We caught sight of Epson's PowerLite Home Cinema 6500 UB quite a while back, but now it's available and on display at CES as the company's flagship home projector. If you've forgotten, this little beast boasts a 920 x 1080 full HD resolution, displays 1600 ANSI lumens, and a 75000:1 contrast ratio. All in all, not too bad for the $3,000 asking price.
Toshiba's added to the ever-expanding offering of 500GB external drives with its newly released HDDR500E03X. The USB 2.0, 2.5-incher is on offer in a totally sweet array of colors, and comes pre-loaded with NTI Shadow backup software. It's available now for somehwere in the vicinity of $140.
Pandigital's just announced two new digital photo frames (we like to think you can never have enough of 'em!) -- the PanTouch Clear -- which comes in both 7 and 8-inch models. The company's pushing the "floating" image theme with this pair, which boast an 800 x 600 resolution, a 4:3 aspect ratio, 6-in-1 card reader, and touchscreen interface. No word on when they're going to be available, but the 7-incher will run $119, with the 8-inch model going for $139.99.
We don't have a heck of a lot to go on here, but the above is apparently a new, 8.9-inch widescreen netbook from Exper called the Exper Style. It seems to boast standard netbook internals -- a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and an 8GB SSD-- and apparently runs Windows XP. It also costs about $470, and comes in a nearly endless range of super duper-looking colors. We're not sure about when this one will be available, but hit the read link for a video of this darling in all its glory.
Samsung Korea has announced it will reveal an ever-so-thin HDTV prototype at CES this week -- a clear trend going into the show. There's a paucity of info about it as of now, but it's going to be between 6.5 and 7mm thick -- and it doesn't appear to be part of the possible lineup we saw leaked a while back. "Thinnest HDTV" ever, huh? We'll see about that soon enough: Samsung's Vegas press conference is scheduled for Wednesday.
Lenovo's just announced their newest desktop - the IdeaCentre A600 - for all to wonder at. This puppy's got a 21.5-inch (1920x1080) HD panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio, and the PC packs a choice of Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, optional ATI Radeon graphics, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and an up to 1TB hard drive. Optional to the system is a remote control which can also be used as a game controller, a VOIP handset to make and receive calls, and as an air mouse -- that's a lot of functions! The A600 is expected to roll out in March with a starting price of $999. Check out the full press release after the break.
9to5Mac is reporting that a unibody, 17-inch MacBook Pro will be announced at Macworld, following in the footsteps of the previously released unibody 13 and 15-inchers. The rumor, backed up by some "whisperers" at Macrumors, isn't really an earth-shattering surprise -- though the accompanying revelation that this model is expected to have a slim, extended-life, non-removable battery is rather eye-opening -- and somewhat disappointing, considering the lameness of non-removable batteries. We'll know for sure on Tuesday at the keynote.
Update: Apple Insider is now independently confirming the imminent arrival of the unibody 17-incher, and also corroborating the fixed internal battery theory.
Read - Apple 17-inch MacBook Pro to go Unibody, sans removable battery (Silver-Zinc replacement?) Read - 17" Unibody MacBook Pro with Non-Removable Extended-Life Battery? Read - Sources: 17-inch MacBook Pro, NVIDIA Mac mini due shortly
Looks like we'll all get our first good look at Vuzix's newest head-mounted display -- the Wrap 920AV -- at CES in a few days. They're apparently very similar to the company's previous offering, though they boast a totally fresh appearance. Vuzix promises that the optics have been improved and will offer a better viewing experience, but we don't have any other specifics about the device yet. We'll definitely check them out in Vegas, but we have to say: the Geordi La Forge look was way better than the new wrap-shades, guys.
Sure, it might be a little more cumbersome than your current billfold -- but whatever -- this is awesome. This SNES cartridge has been modded so that it holds a photo ID on the front plate, but it's also been gutted of its internals and outfitted with a hinge so that there's storage space on the inside. Oh, and it's got an LED that can be powered on and off, plus it plays game music / noises! Crazy, right? Well, it's slightly complicated to build one of your own, but Instructables has the details, should you want to give it a whirl. Ask yourself this: what better way is there to spend New Year's Day?
Jaybird's just unleashed their products for 2009, with updates for their athlete-targeted A2DP Bluetooth Stereo Claws. The new ones (which look exactly the same as their previous models) feature apt-X audio compression, giving these puppies a high sound quality the company says will "rivaling wired" ones, plus new tips for sound isolation and a modified design to fit a wider range of ears. The company's also rolling out new metal-cased Tiger Eyes earbuds and over ear Acoustic Dens. We don't have any word on pricing for this stuff, but we'll get an up-close gander at them at CES and they should be available in April... when our Go-Go's-infused work outs should get a little more high def. Check out the other two products after the break.
Update: Just got word that the company will release all three of the above with tweaked product names, and we also got the pricing info: Freedom Wireless Headphones will run you $129.99, the Tiger Eyes Earbuds will be $99.99, and the Endorphin Earphones will also be $99.99
We'll be straight with you: trusting something like this to keep you awake in serious situations seems like a bad idea. Iconic's "Wake Up" is apparently a plastic "thingie" that you wear behind your ear somewhat in the style of a hearing aid, which then vibrates if you slouch over -- the assumption being that you've passed out in the midst of doing something important. We're pretty sure that a lot of people can totally fall asleep anytime, anywhere, without even closing their eyes, let alone slumping over dramatically enough for this iPosture clone to catch wind of it. Regardless, we doubt the "Wake Up" functions as advertised, but it's worth a shot if Krueger's breathing down your neck, and probably worth the $17.65 asking price.
Brando's new USB Wireless Keypad is probably just what you're looking for, if you're looking for a wireless keypad, of course. It's got the standard keypad keys, 13 hotkeys, and a totally sweet built-in trackball. It's no Optimus Aux, or anything, but we imagine this pad will be best put to use whilst counting huge piles of coins (or any hard currency) in a public library or adding up intense columns of figures on the subway. 3,700 coppers and it's yours.
We've seen some goofy looking PS3 accessories -- including Sony's recent Wireless Keypad for the PS3 -- but this one looks like a little bit of crazy mixed with a dab of mediocrity. A product of unknown make, the creatively dubbed "PS3 3-in-1 Wireless keyboard controller remote" certainly looks like it could function in a mind-blowingly awesome fashion -- though we haven't yet gotten our hands on an actual unit yet, so we can't say for sure. It's available now for an inviting $28.52.
Dr. Hiroshi Shimizu of Tokyo's Keio University has been working on his Eliica eight-wheeled electric car since 2003, but the Japanese government's interest in fuel-efficient vehicles has rekindled his efforts, and he's currently, um... on a roll. The current Eliicas, of which there are currently two, run on lithium-ion batteries and each wheel is driven by a 60 kilowatt engine. The auto's got a top speed of 230 miles per hour, and Shimizu's group of engineering students eventually hope to reach 250 miles per hour with new models. The team is currently trying to raise a bunch of money to build 200 of these, which cost somewhere in the realm of $255,000 each. We wish them luck in their endeavors, but can't imagine Syd Mead's going to be pleased there's another futuristic-hearse designer entering the market.
