Electronic Toy World

Posted Jan 23rd 2008 6:34PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: LaptopsWe knew we were in for some rough chuckles when Birmingham, Alabama signed up to provide an OLPC XO to every K-8 student student last December, but we didn’t think they’d be this silly from the get-go: apparently the mayor’s office, which negotiated the deal, is now saying the school board needs to add WiFi to every school for the laptops to work. That’s news to us — the mesh-networking XO was designed to be used in rural parts of the third world, after all — but we’re still puzzling out what mayoral advisors John Katopodis and Bob McKenna meant when they said they’re “trying to make the whole city WiFi,” or where they got a quote of $39 per school to enable wireless access. Of course, the only response from the school board was one member who worried about students accessing porn — which seems to be a real theme with the XO — but for some reason we’re not at all surprised that bureaucratic officials have totally missed the point of the OLPC project.

[Thanks, Jay]

Posted Jan 23rd 2008 12:19PM by Joshua Topolsky
AMD / ATI is bustin’ out with some new graphics cards for your gaming (or casual use) pleasure, and we’ve got details to share with you. The company has recently issued its Radeon HD 3870 X2 for review, and FPSLabs has the breakdown of the company’s new high-end gamer, pushing it to the limit with Hell-ride tests utilizing Bioshock, Oblivion, and F.E.A.R., amongst others. The card performed like a monster in most arenas, though when it went up against EA’s monster Crysis, even the dual-GPU card buckled under the intense pressure of the game, getting a surprise beating from the supposedly-less-powerful NVIDIA 8800GTS 512. We won’t give you the nine-page rundown, but you can get the idea. The company also recently released a more consumer-oriented set of cards, the Radeon HD 3650 and 3450, meant for a kinder, gentler user — you can check all the info on those dudes in the read link. Enjoy!

[Thanks, Robert C]

Read - AMD Radeon HD 3870 X2 Review
Read - ATI Radeon HD Refresh: The 3650 and 3450 Arrive

Posted Jan 23rd 2008 2:24PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Laptops
You’ve read about it, you’ve heard about it and you’ve even seen its ghost sneaking out from your closet at night, but now you can finally buy this beast of a machine with its all new hardware. The Pavilion HDX — which stretches the very definition of a laptop — is available right now at HP’s website, complete with an optional (but really required, you know?) 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme processor, 20.1-inch WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) display, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS and optional HD DVD / Blu-ray drives. Sure, you can claim one as your own for “just” $1,999.99, but HP’s “recommended configuration” puts you at $3,645.97. You gotta pay to play, right?

[Thanks Vance and Andrew]

Posted Jan 23rd 2008 1:26PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Digital Cameras Vision Research already has some pretty capable high-speed cameras under its belt, but the company looks to have outdone even itself with its latest model, which is apparently the first such camera to hit the one-million pictures-per-second mark. Of course, to grab that impressive burst of images you’ll have to settle for a 256×8 resolution, although you’ll still get a decent 6,315 pictures-per-second with the maximum 1280×800 resolution. Otherwise, you can expect 8GB, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage depending on the exact model (which includes both color and monochrome options), “unprecedented light sensitivity,” and Vision’s Extreme Dynamic Range feature, which’ll let you capture two different exposures within one single frame. No word on a price, although some things are probably better left unsaid.

[Via Gadget Lab]

With millions of people all over the world being bitten by the “detox” bug, there is an obvious surge in “miracle” gadgets targeting the fitness-conscious, but the claims of one such machine, the Aqua Detox Spa, have recently been called into question.

The Aqua Personal Spa apparently uses a “special salt” that you dump into the unit before you turn it on. Place your feet in the bowl and experience the “bio-energetic current which travels through your body, disposing of waste and toxins through more than 2000 pores in your feet”. Proof - the erstwhile clear water turning muddy after half an hour of this therapy (see image) because of the drained-out toxins.

Ben Goldacre at Bad Science decided to test the claims made by the $200 spa. His result? You get the exact same outcome when you run current across two ferrous electrodes in a plain salt water solution. Blame the “toxicity” on the rust that is generated as a by-product! Moreover, Ben also managed to generate the same sludge in the detox spa without placing his feet in it.

Conclusion - save that $200 for something more worthwhile.

Via The Gadget Lab.

My hometown is in Northern Virginia, but you wouldn’t know it now that I’m equipped with 9 months of hard New York learning (I made a lot dumb mistakes). Part of my street smarts has to do with strategies for keeping myself and my things safe. I spend most of my time walking with a purse or bag full of expensive gear (laptop, phone, iPod, etc.).

Pacsafe’s DailySafe H100 Bag looks stylish and modern, but its design is theft-proof. It’s made from durable twill, nylon, and high-tensile stainless steel wire, and concealed within is the eXomesh® Slashguard front panel, snatch-proof shoulder strap, and tamper-proof zippers.

My street smarts never looked so good.

Price: $83.95 at Zappos.

T-Mobile has reported a break-in at one of their warehouses that resulted in the theft of approximately 36,000 phones, which holds a value of around $8.2 million. Be warned if you are offered a sweet deal on a “new” T-Mobile phone as they are actively tracking the IMEI numbers, its noted that a majority of the phones were Sidekicks. T-Mobile dealers were notified and they are working with law enforcement officials to try and make sure these stolen phones remain un-activated.

“Wanted to let you all know that one of our warehouses was broken into over the weekend and some 36,000 phones were stolen (worth about 8.2 Million). The most significant phones stolen were the Sidekick phones. Please make sure you inform the dealers who like to purchase gray market handsets that we are aggressively working with law enforcement to prosecute anyone who has these handsets. We do know the IMEI’s of the stolen phones and once they end up on our network we will go to the dealer code that activated the phone. So if your dealers get a call about Sidekicks and the deal is too good to be true you will know why.”

Via [Boy Genius Report]

Posted Jan 23rd 2008 10:46AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Wearables, Wireless
Bluetooth watches and Bluetooth helmets — been there, done that on both points. Still, Voz Sports is keeping our attention with its attention to detail on the Multy LYNK helmet and Sports Frequency wristwatch (shown after the jump). As for the latter, you can expect a black (2GB) or red (1GB) face, Bluetooth v1.2, a waterproof casing, included earbuds and USB 2.0 connectivity. Checking out the headgear, you’ll likely appreciate the “voice-activated, wireless two-way radio communication via 14 FRS channels with 38 privacy codes,” Bluetooth v1.2, its NOAA weather receiver, noise-canceling microphone, waterproof stereo speakers and AA battery operation. Each device is set to ship on April 1 (no joke!) for $249.95 to $299.95 and $299.95, respectively.

Read - Sports Frequency watch [Via Be Sportier]
Read - Multy LYNK helmet [Via Be Sportier]

Posted Jan 23rd 2008 8:35AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Cellphones
If you’ve been paying attention to mobile carriers’ SMS pricing lately (and something tells us you haven’t) you’d be surprised to discover a fairly disturbing trend amongst providers: price hikes. Over the past year or so, nearly every major carrier in the US has raised their per-price cost of SMS messages, with Verizon and Sprint jacking up the fee from $0.15 to $0.20 a message, and AT&T and T-Mobile adding another nickel to their $0.10 charge. Of course, this trend of rising prices accompanies a major spike in the use of text messages amongst customers, with some surveys marking a 130-percent jump over SMS use since June 2006 — and telcos are taking it to the bank. What’s most insidious about the inflated costs is the fact that SMS data is particularly low-bandwidth, and analysts say that the price increases aren’t related to higher operating costs — these companies are simply gouging customers for a service which they have embraced. Companies say the hikes are meant to encourage customers to go for more expensive “bundles,” though we’re confident they won’t mention it when your Mom uses more messages than her plan allows and unwittingly pays a few extra bucks on her bill — that stuff adds up, you know?

Posted Jan 23rd 2008 11:14AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Storage
Believe it or not, Olympus’ original Type M xD-Picture Card crashed the scene over a year ago, so it’s about time its successor showed up, don’tcha think? The revamped (and ever-so-slightly renamed) M+ card promises data transfer speeds of up to 1.5 times faster than the vanilla Type M, yet somehow still supports “virtually all digital cameras with xD-Picture Card slots” — whatever that means. Unfortunately, these speedsters still cap out at 2GB, and while pricing deets remain undisclosed, they should be landing sometime in April for all to see.