Tech Blogging and News For South Africa
Tim Stevens
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Homepage: http://www.engadget.com
Posts by Tim Stevens
Intel bringing dual-core Atom D510 processors to netbooks as the N500?
March 9, 2010 - 8:43 pm
Tags: atom, d510, intel, intel atom, Intel Atom D510, intel atom n500, IntelAtom, IntelAtomD510, IntelAtomN500, n500, netbook, nettop
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
It was hard to be anything but disappointed when Intel’s dual-core Atom D510 processor started hitting nettops and was found to be no better performing than the earlier D330. Sure, it was more frugal, but most users were hoping for a bit more oomph not a bit less consumption. Soon, netbook users will seemingly get a taste of the same bitter pill, with talk that a netbook version of the D510 is in the works, likely called the N500. This is a rather less than shocking development and while it surely won’t mean you’ll finally get Crysis running on your Eee it could make for future netbooks that offer slightly better performance than their earlier brethren and yet deliver even longer battery life. Because, you know, if there’s one thing netbooks need today it’s greater longevity.
Intel bringing dual-core Atom D510 processors to netbooks as the N500? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Ubuntu hits HTC’s Touch Pro2, is any Windows Mobile handset safe? (video)
March 9, 2010 - 5:43 pm
Tags: hack, htc, htc touch pro 2, htc touch pro2, HtcTouchPro2, touch pro2, TouchPro2, ubuntu, ubuntu 8.04, Ubuntu8.04, windows mobile, WindowsMobile
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
If there’s one thing we’re pretty sure Windows Phone 7 Series will be worse at than its Windows Mobile precursor it’s in the running of various and sundry other operating systems. We’ve seen Android running on seemingly every WinMo handset ever created and more recently Ubuntu has been receiving the mobile treatment. Last month it was on an Xperia X1, now an HTC Touch Pro2 is getting a taste. A modder who goes by the handle sebbo90 is the one responsible for this, running basically the same technique as used earlier on the X1. It looks quite easy: just download a 200MB zip, extract it to your phone, then run an exe within. A few moments later you’ll be in open source heaven, and, from what we can tell looking at the video below, it works remarkably well. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to hit up eBay to find a used handset and get hacking.
Continue reading Ubuntu hits HTC’s Touch Pro2, is any Windows Mobile handset safe? (video)
Ubuntu hits HTC’s Touch Pro2, is any Windows Mobile handset safe? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
pocketnow.com | 
xda-developers | Email this | Comments
Spying school district update: remote webcam functionality disabled, two IT monkeys suspended
March 9, 2010 - 5:17 pm
Tags: lanrev, Lower Merion school district, LowerMerionSchoolDistrict, macbook, remote administration, RemoteAdministration, spying, webcam, webcam spying, WebcamSpying
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
We’re still waiting for all the legal fallout from the Pennsylvania’s Lower Merion School District webcam spying case, but more news is slowly trickling out about the whole thing, including the technology that the school used: a remote administration suite called LANrev. An update to the software, releasing this week, will disable the option for admins (or pervy IT workers) to remotely switch on a computer’s webcam, hopefully preventing a replay of this situation. Beyond that, two unnamed (possibly pervy) IT workers have been suspended for their involvement in this whole situation. Are they the ones who went too far, or was it their managers who ordered them to do it and are now throwing their dutiful peons to the fire? We may never know the truth, but at least we can now frolic naked in front of our MacBooks without fearing that dreaded green light.
Spying school district update: remote webcam functionality disabled, two IT monkeys suspended originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | The Unofficial Apple Weblog, The Philadelphia Inquirer | Email this | Comments
AmbienTec’s SolarFold and SolarFan charge your gadgets, available without prescription (video)
March 8, 2010 - 7:22 pm
Tags: ambientec, ambientec solarfan, ambientec solarfold, AmbientecSolarfan, AmbientecSolarfold, solar, solar charger, solar power, SolarCharger, solarfan, solarfold, SolarPower
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
You might expect a product from a company called AmbienTech to make you a bit drowsy, but we’re thinking this pair of solar chargers are actually rather interesting. For one thing, they aren’t just concepts: they’re available for purchase right now — or at least they are in Japan. They’re called SolarFold and SolarFan, two designs that both deliver four panels of spherical-based solar cells, comprised of 1,900 globes each, making them slightly flexible and rather more durable than your average photovoltaic. They’re reasonably efficient, too, delivering 2W over USB and, in 10 minutes, are able to charge an iPhone enough to make a 3 minute call. (We’ll leave it as a reader exercise to figure out how many days would be required for a full charge.) Both models are available now for ¥22,050 (about $250), but only the fan comes with a cool little tripod, making the decision of which to buy a little easier.
AmbienTec’s SolarFold and SolarFan charge your gadgets, available without prescription (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
High-speed, medium-format DM40 DSLR puts Mamiya back in the money again
March 8, 2010 - 6:58 pm
Tags: 40 megapixel, 40Megapixel, 60fps, dm40, mamiya, mamiya dm40, MamiyaDm40, medium format
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
The last time we heard from Mamiya it was doing something rather shocking: selling a camera for less than $10k! For a moment we were worried that this medium-format camera company with large-format MSRPs was letting the economy dictate its designs, but its latest entrant quashes those fears, priced at a solid $19,990 ($21,990 if you want the 80mm lens). It’s the DM40, a 40 megapixel medium-format body that can manage 60fps frames per minute, making it the fastest in this class of sensor. As per usual for Mamiya it sports CompactFlash storage along with FireWire output for those doing it live from the studio. Bodies are shipping soon, so get ready to sign that mortgage over.
Update: As many commenters pointed out, that’s 60 frames per minute, not per second. Still the fastest, believe it or not.
High-speed, medium-format DM40 DSLR puts Mamiya back in the money again originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Digial Photography Review | Mamiya | Email this | Comments
Archos’s budget Vision A43VB PMP caught on camera making kittens sad (video)
March 8, 2010 - 6:36 pm
Tags: 4.3-inch, A43VB, archos, archos A43VB, archos vision, archos vision A43VB, ArchosA43vb, ArchosVision, ArchosVisionA43vb, pmp
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
It’s been a few months since we last heard of Archos’s supposed new player lineup, as all the talk lately has been tablet-this and tablet-that, but we finally have some video of a new Vision device, the A43VB. Somewhat tragically, though, it apparently is not a real Archos device at all, rather a re-branded discount media player given the Archos silkscreen and a UI refresh. The good news is this means a low cost — just €99 (or $135) — for this 8GB model with a 4.3-inch screen and microSD expansion, but the bad news is that the result is slightly janky. The plastic looks rough and the UI far from intuitive, leaving our friendly video guide below to decry “I cannot exit the cats.” That said, this is not a final device we’re looking at here, so with any luck things will be a bit cleaned up inside and out before retail. Just don’t go hoping for a surprise infusion of Android before then.
Continue reading Archos’s budget Vision A43VB PMP caught on camera making kittens sad (video)
Archos’s budget Vision A43VB PMP caught on camera making kittens sad (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
1Cross Tech MIDhybrid is the Android-powered e-reader that looks like a book (video)
March 8, 2010 - 6:11 pm
Tags: 1cross tech, 1cross tech midhybrid, 1crossTech, 1crossTechMidhybrid, android, android 1.6, Android1.6, cedia 2010, Cedia2010, e reader, e-ink, midhybrid
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
It’s debatable whether the act of reading on a Kindle or the like is actually preferable to perusing something bound and printed on paper, but regardless 1Cross Tech’s MIDhybrid helps to bring the two experiences closer together. It’s an e-reader with an E-Ink screen on the left and a small LCD plus keypad on the right, with a hinge in the middle that allows it to fold in half either way. It’s Marvell-powered and running Android 1.6 that, much like the tardy Alex, allows you to render content from the LCD over to the E-Ink screen. This could mean browsing PDFs, looking at spreadsheets, or maybe even playing Robo Defense at 1fps (probably not). The device also packs 3G, Bluetooth, and a front-facing webcam, making it sound like a very usable little thing, and while we do have a 15 minute video exploring the thing embedded below, we sadly don’t have a price or release date for you just yet.
1Cross Tech MIDhybrid is the Android-powered e-reader that looks like a book (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink ARMdevices.net | 1Cross Tech | Email this | Comments
Keepin’ it real fake: HP Mini 5101 knockoff is almost as good, almost as expensive as the real thing
March 7, 2010 - 12:13 am
Tags: 5101, 5102, hp, hp mini 5101, hp mini 5102, HpMini5101, HpMini5102, kirf, knockoff, Mini, mini 5101, mini 5102, Mini5101, Mini5102
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
Coveting a beautiful new netbook but can’t quite manage the $399 for a new HP Mini 5101/5102? Maybe this knock-off would fit your budget, looking more or less indistinguishable from the real thing. The ports have a slightly different layout (with some of them looking a wee bit askew) and the red hue here doesn’t have quite the same lustre of the real thing — but it is awfully close, right down to the chrome HP logo on the lid. How much would you pay for this piece of impressioned gadgetry? How about $337? Sure, the difference is enough to cover a copy of Heavy Rain, but could you live with yourself typing your e-mail every day on a lie? Beyond that, we have a suspicion this thing wouldn’t last much longer than the Origami Killer’s victims.
Keepin’ it real fake: HP Mini 5101 knockoff is almost as good, almost as expensive as the real thing originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Viliv S10 Blade tablet unboxed and multitouched (video)
March 6, 2010 - 10:35 pm
Tags: convertible tablet, ConvertibleTablet, S10, tablet, unboxing, viliv, viliv s10, viliv s10 blade, VilivS10, VilivS10Blade
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
Viliv’s latest touchable objet d’gadget is the S10 Blade convertible tablet, a slim and sophisticated little thing that looks like it will elevate the company out of the ultraportable business and into the realm of things that take up a little bit more room in your messenger bag. Chippy over at UMPCPortal was granted access to a pre-production unit and has delivered this exhaustive unboxing and hands-on video, featuring no less than two minutes of multitouch scribbling. The device looks like it’s a very good size, the form factor looks simple and solid and, with an MSRP starting at just $699, we’re quite eager to see how it holds up in a full review. All in good time, readers. All in good time.
Continue reading Viliv S10 Blade tablet unboxed and multitouched (video)
Viliv S10 Blade tablet unboxed and multitouched (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Rambus and NVIDIA patent dispute gets a little closer to a resolution
March 5, 2010 - 5:51 pm
Tags: legal, nvidia, patent, patent dispute, patent litigation, PatentDispute, PatentLitigation, rambus, us patent and trademark office, UsPatentAndTrademarkOffice
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
We’re just a few tech-related legal cases away from changing our name to Enpatent, and the latest to push us that little bit closer is yet another ruling in the long and drawn-out battle between Rambus and NVIDIA. If you need a refresher, way back in 2008 Rambus accused NVIDIA of illicitly using five of its patents, and most recently a judge ruled that only three of those five had been violated. Now two more patents have fallen off the legal wagon, with the US Patent and Trademark Office indicating that only one of the three remaining was a true violation, a second was rejected, and a third got a mixed ruling. So, from a start of five Rambus is down to basically one and a half, but NVIDIA is saying it isn’t done yet, planning yet another appeal. Maybe we should call ourselves Enappeal instead…
Rambus and NVIDIA patent dispute gets a little closer to a resolution originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
