OWC debuts uber-capacious 480GB 2.5-inch Mercury Extreme Pro SSD

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/owc-debuts-uber-capacious-480gb-2-5-inch-mercury-extreme-pro-ssd/

Mmm, now we're talking. For years now, 2.5-inch SSDs have largely been too tiny (in terms of storage space) and too pricey to take seriously -- at least, for everyone except those willing to pay substantially more to ride the cutting edge. But Other World Computing just threw a monkey wrench into the norm, dishing out an incredibly roomy 480GB Mercury Extreme Pro solid state drive meant to supplant your aging laptop HDD. It's one of four in the range (60GB, 120GB and 240GB models are also available), all of which are pegged to deliver up to 285MB/sec sustained data rates with "no speed degradation." All four sizes are up for pre-order now for both PC and Mac platforms, with prices set at $219.99 (60GB), $379.99 (120GB), $699.99 (240GB) and $1,579.99 (480GB). What, you expected 480 gigabytes of sweet, succulent flash memory to come cheap? Puh-lease.

Continue reading OWC debuts uber-capacious 480GB 2.5-inch Mercury Extreme Pro SSD

OWC debuts uber-capacious 480GB 2.5-inch Mercury Extreme Pro SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steam arrives for the Mac with 57 games in tow, all your PC using friends are really happy for you

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/steam-arrives-for-the-mac-with-57-games-in-tow-all-your-pc-usin/

Thanks to Valve, Mac users can finally claim to own a "gaming rig" without resorting to Boot Camp or causing PC gamers to burst into laughter. Sure, you're still going to be better off cost-for-pixel-crunching with a mid-range PC desktop than anything Apple offers, but for a MacBook Pro user looking to get in a few frags during lunch, the arrival of Steam for Mac is probably the best news they've heard this year -- and luckily that Source engine isn't too hard on older hardware. Mostly the same crop of games that were available to beta testers are available in the final product, with Portal and Team Fortress 2 standing atop the heap (Portal's even free for a limited time!), while Half-Life and Left 4 Dead remain notably absent. Check out Joystiq if you want a full breakdown of the games, including a few of the highlights, we have... um, some stuff to do. You know, boring work stuff. You probably wouldn't be interested. Hit that source link for the download.

Update: We're not seeing Team Fortress 2, and we're not getting an option for picking up the Mac version of Civ IV, even though it's a "Steam Play" title. The free Portal download isn't working either, but at least we're relatively certain that it will at some point.

Steam arrives for the Mac with 57 games in tow, all your PC using friends are really happy for you originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 15:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netflix stealth launches HD streaming to PC and Mac

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/netflix-stealth-launches-hd-streaming-to-pc-and-mac/

It appears HD Netflix Watch Instantly streams aren't just for living room set-top boxes anymore now that Netflix is streaming more than half of its 720p-encoded titles to Macs and PCs (through the Silverlight web player, no word on the Media Center add-on.) According to Hacking Netflix, you can tell which ones are ready to go by checking the mouseover box for the (HD Available) tag as seen above. Our experience matches several other reports that not everyone is seeing the tag on all the same titles, so until it's rolled out fully, YMMV. It's not the new release flicks or surround sound add-ons that many are waiting for, but it could slide PQ up another notch for HTPC owners and everyone who just has to watch Killer Klowns from Outer Space at work -- but you'd never do that.

[Thanks, @DaveZatz]

Netflix stealth launches HD streaming to PC and Mac originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 16:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MusicLites shoves a speaker, wireless transmitter and LED light into single canister

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/musiclites-shoves-a-speaker-wireless-transmitter-and-led-light/

Look, we've no beef with Osram Sylvania (nor Artison, for that matter), but calling these MusicLites "a first of its kind" is a bit of a stretch, if not an outright falsity. Klipsch launched essentially the same thing back at CES this year with the LightSpeaker, but hey, we've no gripes with a little competition in the space. The aforementioned duo has joined up in order to produce something that should make the art of integrating whole home audio into your own abode a good bit easier, with the MusicLites design combining a 10-watt LED light, a 70mm full-range loudspeaker and a wireless audio receiver. The device can slide into four-, five- or six-inch recessed cans, and we're told that it'll provide light output equivalent to a 65-watt reflector bulb. As you'd probably expect, there's a proprietary 2.4GHz transceiver that works with a variety of sources, some of which include USB, smartphones and PMPs. Each kit will ship with a pair of 3.8" x 5.3" modules and a remote that controls light dimming and audio settings, and while mum's the word on pricing, it'll be commercially available sometime in the fall.

Continue reading MusicLites shoves a speaker, wireless transmitter and LED light into single canister

MusicLites shoves a speaker, wireless transmitter and LED light into single canister originally appeared on E ngadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI's Slatebook 10-inch Atom tablet is not what we've been waiting for

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/11/msis-slatebook-10-inch-atom-tablet-is-not-what-weve-been-waiti/

DigiTimes has it that MSI will be showcasing a 10-inch Windows 7 "Slatebook" tablet at Computex in June -- just as we had heard a few weeks ago. According to its sources which tend to be pretty solid at Taiwanese shops, the sub-$500 tablet will feature an e-book reader with a negotiated content provider, 3G and WiFi wireless, and Windows 7 running on Intel's old Menlow-class of Atom Zxx processors. It's not running Android on Tegra 2 like the unit above that we handled at CES six months prior, MSI is apparently still evaluating market demand before making any such commitment. So dear readers, why not let MSI know exactly how you feel about its design choices in the comments below.

MSI's Slatebook 10-inch Atom tablet is not what we've been waiting for originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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