We dare say NVIDIA’s ION platform hasn’t been the quickest to go from announcement to market availability, but at long last we’re seeing a number of pretty decent options cropping up. The Samsung N510 is a great test case for the prowess of the chipset, as it boasts the otherwise entirely unremarkable Atom N280, 1GB RAM and 160GB HDD spec, meaning that whatever performance gains it exhibits will be down to the ION infrastructure. Unsurprisingly, the 11.6-inch machine showed marked improvements over standard netbooks in the graphics department, with hardware-accelerated 1080p video decoding and mildly graphically-intensive games made possible. With six and a half hours of battery life and a matte 1366 x 768 screen, the N510 was well received by the PC Pro team, who could only bemoan the uncompetitive pricing of £382 (about $613). Hit the read link for their full impressions.
The Recon Scout XT looks like a power walker’s dumbbell, but that doesn’t stop the R/C device from being useful to military ops in the field.
Weighing just 3.2lbs (including the controller), the robot can land from heights of 30 feet onto concrete without sustaining damage. Toss it over a fence, drive it into a bunker and, all the while, a soldier can watch a wireless video feed on the controller’s small screen (ranges span from 100 feet if venturing indoors to 300 feet through line-of-sight). The bot will even activate invisible, IR illumination if the area gets too dark.
Of course, the Recon Scout XT is surely meant to assist in violently vanquishing the enemy. But we like to imagine other, MASH-esque usage scenarios involving a uptight sergeants running out of the bath with their shower caps still on. ROFL! [Defense Tech]
Mmm, sexy. To be honest, we’re still trying to shake the butterflies we felt when we touchedDell’s 16-inch Latitude Z yesterday, and if you’d care to join us, you can place your order right now. The base package gets going at $1,799 after a $200 instant rebate, and that’ll net you a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400 CPU, 64GB SSD, Intel’s GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics, 2GB of RAM, a 4-cell battery, 8x slot-loading DVD burner, 802.11a/g/n WiFi and a 3-year warranty. So, who’s putting a dent in their credit card tonight? Be honest — we’re all friends here.
Sorry for the late deals today—it’s been a hectic morning. Hopefully we can make up for our tardiness with some great deals, be sure to check out the 42″ Samsung.
“Game changing” is thrown around way too frequently these days, but man, this thing just might be. The Livepack is being described as “a satellite television truck in a backpack” by creator Livestream, and for all intents and purposes, it is. Put simply (or as simply as possible), the pack includes everything one would need to stream “HD quality” footage: encoding hardware, a Firewire cable and the real kicker, a built-in wireless connection with six load-balanced 3G modems over three carriers (AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint if you have to know). Users simply provide their own camcorder, mash a button when it’s show time, and out goes the signal. The Livepack can currently be rented for $2,500 per month (includes 30 hours of streaming) or $1,500 per month if you commit to a year-long agreement. So, who’s up for showing the world their high school prom live in HD? Demo vid is after the break.
Google sure has a lot of money! And man, does it like to spend it! This map shows all of Google’s acquisitions and investments, detailing just how vast and diverse Google’s interests are. [Meet the Boss via The Awl]
Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.
Heads-up, folks: fall TV is in full swing, and the newest season of House M.D. has already delivered on more than one front. Aside from convincing you that a hospital really is no place to spend the majority of your day, Hugh Laurie’s money maker is also subtly whispering to you that a Dell Adamo would suit you just fine. The super sleek ultraportable managed to show its face on this week’s episode, and for any of you out there who doubt a glossy screen’s ability to double as a mirror, we’d say this primetime showing proves otherwise. Are matte panels not covered under Medicare, or what?
This week on Lifehacker we look at their favorite Twitter clients, their favorite pens, their favorite photo management software and how they manage to skip on extended warranties, but still pay for broken stuff.
We’ve heard plenty of arguments for high priced products before — many of them from Sony, oddly enough — but this has to one of the odder ones. Sony UK’s Claire Blackhouse says that Sony was actually expecting a greater backlash from retailers than it got in regards to the PSP Go, and that many retailers are seeing the new launch as a way to get consumers into stores, at which point they’ll realize they’re too poor for a PSP Go and might end walking out with a PSP-3000 instead. Sadly, the logic sounds pretty sound, though Claire’s own suggestions that some families might get a PSP Go for dad and PSP 3000s for the kids seems a little fantastical — kinda hard for dad to rock those Hannah Montana UMDs, yeah Sony?
In NYC today, Monster announced its latest celebrity-endorsed earphones in front of a gaggle of photographers and a smattering of journalists crammed into a room at the New York Palace Hotel. The celebrity in question is one Lady Gaga, and her line of Monster earphones–consistent with Dr. Dre’s “Beats”–is called “Heartbeats.” Aw.
The earphones feature a triangular piece of glittery almost-jewelry that’s fixed to the earpieces. What does the triangle stand for? I’ll let Ms. Gaga explain: “In the deepest hour of the night, I confess to myself three things; I would die if I was forbidden to write, forbidden to love, or forbidden to fashion. heartbeats embody the trinity of my human being.” Oh, okay.
When asked if these “female headphones” would ever come out in a male version, the lady replied: “For MY male fans, these are perfect”.
