Our pals over at AkihabaraNews come across a wide range of odd gear, but this phone from chronic Laptop maker Toshiba is rather interesting. Apparently this Twinkie shaped device is a mobile phone, USB thumb drive, and digital audio player with 160MBs of integrated memory. It features HSDPA for 3G and a very small OLED screen. It comes in silver, black, and red. There’s no word on if and when it will be available in Europe or the States.

written by Tyler Regas

If you’ve been hankering for a SIM but don’t want a phone to go with it, you’re in luck. AT&T is now offering a phoneless SIM item for sale for US$10. They knock US$5 off of that, too. You tie it to a pre-paid plan or one of the usual plans with a 2 year contract, and off you go. In the compatible phone section they only specify GSM 800MHz and 900MHz capable handsets, that it not be stolen, and that it either be globally unlocked or an Cingular/AT&T phone, but they don’t explicitly exclude the iPhone.

written by Tyler Regas

Yes, I’m placing this one in the rumor mill. A Gizmodo tipster apparently dropped the news that Lenovo is preparing the ThinkPad X300 which will apparently give the Apple MacBook Air a run for its money. Of course, Lenovo’s (formerly IBM’s) ThinkPad line has always been developed with the enterprise use in mind, and the X series has usually delivered. Based on the leaked specs, the X300 aims to deliver, as well. 13.3″ 1440×900 LED backlit display, 2.5 pounds curb weight, dual core Merom Santa Rosa 2.0GHz CPU with an 880MHz FSB, up to 4GBs of RAM, and a 64GB SSD-HD standard. If this rolls, it will be at US$3,000. That’s my bet.

written by Tyler Regas

I have to say that I’m a little disappointed in the MacWorld Expo 2008. Sure, its usually primarily a platform for Apple to kick off big new initiatives, partnerships, hardware, and software, but it is an expo, which means there are lots of vendors who exhibit on the show floor. True to that spirit, there were a lot of exhibitors, but not a lot of interesting stuff came out of them. As you can see from our CES coverage, MacWorld simply didn’t measure up. Continue reading »

written by Tyler Regas

According to AppleInsider sources, the new MacBook Air’s battery can be replaced in around 3 minutes by a skilled technician, possibly 10 by anyone with a size-0 Philips screwdriver. Apparently you just pop off the cases bottom, unscrew the battery, and unplug it from the motherboard. Apple will be selling replacement batteries for US$129, which is an industry standard price. So, despite the lack of a battery bay door, this doesn’t seem too bad, after all.

written by Tyler Regas

I’m not normally surprised by odd behavior as I am often willing to partake in it myself a little too often, but when I came across Crumpler’s MacWorld Expo press release today I was thrown for a loop. Crumpler, you see, makes bags for laptops, electronics, camera gear, and Messenger bags. They are at MacWorld to announce some new bags in The Squirrel line, namely the IT Apprentice, Winston Fleece, Software Engineer, Reginald Transfer, and Harry Hoard models. Hunh? A look at their website is even more confusing. Here’s the description from their Moderate Embarassment model:

Oh dear, oh deary me, oh yes, oh no, okay – you need to put that thing away, yes, hmmm, it’s soooo ugly – You carried that for nine months, baby? Ooohh…

I’ll just put it this way… When you load the site (and I caution you to think about this before doing so) there is a red button and a chain. Push the red button and the site is splattered by what must be feces. Pull the chain to get a flushing sound and the “feces” goes away. There’s really nothing untoward about the site, really. Its just very, very, very weird.

written by Tyler Regas

At the MacWorld Expo today, iDictate spin-off QuickTate has announced a new speech-to-text service which will convert voicemail messages into text which are then delivered to their mobile phones or desktop computers. It can also translate into English or Spanish. The service is currently in beta, though they appear to be taking on testers who apply now.

written by Tyler Regas

Sure, I’m cheap. These are from the Apple site, but hey. I’ve got nothing better to do right now other than geek out on the latest Apple gadge. Here’s a tease. More on the next page.

Continue reading »

written by Tyler Regas

Ok, here are the details so far. Jobs has officially announced an ultraportable MacBook called the MacBook Air, just as predicted. Unlike any other ultraportable, however, the Air is sick mad woot. 0.76″ thick on the fat end and 0.16″ thick on the thin end and weighing only 3 pounds. Jobs pulled the damn thing out of a manila envelope! 13.3″ LED backlit display. Backlit version of the keyboard from the MacBook. iSight camera. Multitouch gesture trackpad. 1.6GHz to 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo CPU. 80GB 1.8″ hard drives, with an optional 64GB SSD. 2GBs of RAM, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, one USB 2.0 port, Micro DVI, headphone jack, Magsafe port, and an optional USB SuperDrive for US$99. Available in two weeks.

US$1,799. As many pictures as I can manage as soon as possible. WOW!

written by Tyler Regas

If by something in the air, Jobs means that there will be a lot of bits moving wirelessly, then the banners are accurate. First up is the iPhone and iPod Touch updates. Among a range of other things, you can now customize your home screen and Google Maps now features the ability to locate you. It uses cell tower triangulation and Skyhook’s Wi-Fi access point positioning technology to pin you down. Neat. What’s not neat is that iPod Touch users will have to pay US$20 for the privilege. Feh.

Then there’s Time Capsule again. The 500GB model is US$299 while the 1TB model is US$499. Pretty slick indeed.

iTunes movie rentals will be from all major studios. The films will become available 30 days after DVD release and be available to watch for 24 hours. Older movies will be US$2.99 while first release films will be US$3.99. You can also watch them on anything that can run or work with iTunes.

Apple TV also gets an update, which Jobs is calling Take 2. I’m not sure if that’s some kind of official name or what. The update now gets the ability to stream SD or HD with 5.1 surround directly to the Apple TV unit. No more compy required.

written by Tyler Regas