Saddleback iPad Case Promises 100 Years Of Thick, Lustrous Leather

Saddleback iPad Case Promises 100 Years Of Thick, Lustrous Leather: "

You may remember our review during last year’s bag week of the Saddleback laptop case. Expensive, durable, and fervently religious, it’d be a good bag to have during the end times. And depending on whether said Armageddon happens before or after the iPad 2 announcement, you might want some righteous armor for your iPad, too. Not iPad 2. iPad too. Good thing Saddleback now makes an iPad case that protects your touchscreen treasure better than the ark of the covenant.

Okay, enough teasing. The Saddleback case is made of mega-thick leather and really does offer a 100-year warranty. You can get a lining of either pigskin or suede, and the straps fold back over (like the M-Edge Platform I reviewed) to secure it in an upright state. It comes in brown, brown, brown, and black.

By the way, read the “common questions” – very funny.

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Elgato and OWC hawk upgraded Mac Mini HTPC bundles: Blu-ray burner, 12TB, TV tuner

Elgato and OWC hawk upgraded Mac Mini HTPC bundles: Blu-ray burner, 12TB, TV tuner: "

Simmer down, son -- neither Elgato nor Other World Computing are actually shoving 12TB of hard drive space within a 2010 Mac Mini, but if you order one of their new bundles, you'll definitely end up with as much. OWC is now selling pre-pimped Mac Mini machines, complete with bolstered storage options, an internal Blu-ray burner, Elgato's EyeTV Hybrid tuner (or HD DVR), more RAM than usual and an Apple Remote. The company plans to offer both the 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo systems, and it swears up and down that the machine will arrive preconfigured and ready to rock your home theater. The addition of a Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 4-bay storage solution enables you to keep even a vast library of digital content nearby, but there's no telling how much the outfit will charge for such a luxury. Hit the source link if you're scrounging for details, but don't expect pricing or an order button just yet.



Update: So, it seems that OWC isn't actually selling new Mac Minis itself, but will upgrade your own if you send it in. We'd like to take this opportunity to now recommend that OWC actually sell upgraded Mac Minis itself.

Sony Unveils The PSP2

Sony Unveils The PSP2: "

As previously reported, Sony just unveiled a PSP successor, codenamed “Next Generation Portable”, at an event in Tokyo. The biggest bullet point here is that Sony claims the portable system is as powerful as the PS3, which means it will be supposedly able to produce “PS3-like graphics”. Sony did show the hardware up and running.

Update:

The first game details and more information here.

The new device will come with the following features:

• 5-inch OLED touchscreen with 960×544 resolution (the current PSP has a 4.3-inch LCD with 480 × 272 resolution)


• ARM Cortex A9 core CPU (4 core)


• SGX543MP4 GPU


• storage: “new type of mini flash memory cards” (definitely no UMDs anymore)


• new form factor (Sony speaks of a “super oval” shape)


• touch pad on the rear that allows users to “touch” or “push” objects in games from the back


• 3G and Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b/g/n connectivity (3G for a portable gaming system is a first)


• front and rear cameras


• dual analog sticks


• tilt-sensitive SIXAXIS controls


• GPS


• built-in stereo speakers, mic


• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR


• size: 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm

Here is Sony Japan’s full press release in English.

This pic shows the back of the device:

Sony says the PSP2 will hit stores by year-end. The price hasn’t been fixed yet.

The first colors:

Pic of the new game card:

Pics via AV Watch [JP]

Official pics from Sony Japan:

Update:

The first game details and more information here.

"

“Ultrasonic” Klang Speaker Concept Only Produces Sound Where Your Head Is

“Ultrasonic” Klang Speaker Concept Only Produces Sound Where Your Head Is: "

I’m not quite sure I buy the physics behind these speakers entirely. The idea is that instead of simply vibrating a driver at the correct frequencies and projecting those vibrations out into the room, you use ultrasonic waves to vibrate only the air molecules along a path, and things outside of that path won’t hear the sound.

It’s my understanding, however, that if the air molecules are indeed being excited, that actually is producing the pressure waves we know as sound, and those waves will propagate normally, albeit in a less directed fashion.

That said, I know that focused sound using reflector dishes like these can certainly be created, but you really have to be in the sweet spot to hear it. Maybe these concept speakers manage to make it practical. But do you really want ultrasonic waves being fired at your head all day long?

[via Dvice]

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Motorola Atrix 4G and Xoom tablet launching at the end of February, Droid Bionic and LTE Xoom in Q2

Motorola Atrix 4G and Xoom tablet launching at the end of February, Droid Bionic and LTE Xoom in Q2: "

Motorola had one of the best CES showings of any company in recent memory, and now we've got some rough ship dates for all that new gear: CEO Sanjay Jha just announced on the company's earnings call that the Atrix 4G for AT&T and 3G Xoom for Verizon will arrive at 'the end of February,' while the LTE-enabled Droid Bionic and LTE Xoom will arrive at 'the end of the second quarter' as previously promised. That sounds good to us -- and with that earlier Best Buy leak suggesting the Xoom will hit on February 17, we're hoping that Moto's taking a long view of when the end of February actually begins. Even better, a late February Xoom release supports those rumors that Honeycomb will be generally released in March, which is when the real Android tablet invasion will begin. It's all happening, folks.



Update: Oh boy. Jha followed up his Xoom comments in the Q&A portion by hinting that the Xoom might slip to March, but that he's very confident they'll make their timeline. Fingers crossed.

Motorola Atrix 4G and Xoom tablet launching at the end of February, Droid Bionic and LTE Xoom in Q2 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T trying to cling on to iPhone customers by offering them unlimited data (again)

AT&T trying to cling on to iPhone customers by offering them unlimited data (again): "

Were you riding one of AT&T's unlimited data deals until recently? If so, this whole new Verizon iPhone thing is about to work in your favor, as the Associated Press is reporting AT&T iPhone users are being offered a sort of unlimited data amnesty: if they had it before, but switched to a limited data plan since, they can now have it back. This is clearly in response to Verizon's promised $30 uncapped deal, though it remains entirely unofficial and unannounced -- no reason why AT&T would want to advertise its desperation, after all. When asked for comment, a company spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny the news, saying only that AT&T handles "customers and their situations individually." Still, we'd pick up the blower and threaten to start wearing red to see what the incumbent iPhone carrier might offer up as an incentive to stay blue.

AT&T trying to cling on to iPhone customers by offering them unlimited data (again) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MacRumors | AP (USA Today) | Email this | Comments"

New Apple ad says iPad is "iconic"

New Apple ad says iPad is "iconic": "

Apple has released the latest in its 'iPad is...' series of commercials. The new ad, available on Apple's YouTube channel, touts the iPad as 'iconic,' following the amazing, electric, delicious and musical commercials.



The ad showcases a host of apps and features available on the iPad, including the djay for iPad app, which our own Brett Terpstra reviewed last month. The ad also features an American Airlines ticket being scanned directly from the iPad (American Airlines HD app) as well as over 60,000 apps being available for the iPad on the iOS App Store.



Check out the full video after the break.



[Via 9 to 5 Mac]

Continue reading New Apple ad says iPad is 'iconic'

New Apple ad says iPad is 'iconic' originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ricoh CX5: The Best Reason To Buy A Ricoh CX4

Ricoh CX5: The Best Reason To Buy A Ricoh CX4: "

Another six months, another iteration in the CX series from Ricoh. This time, though, Santa has been a little stingy, and the improvements are minimal. I’d say the most relevant feature on the CX5 is how it’s going to drive down the price of the nearly identical CX4.

The actual improvements are the following:

• Improved autofocus speed


• HDMI port


• \”Super resolution technology\” – an image processing method that claims (falsely) to make digital zoom worth using


• New image processing and filters

So, not much. But apart from that it’s still the solid camera from six months ago (and six months before that) with the back-illuminated 10.7 megapixel sensor, a great 3″ 640×480 screen, and a nice 5PS burst rate. But I really see very little reason to go with the CX5 over the CX4, so wait a bit and watch the price of the latter go down by $50 or $100.

I’d put the press release here but it’s really, really long so you’re just going to have to trust me.

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Hack brings USB tethering to HTC Windows Phone 7 devices, Dell Venue Pro

Hack brings USB tethering to HTC Windows Phone 7 devices, Dell Venue Pro: "Cutting through the back and forth surrounding Windows Phone 7 tethering are two new hacks, with one being markedly easier than the other to implement. After discovering the option in Samsung's Focus and Omnia 7 late last year, engineering minds over at xda-developers have now uncovered a method to allow USB internet tethering on HTC's smattering of Windows Phone 7 handsets. Unfortunately, you'll need to unlock your device before any of this will work, but the case is definitely different for Dell's Venue Pro. For that one, you'll simply need to modify the .INF file -- no unlock required. Hit the links below for the devilish details, and try not to set up a P2P farm using your phone's 3G connection. We hear carriers are none too fond of that foolhardiness.



[Thanks, Lake]

Hack brings USB tethering to HTC Windows Phone 7 devices, Dell Venue Pro originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mobile Tech World (1), (2) | xda-developers | Email this | Comments"

Editorial: bugs on unreleased phones don't matter (update: Motorola says phones will 'ship as scheduled')

Editorial: bugs on unreleased phones don't matter (update: Motorola says phones will 'ship as scheduled'): "There's a story going around today about an alleged problem in the power management unit affecting Motorola's first two dual-core smartphones -- AT&T's Atrix 4G and Verizon's Droid Bionic -- that leads to a hodgepodge of issues: overheating, weird RF fluctuation, the list goes on. Sounds like a tragedy in the making, doesn't it? Worst yet, the PMU problem is said to be a 'major unfixable flaw that will plaque [sic] it forever.' Bummer!



But let's back up and consider the facts here. First, as best we can tell, the sources are two posters in a HowardForums thread, one of which doesn't even have the information firsthand -- he was allegedly given the news 'by someone who is testing the devices.' Furthermore, there's really no such thing as an 'unfixable' bug; you might need to peel away several layers of software and hardware to fix an issue depending on how fundamental the flaw turns out to be, but engineers have proven time and time again that 'unfixable' isn't really in their vocabulary (white paint aside, of course).

Continue reading Editorial: bugs on unreleased phones don't matter (update: Motorola says phones will 'ship as scheduled')

Editorial: bugs on unreleased phones don't matter (update: Motorola says phones will 'ship as scheduled') originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista | HowardForums | Email this | Comments"

Looks Like The White iPhone 4 Problems Were In The Paint

Looks Like The White iPhone 4 Problems Were In The Paint: "

According to Macotakara, the problem was in paint application, resulting in discoloration and general malaise.

According to a source, specified printing white color for iPhone 4 brings poor yield and then huge number of defective products. This is the reason of disturbing to start manufacturing, a source said.

To solve this problem, a Japanese company developed miracle painting material which is able to be set thickness of painting layer.

Read more…

"

Samsung takes aim at Apple's notebook crown, projects 60 percent increase in laptop sales in 2011

Samsung takes aim at Apple's notebook crown, projects 60 percent increase in laptop sales in 2011: "

Samsung has sought to take market share from all manner of iProducts over the years, and it seems the company is now shooting to steal Apple's MacBook thunder in 2011. Sammy sold ten million laptops in 2010 -- only 150,000 less than Jobs & Co. through the first nine months of the year -- and purportedly plans to move between sixteen and seventeen million portable machines in 2011. That is a massive increase in sales, but if the Korean company's 9 Series is an indication of what's to come, we can't say it's a completely unrealistic goal. Whether they move more product than Apple is still to be determined, but given its record Q4 earnings, there's no indication that the Cupertino crowd will be slowing down any time soon. Game on, fellas.

Samsung takes aim at Apple's notebook crown, projects 60 percent increase in laptop sales in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista | Digitimes | Email this | Comments"

Soundfreaq's Wall of Sound Goes Red [Speakers]

Soundfreaq's Wall of Sound Goes Red [Speakers]: "

Yes, just in time for Valentine's Day and your other half. Well, I suppose it beats giving her a vacuum cleaner? Streaming audio over Bluetooth, the limited edition speaker is exclusive to Amazon for $200. [Amazon] More »

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