Posts Tagged: food-and-drink

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1
Jul 10

The $37 Laptop. For Real!

Whatâ’s the catch (apart from the extraordinarily underpowered internals)? There appears to be none. These are factory seconds or items which have failed quality control tests. They may or may not come with original packaging, and they ship from Hong Kong.

…Walk into any toy store and you’ll see a laptop computer , a plastic clamshell that has all of the design cues of a notebook: keyboard, screen, some ports and switches, but none of the power. It’s cheap enough to buy for (and disappoint) a kid, but it isn’t of course a real computer. It probably has a few built in games and that’s it.
The Ebay $37 laptop is almost that same machine, although it looks even more like the computers it pretends to be. It runs Windows CE on a 300 MHz ARM VIA processor with 128kb RAM and a whopping 2GB storage. The huge bezel around the tiny 7-inch 800 x 480 screen has space for a pair of speakers either side, and you even get an ethernet jack and a couple USB ports (take that, iPad) along with Wi-Fi. You can also slot-in an SD card.
What’s the catch (apart from the extraordinarily underpowered internals)? There appears to be none. These are factory seconds or items which have failed quality control tests. They may or may not come with original packaging, and they ship from Hong…

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The $37 Laptop. For Real!

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7
Apr 10

HP Slate Details Leaked: $550 Keyboard-less Netbook

An internal HP memo which compares the upcoming Slate to Apple’s iPad has been leaked, and it shows not just the specifications of the Hewlett Packard

…An internal HP memo which compares the upcoming Slate to Apple’s iPad has been leaked, and it shows not just the specifications of the Hewlett Packard tablet, but also the price. The comparison table even highlights advantages and threats in green and red.
The Slate will come in two sizes: a 32-GB model for $550 and a $600, 64-GB version. This compares favorably to the iPad, which costs $600 for 32 GB. On the advantages side, the HP lists an SD card reader, a USB port, HDMI-out, a VGA webcam, a 3-megapixel camera and a conventional SIM-card tray (the iPad uses the new micro-SIM).
Inexplicably, the 1.6-GHz Atom Z530 is also counted as an advantage, presumably due to the familiarity of the name rather than its actual performance. The Slate will also contain 1 GB RAM, weigh the same 1.5 pounds as the iPad and sport a widescreen 1024 x 600 display. This is, despite the name and capacitive touchscreen, a netbook with the keyboard removed.
So, what are the threats listed by HP? The iPad’s 10-hour battery life (the…

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HP Slate Details Leaked: $550 Keyboard-less Netbook

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21
Mar 10

Marvell Teases with $100 Tablet for Students

Chip maker Marvell wants to get into the tablet business and it is showing a prototype that will offer web access and high-definition content at a price that would beat the competition by a wide margin. The device will also bring 1080p full-HD capability, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS connectivity and FM radio.

…Chip maker Marvell wants to get into the tablet business and it is showing a prototype that will offer web access and high-definition content at a price that would beat the competition by a wide margin.
The prototoype tablet, called Moby, is targeted mainly at students who may be looking for a digital device that could give them access to books and the internet, and could also act as a music player.
The Moby tablet will be powered by Marvell’s ARMADA 600 series of application processors. These chips can offer gigahertz-class speed, says the company. The device will also bring 1080p full-HD capability, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS connectivity and FM radio. Marvell hasn’t disclosed detailed technical specifications for the device.
Marvell is no stranger to offering visions of fantastic gadgets at low, low prices. Last year, it showed a $100 computer inside a wall plug and has tried to popularize the idea of plug computers that would draw just about 5W of power, come with a 1.2-GHz CPU, a USB port and internet…

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Marvell Teases with $100 Tablet for Students

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25
Feb 10

Dell’s Tablet Aims to Stick It to Apple’s iPad

Say the words “tablet computer” and ten bucks says it’s Apple’s iPad that springs to mind. But that doesn’t mean other companies aren’t busy building their own version of a touch-enabled, multimedia-sporting, slab of portable computing goodness.

…This Dell tablet ain’t nothing more than a slightly larger smartphone. What a joke. Surely Michael Dell doesn’t think he’s going to make any money from it. You think there are going to be lines around the block filled with consumers waiting to buy a Dell Mini 5. See the price on this thing? A base price of $500. How is Dell going to convince the cheapsters to pay more for a 5 tablet when they can buy a larger netbook for $300. Windows users will never pay for some pint-sized tablet when they’re crying a netbook can do so much more for so much less money. I’m afraid Dell swung for the fences, and struck out because it doesn’t know it’s own clientele’s penny-pinching attitudes.
This device is not an iPad killer. Why? Because it will be so weak in terms of downloadable content compared to the iPad. You think Michael Dell has made any huge publishing deals with major publishing companies? I doubt that very much. This is just a hardware only device somewhat helped by the weak Android Market Store. People keep…

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Dell’s Tablet Aims to Stick It to Apple’s iPad

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24
Jan 10

TVs That Will Suck Hollywood Into the 3rd Dimension [Pics]

Piggybacking on the hype of 2009’s biggest blockbuster Avatar, major TV manufacturers are placing a big bet on 3-D video with special high-end televisions slated for commercial release this year.

…Donning dorky glasses, Consumer Electronics Show attendees crowded into the booths of Sony, Panasonic, LG, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Samsung last week to gaze into the big-screen 3-D TVs on display. Wired.com toured the show floor to compile a photographic montage of the biggest 3-D TVs we could find.
Video companies are optimistic that 3-D TV will be huge this year. But would you buy one? Would you be into the idea of wearing ugly glasses to watch a 3-D football game after a long day of work?

Before you contemplate the answer, it’s important to gain a clear understanding of what specifically defines a 3-D TV and what you need for a full experience. The 3-D TVs at CES all varied in different ways, but most of them shared some fundamentals. In order to display a full-frame image in 3-D, you need an extremely high frame rate, so usually the TV must be capable of a 240-Hz refresh rate. The TV also needs to support HDMI 1.4, the latest generation of HDMI, which will transmit the massive amount of data…

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TVs That Will Suck Hollywood Into the 3rd Dimension [Pics]

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23
Jan 10

A Mad Professor of the Stompbox Goes Open Source

Zachary Vex, the mastermind behind the handcrafted and hand-painted Z.Vex line of boutique guitar effect pedals, has decided to release his designs to the public. His newest device, a new pedal called the Inventobox, allows anyone to hack his creations however they choose.

…ANAHEIM, California The Willy Wonka of guitar pedal builders is giving away the keys to his kingdom.
Zachary Vex, the mastermind behind the handcrafted and hand-painted Z.Vex line of boutique guitar effect pedals, has decided to release his designs to the public. His newest device, a new pedal called the Inventobox, allows anyone to hack his creations however they choose.
Z.Vex pedals are coveted by collectors for their mystique and funky vibe and as much as their squealing, crunchy and sometimes alien-sounding tones. They run the gamut from fuzz and distortion to wah-wahs and ring modulators. The pedals, with their sparkling, brightly painted cases and bizarre names, are considered high-end curios they cost between $250 and $500 each.
Even though Vex’s pedal designs win accolades from guitar gods like Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis and My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields, some customers aren’t totally satisfied with what they get.
Some people who buy the Fuzz Factory find it too bright, Vex says, referring to his…

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A Mad Professor of the Stompbox Goes Open Source