Much like hope, love and Coconut M&Ms, sleep is one of those things that is both hard to live with and impossible to live without. But unlike the first three, it's evidently possible to throw math into the whole "shut-eye" thing. Like it's bedside-based older brother, the newly-announced Zeo Mobile includes a SoftWave wireless headband that wraps around your grey matter as you sleep, reporting on how well your brain is shutting down. Instead of the custom base-station, the data is sent straight to your iOS or Android device and syncs up with the Zeo site to give you the inside skinny on your dreaming. Best of all, the device can wake you at the peak of a sleep cycle, rather than halfway through that dream about Björk and the melting clock. Of course, if you didn't already know that mainlining Red Bull until 3am isn't healthy, then perhaps you're beyond redemption.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
iFixit busts Apple's Thunderbolt Display wide open, no creamy center inside
It's been more than two months since Apple unveiled its Thunderbolt Display, and the gadget sadists over at iFixit are just getting around to picking the thing apart -- quite literally. So what has this dive into the 27-incher revealed? Well, for starters, the iFixit crew found that the LG-made LCD display in this Thunderbolt monitor appears to be the same one found in Dell's UltraSharp U2711, though favoring a cursed glossy finish. That's also the same setup we saw in Cupertino's 2009 iMac. This teardown also features a slew of chips from the likes of Texas Instruments and Broadcom and a miniature subwoofer. For more under-the-hood discoveries and a healthy helping of disassembled Thunderbolt Display
ASUS announces Ivy Bridge PCI-Express motherboards, for early early-adopters
If you get your jollies from things like procuring motherboards months before compatible chips are released, then boy have we some good news for you! ASUS is releasing three PCI-Express 3.0 enabled motherboards that are capable of handling Intel's souped-up Ivy Bridge chips when they debut next year. The company isn't in the business of giving its boards romantic names, so the three Z68-powered arrivals will be called P8Z68-Deluxe/GEN3, P8Z68-V Pro/GEN3 and P8Z68-V/GEN3. The whole lot will get two PCI-Express 3.0 slots, LucidLogix's Vertu graphics-switching and USB 3.0. They'll be available from October -- the Deluxe model will peel €230 ($310) from the rear of your pocket, while the V-pro commands a more modest €185 ($250) and the V an even lower €160 ($220). After the break, we've got a shot of the German spec list that those nice folks at TechConnect managed to snaffle. Go on, geek out -- we won't tell.
Four Atom chips sneak out of Intel, soon to appear in netbooks and nettops
Open your IOPS to ioDrive's next-gen SSDs
We're ripe for an ioRefresh and thankfully here it is: the ioDrive2 and ioDrive2 Duo will be out from November, bringing hugely faster speeds at a much lower dollar-per-gig compared to their predecessors. The single-level cell version of the next-gen Duo (depicted above) will deliver 700,000 read IOPS, 900,000 write IOPS and a 3GB/s bandwidth that could possibly surpass OCZ's Z-Drive R4. Prices start at $6,000 and top out at something too ridiculous to mention for a maximum 2.4TB of storage. But you're an enterprise, remember, so at least try to haggle before you settle for a cheaper alternative.
iPod touch still maxes out at 64GB / $399, available in white October 12th
While the iPhone 4S takes the headlines with its dual antennas and upgraded processor, we also have a new white iPod touch joining the family. Pricing for the "#1 portable game player" (Apple's words, with some numbers to back them up) still starts at $199 for the 8GB version, going up $399 for a 64GB. All will be available in black or white October 12th. There's no hardware changes to speak of, so hopefully all those sweet iOS 5 upgrades are enough to hold you.
Toshiba Camileo x416, x400 and x200 get pricing, availability, lots of zoom
Looks like some of those Toshiba camcorders that we first caught wind of back in Berlin at IFA are hitting our neck of the woods. The Camileo x400 and x200 are now available in the States, for $299 and $279, respectively. The company will also be offering up a higher-end x416 on October 10th for $319. All three camcorders shoot 1080p video and feature a similar barrel-shaped design with a three-inch swiveling touchscreen LCD. The x416 and x400 feature similar specs, with 23x optical zoom, 120x digital zoom, on-screen video trimming and expandable memory. The x416, however, will also have 16GB of storage built-in. The x200, naturally, will have more modest specs, like a relatively paltry 12x optical zoom.
Boogie Board Rip goes on pre-order, no more tearing through notepads
The Boogie Board Rip is now available to pre-order for all your digital sketching needs. The latest stylus-friendly writing tablet from Improv Electronics adds the ability to save notes and sketches, then port them across to your computer as PDFs. Its reflex LCD only uses power when it's wiping the screen, meaning it should squeeze out a week of typical use between charges. You can reserve yours now from the maker in the US and Canada, but at $130, it's pricier than previous storage-free Boogie Boards. Europeans longing for a digital sketch pad can lay a claim to one next week, with the scribbling slate set to ship on November 1st.
AT&T goes meta: your iPhone 4S upgrade is just an app away (update)
If you're all hot and bothered by today's announcement from Apple, there'll be a new way for AT&T customers to snatch up the iPhone 4S. Later this evening, Ma Bell expects to introduce a gem into the App Store that lets users check their upgrade eligibility, and beginning Friday, October 7th, customers will be able to pre-order the A5-wielding beauty from the comfort of their current iPhone. Of course, we'll be sure to provide an update as the final details become available. Who'd have thought your current handset would play such an active role in its own demise?
Update: As expected, AT&T's Upgrader app is now live in the App Store. Just take a peek at the source link to get your download on.
Update 2: Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away -- in other words, the download has been pulled. Better luck next time? In the meantime, all AT&T customers may check their upgrade eligibility at the carrier's website.
Update: As expected, AT&T's Upgrader app is now live in the App Store. Just take a peek at the source link to get your download on.
Update 2: Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away -- in other words, the download has been pulled. Better luck next time? In the meantime, all AT&T customers may check their upgrade eligibility at the carrier's website.
Samsung teases next week's 'Unpacked,' offers a momentary glance at a mysterious device
See that image above? It's Samsung's way of being sly. The company put out a teaser video for its "Google Episode" of Unpacked occurring on October 11th (we'll be there live, by the way), stating that "something BIG is coming." And if you're not looking close enough, you may completely miss the brief glimpse Sammy gave us of a device with a curved screen. The vid doesn't go so far as to loudly exclaim that this mystery device is the Nexus Prime, of course, but c'mon -- we're picking up what's getting put down.
Camera or camcorder? JVC's hybrid GC-PX10 wants to be both
This curiously shaped fellow, with its long-barreled lens attached to a svelte body, might look familiar. It's JVC's GC-PX10, the camcorder that's also a camera. Or the camera that's also a camcorder. We're not quite sure, but here's what we do know: it'll shoot 1080p video at 60 fps, writing to SDXC or 32GB of internal memory. And it can also capture 8.3-megapixel stills at 60 fps without dropping out of video mode. If you've got the time and the inclination, you can switch into still-shooting mode, giving you full 12-megapixel pictures at 30 fps for two seconds. Exhausted by the possibilities yet? But wait, there's more. If slow motion's your game, you can fire away in 640 x 360 resolution -- at 300 fps -- for up to 2 hours. Now how much would you pay for such a plethora of pictorial options? Well, JVC's asking $900 when this ships later in October, so you've got some time to think about it.
Garmin's Forerunner 910XT sport watch begs to become your new swimming buddy
After introducing the Forerunner 610 alongside its lineup of runner-friendly watches, Garmin has introduced a new high tech gadget that's targeted to hardcore swimmers: enter the Forerunner 910XT. With a price tag of $400, it's certainly intended for the most dedicated (or affluent) athletes, but for the outlay of cash, you'll find it provides detailed metrics such as swim distance, pool lengths, along with stroke identification and count. It even goes so far as to report one's SWOLF score, which is a measure of a swimmer's efficiency (calculated as the number of strokes to swim a lap, plus the time to travel said distance). The Forerunner 910XT is water resistant to 50 meters, but it's certainly apt for use on dry land, too. For instance, it provides stats about one's elevation, heart rate and speed, and offers built-in GPS. The battery life is limited to 20 hours, although we'd imagine your endurance will give out long before that time
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