The Asus Eee with Windows XP Home is on sale in Japan, under the name Eee 4G-X, for $470. Other than that, it is pretty much the same machine than the Linux version. If you are not familiar with the Asus Eee, here are some highlights:
SanDisk SDMX9N1024 BLUE Sansa Shaker Kids 1GB MP3 Player
The Sansa Shaker is unusually fun: Change songs with a shake, and change the volume with a twist. You can share your Sansa with a friend by either listening via the two headphone jacks, or with the unique built-in speaker. It comes with FREE stickers to put on it, and some pre-loaded songs. One AAA battery allows up to 15 hours of listening.
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Alltel has added a few new handsets that should meet the needs or desire for most. First up we have the BlackBerry Pearl 8130, which was previously available in amethyst now in a hotter red. Can we say good timing for Vaentine’s Day? Aside from the color change the specs remain the same. Next up is the LG Scoop, perfect for those who love text messaging it offers the slide-out QWERTY keyboard along with a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and Alltel’s Axcess Voice2TXT. The Scoop will be available in your choice of orange, blue or black. Finally we have the least exciting of the bunch, the Samsung Muse. The Muse is a flip-style phone that features a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, Axcess Mobile Guide with GPS capabilities, and an MP3 player with a dedicated music key.
The red 8130 is currently available for pre-order, the LG Scoop and Samsung Muse are still not available for orders, but we would expect that to change shortly.
Product [Alltel]
As an alternative to cable side-loading, Alltel Wireless has launched its first over-the-air (OTA) music syncing service in partnership with mobile media services provider mSpot.
Powered by a funky music service mSpot Remix, it basically enables mobile users to easily stream and wirelessly synchronize all the songs and playlists stored on their PCs or laptops to their mobile handset. Audio content is saved to the phone’s memory card so it can be accessed even when disconnected from the network.
While the service definitely adds value to Alltel subscribers, it has some drawbacks. For one, users must subscribe first to the network’s service called Celltop before they can use mSpot Remix. The subscription fee is $4 per month or $10 for 3 months.
Moreover, it currently works only with the MOTOROKR Z6m, curtailing the freedom of consumers to choose the mobile phone they like that is available under Alltel Wireless. Then again, this is just the first phase of this new service. The company also mentioned that mSpot Remix will be available in other Celltop capable mobile phones in the first half of 2008.
Read [Market Wire] Read [mSpot Remix]
You may recall that last May I told you about Super Hi-Vision, the next-generation in high def that promises an insane resolution of 7680×4320, or 16 times the resolution of HDTV. It turns out that it much be a little too high-def; it’s so realistic it might just make you sick.
Yes, fast moving images at that resolution will probably cause motion sickness according to the eggheads at Japan’s NHK who are developing the technology. Adding to the practical issues the format will face is that there’s no real way to cram that many lines of resolution into a display any smaller than 60 inches, and even if you could cram them into a smaller screen there’d be no point to it. You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference anyways at that point.
Despite the fact that the format isn’t expected to be broadcast until 2025, NHK has built what’s probably the sweetest home theatre setup in the world to play around with it: a 500 inch Super Hi-Vision screen hooked up to the world’s only 22.2 multi-channel surround sound system. Take that, Panasonic. [BBC]
