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During a quiet moment on Sunday afternoon at Maker Faire Austin 2008, I had a nice conversation with Mitch Altman. At the end of a very busy weekend, he was pretty beat, but I was struck with what a wonderful and peaceful guy Mitch is.

Mitch Altman creates kits that inspire people to make things. “If we don′t make things on our own, then we’re stuck with what the corporations want to give us….If we make our own things, we can make whatever we want. If we can imagine it, we can make it.”

Check out Mitch Altman and his TV-B-Gone and Brain Machine projects.

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Original post by Chris Connors

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

So you’re looking for a safe way to stress your individuality while blending in with everyone else at the office? If the myriad of console-themed cufflinks we’ve already seen doesn’t rock your boat, check these out: custom made by clay artiste Laura Swingle, the hand-sculpted NES cartridge cufflinks are available for any NES title out there (provided she can find a cover scan online). One pair will set you back $22 and pricing is also available for NES-themed necklaces, keychains and more. Hit the read link for pictures, further details and ordering info.

[Via Geeky Gadgets]

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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley

Filed under: Cellphones

It’s not quite a Batman-type science-bending project, but DARPA’s apparently hush hush “Gandalf″ initiative looks to be fairly ambitious nonetheless — at least as far as we can tell from the rather vague statements that have been made about it. In an announcement of sorts yesterday, DARPA reportedly said that the project’s goal is to use “set of handheld devices″ to track down a specific “signal emitter of interest” using radio frequency geolocation, and presumably some other measures they’re not about to dish the details on. The Register’s Lew Page further extrapolates that could mean that a group of undercover operatives or special-forces troops would be able to be dispersed near a target and hone in on a particular cellphone, or other electronic device for that matter, and then proceed to track it with no one the wiser. Whatever it is, it’s going to be discussed at an event in Virginia later this month, though we’re not exactly expecting any first-hand reports to come out of that.

[Via Danger Room]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Household

Let’s be honest — after sinking a few large on a new HDTV, a few hundies on some overpriced cables and even more on HD programming, you weren’t about to cough up another month’s paycheck for a decent TV stand. For the 48,600 customers out there who purchased one of four different King Pao Enterprise TV Stands (likely sold and distributed by Studio RTA), you now have a product known for tipping over and ruining lives. The E Series, Fierro, Madison DLP and Madison 3000 — all of which were sold at Best Buy and other big box retailers from May 2004 to August 2008 — have been deemed unstable and unfit for use in your living room, and it’s suggested that you cautiously remove your set and wait for a “repair kit” before it does the removing for you. Godspeed.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops

Cloud computing concepts for netbook / nettop-sized machines aren’t all new, but TechNovus is looking to jump in head first with its Nova Navigator. The tiny machine gets powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU and possesses no hard drive within; instead, it utilizes a 512Kbps or higher internet connection to access 50GB of online applications / storage. The unit runs Windows (Server) and SUSE Linux side-by-side, and aside from a few core apps (Firefox, Skype and a media player), everything else is ran from the cloud. As it stands, the box is scheduled to launch next month in India for around $199 plus a $15 to $20 monthly subscription, though there’s no word as to when it’ll be launched in other nations.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Wait, what’s this? Intel’s shipping the dual-core Atom 330? Despite reports that the 1.6GHz chip wouldn’t actually leave the dock until Q4, Intel itself has stepped up to ensure everyone that it’s getting ‘em out in Q3. The brief points out the obvious — you know, that the 330 was designed with nettops in mind — while also confirming that it boasts 1MB of L2 cache, an 8-watt TDP and support for DD̶ 667. So yeah, let’s get these in some systems, shall we?

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

Ho boy, what’s this? Can it be that another vendor has introduced a laptop-cannibalizing 10-inch netbook? Oh, you betcha — it’s the occassionally seen NC10 from Samsung, sporting the same chunky design, heavy XP OS, 10.2-inch display, 6-cell battery, WiFi, Bluetooth, up to 160GB hard disk storage, and 1.6GHz Atom processor as just about every other 10-inch netbook on the market. So what does Samsung bring to the table that’s truly unique? An anti-bacterial keyboard for germanophobes mysophobes, that’s what. Available in Europe next month for an undisclosed price.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Small is cool, and smaller is even better!

No doubt inspired by the drive to create the $100 laptop, netbooks (teeny, tiny laptops) have been coming on strong.

The Aspire One (photo at left) and the Eee PC 1000 are popular options. This is a HOT segment right now.

And you′re right that the little Atom chip from Intel is awesome.

At 2W max power consumption (compared to something like 35W for a Core 2 Duo laptop chip), with a big 6-cell battery, you can easily get five or six hours of battery life. 

Read a lot more about this at The Dawn of Atom.

Tags: aspire one, atom, eee, intel, netbook

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Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Desktops

Italian Engadget readers, take note: Abaco Computers of Milan just announced the production of Europe’s ‘first′ Intel Atom dual-core PC. Measuring up to a mere 27 x 20 x 10 cm (just under 11 x 8 x 4 inches) in the classic and classy “box” configuration, what appears to be a Betamax VCR at first glance is actually a reasonably stacked PC. The machine boasts a 1.6 GHz Atom CPU and up to 2GB RAM oddly, the site says it sports a “generous” six USB ports, while the pictures clearly show only four and a single firewire jack (which they failed to mention altogether). The Abaco comes loaded with Ubuntu 8.04. Available in Desktop, Thin Client and Solid State flavors, according to your needs. Price varies by configuration, and needless to say, this isn’t available Stateside.

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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Another week, another AMD leak about taking it directly to Intel’s minimalist Atom. No, not with Bobcat, but with the new Athlon Ultra-Value Client (UVC) series. AMD is targeting the 230 with its 2650e, a single-core 1.6 GHz chip, and the 330 with its 3250e dual-core 1.5 GHz processor. Both have 512KB of cache per-core, matching the competition, but are rated at 15- and 22-watts respectively, much higher than the Atom’s miserly 4-watts. It’s unclear if that rating is current for just the CPU or the matching 740 chipset as well, but given the fact that AMD’s Athlon 64 2000+ is already quite frugal we wouldn′t be surprised if it were for the package. There’s no mention of price, and right now these chips are just for desktop OEMs, but laptop versions are said to be in the works and could be quite popular amongst the netbook crowd — if they′re cheap enough. 1.2GHz of Turon can do wonders, and we′re hoping for even better from 1.6.

[Thanks, Luiz H]

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Original post by Tim Stevens

Filed under: Laptops

We already caught a brief glimpse of Samsung’s first netbook offering, but it looks like the company is now fully on board the bandwagon du jour, with it releasing some official photos and a few more specs of the still-unnamed netbook ahead of the promised October launch. This one is apparently a 10.2-inch model, and will pack the usual Atom N270 processor, along with a standard hard drive of unspecified size (no word on an SSD option), a 6-cell battery, and Windows XP for an OS, among other standard features. No official word on a price just yet, but Samsung tells What Laptop that it’ll be in keeping with other similar offerings on the market, and that it’ll be available in your choice of white, black or blue.

Update: Looks like those remaining specs aren′t much of a mystery any more. According to Pocketables, you can expect to get 1GB of RAM as standard, along with your choice of 80, 120, or 160GB hard drives, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, and a 3-in-1 card reader, all in a 2.9-pound package. Still no official word on a price just yet, but it looks like it′ll sell for the local equivalent of $550 in Korea.

[Thanks, techiefan777]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Laptops

It’s not everyday that you see an 18.4-inch laptop. Then again, Sony (nor anyone else) doesn′t rollout too many Full HD laptops targeting photographers and videographers. The VAIO type A features an LED backlit 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, 2.53GHz 󏗸 Core 2 Duo, Blu-ray burner, up to 4GB of memory and 2x 250GB of disk (plus 1x eSATA jack for more), an increasingly rare Firewire jack for your camcorder, 3x USB 2.0, and a high-speed UDMA-enabled CF slot for quick image transfers off your DSLR’s CompactFlash card. As Sony’s newest media flagship, we′re also looking at HDMI-out, 802.11n WiFi, GeForce 9600M GT graphics, and a full suite of included image and video editing software from Adobe. All this in a relatively hefty 3.9-kg (8.6-pounds) rig. Although, with just 2-hours of battery you’ll want to spring for the optional 3-hour add-on. Priced at around ¥320,000 (about $3,000) when these hit the streets of Japan at the end of the month. Two more shots after the break.

Continue reading Sony’s 18.4-inch Type A VAIO for Type A photog personalities

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Peripherals

There it is, Art Lebedev’s new Optimus Store in New York, NY. It’s not so much a store as it is a kiosk sitting inside of RCS Computer Experience at 575 Madison Ave. Guess they’re just waiting for demand of the $1,500 $1,877 keyboard market to pick-up before busting out the trowel and mortar.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Peripherals

Maybe it’s the ambiguity and possible masking of truth that just adds to the allure here, but whether it really lived or not, you now know what an Optimus Maximus looks like after an impromptu greeting with lukewarm java. Sir tema clearly states that the keyboard “survived” its first recorded coffee spill “thanks to the construction of the upper tray,” but judging by the looks of this thing… um, we′re not so sure. Oh, and he also mentions that spilling liquids on the ‘board is not only “stupid,” but it obviously voids any applicable warranties. Thanks for the memo.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Displays, Peripherals

Sensing your deep down desire for more OLED keys, Art Lebedev is busting out the new Optimus Pultius, which adds 15 keys to the mayhem. Sure you could use it all by its lonesome, sans Maximus, but that’s just not as fun. The keys are just like the ones on the Maximus, and there’s even an extra USB port in the back. And you know what that’s for… daisy chaining these suckers. No word on price or release date just yet, other than the vague 2008 / early 2009 timeframe.

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Original post by Paul Miller