IBLOG SPACE

Remember back in 2008 when we first started to hear rumblings about the slick Sony PlayTV ? It’s been a while since we talked about the PlayTV device, so we won’t be mad if you forgot. Basically, PlayTv is a free-to-air digital TV tuner and PVR add-on for the PS3. The thing launched in the UK a while back but has yet to appear stateside. Many of us here in the US might have forgot about PlayTV after the huge wait for it to land here, but Sony is apparently still working on the device. Kotaku reports that Sony is hard at work on the follow up to the original called PlayTV 2. Sony’s Mark Green, a senior producer at Sony Cambridge Studio said, “[Sony is] still working on PlayTV, PlayTV 2. And then we have other guys working on other concepts…” Perhaps the PlayTV 2 system will make it to America.

If Apple thought Adobe would merely roll over and accept their recent snubs regarding Flash on the iPad and digital content, then they should probably think again. Adobe have officially announced their Digital Viewer Technology for Magazines – used in the recently-released Wired iPad magazine – a soon-to-be-released add on to the new InDesign CS5 app which will allow would-be publishers to quickly take digital content and package it as magazines. As well as streamlining digital magazine production, the Digital Viewer app also promises to make in-magazine advertising more straightforward for publishers. Various screen-sizes will be supported, together with video, audio, animated infographics, 360-degree views and more; according to Adobe, the first multiplatform release of the Digital Viewer Technology will be toward the end of 2010.

USB 3.0 ports on new computers are becoming more and more common today. As the ports are more common, new devices to take advantage of the ports are becoming more common too. Pretec has unveiled the world’s first USB 3.0 memory card reader at Computex 2010. The card reader is called the P240 USB3.0 High-speed Multi-Card Reader. The device has an interface speed of 5Gb/s for high-speed transfers from memory cards to the PC. The card reader supports a number of formats including the new SDXC format with lots of storage space. Other supported memory card formats include SD, CF, and other major formats. The P240 will sample next month and enter mass production in August. Pricing for the reader is unknown, but I wouldn’t expect it to cost too much.

It has been a while since I heard anything out of PNY and the company is back today with a new video card. PNY has added a version of the NVIDIA GTX 465 (PDF) to its line based on the Fermi architecture for gamers to take advantage of. The card has a native mini-HDMI port making it easy to connect to a big screen HDTV. The video card has 1024MB of GDDR5 RAM and the core clock is 607MHz. PNY clocks the shaders at 1215MHz and the card has 352 shader cores. The GDDR5 RAM gives the card 102.6GB/s of memory bandwidth. The texture fill rate for the card is 26.7 billion per second and the effective memory data rate is 3206MHZ. The best news about the GTX 465 is that it’s cheap with a MSRP of $279.99 making it the lowest cost offering in the Fermi based line from NVIDIA. PNY is also bundling a pair of full-length movie downloads with its card with options including The Da Vinci Code, Hitch, Big Daddy, As Good As It Gets, 21 and S.W.A.T.

UK retailer The Carphone Warehouse has confirmed pricing for the Dell Streak , set to go on sale at the end of this week. The Android-based MID will be priced from free with a new, £25 ($36) per month agreement – or £35 ($51) per month including unlimited data – or, alternatively, for a standalone price of £429 ($620). Unfortunately there’s no indication of what sort of agreement length that will require, though we’re guessing it’s a 24-month contract rather than something shorter. Would-be Streak buyers in North America thinking of jumping the queue – the 3G-enabled tablet should launch there later in 2010 – would do well to bear in mind that the European version only has dualband UMTS (900/2100); the model that eventually arrives in the US will have AT&T-friendly 3G instead.

Hitachi have unveiled their latest 2.5-inch hard-drive [Japanese pdf link], and it’s the slimmest to-date. The Hitachi Travelstar Z7K320 is a mere 7mm thick and packs up to 320GB of storage on a 7,200rpm platter; there’s also a Z5K320 version with a 5,400rpm platter. The drives could be used in super-slim notebooks, offering greater capacity at relatively lower prices than SSD memory. The Travelstar Z7K320 has 16MB of RAM and uses 1.8W in operation; there’s a SATA 3Gbps interface and 0.8W idle power consumption. As for the slower version, that uses just 1.5W when active and 0.55W when idle. As well as the 320GB models, there’ll be 160GB and 250GB versions too. Mass production of the Z7K320 is expected to kick off in August 2010; meanwhile the 5,400rpm K5K320 is expected to start in August. No word on pricing at this stage.

We have already talked about Nokia’s MeeGo OS on a few occasions. Last week we learned that MeeGo v1.0 for netbooks and the Nokia N900 smartphone had launched. Nokia is expecting MeeGo to be adopted by other manufactures wince the OS is offered as an open source option for devices. The Inquirer has sat down with Nokia VP Alberto Torres for a chat about MeeGo and the first Nokia devices to run the new OS. Strangely, with MeeGo being an OS under development in partnership between Nokia and Intel, the first Nokia device to use MeeGo will run an ARM chip. The Inquirer reports that MeeGo isn’t for Intel Atom chips, which as a commenter below points out isn’t exactly accurate. The first Nokia product to use MeeGo will land later this year and will be aimed at rich multimedia use.

Apple leaving Flash out of the show when it comes to the iPhone and iPad devices was enough to get the DOJ interested in the practices of the electronics company. Reports are now coming in that the DOJ inquiry into Apple is extending beyond a look at the music practices of Apple and looking at the video practices of the company as well. CNET News reports that the DOJ is now asking questions of executives in the film industry and other media sectors in a widening probe of Apple’s business dealings. An anonymous source told the New York Post, “The [Justice Dept.] is doing outreach. You can’t dictate terms to the industry. The Adobe thing is just inviting the wrath of everybody.” The inquiry by the DOJ reportedly started as information was sought to determine whether Apple pressured Sony Music Entertainment and EMI to stop participating in a discount promotion that Amazon was running. The sources claim that for now the inquiry is merely a fact-finding mission and is not an official inves

Looking to clamp down on the escalation of malicious apps on its popular social network, Facebook will now require that every developer to verify their Facebook account by providing a mobile phone number or adding a credit card to their account. While this is clearly a step in the right direction, this won’t stop rogue apps from wreaking havoc on the social network. Here’s the news from Facebook’s Niket Biswas : Starting this week, we are requiring every developer to verify his or her Facebook account to create new applications. This is the same quick process that users go through when they want to do things like upload large videos. We’re taking this step to preserve the integrity of Facebook Platform, ensuring that every application is associated with a valid and real Facebook account. You can verify your account by either confirming your mobile phone number or adding a credit card to your account. Facebook will not charge your credit card if you add it to your account

Back in February 2010 we spied a leaked roadmap from ARM that had something called Eagle listed. The processor roadmap showed Eagle to be a new CPU from ARM that would be aimed at the smartphone, mobile computing, and DTV markets among others. At Computex ARM confirmed that Eagle was in fact its next generation core for high-end platforms. ARM also talked about other things during its conference at Computex reports CarryPad. Other topics included the prevalence of ARM CPUs in a myriad of entertainment devices and Mali GPUs. There were highlights of ARM hardware combined with Android Froyo that has specific optimizations for ARM hardware. Those optimizations include Dalvik JIT for Thumb2, NDK3.0 for native debug and support, as well as V8 JavaScript acceleration.

Silicon Power has unveiled a new external portable hard drive called the Armor A80. The new HDD uses a USB 3.0 interface and is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 as well. The HDD is rugged, meets US military standards for drop survivability, and is water resistant to IPX7 standards. The HDD can be submerged in water up to a meter deep for as long as 30 minutes without any damage. The USB 3.0 connectivity allows the driver to support up to 5Gbps of data transfer. Other features include a LED light to show drive activity and an integrated USB cable that tucks into the side of the drive chassis. The drive measures 139 x 96 x 18mm and weighs 270g. The drive gets all the power it needs directly from the USB port so no AC adapters are needed. The drive is offered in 640GB, 500GB, or 320GB and it comes in blue color. Pricing and availability are unknown.

I remember when NVIDIA first started talking about its Ion platform. The graphics giant was big on talking the platform up, but had no products for us to see when the platform first debuted. The talk at the NVIDIA press conference about the Tegra 2 platform for tablets is very similar to that first Ion unveiling. At the NVIDIA conference at Computex 2010, there were no demonstrations of products on hand for the attendees to check out. NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang talked about the potential for the market and how excited he was about the platform reports CarryPad, but offered no devices to view. Huang claims that the tablets running the Tegra 2 platform will be coming to market later this fall and asked people to “have patience” and wait for the platform to land. There is at least one prototype being shown off at the show, the MSI 110 tablet I mentioned before runs Tegra 2.

Computex 2010 is running full steam ahead today and there have already been some cool new gadgets debuted at the show. The MSI WindPad 100 and 110 tablets have surfaced. The WindPad 100 is a Windows 7 tablet that runs on an Atom Z530 CPU. The rig runs Windows 7 Ultimate, but MSI uses a custom UI over the top of the OS. The machine has HDMI out and a pair of USB ports and it will have a webcam as well. The machine will retail for $499 when it lands on the market later this year sporting its 10-inch 1024 x 600 screen. Alongside the WindPad 100 came the WindPad 110. The 110 is the more interesting of the two tablets with its 10-inch screen and power coming from NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 platform. The OS on this beauty is Android and it will sport a 10-inch screen, USB port, and video output. The Android version will sell for $399 making it more appealing in my book than the 100.

Computex 2010 doesn’t kick off in earnest until tomorrow, but a few of the big name exhibitors have snuck in ahead with some early press conferences today. ASUS are first out of the gate with their iPad competition, and they’re taking a three-pronged approach: the ASUS Eee Pad will be available in 10-inch (EP101TC) and 12-inch (EP121) variants, and offer Windows Embedded Compact 7 and Windows 7 Home Premium respectively, while the ASUS Eee Tablet is a monochrome digital notebook, packing 2,450dpi touchscreen input sensitivity and targeted at note-takers like students. The ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC doesn’t have finalised specs as yet, but it measures just 12.2mm thick and weighs 675g. The Windows Embedded Compact 7 OS promises the same flexibility and interface as existing users are expecting, but there’ll be more cloud-integration too. As for the ASUS Eee Pad EP121, that gets Windows 7 Home Premium for everything you’d expect a notebook to run, powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo CULV process

As the iPad flies off the shelf globally now, it would seem that Amazon would need to get on the ball about offering some kind of new Kindle here soon. Even if their software eReader is already on the Apple tablet, and heading to Android soon enough, new hardware always speaks volumes to new customers. According to some sources speaking with Bloomberg , it looks like Amazon is getting ready to unveil a new Kindle. And it may be shedding a few pounds for the Summer season. Two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the online retail giant has plans set in motion to unveil a new thinner Kindle some time in August. While it may have less in stature compared to the Kindle available now, it will also acquire a sharper screen, according to the sources. There’s not much else to go on here, other than what these two folks have already said, but if we’re going to take what Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said earlier in the week very seriously, and he has indeed seen Kindle prototypes in t

Qik have clarified pricing details for their upcoming HTC EVO 4G video call app, after a leaked document last week suggested that the functionality would be subject to a $4.99 monthly subscription. According to the company, basic two-way video calls will be free for EVO 4G users; their subscription fee will be for a new package of “advanced premium features.” “Firstly, rest assured that the core Qik service that lets you communicate live from your phone to other phones, web and desktop will be FREE. Yes – this means that the core capability of doing 2-way Qik video chat will be FREE for Sprint EVO 4G users. The subscription fee will be for some advanced premium features that we are working on, which we will be announcing on June 4th – the day the amazing HTC EVO 4G phone launches.” The nature of those “premium features” is as-yet unclear, with Qik promising to reveal all on June 4th when the EVO 4G makes its retail debut. Owners of the handset will be able to make video calls betwee

How foolish I’ve been. Five months ago I wrote that tablets had come of age, and even sifted my way through the line-up cherry picking what must-have features would make for the perfect device. A month later, in the afterglow – or should that be aftermath? – of the iPad announcement, I marvelled that, while Apple’s slate wouldn’t necessarily satisfy every user, there was nonetheless plenty of choice on the horizon for those given a taste for tableteering. Our analyst contributors wisely told me not to count my touchscreen chickens before they’d hatched onto the market, but I wouldn’t listen. I thought the iPad’s arrival would rejuvenate the tablet segment, but all it seems to have done is killed off any attempt at innovation. Since those naive, hopeful editorials, Microsoft have closed the book on Courier, HP’s Slate appears to be in ano-man’s land of ambiguity – not exactly helped by the company’s extreme reluctance to put the record straight – and the Tegra 2 based slates that so im

It actually hasn’t been that long since Lenovo promised us, and everyone else for that matter, that the U1 Hybrid and Skylight Smartbook featuring Skylight OS was still coming. Not that long at all. But, all good things must come to an end, and in all honesty, if it means that something better could be coming along, well, we’re all for it. Today, Lenovo has officially pronounced the two promising platforms and pieces of hardware tech dead before arrival. According to Lenovo, it looks like the initial version of Skylight “is being shelved,” and to make matters worse, it looks like the Skylight OS was actually a concept for day one, and perhaps it was never meant to be released to the public. Odd, to say the least. We imagine all those rumors that Skylight OS wasn’t good enough for mainstream criticism probably played a bigger part in it than anything else, but hey, we’re just assuming here. However, just to make sure everything is clear, that does mean the Skylight Smartbook and U1 Hy

Speculation about an HTC tablet is one of those cyclical things that doesn’t want to die, and it seems that while the company maintains it has nothing in the works, that hasn’t stopped them doing research to identify just what niche a larger-screen HTC slate might occupy. According toThe Inquirer, HTC’s European vice president, Dr Florian Seiche, informed attendees of the Open Mobile Summit this week that their “study found women social networking while watching television was a likely use for tablets.” Back in April, an HTC executive in South Africa reignited tablet rumors when he claimed that the company wasworking on an Android-based device. Nonetheless, just because HTC are doing research, it doesn’t mean a product is the inevitable outcome: like all consumer electronics companies, they routinely conduct market surveys to see where their focus should shift. When we ran into HTC at the launch of the Wildfire earlier this month, we once again asked them regarding the likelihood of

Remember that stonking NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480M Fermi GPU and the Clevo gaming notebook it was expected to first show up in? The Clevo D900F is now up for sale, and if you’ve in the region of $2,959 lying around waiting for a Core i7 based 17-inch monster notebook, you probably won’t be disappointed. Everything from a 2.66GHz Core i7-920 through to a 3.33GHz Core i7-980X Extreme are on offer (factor in an extra $856 for the latter), together with some Xeon quadcores, as well as up to 12GB of DDR3 memory. There’s also a huge range of storage choices, from a measly 160GB HDD through to triple-bay HDD/SSDs in optional RAID configurations. Other options include Blu-ray burners, Bluetooth (to go along with the WiFi a/b/g/n), various sound cards and TV tuners, while a 3-megapixel webcam and four built-in speakers are standard. Connectivity includes S-Video, DVI, VGA, FireWire, USB 2.0 and audio in/out, and you can even have the D900F painted in various custom colors. A maxed-out Clevo D

Details of Apple’s upcoming Apple TV platform refresh have emerged, with Engadget claiming to have heard from a trusted source that the Cupertino company is planning a new, $99 set-top box that would use iPhone OS and cloud-based storage. In fact, the new Apple TV sounds a lot like a headless-iPhone: it’s described as having minimal ports, basically just power and a 1080p HD video output, as well as using the same 1GHz Apple 14 CPU and 16GB of onboard storage. Those users wanting to host media files locally will apparently be able to use an Apple Time Capsule to do so, but Apple are supposedly pushing for streaming content. That will be via a hosted service not dissimilar to Amazon’s streaming system. While it will run iPhone OS, like the iPhone HD and iPad, it’s not yet known whether Apple will be enabling App Store access, or indeed how it would handle scaling software available through the store to an HDTV set. To be honest, this sounds a lot like what Avi Greengart was hinting

With international outlets of Apple’s iBookstore fast filling up with premium titles, amateur authors are probably wondering how they can get their works into the system too. Apple has added book submissions to iTunes Connect, their system whereby independent musicians could add A/V content to the iTunes store, though it’s not quite as straightforward as uploading a PDF and raking in the ebook revenue. Titles have to be in ePub format and validate against epubcheck 1.0.5; that’s pretty standard stuff. They’ll also need to already have a 13-digit ISBN, which is where some home-authors might fall short; you can find out more about that at the US ISBN Agency. As for the submissions process, you’ll need an iTunes account – with a credit card on file – and a US Tax ID. Once your ebook is submitted you can choose which iBookstore to make it available through; when iPhone OS 4.0 arrives it’ll also be available on the iPhone, too.

Analyst predictions – like any other – should generally be taken with a pinch of salt (the Steve Ballmer at WWDC 2010 speculation is good evidence of quite how much sodium is necessary), but it seems someone at Gartner has been seriously mistaken in their counting. They’re quoted as claiming under 100,000 Nokia N900units were sold in its first five months on the market; however, a source we spoke to at Nokia today told us that in fact the Finnish company sold “well in excess of 100,000″ N900 handsets in the first five weeks . In fact, Nokia apparently had trouble meeting demand for the N900, and have seen sustained sales of the handset since its launch. Nokia won’t disclose exact sales figures for the N900, but it seems Gartner have gotten considerably confused somewhere along the line. The N900 was one of Nokia’s most anticipated devices of 2009, and has recently seen an update to not onlyMaemo 1.2 but MeeGo v1.0. Nokia had previously said that the handset wouldn’t be offered offi

With Computex 2010 kicking off next week, Gigabyte have spilled the beans on some of what we can expect to see. Among the motherboards – catering both for Intel and AMD’s newest hexacore processors – there’s a new GV-R587SO-1GD graphics card based on ATI’s Radeon HD 5870 GPU. However, we’re most interested in the Gigabyte M1125 , spotted in a thumbnail on Gigabyte’s site and detailed over at SemiAccurate, an 11.6-inch convertible touchscreen notebook packing a processor from Intel’s Core i-Series. The exact nature of that processor is unspecified, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see one of Intel’s newly-announced ULV Core i3 chips slotted inside. Otherwise there’s USB 3.0 together with a proprietary docking station port for a dock that will apparently include an optical drive. Finally there’s VGA, audio in/out and ethernet. No word on what sort of touchscreen Gigabyte are using, but we’re guessing it might the sort of multitouch-capable resistive panel we’ve seen on recent Acer con

News of a new Acer netbook has emerged, the Acer Aspire One 533, and it looks to be an Intel Atom version of the AMD-powered Aspire One 522 . According to macles’ sources, the chrome-lashed AO533 has a choice of Atom N455 and N475 processors together with DDR3 memory support, helping eke out battery life to an estimated 10hrs. Otherwise things are pretty much par for the course, with three USB 2.0 ports, a 10/100 ethernet port, audio in/out and VGA, together with a multiformat memory card reader. The display is a 10.1-inch panel and there looks to be optional 3G and Bluetooth 3.0+HS support along with the standard WiFi. No word on when the Acer Aspire One 533 will land, but given the specs we can’t imagine Acer holding off for any particular reason. Pricing tba.

It’s been a long time since we first saw the RAmos W7 Android MID , but the distinctive chromed device is finally shipping. Based around a 4.8-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, a 600MHz Rockchip RK2808 processor and 8GB of storage, the really surprising part is the price: the W7 is apparently on sale in China for just 999 Yuan ($146). For that it seems unlikely you’ll get the integrated 3G first mentioned when the W7 was announced, but even with just WiFi and Bluetooth we’re impressed. Up to 720p HD video is supported, though you’ll have to make do with Android 1.5 rather than anything newer. At least one person has received their RAmos W7 and is sharing some first impressions in the Chinese Mumumusic forum. No word on when – or indeed if – it’ll go on sale outside of China, but the cheap Android MID market certainly does seem to be exploding.

Sling Media have released a brief demo of their new SlingPlayer Android client, but we fancied a better play and so managed to grab a copy of the beta for ourselves. Loaded up on a Nexus One, the control process was just as straightforward on the Google phone’s 3.7-inch display as it looks on the EVO 4G’s 4.3-inch screen; picture quality is decent, and while there are a lot of on-screen controls – since they’re basically recreating your full set-top box remote in the mobile client – after a little use it’s all reasonably familiar. More first impressions – and a demo video – after the cut. We tried the app over both a WiFi connection and over a 3G connection, but it would only play nicely with WiFi; when we attempted to log in via the cellular network, SlingPlayer couldn’t get online (though other apps would). [ Update: We've spoken with Sling Media about the 3G connection issues we've been seeing, and they think it could be to do with the O2 network in the UK that our Nexus

Remember VIA ’s promise of $100 to $150 Android tablets storming the market in the second half of this year and generally giving us all a good reason to forget the iPad? The company has tipped their hand ahead of Computex next month, with a new gallery of the different devices, and if you’re expecting iPad-style gloss then, well, think again. Some of the tablets are recognizable from earlier demos, such as the EKEN M001 and the EKEN M003. Others, meanwhile, look merely like generic touchscreen slates of the sort we’ve seen gushing out of the Far East since tablets became fashionable; here they’re named as the G-Link A8 and the FirstView PC707. They’re based on the WonderMedia PRIZM SoC which is what helps keep the price down; the SoC showed up in August 2009 as the grunt behind WonderMedia’s SmartFrame. Before you get too excited at the price, though, check out SlashGear reader Chris Meredith’s review of the EKEN M001: I have the Eken m001, and it is nearly unusable. The battery las

Having made its international debut earlier this week, only with nothing but out-of-copyright titles to choose from, Apple’s iBookstore has now started to fill up with more modern fare. Coinciding, unsurprisingly, with theinternational launch of the iPad, the UK iBookstore now has titles from Bernard Cornwell, Tony Parsons and Malcolm Gladwell, among many others. As with the App Store and iTunes, ebook purchases are a two-tap affair using the iTunes account registered to your iPad. What may swing things for some readers is the fact that pricing is in local currency – i.e. Sterling in the UK iBookstore – rather than Amazon’s dollar-only pricing no matter which country you access Kindle from. Earlier this week Barnes & Noble launched their own BN eReader app for the iPad, though currently their estore is only available in the US. Meanwhile Amazon’s Kindle app has been available for the Apple tablet for some time now, and allows users who have already bought into the Kindle ebooks

Skype have apparently tipped their plans for an incoming Android video chat app, which – unlike the current Verizon-only version of their mobile software – will be freely available regardless of carrier. According to Skatter Tech, the Skype team are looking particularly at the HTC EVO 4G , since that’s one of the few Android handsets with a front-facing video camera. “Skype envisions a world where video plays a larger role in the way we communicate. The next generation innovation involving video calling will not be bound to the computer. We’re seeing a proliferation of video calling shared between all kinds of connected devices. It’s on computers (today 1/3 of all calls on Skype happen via video), televisions (Skype bringing video calls to living rooms via Panasonic, Samsung & LG partnership), and it will eventually be coming to mobile devices too. We’re betting big on video, and we intend to set the bar on mobile video calling, and it’s something we’re going to do this year. We w

At last week’s Google I/O conference, the search giant revealed plans for new web video technologies, an update to Android, and Google TV . Before we get into what Google TV is, it’s worth noting something that it isn’t – a tablet. (You’re probably thinking, “I don’t need a fancy analyst guy to tell me that Google TV isn’t a tablet, it’s sort of self-evident.” Bear with me.) Apple’s unbelievable early success with the iPad is due in large part to the fact that the iPad isn’t an entirely new product – it’s a sibling to the iPod touch. However, in addition to extending the iPhone/iPod/iTunes ecosystem to include the iPad, Apple rewrote its apps for the larger form factor and encouraged developers to specifically target the iPad with a segmented app store. Google is now targeting all three screens, the PC, TV, and phone, but missed the opportunity at its annual developer event to promote its vision for things that fit in between the phone and PC. There will be dozens of Android tablets ou

In the world of external storage the upgrade path is obvious: slap a bigger drive in your enclosure and wait for people to fill it with media. Seagate’s GoFlex Storage System , however, takes a slightly more complex route; thanks to an array of interchangeable cables individual FreeAgent drives can be used with not only USB, eSATA and other ports, but in a range of media players and docks. Is the flexibility worth putting up with an unusual port? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut. Seagate sent us a basic FreeAgent mobile drive – which comes as standard with a USB 2.0 connector – together with an optional GoFlex eSATA adapter. Both mobile and desktop drives are available (up to 1TB in the former, 2TB in the latter), while GoFlex Upgrade Cables for USB 2.0 ($19.99), USB 3.0 ($29.99), FireWire 800 ($39.99) and eSATA ($19.99) are offered. Unfortunately the Seagate docks – which include various desktop models together with media-centric versions that hook up to HDTVs and, op

The BBC have updated their iPlayer app to suit the iPad, fresh to UK shores, and the Flash-free tablet can now stream TV and radio via its wireless connection. Where the previous version required Flash support in order to stream to a mobile device, the updated iPlayer gets a finger-friendly interface and iPad-friendly codec. The simple UI has tabs for TV and radio, together with search functionality, and you can also view the latest highlights, the last show you played, and which titles are new to iPlayer. Meanwhile TV and radio are sorted into channels – such as BBC 1 or Radio 4 – as well as categories and “most popular”. Digging into each channel brings up a list of shows sorted by date of broadcast, and then each show has programme info and the ability to see similar titles. Settings are limited to bandwidth choices – high or normal – and a parental lock, and in the high quality setting and viewed over WiFi the playback was smooth and crisp. The only notable omissions we’ve spot

Early iPad deliveries across Europe have left many Apple fans contentedly playing with their new tablet toys a few hours ahead of what they expected, but according to couriers TNT it’s also been a huge source of complaints. Mobile Industry Review was told by a TNT representative that the couriers responsible for the iPad shipments have “had over 100,000 complaints today because of the iPad early delivery,” as preorder customers who had made plans to sign for the slate tomorrow have discovered a failed delivery attempt was in fact made today. There’s no telling whether the 100,000 figure is hyperbole by the TNT rep or an accurate figure as to the number of iPads now in the wild across the UK – certainly initial preorders were enough to exhaust Apple’s initial supplies of the tablet. Still, the dilemma for those unable to accept delivery today is that TNT may attempt a redelivery tomorrow or their iPads may get pushed to the bottom of the queue. That might mean waiting until Monday un

Just because you’re small, doesn’t mean you can’t be powerful; that’s pretty much the tagline for Shuttle’s newflagship SFF mini-PC . The Shuttle SX57J3 is a mere 33 x 21.5 x 19 cm in size, but is designed to swallow up Intel’s hexacore Core i7-980X Extreme processor (or indeed any socket 1366 Core i7 chips), together with up to 16GB of DDR3 memory. There are also two PCI-E-x16 slots – for either a single dual-slot card, or two single-slot cards in CrossFireX or SLI configuration – together with two gigabit ethernet ports with switchable failsafe or load-balancing. Meanwhile there are two internal SATA bays – complete with RAID support – and a total of four SATA interfaces and two eSATA; Shuttle also thrown in a power connection for external SATA devices. A custom heatpipe cooling system and 80-PLUS-certified 500W power supply round out the key specs, adding up to one darned impressive dinky PC. It’s available – without CPU, memory or drives, mind – for €470 excluding VAT ($577).

OLPC have polarised opinion with their approach to computer systems for developing nations, and now the organisation has partnered with Marvell to try to deliver on their latest XO-3 tablet. The new slates will be based on Marvell’s Moby platform – as demonstrated back in March – and are unlikely to look like OLPC’s ambitious,eye-catching renders. They envisaged the XO-3 as a super-slim slate with an 8.5 x 11 inch touchscreen, water resistant casing and inductive charging system. The Moby platform, however, is a little more mainstream in its abilities; all the OLPC press release confirms are video input, haptic feedback and multi-touch interfaces, as well as USB support for “traditional and non-traditional peripherals.” While Moby is also capable of 1080p HD video, that’s unlikely to be a priority in the sort of environments the XO-3 will be deployed to. Instead, they’ll more likely be interested in its lengthy battery life potential and its integrated WiFi/Bluetooth/FM/GPS connect

The sales message is clear: buy NEC’s new Valuestar N VN790/BS 3D all-in-one, freshly launched in Japan, and get a gobful of whale. Initially promised last month – though a little earlier than expected – the 20-inch desktop has a 1,600 x 900 2D/3D capable display, Blu-ray drive and a CPU from Intel’s mobile line-up. As for the 3D effects, you’ll need a special pair of glasses (one set is included; others are $67 a pop) and the new Valuestar supports Blu-ray 3D content as well as other sources. Technical specs include 4GB of RAM (8GB max), 1TB of HDD space and a pair of 3W speakers; there’s also an integrated TV tuner and remote control. NEC expect the Valuestar N VN790/BS 3D all-in-one to begin shipping in Japan in June 2010, where it will cost around $2,450. No word on an international release, but we would be surprised if it wasn’t timetabled. Meanwhile, not to be left out, ASUS are apparently planning a 3D all-in-one of their own, using NVIDIA’s 3D Vision technology and a 24-inc

The tablet market is gathering momentum, and AMtek has just announced all five of the models they’ll be bringing to Computex next month. The slates range in processor prowess from a simple 800MHz Freescale chip, through NVIDIA’s Tegra 2, and then into the realms of Intel’s Menlow and Montevina platforms. Touchscreen technology, meanwhile, includes active digitizers and multitouch-capable capacitive screens. At the bottom end is the AMtek iTablet Ex-Lite II (AE04), a 10.1-inch (1024 x 600 or 1024 x 768) slate with multitouch display, 800MHz Freescale CPU, 512MB of RAM and 512MB of flash storage. It has WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth and a 2-megapixel camera, as well as optional 3G and GPS, and will run either Windows CE6, Android 2.0 or Linux. The AMtek iTablet Speed-Lite (AE03) is similar, but swaps the CPU for NVIDIA’s 1GHz Tegra 2 and boosts RAM to 1GB. Meanwhile the three Intel-based tablets are a little more serious. The AMtek iTablet Lite (TZ10), T23A CULV Tablet PC and T23X CULV Tab

There are lots of geeks out there that revel in their geekdom. This is the sort of person who buys all their shirts at ThinkGeek and normal folk go to when their computer needs fixed. Sometimes a geek has to leave the t-shirt behind and get fancied up for events like weddings or court dates for trying to hack your hot neighbors Facebook page. For these occasions, cufflinks.com offers the 2GB USB flash Drive Cufflinks. They look almost normal when closed and worn. Pull the tab and a small and shiny USB flash drive is revealed that you can use to store data. This is something Chuck would wear on a mission. Each of the flash drive cuff links has 2GB of storage space for a total of 4GB for the pair. There is enough room to engrave the cufflinks and you can get them in silver, gold, or gunmetal finishes for $195 per pair.

When it comes to headphones, there are a bunch of different styles that you can choose from to meet your individual needs and tastes. V-MODA makes some very nice headphones that offer good sound quality and look really cool as well. The latest offering from V-MODA is the Crossfade LP headphones. The Crossfade LP is a full-size set of headphones with over the ear style that uses 50mm dual-diaphragm HD drivers. The design allows the headphones to deliver the sort of sound typically associated with dual drivers from a single driver. The headphones can be had in three colors including pearl, phantom chrome, and gunmetal black. A detachable cable is included with the headphones that offers a remote and a mic for making calls while on the go. The ear cushions are made from memory foam for comfort and to reduce gaps that let the sound escape. The headphones include a 3.5mm audio cable, a 3.5mm cable with mic and remote, a ¼” adapter for DJ and audio gear compatibility, and a carry case. The

Network media players for the home are becoming more and more popular as the average consumer migrates from physical media to digital media for home movies and other content. As we grow these digital media collections, we need a device to play all that media back easily and a device that is capable of storing that media safely. Acer has announced a slick looking new media streamer family that includes the AcerRevo multimedia center, RevoView media player, and RevoCenter storage appliance. The RevoView is a multimedia center that is slim and features a wireless remote. The device is capable of streaming HD resolution video and connects directly to your TV. The RevoPad is a wireless media controller that is backlit and has a QWERTY keyboard and a multi-gesture touchpad Content from several different device types can be played using the Acer Revo including content stored on external HDDs, memory cards, optical discs, and flash drives. The internal HDD in the RevoView is swappable and can

Acer have officially announced their latest Android smartphone, the Acer Stream, a Nexus One rivalling Android 2.1 Eclair device with a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen. The Stream is based around Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor, along with 512MB of RAM and 2GB of internal storage, and has HSDPA, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth. There’s also GPS, a 5-megapixel camera that can apparently capture 720p HD video and a microSD card slot. Acer have also customized the standard Android UI, adding various spinning panels, app history shortcuts and other tweaks, but the most interesting addition is UPnP and DLNA streaming media support, just like their new LumiRead ereader.

Acer’s mysterious Android tablet may have stolen the show, but their new LumiRead ereader is worth consideration too. Packing a 6-inch monochrome E Ink display and a Kindle-style QWERTY keyboard, the LumiRead has WiFi – and 3G in a future model – together with an ISBN scanner that can be used to keep a wish-list of titles for future purchase. There’s also 2GB of onboard storage – good, Acer say, for around 1,500 ebook titles – together with a microSD card slot. It’s also DLNA compliant, which means you can use it to stream music from Acer’s clear.fi system or a third-party streaming system. As for content, Acer has apparently inked deals with Barnes & Noble in the US, Libri.de in Germany and Founder in China. You can also go online with the built-in browser, and save a local version of pages for reading later when you’ve no connection. No word on pricing, but the Acer LumiRead is apparently due to arrive in Q3 2010.

Today it almost feels like 3D is something new. We have a glut of 3D TVs hitting the market, 3D content is coming to the home, and 3D films are hitting theaters in droves. It’s easy to forget that 3D has been around in the PC world and in theaters for a long time, granted it’s much better today than it was in say the 90’s or the 80’s. Many are overlooking 3D in the PC world and this is one of the places where the tech will be most popular — with gamers. Jon Peddie Research has published a research paper that shows Stereo 3D PCs are at the tipping point and are set to become much more available and popular. JPR reports that the stereo 3D PC market will grow rapidly in the near future with close to a million of the machines shipping this year and that number swelling to 75 million by 2014. JPR reckons that in the coming years almost all PCs will the stereo 3D capable, but many will not use the feature despite the GPU capability. The reason is that the machines will need special monitors

I have been a big fan of racing games for years on the PC and the PS3. It’s so much more fun to play this sort of game with a racing wheel than a track pad. The problem for me is always trying to find a palace to mount my Logitech racing wheel. It isn’t comfortable use in my lap and the coffee table is just too short. Thrustmaster has unveiled a new Ferrari branded racing cockpit that is perfect for the living room racing fan to go with its Ferrari branded game pads. The device is called the Ferrari Wireless GT Cockpit 430 Scuderia Edition. The racing wheel is mounted to an articulating platform that is adjustable for angle and more. The wheel is wireless with a range of 10 meters. The base of the cockpit is weighted to keep it in place and has a gas and a brake pedal. Alas, the cockpit lacks the clutch and shifter we commonly find on racing wheels today. The wheel is a replica of the one used in the Ferrari 430 Scuderia compete with the Manettino dial and more. The other downside her

Having already heard that Nokia N8 preorders are likely to kick off in early July, there’s now movement from carriers too. Vodafone UK have updated their “coming soon” page to include the N8, though there’s still no sign of a firm release date. Similarly there’s no sign of any pricing for the Symbian^3 smartphone, though we’re guessing it’ll be offered – as with most subsidized UK handsets – from free with a new 18- or 24-month agreement. Someone at Vodafone needs to check up on the N8’s spec-sheet however; we doubt it’ll actually come with a stylus like the “what’s in the box?” tab promises. Earlier this week we discovered the N8 wouldn’t be the first handset to arrive on the market running Symbian^3, with that honor being saved for an unnamed Asian manufacturer. Still, the N8 is probably the most-anticipated Nokia in a good while.

Computex is set to kick off next month and there are lots of companies starting to offer up a bit of tease on the products they will be showing off there. One of the items that Team will be unveiling is the TP1023 sport disk. The TP1023 reminds me a bit of a Ferrari with its bright red paint and is in fact designed to resemble a sports car. The drive has a suspension system for the internal HDD to reduce shock and make the drive more rugged. It also features an automatic suspend mode that shuts the drive down after it idles for a specific length of time to reduce power consumption. The TP1023 will be offered in 500GB, 640GB, 750GB, and 1TB capacities. The HDD inside the chassis is a 5400 RPM unit and Team will offer the drive in USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 varieties. Pricing and availability are unknown at this time.

MeeGo v1.0 for netbooks and the Nokia N900 has now been released, complete with Qt 4.6 support, the MeeGo SDK with an integrated application development environment, and various other OS tools. The MeeGo experience is centered around the Myzone, with various social networking, email, calendar and contacts widgets; these aggregate content from multiple networks, together with synchronized calendar, tasks, appointments and recently used files. There’s also the Google Chrome browser (or support for Google Chromium) and, when the MeeGo Handset version is released in June, the Fennec Mobile Browser will be implemented. An early developer release of the MeeGo SDK – also in June – will support touch-based devices. As for what’s further around the corner, the MeeGo team plan to release v1.1 in October 2010, complete with support for touch-based devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and “In-Vehicle Infotainment systems”. You can download MeeGo v1.0 for netbooks here and v1.0 for the N900 h

Having gasped at leaked Scandinavian pricing for Project Natal, which worked out to roughly $200 for the motion-controller, new US-specific figures have emerged which are a little more palatable. According to Edge Online’s “trusted source”, Microsoft will release Project Natal in October 2010, priced at $149 in the US. It’ll also be available as a bundle with the Xbox 360 Arcade, for $299. The source also confirmed that the device’s name won’t, in fact, be called Project Natal when it finally reaches shelves, and that the official title will be among the things Microsoft announce at E3 next month. There they’ll also outline its non-traditional gamer focus; “Microsoft expects to sell millions and millions of Natal units in its first year on the market” the source reckons, “so you can expect the software launch line-up to target non-traditional gamers.” As for that launch, the current date is apparently pencilled in as October 26th worldwide, though that could still shift with an e