IBLOG SPACE

While we got our first glimpse of Viliv S10 Blade pricing yesterday, when import specialist Dynamism confirmed the convertible touchscreen netbook would kick off from $699, we’ve still been waiting for full pricing across all seven models. A little Google Shopping magic later, however, and one UMPC Portal commenter has dug up all the pricing ; as we feared, the S10 Blade isn’t going to be an especially affordable system. Full price/spec list after the cut. All models come with 1GB of RAM, a 10.1-inch 3-point multitouch-capable display (though the entry-level model lacks OS support for multitouch) running at 1366 x 768, a webcam, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and WiFi b/g. The seven SKUs are as follows: Atom Z530 1.6GHz/60GB HDD/Win XP – $699 Atom Z530 1.6GHz/32GB SSD/Win 7 – $797 Atom Z530 1.6GHz/64GB SSD/Win 7 – $857 Atom Z530 1.6GHz/32GB SSD/Win 7/HSPA modem – $889 Atom Z530 1.6GHz/64GB SSD/Win 7/HSPA modem – $949 Atom Z550 2.0GHz/64GB SSD/Win 7 – $987 Atom Z550 2.0GHz/64GB SSD/Win 7/HSPA mo

Is it April 1st already or does Geohot actually have something real to show? There's no way to be certain that what the self-promoting master of iPhone (and PS3) hacking is demoing is what he says: "The jailbreak is all software based, and is as simple to use as blackra1n. It is completely untethered, works on all current tethered models(ipt2, 3gs, ipt3), and will probably work on iPad too." Given his track record, we'll play along for now. The only thing we can say for certain is that the chosen music accompanying his iPod touch theatrics makes us want to break something, jailtime or not. See it go down after the break.

While we heard this was floating about at MWC this year, we didn't get a chance to have to get our mitts on it or film it so consider that sorted. The MSM7x30 platform is fast -- running between 800MHz and 1GHz -- and smooth, but the attractive interface demo (aptly named Fluid) is ultimately frustrating to use as the icons are being washed around by the ocean currents. The Qualcomm rep we spoke to did mention that the interface won't make it to retail but is rather meant to demo the animation capabilities of the device. While we didn't look at every corner of the demo platform, we did see an example of its pretty impressive gaming abilities, checked out some sample 720p output both on screen and on an HDTV, and peeped the Scalado demo that lets you browse a thousand photos at once. Top shelf stuff, and we're really looking forward to seeing devices based on this chipset landing in our hands this year. Quick video tour and a few more pictures follow the fold.

Fox Mobile unveiled its Bitbop venture this week that promises to provide a wealth of TV and movie entertainment from a variety of top-tier studios, and if you can get past the fact that you're actually going to have to pay for this content, it's shaping up to be a pretty promising system when it launches later this year. There's no live programming -- just a database of show episodes and movies that you have your choice of either streaming or downloading for later consumption over 3G or WiFi -- which makes it a little bit like using an on-demand service from your cable company. Bitbop was only demoing the BlackBerry version of its app at CTIA this week, but it looks like there'll be iPhone and Android versions on the way; at any rate, video quality looked plenty good on the Bold's 480 x 320 display. Initially, there'll be just one plan -- $9.99 a month for access to shows, while movies will be pay-per-view exclusively -- but we got the impression that the compa

We got a glimpse at Spracht's new Aura EQ Bluetooth headset back at CES this year, but in reality, we sort of didn't -- what was being shown back then didn't constitute final ID, turns out. The company's back at it here at CTIA showing something closer to what you'll be seeing on store shelves later this half -- though they only had one, and it wasn't in final retail packaging -- so we took a minute to check it out. It's using the same tricky earbud that we saw before, but the front of the unit has changed significantly -- gone are the matte ridges, replaced with a glossy black surface broken up by a few bumps that represent the range of the capacitive volume slider. If "understated" is the look you're going for, the Aura EQ is generally going to do the trick -- and even if you like something a little more edgy, it's got those funky points on the front and rear. Quite the crowd pleaser, eh?

Oh, brother. This just keeps getting better and better, and by "better and better," we mean "uglier and uglier." Google's abrupt decision to stop censoring results in China and redirect users on the mainland to the outfit's Hong Kong portal has stirred up all sorts of tense feelings around the globe, and if you thought this whole war would be confined to the desktop, you were sorely mistaken. China Unicom, which is gearing up to present its customer base with a few more smartphone options with Android loaded on, recently announced that it wouldn't be using Google as the search engine on those very phones. Lu Yimin, president of the operator, was quoted as saying that his company was "willing to work with any company that abides by Chinese law," but that it didn't have "any cooperation with Google currently." Granted, this is just the latest in a series of blows to Android's proliferation in the world's biggest nation, but

Not everything can be an Android smartphone, fellas... sometimes you just need an unobtrusive design, maybe some social networking connectivity, and a modest price point. That's what the Samsung U820 says to the world. Barely a blip on our radar when we came across the FCC filing at the beginning of the year, this QWERTY slider features a 3-inch WQVGA touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel still camera with video capture, headset jack, MicroSD card slot, browser, the Communities social networking widget, and for your UI (dis)satisfaction, TouchWiz 2.0. Available at the end of April 30 in the $80 - $100 range on Verizon.

Everyone, stop what you're doing. The day you've been patiently waiting for has finally come. That's right, the Engadget app is now available for the Android platform... totally free, of course. Can you believe it? Owners of Android 1.5 devices and up will finally have access to the unedited, unrestrained application, which allows quick access to Engadget, Engadget Mobile, and Engadget HD, podcasts, the Engadget Show, galleries, and more. Just as in the iPhone and webOS versions of the app, you've got full support for commenting, options to tip us, and lots of ways to share news with friends, family, or mortal enemies. We're also constantly updating, and we have plans for some changes right out of the gate -- like a homescreen widget that should be coming in the next version, so you can always stay on top of Engadget news. Keep in mind, we're still going to be cranking away on all our other versions too (the BlackBerry and webOS apps have just recently been upda

Franklin Wireless supplies modems (primarily of the CDMA variety) to a number of carriers across the Western Hemisphere, and they've introduced a handful of rather interesting new products in that vein here at CTIA this week. First up, the U600 is an EV-DO Rev. A / WiMAX hybrid USB modem with a 270-degree swiveling USB connector for those ridiculously hard-to-manage ports ( ahem , Apple), integrated GPS, and zero-CD installation -- all pretty standard features these days, and we saw a Sprint-branded unit at Franklin's booth which leads us to believe we'll be seeing it at retail shortly. Much more interesting, though, was a pair of pocketable WiFi routers -- the R526 and R536 -- that support EV-DO and EV-DO / WiMAX, respectively. Most of the units were unbranded, but we did spy an R536 done up in snow white with a Clear logo slapped up top, so you can pretty much gather that this thing will be filling a glaring hole in Clear's lineup (right now, the best you can do is a

If the Droid's a little too much phone for you, you like the color silver, or you're just a Blur kind of guy, we've got a fantastic reminder for you: Motorola's Devour for Verizon is available today. Previously a Best Buy exclusive, the phone is hitting the carrier's stores for $149.99 after a $100 rebate on a new two-year contract, but what's interesting is that the rebate is of the mail-in variety if you don't buy it online -- in other words, it's $50 cheaper to buy a Droid online today than it is to buy a Devour in-store. So yeah, basically, you'd better be really sure this is the phone you're looking for -- and don't forget, you're giving up the Droid's glorious 854 x 480 display to get in on this. No pressure!

Do you need a keyboard? Even if you don’t need one, maybe you should get one . And we mean this one, from Mad Catz, which was initially shown off at CES this year. Yes, it is that shiny, and yes, it does have an LCD touchscreen right next to the physical keyboard. But, that’s not a normal touchscreen. Oh no, Mad Catz has a nice surprise for you. And thanks to the FCC passing it through its gauntlet, we are one step closer to seeing it in retail stores. The Eclipse Lifetouch keyboard is a full-size accessory, that comes in a wireless mode if you’re not a fan of wires. But, that’s not the cool part. That LCD touchscreen we mentioned before, it has three different modes for you to choose from. The first, and one you’re accustomed to seeing on a normal keyboard, would be the number pad. The next mode would be a media mode, which allows you to control the media functions of your computer. And then there’s the MyEclipse mode, which is a method that users can customize to their heart’s con

OpenGL is one of those things that has made the iPhone one of the strongest competitors for the mobile gaming market. The platform offers developers a robust way to program 3D applications, especially games. And with the support of companies like AMD, the interface will continue to benefit from utilizing some of the best processors on the planet. AMD has announced today that they are happy to be the first to fully support the recently released OpenGL 4.0. AMD is supporting the 3D interface with its ATI Catalyst OpenGL 4.0 preview driver, which enables all OpenGL 4.0 functionality. The driver will be supported by the ATI Radeon HD 5000 series graphics cards, including the HD 5400, HD 5500, HD 5600, and HD 5700. All of the new features, are supported right out of the gate on these graphics cards, which is made possible by the OpenGL software team. Some of the new features in the 4.0 release include OpenGL Shading Language revision 4.00 and shader subroutines that allow for significantly

It’s usually pretty straightforward: an 11.6-inch notebook will deliver battery life but lack grunt, while a larger machine is more likely to pack performance at the expense of liberty from a power point. The Alienware M11x promises to change all that; while it may have the diminutive dimensions of a CULV notebook, its overclocked processor and switchable discrete graphics claim to make it a gamer’s machine where longevity is a choice. Is the M11x really the best of both worlds? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut. It’s certainly a distinctive notebook . Like larger Alienware models, the M11x swaps the curves so fashionable in current mainstream laptops for a blunter, angular design. The company have happily shown a little more restraint when it comes to grilles, contours and fluting, but there’s still no doubting the family lineage. The backlit Alienware logo on the notebook’s lid is mirrored by a second, slightly smaller logo just above the keyboard that acts as power

Chalk this one up under “things we didn’t really expect to see happen”, but according to Fusion Garage the JooJoo tablet is now shipping. Up for preorder since early December 2009, those people who risked their $499 should apparently receive their orders by Monday, March 29th. The news follows a quite change in the JooJoo online store earlier this week, where orders were no longer referred to as “preorders”. No word on how long any newly-placed orders will take to ship; the press release doesn’t say, so we’re presuming Fusion Garage have sufficient stock to cater to anyone not holding out for an iPad. While we’ve seen plenty of criticism about Fusion Garage and the JooJoo project as a whole, not least in how relations with their former business partners TechCrunch broke down, we’re frankly all for more competition in the web slate space. The JooJoo has a 12.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, Intel Atom processor, NVIDIA Ion graphics and a custom UI; we’ll be eagerly looking forward to h

Peek’s dedicated email device has a growing band of dedicated followers, who prize its simplicity above “jack of all trades” smartphones, and now the company is planning its next assault. In a new blog post (where they also admit they’re running a little tight on cash) the company reveals it’s working on what’s tongue-in-cheek described as Project Big Stuff, something they’re billing as far more impressive than lifetime subscriptions. “Well we have to be innovative, necessity is the mother of all invention after all, right? So, we are progressing on some big stuff. Big stuff that will blow away folks. Not just an awesome “Peek for Life” promo. But really, truly big stuff. So stay tuned for Project Big Stuff.” There’s no indication of whether this “big stuff” involves new hardware or is a service of some sort; the last hardware introduction turned out to be the TwitterPeek, a dedicated Twitter device that left reviewers relatively cold. It’s a tricky line to walk – keep the simplicity

You know when might have been a good time to have bought Samsung stock? Oh, a few hours ago; that way you could’ve reaped the rewards of what will probably be a healthy uptick as the market reacts to news that Apple have ordered a further 3m iPad displays from the company. According to an unnamed industry executive speaking to The Korea Times, Samsung is now Apple’s second supplier for 9.7-inch LCD panels – after LG Display Co. in a deal inked last year – with the agreement worth $240m. Meanwhile an unnamed Samsung executive has confirmed that the company will be supplying Apple with their fourth-generation iPhone displays. ”As far as I know, Apple will use the LCD panels for its next iPhone models. We are receiving related orders from Apple” the executive – who requested anonymity – is quoted as saying; interestingly, there had been speculation that Apple would switch to an AMOLED display for their next-gen iPhone, though of course Samsung product such panels as well. The iPad dea

When is WVGA not WVGA? When it’s the display resolution of the Google Nexus One, apparently. For anyone who has wondered why text and sharp-edged graphics on their Google smartphone look unduly fuzzy, the answer might be in the AMOLED display technology. According to Luke Hutchison (and his trusty magnifier), the PenTile tech used in the panel results in less than the number of true RGB pixels you’d expect from what’s billed as an 480 x 800 display. Instead, he thinks Nexus One owners are getting more like 392 x 653. Close examination of the Nexus One’s screen shows that, rather than each pixel being made up of red, blue and green, they’re actually either a red/green or blue/green pair; the red or blue part is double the width. Known as PenTile, the technology is apparently billed as resulting in greater screen longevity, as blue pixels are known to fail quicker than their red or green counterparts. Problem is, without all three in place there’s some fudging going on, taking true-

I am totally not the video calling kind of guy. I tend to pick my nose and burp at inappropriate times and you never know when I will make that “you are a moron face” when I am talking to people. Video would really betray my seemingly nice nature to the people who know me. If you are the type that likes video calls and you use Google Talk, faceVision has announced that it is now shipping its FVexpress combo . The combo includes a 2MP HD resolution webcam that records at 30fps. The system also ships with an express card for laptops that allows for 2-way 720p video calls in full motion. The camera has a 28mm lens and a 75-degree field of view. The hardware card is also available in a mini PCIe version. The system will sell for $149.95.

Apricorn has announced that it has updated its cool Aegis Padlock Pro external hard drive with more storage space. The cool external HDD has a keypad on the front where you have to enter a code before you can access the data on the drive. The drive encrypts the data with on-the-fly 256-bit AES hardware encryption that can only be accessed with a PIN number. The drive can now be had in storage capacities up to 640GB. The Padlock Pro is also now compatible with USB 2.0 and eSATA ports for faster data transfer. The drive is available using a shock mounted HDD inside or a more rugged version using a SSD inside is available as well. SSD versions can be had in 128GB and 256GB capacities for $419 and $799 respectively. The traditional HDD version comes in 250GB for $129, 500GB for $169 and 640GB for $199.

Jabra makes a ton of Bluetooth headsets and other Bluetooth devices for mobile phone users. The company has unveiled its latest Bluetooth headset today called the Jabra Clipper. The headset is designed for stereo music as well as making and receiving phone calls. The Clipper is great for music lovers because the design means there is no need to change modes for music or calls. The device uses noise blocking ear tips and the controls are designed to clip to clothing so they are always in reach. The device supports Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR. Talk time is up to six hours and standby time is listed as up to eight days. The Clipper weighs 0.7 ounces and measures 4.8cm L x 1.5cm W x 2.55CM H. The earbud tips come in different sizes for a comfortable fit. The Clipper will sell for $59.99 in May.

Back in February, we ran across a leaked roadmap from LG that shows the firms new LX9500 3D TV would be landing in retailed in May. We haven’t really heard anything more about the set until today. LG has now officially announced the LX9500 in Korea. The set is the world’s first full LED 3D TV according to LG and it uses an innovative backlight system to deliver an improved 3D experience. The set has 1200 LEDs inside the 55-inch version and has a 10,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. The refresh rate on the set is 240Hz. The LX9500 is very slim with a profile of 22.3mm and has a 16mm super-thin bezel so it takes up less space on the wall or in the entertainment center. The set will show 3D still shots and other content directly from a camera without having to convert it with a PC first. The LX9500 does require active 3D glasses. LG will offer 47-inch and 55-inch versions of the sets in Korea first with America and Europe in early May. Pricing is unannounced.

IP cameras are widely used in all sorts of areas for video surveillance and other uses. A company called Arecont Vision has unveiled the world’s first 10MP camera that can record full HD video at 1080p resolution with 30 frames per second. The camera is the H.264 Dual Mode Camera and has 33 times more resolution than the standard VGA resolution IP camera common in security and other applications today. The footage recorded by the camera can be cropped to any resolution including 5MP, 3MP and 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios. The camera can offers digital pan, tilt, and zoom on live video with multiple zoom windows. The camera also has real-time motion detection with 64 detection zones and programmable shutter speed. Pricing and availability are unknown.

The Google Nexus One has been around for a while now and was the first mobile phone with the Android OS to be offered directly to customers via Google. The handset hasn’t exactly been tearing up the sales charts though with reports that the device only moved 135,000 units in the first 74 days it was available. HTC CEO Peter Chou has come out and stated that the Nexus One is doing well. Chou also stated that the intention with the Nexus One was to show what Android was capable of more than setting any sales records or dominating the market. Yeah, right. I don’t believe a company has ever released a new product without believing it will burn up the sales charts. Chou feels that since the phone didn’t have standard marketing campaigns to go along with it, the sales figures are good.

If the pockets full of gadgets and the tendency to read SlashGear when you should be working (hey your boss is coming!) don’t signal the fact that you are a geek, either one of these belts will. Geek fashion often has to do with things that we loathe, fear, and hate all at the same time, like someone asking you to fix their computer for free. The BSOD belt may be the perfect accessory for the geek who works tech support at the office. The belt is one of those braided canvas types that uses friction to stay buckled. The buckle is festooned with the BSOD. The only thing I remember about this type of belt from wearing them before I could make my own decision was that they either fell off for no reason or wouldn’t release until seconds before you wet yourself. If the BSOD is inviting disaster a bit too much for your tastes, you can get the Pong belt buckle showing the screen from the coolest game to ever be boring. I wonder when the “All your base are belong to us” version ships. You can p

Typically when we talk about new DJ controllers we are looking at some expensive gear from Pioneer like the CDJ-350 and DJM-350 that launched earlier this week. If you like the idea of being a DJ or learning to use DJ hardware, but want to do it on the cheap Hercules has a new DJ controller for you. The new controller is called the Hercules DJ Console Mk4 . Hercules claims the controller is the most portable and compact two deck DJ controller around measuring in at 10.4″ x 7.3″. It is compatible with Mac and Windows PCs and will ship in June for $199.99. For the money, you get mix software and dual stereo audio inputs. The console allows the DJ to switch between mixing on their computer and mixing with standard DJ decks for vinyl or CDs. The controller connects to the PC via USB and has dual stereo outputs, dual inputs, headphone output, mic input, dual jog wheels, cross fader, dual volume faders, and dual pitch knobs. The controller also has six EQ knobs and 36 buttons total.

I have several gaming consoles in my home and that means that I have lots of controllers lying around as well. My son usually ends up leaving the things wherever he happens to be when he is done playing. I once found a Wii remote in the bathroom and was afraid to ask why it was there. I think all gamers have probably wished for a better way to store their controllers at some point. A new design concept called the Gearboard has turned up on Yanko Design and the thing is very cool. It reminds me a lot of those mazes on some playground sets that have pegs you have to move around slots in a board. The slots in the Gearboard can be filled with various types of hooks and hoops to hold controllers. You can adjust the holders to fit however many controllers you need to mount and it works with many types of controllers as well. The only downside I see here is that many folks won’t want controllers hanging on the wall for all to see they want them hidden out of sight. This might work in a game

Every year security-minded tinkerers get together with the latest browsers and smartphones to see how quickly they can hack them, with the promise of thousands of dollars to motivate them. It’s all part of CanSecWest, and this year Safari, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox were all exploited while the iPhone gave up its SMS database in a Pwn2Own hacking contest. Three different hackers took away $10,000 apiece for hacking the three browsers, despite having no physical access to the machines they were running on. While full details were not made public, the hacks generally required the user access a certain compromised website that took advantage of a hole in Apple, Microsoft or Mozilla software. As for the iPhone, hackers Vincenzo Iozzo and Ralf Philipp Weinmann created a special website that, when visited on the Apple smartphone, automatically pulled out its SMS database. However they also claim that the same technique could be used to extract the iPhone’s contacts, email, photo galle

ASUS haven’t been holding back from USB 3.0 adoption – we’ve already seen the next-gen high speed connector show up on their motherboards, Eee Box nettops, digital media players, netbooks and more – and now they’re throwing in some fighting words along with it. The company has basically said that not all USB 3.0 implementations are created equal, suggesting their motherboard chip can make data transmission almost 75-percent faster than rivals can manage. The component in question is a PLX high-speed transmission chip, which ASUS say is responsible for boosting USB 3.0 speed by 74.38-percent over competing motherboards. While the company doesn’t specify the exact chip, we’re guessing it’s the same USB 3.0 product that PLX first announced in September last year. USB 3.0 has a theoretical maximum throughput of 4.8 Gbit/s, though of course systems are unlikely to ever see that.

Toshiba have announced their latest notebook hard-drives, and as you’d expect the company is concentrating on packing more storage into the same amount of space. Two new sizes have made their debut: a standard 9.5mm high 2.5-inch drive, the MK7559GSXP, with 750GB capacity, and the MKxx59GSM range of 12.5mm high 2.5-inch drives, with 750GB or 1.5TB of storage. Obviously while the MK7559GSXP will fit into most laptops, you’ll need a suitably deep bay for its thicker counterparts. That’s because Toshiba have squeezed in an extra platter, though all three of the HDDs spin at 5,400rpm. They also all have 8MB of cache, SATA 3Gb/s interfaces and 12ms average seek times, and Toshiba reckon that – thanks to their “silent seek” technology – they’re as quiet when active as they are when idling. No word on pricing, but the MKxx59GSM drives should show up in Q2 2010, while the MK7559GSXP is expected to follow on in Q3 2010.

As April 3rd fast approaches, we seem to have seen more of digital text and media content on the iPad than anything else. After Amazon tipped their hand with their Kindle for Tablets app, and iBooks pricing apparently leaked, it’s now the turn of digital magazines to get some figures attached. According to – bizarrely – sources close to the WSJ, and reported by the WSJ, the newspaper is planning a $17.99 monthly subscription fee for its iPad version. They’ve also apparently been tipped off on other publisher’s plans too. Esquire is expected to have their first digital version – which will include embedded video content – ready shortly after the iPad launch, and to price it at $2.99, undercutting the physical version of the April 2010 issue by $2. Meanwhile Men’s Health are expected to price their iPad magazines at the same amount as their newsstand copies, $4.99, having offered 10-page iPad previews of the April and May issues. Both the WSJ and NYT are believed to have been granted

Plenty of Android-based mini-tablets and MIDs have graced these pages before, but seldom do they manage to be both commercially available and cheap. The Enso zenPad – a rebadge of the SMiT MID-560 – is a 5-inch WVGA touchscreen MID running Android 1.6 (with a promise from the company to release Android 2.1 “within 1 month”) with WiFi a/b/g/n, support for an external 3G modem, and 1GB of onboard storage. There’s also a microSD card slot (an 8GB card is included; up to 32GB supported) and a microUSB port, along with a 3.5mm headphone socket and an optional GPS receiver. The integrated 2,000mAh battery is apparently good for up to 6hrs of WiFi web browsing, and there’s access to the Android Market (though you might find cellular-reliant apps aren’t compatible). The whole thing measures 5.2 x 3.4 x 0.6 inches, which should make it reasonably pocket-friendly. As for that affordable price, it kicks off at $155 for the 8GB model, with $25 shipping; considering eviGroup’s Wallet is based

With all this talk about the next step in wireless technology, 3G seems to have taken a backseat for the time being. We’ve got all sorts of new technology rolling out at this point, with LTE and WiMAX the main focus (really, the only focus), but what about 3G? Are we forgetting about the technology that got us to this point? Verizon Wireless has an answer to that question, and believe us, it’s a good one. When 4G becomes the standard for Verizon here in the new future, obviously the fun, and insanely useful data-only WWAN devices will be 4G-oriented. But, Verizon Wireless has gone ahead and confirmed, straight from Tony Melone (Verizon’s Senior VP and CTO), that the devices will go ahead and fall back on 3G, if you happen to find yourself out of an LTE-based area. That means the aircards, MiFi products, and USB data sticks will all benefit from this. Which means, basically, that we all benefit from this. The big question is going to be about pricing, in reality. With the existence of

Are you a fan of music? Are you a customer of AT&T, and feel envious of a certain other carrier’s subscription-based music service? It looks like today should be a pretty good day for you, then, because AT&T has officially announced the availability of a brand new music service. And, thankfully, it’s pretty cheap, and comes with quite a few features. Of course, there’s a “but,” tied into this good news. There usually is, right? The service itself is served via an application that you can download from AT&T’s MEdia Mall. With that being said, we’ll go ahead and get the “bad news” out of the way, so that when you finish reading this article, there’s a better chance you won’t be depressed. Unless you have a Samsung Solstice , Samsung Impression , or an LG Xenon , you are (temporarily) out of luck when it comes to downloading this application. AT&T has made it available for only these three handsets, at the launch of the service. A bit of good news in this department though

Acer have outed a new line of notebooks , the Acer Aspire Ethos series, which promise slick design along with multimedia performance. Two models have been announced initially, the Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G and Aspire Ethos 5943G, with a choice of Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, 18-inch 1920 x 1080 and 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 displays respectively, and ATI Mobility Radeon HD5000 graphics. There’s also Dolby Home Theater surround support, with 5.1 output, and in fact the Ethos 5943G manages to fit in a full five speakers on its own. Storage is up to 1.28TB (combining two 640GB HDDs) and there’s a choice of DVD or Blu-ray optical drives. Connectivity includes WiFi, gigabit ethernet and Bluetooth 2.1, along with eSATA, USB, FireWire, HDMI and VGA, and there’s a fingerprint reader and webcam too. No word on prices or availability from the Italian launch today, but we’re guessing these will be premium machines.

Break out the bunting, there’s a new e-reader in town. Kobo have announced that they’ll be taking on Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s nook and the eventually-linked-to-Borders Spring Design Alex with their own dedicated device, the Kobo eReader. Great, aside from the fact that they’ve apparently just recycled a four-year-old Netronix ebook reader with a bright new case. The Kobo device – which will be sold “for a limited time” at $149 – measures 0.1-inches thick and weighs 200g. It has a 6-inch E Ink display, 5 selectable font sizes and a 4-way D-pad for navigation, and Kobo have given it a quilted vinyl back-cover for more comfortable carrying. Onboard storage is 1GB – plus there’s an SD card slot – and the battery is good for up to 8,000 page turns. There’s no WiFi or 3G, unlike its rivals, but the Kobo eReader gets Bluetooth for short-range cable-free synchronising with “select smartphones”; alternatively you can use the included USB cord. It’ll read ePUB and PDF documents

Spotted in the plastic back at CeBIT 2010 , but with nary a sign of pricing or availability, ASUS have split some more details on the upcoming multitouch Eee Top ET2010AGT and its non-touchscreen ET2010AG cousin. European buyers will apparently be able to pick up either machine in early May 2010, with the ET2010AGT priced at €649 ($867) and the ET2010AG coming in at €599 ($800). Each machine has an AMD Athlon X2 250u processor running at 1.6GHz, along with the AMD RX780 chipset, ATI Mobility Radeon HD5470 graphics with 512MB of dedicated memory, and 4GB of RAM. There’s also a 500GB 7,200rpm hard-drive (320GB on the non-touchscreen machine) and a side-mounted DVD burner. The display itself comes in at 20-inches and 1400 x 900 resolution, while connectivity includes gigabit ethernet, HDMI, WiFi b/g/n, six USB 2.0 ports and audio in/out. There’s also a 1.3-megapixel webcam and a memory card reader, and there’ll be an optional VESA kit for wall-mounting the Eee Top.

We’re already familiar with GPS and pseudo-GPS triangulation technologies, that use cellphone towers or known WiFi base stations to figure out roughly where you are, but InvisiTrack reckon they can use spectrum bands more commonly found carrying TV signals to pinpoint position down to under 3m indoors or 1m outdoors. Their InvisiTrack LS system relies on the fact that the 512 and 698 MHz bands can better penetrate through walls and other structures than higher-frequency bands like the 2.4GHz used for WiFi. Unfortunately, while the press release makes it sound like InvisiTrack uses actual TV broadcasts for triangulation, in actual fact you’ll need both a new receiver in your mobile device and to be near at least two transmitters to go with it. Still, in ad-hoc mode the receivers themselves act as transmitters, creating a mesh network from which position of all involved can be extrapolated from just one location lock. While 10-times the range of existing triangulation systems sounds

If you’ve ever used a PND (or a PND app on a smartphone or similar) with automatic traffic updates, you’ve probably experienced the frustration of the device warning you about an upcoming jam while you’re already snarled up in it. Magellan’s latest standalone PND, the RoadMate 3065 Commuter Edition, reckons it can change all that: rather than starting to look for traffic updates when you begin your journey, “Traffic Wakeup” powers up the device at a preset time so as to cache the road conditions in advance. “In many cases, traffic information on your GPS can be delayed up to 20 minutes. A delay could mean that you have begun your commute and are already in a traffic situation which could have been avoided. The Magellan RoadMate 3065 Commuter includes the premium Traffic Wakeup feature. Traffic Wakeup automatically powers on your GPS at the time you set and provides real-time traffic updates. Easily have traffic updates ready for you before you even leave for your destination.” Magell

Seemingly based on the premise that computer users aren’t to be trusted with regular routers and are likely to break things, set them up wrong or generally end up weeping on the end of a premium technical support line, Belkin have outed its latest series of so-simple-a-goose-could-do-it wireless routers. The four-strong line-up – spanning $50 to $130 – all support WiFi 802.11n and have Easy Start and Self-Healing for straightforward everyday use, together with various preloaded apps for sharing music, gaming and printing. The most basic model, the Belkin Surf ($49.99) supports single-band 2.4GHz use and comes preconfigured with wireless security. Once you spend a little more, though, things get more interesting: the Belkin Share ($79.99) has a USB 2.0 port for adding external storage or a printer, and has a Print Genie app for straightforward wireless printing together with an auto-backup app called Memory Safe. As for the Belkin Play ($99.99) and Belkin Play Max ($129.99), they

We’d already heard rumors from Intel themselves that they were considering some cheaper, overclock-friendly processors for release in the not too distant future, and now those leaky Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers have spilt a few more beans. They reckon two such CPUs are in the works, a 32nm dual-core Core i5-655K which should arrive in early June, and a 45nm quad-core Core i7-875K which will follow on in late July. The tinkertastic chips would line up against AMD’s dual- and quad-core Black Label processors, which are known for being particularly amenable to overclocking. So far only Intel’s “Extreme” chips have made the process anything less than difficult, and they tend to command top-end prices. Incidentally, the Core i7-980X Extreme – which we benchmarked with impressive results in the iBuyPower Paladin S earlier in the week – is apparently in short supply, with Intel increasing channel pricing for the processor to NT$37,000 ($1,160) from its original NT$35,000 ($1,100) la

Kenwood might not be the first name you’d associate with iPod speaker docks, nor with digital photo frames, but their latest product ticks both boxes. The Kenwood AS-iP70 has a 7-inch WVGA LCD display and a pop-out iPod/iPhone dock; as well as listening to music and viewing photos and video from the Apple PMP on the display, owners can also load up photos from an SD card and view them instead. Other connectivity includes a USB 2.0 port for accessing the SD drive, while there’s also an FM radio is none of your downloaded music appeals. The speakers are tucked away on either side of the display, though at 1.5W each the AS-iP70 isn’t going to knock your house down with its musical power. Still, it’s a distinctive device and kills two birds with one stone, so all that remains to be seen is exactly how much it will be. Impress reckon around 25,000 yen ($277) which seems on the high side to us; we’ll find out for sure when the Kenwood AS-iP70 hits Japanese stores in April 2010.

So, you’re tempted by Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G , and frankly who can blame you? If our all-too-brief hands-on-play with the WiMAX-packing Android 2.1 smartphone taught us anything, it’s that HTC have taken the best of the HD2, slapped on an arguably more alluring OS and created the sort of superphone we scoffed at Google for describing the Nexus One as. Plenty has been made of Sprint’s 4G promises, but that got us wondering: exactly who will get to enjoy the HTC EVO 4G’s WiMAX connectivity? So far, the Clear-built 4G network covers 27 “markets”, which you can see at their map here. Over the course of 2010 Sprint expect to see new coverage in Boston, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Of course, outside of WiMAX areas the EVO 4G will fall back onto EVDO Rev.A data networks, the speed of which we’re familiar with from the carrier’s existing line-up. That actually means that relatively few people will be able to enjoy the EVO 4G’s

Back in February, I mentioned that Creative had unveiled a couple new sets of headphones that were aimed at WoW gamers. The headphones could be adorned with artwork from the Alliance or Horde factions of WoW and were offered in wired or wireless designs. Creative has announced that the headsets are now shipping. The Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset is available at online stores like Newegg and TigerDirect for $159.99. The headset has THX TruSource PC audio tech built-in for a full sound experience. The headphones are Mac and PC compatible and have cushioned ear pads for comfort on those raids that last for hours. The battery in the headset is rechargeable and can be charged while the headset is in use. The wired version of the headset is also now shipping for $119.99.