two-dock ($50) and a four-dock ($70) model, and they should support all iPods with a 30-pin dock connector. Expect the quad version to ship this April, and the dual to hit in June.

If you’re looking for a multiple dock with a stereo built in, be sure to check out the forthcoming JVC NX-PN7 dual dock sound system.

[via Crave]

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charge, dock, griffin, iphone, ipod, multiple, power

Posted Jan 14th 2008 10:49PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: CellphonesWe wish we were kidding. Palm is sticking with its early-2009 projection for the upcoming Linux-based relaunch of the Palm OS — possibly codenamed Nova. That means this date isn’t exactly a surprise, but we’ve really been hoping that this 2009 business was some sort of bad dream, since it’s abundantly clear that Palm needs a new OS yesterday. To clarify further, Palm’s Stephane Mass stated that Palm expects to wrap the OS late in 2008, and get tool to developers in time for devices early in the next year. Palm plans to keep offering Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices, and to make Centro the heart of its 2008 lineup.