Hardcore Computer’s fully-submerged mineral oil cooled gaming PCs are now shipping, according to Intel, offering blistering performance and the kudos of having a very unusual computer.  First see back in October 2008, the Hardcore Computer Reactor Extreme’s Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, three NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 video cards (in SLI setup) and motherboard are all submerged in a non-conductive oil that keeps everything cool without requiring enough fans to blow-dry a yak.

It all works, too.  Maximum PC took a look at a pre-production unit back in December and came away amazed.  Not only are the components listed above all submerged, but the SSD storage - the Reactor Extreme comes as standard with a non-submerged Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB drive, but the optional Samsung 64GB SSD (up to three of them) gets dunked - and the power supply units (two 650W PSUs, no less).  It all drops into a custom, aluminum-cast case and an aerospace-quality transparent tank. 

Of course, all that doesn’t come cheap, and the Reactor Extreme starts at a whopping $5,837.  There are “cheaper” versions, with slower processors (down to the Core 2 Duo E8600, from $2,998) but nothing is “cheap”.  Still, bragging rights were never easy to come by.

     

Here’s one high tech and feature-rich cell phone you may not get to use outside of Japan. A Hitachi branded AU phone by KDDI Japanese cellular services featuring an IPS-enabled display with 3D capability, 5MP camera capture, CDMA 1X WIN, Bluetooth, TV tuners and eWallet functionality.

The mobile device labels WOO Ketai H001, its 845×480 screen display measures 3.1-inch in diagonal, and is based on a color-accurate and a wider viewing angles IPS panel. With a flip of a switch, the screen can display conventional 2D to virtually optimized 3rd dimensional multimedia contents.

WOOO Ketai H001 from KDDI comes with a built-in 5MP digital camera, microSD expansion slot for additional storage, supports Global Passport CDMA service, 1Seg broadcasting TV tuners, ewallet application and weights just 145 grams. It’s scheduled to launch in Japan from early Spring, but don’t hold your breath for a release elsewhere.

Samsung Electronics have put 50 nanometer’s memory technology and manufacturing processes in good uses. Developed from the new technology, higher density and more power efficient chipsets were achieved to fabricate a single stick 4GB DDR3 SDRAM chip.

Alternately, the 4GB DDR3 can be produced in a single stick 8GB small outline DIMM for laptops, unbuffered DIMM for workstations or desktops, and twice as much for server-grade dual registered memory. The same device could reach as much as 32GB module configuration with an additional dual-die package technology applied.

Additionally, the new process is also eco-friendly. In fact, similar process with smaller 2GB stick was developed back in September last year, but the new 4GB stick is estimated to have reduced 20 percent power consumption, and as much as 40 percent a 16GB modules stick. No words when Samsung will mass produce the new memory.

[by SlashGear | image by thestandard]

In case you forgot, Meizu’s iPhone-clone, the M8 will be released quite soon, probably around March. The announcement on its website states “Let's bear witness together, to the great moment of MEIZU formally entering the big stage of mobile phone industry!” The Meizu M8 is certainly a pretty looking iPhone clone, but let’s not forget that it’s based on Windows CE. Users will be overjoyed to see that it has a copy and paste function, Outlook calendar sync and a “full backup system”. If you need something to jog your memory about this phone, check out the video.

[by UberPhones | Meizu | TechFob]

Further evidence suggesting Google is preparing to launch an online file storage service called GDrive has emerged, this time detailed in a file within the company’s Google Pack.  Categorizing GDrive under “Online file backup and storage”, it goes on to describe it as “reliable storage” for files and media that can be accessed from multiple devices including cellphones.

“GDrive provides reliable storage for all of your files, including photos, music and documents … GDrive allows you to access your files from anywhere, anytime, and from any device - be it from your desktop, web browser or cellular phone” Google GDrive description

Mention of an online storage service under the Google banner was spotted earlier this month, in the latest distribution of Picassa for Mac.  More obvious than this description found among code, the Picassa reference was among the destination options under “Move to Collection”.  There, though, rather than being referred to as GDrive, the service was called “Google Web Drive”.

Google is yet to comment on the references, and remains tight-lipped on the prospect of a web-drive service.  It seems, nonetheless, an obvious path for the search giant to take; its GMail webmail service already offers users in excess of 7GB for their messages.

[by Pocket-lint | Chris Davies]

Christian Susana of Germany came up with this concept of a motor home with a detachable front car for tooling around on day trips, going to restaurants, and whatnot. Susana is calling it “Colim” for Colors of Life in Motion.

Well, at least the idea’s there. We’ll have marketing come up with a better name like the Transformobot 6000 or RoadRipper 2K9 or TravelPuncher.

The detachable cockpit has a top speed of 90 mph and the entire shebang can sleep four. It’s apparently more fuel-efficient than a traditional motor home, too. Lest you think this is merely a concept, Susana is currently looking for a company to start building these things.

[by CrunchGear by Doug Aamoth]

Back in the dark days before the internet, piracy took one form, whether software or music. It was the cassette tape, able to make hissy recordings of vinyl LPs, CDs and Commodore 64 games alike. My own nerd father used to sit at the "music center" every Sunday night for a couple of hours while the week's Top 40 was played. He wore big headphones, twiddled the analog VU meters and kept one forefinger constantly hovering over the pause button.

Now, of course, we have BitTorrent, Handbrake and all manner of other methods to help us steal bits and bytes. Which is why I'm happily surprised to see the PlusDeck Ex USB Cassette Deck, a cassette recorder which can slurp in almost everything.

It has a built in radio, a phone pre-amp for recording from vinyl turntables and a ridiculous array of inputs: USB, RCA, phono, 7.1 surround (in!), and the mysteriously named "cellphone input" and "adapter input".

There's a timer to control things when you're out and an IR remote to control them when you're in. All of this is pushed to your ears via the 7.1 surround sound output. It'll probably even hook up to an old ZX Spectrum and load Manic Miner for you. The price is a little steep, though, for something now rather niche -- it's $300. And good luck finding the tapes to put in it.

 [by Wired: Gadget Lab by Charlie Sorrel]

Fancy listening to Backspin on your iPhone? Or maybe you’d like to hear the comedy stylings of Christian Jimmy on The Virus? Soon, friends. Soon. Supposedly. On the way to the App Store, the uSirius StarPlayr, an iPhone app that lets you listen to Sirius XM on your iPhone. Fancy that.

The application has been in development for some time, and the word over at Orbitcast is that it will be submitted to Apple for approval by January 31. Considering there’s no “boobs and booty” here, I can’t see the approval process lasting too long. It’s up to Apple.

So now CBS Radio and Pandora will have a little competition. The question now becomes, how long will radio, as a business, be around? (Three months.)

Yes, we’re a little late on this new; I blame the economy, which is a convenient escapegoat for all of life’s problems.

[by CrunchGear by Nicholas Deleon]

If you thought the C905 is the best-possible Cyber-shot phone, you were wrong.  

Sony Ericsson has just released the S001 in Japan, a new Cyber-shot slider that looks to be a dream come true for any SE fan and even for any user who’s into camera phones.

Coming in a slider form factor, Sony Ericsson S001 has a big 3.3 inch OLED display with 480 x 854 pixels, and an 8.1 MP camera with autofocus, flash, smile shutter and protective lens cover. Well, what can I say, a high-res display + a high-end camera = perfect. 
 
The new phone also features mobile TV capabilities, GSM and WCDMA connectivity, GPS, Bluetooth and so on.

Sony Ericsson S001 is exclusively sold by KDDI Au in Japan, in three color versions: black, pink and green with gold. 

Now the question for Sony Ericsson is: why can’t you launch a handset like the S001 in Europe and the US too? It would almost certainly be a huge success. 

[by KDDI | Unwired View by Ilinca Nita]

Nokia announced today no less than 3 new handsets, among which Nokia 6700 classic, successor to the popular Nokia 6300 phone. The latter was a hot selling device back in 2006 when it was launched, thanks to its premium materials and build, plus neat features.

Nokia 6700 classic upgrades the 6300 with a beautiful and slim design, combining smooth surfaces, premium materials with a metal keymat, for a top notch look. The new handset features a 5 megapixel camera, assisted GPS navigation (with Nokia Maps) and support for high speed data connections, for multimedia sharing and web browsing.

The phone will be available for EUR 235, starting with the second quarter of this year.

[via GSM Dome - Mobile Phone News by Iorga]

Continuing the list of Nokia announcements comes Nokia 6303 classic, another 6300 follow-up. The freshly announced handset will retail for EUR 135, before taxes and subsidies and it’ll pack a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 2.2 inch screen and Nokia Maps.

The handset comes with an excellent battery, a 3.5 mm audio jack and a great music player.

[via GSM Dome - Mobile Phone News by Iorga]

i-mate, the Dubai-based developer of Windows Mobile devices, is reportedly preparing a breakthrough smartphone that will be presented in February, during MWC 2009.

For the moment, there’s little info about the smartphone, but, according to msmobiles, it will be “revolutionary” and “like nothing else”.

This being said, it’s possible that we’ll see a Windows Mobile 6.5 device from i-mate – since the company has a very strong relationship with Microsoft, it’s very unlikely for it to choose another OS.  And, well, WM 6.5 is just around the corner. 

Here’s a mockup, based on the i-mate Ultimate 9502:

If i-mate indeed has a killer handset to unveil, it will be joining Acer and Huawei, which both announced their intentions to come with breakthrough mobile devices at this year’s edition of Mobile World Congress.

[by Unwired View by Ilinca Nita]

Yesterday we told you about 4 new Motorola phones nearing the release date -  Motorola QA4, ZN300,VE465 and VE66 Luxury Edition.

Unfortunately very limited information about the new handsets was available. We weren’t even able to bring you the images of the darn things.

Well, today we might do a little better, since we’ve got some more info about the upcoming Motorola Zine ZN300 music slider.

As you can see from the picture it looks like an incremental upgrade to a low end Motorola Zine ZN200 handset released last year. And the few specs that we know about confirm this.

The new Motorola ZN300 will come equipped with 3 megapixel camera, QVGA display and Opera Mini mobile browser.

Well, that’s about all we know about ZN300. But we also got confirmation about another Motorola handset in their QA line.

It’s a Motorola QA1. But at this moment all we can give you are some  screenshots of it’s UI:

Which probably indicates a touch capability and what looks like a rather smallish display.

[by Mobile Review]

Motorola Prizm (or MotoPrizm), the Korean edition of Motorola Krave ZN4, has just been launched in a new and good-looking orange version.

Coming shortly after the dark grey version released in December 2008, the orange Prizm offers similar features. And no, I’m not talking about features similar to the one of Verizon’s  Krave ZN.

Motorola has blessed the Prizm with a 840 x 480 pixels touchscreen display, a 3MP camera and mobile TV capabilities.  

And these surely make it better than the Krave, which only has a 240 x 400 pixels display and a 2MP camera.

Sadly, both of the MotoPrizm versions are Korea-exclusive products. But maybe, just maybe, Motorola will soon come with an orange Krave ZN4 too.

[by NewsWire.co.kr]

The brand new T-Mobile Shadow is out today, a day earlier than we’ve expected, and it’s offered by T-Mo USA for $199 with a 2-yr contract agreement.

Since it’s manufactured by HTC, the new Shadow comes with Windows Mobile 6.1 on board, being the first WM device to support the Unlimited HotSpot Calling service from T-Mobile.

Like the old Shadow (which isn’t available anymore), the new one packs a sliding QWERTY keyboard and it’s marketed as an all in one device. 

The features and specs of the handset include:

• Quad band GSM connectivity (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz)
• QVGA display
• Wi-Fi
• Stereo Bluetooth
• 2MP camera
• Talk time: up to 7 hours
• Stand by time: up to 7 days
• 2.1 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches
• 5.3 ounces

You can get yourself a T-Mobile Shadow right away and you have the option to choose between two color versions: black burgundy and white mint.

Also on sale starting today is Nokia 7510, which is offered by T-Mobile for only $49.99 when bought with a contract for two years. You can check out the features of Nokia 7510 here.

[by Press release]

We all know the benefits of OLED and seen the figures on how much energy it saves and all that jazz, but do you know how it actually works? Well, you’re in for a treat, friend. Sit back, relax and enjoy this 4.5 minute video. The next time anyone asks what OLED is just direct them to this video. It breaks it down pretty well. It’s a shame they aren’t ready for the masses, though.

[by CrunchGear by Peter Ha ]

It looks like Mozilla is going to release an alpha version of Firefox, codenamed Fennec, for the HTC Touch Pro in "early February". That's according to the mobiles notes on Mozilla's Windows Mobile wiki page: " We are targeting a Milestone release for the first week of February, targeting the HTC touch pro". I'm not sure why the HTC Touch Pro (and not all winmo phones) is the specific target, but they might be testing Fennec with the high-resolution display. Other browsers previously had issues outside of the 320x240 resolution.

[by Ubergizmo]

The first Release Candidate of Microsoft Internet Explorer is now available for all. Progress has been made, but to be honest, we have little desire to upgrade or use it as a default web browser. At the moment, we're on Firefox 3.x and sometimes use Chrome, but IE is opened only to run stuff that wouldn't work otherwise.

Highlights: privacy settings, stability, quick searches and connections (mostly to other Microsoft services).Download here

[by Ubergizmo]

If you can’t spare $400 for the much-advanced Lumix touch-screen FX-580 or the AVCHD lite series Lumix, there’s a budget slim factor model down the line with Venus Engine IV powered DMC-FS25. It’s more affordable but not cutting down in functionalities. You’ll get the same 12.1 megapixel image sensor, 5x Leica-brand optical zoom and 3-inch large LCD screen, and in fact, a top-of-the-line FS-Series model, no less.

For $150 less, they take away the rugged armored casing, widest edge optics at 29mm and restrict video at 848×480 resolution without the AVCHD lite feature; but there more than handfuls of advanced photography features to improve your captures. The new addition of the FS lineup now includes AF tracking and Intelligent Exposure Auto Mode (iA) in addition to the standard Mega O.I.S., Intelligent ISO Control, Intelligent Scene Selector and Face Detection.

The DMC-FS25 will be available in silver, black and gold for a suggested retail price of $249.95 and like the rest of the Panasonic’s rollout, it will be available in April 2009.

Panasonic LUMIX FS25

• 12.1 effective Megapixel CCD
• F3.3-5.9, 5X optical zoom lens, equivalent to 29 - 145 mm
• Optical image stabilization
• ISO sensitivity – 80-6400
• 3-inch LCD display with 230,000 pixels
• Venus Engine IV processor
• Intelligent Auto mode (the standard version)
• Records movies at 848 x 480 (30 fps) with sound
• 50MB onboard memory + SD/SDHC/MMC slot
• Uses proprietary li-ion battery; 330 shots per charge
• Macro Zoom function lets users pull subjects even closer to capture dramatic close-up shots by using the 3x digital zoom in the wide-angle.
• Dynamic tracking function may fail to lock, lose the subject in AF Tracking, or track different subject depending on the recording conditions

[by SlashGear by Daniel Lim]

Who doesn’t enjoy a little rocket ship pr0n? Gigantic pic of the Space Shuttle cockpit after the break

The DSTL1 dual-sim Android phone from General Mobile will be launched at Mobile World Congress in a few weeks. Check out the photo gallery to see what it looks like on all sides. The star of the show is the dual-sim capability (very handy for frequent travelers). Bizarrely, there's no 3G but here are the specifications:

• Dual Sim Cards
• 624Mhz CPU
• 2.5G, GSM 900/1800/1900Mhz
• 3" display (400x240)
• WiFi B/G, Bluetooth
• 112 x 54 x 16mm, 135g
• 4.4 x 2.1 x 0.6", 0.75oz

[by Ubergizmo ]

This new ultra wide band radar system, developed by UK based company Cambridge Consultant, let the user see through walls. Only moving objects can be seen, but it can detect breathing movement or a beating heart. The software delivered with Prism 200 allows the user to remotely observe the scene in 3D view and rotate the room or building with various angle.

[by Ubergizmo]

There I was, attempting to load my iPhone with the latest Fergie/Lady GaGa/Cyndi Lauper mashup, when word came down the pipes that the mighty makers from Cupertino had passed down a morsel of mending, a reliquary of repair. In other words, new iPhone software update yo.

This latest revision is a minor one, only bumping the version number up a single digit - but that doesn’t mean jailbreakers and unlockers should dive in right away. We’re hearing reports that this new versiondoes bring a baseband modification, which likely means the exploit used by the iPhone Dev Team for the2.2 yellowsn0w update has been patched up.

2.2.1’s patch notes only promise a less finicky Safari (and boy did it need it) and a bug fix for Camera Roll’s handling of images saved through the Mail application. Chances are other minor changes are lurking - first person to find’em gets a gold star and a box of animal crackers.

[by CrunchGear by Greg Kumparak]

Yesterday, a wave of unhappy users was crashing on MemoryUp, an Android application that left many users with lost data and frozen phones. Many called it a Malware, but Google concluded that it is not: "We have investigated and determined that MemoryUp is not malware," a Google spokeswoman said in a statement. "In the versions we tested, MemoryUp cannot perform any of the malicious things it is reported to have done."

The app is no longer on the Android Market - most likely because it has been flagged by many users. But basically, the idea is that early users will be on the frontline on Android Market, something that Apple might argue won't happen with their app store, as they pre-screen iPhone applications.

[by Ubergizmo]

When I received the Garmin nuvi 880 for review, my initial reaction was a lackluster “Oh great, another GPS.” As usual, I opened it up and started using it without reading the manual. After using it for a few days, I hadn’t really changed my opinion. After reading the manual, though, and really taking advantage of what this GPS offers, my tune changed considerably.

At first blush, this is like just about any other GPS unit. You tell it where you want to go, and it tells you how to get there. The nuvi 880 supports driving, biking, and pedestrian modes, which I found interesting. It’s not exactly easy to switch between modes as you navigate through the menu to the settings, but it’s neat that you can do it at all. I used the walking directions a couple times around my neighborhood, and it did a fine job. I imagine this would be a tremendously handy feature on a trip to a new city.

Voice Commands
The big feature of the nuvi 880 is that it can be operated almost entirely through voice commands. In the package is a little widget with two buttons, one large and one small. Pressing the big button tells the nuvi 880 that you want to start speaking commands to it. Pressing the little button tells the nuvi 880 that you’re done speaking to it. In my experience, there was little occasion to actually press the little button, as the GPS will eventually stop listening for new commands after a period of inactivity.

I was reasonably impressed with the quality of the voice detection. Speaking main menu items was easy, and the unit did a fine job of recognizing street names that I said aloud. I found it very natural to speak the commands, and it’s definitely a much easier — and safer — way to use the GPS while driving.

I was initially disappointed with the little widget to activate voice commands. I long for the day when we can simply address our computers like they do on Star Trek. Until then, we’re stuck using some gadget to tell other gadgets that we want to talk to them. The widget for the nuvi 880 wasn’t intrusive, and it comes on a nice little strap. Simply wrap the strap around your steering wheel, and then you can activate the voice commands with a surreptitious press of your thumb.

Overall, I think the voice commands are a great addition to a GPS unit, and I look forward to continued innovation in this area.

Audio Player
The nuvi 880 provides about a gig of storage, and is seen as a plain old removable storage device by most computers. You can simply drop MP3 files into the Audio folder, and then listen to them using the built-in Audio Player (not to be confused with the Audible Player, which is strictly for Audible.com audio books).

The audio player reads id3 tags, and provides a functional mechanism to navigate your audio by file name, artist, genre, etc. Playback controls are a little rigid, as I couldn’t find a way to easily fast forward or rewind within a playing song.

I didn’t find the volume to be great, but that may have been largely due to my selection of MP3s. Rather than load up music, I loaded up a number of episodes of EscapePod, my favorite sci-fi short fiction podcast. Were I listening to music, I might have been content with merely adequate volume and audio quality. But listening to the podcasts, I found myself struggling to hear all the words of the story, and sometimes the sibilants weren’t played well.

I tried, briefly, to use the nuvi 880’s built-in FM transmitter to send the audio output to the car’s radio, but I didn’t have any luck finding a station that worked.

When the Audio Player is active, it places an icon on your map display, allowing you quick access to that feature without having to navigate through the main menu. This proved to be a handy shortcut on several occasions. The voice commands made it even more convenient. It was super easy to access new songs and start and stop playback.

Pictures
One of the neat features of the nuvi 880 is support for geotagged photos. You can load up a geotagged photo and then ask for directions to that location. You can find geotagged photos using http://connect.garmin.com/photos. I found the photo of the Kewpee Hamburger building in Lima, OH:

Navigating by photo is a little awkward. In the “Where To” menu, there’s no Photo option. You can access your photos from the Favorites option, but that isn’t entirely intuitive, since the photo isn’t necessarily a favorite destination. Otherwise, select “Tools” and then “Photos”. Select a photo, and a “Go!” button will become available. Select this and the nuvi 880 will plot a course.

I couldn’t find any way to string together multiple photos, as one might do were they taking a walking tour of a city. The Route planning feature of the nuvi 880 does not seem to support photos. So the photo navigation seems to be for a single destination only.

Geocaching
One of the extras available at the my.garmin.com site is geocaching. I have a couple of friends who have been into geocaching for many years, but it’s not something I’ve ever done. So I was eager to load up a few geocache coordinates and see if I could find them. The Garmin website makes it easy to locate caches and to download them to the nuvi 880.

Unfortunately, there’s no “Geocache” option anywhere in the menu. Searching for “geocache” in Garmin.com’s knowledge base didn’t produce any results, either. As near as I can tell, you can use the Garmin site to find coordinates, but then you’ll need to manually key them into the “Coordinates” option of the “Where To” menu. Downloading coordinates directly to your nuvi 880 doesn’t seem to actually do anything.

Complaints
As with the other GPS units I’ve reviewed, I found the interface to be sluggish and sometimes frustrating. The voice commands help work around this quite a bit, and I find myself being more patient when using voice commands. Maybe this is because I’m usually doing something else — like driving — so the whole of my attention isn’t focused on the response times.

Satellite acquisition was slow. It was really slow when using the unit solely on battery power. This may be a problem when trying to use the pedestrian navigation mode.

The voices on the nuvi 880 are pretty weak. I found the faux Australian and faux British accents to be the best to listen to, but even they weren’t that great. Jill, the American English voice, was just plain bad. Maybe reviewing the Mio Knight Rider GPS spoiled me.

In addition to underwhelming voices, I was disappointed by the pronunciation of many streets. I’ll forgive the voice synthesizer for mispronouncing “Bellefontaine”, and even “Olentangy”, but there’s no excuse for mispronouncing “Buckeye”. The latter is a simple word. It’s the name of a tree, and the symbol for the largest university in the U.S., so I was really disappointed when it was mispronounced. I can only imagine how pronunciations would be butchered for the many Native American inspired street names throughout the Ohio region.

My final complaint against the voices is the inconsistency in speaking numbers. For I-270, the nuvi 880 will say “Eye Two Hundred Seventy”. But for SR-315, the nuvi 880 will say “Ess Arr Three One Five”. Why does it say the whole number for one, but just the digits for the other? Does anyone in the real world actually say “Two Hundred Seventy” when speaking the name of an interstate or highway?

As indicated above, you can play MP3 files directly from the nuvi. I’ve already remarked on the volume and sound quality, which are shortcomings I can live with. But listening to an MP3 and getting directions at the same time needs some work. The volume of the currently playing song is turned down so that the directions can be said aloud. Were I listening to music, I could probably live with this; but I was listening to a podcast and the voice overlay caused me to miss significant story points. I would prefer to have MP3 playback paused entirely while navigation directions are being delivered, and then simply unpause the MP3 when done. I didn’t try the Audible Player, so maybe that function does pause playback. The assumption, though, that only music files will be played through the Audio Player seems a poor one.

[by CrunchGear by Scott Merrill]

Think of this gladiator helmet as snowboard goggles meets art. Featuring a special ribcage that ensure "the shades remain in place during use but also reduce friction from the usual support areas such as the nose-bridge and ears.

The frame comes in 3 different sizes and is adjustable through a range of rubber attachments that brace the ribs on the frame.