Gadgets Blog

RadiSys announced its Procelerant Z500 Atom-based computer-on-module (COM) which is able to run Windows CE as well as Windows XP Embedded, and is meant to be used in battery-powered handheld devices. The Procelerant Z500 measures 3.4″ x 2.75″ and is just about the smallest COM I’ve ever seen without compromising on compliance with the COM Express standard’s pinout. It will use either a 1.1GHz Atom Z510 with 400MHz frontside bus or the 1.6GHz Atom Z530, with 533MHz frontside bus, featuring 1GB of RAM and has a microSD memory card slot to boot. Other features include :-

• Display: LVDS up to 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, SDVO up to 1280 x 1024
• Networking: Gigabit Ethernet
• 8 x USB 2.0
• SATA
• Expansion: 2 x 1-lane PCI Express

The Procelerant Z500 works with Windows XP Embedded, Windows CE 6.0, and Linux platforms.

Don’t you just hate it when your body does not get enough sleep, only to have the pesky alarm clock wake you up in the mornings? The Throw Alarm Clock helps alleviate some of that high blood pressure and morning frustration, as it can only be turned off it you bounce it or throw it against a solid barrier like a wall. I’d make sure there isn’t anything fragile in the vicinity though as one’s aim while still drowsy isn’t exactly the best. You will be able to choose from cricket, golf and football (soccer) designs. Each of these alarm clocks come with the time, date, an LCD display and an alarm/hourly chime (if desired). Get yours today for £9.95.

Fancy an iphone but can’t get enough of Windows Mobile? The fine folks in China have a solution for you. It’s a Windows Mobile 6.0-based phone with a tremendous amount of features including two cameras, bluetooth, WiFi, integrated GPS, and more. I can’t seem to locate a name for it other than “Windows6.0 mobile phone”, but the specs look pretty fantastic. See below:

- Platform: TI OMAP 850
- OS: Windows mobile pocket PC 6.0, 26 Language supportable
- RF work frequency: GSM/EDGE;GSM900/DCS1800/PCS1900
- TFT 3.2″ QVGA 240X320 Screen
- Front 0.3M pixels,Rear 2M pixels CMOS high resolution cameras
- 1GB+512MB(DDR) system memory
- Bluetooth 1.2 build-in, A2DP, Stereo Bluetooth earphone configurable
- GPS Navigation system built-in,WIFI wireless accessing the Internet
- Microsoft Office with Outlook,Word,Excel,PPT,Html ,etc. Doing business anywhere
- Schedule,Music,Pictures,Name cards functions and can synchronize with PC by ActiveSync4.5
- Windows media player, 2G Flash card is supportable, bringing rich amusement
- JAVA games, multi-player playing by Bluetooth
- Internet Explorer high speed Internet surfing, stock market all in a glance, MSN,QQ mutual chatting.
Stock online,Skype,Network TV, etc more than 300 third party plug-in

Unfortunately, they chose a processor that we found to be sluggish when we reviewed the ASUS P527, but they seem to have loaded the device with 1GB of memory, so it should perform pretty well.

My guess is that this is not an officially sanctioned Windows Mobile product, but if you’ve got $355 to throw down, why not pick one up and give it a go.

Check out the device or purchase it directly at ECVV.com.

Worried about how much that new iPhone will set you back this June? Well, according to Fortune, AT&T is hoping to ease such price-related concerns by offering a $200 rebate or subsidy for those who sign two-year contracts.

If our math is correct (and Apple keeps the same pricing scheme), that should bring the final price of the 3-G iphone down to $200 and $300 for the expected 8- and 16-GB versions. Not bad if you can stomach a two-year commitment.

Unfortunately, the $200 subsidy will supposedly be limited to AT&T customers and won’t be available through any of Apple’s stores, which seems a bit odd to us. For those already in the midst of contracts, the rumored rebate scheme also doesn’t make much of a difference. Ultimately, Fortune’s masked insider says we can expect the device to go on sale sometime around the one-year anniversary of the original iPhone debut: June 27 or thereabouts. He or she also claims the new iPhone will be 2.5 mm thinner than the 11.7 mm original and will also come with a GPS chip, possibly to track all the bullshit rumors about the next iteration of the iPhone.

[Fortune’s Techland Blog]

WiebeTech’s new UltraDock might not have the simple elegance of the Stage Rack, but it more than makes up for that in features. The concept is the same: you hook the UltraDock up to a raw hard drive and then connect it to a computer. But where the Stage Rack offers only SATA to USB 2.0, WiebeTech’s box will output to Firewire 400 (1 port) and 800 (2 ports), USB 2.0 and eSATA and take inputs from both SATA and ATA (for your old IDE drives).

Pretty? Nope. Useful? Hell yes. Just make sure you don’t mix it up with WiebeTech’s other product, the remarkably similar looking Drive eRazer. $200.

Product page [WeibeTech]

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 8:14AM

One of the most surprising things about the launch of an ultra-portable laptop dubbed “Air” by Apple wasn’t its thinness but the lack of an embedded WWAN radio. No more, at least if you’re not intimidated by smoldering solder and warranty violations. Jordan Bunnell has posted a step-by-step of his success at integrating a Verizon USB727 Aircard into the macbook air chassis thanks to the MBA’s previously unused USB controllers discovered on the system board. While the EVDO signal (and speed) has appreciably degraded from its externally attached origins, Jordan is still pulling 1,400 to 1,700kbps downloads and 380kbps uploads — something which might be improved with antenna tweaks. Regardless, those speeds are significantly faster than the 0kbps stock MBA owners experience.

[Thanks, Tom]

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Filed under: Laptops

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 10:06AM

Because history has proven that hard drives must get smaller and more capacious, Verbatim went and released the 500GB 2.5-inch SmartDisk HDD. Despite claims from others, Verbatim says this marks the first available 9.5mm Z-height 2.5-inch hard disk. The drive is made up of three 166GB platters striped with Perpendicular Magnetic Recording at 5400RPM. With enclosure, it weighs in at less than 6 ounces and measures 3.38-inches by 5.38-inches by 0.63-inches in both USB and USB / FireWire combo versions. Expect it this summer for under $300.

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Filed under: Storage

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 7:43AM

Go on, admit it — your day in the early 90s was never complete without reaching down in public and giving those Pumps a solid squeeze. In all honesty, we can’t say that Ki-Seung Lee’s Airboard is quite on that level, but it’s certainly got the potential to be. This laptop stand was designed to reside in your lap or on your hotel room table and give each individual user the ability to elevate it as he / she sees fit. Of course, the usefulness would really take a hit if this thing takes five minutes to get good and inflated, but we could certainly see this becoming ergonomist-approved should it ever hit retail.

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Filed under: Laptops, Peripherals

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Apr 28th 2008 at 7:50PM

This unlocked Blackberry 9000 was spotted on eBay just before the auction mysteriously ended. The seller says the phone is unlocked and will “Not be released until August 2007″ — we’ll guess he / she is a little unclear as to what year it is. However, said seller promises that this particular unlocked phone is actually in stock now and ready to ship for the lucky winner. Listed features (according to this auction) include: 3G, Edge, WiFi, and Bluetooth, as we’ve seen elsewhere. There’s no telling how legit this is, and the seller clearly pulled the auction for some unknown reason, but there do seem to be at least a few of these floating around. Peep the pictures in the gallery below for some photographic evidence.

[Thanks, Ezra]

Gallery: blackberry 9000 spotted on eBay

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Filed under: cellphones