Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops

Maybe it’s a netbook, or maybe it’s a ridiculously small notebook. Whatever it is, it’s recalled. Raon Digital has issued a recall for its delightfully tiny Everun Note due to a handful of “failure symptoms″ detailed on its Korean website. Best we (and Pocketables) can tell, users hearing a high-pitched fan tone, seeing a “Blue Screen phenomenon,” or getting torched by an unfathomably hot CPU have a problematic unit, and even if your battery indicator is acting wonky, you too are entitled to a replacement. It’s not clear whether affected users will be gifted with a new unit or if they’ll receive their old machine back in tip-top condition, but either way, we’d hit the read link and do a little investigating if you own one of these puppies.

[Via Pocketables]

Read&nbsp|&nbspPermalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Sony’s been showing off the full-frame Alpha A900 DSLR since February, and after popping up in ads and in the wild last week, it’s official today, right on cue. Same basic specs you′ve known forever: 24.6 Exmor CMOS sensor, dual BIONZ image processors, ISO 6400 sensitivity, 3.0-inch LCD, 5fps shooting, and SteadyShot INSIDE in-body optical image stabilization. Sony’s also launching a couple new Alpha lenses to complement this beast, including a Carl Zeiss 70-400mm f4-5.6 zoom. No prices yet, we wouldn’t expect to be paying for this thing with pocket change when it goes on sale in October. More pics in the gallery.

Read | Permalink&nbsp|&nbspEmail this | Comments

Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Laptops

Judging by the amount of mods already available for Acer’s contribution to the netbook world, we’d say there’s a fair amount of things folks would like changed on the Aspire One. Of course, that’s not to say the machine isn’t worthy of praise as-is, but there’s nothing wrong with a little dreaming. Would you have preferred a 6-cell battery right out of the box? Is that touchpad a touch too small for your chubby fingertips? Would you rather it run a little less like Zune Guy and more like Usain Bolt? With the sudden surge in competition in this sector, there’s really no excuse for a poor showing — let Acer know exactly what you really wanted from the tiniest Aspire.

Permalink&nbsp|&nbspEmail this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras

The phrase “full frame” brings a smile to the face of anyone remotely familiar with photography, and the term “D700” is likely to do the same for shooters with three large to plunk down on a new body. Still, even with its long list of drool-worthy features, we’re certain that anyone who dropped the aforementioned dough on this beauty has a few things to say about it. Are you satisfied with the live view implementation? Any problems with its reliance on CompactFlash? Oh, and is the image quality alright? Sound off below!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

Handset lovers in some regions of the world not named North America have been enjoying the luxuries of Nokia’s E71 for some time now, but those of us waiting around for a version compatible with 3G here on this side of the planet have just recently been able to indulge. Make no mistake, though — this piece of QWERTY goodness ain′t cheap. Ringing up at right around 500 bones, USers have the right to have some pretty high expectations, and we’re here to ask if those expectations have been met. Are you satified with the ultrathin smartphone? Is the display up to snuff? How’s that keyboard? Are you kosher with the white keys? What else would you do to improve upon the ᬻ? Leave it all in comments below.

Permalink&nbsp|&nbspEmail this&nbsp|&nbspComments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

When Lenovo’s oh-so-nimble IdeaPad U110 crashed onto the scene in January, intrigue was high. After all, it came packing a lightweight frame, a couple of longevous batteries, a respectable price tag and a decent list of specifications. After spending some quality time with the ultraportable, we came away less than enthused, but that’s not the point here — we′re asking you, dear readers, to toss in your own two pennies and let us know how you would’ve done things differently on this here machine. Would you have stripped off a coat or two of that gloss? Shoved in a more potent processor? Pre-installed just a bit less bloatware? Wrack your brain and let us know, alright?

Permalink&nbsp|&nbspEmail this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

There’s no denying that HTC’s Advantage X7510 fills a narrowing niche — after all, how many of these things have you seen out and about in the subway / underground? Still, there’s just something very enticing about a 5-inch VGA display, built-in GPS, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth and a full-blown QWERTY keyboard, is there not? For you folks who plunked down quite a few bills in order to bring this home, how has your experience been? For you folks in America who have just recently decided to bite the bullet and jump in, was it worth it? How would you tweak this do-it-all conglomerate (besides making it way more affordable)? Here’s your shot to get it out, don’t let it pass you by!

Permalink&nbsp|&nbspEmail this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

It has technically been available for three weeks today (and a few hours in the US, but who’s counting?), although we′re confident quite a few of you are still waiting to actually hold your very own iPhone 3G. Still, those that have braved the excruciatingly long lines and got lucky with AT&T’s apparently random Direct Fulfillment approach surely have something to say. We’ve already confirmed that firmware 2.0 has some serious issues that need dealt with, and aside from elaborating on those, what else would you have done differently with Apple’s second handset? Would you have changed the overall design more dramatically? Finally included a user-removable battery? Used a casing material that wouldn′t crack for no good reason under pressure? There’s still time for your input to be heard before firmware 2.1 arrives (ahem, Apple?) — sound off below!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

Now that MSI’s Wind has (finally) started shipping out to eager customers, we’re anxious to hear how you all like them. As was the case with HP’s heralded 2133 Mini-Note, we’re confident that you early adopters are champing at the bit to let loose some opinions here. In the end, was it worth the wait? Was it worth the asking price? It is nimble enough? Even if so, what would make the Wind an even bigger threat in the quickly growing netbook realm? Take all the time you need to get it all our, we’re here for you.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets

Alright everyone, let’s review: If you’re going to put out a joke press release for April Fool’s Day, it’s important to make sure it’s actually April 1st. That’s a little lesson the folks at AbleComm apparently didn’t get, because the company’s April Fools press release about Panasonic putting partially-Ablecomm-sourced plasma screens in cell phones went out yesterday, April 3rd — and got subsequently picked up by a variety of news outlets, including us. Yep, we got punked, we’ll admit it. Unlike us, however, AbleComm hasn’t yet had the stones to issue its own retraction, instead ordering PR Newswire to completely pull the release and put out a new, PRNewswire-written three-line retraction elsewhere. Yikes. We’ll probably live without plasmas in our cellphones, but but c′mon, people, at least admit it when the joke goes bad. Check out the retraction and the original fake press release after the break.

[Thanks, David]

Continue reading April fool: AbleComm forgets what day it is, retracts Panasonic plasma cellphone release

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Gaming

We’ve already seen the PlayStation 3 put to use for some non-gaming tasks (other than playing Blu-ray movies), and it now looks like the U.S. Air Force is aiming to get in on the act as well, with it recently putting out a so-called Request for Proposal that is seeking 300 PS3s for a “technology assessment.” Needless to say, their primary interest is in the console’s powerful Cell processor, which they say is the “only brand on the market that utilizes the specific cell processor characteristics needed for this program at an acceptable cost.” Exactly what that program entails is unsurprisingly being kept under wraps, with the RFP only going so far to state that the Air Force Research Laboratory is “conducting a technology assessment of certain cell processors.” Whatever it is, the Air Force certainly seems to be trying to keep costs as low as possible, with them apparently only interested in the 40GB model.

[Via Switched]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

We’re pretty sure there’s a load of irony here somewhere, but we just can’t put our finger on it. Sony is selling its chip manufacturing facilities — including ones that build the Cell and RSX chips that go into the Ṕ — to Toshiba, and the $835 million deal goes down April 1. (No, this is not some April fool’s joke, just really awkward timing.) Toshiba’s also in a $16 billion partnership with SanDisk to produce flash memory, so it’s looking like with the inclusion of Sony’s chip capacity we’re looking at quite the chip giant. We had wind of this Sony deal last year, but it looks like things finally got official just as all this “HD DVD losing the format war” stuff went down. No hard feelings, right Toshiba?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Upstart Montalvo Systems sure hasn’t been talking much about exactly what it’s doing with the $73 million in funding its received, but CNET News.com has now thankfully pulled back a bit of the mystery on the processor the company’s betting its fortunes on. Most interestingly, CNET reports that the chip is much more in line with the Cell processor than Intel’s or AMD’s offerings, yet it will apparently be “theoretically” capable of running the same software as those processors. Specifically, the chip apparently won′t be symmetrical, but rather employ a mix of high-performance cores and lower-performance cores on the same piece of silicon, which should ultimately cut power consumption by letting applications run only on the cores they need. As you might expect, however, the Montalvo folks are still keeping most of their secrets to themselves, and it seems likely that we won′t get a really good idea of what they have in store until they’re good and ready.

&nbsp

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson

Hmm. Unless you want Child Protective Services knocking on your door, don’t hang a picture of your kids sleeping on these Livingstones floor cushions in your office. Few will believe that these realistic-looking stones are actually made of 100% virgin wool and are filled with hypoallergenic polysilicone fiber.

They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors and are available directly from smarindesign, where you can also obtain a price list. If you can keep CPS at bay until then, the Livingstones should be delivered within about four weeks of placing your order.

Via GEARFUSE.

Original post by Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women

If you’re reading this on February 13th, a virtual gift is just about all you’ve got time for. Google Gadgets has this great, red tulip that grows on your dektop when you “water″ it and unlike real flowers, lasts forever, or at least until you break up.

It’s only a 161KB file; just make sure he/she has Google Desktop 4 or above. Or, if you’re on Facebook, you can send all sorts of virtual flowers to your sweetie.

Original post by Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women