Gadgets Blog News

Posted Mar 20th 2008 4:47PM by Nilay PatelFiled under: Desktops, LaptopsThe rumor mill continues to buzz with speculation that AMD is laying off five percent of its staff across the board, but it looks like the company’s trying to put out the fire — we just spoke with AMD reps who denied that any layoffs had already taken place, but wouldn’t comment further on “rumor or speculation.” That’s the message that’s been going out to pretty much every media outlet today, so it’s not clear if that means no job cuts are coming or if we’re just playing a fun little semantic shell game. (Read the full post about ‘AMD denies layoffs taking place, wants kids off lawn’…)

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Posted Mar 20th 2008 2:39PM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Laptops Pencil thin laptop? Check. Floating with drop shadow? Check. Catch phrase in Helvetica Light? You bet. “Thinnovation” may have become “The art of thin,” but there’s no mistaking the implication of this new Lenovo web ad for the ThinkPad X300. “No-compromise” and “Everything else is just hot air?” Them’s fightin’ words.[Thanks, Amerist]Tags: pvr, computers, DVD, Ogg (Read the full post about ‘Lenovo X300 ad takes the MacBook Air head-on’…)

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Posted Mar 20th 2008 1:27PM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: cellphones It seemed pretty impressive when a user managed to get Windows Mobile 6 Standard up and running on a busted old HTC StarTrek — but WM Professional 6.1 on that badboy? You had us at hello. A member of the xda-dvelopers forum named Erofich has managed to hack together an install of the touchscreen-only mobile OS for the decidedly non-touchscreen flip phone. The configuration includes a number of workarounds for using the keypad as opposed to a finger or stylus, and it looks like there aren’t a ton of issues right now. We’re pretty sure that this isn’t the speediest or most robust implementation of the software, but it’s an admirable feat nonetheless. (Read the full post about ‘Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional running on an HTC StarTrek’…)

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Yes, you are reading this headline correctly. Someone actually invented a washing machine that works in conjunction with a toilet. Yeah, I know it sounds pretty gross, but listen to what the WashUP actually does. The washing machine is stationed above the toilet in order to recycle the washer water into the toilet. The concept is based on a simple premise: why use fresh water to go to the bathroom in? The WashUP puts in soapy water from the washing machine that would have otherwise have gone down the drain and puts it to good use. Now you can go in part-clean, part dirty water and send it, well, down the drain. The washer is also built high so you don’t need to crouch down to put your clothes in. (Read the full post about ‘WashUP Washer and Toilet Combined’…)

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Posted Mar 20th 2008 12:28PM by Donald MelansonFiled under: cellphones, Gaming Well, it looks like we’re now one step closer to a full-fledged launch of Nokia’s N-Gage First Access service, with the company announcing today that the beta testing phase will end on March 27th. As was announced before, that means all your scores and other data will be reset and, while you won’t have to repurchase any games you’ve bought during the beta test, you will have to reinstall them when the final version launches. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia bringing N-Gage beta testing to an end, dishes out free game’…)

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Posted Mar 20th 2008 3:08PM by Chris ZieglerFiled under: Wireless After yesterday’s wrap-up of the gargantuan Auction 73 to offload the newly-freed 700MHz spectrum, it looks like the two champions to emerge are Verizon and AT&T. Big Red has emerged with virtually all of the highly coveted C Block save for Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Gulf of Mexico, a logical move considering its recent foray into the wide world of open access. AT&T, meanwhile, has scored much of the B Block, giving it 12MHz of spectrum in many of over 700 “cellular market areas” nationwide. (Read the full post about ‘FCC releases 700MHz auction details, Verizon, AT&T big winners’…)

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Posted Mar 20th 2008 11:35AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Handhelds Sure, Philippe Starck may not care for the Kindle, but an open letter posted on Amazon’s front page suggests he’s in the minority. We already knew that the company was having a difficult time filling orders, but we had no idea the wait for buyers would warrant what amounts to a public apology from Jeff Bezos. Apparently, the online superstore is drawing heat for six-week delays on delivery for some customers, and is scrambling to get itself into an “order today, ship today” scheme. (Read the full post about ‘Jeff Bezos posts Kindle apology on Amazon’s front page’…)

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Posted Mar 20th 2008 9:26AM by Darren MurphFiled under: Misc. gadgetsWhile the temperature at which superconduction has occurred has been steadily rising throughout history, a potential breakthrough could open up a whole new world of possibilities in the computing realm. Reportedly, a pair of mad scientists from Canada and Germany have developed a silicon-hydrogen compound that can superconduct at room temperature. (Read the full post about ‘Scientists concoct material that superconducts at room temperature’…)

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Posted Mar 20th 2008 11:57AM by Donald MelansonFiled under: Displays, Peripherals It may not boast fancy OLED displays, let alone three of ‘em, but if you just want to get some basic status updates in convenient slide show form, it looks like this so-called “Gadget Display” should do the trick, and presumably on the relative cheap. While complete details are pretty light, the device apparently boasts a 2-inch LCD, which you can configure to display a range of information from a clock to CPU and RAM usage, although there doesn’t appear to be support for Vista Sidebar gadgets (at least officially). (Read the full post about ‘USB Gadget Display does status updates slide show-style’…)

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Posted Mar 20th 2008 4:57AM by Thomas RickerFiled under: Desktops, Digital Cameras After this morning’s whispered layoffs, we’re digging deep to bring you a bit of good news about AMD. VESA just announced that AMD’s ATI Radeon HD 3000 series (and the 780G integrated graphics chipset) are the first graphics cards in the Industry granted DisplayPort certification. About time since Dell’s 30-inch 3008WFP monitor has been shipping since December. Way to go Paula AMD, way to go! [Via tgdaily]Tags: camera, tests, video games, Gadget (Read the full post about ‘First! AMD’s Radeon HD 3000 graphics cards now DisplayPort certified’…)

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