Samsung’s getting all cutesy on us by launching the new Q1 Ultra exactly a year after the Q1 first arrived on shelves May 7, 2006. Luckily for us, May 7, 2007 is looking to be a bit more exciting for the UMPC lovers among us, since Samsung has boosted the battery life to a “minimum” 4.5 hours, added an LED backlit 1024 x 600 screen and stuck plenty of wireless connectivity into the new unit. The split-QWERTY keyboard held up well in our initial, informal encounters, but that’s the largest departure for the new device, and hopefully it does indeed mark an end to UMPC input woes. But despite all those spec enhancements, the best news is the price: Samsung’s starting these out at $799.

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We knew it was only a matter of time before we had 16GB of SDHC goodness staring us down across the internets, just daring us to make the first move, but we just didn’t know it would be so soon — and so expensive. Apparently MICRODIA is prepping a range of SDHC memory to be launched in Japan this month, including a pair of what sound to be the world’s first 16GB cards. They’re all aimed pretty squarely at performance, with 4 and 8GB Class 4 52x cards; 4, 8 and 16GB Class 4 82x cards; and 4, 8 and 16GB Class 6 160x cards. The latter will cost you dearly, with the Class 6 16GB SDHC pictured above selling for a whoppin’ $3,500.

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Joining the hordes of other fine music servers out there that have caved to the silent iPod demands, Terratec’s latest has ponied up the ten-percent in order to boast about iPod compatibility. The NOXON 2 music streamer sports a stylish white, silver, and black motif, a top-mounted iPod dock, USB host port for connecting flash drives and external HDDs, optical audio output, headphone jack, streaming internet radio sans a PC, FM tuner, a wireless remote, built-in in Ethernet, and WiFi to boot. The device also supports OS X, Linux, and several flavors of Windows, 802.11b/g, 802.3(u), UPnP, WEP, WPA / WPA2, and a plethora of audio formats including MP3, M3U, PLS, OGG, AAC, WAV, and WMA. Notably, this unit actually packs its own 2.1 speaker system if you’re on the go, which consists of a three-inch “subwoofer” and a pair of 1.5-inch tweeters, leaving us all to wonder where the integrated mids are. Still, such a convenient little streamer won’t run you cheap, as Terratec apparently feels this thing is worth a whopping €349 ($473).

[Via Slashgear]
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EZNEX’s latest device packs a fair amount of utility into a 28- x 29- x 30-millimeter block, as the wee ENA7000 allows users the luxury of having two ways to transport sound out of their handset or portable audio player. For mobiles without built-in Bluetooth, you can simply plug this unit in and tune your FM radio to match the output on the LCD screen in order to hear handsfree conversations through your car stereo; moreover, you can connect the cute little fellow to your favorite DAP and listen in whilst driving — if you can manage to find an open FM channel, that is. The device also touts a built-in rechargeable Li-ion cell, promises eight hours of uninterrupted usage, and looks to come in a variety of colors. Unfortunately, we Americans aren’t likely to see this thing in person anytime soon, but it will be available in “late May” to South Koreans for around â‚©30,000 ($32).

[Via AVing]
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These days, a lamp needs to be more than just a lighting instrument, and while the 8AM task lamp doesn’t sport integrated speakers, an FM radio, or solar panels, it does go a long way in cleaning up clutter and reaching hard-to-light areas. Constructed from braided electric wire and an aluminum clamping system, this design-centric light allows users to create their own lighting scenario by bending and folding the post, and the rigid structure enables some fairly eye-catching poses to be struck. Furthermore, the device brightens your day more and more each time you touch the clamp, but we’re sure a clap-sensitive setup could be installed if that’s your thing. Apparently, this creation is still in the prototype stage, but the commercial appeal on this one is pretty glaring.

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We thought they might be done after the S500 announcement, but it would appear that Sony Ericsson wanted to torment us with a series of new devices — none with 3G love for over here, naturally. First off we have the P1 (née the P700i) which is a tri-band Euro-UMTS jobby (that’s 2100 MHz) with a touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, and push mail in both Microsoft and BlackBerry flavors. Next up, the T250 which is an intro level candybar style phone with a VGA camera and FM radio that will arrive in two different versions, with a 850 / 1900 likely being aimed at the US market. Also on the roster is the T650, yet another tri-band handset with 2100 MHz UMTS, a 3.2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth. Finally — something that is useful the world over — the HBH-DS980 stereo Bluetooth headset. It seems this new set is mostly a cosmetic upgrade from the DS970, with the same reflective treatment as the Z610i, 6 hours talk time or music time, and an OLED display that is hidden by the units reflective finish until it is powered on. Very little else here, folks (aside from some pretty bitter disappointment at getting 3G-snubbed yet again), but as soon as we get some decent pics and specs, you know you will find them right here.

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Well, it’s about time! Sony Ericsson’s backroom must have been full to bursting with new and conceptual handsets and this morning the S500 somehow snuck out. This winsome slider is a bit of an oddity in that it has most of the features expected in a Walkman-branded handset, but is not — instead it’s said to be inspired by “the materials and colors found in the natural world.” Featuring quadband GSM plus EDGE (no HSDPA to be found here), a 2 megapixel cam, Memory Stick Micro expandability, nine hours talk and 370 hours standby, the goodness finds itself piled in non-traditional colored “Mysterious Green” or “Spring Yellow” housings. Unique to this handset is theme and external lighting effects that can be set to change with the season, as day turns to night or even at the beginning of the weekend; this seems like a fun idea, as long as the blinky lights aren’t too bright. No word on carrier or pricing, but we can expect it to hit in Q3 this year.

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