Filed under: Portable Video
Step aside HD700, Sanyo just replaced you with its DMX-HD800 720p camcorder. According to Akihabara News who is attending the launch event, the HD800 features a “HUGE step forward in video quality” coupled with reduced noise thanks to Sanyo’s 3DDNR filter. Spec-wize, we’re looking at an 8.0 megapixel 1/2.5-inch CMOS sensor, SD/SDHC support, 5x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD, face tracking, and easier to use drag-and-drop to pull AVC/H.264 video from the camera to your PC. We’ll have to wait for the reviews to know for sure but it looks like Sanyo just made one of the best 720p camcorders even better. On sale in Japan on August 22nd for ¥50,000 (about $463).
[Via Impress]
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Filed under: Portable Audio
Ready for the DJ Ditty 2? You’d better be because the Wall Street Journal says that “several Dell officials” have confirmed in-house testing of a new sub-$100 digital music player that could go on sale as early as September. Dell also plans to launch a download service and software to “organize music and movies from various online sources” in order to properly seed the product ecosystem. The new player features a small navigation screen and basic button controls and will connect to online music services over WiFi to download music which can then be shared between PCs and cellphones. So… if you’re wondering how Dell’s acquisition of Zing might play into this then go get yourself a cookie, Dell’s device (that’s a pre-Dell era Zing prototype pictured) is based on Zing’s software. In fact, Zing will come pre-installed on a series of Dell notebook computers and “other devices” (like a Dell smartphone, maybe?) and will likely connect to “Zingspot” if Dell puts its trademark to use.
Funny, this all sounds very 2006 to us and we struggle to see how Dell’s player / service will compete in a market already shaking itself out — right Sony, Yahoo, and Microsoft? In fact, the whole WSJ piece seems like an attempt for Dell to gauge public reaction without suffering the indignity of a failed product announcement. Michael Tatelman, Dell’s VP of Consumer Sales, says he’ll decide “in a few weeks” how to proceed with the player and may decide not to sell it at all. So go ahead folks, now’s your chance to tell Dell how you feel with all the anonymous key slapping you can muster.
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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
DeviceVM’s SplashTop “instant-on” OS is based on Linux, even though it’s locked down to only run IM, Skype, media software, and Firefox, and you know what that means — it’s already been hacked wide open. Yep, the clever kids at the Phoronix forums have managed to open up the BIOS-based OS and make it do all kinds of tricks, including run other programs and boot other machines off a flash drive. The hacks are still a little complex, but with ASUS shipping tons of ExpressGate-enabled mobos and laptops and HP’s support in the Voodoo Envy 133, we’d there’s a one-click unlocker in the wild fairly soon. Anyone brave enough to install it on their machines?
[Thanks, george85]
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Filed under: Cellphones
After all the buffoonery over what exactly T-Mobile intended to call its newest entry-level Danger device, they’ve ultimately decided to just go back to basics, drop the acronyms, and christen it simply “Sidekick.” Make no mistake, though — this little puppy is a far cry from your daddy’s Hiptop launched way back in 2002, thanks to a 400 x 240 WQVGA display, 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, and a microSD slot. Though it’s being billed as the iD’s spiritual successor, the Sidekick comes dangerously close to LX territory, so it should see some solid movement at the $149.99 asking price on a two-year contract. What’s more, the Sidekick becomes Danger’s first device with user-customizable shells, available directly from sidekickshells.com for $14.99 a pop (we’ve got both a really bad and a really frickin’ great feeling about the ridiculous sorts of designs people are going to be coming up with there). The whole shebang goes on sale starting today. ‘Course, if you can’t get out to a well-stocked T-Mobile store for the next few hours, be sure to check out our quick impressions and gallery on Engadget Mobile, yeah?
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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Who knows how much this is worth, but there’s a lot of chatter flying around today about some text strings in the beta release of iPhone OS 2.1 that make reference to an “iPod2,1.” Seeing as the current iPod touch is designated “iPod1,1,” that’s a pretty strong hint that a new model is coming — but hey, guess what? Of course a new model is eventually coming. What’s more, we’d bet it’s going to be almost exactly the same as the current iPod touch, with maybe the addition of GPS — it’s not like Apple is going to position this thing above the iPhone. Wake us up when tapping in Steve’s birthday backwards spits out a ship date, pricing, and specs, and maybe then we’ll be more excited.
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Filed under: Gaming
No need to phone in the shock police — you had to know this was coming. After all, what kind of stockholder-pleasing company would Nintendo be if it wasn’t already thinking about how to top the Wii? According to information in a recent Forbes piece surveying the field of gaming consoles, Nintendo is “already working on the Wii’s successor.” President Satoru Iwata shared that the Big N was “always preparing for the next hardware,” though it would be unwise to expect said hardware anytime soon. With Wii consoles still hard (or at least not “easy“) to come by in some locales, we’d say Nintendo is in no hurry to move beyond its current cash cow. Still, even Iwata admits that it “will be difficult” to exceed expectations now that the Wii has proven so successful. Not really, though — throw in high-def support and you’ve got an entirely more lovable machine.
[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]
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Filed under: Laptops
Some five months after NVIDIA took the Saran Wrap off of its professional-oriented Quadro FX 3600M, along comes Alienware patting itself on the back. Why? Because its Area-51 m15x is the first 15.4-inch laptop on planet Earth to offer said card, giving users who practically live in CAD, DCC or other visualization applications an option to still look 1337 (and tap into the occasional 3D game) on their lappie. Unfortunately, such graphical prowess will add $600 to the cost of your rig over the standard 256MB GeForce 8600M GT, but no one ever said that dancing on the cutting edge was cheap.
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
It seems like some researchers from Radbound University in The Netherlands took advantage of the recent Four Days Marches of Nijmegen walking race for a little experiment earlier this month, where they convinced ten volunteers to swallow an RFID pill as part of a study to monitor body temperature. Apparently, the pills recorded and transmitted the walkers’ core temperature to a receiver in their backpack every ten seconds, which in turn sent the data via Bluetooth to a GPS-enabled phone that then relayed it to the operations center at Radbound. With all that info at their disposal, the researchers were able to monitor each walker and alert them if their temperature was reaching a dangerous level, or even alert others nearby if they weren’t responding (which apparently wasn’t necessary). As you might have guessed, the researchers are already hard at work planning an even larger test for next year’s event, which they hope could eventually lead to the system being used at marathons and other sports events.
[Via picturephoning.com]
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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
Samsung treated us to a few new HDTV lineups just last week, but apparently one of the fresh families managed to slip through the cracks. The all new Series 6 — not to be confused with the widely available 650 Series — consists of the 40-inch LN40A630, 46-inch LN46A630, and the 52-inch LN52A630. Each set provides a 1080p panel, 120Hz technology, the outfit’s Touch of Color bezel design, three HDMI 1.3 ports and a USB socket for accessing digital photos and the like. Expect the trifecta to ship sometime next month for $1,699.99, $2,099.99, and $2,699.99, respectively.
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Filed under: Storage
While it seems inevitable that external 2.5-inch hard drives can only get so small, right now manufacturers look to be intent on doing their best to shave off every last excess millimeter to lay claim to the elusive title of world’s smallest. That designation now appears to have fallen on Freecom’s new Mobile Drive XXS which, according to the company, is not only 27% smaller than its nearest competitor but, at just 155 grams, the lightest drive of its kind around as well. You’ll still get the usual choices of 160GB, 250GB, or 320GB sizes though, along with the requisite bus-powered connectivity, and a handy form-fitting rubber sleeve to ensure the thing stays where you want it. Look for this one to hit the UK any day now for £45, £60, or £80 (or $90 to $160), depending on the capacity.
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