Leopard O.S.

Filed under: Laptops

You’re looking at official Dell pics of its upcoming Inspiron 910 netbook nabbed from their on-line support docs. These images match the others we’ve seen down to the key (look, no dedicated function keys) which pretty much confirms the mini laptop’s final appearance. Now if Dell could just hit one of the rumored release dates we could all get back to pillaging market share from standard sized laptops.

[Thanks, Mike and Hao]

Read — keyboard
Read — external optical DVD/CD drive
Read — status LEDs

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Filed under: Displays

We knew Sony’s new 40-inch Bravia Edge LED ZX1 was thin, 9.9-mm thin in fact (at least at the top section). But man, we didn’t expect it to make the iPhone 3G slipping around the insides of our pockets look like such a chubster. Plenty more to see in the gallery below.

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Filed under: GPS

In a move that we can only hope signals a trend, GPS maker Navigon has announced that real-time traffic updates will now be free for all users of its wares. For awhile now, the outfit has offered gratis traffic updates on its higher-end models, but now, it’s taking the Free Real-Time Traffic Updates for Life program to each navigation system it produces. There’s no extra hardware to buy, no hidden fees — just good, clean, free traffic updates. What’s not to love?

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

We’re super short on info here, but it looks like Sony is about to intro a new Z4500 LCD TV with a “world’s first” of 200Hz Motionflow — yeah, you could’ve gleaned all that from reading the headline, but it’s just so much more awesome down here. Stay tuned.

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Say hello to the successors of the short-lived Panasonic DMP-BD50, the new DMP-BD35 (above) and DMP-BD55 (after the break) check off every feature we can think of for a new Blu-ray player, complete with a slim profile (49mm high on the BD35) and hopefully low, low price thanks to a 45nm 3rd-generationUniPhier processor. Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD MA audio support, with internal decoding or bitstreamed output in full 7.1 (plus 7.1 analog audio outs on the DMP-BD55) on top of fully BD-Live / Profile 2.0 compatible hardware finally promise no-compromise hardware for Blu-ray buyers. Release dates and pricing information? Your guess is as good as ours, for now.

Continue reading Panasonic DMP-BD35 & DMP-BD55 Blu-ray players officially official, still unpriced

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Misc. Gadgets

It’s hard to say when we, the consumers, will actually see any real benefit from the latest noteworthy discovery from Northeastern University, but we can only imagine that Srinivas Sridhar and team aren’t wasting any time moving things forward. Said crew has recently created a “new microlens that focuses infrared light at telecommunication frequencies,” and if you’re looking for specifics, it can focus an infrared beam to a spot just 12-micrometers away from the surface. The science behind the discovery is probably only digestible by those that understand rocket science, but the long of short of it is this: the “research shows that it is possible to create smaller, ultra-compact infrared optical components that can be integrated into existing semiconductor technologies while not sacrificing image quality.” Now that’s something even the layman can appreciate.

[Via Physorg]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

It’s been a month since we first caught a glimpse of the sharp-looking Logitech Squeezebox Boom, but the wireless network speakers are official today, coming in at a list price of $299. Yeah, it’s basically a standard-issue Squeezebox with a built-in amp and speakers, but that’s a pretty solid idea, especially since we’re guessing the 24-bit Burr Brown D/A converter and bi-amped 3-inch woofers and 3/4-inch tweeters will offer up some decent sound. Everything else is regular Squeezebox kit — 802.11g WiFi, SqueezeNetwork, optical and S/PDIF out, VFD display, 10/100Base-T Ethernet — so if you’re looking to expand your system, this is probably a pretty solid way of getting it done. Expect to see this one on shelves next month. One more pic after the break.

Continue reading Logitech Squeezebox Boom hits the stage

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Sure Samsung had 240Hz (and wavier hair) first, but with its TVs stuck in development until 2011, Sony’s back with another first / best of the night in the W1 series display, packing four times the speed of previous LCD HDTVs, and double that of the new 120Hz your best friend just picked up. Allegedly smoother than Billy Dee Williams cracking open a Colt 45 in Cloud City, the KDL-46W1 and KDL-40W1 bring 1080p with a 3,000:1 contrast ratio, BRAVIA Engine 2 image processing, 24p support and an assortment of hookups from modem to HDMI. Stop by your nearest Japanese electronics shop November 10 to get a peep at these and their slim, sexy sister, but bring ¥400,000 ($3,652 U.S.) for the 46-inch or ¥290,0000 ($2,648 U.S.) for the 40-inch — you could try showing up without it, but why take chances?

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Sony’s taken the crown in the race for thinnest LCD HDTV. At just 9.9mm thick the KDL-40ZX1 nearly halves the depth of Hitachi’s former champ (likely throwing up in the bathroom right now) and comes within a whisper of Pioneer’s ultra thin concept. Featuring a LED backlighting, a 3,000:1 contrast ratio, 120Hz MotionFlow tech, x.v.Color and BRAVIA Engine 2 image processing this is about as close to a 40-inch window on your wall as is likely to arrive soon. Only one HDMI in is directly on the screen itself, all unnecessary HDMI / USB / component inputs are relegated to a base station, with the option for wired or — possibly WHDI based? — 5Ghz wireless (unfortunately limited to 1080i max resolution for now). We’d mention the XMB GUI, AcTVila video on-demand and DLNA support, but at some point it’s just piling on. A mere 490,000 yen ($4,474 U.S.) puts the ZX1 on your wall, due at your local Japanese retailer November 10. See you there?

[Via AV Watch]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

So we might not have a physical device here, but these packaging renderings are pretty solid evidence of exactly what BlackBerry fans on Verizon — particularly those jealous of the Bold — can expect in a few weeks’ time. It looks like RIM’s first foray into the scary world of touchscreens will be officially branded the 9530 Storm, will be global (it includes a SIM card, after all), and will feature an 8GB SanDisk microSD card preinstalled. Wondering what happened to the Thunder name? Turns out that’ll apparently be reserved for the version of the phone launching on Rogers up in Canada and on Vodafone across the pond. Those Storm users on the screen there sure look happy, don’t they?

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