Online latest technology news

Panasonic Japan announced a video-conferencing system today called the KX-VC500 that allows you to use HD-quality screens for communicating. This is really pretty cool and takes the entire idea of video conference to a new level of sophistication.

These connections will be made over the web and allow for HD-quality video to be sent both ways. However, a microphone and a camera do no come with the unit, meaning you have to use an HD camera of your own choosing.

You can use the unit with any HD screen. It has an RGB interface and two HDMI ports. A remote control is included. Only set to be available in Japan at the moment, you’ll be able to get your hands on the KX-VC500 starting on October 1. Pricing is not yet known.

Most people are concerned about the safety and security of their electronics items, so it makes sense that Kensington has released the MicroSaver DS Keyed Ultra-Thin Notebook Lock to help you make sure your sensitive files are kept under wraps.

But this thing is super sleek and not bulky like many other versions. It’s still strong, however and uses a disk-style keyed locking mechanism. You just attach the lock to the security slot that most notebooks have.

Included with the lock is a rubber tie, letting you keep the cord tucked away when not in use. You can get the MicroSaver DS Keyed Ultra-Thin Notebook Lock now for $54.99.

One of people’s primary complaints about the third-generation iPod shuffle was the overall lack of controls. However, Scosche has offered a remedy to this problem by introducing their tapSTICK case.



The tapSTICK acts as both a case and a control panel for the iPod shuffle. You can plug it into the iPod’s headphone jack, which positions volume and track selection buttons right on top of the device for easy access.

This eliminates the need for Apple-specific earbuds, which can be hard on the ears for some. It also allows you to use headphones that just normally wouldn’t work with the headphone jack. It’s comes in black and will be available in July for $29.99.

OCZ has announced another solid-state drive option today with their Agility series. It’s super fast and cost-effective, which is a hard balance to strike, yet somehow the company has managed to do just that.



The Agility series has a faster speed than the basic Solid series and is based on MLC or multi-level cell storage. In fact, the read speed can reach upwards of 235MB/sec and the write speed is about 135MB/sec. Not the fastest in the world, but pretty impressive nonetheless.

It can also withstand 80MB/sec for prolonged writing. This 2.5-inch SATA drive will work with just about any notebook or desktop computer. It’s available in several capacities including 30GB, 60GB and 120GB models. Pricing has not yet been revealed.

It looks, judging by these images, like someone has been faxing something they shouldn’t have, but when the leak is a detailed spec-sheet for the BlackBerry Tour 9630 we won’t quibble over it coming on thermal paper. According to MobileSyrup’s source, the Tour 9630 will arrive on Canadian carrier Bell in mid-July, bringing with it an HVGA 480 x 360 display, 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with flash, quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 2100MHz UMTS/HSPA and 800/1900MHz EVDO Rev.A.



There’s also GPS and A-GPS, a 35-key QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth 2.0, 3.5mm headset port and microUSB port. No sign of WiFi, but you do get a microSD card slot (under the battery cover), 256MB of internal memory and a 1,400mAh battery.

The whole thing measures 112 x 62 x 14.2 mm and weighs 130g. While we’re excited for our friends up in Canada, we’re perhaps a little more keen to see whether - as the leaked inventory details suggest - the BlackBerry Tour 9630 arrives on Verizon Wireless in the US on July 13th.

It may look odd, but this ergonomic keyboard promises to free up your desk from the tyranny of your mouse. Well, from the tyranny of a separate mouse, anyway; the handiwork of an Australian inventor, the Combimouse turns the right-side of the keyboard into the mouse itself, using cleverly placed contacts to figure out when you’re trying to use it to to control your cursor.In mouse mode, the I, O, J, K, L and < buttons all become mouse buttons, while there’s a scroll-wheel on the bottom right-hand corner of the left keyboard half. There are also multimedia keys and a numeric keypad accessed with a num-lock button.

According to the inventor, the Combimouse makes spreadsheet data entry, FPS gaming and general computing more straightforward; you can also use just the right-hand mouse portion with a laptop keyboard, as shown in this photo. Unfortunately they’re still looking for hardware and manufacturing partners, so right now the Combimouse isn’t available to buy.

The PSP Go! is shaping up to be great, but it doesn’t have a full QWERTY keyboard, does it. Acidmods forum member folklord36’s PSP Laptop does, though, courtesy of an Xbox Chat Pad, together with relocated speakers, LED lighting and more.



The screen section is a customized Joytech visor, which conveniently has the same finish as the PSP, and here donates its super-sturdy hinge that can be positioned at anything up to 180-degrees. That takes the LCD and the PSP’s original speakers, which are repositioned to the large holes either side. Normal earphone fabric covers them up.

Meanwhile the rest of the PSP - now with the QWERTY keyboard - remains on the bottom, only with some new LED lighting. A custom flat cable extension connects the LCD ZIF port to the screen itself. No word on how long it took him, nor how much he spent, but this is certainly a unique PSP.

You’d think we’d seen every form factor and possible processor combination from Computex already, but III have still managed to surprise us. Their hybrid system combines the base of an HP Mini 1000-series netbook, from which the Intel Atom processor has been junked and replaced with a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M CPU. Meanwhile the display has been replaced with a detachable touchscreen slate, with its own processor, and running Android. The two can be used separately.


The slate functions as a full standalone touchscreen device, running on a 533MHz Samsung ARM-based CPU, and allows for full wireless connectivity and all the usual Android apps. The base section uses the slate as a display, and runs Windows XP - that means the usual range of productivity and office apps will work fine.

Right now it’s a prototype, with III (the Institute for Information Industry in Taiwan) looking for partners to commercialize the idea. It reminds us of the Always Innovating Touch Book, though of course that only has computing components in the slate-screen section.

ITG’s xpPhone was one of the more curious prospects for Computex - something with the form-factor of a MID but resolutely intended to be used as a cellphone - and jkkmobile stopped by to check it out. The xpPhone certainly tries to fit in as much as possible: SSD up to 64GB in size, multiple wireless options including Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G and WiMAX, and an AMD mobile processor.

Contrary to our initial expectations, ITG didn’t cut down the number of buttons on the xpPhone’s keyboard; that’s perhaps because the device is considerably larger than we first envisaged. The 4.8-inch touchscreen is swaddled by a thick bezel, and as you can see in the video it’s a chunky device.

We can’t imagine holding the xpPhone to our head and using it as a traditional smartphone, but with a Bluetooth headset it might be more practical. An estimated five hours of battery life is always welcome, but we’re unconvinced overall; this seems a little too much like the jarring mash of device-types that has led MID sales overall to be disappointing.

Nothing like a new niche to get the concept artists salivating, but this time it’s Freescale Semiconductor who are working on possible Smartbook designs. The company has commissioned six prototypes, ranging from the touchscreen-slate-with-QWERTY-ears you see here to a modular mini-notebook and a leather-clad clamshell.



The concepts are the work of industrial design specialists SCAD, and don’t appear to have reached hardware stage yet. Instead, the renders suggest the different directions the Smartbook platform - which uses ARM-based processors and boast super-long battery life - might go in, to cater for different usage patterns.

In terms of working hardware, the prototypes are slightly less impressive. Freescale have been demonstrating the Wistron N900z, a more traditional netbook-style design in which the most exciting aspect is perhaps its tipped sub-$200 price.

If you regularly miss phonecalls because your TV or music is turned up too loud, or you want to avoid that desperate hunt-for-the-remote before the answerphone picks up, the TV Silencer may be for you. It may not be pretty, but it can automatically mute your TV or stereo, or even pause your DVD, whenever a call comes in.


Basically, it’s a very specific programmable remote, which you teach how to hit the mute buttons on your TV and stereo together with the play button on your DVD player. It’s of no use to cellphone users, though, only landlines, but if you’ve got an elderly relative who turns their TV up so high they drown everything else out, it could be a useful gadget.

Neatly, the TV Silencer draws its power from the phoneline, rather than from a separate power cable, so in effect the phone company are paying for you to use it. If that’s not a bargain, I don’t know what is. The TV Silencer is available now, priced at $44.95.

Ethernet over powerline is nothing new - many users are already taking advantage of their mains cabling to avoid stringing Cat5 around the house - but HDMI over powerline is less common. Averlogic wants to change all that; they’ve been demonstrating their 1080p H.264 streaming system at Computex, allowing high-definition video to be squirted through mains cabling.

One transmitter can simultaneously stream to three separate receivers, each of which can output via HDMI, composite or component connections. The transmitter itself has three HDMI inputs and one set each of composite and composite, and everything can be remotely controlled at the viewing end.

Streamed media can be up to 1920 x 1080 at 24p or 60i, together with 5.1 surround sound, and Averlogic claim it has a roughly three-floor, 300m range with 200Mbps data rate. The system is also compatible with the HomePlug-AV and HD-PLC standards. No word on when we could expect to see Averlogic products on shelves, though.

BenQ have become the latest netbook manufacturer to throw their hat into the Android netbook ring, as well as confirming their plans to produce smartphones running the open-source OS. The new hardware should arrive on the market sometime in 2010, though BenQ are keeping specification details for both netbook and smartphone close to their chest.

The company recently announced their latest netbook, the JoyBook Lite U121, which offers either Windows XP or a Linux OS. Based on Intel’s Atom Z520 processor, it’s unclear whether BenQ’s Android netbook will similarly use the Intel range of chips or take advantage of one of the low-power ARM-based CPUs that have been shown to be powerful enough to load Google’s platform.

Acer recently confirmed that they would be offering a dual-boot Android/XP netbook in Q3, seeking to distribute the machine through partnerships with carriers. An ASUS Eee PC based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and running Android was also demonstrated at Computex.

MIDs a failure? No no no, how could that be when this little beauty is headed to the market? Known here as the Compal KAX15 MID, but likely to find itself a variety of alternative brands including Gigabyte and Aigo, it’s based on Intel’s existing Menlow platform and packs an 800MHz Atom Z515 processor, a 4.8-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard.



That processor is actually quite clever, because despite the relatively low billed clock speed it also supports 1.2GHz bursting. While running at 1.2GHz would generally produce too much heat and have too great an impact on battery life, bursting-compatible applications will be able to poke the Z515 into running at the faster speed until the CPU’s controller decides things are getting too hot.

There are also dual cameras, front and back. Squinting at the product spec in the video below (courtesy jkkmobile), it looks like the KAX15 has 512MB of RAM, runs Windows XP (though the press shots have an Android-esque status bar across the top) and have WiFi and Bluetooth. No word on specific launch dates or pricing, but at least the Compal KAX15 will land before Moorestown.

Next Monday Apple kick off their 2009 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), and first thing on the schedule is one of the most eagerly anticipated keynotes of the year. Apple is expected to announce a new, third-generation iPhone, and SlashGear will be live-blogging the whole keynote from 10am PT on Monday June 8th 2009.

Amid the speculation there’s talk of a front-facing camera for video calls, an FM transmitter for squirting music through your car stereo, and a higher resolution camera. We’ve just seen what are purported to be leaked photos of the new iPhone, which show off the tweaked casing and shifted headphone port; there’s also talk of three different iPhone models, with varying degrees of data connectivity tailored to different markets, in multiple colors.

Whatever gets announced, SlashGear will be there when Phil Schiller takes to the stage on Monday and we’ll be using our homegrown no-refresh-needed Live Blog system to bring you all the details.

Is this a photo of the new iPhone? It’s a question we’ve asked surprisingly few times over the past couple of weeks, given the proximity to Apple’s WWDC on Monday (which SlashGear will be live-blogging at http://live.slashgear.com/) and the spate of rumors throughout May. Now, a Spanish site has released what are claimed to be shots of the upcoming model, complete with shifted ports, new controls and a tweaked chassis.


As well as a different shape to the casing, and an apparent matte finish as has been rumored, the “leaked” photos also show a fascia redesign with two slots at the top of the handset. There’s also a discrete LED indicator embedded in the front panel.

The headphone socket has also seemingly moved, from the top edge of the handset down to the bottom as on the iPod touch, and there appears to be a button on the lower right-side edge of the handset that, given similar controls on other cellphones, could be a camera button. The lower slot on the fascia could be front-facing camera, its been suggested, with the LED an indicator as on the iSight webcam embedded into MacBook notebook displays.

Your dreams of an oversized wrist-mounted computer are one step closer to reality this week, as Universal Display Corp and LG Display demonstrate their curved OLED panel at the SID expo. A 4-inch display running at QVGA resolution, UDC and LG expect the OLED - which requires just 1W of power - to be worn like a watch, hence the rather intimidating rubber cuff.

What exactly it might do - aside from show photos of luscious greenery - is obviously left up to manufacturers adopting the curved panel. A 320 x 240 resolution display capable of 1.67m colors and 100ppi seems somewhat wasted on telling the time and being used as a wearable digital photo frame, but who are we to judge.

Brightness is 100 cd/m2 and contrast is 1,000:1; the panel itself is 0.3mm thick, with a steel substrate to protect it. Despite that, it only weighs 8g, and can be bent to a curvature radius of up to two inches. No word on when it might go into production.

We’ve seen multiple Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) over the past week, as Computex brings the latest hardware out of the woodwork, but is the whole endeavor an exercise in futility? According to sources at manufacturers, sales of Intel-based MIDs have been just 30,000 units, far less than Intel’s own predictions of 150,000 to 200,000 units.

The sources have suggested that global purse-tightening in the face of a middling economy and “slow-building popularity” of 3G applications are to blame for the significant shortfall. Intel was pressured to sell Menlow platform chips, initially expected for MIDs, to netbook manufacturings to recoup its investment.

Intel have declined to comment on the sales speculation, as its official Q2 results are imminent, but has re-stated its belief that the MID segment - and other internet-focused devices - has great potential and will remain a target. The company revealed more details of its next-gen Moorestown platform this week, which will likely ship in 2010, and be aimed at MIDs. It also revealed five hardware designs, with screens ranging in size from three to five inches, that would be among the first to deliver Moorestown.