Electronic Toy World

The Cloudbook (CE1200V) with the 7-inch display is not even in stores Wal-Mart as of this posting and it is already being reported by Computerworld that Everex has a new model with a 9-inch display in the works.

With little details being made public as of yet a few things are certain, the display will be 9-inches and they are planning a price tag of $500 or less, which would most likely mean $499. Hopefully they will include a larger hard drive, higher resolution and possibly some more RAM at that price. If that were the case I may be tempted to trade my current Eee for the future Cloudbook.

Via [jkOnTheRun]

Posted Jan 17th 2008 7:55AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Video
Quite frankly, it was hard to take Netflix’s sudden freeing of its Watch Instantly feature as anything but a response to Apple’s forthcoming iTunes movie rentals, but according to a piece at The New York Times, the two are actually aiming at different markets. After speaking with Netflix’s Reed Hastings, it was found that the vast majority of its streamable content was “older,” and considering that users of this service can never look forward to brand new releases being available, the cost (i.e. free to most mail-in subscribers) makes sense. As for Apple, it’s able to focus on crowds who are looking for a more robust, generally fresher selection, but of course, you’ll pay the premium each time you indulge. Furthermore, Netflix has yet to make transferring video to any display / device other than your monitor easy, and while an LG STB is indeed on the horizon, the differences in content selection are still likely to lure separate eyes. For more on the how’s and why’s behind the battle that probably isn’t, go on down and tag the read link.

Euphonix MC Control. This new home studio controller is designed to turn your computer based music studio software like Pro-Tools or Cubase into a full fledged DIY studio system. You get some pretty fancy technology thrown in to the system for your $999.99, including a multi-configurable touchscreen panel which automatically sets itself for the software you’re using, motorized auto-recall faders just like the big boys use and full-on jog/shuttle controls for those intimate editing moments. Just another reason why the music industry is becoming irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, who needs a massive studio budget now, eh? Oh, and you’ll need an Apple Mac by the way.

  Building a powerful editing and mixing system has never been easier. MC Control and MC Mix units snap together and are designed to fit between keyboard and screen. Because each unit has its own Ethernet connection the units may be snapped side-by-side or placed anywhere – yes anywhere! MC Control and MC Mix Consoles Build your own recording, editing and mixing system with any combination of MC Control and MC Mix.

Posted Jan 17th 2008 5:01AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: DisplaysWhen you’re driving “pinpoint calibration, consistent light output, and enhanced color/grayscale compensation” as the main selling points of your new monitor, it can only be NEC behind the wheel. Their 30-inch, MultiSync LCD3090WQXi letter-pie targets professionals in the media arts with a 2,560 x 1,600 pixel resolution, 12-bit internal look-up table, ColorComp technology for image accuracy, and support for 102% of the NTSC color scale. A pair of DVI inputs allows for both HDCP-encrypted and analog sources. Ships February for $2,200.

[Via Trusted Reviews]

Read [Warning: PDF]

Posted Jan 17th 2008 6:29AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee sprinter, has been denied a shot at the Olympics… for being too fast. The runner — who uses carbon-fiber, prosthetic feet — was reviewed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (or IAAF), a review which found the combination of man and machine to be too much for its purely human competitors. According to the IAAF report, the “mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the healthy ankle joint of an able bodied athlete is higher than 30-percent.” Additionally, Pistorius uses 25-percent less energy than average runners due to the artificial limbs, therefore giving him an unfair advantage on the track… or so they say. Oscar is expected to appeal the decision, saying a lack of variables explored by the single scientific study calls for deeper investigation into the matter. Our suggestion? Prosthetic legs for all!

[Via Medgadget]

Steve Jobs announced an update to the Apple TV at Macworld San Francisco this week as well as iTunes Movie Rentals, which were already rumored to be part of his Macworld keynote speech.

Jobs admitted that Apple’s online video plan had been a disappointment and that users didn’t take to watching online video the way Apple had expected. When Jobs first announced the Apple TV last January, Apple’s initial video plan was too complicated for many people. Getting a movie or TV show onto your Apple TV required customers to buy the video from the iTunes Store, download it to their computer, then sync/stream the file using an Apple TV.

Although Apple has already sold 7 million movies, Jobs said: “That’s more than everyone else put together, but it did not meet our expectations.”

Apple plans on overhauling their strategy by making 2 major changes:

1. Adding a new online movie rental service
2. Updating the Apple TV’s software so that viewers can stream movies direct from the internet sans (that’s Latin for without) computer.

Jobs thinks that viewers would prefer to rent movies, not buy them. As a result, the new Apple TV software will allow users to rent first run films from every major movie studio including Fox, WB, Paramount, Universal and Sony in HD. Jobs called it “A better way to provide movies to our customers.” Blockbuster and Netflix can’t be happy right now.

1000 films ready for rental will be available on iTunes starting in February. Going forward, movies will be available to rent 30 days after they are released on DVD. Broadband users won’t have to wait for these giant movie files to download. Moments after you rent the film using your Apple TV, it will be watchable immediately via streaming. How much are movie rentals? $2.99 to rent older titles, $3.99 for new releases. Add one more $1 to those prices if you want to rent the movie in HD.

Thomas Lesinski, president of Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, joined Jobs on stage at Macworld and called the rental service a “defining moment” for the distribution of digital video content. “This is really going to take things to the next level,” he said.

The new Apple TV software features will be included in a free Apple TV update scheduled to be released in February. You can update your Apple TV by selecting “Update Software” from the Settings menu.

methodshop

Posted Jan 16th 2008 11:44PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Video
Where the failed promise of Managed Copy on Blu-ray and HD DVD left us all hanging, Apple, iTunes, and Fox have oddly picked up the pieces. As paradoxically quietly announced at this week’s Jobsnote, the new Family Guy Presents Blue Harvest DVD comes with an included movie file that one can pull off the disc onto their machine — but only by making use of an included code (and a copy of iTunes with a valid account, of course), which ensures the DRM is still there. What’s unclear is whether the movie file is DRMed before being pulled off the disc, or is encrypted specific to one’s account during the process of download from the disc. Ultimately these details won’t change the fact that iTunes Digital Copy is a ripe target for people who wants to legitimately buy their media, yet doesn’t think it should be friggin’ rights managed. Crazy, we know.

There are a couple of ways to spy on other people, and one of the best is to use a spy camera. Needless to say, the camera in questions must not bring a lot of attention to itself, otherwise the spying plan goes down the toilet, and you will need to get another way to work as an undercover agent.

With that being said, the Puppy Wireless Spy Camera, which is a recent addition at Brando, looks like the gadget that can get the job done.

In case you are wondering, the camera is located on the nose, and unlike what happens with other low-quality spy cams, the Puppy is able to transmit both video and audio, without the need of wires because of the 2.4GHz frequency.

Having small dimensions - 7.5 x 12.5 x 2.4 cm - and a lightweight factor of 182g also helps to achieve the spying sessions. In the end, you can check the video content in 2 different systems: PAL with a resolution of 628×582, or NTSC that has a smaller 510×492 resolution.

The Puppy Wireless Spy Camera isn’t cheap, it costs $150 and the whole package includes the camera itself (with microphone), plus a receiver with Li-battery, plus 2 adaptors for the camera and for the receiver, the usual manual, and last but not least, an AV cable.

Product Page

Guest post by Tiago of Gadgetizer

<!– ch_client = “gadgets”; ch_type = “rpu”; ch_noprice = “1″; ch_width = 468; ch_height = 90; ch_color_title = “#B40505″; ch_non_contextual = 1; ch_nosearch = 1; ch_default_category = “89″; ch_font_title = “Arial”; ch_font_text = “Arial”; ch_sid = “Coolest Gadgets RPU”; ch_alternate_css_url = “http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/rpu2.css”; ch_target = “_blank”; var ch_queries = new Array( ” Puppy Wireless Spy Camera ” ); var ch_selected=Math.floor((Math.random()*ch_queries.length)); if ( ch_selected

Posted Jan 17th 2008 1:25AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Laptops, Peripherals
Sure, we were all quite awestruck when Steve casually pulled the MacBook Air out from within a manila envelope on stage, but we didn’t exactly expect to-be owners to snag one from the supply cabinet and put it to use. Nevertheless, the quick-thinking duo that is Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans had an idea to take Apple’s clever marketing icon and create — surprise, surprise — a fully functional case resembling a manila folder. Reportedly, this sleeve is handmade from “durable upholstery-grade vinyl and lined with fuzzy, soft fleece,” which should protect your forthcoming MBA from all but the nastiest of bumps. Supposedly, you can pre-order one now for $29.95 and expect it to arrive right alongside your new rig, but if these truly are handmade, we’d go ahead and expect a backlog. Oh, if only we were this clever.

With the display resolution of 160 x 160 pixels, Garmin Rino 120 two way radio is shaking the owner by its outstanding output with the help of FRS and GMRS frequency band. Its 4-level grayscale LCD gives the visual satisfaction to viewers at anyplace. You can thoroughly enjoy the service of this product due to the presence of its several important features like VOX (voice activation), Location reporting (send and receive GPS positions), Voice scrambler etc. It can give you the pleasure of 22 channels up to range of 2 miles over FRS and 5 miles over GMRS. Its 15 hour battery life with the back up of 3 AA batteries gives you the security to take this product anyplace anytime.

To mention its more astonishing attributes, Garmin Rino120 two way radio comes equipped with:

• Vibration alert
• Basemap
• Map adding ability
• Area calculation
• Sun and moon information
• Hunt/fish calendar

Here are the screen shots of the gadget:

It can further enable you to avail the facility of 20 routes, log tracking (2,048 points, 20 saved tracks) etc. It can store various information and data with the help of its 8mb memory. With the support of 0.5 watts FRS and 1.0 watt GMRS transmit power, it has become one of the most user-friendly gadgets ever. It is now available in the market and at the Garmin website with the price of $ 267.84 USD - $ 642.84 USD.

<!– ch_client = “mmliewcf”; ch_type = “mpu”; ch_width = 468; ch_height = 180; ch_color_title = “0065CE”; ch_non_contextual = 1; ch_default_category = “200001″; var ch_queries = new Array(”Garmin Rino 120 two way radio”); var ch_selected=Math.floor((Math.random()*ch_queries.length)); if ( ch_selected