Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Eye-Fi's 4GB WiFi SDHC cards start to ship out

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/09/eye-fis-4gb-wifi-sdhc-cards-start-to-ship-out/

Nah, Eye-Fi's latest Secure Digital cards still aren't nearly as capacious (nor as cheap) as other alternatives on the market, but good luck getting that free-after-rebate 8GB SDHC card from IAWANNA Corp. to upload images via a wireless hotspot. We pinged the company today to see if the company's 4GB Explore Video and Share Video SDHC models were shipping out, and we were informed that orders placed over the web were indeed leaving the docks. If you're not kosher with handing $99.99 or $79.99 (respectively) over through the intertubes, both devices will splash down in stores starting on April 19th.

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Wireless, Storage

Eye-Fi's 4GB WiFi SDHC cards start to ship out originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 07:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hitachi unveils 11 latest Wooo plasmas and LCDs: Greener, better looking & network connected

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/09/hitachi-unveils-11-latest-wooo-plasmas-and-lcds-greener-better-l/

This year's edition of the Hitachi Wooo line of flat panels look a lot like their predecessors on the outside (120Hz IPS LCDs, 250GB HDD equipped models with iVDR slots for additional hard drives and Wooonet DLNA network support) but it's what's inside that counts. The four new XP plasma models range from 42- to 50-inches and promise even better contrast ratios, as high as 40,000:1, with better color reproduction and the promise of greater energy efficiency. The ultra-thin 35mm / 1.4-inch thick LCDs are back in four new models, with UWB wirelessly connected tuners, auto sensing/adjusting brightness and aforementioned "eco" power sipping improvements. The relatively fat XP line of LCDs consists of just three displays, but just like all the rest, buyers can still hook up to the 'net and pull down video on-demand or Yahoo! Japan's web TV portal -- features unlikely to make the jump when we see U.S. versions of these later this year. The XP plasmas and LCDs go on sale in Japan later this month or next, while the ultra-thins will be crash dieting until October.

Read - Hitachi, recording double-35mm-thin LCD TV "Wooo UT800"
Read - Hitachi, 7 new plasma / LCD

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Hitachi unveils 11 latest Wooo plasmas and LCDs: Greener, better looking & network connected originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. electrical grid penetrated by spies, hackers, or something unfathomably more terrible

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/09/u-s-electrical-grid-penetrated-by-spies-hackers-or-something/

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the electricity grid in the United States has been infiltrated by "cyperspies," in an attempt to map the infrastructure, leaving behind software that could pose potential threats in times of crisis. Quoting anonymous "current and former" national security officials, the report claims that the spies, hailing from China, Russia, and "other countries" have not attempted to do any damage, but that they could, and that these types of intrusions are on the rise. Officials are of course worried about the potential implications of such penetrations, noting that much of our infrastructure, including nuclear power plants and financial institutions, are at risk. Unfortunately for the WSJ and its Cold War-era headline, the article goes on to state that it's not really possible to know whether a particular attack is "government sponsored," or just the work of regular old hackers from those regions running amok in cyberspace. Additionally, spokespeople from the Russian and Chinese Embassies vehemently deny their respective governments involvement in any such work. The Wall Street Journal, of course, fails to point out the most obvious of explanations: it's aliens.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

U.S. electrical grid penetrated by spies, hackers, or something unfathomably more terrible originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use! of feed s.

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BYD's "Mars" MID clamshell has a phone on the back, runs full Windows XP

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/09/byds-mars-mid-clamshell-has-a-phone-on-the-back-runs-full-wi/

Intel isn't just showing off its new Atom hotness at IDF Beijing, they also pulled out a previously unseen MID from previous non-player BYD. Codenamed Mars, the MID runs an Atom processor in a clamshell form factor, with a full Windows XP install and QWERTY keyboard. On the back of the lid there's a regular phone keypad and secondary screen. It's not going to beat the RAZR at a weigh-in, and we'd feel pretty dumb holding something this large up to our head, but it's a pretty wild concept all the same, and a nice teaser of the sort of MID / phone "synergy" we might come to expect when Moorestown rolls around. No word on the timeline for commercialization, but there's supposed to be a working unit floating around IDF so we'll keep our eyes peeled. Video is after the break, with the BYD unveiling a bit after the 3 minute mark.

Continue reading BYD's "Mars" MID clamshell has a phone on the back, runs full Windows XP

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

BYD's "Mars" MID clamshell has a phone on the back, runs full Windows XP originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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