Filed under: Portable Audio

Filed under: Desktops

Filed under: Displays

BenQ is already bursting with LCD display options, but it doesn’t look like they’re slowing down just yet. Today we’ve got four more “official” displays to choose from: the FP92W (pictured) and FP222W widescreens we’ve already spotted, and the new FP73GS and FP93GS 4:3 displays. Both of ‘em manage 1280 x 1024 resolutions, 300 nits brightness and 5ms response times. The 17-inch FP73GS has a lovably-skinny 0.47-inch bezel, and a 700:1 contrast ratio, while the FP93GS rocks a 0.51-inch bezel, 19-inch screen and an 800:1 contrast ratio. Not shabby at all, and the $229 and $289 respective price tags aren’t horrible either. All four displays should be available any day now.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

In a daring early morning heist that could just as easily have been a scene from a movie like, um, The Heist, 20-plus well-organized robbers infiltrated a Malaysian warehouse complex on Monday, immediately subdued all 17 employees, and proceeded to steal over $12 million worth of microchips and motherboards.

The thieves were able to gain access to the facility through a classic Trojan horse maneuver, wherein drivers of a truck that rolled up to the MASKargo Complex gate in Batu Maung, Penang tricked customs officials into believing that they were doing an undercover sweep for illegal immigrants.

Once inside, the rest of the bandits lept out of the back of the vehicle and used chloroform to knock out the passive workers and sticks to beat down the non-compliant ones. It took the team nearly an hour to load up an astounding 18 pallets and 585 cartons full of components belonging to an unnamed multi-national corporation based out of Bayan Lepas, after which they sped off into the night with their valuable, high-tech booty.

Police claim to have already captured two suspects in the case — both were, shockingly , workers at the complex — and are in the midst of hunting down the rest of the gang that pulled off what was clearly an inside job. As for the copious amount of missing PC hardware, officials speculate that the bandits will either sell them to shady OEMs on the black market.

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Features

]]> http://mambolinx.wordpress.com/2006/11/22/hands-on-with-the-d40/feed/ 0 mambolinx http://mambolinx.wordpress.com/2006/11/22/o2-xda-flame-to-redefine-pocket-pc-high-end/ http://mambolinx.wordpress.com/2006/11/22/o2-xda-flame-to-redefine-pocket-pc-high-end/#comments Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:51:19 +0000 mambolinx http://mambolinx.wordpress.com/2006/11/22/o2-xda-flame-to-redefine-pocket-pc-high-end/ ]]> O2 Xda Flame to redefine Pocket PC high end?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

No need to stop when you’re on a roll, right? We’ve seen the 3.0 firmware hit the wild, heard rumblings about a future television streaming service, and still know that the not-so-universal UMD format was dead from day one. In a presumed attempt to hit Nintendo (or more specifically, the DS Lite), where it hurts most, Sony is intelligently pushing the non-gaming aspects of its portable system by announcing the forthcoming availability of PSP Spot download stations. While our pals in Japan and Europe have been enjoying these services for the past few months, Sony is getting ready to toss wireless streaming displays into Circuit City, GameStop, Target, and Toys ‘R Us locations to deliver “game demos, movie trailers, music clips, mini-strategy guides, wallpapers, and more” onto needy PSP memory sticks. While we don’t have any hard dates in which to expect such kiosks to land on showroom floors (or overcrowded electronics departments), we do know that they’ll start trickling into North America “beginning this month,” and should top out at around “6,000 units” by January.

Filed under: Portable Audio

Australia’s new copyright bill looks like it could soon be causing sleepless nights for anyone that owns an iPod or other digital audio player if its enacted in its current form, with strict limitations that could seemingly affect individuals whether they know they’re infringing on copyright or not. Under the harshest penalty, The Sydney Morning Herald Reports, an individual can face up to five years in jail and a fine of AUD$65,000 if he/she possesses “a device, intending it to be used for making an infringing copy of a work or other subject-matter.”

What’s more, under “strict liability provisions”, you can be hit with a $6,600 fine or ticketed by police on the spot to the tune of $1320 simply for possessing infringing material, even if you didn’t know you were violating copyright. While there were recently exceptions madeSome Americans, it would seem, disagree.

to permit CD ripping, even those are apparently too limiting to be workable, according to Intellectual Property Research Institute associate director Kim Weatherall, permitting just one “main copy” of a CD — meaning that you couldn’t have a copy on both your iPod and computer. In related news, none other than Bill O’Reilly recently came out against the iPod, and he’s got more problems with it than copyright infringement. On his radio show last week, O’Reilly said that he doesn’t own an iPod and would never “wear” one, adding that (also referring to his earlier comments the PS3) “if this is your primary focus in life – the machines… it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America.”

Filed under: Tablet PCs