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Today Intel officially released the Sonoma chipset, which is the next generation of its Centrino mobile platform. Now, don’t be confused if you don’t see Sonoma stickers on the 150 new laptops based on the technology that are set to be released this year (of which 80 launched today). Sonoma is the codename for the updated product, but it will still ship under the Centrino brand. Looking at the upgrade, it appears to be a winner. Sonoma includes a 533MHz front-side bus, the new Alviso chipset (which brings dual-channel DDR support, PCI Express, and 7.1 Dolby surround sound), as well as the Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG technology which provides built-in 802.11a/b/g support. The new chipset is up for some competition from AMD’s Turion 64 Mobile Processor.
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OLED screens seem to be popping up everywhere. Televisions, cell phones, and even electric shavers. But now they are in your car? This new technology, which stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode, puts off a luminescence when a voltage is applied while also displaying an image similar to an LCD display. This translates to less power consumption, which means longer battery life in portable devices. These OLEDs also last longer than typical LCDs, making them more practical. Currently, they are very expensive to make, but as they are included in more and more products, researchers will gain more experience with them and the price will come down. The next place for these special diodes to appear is the dashboard of your car. Used to light up the instrument panel, these devices are already appearing in Aston Martins, Jeeps, and the Corvette.
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| MSN CNet
The iSports Case, iCar Play, iCase Travel Pack, iSpeaker Portable, iCar Charger, iSplitter and iCable. Do any of these sound interesting to you? Digmax India is an authorized distributor of Monster products and has launched all 7 of these accessories. Most of these accessories are available in the U. S already with the exception of one not mentioned above, the iCruze. Scheduled for launch this month, the iCruze allows you to plug the ipod directly into your car stereo system. This nice little gadget however, comes with a heafty price tag of $250. For more information on the iCruze, check out MonsterCable.
Read More | Techtree
Latest Gear Live Videos
As if we didn’t already have enough views of grid iron brutality, Fox Sports’ coverage of this year’s Super Bowl (Feb. 6) may include pictures from miniature cameras embedded in the actual field turf. Fox’s executive vice president Bill Brown recently announced that they will install 12 miniature cameras, mounted on angled tubes the size of eraser-heads throughout the field. This way viewers will be able to see what it’s really like at the ground level, especially where the cameras line up with the line of scrimmage. They’re hoping to catch maybe 5 or 6 plays where this happens. It turns out that the cameras were already used in last summer’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game and during the playoffs and World Series, without any interference.
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| USA Today
It has come to be accepted that Microsoft will unveil the Xbox 2 at E3, and that it will hit retail this holiday season. While there has never been a concrete confirmation from Microsoft on this matter, it looks like EA knows more than we do. You see, their racing game Need for Speed: Most Wanted is scheduled to be released at the end of the year. According to EA, the title will ship for Xbox 2 simultaneously with Xbox, PlayStation 2, Gamecube, PC, PSP, and the DS. I know, E3 can’t come soon enough. Oh, and for you BurnOut 3 freaks - it looks like BurnOut 4 will be an Xbox 2 launch title.
Read More | SPOnG
Corsair Memory, Inc. has announced its latest addition to its voyager USB flash drive line up, the 2GB Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Voyager Flash drive. At the size of a common USB flash drive, this new device offers massive storage in an extremely portable size. Don’t let the size fool you, this drive is fast. The new Flash Voyager product is able to read at speeds up to 19MB per second! The flash drive sports a soft rubber shock resistant, water resistant case. The drive is available now for a retail price of $189. This would be a great product for anyone looking to quickly back up their data or to move valuable information from location to location. I’m sure it won’t be long until another company comes up with a larger capacity flash drive. The question is how much is too much?
Read More | Corsair Memory, Inc.
Not sure which MP3 player you need? There are dozens of great portable audio players these days, so picking the right one with the right price can be a challenege. Now it doesn’t have to be. CNet has an MP3 player personality test that helps you pick the right player for you, whether you are a commuter, fitness freak, traveler, audiophile, file hoarder or an audio recorder. Several of the players do fit into multiple categories, but each fits within the given category.
Read More | CNet
Pepsi and iTunes Join Forces Again
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Portable Audio / Video,
While many thought last years promo was a flop, apparently Pepsi and Apple did not. They are joining up for another “Drink. Win. Play.” promo, where 1 in 3 Pepsi branded soda caps will have a code which you can redeem on iTunes for a free download. Check stores if you are into this kind of thing, as bottles have reportedly already started showing up.
Mad Catz Interactive will be producing customized NBA team controllers for the Xbox and the Playstation 2 video game systems. Mad Catz has signed a license agreement with the National Basketball Association that will allow them to produce these customized controllers, similar to what they earlier did with the NFL. Each controller will be fully customized with each of the 30 team’s logos and team colors, and will be available in March 2005. Be on the look out for these controllers so you can support your team while beating that annoying little kid from across the street.
Read More | Mad Catz
If you use Apple iTunes you need to upgrade immediately. There is a security threat that affects iTunes 4.7 and earlier on both OS. Hackers can build malicious playlist files that crash the system then take over the computer by inserting a Trojan code. If you have not upgraded to iTunes 4.7.1 you may do so by opening the “look for updates” window in the program. Users are advised to avoid clicking on or accessing playlist files that have come from unknown sources. This probably one of the fist of many security threats to come this year as iTunes continues to rise in popularity.
Read More | BBC News
