Filed under: Cellphones

Sony Ericsson has plumped up its Walkman line just a tad today with the introduction of the W980, a pretty well power-packed flip sporting 8GB of internal storage, a generously sized external display, and something the company calls "Walkman on Top." The technology (if you can really call it that) replicates the music player interface in its entirety on the external display, allowing full player control without popping the phone open. Other goodies include an FM transmitter and PlayNow support -- a Walkman phone through and through, if we do say so ourselves. Look for it to launch in Q3 in quadband EDGE flavor with HSDPA 2100 (read: no good for use in the US). Sorry about the microscopic photo, by the way, SE's site is having difficulty at the moment.

[Image via Sony Ericsson Blog]

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Microsoft has now won a veritable superfecta of licensing, landing deals with four of the top five phone manufacturers in the world to provide handsets based on Windows Mobile. The latest, announced today at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress, is Sony Ericsson -- a company heavily vested in Symbian by way of its UIQ division, so it's unclear how the licensing deal will ultimately affect UIQ-based offerings. Stay tuned for more on the deal and details on Sony Ericsson's WinMo-based hardware!

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Alright, we've got to admit, this looks like a pretty real press rendering to us, so we're going to bite. This here is allegedly Sony Ericsson's G700i, one of two members of the all-new "G" line allegedly being introduced at Mobile World Congress this week; if the previously-leaked specs hold up, it'll include a 3.2 megapixel camera and a 2.5-ish inch display but lack WiFi, which is where its G900i big sib comes into the picture. Seeing how Sony Ericsson's MWC press conference is within shouting distance at this point, we'll have this all sorted out soon enough.

[Via SEfanatics]

 

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Filed under: Gaming

We've seen a couple fake Game Boy micros in the past, but none of them have been as faithful reproductions as this one here. Sadly, we've got little to go on as far as games or other functions in this "Game Joy micro," but it looks like at least Tetris is a shoo-in, which is really all that matters. Check after the break for a few other gems of fakery.

[Thanks, Johnny]

Continue reading Keepin' it real fake, part CX: Game Joy micro

 

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Filed under: Household

There comes the time in every young person's life where they decide to graduate from the microwave to the stove. And fail miserably. Now instead of retreating dejectedly back to the kitchen microwave, where the rest of the appliances can point and make fun, you can hide your shame with the iWave Cube. The little microwave measures one cubic foot (about the size of a Kleenex box), and weighs just 12 pounds. Unfortunately, you'll still need to plug it in, so there's a limit to how far you can run. The iWave Cube comes in black, red or silver, and retails for $130.

 

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Filed under: GPS

If you've bought a GPS unit in the past year or two there are decent odds it's based on the SiRFstar III chipset, which has been about as good as it gets since it arrived on the scene a few years ago. Now there's a new chip on the block, SiRFprima, which could have GPS aficionados kicking those SiRFstar III units to the curb. The unit boasts "industry leading" GPS performance, and is the first of its ilk to be able to work with GPS and Galileo signals simultaneously. InstantFixII -- which promises 5 second start times -- is built in as well, along with 3D acceleration for the fancy new maps hitting the scenes, and the capability to work with external devices like touch screens, DVD players, video cameras and so forth. While no one feature is revolutionary, the fact that SiRFprima will be wrapping up all these features into a cute little package for GPS manufacturers to slap into their units without a worry -- which should start happening in the second quarter of this year -- is surely cause for celebration.

 

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

We're not how it slipped by before, but Nikon's got one more in its new S-series Coolpix cameras, the S600. The 10 megapixel camera bests the recently-announced S550 with a 2.7-inch LCD, 3200 ISO and optical image stabilization, but cuts the zoom to 4x and jacks the price to $299. The camera will be available in March.

[Via gizmag]

 

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

In our opinion, the best rigs are the ones held together with duct tape and wired up with leftover speaker cable, but if you're looking to class things up -- and avoid any number of potential fire issues -- NASA's got you covered with the agency's official Workmanship Standards Pictorial Reference. The exhaustive guide covers everything from wire splicing to connector tightness, and if you're opening up walls to install a home theater or just trying to build the prettiest casemod on the block, it's well worth a look -- the rest of us can stick to using chewing gum and prayer to keep our gear running.

[Via Toolmonger]

 

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Laptops

It might be a bit early for us to be talking Windows 7 feature cuts, but that said, isn't it a bit early for Microsoft to be talking Windows 7 feature cuts? If The Inquirer's "reliable sources" are to be believed, Microsoft is giving DirectX 11 the boot from its next version of Windows to keep hardware requirements down -- apparently the DirectX 10 requirements of Vista were enough of that sort of trouble for one decade. Obviously there's no official word on Microsoft at the moment, so we'll reserve judgment for the time being -- and hey, maybe no DirectX 11 wouldn't ruin our year -- but with the endless quantity of features cut from Vista still fresh in our memory, this is certainly not an encouraging sign if true.

[Thanks, Isaac]

 

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Laptops

It might be a bit early for us to be talking Windows 7 feature cuts, but that said, isn't it a bit early for Microsoft to be talking Windows 7 feature cuts? If The Inquirer's "reliable sources" are to be believed, Microsoft is giving DirectX 11 the boot from its next version of Windows to keep hardware requirements down -- apparently the DirectX 10 requirements of Vista were enough of that sort of trouble for one decade. Obviously there's no official word on Microsoft at the moment, so we'll reserve judgment for the time being -- and hey, maybe no DirectX 11 wouldn't ruin our year -- but with the endless quantity of features cut from Vista still fresh in our memory, this is certainly not an encouraging sign if true.

[Thanks, Isaac]

 

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