The Gadget Geek

FastMac slips out three slimline USB Blu-ray drives, including a $99 reader

We’d heard of a FastMac USB external slimline Blu-ray reader poking around Macworld last month, but we never got anything official until today, when the company pinged us to let us know that the $99 APP-6907 DVD±RW / BD drive, the $299 APP-6963 1x BD-R drive and the $399 APP-6964 4x BD-R drive are now all available. All three drives support both Macs and PCs, although you’ll need Windows to play BD movies. Not bad deals all around, but we’re still not convinced we need a Blu-ray drive for our computers when we barely use the one in the living room.

Read – APP-6907
Read – APP-6963
Read – APP-6964

Filed under: Storage

FastMac slips out three slimline USB Blu-ray drives, including a $99 reader originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 02:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hitachi DZHS500A DVD/HDD Camcorder
Hitachi DZHS500A DVD/HDD Camcorder
Nvidia Launches 3D Kit For Gaming
LAS VEGAS — 3D technology is coming to the video gaming industry for real with Nvidia’s launch of a new accessory kit that will automatically transform more than 300 existing games into 3D experiences for users with PCs that have…

Robot doctors join the fight against breast cancer

From Da Vinci robosurgeons to helpful nursebots , robots are becoming commonplace in hospitals the world over — and now researchers at Duke University have developed a rudimentary tabletop robot that uses 3D ultrasound technology to detect a ‘lesion’ in a simulated sponge breast, pinpoint its exact location, and perform a biopsy. All the calculations are performed by the device itself, using what has been described as “a basic artificial intelligence program.” The next step in the research will be an upgrade that will that the robotic arm from three-axis to six-axis capability, and a change from the old sponge-based simulated breast to one made from turkey breasts, which approximates the density of human breast tissue. According to Stephen Smith, director of the Duke University Ultrasound Transducer Group, if things stay on track, robots will be performing routine breast exams and biopsies in five to ten years. Video after the break.

[Via PhysOrg]

Continue reading Robot doctors join the fight against breast cancer

Filed under: Robots

Robot doctors join the fight against breast cancer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hello Kitty Xbox 360 dazzles while you frag

You may remember deviantART member Ricepuppet from his days dressing up his Xbox 360 in Domo-kun stylings. He’s back, combining our love for console paint jobs with all things Hello Kitty. No matching controller this time, but there’s more than enough stars, shades of pink, and cuteness to make up for it. The Sanrio charmer isn’t the only new mod he’s got, we also spotted consoles adorned with Halo Wars, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Chocobos (of Final Fantasy fame). Now how about we see some of that HK love plastered on a Rock Band drum set?

Read – Hello Kitty mod
Read – Go Go Sonic mod
Read – Halo Wars mod
Read – Chocobo racing mod

Filed under: Gaming

Hello Kitty Xbox 360 dazzles while you frag originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Game Business 101
Game Business 101

UMID M1 photos definitely surface – the rest we’re not so sure about

We’ve been hearing a bit about UMID’s MID M1 since it was first spotted last month — most of it wildly contradictory. At least we’ve reached a consensus (or so we think) on some of the essentials: weighing in at 0.7 pounds, this guy sports a 4.8-inch (1024 x 600) touchscreen, a 1.1GHz Atom processor, up to 1GB memory, up to 32GB SSD, WiBro / HSDPA / WiMAX / WiFi / Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, mini USB 2.0, and an SD/USIM card. The device is shipping with Linux — which may come as a surprise to whomever ordered its Windows and Internet Explorer keys. CNET states that pre-orders start February 13th for 512MB models, while according to AVING they hit the street on the 20th. This thing will set you back about $500 and is only available in Korea. Maybe. One thing we do know, however — we got more pics for you after the break.

Read – CNET
Read - AVING

Continue reading UMID M1 photos definitely surface – the rest we’re not so sure about

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops

UMID M1 photos definitely surface – the rest we’re not so sure about originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget’s recession antidote: win a set of Star Wars Mimobot USB drives!

So yes, you know the drill: the economy reeks, we’re all tired of the daily dose of bad news. Engadget’s trying to counter-attack a little bit of that hurting, so here’s the deal: we’re going to hand out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff / companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got a set of eight Star Wars Mimobot USB flash drives on offer — each drive is 1GB, and man are they cute! Read the rules (no skimming — we hate that!) below and get commenting!

Special thanks to Mimoco for providing the drives!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share a tale of heart wrenching economic strife, that’s good too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive 8 1GB Mimobot flash drives. Approximate value is $240.
• Entries can be submitted until Friday, February 6th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Filed under: Announcements

Engadget’s recession antidote: win a set of Star Wars Mimobot USB drives! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 Notebook
Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 Notebook
Hands-On With Samsung’s 64GB HD Cam
LAS VEGAS — Samsung’s booth at CES 2009 is huge. So huge that, when I turned up early to take a look at the new cameras, I still ended up 10 minutes late for my appointment. But there are some…



Stone In The Creek
Not all fixtures have to be slick, chromy, and minimal. There’s a place for a little bit of the ornate and organic too. The Stone in the Creek wall basin fixture not only looks good, but can also help save water. There are two modes, straight flow and side flow. …

MSI Wind NetOn AP1900 gets official photography treatment

MSI has gone official with its all-in-one Wind NetOn A1900, which looks to be the M19 we saw in November that was also at CES. The 18.5-inch desktop houses an Intel Atom N270, 2GB DDR2 RAM, 160GB SATA HDD, DVD burner, 4-in-1 card reader, 1.3 megapixel webcam, and an optional 802.11 b/g. Its display is soft-rocking a WSXGA 16:9 resolution with 5 ms response time, 1000:1 contrast ratio, and 250 cd/m² brightness — nothing worth writing home about. No word here on here pricing or availability, but back when it called itself the M19, it was scheduled to hit retail channels last month for five Benjamins.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Filed under: Desktops

MSI Wind NetOn AP1900 gets official photography treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Logitech Squeezebox Boom
Logitech Squeezebox Boom
Canon Shows 32GB Hi-Def Camcorder
LAS VEGAS — Canon is saving any new still cameras it might have for the PMA show, but here at CES 2009, the company is showing its new range of Vixia camcorders. They range is capabilities and price, but the…

Fujifilm FinePix F200 EXR’s photos shown off

We were fairly hopeful that Fujifilm’s recently revealed 12 megapixel FinePix F200 EXR point and shoot would produce some great looking shots. Well, the fine folks over at Impress Watch have gotten their hands on one and taken it for a spin. In case you’ve forgotten, the camera is Fuji’s first offering to boast its new 1/1.6-inch Super CCD EXR sensor, and it’s got a 3-inch LCD, a 28-mm wide-angle 5x zoom lens, and is capable of 640 x 480 AVI video recording. The photos we’re seeing are very crisp and detailed, with excellent color and very low noise. Though we won’t know until we see for ourselves (still no word on pricing or availability for this one), we’re preliminarily impressed. Check a few more after the break — hit the read for full comparison shots with explanations.

Continue reading Fujifilm FinePix F200 EXR’s photos shown off

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Fujifilm FinePix F200 EXR’s photos shown off originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nespresso Le Cube C185
Nespresso Le Cube C185
Video: Wireless Power Energizes Many Devices
LAS VEGAS — When will ugly power cables become a relic of the past? Not today, but a company at Consumer Electronics Show this week demonstrated some major progress toward achieving the dream of wireless power. Powermat’s wireless power system,…



RELAX Design Competition
CALL FOR ENTRIES Submission deadline: March 30, 2009 RELAX furniture design contest sponsored by Rhinoceros. Participation is open to anyone. Winner receives a full retail copy of Rhinoceros. UPDATE: Win Hypershot HD as a bonus prize. Details after the jump. Subject Matter: Use the power of Rhinoceros to design a piece of furniture that addresses relaxation Criteria: One …

Recession-busting $150 Blu-ray players coming this year

If digital distribution is going to be held off for another year, Blu-ray players are going to need to achieve some serious market penetration at a rather difficult time. VIZIO’s $200 VBR100 should help when it releases in a few months, but could be quickly undercut by a predicted flood of $150 drives said to be inbound from a number of other industry players, including Lite-On. These “white-box” drives will probably be short on features, but so too were the cheap DVD players that killed off the VCR, and nobody thought twice about that. If all goes according to plan look for stacks of inexpensive drives to start appearing at whatever retailers are still in business later this year.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Recession-busting $150 Blu-ray players coming this year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Game Business 101
Game Business 101

Verizon Hub goes on sale for $199.99 on contract

We had a pretty good idea Verizon’s Hub would be loosed on Super Bowl Sunday, and sure enough, the landline killing machine is now available for ordering. The device itself will run you $199.99 on a two-year contract (after all applicable rebates), and if you’re still wondering whether or not this thing is even worth your time, why not have a look at our hands-on / impressions?

[Thanks, Carlos]

Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets

Verizon Hub goes on sale for $199.99 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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