Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless
We know you’re not really down with digesting any more catchphrases, but the technology formerly known as Ultra Low Power Bluetooth / Wibree is now being dubbed Bluetooth low energy. Now that we’re clear on nomenclature, you may be thrilled to know that CSR showcased its recently unveiled BlueCore7 dual mode (Bluetooth low energy and Bluetooth v2.1) chip at a Bluetooth SIG Medical Working Group meeting. According to onlookers, the handset was able to transfer data to another nearby mobile using just 3 frequencies rather than 32, resulting in an unquantifiable decrease in power consumption. Sounds like a winner on the surface, but we have this weird that mass adoption of this tech is like, years away.
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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Wireless
Be still, our hearts! After watching the wireless HD / HDMI sector fumble along for years on end, a team of mega-corps have finally agreed to push their self-interests aside and collaborate on a standard. WHDI creator AMIMON has joined forces with Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Sharp in order to form “a special interest group to develop a comprehensive new industry standard for multi-room audio, video and control connectivity” utilizing the aforementioned Wireless Home Digital Interface technology. Reportedly, the group will have a standard completed before 2009 dawns, but we all know how easily these things can get pushed under the rug. Nevertheless, the overriding goal here is to “enhance the current WHDI technology to enable wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video and audio between CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, AV receivers, DVD and BD players, set-top-boxes, game consoles and PCs.” A tall order, sure, but one we’re elated to see taken on. Full release after the break.
Continue reading AMIMON, Motorola, Sony, et al. join hands on wireless HD standard
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Filed under: Gaming, GPS
Only John Koller knows how serious John Koller, Sony’s senior marketing manager for PSP, was when mentioning that GPS-enabled games could eventually hit the PSP, but he definitely threw it out there. Speaking about the forthcoming GPS add-on for the PlayStation Portable, Koller stated that said module “changes the dynamics of GPS but also changes the way developers think about games on PSP, because you can start integrating GPS into it.” He continued on by mentioning that Sony’s own first-party studios were “already looking at a number of things [involving GPS in games],” and concluded by asserting that a GPS game could land on the system as early as next year. Considering just how long we’ve been waiting for the add-on, we’re not holding our breath on the titles.
[Via PSP Fanboy]
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Nah, it’s no Mag-Lite, but the Tri-Solar LED Flashlight should handle most minor lighting needs. The unit can operate with one LED on, three LEDs on or all three LEDs flashing (you know, in case you realize the car you just hopped in is now making a b-line for the Bates Motel). Because a single solar panel can only catch so much sunlight, this one has a trifecta of cells that fold out and generate juice for the bulbs. Not too bad for $32, particularly when you realize that it doubles as a weapon.
[Thanks, Joe]
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
We’re usually pretty jaded when people tell us that we “won’t believe” what we’re seeing in a videos sent to tips — right, right, a cellphone demon, nice one — but it sure seems like the Golden Shellback waterproof coating is the real deal. Developed at the Northeast Maritime Institute and hopefully headed to production sometime soon, the process involves applying the coating to your precious toys inside a vacuum, after which they’re basically impervious to all liquids — in one test, a coated device spent over 450 hours powered on and functional underwater. There are some downsides: you can’t remove the coating, so any repairs will involve “abrasive methods,” which sounds like quite a commitment. That said, we’ll take a little abrasion in our lives if it means we never have to worry about spilling on our keyboards ever again. Video after the break.
[Via gCaptain]
Continue reading Golden Shellback waterproofing defies water, reality
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Filed under: Gaming
Interesting that this didn’t get announced at E3, but Games for Windows Live is now free for all. Yep, totally free, cross-platform multiplayer with the 360 included — which obviously raises the question of whether Live will ever be free on Xbox. We think that’s a pretty safe no — unlike Games For Windows, Xbox Live actually makes money, which is pretty hard to turn down, and without a ton of competitive pressure from, say, Playstation Home, it’s hard to see why Microsoft would turn that funtime cash fountain off. Still, there’s always hoping, right?
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Filed under: Laptops
ASUS must think that best way to make the Eee PC stand out in the overflowing netbook market is to crank out minor, uninteresting variants of the same models, because otherwise we’re at a total loss to explain today’s appearance of the Eee PC 1000HD. Yeah, that’s the 1000HD, not the 1000H, which we’ve already seen. Ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is that it’s basically the same machine as the Pentium M-based Eee 904, only with the 1000’s 10-inch screen. Right. So now not only are there an endless variety of Eee models, the model numbers themselves don’t indicate anything logical: the Eee 901 is faster than the 904, which uses the basic case of the 1000 but shares a processor with the 900 and 1000HD — but not the 1000 or 1000H, which are Atom-based like the 901. Hmm, Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play — not easy to buy might be your big problem here, ASUS.
[Via Mobile Stylus]
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Filed under: Gaming
Okay, okay — we get it. So maybe there’s just not enough room in a genuine Zapper to fit all the necessary innards of a Nintendo Entertainment System into, but it’s just a bit weird to see the Big N’s antiquated console crammed into some other light gun. Similar to the NES-in-an-NES-controller mod we peeked earlier this week, this unit includes a plethora of games and all the controls you need; just plug it up to a TV, pop a few batteries in there and you’re golden. Is it any surprise this guy was tracked down on Ben Heck’s own forums?
[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]
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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
It was inevitable. We just knew Gemei couldn’t hold its own forever, and now it seems the resistance to copying other interfaces has finally failed. The all-too-familiar X780 comes equipped with a 3-inch 400 x 280 resolution display, 4GB of internal memory, a miniSD expansion slot, FM tuner, built-in microphone, TV output and an unspecified emulator for gaming it up. As expected, this thing can handle just about every format known to man including WMA, APE, FLAC, MP3, WAV, ASF, MPEG, AVI, FLV, VOD, PNG, JPG, etc. No one’s talking about pricing just yet, but we have a feeling it’ll be somewhere between cheap and really cheap.
[Via PMPToday]
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Filed under: Portable Audio
They may not
conduct sound through your bones, but JVC’s new HP-FXC50 earphones at least promise to pump sound deeper into your ears than your usual earbuds. That’s apparently done simply by usuing a longer and thinner sound driver than usual (measuring 5.8mm in diameter), which can be “installed in the sound channel” of your ear. According to JVC, that not only cuts down on sound leakage, but makes the earphones more comfortable to wear as well (assuming you can get them back out). If that’s got you sold on ‘em, or at least hasn’t scared you off, you can look forward to them being available in Japan in early August for just ¥4,000 (or about $38).
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