Kingston has unveiled the ‘world’s first 256GB flash drive, raising flash drive storage to the kind of capacity you normally associate with laptop hard disks. Kingston claims the drive is ‘ideal for netbook users who want to extend the limited capacity of their machines,’ although given that the device costs about twice as much as a netbook, buyers could probably get more storage by purchasing two of the cheap ultraportables. The device is made on a build-to-order basis, with a suggested UK retail price of £650.52 including VAT — that’s an astonishing $1,307.27 at current exchange rates. Not exactly cheap and cheerful.
Tracy Jones-Harris Gadgets, computers 256GB, 256GB Flash Drive, flash drive, Kingston
Sony just announced the PSP Go at E3 yesterday.
The new PSP will be a handheld slider, with a 3.8in screen, 16GB of internal memory and a whole lot smaller and lighter that the original. The catch no more UMD drive. That’s right, the Go doesn’t have a UMD drive — games will instead load in through the Memory Stick Micro slot or over PlayStation Network. Sony’s beefing up the desktop client and renaming it Media Go for easier access and syncing with Playstation Network media, but you’ll be able to get PSN content directly from the Go as well. The PSP’s music features have also been beefed up with a new auto-playlist feature called Sense Me, which sounds a lot like Pandora or iTunes Genius playlists, and there’s a new video delivery service being rolled out.
For more details see here
Tracy Jones-Harris Gadgets, Gaming E3, Playstation, PSN, PSP, PSP Go, Sony
ASUS is diving head first into the HD media streamer game? Based on images and details acquired by Hardware, we’d say chances are looking pretty good.
Reportedly, Asus will showcase its very own media player at Computex next week in Taiwan, and our expectations are already fairly lofty. The O!Play (codename HDP-R1) is said to be a fair bit quicker than competing models, and the file compatibility list is also worthy of laud. Port wise, this one’s packing eSATA, USB, HDMI, stereo audio jacks, optical digital audio, Ethernet and an AC port.
If all goes well, we could see this little bugger in European stores by July, with a price tag pegged at €119 ($168). Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if that price nets you an internal HDD, but we’ll find out for sure soon enough.
Tracy Jones-Harris Gadgets, computers asus, Computex, eSATA, HD Media, HDMI, HDP-R1, Media Player, O!Play, USB
First is the HDC-TM30 another “world’s lightest” cam, this one with the caveat that, at 227 grams, it’s the lightest with 32GB of internal storage. It sports a 16x (44 - 706mm equivalent) optically stabilized zoom ahead of a single CMOS sensor that can record 1080p24 video.
The other player, the HDC-TM350, offers a bit more on the quality front and pledges the “world’s largest capacity” full HD camcorder, offering 64GB of storage. That equates to a nigh-ridiculous 16 hours of 1080p24 video shot through a stabilized 12x (45 - 540mm equivalent) lens. It even records 5.1 audio, but with the mics all placed within what looks to be a one square inch patch don’t expect great channel separation here.
Both are set for release in late-June for undisclosed prices.
Tracy Jones-Harris Gadgets 1080p, Camcorders, Full HD, HDC-TM30, HDC-TM350, Panasonic
Tony Hawk’s new game “Ride” will come with a skateboard peripheral so you can do all kinds of amazing tricks. The motion controls are pretty detailed and feature an advanced mode that will allow for in-place 180s, but it doesn’t look like you’ll be lifting the board off the ground.
Grabs are performed by actually grabbing the board as it senses your hand position, and pushing is performed by running your foot along the side of the board. Obviously, ollies and flip tricks are going to be different than the real thing.
Sounds like Tony Hawk sees the controller as a “standard,” which could work with snowboarding games, surfing games, exercise games and other stuff
Tracy Jones-Harris Gadgets, Gaming Activision, Playstation, Skateboard, Skateboard peripheral, Tony Hawk, Tony Hawk's Ride, Wii, XBox 360
The effectiveness of the CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart) security system is still being debated. It’s far from bulletproof, but at the least it provides one more stumbling block to someone or something trying to compromise a website’s security. So D-Link has now added an integrated CAPTCHA system to some of its more popular routers including the DIR-615, DIR-625, DIR-628, DIR-655, DIR-825, DIR-855, DIR-685, and DGL-4500. The company is hoping the added level of security will reduce the number of incidents where routers have been used to compromise a home or small office network.
And if you’re currently using any of the aforementioned D-Link routers you’ll actually be able to download and install a firmware update from support.dlink.com that adds the CAPTCHA security functionality .
Tracy Jones-Harris Gadgets, computers CAPTCHA, D-Link, Router, Security
Amazon today announced the Kindle-DX, an electronic reader, as well as deals with textbook publishers and newspapers.
Amazon is taking pre-orders now and will start shipping this summer. The company had better hope for some strong pre-order sales before Apple makes its own announcement at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference in June. The buzz is that Apple will announce a new device, with speculation honing in on a new tablet or netbook computer. Personally, I think a larger screen iPod Touch or iPhone (which could also double as a tablet or netbook) is more in order.
If Apple pulls that off, it could steal some of Amazon’s thunder by offering a better e-reading experience than even a new-and-improved Kindle is offering.
Tracy Jones-Harris Gadgets, computers Amazon Kindle..., Amazon.com Inc., Apple iPod, Apple iPod Touch, Tablets, Wi-Fi
Mac users — are you tired of being taunted by your PC friends over their myriad GPU options / killer gaming rigs? Well, here’s one less front they can battle you on. NVIDIA is due to launch GTX 285 for Macs in June. Like the PC version, we’re guessing you can expect two things here: it’s killer… and it’s expensive.
Tracy Jones-Harris Gadgets, Gaming, computers GeForce, GTX 285, MAC, NVIDIA
The rumors were true, and today’s the day that the Bluetooth SIG gets official with the latest, greatest version of Bluetooth. Bluetooth 3.0 + HS, as it’ll be called, promises to be markedly faster than prior iterations thanks to the reliance on 802.11, which is the same protocol used by WiFi modules, routers, etc. The new standard obviously catapults Bluetooth into a new dimension; rather than being good for nothing more than sending images from one phone to another or syncing a fitness module to a DAP, v3.0 is nimble enough to handle camcorder-to-HDTV, PC-to-PMP and UMPC-to-printer transfers.
Tracy Jones-Harris Gadgets, Mobiles, computers 802.11, bluetooth, bluetooth 3.0, Bluetooth 3.0 HS, WiFi, wireless