The iSkin Claro is a hard plastic case — with a nifty kickstand — for iPods. Gizmodo test the protective “ClaroCoat”, watch after the jump.

…the inside of the Claro includes a thin layer of their famous material to protect against damage from general wear and tear. The outside of the Claro also has a “ClaroCoat” for protection against scratches and whatnot

[via Gizmodo]
from techeblog

Intel has just announced the availability of their new Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors, which go on sale to the public July 23rd. Prices are listed above.

Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors have a plethora of new features including Intel Wide Dynamic Execution, Intel Smart Memory Access, Intel Advanced Smart Cache and Intel Advanced Digital Media Boost. Intel’s Wide Dynamic Execution technology allows the 14-stage pipeline to have a 33% wider execution over previous Netburst based processors. Each core also has deeper buffers, 4 wide-decode to execute, 4 wide-micro-op execute, micro and macro fusion and enhanced ALUs too

[via DailyTech]
from techeblog

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Sony is still the country’s No. 1 brand, according to results of an annual Harris Poll released Wednesday. It’s the seventh year in a row that the company has been ranked at the top in the brand survey.

Dell remained the No. 2 brand, according to a news release from market-research firm Harris Interactive. Coca-Cola moved to third place this year, up from fourth in last year’s survey.
The poll surveyed 2,351 U.S. adults between June 7 and 13. Respondents were asked to name the three brands they considered the best — without being provided a list of names.
Half of the top 10 brands are for electronics products, the release pointed out, while three are for automobile and two for consumer and packaged goods.
The top 10 brands, according to the Harris survey:

1. Sony
2. Dell
3. Coca-Cola
4. Toyota
5. Ford
6. Honda
7. Hewlett Packard
8. General Electric
9. Kraft Foods
10. Apple

Chevrolet, Panasonic, Pepsi Cola, Nike and Maytag didn’t make the top 10, but still received a substantial number of mentions, according to the release.
Kraft Foods fell from its No. 3 spot last year to No. 9 this year, while Toyota moved its No. 4 rank from No. 10 last year — those were the two biggest movers in the survey. General Motors and Microsoft both dropped out of the top 10 this year.

From Marketwatch

You think you’re a hardcore gamer? Really? If you’ve been looking for the latest piece of hardware to give yourself the one-up, Bigfoot’s got you covered. The aptly named Killer Network Interface card just might be the most unique gamer-centric component we’ve seen; this amped up gigabit NIC has its own 400Mhz network processing unit, 64MB of dedicated DDR RAM, a USB 2.0 port, and touts itself as one of the first consumer uses of Corporate Network Acceleration Technology. So these CAT6-melting specs have to amount to something, right? Gamers can supposedly expect to see noticeable improvements in first-person shooters as well as consistently lower ping times as the self-proclaimed “LLR Technology” offloads network tasks from the CPU to the Killer’s NPU. Although pricing is currently unavailable, the tricked-out NIC will be available starting August 16th; for now we’ll reserve judgment about how this thing just screams “overkill” on one of the more basic functions of any computer, and bask in its extravagant frivolity.
[Via Crowdedbrain]
more info
from engadget