SlipperyBrick.com

Pantech Impact hits AT&T network

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:47:39 +0000

Pantech and AT&T have announced that the cool Pantech Impact feature phone has hit the AT&T wireless network. The handset is available in blue and pink colors and has a new form factor for the AT&T line.

The device has a touchpad for the number pad that has haptic feedback technology with vibration when the buttons are pressed. The phone also has a pair of LCD screens with one on the outside for dialing and one on the inside for videos and web surfing.

The device connects to the AT&T 3G network and has a fill flip open QWERTY keyboard for sending emails and texts. The handset also has AGPS and can use AT&T Navigator for turn-by-turn driving directions. The Impact will sell for $99.99 after mail-in rebates.

AT&T

Imation SSD Upgrade Kit makes your old drive useful again

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:46:34 +0000

The price of SSDs keeps coming down and as they get cheaper, they are getting more and more attractive to me. I would like to put one in my work computer to speed things up. The things that I worry about when upgrading a HDD is getting data off the old drive and onto the new one and then what to do with the old HDD after the SSD update is complete.

Imation has unveiled a new SSD Upgrade Kit today that includes an external enclosure for your old drive so you can use it as an external storage device after the upgrade. The enclosure requires no power supply, which means it can be powered by USB.

The SSD in the upgrade kit is the Imation M-class SSD featuring 10-bit ECC. The SSD has sequential read speed of 230MB/sec and a 170MB/sec write speed. The SSD is a 2.5-inch unit and the upgrade kits start at $194.99 for a 64GB SSD and a 128GB version is available.

Imation

Imation unveils Pro WX, world’s first wireless USB external HDD

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:45:21 +0000

The economy and slow adoption haven’t been kind to many companies in the wireless USB market. These facts have forced many of the largest out of the market altogether. Long after we first heard of wireless USB, we are finally getting the first HDD to use the tech called the Imation Pro WX.

The drive uses wireless USB connectivity with a 30-foot range. The computer the drive connects to has to use an included dongle for connectivity. Imation claims the wireless connectivity is good for data transfer speeds up to 15MB/sec.

The drive has 1.5TB of storage space and it is compatible with both Mac and Windows computers. The drive is available now for $449.99, which is a premium over a standard external drive. The wireless connectivity is certainly a cool feature though.

Imation

Asus unveils full specs for Eee 1201N netbook

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:43:48 +0000

Asus announced yesterday that it would be adding NVIDA Ion graphics to several of its Eee computers in different lines. One of the machines getting the Ion power was the Eee 1201N netbook. Today Asus has unveiled the full specs for the 1201N and it should be a great little netbook.

In addition to the Ion lovin’ on the graphics front, the machine gets an Intel Atom 330 dual-core processor. The machine uses the new style chicklet keyboard, which is full size in this case. The machine gets a 12.1-inch LCD with a resolution of 1366 x 768.

Other features include 2GB of RAM and 250GB of storage on some models and 3GB of RAM and 320GB of storage on other models. Asus builds-in a wimpy 0.3MP webcam along with 802.11b/g/n WiFi. Power comes from a 6-cell 63Wh battery good for 5 hours per charge. Pricing and availability are unknown.

Asus

Second Generation Pogoplug lets you share multiple USB drives over the Internet

Conner Flynn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:19:49 +0000

Like it’s predecessor, the new Pogoplug allows for USB drive sharing over the Internet. It’ll cost you $129, has no service fees, takes up to four USB drives, and has Twitter and Facebook integration. It will sync your content with a Mac or PC and let you share and watch movies, listen to music, or view photos directly through the Pogoplug website and on an iPhone.

It also has a drag-and-drop interface and sharing over social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. The only downside is that you are relying on the company staying in business in order to be able to share data.

[Gizmodo]

USB Alien with Illuminated Tongue

Conner Flynn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:07:36 +0000

Check out this awesome USB Alien figure. Since it plugs into your USB port, it must have some storage right? At least 2GB. Nope. Apparently all it does is stick its illuminated tongue out.

The head or limbs don’t even move. Why they wouldn’t give it storage, we have no idea. It’s supposed to be scary, but it’s actually pretty cute. Unless you are a pint sized Ripley, in which case this thing is pretty easy to kill.

This one is an Alien fail. For ¥ 6,450.00.

[Geekstuff4u]

Samsung Omnia II launching December 2 for $200

Conner Flynn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:49:20 +0000

Looks like we can finally say that Verizon’s version of the Samsung Omnia II is almost here. It will be launching on all fronts, telesales, online, and in-store, on December 2 for $199.99 on contract after a $100 mail-in rebate.

It sports a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display, 8GB of internal storage plus microSD expansion, 5 megapixel cam, and WinMo 6.5 Professional. If you can resist the allure of Motorola’s Droid, this is a good one. The TouchWiz 2.0 UI looks nice.

[Gizmodo]

BlackBerry Pearl 9100 revealed

Conner Flynn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:31:38 +0000

Many of you have been waiting for RIM to release an updated version of the candybar-styled BlackBerry Pearl 8100 Series Smartphone. Well, the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 is finally getting a successor in the 9100. One that has done away with the pearl for a now-standard touchpad. The SureType keyboard and the dimensions look about the same.

This new Pearl (Codenamed Striker) also features a newly-designed battery. We should have more specs and info soon. Until then you can drool over the image and save your dough.

[Crackberry]

Dell outs Studio 17 laptop with multitouch display

Conner Flynn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:30:20 +0000

Dell is adding multitouch to several products lately, in some cases quietly doing so. The latest is an updated version of the Studio 17 laptop, now available with a 1,600 x 900 display with full multitouch.

Aside from that the usual options are available, like your choice of Pentium Dual Core or Core 2 Duo processors, up to 8GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, integrated Intel or ATI graphics and an optional Blu-ray drive.

Of course the price goes up dramatically for some of those options, but it starts at $899 and ships on December 4th.

[Slashgear]

DVD2Blu lets you trade in DVDs for Blu-Rays

Conner Flynn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:12:18 +0000

Warner has a new trade-in plan that hopes to convert you to the ways of Blu-Ray (Especially if you just got a Blu-Ray player and have a ton of DVDs, they want you too.) Just send in your old DVDs, $7.95 to $9.95 per movie plus $4.95 for s&h and HD versions will arrive in about 4 to 5 weeks.

You’ll have to decide if it’s worth it or not by consulting the 55 movies on the approved list that you own, but we suspect that most of you will just want to keep the ones you have on the shelf and wait for better deals.

[Engadget]

Flip video cameras to get Wi-Fi?

Conner Flynn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:26:37 +0000

Flip cameras are all the rage and have been for the last year or two. And rumor has it that they have a new feature in the works. Your old buddy Wi-Fi.

It’s just a rumor, but it makes sense to have Wi-Fi on a convenient camera like the Flip so you can upload videos to YouTube or elsewhere. Plus you would probably be able to watch other videos on it as well. At any rate, they had better add new features if they want to compete. So we think this one is very likely to be true.

We shall see.

[TFTS]

Google’s Chrome OS revealed

Conner Flynn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:05:52 +0000

We now have more details about the Google Chrome OS, which is a stripped-down Linux that should boot very quickly and launch a browser (Chrome). Everything that you do is web-based. Apparently users will have to buy a Chrome OS machine if they want it. Chrome will run on Intel and ARM processors.

According to Google it’s secure because the data is stored on a remote server, however if someone gets your password, well they have access to everything. They do say that Apps are more secure, because they have access to nothing, just like web apps on other OS.

Chrome machines are built on the premise that they will always be connected via WiFi as a primary connection, but Google is trying to make it possible to work offline too. For more details, (There are many) hit the link.

[Ubergizmo]

Mercedes gives car owners more control via the iPhone

Conner Flynn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:53:38 +0000

When Mercedes says they want you to get personal with your car, they mean it. Recently Mercedes-Benz USA and Hughes Telematics, Inc. launched mbrace, which brings an unprecedented level of connectivity to Mercedes-Benz drivers and allows them to customize their in-vehicle experiences.

The system allows drivers to connect with their vehicles via an iPhone or BlackBerry, and remotely lock or unlock their vehicles, locate them in crowded parking lots or city streets through a map and much more.

It used to be that only 007 had so much control of the vehicle.

[New Launches]

XO2 folding electric scooters

Conner Flynn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:42:27 +0000

With more electric vehicles than ever hitting the streets, we’re going to see more electric scooters. The XO2 electric scooter has some interesting features, but the most interesting is that you can fold it up, making it easy to bring indoors for charging.

It’s still pretty big when folded, but it beats getting your ride stolen because you had to leave it outside. We’re talking 60km/h for the XO2 50 Urban and 105km/h for the XO2 125 Urban. The scooter will charge up to about 80% within just a few hours, and give you about 50-70km.

No info yet on pricing or availability.

[Gizmag]

New apps will make iPod touch more useful in Apple stores

Conner Flynn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:29:02 +0000

Looks like Apple store employees will be getting at least 3 exclusive and separate applications that will help with several important tasks. One of them will allow employees to swap iPhones or iPods on the store floor, which previously could only be done at the Genius Bar.

Another proprietary app will help employees in the stock room. The apps should make tasks done in all of Apple’s retail locations easier and more efficient.

The company plans to roll out all of the applications at the same time for employees, bundled with the “Easy Touch” application that combines the software with a magnetic stripe reader and advanced barcode scanner on an iPod touch.

[Appleinsider]