We never really expected Acer’s Ferrari lineup of notebooks to sell all that well, but once again we’ve been proven wrong, as the company has apparently sold enough of these overpriced machines to warrant spec bumps for both the 1000 and 5000 series. First up is the revamped 12.1-inch 1005WTMi, which packs a pretty decent feature set for a 3.6-pound ultraportable, including a 2.0GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 processor, ATI Mobility Radeon X1150 graphics with 512MB of VRAM, a full 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 160GB worth of HDD capacity, and of course, Bluetooth 2.0 and three-flavor WiFi standard. As for the 15.4-inch, WSXGA+ 5005WLHi (pictured), you’re getting the same CPU, RAM, and HDD configurations as the 1005, but video is handled by a 256MB ATI X1600 chipset; the real draw, though, is the new HD DVD drive, which is backed by an HDMI port for outputting those high-def vids to a bigger screen. No word yet on pricing or availability, though if past Ferrari-themed laptops have taught us anything, you’ll be paying a pretty penny for that carbon fiber case and snazzy galloping horse logo. Keep reading to check out the 1005, but really, once you’ve seen one of these notebooks you’ve basically seen them all…

Read- 1005WTMi [Via MobileWhack]
Read- 5005WLHi [Via MobileWhack]

From engadget

Heck yes. We’ve been trying to utilize our Lego collection for the production of projectile apparatuses ever since the Pirate sets stopped coming with those flickable cannons. Now it seems our sad attempts have been eternally showed up by Sebastian’s ULTIMATE Lego Chaingun, which has 8 barrels, a 64 shot capacity, and an eleven rounds per second firing rate. The rubberband chaingun took over a month to build, and is powered by an honest-to-goodness Lego motor. Sebastian has all sorts of ideas how to mod up his gun even more, including an ammo counter or even faster firing rate, but whatever he manages to do it’s clear all we’re going to be bringing to our next rubberband fight is a white flag.

[Via digg]
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Inteset continues its unique naming scheme for its MCE devices, adding the Julia to its line-up to compliment its Denzel, Vana and, um, TeraRAID units. This one’s particularly notable for the inclusion of a touchscreen display, which is no easy feat given Media Center’s decidedly touchscreen-unfriendly interface. To get around that, Inteset whipped up some custom pop-up menus and keyboards so you can navigate your way around without cluttering up your desk or countertop. The unit itself packs a 17-inch widescreen display, along with a CD/DVD drive, TV and FM tuners, 80GB hard drive, and Ethernet and WiFi capabilities. While the Julia’s designed to work in conjunction with Inteset’s other media server products, it’ll also apparently work as a standalone unit, which would suggest it’s got a bit more under the hood, though exactly what isn’t clear. Neither are price nor availability, unfortunately.

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Presigio may be setting a new trend in portable media players with its new “portable multimedia recorder,” the PMR-701. This device purports to record video or single frames from an external source like a TV, DVD player or camcorder. There’s also an integrated TV tuner (doesn’t say what kind) to pick up free broadcast channels, and while the press release claims you can also watch cable, but there’s no apparent dock or coax jack. That said, its built-in 20 or 30GB storage turns it into a portable DVR, which is sorta sweet. The PMR-701 has a 3.5-inch 320 x 240 color display and it supports MPEG-4, AVI (DivX and XviD), WMV9 and MP4 and MP3, WMA9, AC3, AAC, and OGG files. Funny though, the press release fails to list a price, and says it will be available “immediately at Prestigio partners’ stores across the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.” What, no love for the Americas, Western Europe or Asia / Oceania?

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Navman is bumping the specs and shortening the names of its GPS units, with the F20, N20, N40i and N60i (pictured) set to launch this fall. All four look to be relatively minor updates, with each getting a built-in camera for use with Navman’s Navpix service as standard issue, as well as an upgrade to the SiRFstarIII chipset, TeleAtlas 2006 maps, and Navman’s latest software interface (as seen on the iCN750 and iCN720). While Navman itself seems to be staying mum on these for now, with not so much as a mention on its website, some European retailers already look to be taking pre-orders for ‘em, with prices coming in between €249.99 and €499.99 ($318 and $635).

[Via MobileWhack]
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Everyone needs a little more high-definition in their lives, don’t you think? Apparently Blackmagic Design thinks so, as it’s just released a new PCI Express card (Mac and Windows compatible) with direct HDMI-in to connect to your HDV digicam or your digital set-top box for a very high-quality capture. The company’s site says that this works by bypassing the HDV compression chip, allowing you to access raw superior-quality video, but gives no word on whether or not it supports HDCP. The Intensity, which is shipping on October 15, also supports HDMI formats at 525 NTSC, 625 PAL and 720p or 1080i — a bargain for only $250. Because after all, technologies that are sufficiently high-def are indistinguishable from black magic.

[Via BIOS magazine]
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from Engadget

While mixin’ it up iPod-style has certainly been done before, MusicJam is looking to combine the simplest of mixer functions with a karaoke machine in its aptly-named iPod Mixer. Essentially, this device allows you to add your own vocals and guitar riffs to the tune currently playing on your iPod, which could definitely bring out the “one man band” in any musician. The mixer sports an iPod dock (presumably compatible with the iPod with video only), microphone / guitar inputs, volume sliders, tone / distortion controls, RCA outputs, and even attempts to replicate that on-stage allure by touting echo / sustain options for your vocs. The company also throws in a microphone, mic clamp, and cabling to get you warmed up, and includes “KaraokeVideos” software to turn any jam into an iPod-compatible karaoke vid. While the quality here is certainly questionable, it looks to be a solid addition to your Korg-infused Les Paul, and hey, getting you fully prepped for that karaoke circuit will only set you back $229.

[Via iLounge]
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from Engadget