Tuesday, September 15, 2009

iTwin lets you share files over the internet

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/15/itwin-lets-you-share-files-over-the-internet/

iTwin lets you share files over the internet
Finally, a product that might finally make this whole internet thing worthwhile by allowing someone to copy a file over it. Amazing, right? Okay, facetiousness aside, it's a little hard to get too excited about a product that will obviously cost something yet replicates a task easily performed for free, but the iTwin does make the process even more easy. It's basically a double-sided thumb drive that splits apart in the middle; plug one half into one computer and the other into the second and instantly you can drag and drop files from place to place. An absolute computer novice could handle this, but we have to wonder: how many computer novices are swapping files anyway? If this also allowed remote terminal control so that you could fix problems on your mother's computer while beaming over the latest pictures of the kids (and their illegally downloaded music) we might be a little more optimistic. No mention of price or availability, but there is a video demonstration below proving the tech works -- even if the demo touchpad apparently doesn't.

[Via TechCrunch]

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iTwin lets you share files over the internet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:55 PM

Video: Spawn Labs HD-720 aims to be the Slingbox to your game console, we go hands-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/15/video-spawn-labs-hd-720-aims-to-be-the-slingbox-to-your-game-co/

Sure, your heart may be aflutter with thoughts of gaming cloud services like OnLive and OTOY, but quietly making its debut this week is Spawn Labs with its "Bring Your Own console" HD-720 video game streamer, due out this November for $199.95. In a nutshell, the device works as a Slingbox for your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PS2, or GameCube and lets you play those consoles over the internet on your Windows PC (a Mac client is said to be in the works). The AV cables -- component or composite, no HDMI at this point -- are connected and can be then passed through to a TV as normal. A USB connection is used to sync up the controller, and there's also an IR signal for turning the connected system(s) on and off. On the computer, you can log the Spawn Labs website and play either your own system or jump onto one of your friends' systems for some faux-local co-op or to be a spectator.

We had a chance to take a look at the streamer and talk with some of the minds behind it at TechCrunch 50 to fill in some of the missing details. In a fairly controlled environment -- the device hooked up via ethernet to a private router on the show floor -- we were able to competently play Soul Calibur IV with what we were told was around 100ms audio / video and 5ms controller lag. Under ideal situations, it streams 720p / 30 frames per second in H.264 video with AAC-LC audio, but that can automatically downscale when the connection slows -- should we decide we're too lazy to make it from our bedroom to the couch to play Halo (an all too frequent scenario), it'll clearly work fine over a local network, but it's gonna be how well it works across that internet that's the real deal-breaker, and we weren't able to test that. Cross-continent play isn't recommended, but you can have spectators from all over the world and it won't at all affect your latency. Any PC controller can work and be custom-mapped, including just keyboard and mouse, although if you're wanting to use a PS3 pad you'll have to find the drivers for it yourself. The game window itself has buttons along the bottom for pulling up the system's specific guide menu or recording the video for upload to YouTube. What's impressive to us is that it's said to work with any computer that can handle a 720p video stream, and so far in the labs they've apparently got it working well on an ION-based netbook -- but we didn't get to see that for ourselves, so we'll hold applause until we can put it through its paces ourselves. See a video demonstration for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Video: Spawn Labs HD-720 aims to be the Slingbox to your game console, we go hands-on

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Video: Spawn Labs HD-720 aims to be the Slingbox to your game console, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:54 PM

Archos 5 Internet Tablet makes an honest PMP out of Android

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/15/archos-5-internet-tablet-makes-an-honest-pmp-out-of-android/

Android has become many things to many people, but high-powered media devices haven't latched on to the OS just yet. Much of it has to do with the Android's immaturity: from what we hear, it doesn't even support hardware graphics acceleration, much less embrace multimedia and games. Archos has punched through that barrier by porting over its existing media-happy application layer from Linux to make good use of the 800MHz OMAP3440 processor they've stuffed inside the brand new (much leaked) Archos 5 Internet Tablet. The tablet runs a 4.8-inch 800 x 480 screen, and can pump out 720p video (including WMV and H.264) over HDMI. Because it's Archos' own special sauce, the device also supports protected WMV and protected WMA (hooray PlaysForSure), a rarity for Linux. With the optional DVR Station the device can do VGA TV recording, though you'll probably want to spring for one of the beefy HDD models, which offer capacity up to 500GB, but double the girth of the basic 0.4-inch thick flash player. There's also 802.11n WiFi, a bit of a rarity in portable devices like this, and quite a treat for 2.4GHz-addled city dwellers.

But that's all pretty regular Archos-ey stuff. The newness for Archos comes in the form of Android, which has been fairly seamlessly melded with the Archos layer -- which hovers over the vanilla Android install when needed. The OS scales up pretty nicely to 800 x 480, which is a relief because the touchscreen keyboard is a bit of a chore with the 5's resistive touchscreen. Since it's not a Google-blessed device, you'll have to score a copy of Gmail on your own time, but the regular Market is available if you want to risk going around the 5-optimized AppsLib store. Several third party apps are included out of the gate, including ThinkFree Mobile, which should be updated to allow for document editing in the near future. When plugged into a dock and paired with an optional mini-QWERTY keypad (or any regular Bluetooth keyboard and mouse! ) the 5 becomes a rather nice way to surf the internet on your TV. It's missing in-browser Flash, but there should be an update to rectify that soon. Out of the house the tablet offers a high-end GPS experience, including hugemongous birds eye photo maps of major cities, and can tether with a 3G phone over Bluetooth for a bit of data. So, Archos 5 might not be Android's killer device, mainly because it isn't a phone and doesn't make for pleasurable mobile data entry or consumption. Still, it's doing stuff with media that the relatively sluggish crop of Android handsets have failed at so far, and hopefully will spur the community to greater heights. The player is available as of today, with prices ranging from $250 to $440, not to mention accessories galore. Check out videos of the tablet in action after the break.

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Archos 5 Internet Tablet makes an honest PMP out of Android originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:54 PM

Belkin Home Base brings wireless printing and file sharing to any PC

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/15/belkin-home-base-brings-wireless-printing-and-file-sharing-to-an/


You've been looking for it, we've been looking for it -- heck, displaced Martians have been looking for it. We're talking about that mythical, magical box that adds all sorts of connectivity to any networked PC, and rather than making consumers purchase separate devices to add NAS capabilities and wireless print sharing to one's home, Belkin's Home Base does it all. This sleek little box includes four USB 2.0 sockets and an Ethernet jack, and when connected to one's home router, a printer and at least one external hard drive, any machine on the network instantly gains wireless printing abilities as well as network access to your USB HDD(s). Furthermore, Home Base can wirelessly backup your connected PCs behind your back, and with the automatic sharing feature, your most intimate photos can be whisked away to Flickr-land without you having to know. Are you as giddy as we are? Pull out $130 and get to shoppin' -- it should be available today.

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Belkin Home Base brings wireless printing and file sharing to any PC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:54 PM

Archos phone tablet teased: Android, 4.3-inch touschscreen, 1GHz ARM processor

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/15/archos-phone-tablet-teased-android-4-3-inch-touschscreen-1ghz/

In an all-too brief teaser at a press conference across the pond, Archos decided to give a few more details and a teaser pic of the Android phone it announced back in February. According to the slide, it's got a 4.3-inch touchscreen with 854 x 480 resolution, a 1GHz ARM processor -- likely comparable to Archos 5, but pretty powerful considering what all other Android phones have so far arrived with -- and a 10mm-thick shell. Size and specs-wise, it matches up quite handily to the Snapdragon- and Windows Mobile-powered Toshiba TG01, although that one's already taking up retail shelf space, and it looks like we'll be waiting for some of those infamous Archos leaks if we want any more information the phone tablet in the near future.

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Archos phone tablet teased: Android, 4.3-inch touschscreen, 1GHz ARM processor originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:53 PM

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