Gadgets
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Toshiba StorE TV+ drive connects up to 2TB of media directly to your HDTV2 September 2010, 8:23 pm
Feel like connecting a HTPC or even one of the many streamers to your HDTV is overkill? Toshiba's new StorE TV+ is prepared to quietly retain up to 2TB of media (in various formats, check after the break for specs) until called upon, when it can play them back via HDMI, no connected PC required. It can also connect to PCs or other DLNA devices (like, coincidentally enough, Toshiba's new HDTVs) networked via Ethernet and the included WiFi dongle or load files directly from memory cards and USB d...
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Toshiba Places to deliver web content across all Toshiba screens2 September 2010, 7:56 pm
Great devices aren't great without content and if you want it done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself. For Toshiba that means a new online content and services portal called Toshiba Places. The point of this companion software is to ensure that all said company's screens have a similar look and feel which will bring a consistent experience to every size screen while still being optimized for a TV or mobile phone (for example). Places will help you gain access to your own content or sha...
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Toshiba outs Lumileo pico projectors, only one of which requires a plug2 September 2010, 7:30 pm
Toshiba's new LED-based pico projectors won't shake the world with VGA resolutions, 14 lumens and just 80 minutes of battery life, but we have to admit the Lumileo P100 and Lumileo M200's focusing dial and keypad do look a spot more stylish than some of the cubes and rectangles we've tried. And while we've just pretty much described the P100 model in full, the M200 has an additional feature that might be worth your while -- like the 3M MPro, it plays back video (including DivX), Word, PowerPoin...
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iFixit continues its retro gaming rampage, reduces an innocent Atari 2600 to bare components2 September 2010, 6:48 pm
iFixit, is no device safe from the scars of your screwdriver? These eyes have been scarred, forced to witness the destruction of yet another childhood icon. Previously it was the RCA Studio II and the Magnavox Odyssey 100 before that. Now it's the rather more memorable Atari 2600 going under the scalpel, four simple screws removed to reveal an eight-bit, 1.19MHz processor featuring 128 bytes of RAM (yes, a massive 1,024 bits) and a graphics adapter capable of 192 x 160 resolution with 128 color...
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Samsung Galaxy Tab reported to retail at €699 and €799 in Europe (update: O2 Germany pricing)2 September 2010, 6:42 pm
An increasing number of Euroland news outlets are reporting an eye-watering set of prices for Samsung's Galaxy Tab. Although still unofficial and therefore not yet to be trusted, the values we're hearing are €699 ($890) in France and €799 ($1,020) in Germany. Those presumably represent the cost of the 16GB and 32GB Tab, respectively, and align perfectly with Apple's iPad WiFi + 3G pricing -- aside from the fact the iPads have double the storage at each price point. Oops! That does mak...
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Toshiba finally dives into Blu-ray 3D with BDX3100 player, offers up BDX1100 if stereo's not your style2 September 2010, 6:26 pm
Seems like Toshiba bit off more Blu-ray 3D than it could chew this year -- the Japanese firm's just announced that the new BDX3100KB will be its first set-top stereoscopic player, never mind the BDX3000 it announced at CES. Still, we're willing to forgive and forget if the new machine (replete with DivX and MKV playback, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround, and instant playback of AVCHD footage from connected camcorders) makes it stateside sometime soon -- both it and the relative...
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Toshiba Camileo S30 and P20 pocket camcorders get touchscreens2 September 2010, 6:15 pm
Toshiba's launching some new Camileo pocket HD camcorders at IFA, and hey -- just like everything else in the world, they've sprouted three-inch touchscreens. Both offer 1080p recording and 10x digital zooms with HDMI out and support for 64GB SD storage; the £139 ($214) S30 comes in a more standard form factor that's 19mm (.7 inch) thick and features eight megapixel still photos, automatic exposure control and image stabilization, while the £119 ($183) P20 comes in a pistol gr...
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Toshiba goes all LED with new HDTVs at IFA 20102 September 2010, 6:00 pm
Besides that Android tablet, Toshiba's brought a whole slew LED-lit LCD televisions to IFA 2010. The REGZA WL Series is the company's first range of 3DTVs, available in 40-, 46- and 55-inch sizes (pictured above) with LED backlighting, 7,000,000:1 contrast ratios, it 3D Resolution+ upscaling tech and one pair of active shutter glasses bundled with each one. They're also DLNA enabled and ready for Windows 7, with the Toshiba Media Controller software making streaming content as easy as dragging ...
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Toshiba Satellite A665-3DV gets a stereoscopic software makeover, now plays nice with 2D content, Blu-ray 3D and external screens2 September 2010, 5:46 pm
Nabbed one of Toshiba's fully-loaded stereoscopic laptops, only to find a dearth of actual 3D? The company's got a software update that might revitalize your machine. Where previously you'd have to install ready-made dual-ocular content directly to your hard drive, the manufacturer's just promised a Toshiba Video Player application that will convert your existing 2D content into 3D, plus firmware that will help you pipe stereoscopic video over the integrated HDMI port and upgrade your Blu-ray d...
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Roku XD and Netgear Roku XD Player hit the FCC2 September 2010, 5:33 pm
Well, well, what's this? Looks like Roku has some bigger plans for hitting back at the $99 Apple TV than just price cuts of its own: a Roku XD and a Netgear Roku XD Player just hit the FCC. That's right, Netgear -- Roku's expanding its platform to third parties. We don't know if these two devices are standalones or designed to work together, but we're guessing they're standalones; the Netgear unit might blend in some of the Digital Entertainer line's support for local playback and services like...
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Logitech's New Long and Skinny Z305 and Wireless Z515 USB Laptop Speakers [Speakers]2 September 2010, 5:20 pm
A boombox your laptop is not, and speakers that are both portable and powerful are hard to come by. Depending on your needs, Logitech's Z305, a 360 degree sound bar, and Z515, a 50' wireless speaker, might do the trick. More »
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A Chrome Marble Floating In Deep Space [Astronomy]2 September 2010, 4:40 pm
It looks like a metal marble floating in space. Or the palantír of Orthanc, magically teleported from Middle Earth to 11,000 light years away, in the Cassiopeia constellation. But it's just a visual effect. This is the Bubble Nebula. More »
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A Simple Way to Attach Your iPad to Your Walls [Ipad]2 September 2010, 4:00 pm
The PadTab iPad wall mounting system is great. It's easy to set up, simple to remove, doesn't require much room, and lets you mount your iPad next to your toilet. No, really. That's what some of the promotional photos suggest: More »
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What Happened To Wicked Lasers' Spyder III Pro Arctic Laser? [Lasers]2 September 2010, 3:42 pm
When we heard about Wicked Lasers' Spyder III Pro Arctic laser, an ultra powerful portable laser with a lightsaberesque design selling for only $200, it almost seemed too good to be true. Turns out it might have been. More »
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Facebook Blocked Ping's API Access Because Apple Didn't Have Authorization To Use It [Unconfirmed]2 September 2010, 3:41 pm
We've heard that Apple launched Ping without Facebook support because the two companies couldn't agree on some terms, but today AllThingsD explains that Apple actually ignored the fact that negotiations failed and incorporated Facebook's API—until Facebook blocked things. More »
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The Ugly Carpets of Vegas are Hideously Clever Social Engineering at Work [Imagecache]2 September 2010, 3:20 pm
Something this horrific can't possibly be an accident. I mean, it takes genius to come up with something so offensive to the eye. Sure enough, the crazily appalling carpets that adorn Vegas casinos are designed to keep you gambling. More »
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Ringtone Creation Stripped From iTunes 10 [ITunes]2 September 2010, 3:12 pm
For reasons unknown, it appears Apple has removed from iTunes 10 the ability to create ringtones out of your songs for $0.99. The feature is still intact in previous versions of iTunes. [Mac Life] More »
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Skype 5.0 Windows Beta Has 10-Way Video Calling! [Skype]2 September 2010, 2:49 pm
Skype's latest Windows-only 5.0 beta 2 doubles their five-way video calling to ten. TEN. How does ten-way video calling look? Like this. If you add two. We could only get eight, and four of them was me. More »
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MIT's Self-Assembling Solar Cells Recycle Themselves Repeatedly, Just Like Plant Cells [Republished]2 September 2010, 2:40 pm
Plants are extremely efficient converters of light into energy, setting the bar for researchers creating photovoltaic cells. A team of MIT scientists believe they've created a synthetic chloroplast that can be broken down and reassembled repeatedly, restoring sun-damaged solar cells. More »
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A Heat-Seeking, Automated Nerf Sentry Gun [Nerf]2 September 2010, 2:00 pm
Nerf guns these days are very scary. They have reloadable magazines and fire automatically and look like they could provide a suitable defense during an alien invasion. But how to render one even scarier? Make it heat-seeking. Video, please: More »
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Chrome reaches second birthday, version 6 goes stable2 September 2010, 6:25 pm
When Google launched its Chrome Web browser in 2008, it was clear that the product had considerable potential. Its emphasis on performance and a its intriguing minimalistic user interface attracted a lot of well-deserved attention. Today, exactly two years later, Chrome has over 80 million users, a 7.52 percent global market share (21.87 at Ars, making it the second most popular browser here behind Firefox), and is gradually creeping into the mainstream.
It wasn't entirel...
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New malware detects browser, shows fake malware warning page2 September 2010, 5:35 pm
Microsoft is warning about a new piece of malware, Rogue:MSIL/Zeven, that auto-detects a user's browser and then imitates the relevant malware warning pages from Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome. The fake warning pages are very similar to the real thing; you have to look closely to realize they aren't the real thing. The ploy is a basic social engineering scheme, but in this case the malware authors are relying on the user's trust in their browser, a tactic that hasn'...
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Drumroll, please: the top Web scams of the decade2 September 2010, 4:55 pm
"Men," said he, "must have corrupted nature a little, for they were not born wolves, and they have become wolves." —Voltaire, Candide
One of the less pleasant aspects of our online Age of Anxiety is that most of us now get anonymous e-mails on a daily basis from people who, given their druthers, would rob us silly as fast as technologically possible. Of late, I've been getting a frenzy of bogus missives thanking me for the five thousand dollars or so worth of sof...
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Hands-on: Twitter officially comes to the iPad2 September 2010, 4:00 pm
When we interviewed Tweetie developer Loren Brichter in June, he made two things clear: 1) Tweetie (now branded simply as "Twitter" after the company was acquired by the microblogging service) would definitely be coming to the iPad, and 2) Loren was really looking forward to exploring the larger screen touch interface.
Now, the official Twitter client for iPad is finally out in the form of a universal app. The team has clearly put some effort into utilizing parts of the...
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White space broadband to be finalized (at last) this month2 September 2010, 3:21 pm
"White spaces" broadband has been in hibernation—the rules governing unlicensed use in empty TV channels have never been finalized, and therefore no devices have yet appeared. This despite the fact that the idea was approved under previous FCC Chairman Kevin Martin in 2008.
That's about to change at last. At its next open meeting on September 23, the FCC will vote on the "TV White Spaces Second Memorandum Opinion and Order" that will "create opportunities for investment...
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Apple's trouble with TV2 September 2010, 1:27 pm
Apple TV has been a persistent loser from a company that usually only tolerates winners. It's clear that Apple wants to do something "in the living room," but damned if it can figure out exactly what that is. Yesterday, Apple took another run at this thing, announcing an "all-new" Apple TV.
As with any new electronic gadget, I must be of two minds about the new Apple TV. The first, most difficult question is, will the new Apple TV be a successful product for Apple? Th...
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Hands-on with iTunes Ping, sans Facebook Connect2 September 2010, 11:59 am
Because we all need another social network in our lives, Apple introduced "Ping" as part of iTunes 10 during its big media event this week. Described by Steve Jobs as "Twitter and Facebook meet iTunes," Ping aims to let the already-existing (and quite massive) audience of iTunes users friend each other, stay up-to-date on their friends' musical tastes, and like/comment on things found around iTunes.
Getting started with Ping is fairly easy, although it takes some time to ...
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PSP Go straightens tie, knocks on death's door2 September 2010, 11:08 am
Playing games on the PSP Go was one of the most annoying experiences possible in a job that can be full of annoying experiences; if it takes you hours to play a game on a portable system out of the box there is something tragically wrong with your product. After only a year on the market, it looks like Sony's experiment in digital distribution is on its last legs.
Finding any sort of sales information on the system for the US has been difficult, although Media Create does...
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Samsung fires first Android-powered salvo at iPad with Galaxy Tab2 September 2010, 10:30 am
Apple became the biggest fish in the very small touchscreen tablet pond when it launched the iPad this past spring. But more fish will arrive starting mid-month when Samsung launches its Galaxy Tab mobile device in Europe (US and Asia will get it "in the coming months"). After being rumored and teased for weeks, Samsung officially unveiled its entry into the burgeoning market at the IFA show in Germany on Thursday.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a 7" widescreen touch tablet po...
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Scammers using fake copyright infringement notices for profit2 September 2010, 10:03 am
HADOPI, meet the internautes. The French "high authority" that oversees the country's three strikes anti-P2P file-sharing campaign is now being used by spammers and scammers who attempt to trick people out of their cash by accusing them of copyright violations.
The e-mails have appeared in recent days, purporting to come from France's Haute Autorité pour la diffusion des œuvres et la protection des droits sur Internet (HADOPI). This is the government group that will ac...
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