Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Storage

Don’t spaz out or anything, but that thing you’re peering at above actually isn’t a small flask of cologne. No, no — it’s an 8GB USB drive, and it’s one of the most expensive you can buy. Reportedly built with titanium, the drive is water-resistant, crush-proof and fancied up further with a single red ruby. Sure, it’s 21,750 rubles ($837), but dollars to donuts they’d trade you one for a sure-to-be-authentic iPhone.

[Via Gadgets-Weblog]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Displays, Laptops

We’ve already heard about a certain other computer manufacturer’s supposed plans to go all LED with its laptops in the not too distant future, and it looks like Dell is now set to take the energy-saving leap as well. According to PC Magazine, Dell says that two-thirds of its Latitude E-series laptops will ship with mercury-free LED backlighting as standard by December 15th of this year, and that by the end of 2009, fully 80 percent of all its laptops will be equipped with LED-backlit displays, which also have the added benefit of looking better and being thinner. The remaining laptops will then apparently make the switch sometime in 2010. In case you’re wondering, Dell also says that it is “absolutely committed” to transitioning its desktop displays to LED, although it doesn’t seem to be quite ready to make any firm commitments.

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Household

We have the Antwerp design firm Frap to thank for this high-concept “floor clock.” Frap’s Anthony Duffeleer explains: “Design is an unbelievably pretentious word. A designer is really a process supervisor.” Uh, right. Created by a process known as rotation molding, the clock is quite light, considering that it is 1150 mm in diameter (that’s almost 4 feet, Americans). And the price? “Available on request from the manufacturer.” In other words, if you have to ask, this is probably not the clock for you.

[Via Shiny Shiny]

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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley

Filed under: Laptops

We’re fans of Sony’s little Rolly — despite its general uselessness and non-impulse-buy $400 price tag. It exists as more of a corporate statement than a real piece of useful consumer electronics, one that Sony is ready to exploit by applying its internals to something rather more tedious: yet another Vaio laptop. The 14.1-inch VGN-CS60B offers a multi-colored light bar on the front that uses the Rolly’s trademarked “12 Tone Analysis” to turn your dorm room into a (dimly lit) discotheque, and a series of blinking LEDs above the keyboard that makes adjusting the volume level a little more interesting. The Type C includes a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD, 802.11n WiFi and a FeliCa port, all served up by Windows Vista Home Premium. Despite its ho-hum specs It should be enough to make Japanese schoolgirls giddy when it releases in Japan later this week for about $1,400. Video of said light show after the break.

Continue reading Video: Sony’s new Vaio Type C brings a little Rolly to your lap

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Original post by Tim Stevens

Filed under: Digital Cameras

By and large, Canon’s EOS Rebel XSi was widely adored. Still, even the fanboys in attendance can’t deny that firmware updates that solve any number of quirks are loved just the same. Canon has just posted up firmware v1.0.9 for the aforesaid DSLR, which purportedly fixes three primary issues. The 7.81MB download addresses a “phenomenon in which AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) shooting does not operate normally under specific conditions,” another in which “the Live View exposure simulation warning indication does not properly display during Live View shooting, and yet another in which “images cannot be played back after continuous shooting when a printer is connected to the camera or a video output terminal is used.” Tap that read link to get your download on, and be sure to let us know if this update actually works as advertised.

[Via CNET]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Hopes were high that 2.0.2 would decisively crush the reception woes some iPhone 3G owners have experienced since taking delivery of their cracking beauties; dropped calls, latching onto EDGE reception when 3G (also known as “the good stuff”) is available, and general signal strength wonkiness have all plagued a select group of handsets since launch, making for a decidedly MobileMe-like user experience. Some upgraders are actually reporting just the opposite, though — for these lucky few, 2.0.2 seems to be making reception somehow worse than it already was, and what’s more, there are intermittent reports cropping up of broken third-party apps, too. With the 1.x line of builds having chugged along with relatively little drama for a year, here’s our question: what the hell is going on? Why does 2.0, after two post-launch builds, still feel like a beta? MobileMe took the lion’s share of the fall for Apple having spread itself too thin through the launch-heavy summer months, but did some of that fire-drill mentality trickle over to the breadwinner, too? Sound off in comments with your experiences putting 2.0.2 through its paces so far!

[Via Mobility Site]

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

With all the incompatibility out there among Guitar Hero / Rock Band instruments, it’s a real treat to see something like this. The Director of Publisher Relations at SCEA has posted an update that promises compatibility between instruments and software for upcoming titles; for instance, Guitar Hero: World Tour’s guitars and drums will work with Rock Band 2 and Konami’s Rock Revolution software, and Rock Band 2’s guitar and drum set will work with Guitar Hero: World Tour and with Rock Revolution. Furthermore, the team is still “working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market,” though we are told that an announcement on that could surface “shortly.” Rock ‘n roll harmony, baby.

[Image courtesy of BeSportier]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Support forum threads on Apple’s site and a number of ramblings across these great interwebs are starting to complain at great length about the iPhone 3G’s headlining new feature — 3G reception, that is — and pretty much every aspect of it: signal strength, call dropping, connecting to EDGE when 3G is present, the list goes on. Some smartypants analyst from financial firm Nomura thinks he has it all figured out, though, saying that the issues are “typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack” and suggesting that a firmware update pushed out to existing handsets is unlikely to ease the pain. We’ve been hearing that Cupertino could actually be working on just such an update at this very second, though, so this cat better get ready for the possibility that he could be eating his own words down the road. For what it’s worth, intermittent issues have been reported the world over, so this doesn’t seem to be anything to do with AT&T’s (or anyone else’s) infrastructure — and needless to say, not everyone is having issues to start. And for anyone whose iPhone 3G we just jinxed by writing this post… well, our bad.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

That’s right chicks and dudes, iTunes 7.7.1 is now available for your downloading pleasure. Does it snap the App Store liberties you’ve been taking? Will it enhance your audio? Is it spying on you and your loved ones? Only Apple knows for sure.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

Quite a few Instinct owners were giving Samsung / Sprint one option: crank out a firmware update to show that they cared before the 30-day test period expired, or deal with all that messy RMA paperwork. Unfortunately for the aforesaid firms, the handset’s first update is coming ten days after that date (at least for the earliest of adopters), and initial reports suggest that glaring problems still exist. Some users are suggesting that Sprint TV is less pixelated than before and that overall snappiness is improved, but the patently awful browser still remains at 1.0 (and thus just as awful). Look, when the change that gets most people jazzed is the battery meter’s newfound ability to hit 100% (and not just 90% as in the past), something is seriously wrong. Anyone else find any nuggets of goodness in the new update?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage, Networking

It’s no secret that HP MediaSmart Server owners have been having an awful time getting their device to operate correctly, er, at all since HP loosed its most recent software update on July 21st. In order to make sure owners have a solution implement its best damage control tactics, HP’s own Director of Marketing for the Connected Entertainment group has put out a statement informing users that the problems (slow console shown above) are more than a figment of their imagination. Furthermore, the so-called solution is to simply “install each update one at a time, independently,” because clearly HP cannot be bothered to fix a problem it helped create. Oh, it gets better. HP is also aware that PacketVideo (bundled with the update) “no longer supports media streaming to Sony’s PlayStation 3,” so it simply encourages owners to surf on over to a third-party website and hack up the PV database in order to get things back to normal. Jump on past the break for the patently ridiculous letter in its entirety.

[Image courtesy of Within Windows]

Continue reading HP responds to MediaSmart Server issues, offers no real solution at all

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

So yeah, quite a few NVIDIA GPUs have been acting up. Nothing new there. However, Dell’s attempting to help its laptop owners out by making a few notable BIOS updates readily available for download. Apparently the issue “is a weak die / packaging material set, which may fail with GPU temperature fluctuations.” In order to combat the problem, Dell’s BIOS flashes “modify the fan profile to help regulate GPU temperature fluctuations,” though the Round Rock powerhouse only promises that the updates will “help reduce the likelihood of GPU issues.” Hit the read link and give it a go — it can’t hurt… we hope.

[Via Electronista]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

Your morning iPhone news fix: looks like Apple’s seeded a beta of firmware 2.1 (not to be confused with the supposed 2.0.1 that will fix the myriad bugs and issues with 2.0), which may have some new GPS features that would imply turn-by-turn directions. No argument from us if Apple really is including new Core Location hooks for tracking your direction and speed, which would both be needed for doing proper GPS navigation.

Another bit which may or may not make it into 2.1 is copy/paste. We’re still both hopeful and skeptical, but supposedly in the new version of the WebKit framework exists commands for “plugins,” “copy,” “paste,” “cut,” and some others. We can’t confirm if these really exist (and if they do, we don’t know how they’ve actually been there, or if they’re simply holdovers from the desktop WebKit frameworks), so don’t hold your breath. Also supposedly making its first appearance in the 2.1 beta code: Apple’s push notification service.

Oh, and by the way, if all this has whet your appetite for the device, sounds like today will be a bad day to try and snag one. Apple’s retail site shows absolutely zero iPhone availability in the US, so if you’re jonesing then check out eBay or the seedy looking dude on the corner with the overstuffed trenchcoat.

[Thanks to Cameron and everyone who sent these in]

Read - Apple all out of stock
Read - New GPS features seeded?
Read - 2.1 getting background push?

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: GPS

Just over a month after the internet got all fired up about the problematic AVIC F-Series navigators, Pioneer has come to the rescue (we hope, anyway) with a free firmware update. Aimed specifically at the US-based AVIC-F90BT, AVIC-F900BT and AVIC-F700BT, the update will reportedly “improve overall system performance and resolve certain software issues.” The outfit also notes that the AVIC-F500BT doesn’t need the upgrade, and even if your unit has been a-okay thus far, it still recommends applying the software. Take ten minutes or so and see what the latest firmware has to offer, and be sure to let us know if all (or some) of the kinks have indeed been ironed out.

[Thanks, Steven]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Okay, so we won’t totally judge Chinavasion’s “High Definition Great Value” camcorder before we get to know it, but we’ll be frank, we ain’t gettin’ to know it. Those willing to give this heap a fighting chance can look forward to hope for 720p capturing at 30fps, 8-megapixel still shots, a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, 19MB (and not a byte more) of internal memory, an SD / SDHC expansion slot and an HDMI output for showing off your adventures to friends and family (who will inevitably whisper behind your back about what camcorder you chose). Nah, we’re not seriously riding this thing that hard, but do tell if you’re the first soul to lay down $157.50 for one. Anyone, anyone?

[Via Random Good Stuff]

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Original post by Darren Murph