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Well, it looks like folks in search of an alternative to Viliv's S5 MID now have another option -- in China, at least, where Tainell has just rolled out its new T500 handheld. Like the S5, this one packs a 5-inch display and the usual Atom Z510 processor, along with some decent enough specs all around, including 1GB of RAM, a 32GB SSD, a built-in webcam, integrated Bluetooth, GPS, and 3G, and Windows XP for an OS. No word on a price just yet, unfortunately, let alone any indication of a release outside of China.

According to a "reliable" source cited by Netbook News, the mobile phone manufacturer / adorable couple known as Sony Ericsson is looking to follow Nokia into the netbook (or is that "smartbook?") market. There's not much more to this story at present, although it does make sense -- so we'll take it, with the proverbial grain of salt. And while we're on the subject.

Eagerly waiting to change that drive password within the system BIOS on your fancy new X25-M G2 solid state drive? Good news, storage junkies -- today you can. After Intel saw its next-gen SSD launch party hit a snag with an off-the-wall quirk that could cause data corruption for those who altered or disabled a drive password within the system BIOS, the company has finally come forward with a firmware update that solves the dilemma, along with world hunger, "the economy" and an undisclosed amount of other universal pains. Hit the read link for instructions on how to update your drive, but don't blame us if every precious memory you've ever collected goes down in flames during the process. Just kidding.

In a presumed effort to shake up the Japanese wireless industry and provide consumers with 3G-equipped PCs that aren't tied to multi-year contracts, Hewlett-Packard has quietly announced a deal with Japan Communications that will allow its machines to be sold with SIM cards that can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis. For those unaware, JCI leases network space from NTT DoCoMo, and as part of the agreement, HP will not only get to choose which devices can connect, but it'll get to keep a nice slice of the mobile data revenue as well. Here's the crazy part: the initial wave of netbooks will be sold for between $50 and $100 sans contract. That's about what users pay in America now for subsidized WWAN-ready netbooks, but there's a two-year contract tagging along. If all goes well, we could even see full-sized laptops, smartphones and digital cameras hop on the same bandwagon, but for now, we'll be keenly watching how brisk sales are when things kick off next month.

Details are exceedingly light (almost dangerously light, in fact), but the Modula color therapy lamp is simply too soothing to overlook. The three-ringed lamp is built with a slew of multi-color lights (LEDs, we're guessing), all wired up to be controlled via Bluetooth. The video demonstration shows a Sony Ericsson W880i doing the dirty work, but there's no indication of how exactly end users are supposed to accomplish the color changing once it arrives. Those in the camp of "buy now, ask questions later" can get their pre-order in through the read link, but considering that only an EU-friendly 230V version is currently available, those on this side of the pond will need to invest in some serious converters to make it all compatible. The pain? Just €199 ($281) for hours upon hours of endless entertainment.

Just over a year after Turtle Beach gave whining teenyboppers a decent Xbox 360 headset to annoy mature gamers with, the outfit is hitting back with the third-generation. We should caution you that these are far from a major upgrade, but those just now looking to take the plunge into cord-free bragging should find plenty to appreciate. The Ear Force X41 cans claim to handle Dolby 7.1 channel surround sound, but given that there are precisely two ear cups here, we're somewhat (read: tremendously) skeptical of said claims. At any rate, the RF-based headphones now sport a dedicated Digital Signal Processor along with a feature that will likely entice young brats and frighten those with actual jobs: Chat Boost. As you can imagine, this enables users to automatically jack the volume of the Xbox Live chat as the game gets louder, which -- in our experience -- is probably not a good thing. Those with the patience of Job can buy in anyway for a nickle under $200.

Microsoft have begun to push out the Xbox LIVE update for their Xbox 360 console, and along with the games on demand, new avatar customization and UI improvements comes confirmation that the company has signed an exclusive deal with Netflix for instant streaming to a console. The partnership means that the Xbox 360 will be the only console on which Netflix streaming is possible, effectively cutting the PlayStation 3 and Wii out of the loop.
As well as the usual TV and movie streaming from Netflix’s catalog, there’s a new “Party Watch” feature which allows multiple groups to gather together and watch the same content simultaneously on different 360’s and in different locations. You’ll need to be a Netflix unlimited plan subscriber to have access through Xbox LIVE Gold, and use a separate computer to queue up titles as there’s no facility to do so through the 360 itself.

Xbox LIVE will be pushed out to users starting from today, offered as an upgrade when you restart your console. Later on in 2009, Microsoft have promised to add access to the Zune Video Marketplace – for 1080p content – together with integration with Facebook, Last.FM and Twitter.

Fresh Samsung ultraportable tidbits for you today, with the news that not only will the company’s N510 NVIDIA Ion netbook be shipping in the US come September, but that it will be the first of three models to use the GeForce 9400M GPU. According to documentation acquired by Netbook Choice, the N510 will be joined by the Samsung NP-N511 and NP-N508.

Details of the two new notebooks are unknown; however it’s speculated that the N511 will use a different Atom CPU while the N508 might drop down a size-point and have a 10-inch display. Release dates are similarly unknown.

As for the N510, according to Liliputing that will begin shipping in September with a $599 MRSP. The ultraportable – which has an 11.6-inch 1,366 x 768 display, HDMI port, Intel Atom CPU and 160GB hard-drive – is expected to land in Europe this month priced at €499 ($707).

Roku have announced MLB.TV Premium streaming for their eponymous HDTV media player. The update – which will be pushed out to all Roku players automatically – allows MLB.TV subscribers to watch live, out-of-market baseball games in HD, together with offering on-demand access to the last week’s worth of games.
All of the games can be navigated directly from the Roku box, rather than requiring a PC to queue them up, and the system offers full play/pause, rewind/fast-forward and resume functionality. The Roku device itself has HDMI, component, composite and S-Video connectivity, together with digital audio output, and can link to your network via either a wired or wireless connection.

The Roku streamer is priced at $99.99. As for a subscription to MLB.TV Premium, that comes in at $34.95 per year or $19.95 per month.

Update: Commenter jstraw points out that $34.95 is the fee for the remainder of the 2009 season; a full season is around $110.

Logitech have unveiled their latest universal remote, the Harmony 900, an RF unit that – with the three bundled IR blasters – can control devices in other rooms or enclosed in cabinets. The Harmony 900 remote has a full-color touchcreen as well as numerous backlit hardware buttons, and can be set up via an online wizard; Logitech claim battery life of up to a week.
Logitech bundle the Harmony 900 with three IR blasters: two “mini blasters” and a main unit that has the RF receiver. These can be spread among the shelves of your AV rack and control multiple components, as opposed to traditional IR emitters that must be adhered to the IR receiver of a device.

Up to fifteen remotes can be supplanted by one Harmony 900, and the remote comes with a docking station for easy recharging. The Logitech Harmony 900 is available to preorder now, priced at $399.99.

The great thing about only spotting a new device when it launches is that you don’t have to wait too long until you can see if unboxed and in action. Gigabyte’s TouchNote T1028X convertible touchscreen netbook only crossed our paths yesterday, but already Liliputing have their review unit in to play with.
While the T1028X may look ostensibly the same as its T1028M predecessor, there are a couple of key changes. The Intel Atom N270 of the M-variant gets thrown out, to be replaced by the slightly faster 1.66GHz Atom N280 chip; more obviously (once you turn it on, anyway) the display has had an update to a 10.1-inch 1,366 x 768 panel.

A 7,650mAh battery is also on the capacious side of what we’ve seen for netbooks, so hopefully the T1028X will last longer than, say, ASUS’ Eee PC T91. It’ll have to be good, though; early pricing suggests you’re looking at $679 from Amazon. There’s also a first-look video over at Liliputing, to help you decide if it’s worth it.

Back before HDTVs, set-top boxes, consoles and Blu-ray players sprouted ethernet ports, the only people who needed a network hook-up near their AV kit were those with media streamers. Now one cable might not be enough, so Netgear have stepped into the fray with their XAVB1004 Home Theater Internet Connection kit. Consisting of a four-port ethernet switch with Powerline support, the kit funnels an internet connection across your mains wiring and shares it with multiple devices.
The Powerline system offers bandwidth up to 200Mbps (theoretically at least), which should be enough for VoIP use, HD video streaming and internet gaming. As for the Powerline adapters, two are included – one to send, one to receive – in the starter kit, and they’re also compatible with any other HomePlug AV product.
Apparently available to order now (though not yet on Netgear’s own site), the XAVB1004 kit is priced at $179.99. The individual components are also available separately for those who already have a Powerline system set up.

Nintendo’s Wii Motion Plus wasn’t the only thing they announced back at E3, and while it may not be on everyone’s collective minds anymore, the Vitality Sensor is something Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata is excited for.
During an investor Q&A, Iwata said that “Nintendo would like to deliver the actual product not too late in the next year.” While this is by no means an exact date, the release of this peripheral device for the Nintendo console would be Nintendo’s only real bet against the rumors of Microsoft’s Project Natal, as well as Sony’s Motion controls releasing in the Spring of the same year.

And probably the most important part, Iwata commented on the software, stating that the first game will “have a theme of relaxation, which is completely opposite from traditional ones, to enrich the user’s lives.” He did mention that “measuring how horrified a player is in a horror title” is just another application of the Sensor.

Both new servers have four drives and can work with 1U racks and are hot-swappable. Maxed out, these servers can hold up to 8TB. Both also can hold 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hard drives. They have a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor along with 1GB of RAM plus a 87.3MBps transfer speed.

These servers can be set up with RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and 5+ configurations. They also have iSCSI Target service and dual gigabit LAN ports. Both servers work with Windows, Mac, Unix and Linux systems and feature AES 256-bit encryption. You can get both NAS servers by the end of the month though pricing has not yet been revealed.

Verbatim announced their TUFF-CLIP USB drives today which offer up both 4GB and 8GB capacities for people who need a bit of storage while on the go that’s not going to break apart from a slight bump or jostle.
These new USB drives are targeted toward the outdoor crowd who need a more rugged sort of device. Included on the drives is a carabiner clip that allows you attach them to your belt loop or backpack.

The 4GB model is available in turquoise while the 8GB is available in black. Both come with a password-protected folder, and work with Windows, Mac and Linux. You can get these drives now for $30 and $50, respectively.

For those interested in finding new ways to express themselves, without causing any physical damage to property, then light writing may be what you’re looking for. Utilized for the first time almost 100 years ago by Pablo Picasso, awareness for the new style of graffiti spiked with mainstream advertisements by Sprint back in 2007.

This particular design is called Halo, and created by Aïssa Logerot based out of Paris. He has several other “light-style” creations, but the Halo is particularly interesting. While there are other formats for graffiti artists to utilize, the Halo replaces the standard nozzle on a spray can with a tiny LED, which can then be turned on at will.

The real ingenuity comes in Halo’s manipulation. Not only can the LED’s brightness be altered, but the colors are interchangeable. And to make it better, the intensity of the light, as well as the strength of the battery, can be recharged by simply shaking the can, just like a real spray can. There isn’t any word on a release date as of yet.

Onkyo have dropped a new home AV receiver, the company’s first such home theater product to include Pandora, Rhapsody, and Sirius streaming internet radio support. The Onyko TX-NR807 supports DLNA 1.5 media streaming, for playback of media stored on networked computers and drives, together with offering six HDMI ports, Faroudja DCDi Cinema 1080p upscaling and both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

There’s also Audyssey DSX soundstage extension processing and support for MP3, WMA, FLAC, Lossless, Ogg Vorbis and AAC files, together with a bi-directional remote control, ethernet port and 7.1 surround sound. The TX-NR807 also supports multi-room audio, with powered zone two and three options as well as a serial port for system integration.

Amp power is seven channels of 135W, and there are various digital inputs/outputs as well as the HDMI (which you can see in the gallery below). The TX-NR807 is joined by the TX-SR707, which has the same local switching but only 7 x 100W amplification and no networking functionality.

The Onkyo TX-NR807 is available now, with an MRSP of $1,099; the Onkyo TX-SR707, meanwhile, has an MRSP of $899.

Is there room in your heart for another Intel Atom based MID? Okay, for many of you there wasn’t room there for even the first such device, but if you’re still shopping around for a touchscreen handheld (and you don’t mind likely having to take a trip to China to pick it up) Tainell may have the device for you: the imaginatively titled T500 MID.
Not, it’s fair to say, the most attractive MID we’ve seen, the Tainell nonetheless packs a 5-inch resistive touchscreen in a casing measuring 6.1 x 3.5 x 1.0 inches. They’ve also squeezed in an Intel Atom Z510 1.1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and a 32GB SSD, together with WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and 3G WWAN.

There’s a little surprise among the ports, too, as the typical USB, audio in/out and power are joined by a mini-USB and an HDMI socket. A 0.3-megapixel webcam round out the specs; unfortunately there’s no word on pricing from Tainell.

Sony’s upcoming S-Series Walkman has leaked, prematurely listed at French retailer materiel.net. Two versions of the PMP are detailed, the 8GB Sony NWZ-S544 and the 16GB NWZ-S545, each with a 16:9 aspect QVGA 2.4-inch LCD display and integrated stereo speakers.

There’s also an FM radio with 30 presets, MP3, WMA and AAC support, a built-in microphone and H264/AVC, MP4 and WMV video playback at up to 30fps. Unlike the OLED X-Series Walkman there’s no WiFi, internet access or YouTube playback, but then the S-Series are meant to be a far more affordable breed of PMP.

Battery life is listed as up to 42hrs music playback or 6.5hrs video playback, and there’s a nifty little stand for hands-free use. The listings have since been pulled, but the S-Series started from €129 ($183) for the 8GB model.

With official photos, full specifications, an unboxing and demo video behind us, all that’s left for MSI’s X-Slim X600 – before a post eventually saying it’s been retired, of course – is a full review. Happily LaptopMag are on hand to deliver just that, putting the 15.6-inch CULV ultraportable through its paces to see if it’s more than just good looks or falls flat like its smaller X340 sibling.

The X600’s dimensions can’t be ignored, and that’s partly down to shedding an internal DVD burner in favor of an external one, and partly thanks to MSI’s using an Intel 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo SU3500 ULV processor that requires less in the way of cooling. Of course, the payoff to that is reduced performance, significantly below that of traditional 15-inch notebooks, but the graphics – from the ATI Radeon HD 4330 GPU – put in a reasonable performance, squeezing 25fps from Far Cry 2 at 1,024 x 768 resolution.

For $799 LaptopMag are quietly impressed by the X600. You’re choosing size and portability over performance or multimedia capabilities – for the same money you can get a Sony VAIO NW with integrated Blu-ray drive – but it certainly doesn’t disappoint like the X340 has.

Hannspree have announced a new range of 1080p-capable displays, the ST-series, offering entry-level sizing with budget price tags. The ST251 and ST281 are 25-inch and 28-inch HDTVs respectively, with 10,000:1 dynamic contrast and two HDMI ports apiece.The ST251 has a 16:9 aspect ratio, 300cd/m2 brightness and 2ms grey-to-grey response time. As for the ST281, that has a 16:10 aspect ratio, 400cd/m2 brightness and 5ms response time. Each also has composite, component, VGA and dual SCART inputs, together with dual 10W speakers.

Both sets are available in the UK now, priced at £269 ($449) for the 25-inch ST251 and £329 ($549) for the 28-inch ST281. Hannspree promise larger models in the ST-series later in the year.

Specifications for Motorola’s upcoming entry-level Android handset, the Morrison, have leaked, and anybody hoping the company might have injected a little interest along with what’s presumably going to be a low purchase price will have to go home disappointed. The parts list sounds mighty reminiscent of HTC’s existing Android devices, with a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A processor, 256MB of RAM, a 512MB ROM and 320 x 480 HVGA touchscreen display.
There’s also WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, quadband GSM and triband WCDMA (900/1700 or 1900/2100), together with a 3-axis accelerometer, class 6 MicroSD slot supporting 32GB cards, USB 2.0 with a microUSB connector and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The camera is a 5-megapixel unit with autofocus, geotagging and 25fps 320 x 240 video recoridng, and there’s both standalone GPS and A-GPS. The Morrison will support Exchange ActiveSync push email, has a digital compass, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor.

As for a release date, the Motorola Morrison is tipped to arrive on October 21st on T-Mobile USA. No word of pricing as yet, but this is definitely being positioned as an entry-level, budget device.

If we had an “utterly awesome” tag here on SlashGear, you can bet I’d be using it for this. Pocket Lucho has a history of making incredible miniature arcade cabinets, and his latest fully-operational model is a Neo Geo cabinet complete with illuminated marquee and false coin slot.

The screen is courtesy of a PSone clip-on LCD attachment, which is held into place via magnets so as to make internal access more straightforward. A magnetically-latched door on the side gives access to the cartridge slot and more, while there’s also a port for attaching a second controller and a video output.

In the videos below he explains first how he made the cabinet, and then runs through a demo of it in action. No word on what sort of money he spent, but I bet he could find plenty of takers if he made these to order.

After mentioning Nanovision’s new MIMO 710-S USB LCD sub-display last week, we’ve now heard from the company themselves that there will indeed be two versions of the 7-inch 800 x 480 monitor. The range kicks off with the 710-S, as expected, but also includes the Nanovision MIMO 720-S, a touchscreen version.
Both models feature the same patented dual-hinge, which allows them to not only be positioned in portrait or landscape orientation, but folded flat for transport. The MIMO 710-S and 720-S are each slimmer than the existing MIMO displays that we reviewed previously, and are compatible with both PCs and Macs.

The Nanovision MIMO 710-S is available for preorder priced at $149.99, while the MIMO 720-S is yet to go up for pre-order. We’re hoping to get the new display in for review soon, so keep reading for all our coverage.