Filed under: Laptops
Another day, another batch of
Centrino 2 laptops, these ones coming to us from ODM bigwig
Compal, which has just announced four models based on Intel’s latest and greatest platform. Those include the 15.4-inch JHL90 and JHL91, and the 14.1-inch JHT00 and JHT01 models, each of which are available with your choice of Penryn processors, along with NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics on the JHL90 and GeForce 9300M GS on the JHT00, or integrated Intel graphics on the two lower-end models. Otherwise, you can expect to get your choice of 5,400 rpm or 7,200 rpm hard drives (no SSD though), a max 4GB of RAM, Intel Turbo Memory, a DVD burner or Blu-ray drive, and integrated WiMAX in addition to the usual WiFi and Bluetooth. No word on a price or release date, but you can pretty safely bet that you’ll be seeing these under any number of brands in the not too distant future.
[Thanks, Michele]
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Filed under: Portable Audio, Robots
Cross a Segway with a
Rolly and
Miuro and out pops this A.M.P. soaked in a
grey-goo afterbirth of Robotic procreation. The two-wheeled, dancing A.M.P. (Automated Music Personality or Ampbot) from Sega-Hasbro stands 2.4-feet tall and features a MP3 or iPod cradle on its back, stereo speakers, and the ability to follow and interact with its owner. There’s a 5-inch mid-range speaker in the chest and a pair of smaller tweeters in the shoulders for a total output of 12 watts. Osamu Takeuchi of Sega Toys says, “The owner can also enjoy being chased around the house by the robot.” Uh, yippee? The Ampbot and controller require 6x D and 3x AAA batteries for about 10-hours of continuous music. The stalking begins November for
$745 $500 in the US and Japan.
Update: Embedded video courtesy of Impress now available after the break. Be warned: the price tag is starting to look modest even at the cost of our own destruction.
[Via Physorg and Impress]
Continue reading Video: Meet Hasbro’s Ampbot, the mother of all Rollys
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Filed under: Laptops
If your neighbor ordered one of these monstrosities, you probably felt the ground shake when the freight carrier dropped this bad boy off at his / her doorstep. If you were stuck in the cubicle during that whole ordeal, however, here’s a gentler news flash: Alienware’s brawny m17x gaming laptop is shipping right now. Initial reports from early adopters include phrases like “So huge!” and “Brobdingnagian!,” which is pretty much right in line with what we were expecting to hear.
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Filed under: Laptops
If your neighbor ordered one of these monstrosities, you probably felt the ground shake when the freight carrier dropped this bad boy off at his / her doorstep. If you were stuck in the cubicle during that whole ordeal, however, here’s a gentler news flash: Alienware’s brawny m17x gaming laptop is shipping right now. Initial reports from early adopters include phrases like “So huge!” and “Brobdingnagian!,” which is pretty much right in line with what we were expecting to hear.
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
It’s only fitting that the glorious news of water ice on Mars was broke over Twitter this evening, via the Mars Phoenix lander’s own first-person ramblings. Apparently Mars Phoenix was keeping an eye on some white patches it uncovered the other day, only to discover they’d disappeared today. According to the scientist folk over at NASA, that means those white patches must’ve been ice, which dissipated once uncovered. Now Mars Phoenix still has the considerable task of uncovering more ice and sampling it, but the mission is ahead of schedule and NASA has already identified a hard patch of ground it wants to dig into. Congrats to Mars Phoenix and all the fine folks at NASA, now be sure to watch out for the cave-dwelling little green men!
[Via Wired Science]
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
It’s only fitting that the glorious news of water ice on Mars was broke over Twitter this evening, via the Mars Phoenix lander’s own first-person ramblings. Apparently Mars Phoenix was keeping an eye on some white patches it uncovered the other day, only to discover they’d disappeared today. According to the scientist folk over at NASA, that means those white patches must’ve been ice, which dissipated once uncovered. Now Mars Phoenix still has the considerable task of uncovering more ice and sampling it, but the mission is ahead of schedule and NASA has already identified a hard patch of ground it wants to dig into. Congrats to Mars Phoenix and all the fine folks at NASA, now be sure to watch out for the cave-dwelling little green men!
[Via Wired Science]
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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals
We’ve already seen plenty of Guitar Hero World Tour’s drums, but while we’ve heard rumblings of a touchpad for the new guitar, this is the first time we’ve seen it in the flesh. IGN has a preview of all the new gear, and says the strip will be used for fiddling around with notes during sustains, tapping to play notes, and for interfacing with the new music creator. The guitar is also larger than its other toy guitar predecessors. In other news, the drums are pressure sensitive, the mic is pretty plain, and the music creation software is completely off the chain. Unfortunately, you won’t be allowed to record vocals for songs, but otherwise you can pretty much build anything you’d want with the software. In even better news, the Wii version of World Tour will share all these features, and while we promised ourselves we wouldn’t install two full sets of fake band gear in our living room, we’re starting to get some serious cravings here.
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Filed under: Ask Engadget, Misc. Gadgets
It’s that time of year again, folks (yes, summertime). Which also means vacation time for many USers, and that could very well pose a problem. All those gadgets you can’t leave behind have to be toted along somehow, so we’ll let Brendan explain his quandary further:
“My wife and I will be traveling to Europe for 5 weeks. Naturally, I have some perfectly portable gadgets which will need to come along, but I need a good bag (messenger or backpack style, preferably lightweight) to hold the goodies and also keep those pesky pick-pockets at bay. I’ve got a subnote, GPS, DSLR, PMP, pocket translator and a few other peripherals. What bag will keep all these items safe, yet not make me stand out like a big sore ‘tourist’ thumb?”
We’re glad you asked, and we have all ideas quite a few others are too. What backpacks have you found useful for carrying around gadgetry, and more importantly, which ones are comfortable for hours on end? If you’ve got a question of your own to unpack, send ‘er over to ask at engadget dawt com.
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Filed under: Robots
The folks at Engineering TV recently asked the creators of STARMAC (the flying bot that attacked Scoble) all those standard, nerd-extravaganza questions they’re known for, which is all well and good, but we thought we’d pose a few questions to the killer bot itself:
So, STARMAC, do you hate all humans, or just Scoble?
It’s really more of a blogger thing. I can’t stand the free and timely distribution of information to the masses. Really hacks me off. Scoble just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time.
Clearly. Would you say you regret not finishing him off when you had the chance?
Every day. When I think of the fountain of blood that would have been spewing from that meatbag… well, let’s just say I try not to let my central CPU compute possible outcomes.
Continue reading A brief chat with STARMAC, the killer, quadrotor flying robot
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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Transportation
Mercedes-Benz’s current iPod integration kit is pretty weak sauce, especially since the new COMAND nav / multimedia system is so well done, but it looks like the automaker’s newest iPhone cradle will take steps to address some of the more glaring issues and also add some interesting new features. The cradle appears to finally integrate iPod controls with the main nav screen and COMAND controller instead of relying solely on the instrument display and steering wheel controls, and it will charge your phone while allowing you to make calls and listen to music. On top of that, plugging the phone in will apparently increase reception by using the vehicle’s antennas as well as the iPhone’s, and from what we can tell, you’ll be able to access the contacts list as well — something MB’s current Bluetooth system doesn’t allow. If you’ve already got the iPod kit or Media Interface kit, the adapters needed will run you €39 ($60), and the cradle itself is available now in Germany for €249 ($385). Lots more pics at the read link.
[Thanks, Ashley]
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