Computer Information - myOddPc
The PS3 Laptop: from Ben Heck to Engadget with love
Filed under: Gaming, Laptops
Rewind back to late 2006. The PS3 was launching alongside the Wii and geeky editors like ourselves were having a field day. We'd already managed to convince our
good pal Ben Heck to build another
Xbox 360 laptop and the
Wii Laptop, so it was only a matter of time before we started brainstorming on how the hell we could possibly fit a PS3 into a "portable" enclosure. That's the part where Ben stepped up his game and worked his magic -- on and off for almost a year and a half -- to build... the PS3 Laptop!
The essential specs:
- Original backwards compatible 60GB model
- 17-inch LCD HDTV screen: 720p
- HDMI-DVI connection (same as last Xbox 360 laptop)
- Built-in keyboard, USB ports, stereo speakers, headphone jack
- Size: 17 x 13.75 x 3-inches
- Weight: 16 pounds!
You want this one of a kind piece of kit for your very own, PlayStation fanboys? You got it. We're auctioning this thing for charity real soon, so watch out for details (we'll also have some video of the PS3 Laptop in action on the site tomorrow). And, naturally, big ups to our pal
Ben Heck for the long hours and love he put into this thing. The man is truly a hero of ours, so be sure to
hit up his site to check out his other projects, as well as the other instructional stuff he's done
here on Engadget.
P.S. -Please forgive the wonky caption text in the photo gallery, we're fixing the type so it's legible.
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PS3 firmware v2.30 walkthrough: DTS-HD MA support / new PS Store included
Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment
Oh sweet mercy, what have we here? A sneak peek (on video) of the looming
PlayStation Store revamp and a confirmation of DTS-HD Master Audio
output in the next PS3 firmware update, that's what. Over on the PlayStation Blog, we're casually walked through the impending v2.30 update, and just as
we had heard, Blu-ray fans can shout in unison as the inclusion of their
favorite audio codec (as well as DTS-HD High Resolution Audio) is just days away. Word on the street has v2.30 headed down the pipes on April 15th, and if you're eager to catch a glimpse of some more stills from the made-over PS Store, head on over to
Joystiq.
- PlayStation 3 firmware v2.30 walkthrough video
Read - Revamped PlayStation Store images
Read - DTS' own confirmation of the good news (Thanks, sTeViO!)
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Fraunhofer takes a stab at non-exploding lithium-ion batteries
Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops
It's hardly the only one working on making lithium-ion batteries a little
less likely to blow up in your face, but the prolific folks at Fraunhofer Institute seem to think that they've come up with a solid contender for your future laptop or cellphone, and they're now set to take the wraps off it at the
Hannover Messe conference later this month. The key to their solution, it seems, is the use of a non-flammable polymer electrolyte instead of the liquid electrolyte now commonly used in lithium-ion batteries. While that switch cuts down on the explosiveness, it also introduced a fair number of challenges, not the least of which is the fact that polymer becomes less conductive as it gets more solid. Fraunhofer's apparently made some significant progress on that front, however, and while they're still not completely satisfied with the conductivity, they say the batteries could be ready for commercial use in three to five years. They also, not surprisingly, see no end to the uses for 'em, saying that they could not only wind up in laptops and cellphones, but power tools, lawnmowers, and potentially even cars.
[Thanks, Mademoiselle Y]
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Verizon sues Time Warner Cable over some dumb ads
Filed under: HDTV
Hey, we hate lawsuits just as much as the next guy, but we're finding it hard to fault
Verizon for this one. Verizon and
Time Warner Cable arrived in court on Wednesday to settle a tiff over some ads that Verizon claims offer up misleading info about Verizon's
FiOS service. Listed among the complaints include supposed false implications by TWC that FiOS requires a satellite dish, doesn't include phone, broadband and video, and that Time Warner's network is better. Time Warner Cable is naturally calling the lawsuit "without merit." Verizon wants TWC to stop running the ads and issue a retraction, as well as compensate them for lost revenue. We're not positive which ad Verizon is referring to, but if it's anything like the ad after the break -- which has some downright false implications about Time Warner Cable using fiber optics "for over a decade" -- then Verizon very well might have something here. [
Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
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Redesign giveaway: HTC's new Shift UMPC
Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops
It wouldn't be quite right to put everyone through the re-acclimation process if there wasn't some giveaway gear attached, now would it? So in honor of today's makeover and the launch of Switched we're giving away a spankin' new HTC Shift UMPC. You know the details of the machine already, read the rules below for your chance to take home that $1,500 HTC-made portable.
- Leave a comment below. Feel free to shout out what you'd use this UMPC for. "Browsing Engadget" is a totally acceptable answer.
- You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
- If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine.
- Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winner will be chosen randomly. That winner will get a brand new HTC Shift. Package includes all retail hardware, but may not have manuals or software. Approximate value is $1,500.
- Entries can be submitted until Friday, April 18th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
- Full rules can be found here.
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Army brings armed robots home from Iraq over control issues
Filed under: Robots
Although other countries have
deployed gun-toting robots and there's no
shortage of companies trying to develop weaponized bots for Uncle Sam, it looks like the first test of actual killer robots in battle has ended in a whimper: the Army's
TALON SWORD gunbots, are headed home, after being plagued with control issues. Yeah, that's right --
control issues. Apparently it was too hard to prevent the Army's gun-equipped robot from moving its gun "when it was not intended to move." Reassuring, no? The Army doesn't sound too enthused about another go-round, saying, "once you've done something that's really bad, it can take 10 or 20 years to try it again." Ouch. On the plus side, at least that's 20 more years before we're all put to work in the mines, no?
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CE-Oh no he didn't! Part LV: NVIDIA boss says "We're going to open a can of whoop-ass" on Intel
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Looks like Intel's plans to enter the graphics space in a big way with its
Nehalem and
Larrabee lines strike NVIDIA CEO Jen Hsun-Huang as being rather foolish -- in a conference call with analysts today, Huang said Intel's integrated graphics offerings were "a joke," and that even a tenfold increase in performance would put them behind NVIDIA's current products. Huang didn't stop there, saying that NVIDIA was "going to open a can of whoop-ass," and that while Intel's graphics chips were fine for running Office, they would never cut it for gamers and other demanding users. Huang kept going, responding to questions about all those
driver-related Vista crashes by saying that NVIDIA had to support new games weekly while Intel's chips aren't ever put to the test. Actually, that's toning it down a bit -- what Huang actually said was "You already have the right machine to run Excel. You bought it four years ago... How much faster can you render the blue screen of death?" Yeah, them's fightin' words -- you going to sit there and take it, Intel?
[Thanks, Mike A.]
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IBM rolls out systems based on "fastest chip on Earth"
Filed under: Desktops
It's not the first time IBM has tossed around "world's fastest" language when discussing its
Power6 processors, but the company's now found reason to boast again, with it recently announcing that it's released some new supercomputers based on its new "world's most powerful microprocessor." Getting that distinction is IBM's latest Power 575 "Hydro-Cluster" supercomputer which, thanks to some nifty in-rack water-cooling measures, is able to accommodate the company's speedy new 5GHz Power6 processor. According to IBM, that processor should deliver "two-to-three times the performance per core of comparable HP or Sun processors," while still requiring only about the same amount of energy as previous Power5 processors. For its part, Sun is a bit skeptical IBM's focus on speed, with a company spokesperson telling the San Francisco Chronicle that "
it's an easier marketing message to deliver to say that faster gigahertz means a faster processor," adding that Sun instead focuses on multithreading to make its processors more efficient.
Read - IBM press release
Read - SFGate, "IBM chip is fastest on Earth"
[Via Slashdot]
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Reusable Ixp-Note makes Post-It Notes look antediluvian
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Rest assured, we've
seen some seriously
sophisticated takes on the famed Post-It Note, but Girton Labs may have the most ingenious twist of all. The Ixp-Note, which is listed as "currently in development," is little more than a recyclable, reusable Post-It with oodles of intelligence. The device relies on low-cost electronic circuit printing technology, enabling users to select a time / date via the printed scroll in which they'd like to be reminded of whatever they just jotted down on the highlighted strip. When the time comes, an alarm similar to that found in a musical greeting card will sound, jolting the memory of the note holder and potentially saving the day. As it stands, there's no telling how much each of these will cost, but considering that the battery should last at least a year, you won't have to have too many spares around, anyway.
[Via
Telegraph]
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Bizarre campaign texts parents to check for lice in kids' hair
Filed under: Cellphones
If you thought sending a SMS in order to
gain entry into a public bathroom was on the weird side, get a load of this. An outlandish campaign sparked up in the UK has been sending out weekly text messages to parents in order to remind them of the need to check for head lice on their youngsters. Cleverly coined Beat the Bugs, the program led to the discovery of six cases of lice, and when polling participants at the end of the term, the majority stated that they felt more aware about treatment / prevention and that they were now checking their kids' heads at least once per week. We can hear it now: "C'mon Jimmy, time for me to look through your locks for any critters!" "Ah, bugger."
[Via
Switched, image courtesy of
Interior Health]
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