Gadgets Connect

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 5:08PM This is either the best or worst idea ever — we’re still not sure. The Intempo Rebel (aptly named) records songs from FM radio stations, strips out DJ chatter and ads, and saves them to an SD or MMC card as MP3 files. What’s more, it even goes after the most-played songs to make sure you’re getting all the good (overplayed?) tracks right off the air. It also sports a USB port, line-in jack, and headphone plug. Intempo calls it a “music sampling system” that cuts out “hyperactive DJs” — we call it a headache for the RIAA. (Read the full post about ‘Intempo Rebel records songs from FM radio, freaks out RIAA’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 6:30PM
Not to crack open a can of worms or anything, but we’re honestly curious to see what the legions of Area-51 m15x / m17x owners would change about their machines. When launched, both rigs were fawned over for their top-notch specifications, but the m15x hasn’t seen the warmest of receptions from its owners. As you well know, the 17-inch sibling just now started landing on doorsteps everywhere, and we’re genuinely hoping that it doesn’t present those same cracking issues as found on the aforesaid m15x. Beyond defects, we also want to hear what you’d change about a flawless m15x / m17x. Whittle down the weight? Change up the style? (Read the full post about ‘How would you change Alienware’s Area-51 m15x / m17x laptops?’…)

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by Paul Miller, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 3:01PM Admit it, you’ve spent a good many sweat-drenched months waiting for this moment, when the USB necktie would come into its own. Sure, last year’s model was great and all, but it lacked a certain amount of class that you find necessary in any USB-based fashion accessory. So you played the waiting game, and this time it paid off big. Thanko’s second-gen USB tie fan has a slip cover, which hides the fan completely when you’re going about your day, and slides down to reveal that powerful fan when it’s most needed. Also, this year’s model is made out of fabric, a huge win over the chunky plastic of last year’s version, making this tie the true must-have accessory of the summer. (Read the full post about ‘USB necktie’s much-anticipated followup finally arrives’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 12:55PM Heads-up, we’ve got another world’s first coming from the labs at BenQ. The E2200HDA claims to be this planet’s very first 21.5-inch 1080p Full HD lcd monitor, and given that odd panel size, we don’t doubt it one bit. Just to reiterate, this one boasts a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution along with a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 300 cd/m2 brightness, 5-millisecond response time, HDMI / DVI / VGA inputs, integrated speakers and a headphone jack. BenQ’s keeping quiet on pricing, but we are told to expect two additional E Series displays (including a 24-incher) later this year. As for this one, look for it to land in China and “select countries in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America” in Q3. (Read the full post about ‘BenQ intros 21.5-inch Full HD E2200HDA LCD monitor’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 1:27PM Well, what do you know? Those rumored specifications for ASUS’ not-secret-at-all Eee Box were spot on. The outfit has just now gotten around to getting official with said mini PC, which checks in with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB hard drive, multicard reader, 802.11n WiFi and gigabit Ethernet. As predicted, you’ll find Windows XP Home running the show, and ASUS is spicing things up by tossing its newly unveiled Express Gate fast boot technology on here too. (Read the full post about ‘ASUS gets official with Atom-powered Eee Box’…)

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Say you want to spruce up the air in your boring cubilcle, but your boss won’t let you burn one of those fragrance candles - some nonsense about burning down the building or such. You could grab a standard air freshner and stick it on your desk, but that could imply the wrong message about your personal hygiene. You want something fragrant, but discreet. Well, here is a USB drive that not only serves as a storage medium to hold your data but it also acts as a fragrance diffuser. Called the Scent Drive, users need only put a few drops of their favorite cologne, perfume or scented oil in the fragrance holder, plug the stick drive into an available USB port, and the device will start to fill the area with the desired scent for a few hours. (Read the full post about ‘Scent Drive makes computing smell more pleasant’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 11:33AMEarlier this month, ASUS introduced the “world’s first HDMI 1.3a compliant audio / video enhancement combo card.” Who knew numero dos was so close behind? Auzentech has just announced its very own HDMI 1.3-native PCIe audio combo card, which is built around Creative’s X-Fi processor and enables PC users to easily output 7.1-channel audio with no downsampling. Essentially, the Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 “accepts video from either an internal or external connection, mixes it with digital audio, and outputs the combined video and lossless multichannel audio via a single HDMI 1.3 port.” Yep, that means Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio codecs are fully supported. (Read the full post about ‘Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 HDMI sound card does bitstream output from your HTPC’…)

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It’s bad enough you have to stay aware of security risks for your day to day electronic gadgets, like your computer, your mobile phone, PDA, GPS, and oh, add one more thing to that list - your coffee maker. Of course this only applies is if you own a Jura Capresso F90. Otherwise your Mr. Coffee has nothing to worry about. It was recently discovered by risk advisory manager Craig Wright that the F90 has several security flaws including a buffer overflow issue that could allow someone to hack into the coffee maker. Hackers could then adjust the water level per cup, adjust the coffee strength, or perform unnecessary diagnostics. (Read the full post about ‘Security flaw discovered in Internet-connected coffee maker’…)

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Back in the 90’s when cassette tapes were all the rage (and people said things like “all the rage”) it was common for people to keep a blank tape in their boombox so as to catch their favorite song playing on the radio. That seemed fairly harmless, and it’s doubtful that the MPAA ever considered taking action on anyone for doing that. However, using this radio to record music might land you in some hot water. This radio has a very cool function, which will record the most-played tracks from an FM station to an SD card in MP3 format. I’m not entirely sure how it determines which songs have been played the most, but it will apparently clean up the track and chop out any commercials or DJ talk. (Read the full post about ‘Record music from the radio with an Intempo Rebel’…)

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by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 9:35AM Remember that tidy little bamboo-encased mini PC Dell showed off in April? Well apparently the company is at work on a variant of the diminutive system, dubbed the Studio Hybrid. In addition to forgoing the eco-friendly wood for what appears to be a sleek, orange Plexiglas shell, the system boasts an Intel chipset, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, WiFi, a DVD+R drive, five USB ports, an HDMI port, S/PDIF, DVI, and a memory card reader. We’re not sure exactly when Dell plans to unleash these on consumers or what the final cost will be, though previously the company had stated plans to offer it later this year for between $500 and $700. (Read the full post about ‘Dell Studio Hybrid mini PC leak reveals specs, new casing’…)

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