So, it’s official: the hundred-plus-dollar laptop spearheaded by Nicholas Negroponte — and called the OLPC up to this point for lack of better terminology — can now be definitively referred to as the CM1, or The Children’s Machine. The 7.5-inch, 1,200 x 900 pixel configurable and mesh-networkable notebook, which runs a Fedora Linux distro powered by a 400MHz AMD Geode processor, is meant to supply kids in developing countries with a super-cheap way to access the Internet and thus bridge the so-called technological divide. Although India has publicly scorned the string-powered lappy as “pedagogically suspect,” several other nations have expressed interest in submitting the minimum required order of one million units; so unless players like Microsoft suddenly swoop in with their own alternatives, it looks like the CM1 is well on its way to seeing widespread distribution. Three cheers for The Children’s Machine, and three more for the fact that we can stop awkwardly referring to this product by the name of the project.

[Via OLPC News]
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from engadget

Fujifilm has joined the pre-Photokina madness to announce a minor update to its alternately-named FinePix S9000/S9500, bumping each iteration a couple of digits to 9100 and 9600. You’ll need the numbers to spot the difference, since the cam retains the same body and the same main specs, with 10.7x optical zoom and 9.0 megapixels. The improvements should become apparent once you start shooting with it, however, with a promised quicker operation, better low light performance, increased image sharpness, and a slightly larger 2-inch LCD (up from 1.8-inches on the previous model). Look for it to launch this October (in the U.K. at least) at a yet-to-be-announced price.

[Via Digital Photography Review]
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from engadget

Need to keep shakin’ it all night long? The UK laptop company Rock has the laptop for you: their pegasus t12 has a high capacity battery that they claim will run for up to 7 hours. The big battery holds 10,000mAh of charge; most laptop batteries hold around 5000. Prices start at 649.00 (around $1230) for a system built around a power-sipping Celeron processor with a 15.4-inch WXGA screen. – Richard Baguley

Rock’s ‘All-Day-Battery’ Core 2 Duo Laptop [BIOS Magazine]

Pegasus t12 [Rockdirect]
from gizmodo

Toshiba just unleashed a volley of new LCDs at the Japanese crowd today, including an updated lineup of 1080p Z2000 sets that are sure to make their little LCD brothers green with envy; highlights here include 1,920 x 1,080 resolutions and an extensive array of inputs, most notably three HDMI, two IEEE 1394 and three Ethernet jacks. The 47-incher in the Z2000 series is going to be available come late October for Â¥600,000 ($5,187) while the smaller 42-, 37- and lower resolution 32-inch (1,366 x 768) sets are going to be available in the middle of September for a more modest Â¥500,000 ($4,132), Â¥420,000 ($3,631), and Â¥300,000 ($2,593), respectively. Not everyone is going to be willing to drop the fat cash on the Z2000 line, though, so Toshiba is trying to hit the lower price brackets with the 1,366 x 768-outfitted H2000 and C2000 series. These two lineups are nearly identical, except the H2000s have a built-in 300GB HDD and an Internet powered EPG that probably won’t do you any good here in the States, anyway; but if that is your type of thing, expect to pick up this line in late October, too, with the 42-incher starting at Â¥450,000 ($3,890), the 37-incher going for Â¥370,000 ($3,198), and the 32-incher sporting a Â¥300,000 ($2,593) pricetag. The C2000 lineup is basically composed of your run-of-the-mill Best Buy-type displays, with just one HDMI port each, but rather affordable prices: Â¥180,000 ($1,547) for the 23-incher, Â¥200,000 ($1,719) for the 26-incher, Â¥320,000 ($2,751) for the 37-incher, and lastly, Â¥400,000 ($3,458) for the 42-inch model. Besides those 1080p LCDs, the highlight of this release event had to be the new I-O Data/Toshiba DLNA certified RAID-5 media servers that utilize those Ethernet ports on the back of the Z2000 line to not only stream media but also record remotely with just the push of a button. The one terabyte server is going to retail for Â¥111,615 ($959) come late September, while the two terabyte flavor will hit shelves simultaneously with a heftier Â¥221,445 ($1904 USD) sticker. Keep reading for more pics of the new sets, as well as some hot server pr0n…

Read: Z2000, H2000 & C2000 LCDs [Via Impress]
Read: Media Server [Via Impress]
from engadget Continue Reading

Looks like ATI is still intent on making a name for itself while ATI’s still ATI, busting out its most powerful graphics card yet, the Radeon X1950. Available in both XTX and CrossFire editions, the X1950 series are the first cards to pack GDDR4 memory technology (a full 512MB of it) clocking in at an impressive 2.0GHz, as well as an all-new fansink that should keep the card cool and keep your box from scaring the neighbors. Just make sure your power supply is up to snuff before forking over the $449 for one (or two) of these, cause you know any old off-shelf PC just ain’t gonna cut it. Look for it to be available from all the usual sources September 13th, and shortly thereafter as an option from Dell and other OEM vendors.

[Via Impress]
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from engadget

Either the industry players are way overestimating the market for $800 touchscreen home theater remotes, or it’s a good time to be in biz, but RTI’s latest, the T2-C, ain’t no slouch for a clicker. Popping in with a 200MHz XScale processor, 16MB flash memory, cradle, and backlit keys and an interface that makes it look more cellphone than remote, is it really any wonder they want you to invest eight bills in this thing? Ok, so it’s a bit of a wonder, but something tells us someone out there will be that patsy, er, happy and satisfied customer.

from engadget

Along with that new Razer-powered Habu mouse, Microsoft is busting out two more gaming devices with the realization that sometimes noobs need to get their game on too. The first one is and oldie but a goodie: they’re relaunching the well-loved IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0, first launched in 2002. “People were literally carrying around their IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0s in protective glass cases,” says Microsoft’s Bill Jukes. The mouse includes 9,000 frames-per-second tracking along with “Precision Booster” and “Gaming Toggle” buttons. Microsoft is also cutting the cord on their Xbox 360 controller for PCs, with a new wireless version that works with your compy or 360. The IntelliMouse should be out in October for $40, with the wireless 360 controller following in December for $60.

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