Cool toys and Gadgets

If I keep coming on PS3 superiority on handling Blu-ray materials, I might get flamed with fanboyism. May be it is better if I state the opposite first. Why PS3 is not a good standalone? PS3 is loud, the noise tops my projector runs at high beam mode. Bluetooth remote sucks, additional IR dongle requires to add PS3 on Universal remote control. Hardware constraints; no multichannel audio support on analog output, advanced audio codec limits on LPCM though HDMI. Last but certainly not least, it’s awfully ugly!

But truth hurts; we’ve seen how PS3 leads loading time in a small group test, here’s another victory for PS3 fans – An exclusive Blu-ray player benchmark test from Blu-ray.com - The dreadful beast once again crowns the best in system booting, disc loading and operation. It is not only stands out among 12 Blu-ray players in test, but performance trumps contestants in Blu-ray Disc Java department by a large margin.

No surprise there, the results reflect the superiority of cell power processing in comparing with hardware-based units. The best-equipped standalone can’t even come close to the level of PS3 achieved; on the other hand, user has to deal with cooling noise works against the excessive heat resulting from the cell processor.

Test in question didn’t cover audio quality or image reproduction in legacy DVD upscaling or blu-ray disc, but unit’s ability to handle intensive Java content and interactive menu. You can visit Blu-ray.com to see more information on how the test was conducted and categorized.

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

• Third-gen HD DVD players unveiled by Toshiba
• Add-on for Xbox 360 outsells standalone HD-DVD players
• Creative Zen Moo MP3 Players are cow-tastic
• Over 100k HD-DVD players sold
• Rumor - Cowon to release 16GB flash players this year

Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, HDTV, Computers, Desktops, Laptops, Gadgets / Other, Gaming, Console

Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us, it’s time we enjoy those gadgets that we bought, whether it be a brand new HDTV, gaming system, MP3 player, or computer.  Of course for us techie people, we like to see how this year compares with previous years in terms of money spent.  With the economy in a slump, experts predicted this shopping season to be down, but Cyber Monday managed to persuade many consumers to open their wallets, punch in their credit card number, and eagerly await their arrival of their new gadget(s).

Statistically speaking, last year on Cyber Monday had bought in $733 million in revenue, and this year bought in a 15% increase - an astonishing $846 million spent, stated ComScore in a report.  This came as a relief to many retail stores because sales had dropped by 2% or $12 billion from November 1 to Cyber Monday of this year as compared to last year. 

Gian Fulgoni, Chairman of ComScore, had this to say about why Cyber Monday prospered:

“With Cyber Monday promotions beginning in earnest over the Thanksgiving weekend, consumers have finally begun to open their wallets, setting off a streak of four consecutive days of extremely strong growth.  This is an extremely encouraging development for retailers, and we can but hope that their aggressive discounting has still left room for profits.“

A bit of bad news - when retails formally announce their profits, it is expected to overall be down from last year, even though Black Friday and Cyber Monday both did exceptionally well In addition, it could be the overall worst holiday season in terms of profit in decades.  I noticed, and you might have as well, there are many more commercials and advertisements with deals in effort to promote the holiday season.  Also, holiday music that usually starts after Thanksgiving, I was hearing it on the radio a week before Thanksgiving, probably in efforts to make people spend more.

Cyber Monday has become especially big in the last few years because Americans are finding they can get as good as and in some cases better deals than on Black Friday.  All they have to do is click a buttons buttons, type in a few numbers, and let the website and its employees do the rest. 

Now, the big question that remains is how well will retailers do in the coming weeks.  Of course, it was nice to see this big shopping spree from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, but I don’t think customers are ready to splurge yet with the state of this economy. 

Read [Los Angeles Times]

Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

The Huawei U121 is a brand new entry-level handset from Huawei Technologies. It features some high-quality materials like stainless steel casing. Despite being entry level, the phone comes with a 1.3MP camera that supports video calls, an integrated FM radio, microSD memory card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Audio and video playback, miniUSB port and 3G connectivity. The Huawei U121 is currently only available only in Russia.

[justamp]

The JukeBrick is a concept that aims to revolutionize portable music, you know should it ever actually exist. It’s a portable audio player, it also doubles as a performer as well. You see, when JukeBricks get together, they each become individual performers, and you are can listen to individual instruments or even vocals since sound sources can be identified via Music 2.0 technology.

Connecting two or more JukeBricks will extend the screen size, add speakers and you have 3-way or even 4-way channel surround sound speakers. It may just take this kind of radical thinking to put the iPod in it’s place one day.

For now however, it sadly remains just a concept.

[Yanko]

Section: Audio, Web, Websites

Piracy is a massive problem in the music industry as it is getting easier and easier to get your music free off the Internet.  Obviously the music industry is trying to keep up, and the people at Bopaboo (what a weird name!) think they have come up with a solution: second hand music.  But not any old music, oh no, you can now buy used digital music.  “How on earth does this work?“ I hear you cry, and that is exactly what I thought, but let me first explain the idea behind this and what is supposed to happen. 

The theory is that people will go onto the website and tell people that they have digital music to sell, and Bopaboo puts a price on it.  Then someone comes along who wants that music cheap and buys the second hand digital music off them and the seller gets 80% of the profits with Bopaboo stashing the other 20% for themselves.

This is (in theory) a great idea, if you buy music digitally which is awful/boring you can sell it to someone who wants it: you sell it legally and they get cheap music.  It is a way to get people out of the habit of downloading illegally, you get money for your old music and everyone gets a good deal without feeling bad.  However as I am sure you have noticed right from the start there are some massive problems with this, and ones that will probably make this completely flawed.

Here is a small quote from the terms and conditions:

“You will delete any remaining copies of the Used Published Item that may exist in your possession, custody or control” and goes on to say that “...you agree to indemnify and defend bopaboo against any and all claims arising out of any transaction in which you are the seller”.

To be honest this is ridiculous, firstly they are expecting people to be honest and secondly they are using the general public as a legal backup: I don’t think that will hold up in court.  Firstly, they will have an overload of music for sale as people copy illegal music again and again so they can upload more and thus get more money, and noone is really going to delete any remaining copies, are they?  You will find a lot of people buying off it: it is a good idea for cheap music, but the idea that people will sell it is one that just won’t work.

All in all if 50% of users aren’t downloading illegally it is progress, but it is by no means the miracle that it promises to be.  Unfortunately I cannot see a day where music will be safe from pirates, but at least this is a step, however small, in the right direction.

Source [Gizmodo]
[Bopaboo]

Full Story » | Written by Christian Milsom for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Most PC desktop/notebook now comes equipped with a HDMI output for external display or digital flat screen (unless you have Mac), there are alternate solutions if your equipment lacks the output in question, you can get a DVI-HDMI adaptor or try out Atlona’s AT-HDPix Universal USB to HDMI convertor.

Compatible with both PC and Mac platform; the Atlona Technologies’ HDPiX is designed to add a HDMI port to any computer, provides a quick and dirty HDMI connectivity to view content on any HDTV at a maximum resolution of 1600×1200 PC signal or HD content at 720P.

The unit has a unique design to preserve full bandwidth of its USB input for HD Video content. Audio input is separated from video path from a 3.5-millimeter stereo input jack rather than through the USB port. The HDPiX is slated to ship before Christmas with a MSRP of $179.

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

• HDMI adapter for older Xbox 360s brings joy to all
• HDMI hub - Big, expensive and ugly
• Hack - Use a cheap HDMI cable on your Xbox 360 Premium
• Microsoft confirms HDMI port on Xbox 360 Premium
• PS3 Gets Price Cut and HDMI 1.3

It is no secret that many companies are working to reveal their own version of Android phone. However, one Aussie company beats everyone with their Kogan Agora phone, making it the second official Android phone. The phone will come in two variants – Basic and Pro which more or less looks like a design mixture of Samsung’s Blackjack and Motorola Q.

Anyways, Kogan is now taking up pre-orders but the phone will be shipped at the end of January next year. Good thing about this phone is that it will be sold unlocked and international buyers could also pre-order it albeit coughing up extra for the shipping charges.

Kogan Agora will sell for AU$299 (US$193) and Agora Pro for AU$399 (US$257).

Full Specifications:

Operating System: Android
Google Mobile Functions: Google Search, Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Talk, Google Calendar
Display: 2.5-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 262K QVGA (320 X 240 pixel) resolution
Device Control: 5-Way Central Navigation Key
Keyboard: QWERTY keyboard
Keyboard backlighting
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
Audio: Built-in microphone and speaker, Headphone output
Ring tone formats: MIDI, MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, PCM
Video: MPEG2 H263, H264, MPEG4, AVI
Mail attachment formats support: JPEG,GIF,WBMP,MIDI,AMR,MP3,WAV
Dimensions (HxWxD): 108 mm x 64 mm x 14.8 mm
Weight: 130g
Battery: 1300 mAh Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Talk Time: Up to 400 minutes
Standby Time: Up to 300 hours
Processor: 624 MHz
Memory: 256 MB On-board + 128 MB Flash
microSD card expansion slot
Network: UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

Pro Features:
GPS
Wi-Fi b/g
2 megapixel camera

Kogan Agora Basic
Kogan Agora Pro

[Via DVICE]

Section: Apple, Audio

“Operation Humble Kanye” is sort of a success.  If you don’t know, Stephen Colbert attempted to have the top album on iTunes by telling everyone to buy his Christmas album on December 3rd at 5PM Eastern.  Last night, the album was #15.  This morning, “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All” is the #3 album on iTunes.

Now, while Colbert was trying to get the top spot, he was also trying to have his album overtake Kanye West’s “808s & Heartbreak.“  West’s album is now #4, looking up at Colbert’s #3 album.  Does this mean you can game iTunes by having a lot of people buy your album just within a couple of minutes?  Perhaps.  Maybe record companies are already doing that to move things like Britney Spears’ “Circus” to the top spot. 

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Plat'Home, makers of the awesome OpenBlockS MicroServer, had kind words (and an update for readers of the book!) for our Small Form Factor PCs book (by Matthew Weaver and Duane Wessels):

The explanations are detailed and hands-on. Even though it's filled to the brim with shell commands and console output the text is informative and easy to read. There is even a guide how to solder a cable to power the unit from a USB port (no, this is not covered by our warranty).

As the guide was written in 2006, it mentiones that all documentation is only available in Japanese. Even though the author claims it was fun to figure it all out, we want to make your life a little easier.
You don't have to worry about Japanese anymore, everything you need is available in English now: firmware, manuals, FAQ and support.

We're glad that the authors discovered our MicroServer and we wholeheartedly recommend this book. If you have a hacking streak and need a small firewall box to carry everywhere, this is for you!

Plat'Home MicroServer in O'Reilly hardware hacks book

Make Projects: Small Form Factor PCs - (also available as PDF)
Make Projects: Small Form Factor PCs is the only book available that shows you how to build small-form-factor PCs -- from kits and from scratch -- that are more interesting and more personalized than what a full-sized PC can give you. Included in the book are projects for building personal video recorders, versatile wireless access points, digital audio jukeboxes, portable firewalls, and much more. This book shows you how to build eight different systems, from the shoebox-sized Shuttle system down to the stick-of-gum-sized gumstix.

I really like the idea of a HTPC in my living room. I would love to be able to watch A-Team or The Pretender on my big screen rather than my PC display from Hulu. The catch is that I don’t want a big and bulky HTPC machine in my entertainment center, I just don’t have the room, and I want HD capability.

Asus has announced a couple new Eee Box models that could be perfect for my needs. The models are the B204 and B206. Both of them offer HD capability thanks to a new discrete ATI Radeon HD 3400 series video card. The systems also offer HDMI output for connecting to HDTV sets. The B204 adds Bluetooth and an internal battery to act as an uninterruptable power supply.

Other than those two features, both models are the same. They use Windows XP Home, 1GB of RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi, a LAN port, card reader, onboard audio with optical out, and a 160GB HDD. Both systems also include a wireless remote for accessing content from the comfort of my couch. Pricing and availability are unknown, but the new version shouldn’t be too much more than the existing Eee Box machines.

Asus