The Gadget Geek

Dell issues Alienware M17x stuttering audio fix, will it stick?

About a week after we ran an update on the Alienware M17x stuttering audio problem, Dell’s community manager John B. has written in to let us know that the company has posted a fix. It entails using a particular BIOS revision, dropping to the Windows native mass storage driver, and installing the latest Alienware wireless card driver, all of which are available for download at the source link below. In Dell’s testing this has removed the latency spikes that have caused the rather undesirable audio st-st-stuttering issues, but many commenters over at Direct2Dell aren’t so sure, indicating that this targeted fix is actually a miss and that things are no better. If you’re affected, give this fix a shot and let us know whether you have success. If not, perhaps the registry tweak we posted before will do the trick.

Dell issues Alienware M17x stuttering audio fix, will it stick? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meebo IM App Finally Lands on iPhone
You probably became acquainted with Meebo, a web-based instant-messaging tool, while using a public computer that didn’t allow you to run native IM clients. (College students who slack off in computer labs I’m looking at you.) And now finally, the beloved IM service has its own iPhone app. We caught a glimpse of the Meebo [...]
It s All About Picturesque Music
If listening to music isn t soothing enough, then how about teaming it with some nature-scape? The Sound Scape system does just that. The system beams out relaxing images (via the LED projector located in the circle) of clouds, water and other nature-beauty stuff. The size of the projected image can …

Motorola Devour to sell for $150 at Best Buy?

You’ve just got to love the slow trickle of information about your next smartphone, right? Just days after hearing that Best Buy would gladly accept your pre-order on Motorola’s Devour (without actually telling you the final price, comically enough), this leaked flyer has flown into our inbox to clear up the mystery. Unless we’ve got some seriously awesome Photoshop work going on here, it seems as if the Flash supporting handset will sell for $149.99 on a 2-year Verizon contract, and of course, that’s sans mail-in rebate if you snag one from the Big Yellow Tag. Not bad given the specs, wouldn’t you say?

Update: Looks like a case (shown after the break) has popped up as well. Thanks, H.R.!

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading Motorola Devour to sell for $150 at Best Buy?

Motorola Devour to sell for $150 at Best Buy? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Puma joins forces with Sagem to birth the Puma Phone

Looks like the rumors we heard were true: august cordwainer Puma has teamed up with Sagem to make a phone — and it’s quite a looker, too. The Puma Phone (as it’s called) is a lightweight little guy that boasts an integrated solar cell for charging and charge indicator to let you know how you’re doing on juice, a QVGA TFT 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen, plus a 3.2 megapixel cam with LED flash and 6x zoom. It also packs in GPS, a compass and geotagging, plus it’s got a host of ’sporty’ features (pedometer, stopwatch and GPS tracker)… if you’re into an active lifestyle. This bad boy can be strapped to your arm when you’re on the go, but don’t blame us if it doesn’t score you any points with the passersby. The Puma Phone will be available throughout Europe in April of this year — no word on pricing or availability elsewhere yet. The full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Puma joins forces with Sagem to birth the Puma Phone

Puma joins forces with Sagem to birth the Puma Phone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 and A50 hands-on

So, we had a few precious moments to play around with Garmin-Asus’ latest Nuvifones here in lovely Barcelona today — the M10 and A50, running on Windows Mobile 6.5.3 and Android 1.6, respectively — and even better, we did so in the back of a black Mercedes expressly purposed for testing out the integrated turn-by-turn capabilities. Follow the break for our quick impressions!

Continue reading Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 and A50 hands-on

Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 and A50 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom ONE XLS GPS
TomTom ONE XLS GPS

LG says it’s launching a product to ‘compete with Apple and Amazon,’ maybe by April

LG says it’s launching a product to ‘compete with Apple and Amazon,’ maybe by April originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E3 2009 Ubisoft Press Conference Part 1
E3 2009 Ubisoft Press Conference Part 1
Doxie Scanner Sends and Shares
Doxie is a cheap, simple and easy-to-use document scanner that launched this week at the Macworld Expo. The slim, portable scanner uses USB bus-power to turn paper into PDFs, jpegs or lossless png files, and – here’s the twist – it then sends them directly off to the cloud. The specs: scans can be done at [...]

Sony’s $200 BDP-S470 is company’s first 3D-ready Blu-ray player

And the flood gates are now officially open. Just hours after Panasonic introduced its newest 3D Blu-ray recorders and players, along comes Sony to brag about its first 3D-ready standalone deck. The BDP-S470, which is slated to ship later this month for $200, arrives with the ability to handle BD, DVD, CD and even SACD, with a 3D Blu-ray upgrade (via firmware update) planned for this summer. You’ll also find BD-Live support, BRAVIA Internet Video, a USB socket for playing back media stored elsewhere, 1080p DVD upscaling and TrueHD / DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. If you were planning to snag a BDP-S570 BD player or one of the BDV-E770W / BDV-E570 Blu-ray Disc home theater systems, you’ll be elated to know that those systems will also get a gratis 3D update in just a few months, with exact pricing and release details tucked down there in the source. Time to pick up a pair of 3D Gunnar Optiks, don’tcha think?

Sony’s $200 BDP-S470 is company’s first 3D-ready Blu-ray player originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E3 2009: Guitar Hero 5
E3 2009: Guitar Hero 5
Pooch-Power: Dog Leash Generates Electricity
Fido Fashion’s dog leash turns your pooch’s energy into electrical energy, a far more useful form of power. The retracting restraint works like a crank-powered flashlight, and the constant winding and unwinding of the leash’s reel generates power. This power is promptly wasted, sent out to LEDs to light your path of illuminate car and house [...]
Correct Tea Angle
Pointers like strength, color, flavor, brew and steeping are commonplace to tea connoisseurs; plebs like me get by with simply boiling water and milk with some tea masala and that s that. Fusspots who think that the most important thing for making tea is the time to steep it, and finding …

Amazon job postings ask for display and wireless experts, hint at Kindle things to come?
So, we already assume Amazon’s thinking touch for the Kindle, what with that recent Touchco acquisition and word of similar behind-the-screen touch tech being on PVI’s roadmap. PVI owns E Ink, and is naturally bullish about its upcoming products, but what about E Ink in the new Kindle? If you’re into reading the tea leaves of job postings, Amazon might be telegraphing its intentions. It’s looking for a “Hardware Display Manager” who, among many other things, is supposed to have “Significant exposure to high volume manufacturing environments; you will know the LCD business and key players in the market.” That might have you thinking the next Kindle will go LCD, but the requirements also mention a “deep knowledge of current display technology and potential future technologies,” and nothing about the role seems exactly prescriptive of an LCD expertise — more of a general focus on displays and product design, whatever tech might come. Pixel Qi or Mirasol, anybody? Amazon’s also looking for all sorts of software expertise, including a “Software Design Engineer” who will be responsible for radio stacks “including but not limited to” 3G and WiFi. Again, these are requirements (among many) for a role, not necessarily implications of a Kindle 3 spec sheet, but there’s one thing clear: Amazon’s gearing up for something.

Amazon job postings ask for display and wireless experts, hint at Kindle things to come? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CES 2010 – Demo of the Motorola Backflip
CES 2010 – Demo of the Motorola Backflip
UK Company Launches iTablet
Now that Apple has chosen the famously awkward name “iPad” for its tablet, the most obvious candidate “iTablet” is up for grabs. Sure enough, a UK company is leaping at the opportunity. X2 is happy to announce it’s “hot on the heels of Apple’s latest product launch” with the iTablet, which will run Windows 7 and [...]

Eco shocker: Turbine Light concept uses wind to light highways

Ingenious, eco-friendly concepts are all around us, there’s no denying that. This one caught our eye because it’s pretty innovative, seemingly well thought out, and good looking to boot. The Turbine Light concept (which is going to be a part of the upcoming Greener Gadgets conference in New York City at the end of this month) harnesses the power of the wind from cars rushing past to light up the ever-darkening roadways. The turbines use the wind collected to generate energy for the lighting, and while the concept lacks a lot of firm details so far, but we’re sure to find out more about it soon — we’ll be sure to check them out at the conference on February 25th. Hit the source link to see more concepts, along with other people and companies who will be there.

Eco shocker: Turbine Light concept uses wind to light highways originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Future of Video Games
The Future of Video Games
Germanium Laser Breakthrough Brings Optical Computing Closer
Researchers at MIT have demonstrated the first laser that uses the element germanium. The laser, which operates at room temperature, could prove to be an important step toward computer chips that move data using light instead of electricity, say the researchers. “This is a very important breakthrough, one I would say that has the highest possible significance [...]
Printing With A Pencil Stub
So you don t want to join pencil stubs and make a long pencil. No worries, we have another alternative, how about using them to print on paper. Yes, like a printer that uses pencil to print your documents. Traditional don t you think? I feel the concept gets even more radical …

Ask Engadget: Best NAS / media streamer combo device?

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Felix, who would feel a lot better about his situation in life if he had one certain gadget that could do two certain things. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

I am looking for a NAS — 1TB would be good — preferably with WLAN built in, and multi-download BitTorrent capabilities are a must. I’d like a unit that doubles as a media streamer (music and videos), and while I’d prefer to stream over WiFi, I definitely need an HDMI port. If there’s an option with a display on the unit itself, I would love to know about it. Thanks for any input!

We know these multifaceted devices exist, but we also know they aren’t exactly everywhere. For those who’ve bought in, we’d love to hear about your experiences. Do you prefer yours? Are you disappointed with its performance? Don’t lead our man astray, okay?

Ask Engadget: Best NAS / media streamer combo device? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Future of Video Games
The Future of Video Games
Screenshots From a Full-Screen iPad Game
Just how good is the iPad’s pixel upscaling, the trick that makes it possible to run iPhone apps full-screen on the new magical wonder-pad? Not very, it seems. IPhone (and now iPad) developer Kevin Ng took his game, WordCrasher, and fired it up in the new iPad software development kit (SDK). Using the iPad simulator, he [...]

Nokia’s Ovi Maps Racing now available, makes the world your course

Since it looks like GT5’s still another decade or two away from release, racing gamers need everything they can to survive the wait, and this is just about the most creative way we’ve seen to do that. At a glance, Nokia’s Ovi Maps Racing looks like a pretty simple, standard 2D racer with an overhead view, but its secret sauce lies in the map: it can turn pretty much any street in the world into a racecourse. The game lets you chart out your heated battle using nothing more than Ovi Maps data and your finger, meaning Manhattan, Prague, or your folks’ quiet, peaceful neighborhood are all potential targets for your high-speed bedlam. Seems like a great way to inject limitless replay value into an otherwise plain-vanilla racer, doesn’t it? It’ll work on any of Nokia’s Symbian^1 (formerly known as S60 5th Edition) devices, and — for now, anyway — it’s free. Follow the break for a quick promo video.

Continue reading Nokia’s Ovi Maps Racing now available, makes the world your course

Nokia’s Ovi Maps Racing now available, makes the world your course originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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