CrunchGear |  |
- Apple may or may not be testing USB 3.0 controllers
- LG gets bragging rights for Japan’s first certified 4G device
- Daily Crunch: Tub Planet Edition
- Vote to choose the next Pleo color
- Gateway announces new product line up for 2010
- First official hands-on with the Olympus PEN E-PL1: Really, really nice
- Review: Gateway SX2840
- Oh Best Buy, only you could get away with having someone arrested for gift card issues
- Now you can get multitouch in a thinner-than-paper film
- Vinyl Android figurines are the coolest things since sliced ice
- Everything you need to know about Lost in 8:15
- A bathtub with portholes, so you can look out – or in
- You can’t buy Japanese music on iTunes you say?
- New (?) Duke Nukem Forever footage prompts question: Does anyone care anymore?
- Newegg and Amazon cuts the Zune HD price by $30-$40
- Slim isn’t all there is to it: calculate your Full Gadget Ratio™
- Google Nexus One gets OTA update, multi-touch goodness
- Mantys is part motorized scooter, part golf cart, and a pinch of Segway
- Boo, multi-disc games!
- Love your jailbroken iPhone? Don’t update to 3.1.3
| Apple may or may not be testing USB 3.0 controllers Posted: 03 Feb 2010 06:01 AM PST
Apple is usually very good about being the first company to implement up and coming standards. Think back to USB, Firewire, Firewire 800, and more recently, DisplayPort. Apple, however, hasn’t announced any new models within the past couple months when USB 3.0 tech was actually available. Chances are that whenever Apple outs the next MBPs or Mac Pros within the coming months, both will come with equipped with the goods.
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| LG gets bragging rights for Japan’s first certified 4G device Posted: 03 Feb 2010 03:25 AM PST  The rest of the world is catching on rapidly but overall, Japan is still the world's most advanced society mobile society. That being said, you'd assume that the first 4G (LTE) device to get an official certification from Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications must be coming from one of the many mobile companies over here, but it was South Korea's LG who got the bragging rights [KR] for that today.
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| Daily Crunch: Tub Planet Edition Posted: 03 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST |
| Vote to choose the next Pleo color Posted: 02 Feb 2010 11:45 PM PST
It’s free shipping on everything, so if you have a hankering to spend that tax refund on a robotic dinosaur, here’s your chance to save some coin on the shipping. In addition to the color change vote (click here to vote by the way) you can also enter a contest to win a custom painted Pleo. The custom paint will be done by the original sculptor who designed the Pleo in the first place. The raffle ends on the 22nd, so don’t wait. You’ll just need to give the folks at PleoWorld your email address in order to win.
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| Gateway announces new product line up for 2010 Posted: 02 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST
The new models all feature Intel’s new Core processors, and use eco-friendly hard drives. The higher end models (multimedia and gaming) come standard with Blu-ray drives. All of the systems run Windows 7 Home, 64-bit edition. From the press release:
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| First official hands-on with the Olympus PEN E-PL1: Really, really nice Posted: 02 Feb 2010 10:00 PM PST
After a series of leaks brought us the news of the E-PL1 early we were concerned that the new member of Olympus’ PEN family would be a clunker. We were wrong. This new model looks “cheaper” than the EP-1 and EP-2 simply because it is clad in aluminum up front and polycarbonate in the back. This makes the camera considerably lighter than its predecessors. We saw the grey and silver models although the black model is said to look the nicest. I also had a quick hands on with the entry-level point and shoots they announced today. Here are the direct changes to the EP line:
In my brief tests I found the E-PL1 to be nigh on exactly what we’ve all been looking for in a micro 4/3s. The Live Guide – complete with tips on shooting animals, kids, and food – is great for beginners while more advanced shooters will like the focus time and the weight and side of the new camera. At $599.99 for a Body, 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zoom lens, and battery pack you’re looking at quite a capable shooter at under what other folks are asking for their high-level point and shoots.
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| Posted: 02 Feb 2010 09:27 PM PST
Features: Small form factor, Intel Core i3 530, front panel with built in card reader, USB, and Firewire. Back panel with HDMI and eSATA. Pros:
Cons:
Most people really don’t need the type of computer I typically review. The normal system that I like to take a look at is the “fire breathing monster” computer, the kind that can control a small country and cook eggs on the heatsink. I realize that most people don’t want to spend $5000 on a computer. Heck, they don’t even want to spend $1000. And for students? the cheaper the better, so long as it does everything they need it to do.
The Gateway SX2840 is the ideal computer for most people. Sure, it’s not going to play Crysis at 100FPS, but who cares? Most people don’t want to spend that kind of money. The SX2840 hits that sweet spot of being a fast enough that it’s not annoying, but slow enough that you’re not paying supercomputer prices. It’s hard to quantify this because frame rates and seek times don’t really apply to a computer in this situation. It’s great for browsing the web, writing email, running a word processing program, looking at pictures – all those basic things that most people who use a computer spend the majority of their time doing. It’s an ideal family computer, right down to the built in card reader on the front for downloading pictures from your camera, and plugging the usb cable in to sync up your music player. Admittedly, there’s nothing really noteworthy about this computer, but there isn’t any really negative about it either. It’s just a nice, solid performer that you can feel safe recommending to your grandmother, because you know you won’t have to be coming over every week to fix it for her. That’s not to suggest that this machine is not capable of gaming, it is. It’s just not idea for the latest greatest FPS games. For the casual gamer, it’ll be ideal. I guess that’s what really defines this system; it’s a good casual machine. It’s not terribly fast, but you don’t expect it to be. You just want it to work and be reliable, and that’s what this machine is all about. Be aware though, that this computer does have one fatal flaw: you won’t be able to upgrade it. There’s just not enough room to add a faster video card, or upgrade the CPU. It’s just not going to happen. But for the $559 price, while I won’t call it disposable, it’s certainly easier to pass on to your sister’s kids that that $5000 supercomputer.
System Specifications:
The bottom line:
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| Oh Best Buy, only you could get away with having someone arrested for gift card issues Posted: 02 Feb 2010 06:34 PM PST
Here’s what should have happened: any trouble with the cards, even if they are supposed with good reason to be counterfeit, should be referred to a manager. This isn’t a floor staff issue. The manager can spend 15 minutes figuring it out, and if that doesn’t bear fruit, he could apologize to the customer for the inconvenience and ask them to come again tomorrow when they’ve got it all figured out. A ten-dollar gift certificate would probably make the customer forget anything bad had happened. To do anything otherwise, and assume the problem is with the customer, should not even be considered. Best Buy, in this case, is liable, and although I would not say that litigation was wise in Nicholas’ case, in this person’s case it seems necessary. This was a serious breach of civil rights and needs to be addressed. Best Buy needs to get this problem under control. [via Reddit]
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| Now you can get multitouch in a thinner-than-paper film Posted: 02 Feb 2010 04:45 PM PST
It’s called DISPLAX, and I can’t describe it any better than Physorg did:
I don’t know if you caught that, but it detects change in air flow. You can blow on it! Note that this is just a touch-sensitive surface; it still requires a display behind it and all that. As long as it just outputs some tagged XY coordinates, it should be a breeze, though.
It detects up to 16 touches at once, which probably has something to do with the power-of-two number of nanowires embedded in the stuff, but it’s not clear how precise it is. The IR solution of the iTable was very precise and could have basically as many inputs as you could throw at it, like the Surface. The benefit of DISPLAX, of course, is that it’s microscopically thin and very flexible. I’m looking forward to hearing more about this technology. They’re supposed to start shipping this July.
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| Vinyl Android figurines are the coolest things since sliced ice Posted: 02 Feb 2010 04:35 PM PST
Okay, look. I wasn’t going to post about these, because every bit of attention these things get will make it that much harder for me to acquire them before they sell out. But then this little nagging voice in my head (which sounds like a freakish cross between CrunchGear editor John Biggs and my mother) started saying “But, Greg! It’s your job! You have to post awesome things that people will be interested in!” Damn you, responsibilities. Damn you to hell. Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
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| Everything you need to know about Lost in 8:15 Posted: 02 Feb 2010 03:30 PM PST The final season of Lost starts in mere hours and here’s a video that should bring you up to speed.
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| A bathtub with portholes, so you can look out – or in Posted: 02 Feb 2010 03:00 PM PST
What surprises me is that such a cool design is actually pretty reasonably priced. Well, maybe not reasonable, but certainly not extravagant. A tub will cost you €2700, or about $3760. I would have guessed about twice that. And just having portholes fitted to your existing tub is a paltry €550, or $770. Okay, that’s actually pretty expensive, but it’s still kind of awesome.
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| You can’t buy Japanese music on iTunes you say? Posted: 02 Feb 2010 02:30 PM PST
For anyone who listens to Keith Urban’s advice and actually buys music, you might have already noticed that most Japanese artists aren’t on iTunes. The reasons why are boring and complicated, but just know that our friends at J-List have a work around for anyone who really really wants every anime soundtrack ever. Essentially, Japanese music record labels and Apple couldn’t come to an agreement over price, so Japanese music stays in Japan. Or on Apple’s small part of the Internet anyway. Normally, you would need an iTunes account linked to a Japanese credit card and address to enjoy J-Pop. But these prepaid iTunes cards let you set up a dummy account and enjoy either 1500 or 3000 Yen worth. Upon purchase, you’ll receive a scan of your card by e-mail for instant aural gratification. They’ll run you 24.50 or 42.50 US.
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| New (?) Duke Nukem Forever footage prompts question: Does anyone care anymore? Posted: 02 Feb 2010 02:30 PM PST Is this footage new? Meh, doesn’t matter.
In celebration of this new Duke Nukem Forever footage, we ask: do you even give a damn about it anymore? I do believe I was 11 years old when the game was first announced, and I can plainly say: nope, don’t care. Still give a damn, Duke Nukem Forever edition?
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| Newegg and Amazon cuts the Zune HD price by $30-$40 Posted: 02 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST
Right now the Black 16GB Zune HD is going for $189, which is $30 off the MSRP. The big boy 32GB Platinum Zune HD however is now only $249. That’s a cool $40 bucks off. Hopefully the price cuts will become permanent shortly. The Zune HD deserves to be in the hands of more people. It’s that good. [thanks for the tip, Nate]
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| Slim isn’t all there is to it: calculate your Full Gadget Ratio™ Posted: 02 Feb 2010 01:30 PM PST
The final figure will be in smug-feet.
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| Google Nexus One gets OTA update, multi-touch goodness Posted: 02 Feb 2010 01:15 PM PST
When Google announced the Nexus One at an event early last month, one journalist asked, “Why doesn’t this have multi-touch? When is it going to get multi-touch?” Andy Rubin, VP of Engineering at Google, said, “It’s something we’re looking into. It’s just a software thing right now.” Well, today our prayers have been answered via an over-the-air update for the Nexus One. It also has some critical updates and fixes, too. Read the rest of this post at MobileCrunch>>
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| Mantys is part motorized scooter, part golf cart, and a pinch of Segway Posted: 02 Feb 2010 01:00 PM PST
Oh I like this very much. Very much indeed. The Mantys (or "MANTYS" as the company shouts) is a personal motorized golf cart that's steered simply by shifting your weight. It weighs just 45 pounds, has a top speed of 12.5 miles per hour, and can go for 36 holes before needing to be recharged. At the end of the day, the Mantys folds down for easy transport. Rob Hayashida over at Golf Views got some video of the Mantys in action at this year's 2010 PGA Merchandise show. It'll apparently be available for purchase sometime in the spring of this year for around $3,250. I'd think that certain courses would rent these things, too. Very cool. I'm not sure I’d be able to swing the $3,250 to buy one outright but I definitely wouldn't think twice about renting one. MANTYS Motorized Golf Cart for One [Golf Views]
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| Posted: 02 Feb 2010 12:30 PM PST
Really, folks? Are you really going to complain about multi-disc games now? Of all the injustices in the world, of all the legitimate issues you can have with technology, you’re going to rally around this stupid issue? Good God. I’m referring to, of course, the story that Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII will ship on three discs, at least for the Xbox 360 version. This is a giant inconveience to gamers, apparently, who dread the idea of having to get up from the couch for 20 seconds to push the disc open button, open the game’s case, remove the new disc, put in the new disc, then put away the old disc. Twenty seconds of your life, gone. That’s twenty seconds you could have used to complain about having to switch the disc in the first place. Like, what would you prefer Square Enix do? The game is huge. All those textures and pre-rendered movies take up a lot of space, and the Xbox 360 disc can only hold so much data. Let’s put it another way: if the worst thing you can to face on any given day is switch from disc one to disc two in Final Fantasy XIII, I think it’s safe to say you’re living a pretty good life. Now, there may be one legitimate complaint against the scourge of multi-disc games: it prevents you from accessing all of the game’s content at the same time. Say you’re level 99 and want to return to a town from early in the game to, I don’t know, buy a bunch of Potions or Tents or Phoenix Downs. You might not be able to, and that’s tragic. But what are you gonna do? Until all console makers include a spacious hard drive with the console—and really, the only hold out here is Microsoft, what with its Xbox 360 Arcade holding back innovation (Nintendo, with the Wii, is a mystery unto itself)—developers will have to struggle with creating multi-disc games. And what would you prefer: a rich, detailed game like Final Fantasy XIII where you have to change the disc twice in a 40-plus-hour game, or feel smug with your victory of a single-disc game, and yet are playing something that’s been several hampered by storage. The beauty is, this is a wonderfully pointless debate, and one that will be forgotten by the time dinner rolls around.
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| Love your jailbroken iPhone? Don’t update to 3.1.3 Posted: 02 Feb 2010 12:29 PM PST
Consider this a PSA from one person with a jailbroken iPhone to another: Don’t upgrade to the just released iPhone OS 3.1.3. Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
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Here’s your chance to change history, and influence the future. The makers of the Pleo are holding a vote to decide exactly what color the new Pleo should be when they change it later this year. Oh, and if you like the original color scheme, you can get free shipping until the end of February.
Gateway announced their new desktop models today. They added five new systems, including a touchscreen, and two high end gaming machines. We managed to get our hands on their new basic system, the SX2840, and you can read our 
Short version: Gateway’s SX2840 is an ideal computer for someone who needs a good basic computer. It feels fast enough that it’s not annoying, and it’s perfect for pretty much everything except hardcore gaming. I’d even go so far as to say that it’d work great as an HTPC, because it plays back HD video with no problems.
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