Monday, August 15, 2005
Latest Engaget
Plantronics Pulsar 590 headphones reviewed >
We like the look of the Plantronics Pulsar 590 Bluetooth stereo headset — something about that retro-DJ style really hooks us. But do they work? And how well do they sound? Turns out they get the job done mighty well, according to Ron Harris of the AP. He tried out a set, both with and without the optional dongle, and found that they produced “killer sound,” and worked well with a range of devices from a DVD player to an Xbox. Unfortunately, he apparently didn’t test them with a phone, so we don’t know how well the mic worked. But we’ve heard enough to convince us that these are at least worth checking out when the rest of us get to look at them in October.
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No iTunes phone announcement this weekend >
You can forget all that noise from last month about the first Motorola ROKR iTunes phone being introduced by Virgin Mobile at this weekend’s V music festival in the UK, the Inq says that no announcement is planned and that the launch won’t come until sometime around the end of next month (which jibes with what Ed Zander said at Motonow last month).
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Evangelion edition digital audio players from Chara-Ani >
The onslaught of special edition audio players continues, this time with Japanese anime goods supplier “Chara-Ani” and their “Neon Genesis Evangelion” edition of Kenwood’s HD20GA. Red and white models of the player are available (”ASUKA-RED” and “REI-WHITE” if you must know product codes) to correspond with the plug suit colors of the two female Eva pilots, and each comes pre-loaded with three wallpapers to use on that sweet 240 x 320 LCD of yours. Chara-Ani is also kind enough to slap the entire soundtrack of the Eva series on each player: a total of 112 tracks. Japan-only, of course.
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Transcend’s T.sonic 620 >
Uh oh, somebody’s taking a page or ten out of Sony’s audio device playbook this time (of all places—c’mon, the Bean?). Transcend’s T.sonic 620 series could well be the the illegitimate flash-based baby of the HD-NW5, but the fact that it supports WMA and has an FM tuner actually gives it a bit of an edge. Too bad this little number only strives to achieve on the 1GB plane.
[Via Akihabara News]
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Nightmare Before Christmas iPod >
Go ahead and add “Nightmare Before Christmas” to your scorecard for special edition iPods (you have a collection, don’t you?). Between the TiVo edition, Hello Kitty edition, Neon Genesis Evangelion edition, Star Wars edition, U2 edition, HP edition, and probably a slew of others, the special editions don’t seem so special anymore. Runat has announced the release of the “Nightmare Before Christmas BOX,” which includes a 20GB iPod with Jack Skellington on the case, a few wheel stickers, and a Nightmare Before Christmas-themed carrying case. Oh yeah, and a free T-shirt! All this for a mere 52,500 yen (~$475 USD). Of course this is Japan only, don’t you know they’re the ones still obsessed with Burton?
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Microsoft files patent for Phantom Car >
Microsoft has filed a rather curious patent that describes a navigation system in which the driver of a vehicle is actually following an image of a car projected right onto the windshield. As opposed to following an on screen map or following auditory instructions from an in-car GPS, this system would have the driver literally following in the wake of a phantom leader car. We have to admit that it’s interesting, and that it would probably be pretty fun to turn that next out of town trip into a three hour virtual reality video game, but um, is this really safe?
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Konica Minolta intros the DiMAGE Z6 >
Konica Minolta’s new DiMAGE Z6 follows in the footsteps of the Z5 with a slight increase to a 6 megapixel CCD, 12x optical zoom and a two-inch LCD. The unit also sports improved battery life over its predecessor. It should officially hit the streets in mid-September for an MSRP of about $399.
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Plantraco’s Butterfly Livingroom flyer >
Dude, if only we’d had this thing back in the day when we really needed to annoy our siblings. Plantraco’s Butterfly is a lightweight 3.6 gram remote control airplane fully intended for usage in your living room — that’s right! Fly with impunity, friends — that’s what it’s made for! It comes with a combination transmitter/charger that runs on 4 AA batteries and a 10 x 16 x 5-inch carrying case. Cost of the Butterfly: $239. The look on your parents’ face when you launch your first mission during the NFL playoffs: priceless.
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Seawatch UV helps you bake, not fry >
What, guys, getting stares when you hit the beach in Look’s Tan-Timer Bikini? Don’t those people know it’s preventing you from getting burned? Well, if it’s just not working out for you, there’s something else you can try — the Seawatch UV is a wristwatch that monitors UV light levels and lets you know when you’re at risk of getting burnt. There’s a bar graph at the top that shows at a glance the amount of UV radiation present and, you know, it also happens to tell time. You should be able to pick one up for less than $50.
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Burwen Bobcat promises to turn digital sound into “better than analog” quality >
Here’s the deal with Burwen Bobcat: it’s sold as a combination software and hardware DAC package, and promises to convert sound from digital sources such as CDs, DVDs and MP3s into an audio stream that sounds “equal to or better than analog and SACD.” Sounds like a neat trick. The digital audio converter connects to your Windows XP machine via USB, takes the digital audio signal from your computer and generates what is reportedly a very high quality analog signal via an RCA connection to your stereo amplifier. The software part of the equation supposedly removes the “digitalness” of the audio stream, and the Daniel Hertz DAC takes the resulting bitstream and converts it to analog with a “warm, open, natural sonic quality that music lovers want.” The reviews on the resulting sound quality? Well, they’re mixed. And truly, we’re a bit skeptical. Do we even know what “better than analog” is supposed to sound like?
[Thanks, Luca]
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Gefen’s DVI KVM Switcher >
Many of the available KVM options provide switching for VGA connectors, so here’s an option for switching between two DVI inputs. The 2 x 1 DVI KVM Switcher will allow you to swap DVI, USB 2.0 and audio between two machines. As a nicety, it includes two 6 foot DVI cables, two 6 foot USB cables and two audio cables so you don’t have to cannibalize too much from that cable snakepit you have in your closet (don’t think we don’t know). It’s a little on the pricy side for a KVM switch at $199, but if you need the DVI support it might just be the KVM you’ve been waiting to see from across a crowded room.
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Thursday, August 18, 2005
The Clicker: Xbox 360’s pricing — it’s all about the hard drive >
Every Thursday Stephen Speicher contributes The Clicker, a weekly opinion column on entertainment and technology:
Let the games begin continue!
It’s been quite a busy week for both Microsoft and Sony. Earlier this week Microsoft released final pricing for its Xbox 360 system. Sony “responded”, in kind, by slapping a big helping of FUD on the table (via an Amazon pre-order page). It’s, of course, possible that Sony had nothing to do with the very-well-timed pre-order page. However, the battlefields of these wars are riddled with this type of chicanery.
Seriously though – does ANYONE expect to be able to walk into a store in March and buy a PS3 for $299? I suspect that the answer is no, but that’s alright; it’s all part of the gamesmanship that’s at the heart of the console wars.
Continue reading “The Clicker: Xbox 360’s pricing — it’s all about the hard drive”
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Tiny robot plane flies indoors, transmits data >
We’ve seen our share of tiny reconnaissance robots, but it looks like there might be a new challenger for the title of world’s most advanced. Swiss researchers have demonstrated a flying bot with an 31-inch wingspan and a weight of just 1 ounce, that can fly indoors, avoiding walls and other objects via its onboard cameras. The robot plane has gyroscopic stabilizers and a Bluetooth transmitter to send data back to a nearby computer. And, yes, we really, really, want one, but we’re willing to wait for the next version, which will have a wingspan half the size and weigh just under half an ounce. Should fit perfectly under our jacket when we’re touring the research lab on our next trip to Lausanne.
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: 6:23 AM
