Todays & Tomorrows Technology

We’re not entirely convinced by the name 22Moo, but now that iPhone OS 3.0 supports third-party peripherals we’re sure we could find some bag-space for their GameBone Pro controller. Intended to be used with an iPhone or iPod touch, the GameBone Pro hooks up via Bluetooth or Apple’s dock-connector, and has an 8-way D-pad plus six buttons.

There’s also a 2,000mAh Li-Ion battery, which not only powers the GameBone Pro’s functionality but – if you use the wired connection – can recharge your iPhone or iPod touch, too. A row of LEDs shows charge status.

The controller also has integrated speakers, a microphone, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s set to hit shelves in mid-September, but we don’t know price yet; 22Moo are asking potential customers to suggest what they’d pay for the GameBone Pro, which seems like an obvious way to find your shiny new peripheral now costs fifty cents.

Details of a new device in Logitech’s distributed audio streamer range have emerged, the Logitech Squeezebox Touch. A WiFi-connected base-station controller with 4.3-inch color touchscreen and integrated stereo speakers, the Squeezebox Touch can seemingly both integrated with an existing setup as well as be used to access online music and internet radio.

The Touch supports MP3, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, AAC and Apple Lossless, among other formats, together with MP3, Ogg and WMA internet radio streams. Its WiFi b/g connection supports WEP, WPA and WPA2 encryption, and there’s also a 10/100 ethernet port. A USB host port will allow you to plug in a USB drive, plus there’s an SD card slot for loading music and photos that way.

In addition to the onboard speakers there’s also a headphone jack, stereo RCA output, digital optical and digital coax outputs. Logitech have even squeezed an ambient light sensor and proximity sensor into the bezel. No word on release date or US pricing as yet.

According to Dave Zatz, both the Squeezebox Duet and Squeezebox Boom are also in for an upgrade, though no details on exactly what will change.

As well as the somewhat VAIO-esque Mini 5101 netbook they announced this morning, HP have also got a new ProBook full-sized notebook for you to consider. The HP ProBook 4310s has a 13.3-inch display and the same styling as the rest of the S-series the company announced back in April; there’s also optional Gobi WWAN mobile broadband, DDR3 memory and a full-sized keyboard.
Under the hood, there’s a choice of Intel Celeron CPUs up to 1.9GHz, or Core 2 Duo CPUs up to 2.8GHz. RAM is up to 8GB, while storage is either up to 500GB of 5,400rpm HDD or 500GB of 7,200rpm HDD; you also get a choice of DVD burner or Blu-ray optical drives.

In addition to the optional WWAN there’s WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and gigabit ethernet, and you can also specify a standard modem if you’re feeling retro. Ports include three USB 2.0, HDMI, audio in/out, an ExpressCard 34 slot and an SD/MMC card slot. There’s a 2-megapixel webcam and microphone array.

Graphics are courtesy of either Intel’s GMA 4500MHD chipset or ATI’s Mobility Radeon HD 4330 with 512MB of its own memory. Other options include a fingerprint reader and a choice of XP, Vista or Linux OS. The HP ProBook 4310s is expected to arrive on July 20th, priced from $799.

After mintpass made a few pre-release mintpad MID units available to touchscreen-loving early adopters last week, the first English-language unboxing and hands-on for the 2.86-inch device is here. We’re entirely unsurprised to see that Jenn from Pocketables is first; she’s already impressed with the build-quality of the WiFi-enabled mintpad, together with the range of accessories they include.
There are a few design frustrations, such as the microSD card slot being underneath the battery and the mintpad only having 4GB of its own onboard storage, but general things are looking good. mintpass even include a second sync/charge cable for use with the docking cradle, which is something plenty of other manufacturers could learn from.

As it stands, the firmware still has untranslated menus in the browser, and the file-manager and “ad-hoc chatting” aren’t ready for use. All that should change by June 30th, though, at which point an upgrade will be available. This is looking to be a very curious, very distinctive little device, and we’re looking forward to Jenn’s full review.

The clock is counting down to HTC’s London press event, with a little over three hours to go until we get to see exactly what the smartphone manufacturer has in store. We’re fully expecting to see a new Android handset, most likely the HTC Hero, which we’re hearing that the company has been quietly showing off to select groups of journalists and analysts. SlashGear will be at the event this morning, bringing you all the details.

The Hero is expected to feature similar hardware to the HTC Magic, so figure a capacitive touchscreen, 3G and WiFi connectivity, GPS and a camera. What stands it apart are the modifications HTC have apparently made to Android; while the company’s first two devices have pretty much delivered the typical Google platform experience, leaked ROM builds from the Hero suggest a new UI called “Rosie”.

Rosie blends some of HTC’s TouchFLO 3D UI, as seen on their Windows Mobile devices, with Android, and we’re hearing very positive things from those running the ROM on their devices. Other rumors, though, are saying that HTC will bring a second device, similar to the Hero but with a QWERTY keyboard, called Memphis along today. We’ll only know when the curtain (likely metaphorically) goes up, so keep reading SlashGear to find out all the news today.

HP have announced a new netbook, the Mini 5101, and like their original entrant to the market they’ve gone with business-friendly materials targeted at “on-the-go professionals”. The HP Mini 5101’s 10.1-inch display is clad in anodized aluminum, while the lower case is made from magnesium alloy. Inside, there’s the usual Intel Atom processor, in this case the 1.66GHz N280, paired with up to 2GB of RAM and up to a 320GB HDD or an 80GB SSD.

Two display options are available, a standard 1024 x 600 or an HD-capable 1366 x 768 16:9 panel, with graphics via Intel’s GMA 950 chipset. Ports include three USB 2.0, VGA, ethernet, audio in/out and an SD/MMC card reader, while there’s also WiFi a/b/g/n, optional Bluetooth 2.0 and optional EVDO/HSPA WWAN. A 2-megapixel webcam lurks up in the screen bezel, along with stereo microphones.

The whole thing weighs from 2.64lb, and measures 10.3 x 7.09 x 0.91 inches. It’s being offered with either Windows XP Home, SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 or FreeDOS, as well as either 4-cell or 6-cell batteries. Pricing starts from $449, and you can pick up the HP Mini 5101 from July.

Marvell’s SheevaPlug wall-wart Linux PC has finally come of age, with the company announcing mainstream retail partners including Buffalo, D-Link, LaCie and Seagate, together with beginning distribution of the Plug Computer development kit in Europe. The original SheevaPlug has a Marvell Kirkwood processor with a 1.2GHz Sheeva processor, 512MB of RAM and 512MB of flash storage; resembling a wall-wart, it plugs directly into a power socket and offers a single USB 2.0 port and a gigabit ethernet port. Suggested uses included a home server, NAS or other form of network-connected device.

Various companies have partnered with Marvell to offer Plug Computers in multiple form-factors. These range from Axentra, who have a new touch*mediacenter mini designed to store and share digital content, Eyecon Technologies, who are positioning their version as a multi-source UPnP/DLNA aggregator, and CodeLathe, whose TonidoPlug is a home server offering local and remote access to documents, apps and media. Ionics have taken a more general approach, positioning their Plug Computer as a tiny Linux PC, while ProSyst have integrated OSGI and Java to their version, to enable developers to more easily port existing apps and create new software. Finally, WebTView have loaded their own software to discover and play internet TV.

The various form-factors include a simple box that closely resembles the original SheevaPlug prototype, together with more streamlined and even circular designs. Of course, as well as the development device from Marvell themselves, the first retail device based on the reference design is already available, in the shape of the PogoPlug.

According to Marvell, a Plug Computer uses less than one tenth of the power of a regular home server PC. It supports multiple Linux 2.6 kernel distributions, and is available to developers now for $99.

Gateway revealed their LT3100 netbook today and this one is just a little bit different than the first generation. It features an 11.6-inch display with a 1,366 x 768 resolution and is only 3.1-pounds.
Other specs include a 1.2GHz Athlon 64 processor and a Radeon X1270 graphics card. It also features 2GB of RAM and Windows Vista Home Basic. It actually has the specs to support the Aero Glass interface.

This new netbook has a 6-cell battery, a 250GB hard drive, a card reader, a webcam and a touchpad with multi-touch features. You can get the LT3100 netbook starting today in red or black for $400.

Microsoft revealed a brand new wireless microphone today meant for use with the Xbox 360. Designed to be used with music games like Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Lips, this mic sports specific features that make gameplay just a tad easier.

You won’t need any wires or adapters, since this mic takes full advantage of the wireless console and it even has motion sensors built in for add functionality. Additionally, there’s lights on the base.

Available in black, this Xbox 360 wireless microphone will be available for purchase sometime in the fall. At that time, you can expect a price tag around $50.

Toshiba announced updates to their Portable Hard Drive line today that now offers the devices greater security and backup functions, improving ease of use and adding features for both beginners and those seeking greater customization.
These drives now have NTI BackupNow EZ software, which makes it easy to automatically backup your computer and restore it if need be. It also makes suggestions regarding the security of particular folders and files.

These drives are password-protected and also sport a Drive Space Alert that keeps you informed of your current storage capacity. The Portable Hard Drives are available in 320GB and 500GB sizes in red, green, white and blue color options for $119.99 and $149.99, respectively.

iLuv is known for releasing all sorts of iPod accessories, however, they have a special fondness for the alarm clock/iPod dock combo. Now, you can add bed shaker to that list as well with the iMM153 Dual Alarm Clock with Bed Shaker.
This gizmo is meant for the deep sleepers among us–the ones for which a standard buzzing alarm won’t do. Instead, this thing will shake your bed with vibration while it buzzes or plays music to wake you up.

It has an LCD screen, a 3.5mm jack, an iPod/iPhone dock, FM radio and more. It will also charge your iPod overnight. Available in July in blue, white, pink and black color options, the iLuv iMM153 Dual Alarm Clock will cost you $59.99.

With Super Talent’s MasterDrive SX SSD range comfortably crashing through the 200MB/sec sequential read-rate mark, it was only a matter of time before arch-rival Active Media stepped up their game to compete. They’ve announced two new 2.5-inch SSDs, the Predator GT SATA-II line, each offering up to 220MB/sec sequential reads and 0.1ms access times.

Available in 64GB and 128GB capacities, each SSD comes in a brushed aluminum housing, together with a bracket to allow for mounting in a 3.5-inch bay. Like the MasterDrive SX range, the 64GB Predator GT has sequential write rates of up to 120MB/sec, while the 128GB version ups that to 200MB/sec.

The Predator GT also features 128MB of SDRAM cache and a new 8-channel controller. Both models are on sale now, priced at $199.95 fo

AT&T have announced the Motorola Karma QA1, an entry-level slider with full QWERTY keyboard and homescreen access to Facebook and MySpace. Aimed, unsurprisingly, at teenagers and young adults, the Karma has a 2.5-inch 240 x 320 display, 3.6Mbps HSDPA, a microSD card slot and 2-megapixel camera with video recording functionality.

There’s also A-GPS, and AT&T load their Navigator PND app onto the handset. The media player supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, RealAudio, XMF and MIDI files, together with H.263 and MPEG4 video, and the Karma has both a 3.5mm headphone jack and A2DP stereo Bluetooth 2.0 support. You can also access AT&T CV video.

Video hands-on after the cut

The Karma has a full HTML browser, with a dedicated shortcut key, together with threaded messaging, mobile email support including Yahoo!, AOL and Windows Live Mail, and can send and receive SMS and MMS messages. There’s also a speakerphone, speech recognition, CrystalTalk active background noise filter and voice-memo recording.

AT&T will be selling the Motorola Karma QA1 from June 28th, priced at $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. You’ll also need to budget for a minimum of a $39.99 voice plan and $20 data or messaging plan.

Considering you can find SD cards, PMPs and even fridges packing WiFi these days, it’s something of a surprise that so few digital photo frames include wireless connectivity. One such exception is the Sungale ID800WT Widget Photo Frame, an 8-inch 800 x 600 touchscreen display which not only promises to show off your holiday snaps – whether locally stored or in an online gallery – but YouTube, GMail and internet radio, too. Unfortunately, as Zatz Not Funny discovered, the reason so few frames include WiFi is perhaps because the manufacturers handle it so poorly.

Setup is simple, and the weather widget – which relies on your ZIP code to locate itself – works well. Unfortunately, if you’ve any greater ambitions than using the ID800WT as a glorified weather station then you may be disappointed: the YouTube and internet radio widgets could be persuaded to work only once or twice, the GMail viewer shows just a few lines of each message, it refused to connect to Picasa and the news widget, while functional, is hardly visually appealing.

The end result is something that reviewer Mari Silbey describes as “decent as a standard digital photo frame, but it’s not the tablet of the future”. Somehow it’s hard to justify around $165 on something that delivers pretty much the same as counterparts less than half the price.

OnLive have already woken up interest in cloud-gaming, using a system of remote server processing and rendering that means local computers can be little more than viewing devices, but now that system has been shrunk down to cellphone size. OTOY use the same sort of server-side rendering system as OnLive, but promise that it’s usable even through the web browser on a cellphone. To demonstrate it, they’ve released a video showing an Xbox 360 controller being used to control a FPS on a Samsung Omnia.

According to OTOY, just about any mobile device – whether Palm Pre, iPhone, iPod touch or Android-based smartphone – will be able to access the service. They’re currently working on control methods, which will range from accelerometer control, on-screen joypads and even external peripherals.

While it works best over WiFi, it’s still supposedly playable with a 3G connection; we’re not sure how they’ve got past control lag, though, nor instability in the phone’s connection, especially when mobile. Still, HD-quality gaming without a huge, overpowered mobile console is nothing to be sniffed at, so we’ll be watching with great interest to see when OTOY will be coming to market.

It’s unlikely to be taxing their production line all that much, but notorious ink-lovers ColorWare have announced they’ll be offering custom versions of the iPhone 3GS. As with other ColorWare creations, the end result can be as tasteful or as lurid as your mora

The usual range of solid and metallic colors are available, and you can have your earphones dyed to match too. The basic process changes just the back-plate of the phone, but you can also customize the normally-chrome bezel, the home button and the SIM holder.

Pricing starts at $150 for the back, then add $20 each for the bezel frame and button, or $15 each for the SIM holder and earbuds. Currently there’s only the option to send in your own iPhone 3GS (in the US); ColorWare aren’t offering the smartphone themselves at this stage.

Kohjinsha’s SK3 UMPC, which we saw yesterday, has been officially launched in Japan. The 7-inch touchscreen SK3 gets an Intel Atom 1.33GHz processor paired with 1GB of RAM and a 60GB 1.8-inch 4,200rpm hard-drive; there’s also WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS.

As expected there are also dual cameras, a low-resolution webcam by the screen for video calls, and a 3-megapixel version presumably for still shots. Ports include ethernet 10/100, VGA, audio in/out, a microSD slot, two USB 2.0 ports, multiformat card reader and an ExpressCard 34 slot.

It’s also impressively smaller than its SC3 predecessor, at 193 x 132 x 30 mm, and weighing just 720g. Kohjinsha are suggesting 3.2hrs runtime from the 17Wh battery in the Jeita test, a test known to produce over-ambitious results. Steve from UMPC Portal (who, frankly, we trust about battery runtime estimates more than we ever did Jeita) is guesstimating at between 2 and 2.5hrs of real-world use, which is a real disappointment.

Still, we won’t argue with more options in the ultramobile touchscreen category, and we’ve a feeling Japanese customers won’t either when the Kohjinsha SK3 goes on sale there. It’s expected to be priced at the equivalent of around $733, including local taxes.

Samsung have announced a solid-state drive (SSD) that fits onto a mini-PCIe card, offering up to 64GB capacity in a form-factor nearly 80-percent smaller than a 2.5-inch drive. The SATA 3.0 Gbps drive is not only intended for compact devices, such as MIDs and netbooks, but as a secondary or complementary drive for regular notebooks.

In that way, users would no longer have to choose between the speed of SSD and the low price of traditional hard-drives, but instead have both. The mini-PCIe card weighs up to 8.5g and boasts 200MB/s read rates and 100MB/s write rates.

It also supports full-drive encryption and the usual shock-resistance of an SSD. Samsung are currently sampling the SATA mini-card SSD to its hardware partners, while pushing for standardization on its mechanical form-factor and pin-layout. That’s expected to be completed by Q3 2009; there’s no word on when we could see the drives reach the market.

Not something our US readers will necessarily find frustrating (unless you regularly travel) but our UK contingent will probably join with me in fervently hoping this folding plug concept makes it to production. The handiwork of Min Kyo Choi, the plug takes the usual bulky three-pin design and squeezes it into a folded slice less than a centimeter thick.

Despite that, there are still the usual safety features. Two wing sections fold out as a shield (revealing a useful pull-hole) and the fuse slots in via a neat holder. Plugging in is as simple as flipping the two shorter pins around and opening up the shield.

Even better, there’s a fantastic second concept for using up to three of the folding plugs with a single outlet, keeping them folded and thus squeezing in three connections into the space of roughly one traditional plug-adapter. There’s also a USB charger concept that can be used with it. We hope Min Kyo Choi has all this patented, because we reckon there’ll be peripheral and accessory companies sniffing around this concept very soon.

When your HDTV is a one-of-a-kind ultrawide 56-inch display with a £4,500 ($7,318) price tag, you’d better hope it rates well in reviews. Thankfully Philips’ indecently broad Cinema 21:9 56PFL9954H does just that; according to TechRadar, the 1080p high-def set delivers “the best aspects of the finest sets” they’ve ever seen.
Coming in for particular praise are the Ambilight Spectra 3 system, which backlights the HDTV with matched LED lighting, plus the straightforward installation and slickly designed UI. Sound is “well rounded, faithful and genuinely muscular” thanks to integrated subwoofers.

Most importantly, though, the image quality is excellent, as long as you’re feeding it a decent source. That needn’t just mean 1080p; the Cinema 21:9 copes admirably with standard definition DVDs, but Freeview is blocky and shows all the artifacts you’d expect. All in all, a stormer of an HDTV; it’s just a shame that the price will put it out of reach of most buyers.

Shuttle have announced a barebone version of their X50 all-in-one PC, offering buyers the choice to install the storage and memory they prefer. The X50 – announced officially back in March - has a 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 16:9 resistive touchscreen and Intel’s Atom 330 dual-core processor; in its barebone form it comes devoid of RAM or hard-drive.
According to the press release, it seems the X50 barebone can be outfitted with between 512MB and 2GB of DDR2 RAM, and various types of 2.5-inch drive. That could be anything from a budget 80GB hard-drive to a high-capacity SSD, though that would arguably be overkill given the 1.6GHz processor and GMA 950 graphics.

Other specs include a 4-in-1 memory card reader, gigabit ethernet, WiFi b/g/n, VGA output, five USB 2.0 ports, audio in/out and a VESA mount on the back. It comes with no OS, but instructions for loading software from a network connection or USB drive are included.

The Shuttle Barebone X50 will go on sale at the end of June, with an MRSP of €361 ($499).

Vodafone UK have become the latest carrier to offer a femtocell, and the first in Europe to do so. The Vodafone Access Gateway connects to a subscriber’s home or office broadband connection and creates a local “3G cloud” of coverage; up to four Vodafone 3G handsets can use this at any one time, with their calls and data routed over the broadband.

Described as similar to the size of a router, Vodafone are yet to release images of the Access Gateway [image above via bandaancha], but we’re presuming it will be similar to Sprint’s AIRAVE and Verizon’s Wireless Network Extender in the US. As with those femtocells, users can choose to pay a monthly subscription for the Access Gateway – either inclusive in a contract plan, from £15 ($24) per month, or alone from £5 ($8) – but they’re also offering it as a one-off purchase for £160 ($260).

Customers can pre-select the devices that will be allowed access to the femtocell, via an online interface. Sales begin on July 1st.

Intel are about to announce a deal whereby they will supply Nokia with mobile processors, according to an anonymous Bloomberg tipster. The deal is expected to be revealed today in a conference call with Anand Chandrasekher, senior VP of Intel’s ultra-mobility group; Intel themselves have only confirmed that they have an “important announcement” to make.

What’s unclear at present is the nature of the chips Intel will be supplying Nokia. The company’s CEO has previously said that they’ve considered a move into the notebook or netbook segment, though failed to specify whether such a device would take the form of a traditional, 3G-connected laptop, or something more unusual such as a MID or UMPC.

It seems likely, then, that Nokia are looking to use Intel’s Moorestown platform, expected to arrive in 2010, or – further in the future – their Medfield platform for smartphones that’s penciled in for 2011.