Samsung's hybrid NX Series camera: point-and-shoot with DSLR-like image sensor

While we still prefer the Micro Four Thirds approach (we love lens selection, so sue us), Samsung's conceptual NX Series is still looking pretty boss for those needing a true (or close to true) point-and-shoot frame. Announced here at PMA, this new "hybrid" camera maintains the slim stature of a standard pocket cam, yet includes an APS-C sized image sensor that is traditionally found on DSLRs. In layman's terms, that means this camera will boast a larger surface area "to gather light and produce higher-quality images than comparable digital camera systems." In order to keep things thin, the electronic viewfinder (EVF) replaces the DSLR mirror box, but details beyond that are scant. The good news, however, is that Sammy plans to commercialize the NX line and have 'em shipping by the second half of this year. Is the P&S-DSLR gap finally being bridged? Guess we'll find out (not so) soon enough; per usual, the full release is just after the break.

Update: It looks like the NX-series does have interchangeable lenses -- a press shot we just received shows what look to be a couple different zooms.

(Original Post: www.Engadget.com)

Touch Book from Always Innovating harbors removable tablet, netbook pricepoint

It's not every day we see an all-new angle on the laptop form factor, much less a netbook with aims at innovation. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that a company dubbed "Always Innovating" is trying to spice things up a bit. The Touch Book is an ARM-powered netbook that weighs less than two pounds and claims battery life of 10 to 15 hours, but the real magic happens with the removable screen -- it slides right out of its keyboard dock and acts as a fully functional touchscreen tablet. When docked, the screen can lay out flat, and the keyboard can even be folded all the way under into an "inverted V" shape. There are other oddities like internal USB plugs to cut down on dongle mess, and the whole screen is magnetic for mounting on a fridge. The machine is running a Linux OS with a touchable 3D UI. The only press shots right now are these sketchy-looking renders, but Always Innovating is currently previewing the Touch Book at DEMO 09 in California, and plans to ship in Spring of this year with a starting pricetag of $299.

Videos of the Week!

Dramatic Chipmunk Hey!



Turning A Gas Mask Into A Nightmare Kazoo

Apple Announces Safari 4 - The World's Fastest & Most Innovative Browser

Apple® today announced the public beta of Safari® 4, the world's fastest and most innovative web browser for Mac® and Windows PCs. The Nitro engine in Safari 4 runs JavaScript 4.2 times faster than Safari 3.* Innovative new features that make browsing more intuitive and enjoyable include Top Sites, for a stunning visual preview of frequently visited pages; Full History Search, to search through titles, web addresses and the complete text of recently viewed pages; Cover Flow®, to easily flip through web history or bookmarks; and Tabs on Top, to make tabbed browsing easier and more intuitive.

iTunes Concept Shows How iPhone App Management Should Have Worked From the Start

The concept is simple, and wouldn't require a change of habit by iPhone/iPod Touch users: in iTunes, users see a representation of their various home screen(s), with which they can remove, move or sort apps.

Video of claimed next-gen Mac Mini surfaces online

After being challenged over a still image, the source for what seems a leaked future Mac mini has now posted a video that shows the device from all sides.

While its authenticity has been disputed, the mystery system has gained what appears to be supporting proof of its existence from MacRumors forum poster "monthy," who on Friday posted a brief video tour of the Mac mini shown in the photo.

The clip shows a case which is fundamentally identical to the current compact desktop, including its wrap-around aluminum skin, white plastic top, and slot-load optical drive, but continues to show the exact same change in ports as before. A fifth USB port has been added, while Mini DisplayPort and mini DVI replace the earlier, full-size DVI video connector. FireWire 800 also replaces the earlier FIreWire 400 port.

No voice-over or other commentary is provided with the video, though in the previous leak the forum poster also claimed to know the system has architecture largely similar to a modern MacBook: the update would contain a 2GHz Core 2 Duo with a 1066MHz system bus, 2GB of DDR3 memory and a Serial ATA-based SuperDrive.

The video is labeled "Mac mini 2009 edition," clearly asserting that the system is intended for a release this year.




Mac Mini 2009 Edition - video powered by Metacafe

Leaked Photo of the Next-Generation Mac Mini?

A possible image of the next generation Mac Mini was first posted to a MacRumors forum discussion thread. The image depicts what could be the next Mac mini.



The original leaker also claimed the following specs:

- Intel Core 2 Duo
- 2GHz
- 3MB L2 cache
- 2GB RAM DDR III, 1066MHz
- Super Drive is SATA

The port configuration is consistent with previous rumors that the new Mac mini would bring improved specs. Specifically, the new Mini was described to have 5 USB ports, FireWire 800, and two Display ports (Mini DisplayPort and Mini DVI). All these can be found on the leaked photograph.

Sony Releases Stupid Piece of !@#$ that doesn't !@#*IN work!

VIDEO OF THE WEEK!

HTC Magic first eyes-on!

Surprise, surprise! Vodafone and HTC launched a new Android set named the Magic today. We had a brief eyes-on with it, though the version we see above is not final hardware. If you peek at the slides in the gallery you'll notice that there are more buttons and they're laid out quite differently than what you see above.

(Original Story: www.engadget.com Hands-On: www.engadget.com)

Canon PowerShot SX1 IS coming to US in April, nine others unveiled

Not to be outdone by Sony, Samsung, or FujiFilm, Canon has unveiled nearly a dozen digital cameras bound for the US ahead of March's PMA. Of the ten, the big guy is that 10 megapixel SX1 IS we originally heard about last September, which sports 1080p Full HD movie mode and a built-in HDMI connector. Not too far off is the SX200, SD970 and the already-leaked SD960 / SD780, which all record 720p and also feature HDMI ports. The more rugged D10 boasts it's freeze proof down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, shockproof up to four feet, and can withstand depths up to 33 feet deep. As for the rest, well, they've certainly got more appealing price tags.

(Original Post: www.engadget.com)

Nintendo DSi to launch in North America on April 5th

According to the good chaps over at Joystiq (and, you know, Nintendo), you can get your grubby mitts all over the DSi in North America come April 5th. The system will launch for $169.99, will include all the goodies you've been reading about -- like those dual cameras and downloadable content called DSiWare (starting at the totally mysterious price point of 200 DSi Points). The handhelds will come in either blue or black, and while we can't quite explain why they've omitted white, we can be pretty sure we'll see some more colors join the fray before too long. Anyhow, this is Nintendo, so remember: it's never too early to get in line.

(Original Post: www.engadget.com)

Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (coming soon)

Owners of the Mini DisplayPort-equipped line of Apple notebooks who want an easier way to output video to their TV or other HDMI devices will soon have an option.

Discount cable outlet Monoprice.com will sell Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapters for $14.25 starting March 15th. Two other new adapters, offering to convert the Mini DisplayPort signal for either DVI or VGA, will be available that same day, providing customers with an alternative to Apple's adapters at more than half the cost. The vast majority of today's HDTVs have HDMI inputs, but DisplayPort is a relatively new player on the connection standard scene and connectors between the two are rare, especially for Mac owners.

(Original post: www.appleinsider.com)

Firefox Mobile Pre-Alpha Now Available for VGA Windows Mobile Phones

Just as Mozilla's developer wiki cryptically promised last week, a pre-alpha build of Firefox Mobile 'Fennec' has been made available for the HTC Touch Pro, though it'll work on many other VGA (480x640) WinMo phones.

The build is very rough and probably not usable for day-to-day browsing—early reports suggest that the loading time is very long, and that page loading is quite slow—but it should provide a glimpse of where Firefox Mobile is headed, how it will render pages and if its novel control scheme is usable on a device smaller than the N810.

(Original story: www.gizmodo.com)

New iPhone 4G Concept Is Son of MacBook Air and iPod Touch

This beautiful concept, inspired by the curves and tapering of the Macbook Air coupled with the touch's back, is even better than the cool Macbook-inspired iPhone 4G we featured at the beginning of the month.

The thing that excites me most about these concepts, however, is not the aesthetic aspect of it. It's the the front camera and the fact that people seem to be excited about getting videoconferencing on the iPhone. Specially about the idea of interacting with desktop videoconferencing software on both the PC and the Mac. This is a must for the videochat feature to be really useful, and personally I think it's one of the reasons it hasn't been done by Apple before.

(Original story: www.gizmodo.com)

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezo's Worst Nightmare (PIC)

(Original post: www.joyoftech.com)

Sirius XM to file for bankruptcy; End is near for satellite

Readers who subscribe to Sirius XM claim that satellite radio is just too wonderful to die, that somehow its sheer awesomeness will pull it through the hard times.

But the world doesn't work that way, unfortunately. The company was in dire trouble before the recession, and now the economic downturn will kill Sirius XM off and bury satellite radio forever.

In fact, even last year, the company's survival depended entirely on an enormous uptake in new subscribers. The company entered into 2009 with $3.4 billion of debt, some $300 million of which comes due on Tuesday. The company gets a huge percentage of its new subscribers from new-car buyers who choose the satellite radio option. Thanks to the recession, there has been an enormous drop in new car sales. And among those who are buying cars, a smaller percentage are choosing satellite subscriptions.

The bottom line is that there's simply no way Sirius XM can pay its bills. That's why, according to the New York Times, the company is preparing to file for Chapter 11.

(Original Post: blogs.computerworld.com)

Rumor: Apple planning TV with iTunes integration and DVR capability

In a recent note issued to clients, Apple analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray predicts that Apple will eventually come out with an Apple-branded television set with DVR functionality, and the ability to stream content directly from iTunes.

"We expect Apple to design a connected television over the next two years (launching in 2011) with DVR functionality built in. These recorded shows could then sync with Macs, iPhones and iPods over a wireless network. The device would push Apple further into the digital living room with interactive TV, music, movie, and gaming features. With its iTunes ecosystem, Apple could develop a unique TV without any set-top-boxes or devices attached."

(Original Post: www.networkworld.com)

Intel's 8-core CPUs will have 2.3 billion transistors

Intel celebrates its annual research show-off at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) with a look at upcoming Nehalem processors. The company is planning a “family” of processors with up to eight cores that will remain in the current dual- to quad-core power envelope.

(Original story posted: www.tgdaily.com)

Revolutionary chip uses 30X less energy and runs 7X faster

The technology, dubbed PCMOS (probabilistic complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) was invented by Professor Krishna Palem of Rice University and Director of NTU's Institute for Sustainable Nanoelectronics (ISNE). The U.S.-Singapore team making the announcement is led by Professor Palem and NTU's Associate Professor Yeo Kiat Seng, Head of Division of Circuits and Systems, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), College of Engineering.
The team's goal is green computing. They are looking for applications where PCMOS can deliver as well as or better than existing technology but with a fraction of the energy required.

(Original story: www.physorg.com)