Brinell Powerstorage Drives Celebrate Steel, Leather, Carbon and Wood [Peripherals]
In case you’re as sick of plastic as we are, Brinell Powerstorage hard drives combine the best tech of Asian tech with the best of European craftsmanship.
German-based design group Brinell has developed a line of Powerstorage USB drives housed in materials including wood, stainless steel, leather and carbon. Ranging from 160-500GB and $284-$344, of course you can get a hard drive cheaper. But chances are it’ll look that way, too. [openpr via Newlaunches]
Posted: October 23rd, 2009
at 10:20am by Mark Wilson
Topics: Brinell, Brinell Powerstorage, Hard Drives, Powerstorage, Storage, USB, peripherals
Jabra STONE is Stone Cold Pretty
The Jabra STONE Bluetooth headset is one rock you won’t want to toss willy-nilly at glass houses or at some offending person. Jabra’s newest cell phone accessory combines great tech with ergonomically sound design and smoking good looks. The headset has approximately eight hours of talk time and thanks to the STONE’s unique shape, the time will seem to fly by. Designed for the right ear, the STONE comfortably wraps behind your ear eliminating face obstruction caused by the usual bulky Bluetooth headset. When it’s not curled on your ear, it fits snugly into its charger giving off the appearance of a smooth black stone.
Feature-wise, Jabra’s outfitted the STONE with Noise Blackout Extreme, an advanced noise-cancelling technology. Noise Blackout Extreme blocks out ambient noise while the dual microphones ensure you don’t have to shout to get your point across which is good when you’re in a crowded area. In addition, users can answer or reject calls, redial the last number called and place calls on hold via the near invisible controls on the front of the headset. STONE can also be used in conjunction with up to two Bluetooth compatible devices.
The Jabra STONE headset will be exclusively available through AT&T on November 8th for $129, It’s a little pricey, but if the sound quality is anywhere near the device’s stunning looks, it will be a worthwhile purchase. If you’re concerned about possible hardware compatibility issues, go to Jabra’s site and check out the compatibility box. If your phone is a match, you’ll get a “Yes, it will work” message with a happy face.
Via eCoustics
USB 3.0 held back by lack of Intel chipset support?
Ruh roh. A senior tech manager at a “top tier PC maker” has come out with some entirely unofficial and equally ominous thoughts on what he (or she) sees as the tough road to proliferation for SuperSpeed USB. Pointing out that the new interconnect “won’t get real traction until it gets integrated in the chip sets,” the source opines that Intel won’t be offering motherboard integration before 2011 — an assertion Intel has declined to comment on. AMD and NVIDIA have been vocal critics of what they see as purposeful delays by the Pentium maker, and if this latest scuttlebutt is accurate, their wild finger-pointing will have been at least somewhat vindicated. Although Intel did release the 3.0 controller spec eventually, this wouldn’t be the first (or probably last) time when it has been seen to drag its feet where doing so is in its interest (eh hem, Light Peak). For our money, plenty of people who’ve been waiting for the new standard to show up in machines before pulling the trigger on an upgrade will be disappointed by such news, especially as 3.0 devices are just beginning to ship.
[Thanks, Jacob]
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Peripherals
USB 3.0 held back by lack of Intel chipset support? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: October 22nd, 2009
at 9:07am by Vladislav Savov
Topics: ChipsetSupport, SuperspeedUsb, USB, Usb3.0, chipset support, connectivity, delay, intel, interconnect, peripherals, superspeed usb, usb 3.0, usb3
Apple Unleashes New Macs, Multitouch Mouse
Apple on Tuesday released a family of new Macs, including upgraded iMacs, a unibody white MacBook and Mac Minis. The newest addition to the Apple product line is a wireless, multitouch mouse.
The Magic Mouse (below), which ships with new iMacs released today, features a completely touch-sensitive top side. Multitouch gestures can trigger left- and right-click functions, as well as 360-degree scrolling.
The mouse also detects swiping gestures: Swiping left takes you back a page in Safari; swiping left and right in iPhoto browses the previous and next photos, respectively.
Apple added two screen sizes for the iMac, a 21.5-inch model and a 27-inch model. They feature new LED backlit displays with a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. The 21.5-inch model starts at $1,200 and features a high-resolution 1920-by-1080-pixel display. The 27-inch iMac starts at $1,700 and features a 2560-by-1440-pixel display, which offers 60 percent more pixels than the previous 24-inch model, according to Apple.
Priced at $1,000, the solo MacBook (top) remains white, but it gains a unibody enclosure like the MacBook Pros. It sports a 2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 13.3-inch LED backlit glossy widescreen display and a multitouch trackpad.
The Mac Mini received minor updates. There are two configurations: A $600 model features a 2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of 1066-Mhz RAM and a 160-GB hard drive. An $800 model sports a 2.56-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of RAM and a 320-GB drive. Both feature NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphic chipsets. If you want to use Mac Minis as servers, the 2.53-GHz configuration has a $1,000 option that includes Mac OS X Server and two hard drives.
Lost in the flurry of releases, Apple’s remote control received a makeover, sporting the aluminum-and-black aesthetic to match the new iMacs and MacBooks. The remote can control not just Macs, but iPods and iPhones as well. It costs $19.
See Also:
Photo: Apple
Posted: October 20th, 2009
at 12:46pm by Brian X. Chen
Topics: Accessories and Peripherals, Apple, Desktops, Mac Mini, MacBook, Macs, Notebooks, iMac, mice, peripherals
Texas Instruments CC2540 promises ultra-low energy Bluetooth
Texas Instruments is pretty chuffed with itself right about now, as it’s prepping to demonstrate a swell-sounding new system-on-chip that takes Bluetooth connectivity to the extreme reaches of low energy consumption. About to be shown off in Munich tomorrow, the new CC2540 takes up a measly 6mm-squared of real estate, and is said to be able to operate for more than a year on a single button cell battery. With the reduced physical size and embedded Flash memory, this should be easier to install and update as necessary too. Considering the battery-draining ways of current Bluetooth tech, such claims sound preposterously awesome, but we’ll keep our giddy enthusiasm in check until early next year when samples will begin rolling out. For now, you can check out the older video below ’splaining the prospective benefits in more detail.
Read – Texas Instruments press release
Read – Bluetooth low energy webpage
Read – Video explanation of Bluetooth low energy
Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless
Texas Instruments CC2540 promises ultra-low energy Bluetooth originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: October 19th, 2009
at 8:18am by Vladislav Savov
Topics: BluetoothLowEnergy, CC2540, EnergyEfficient, LowEnergy, LowPower, Texas Instruments, TexasInstruments, Wireless, bluetooth, bluetooth low energy, connectivity, energy efficient, low energy, low power, peripheral, peripherals, system-on-chip, ti
