Sony Vaio FW and SR series show up on Circuit City

We'd already heard the Vaio FW and SR series were due in short order, but they've since apparently shown up on Circuit City's site. The pages are down now, but the shots of the 16-inch FW (which looks pretty reminiscent of the old school Vaio Z-series) and 13.3-inch SR are still live, indicating model designations VGN-FW140EH and VGN-SR140EB. We'll keep you in the know.

Sweety stress reliever hears you out, won't complain if you batter it

We'll go ahead and squash your welling excitement: from what we can glean, Sweety is nothing more than a concept, but for enough cash, designer Haishu Zhang may be willing to make your dreams a reality. Nevertheless, this highly sophisticated stress reliever somehow hears you out and can determine the root cause of the tension in your life. He'll also invite you to play interactive games to keep your mind on more peaceful endeavors, but if the world just tosses too much in your way, he isn't opposed to being maltreated if it steers you clear of the roof.

Microsoft promises to support Windows XP until 2014

It may finally be starting to move down the availability ladder with computer manufacturers (netbooks and the like aside), but it looks like Microsoft is going to be standing by Windows XP for a good while yet, with it now pledging to support the tried and true OS through 2014. According to Microsoft senior VP Bill Veghte, that support will include security patches and "other critical updates," and he adds that "customers who still need Windows XP will be able to get it," despite plans to stop selling a retail product and stop licensing it directly to PC manufacturers after June 30th. For those keeping track, that'll mean that Microsoft will be supporting Windows XP for a full 13 years since its release -- assuming it doesn't push out that support window again when users refuse to upgrade to Windows 7, that is.

ASUS gets official with Atom-powered Eee Box

Well, what do you know? Those rumored specifications for ASUS' not-secret-at-all Eee Box were spot on. The outfit has just now gotten around to getting official with said mini PC, which checks in with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB hard drive, multicard reader, 802.11n WiFi and gigabit Ethernet. As predicted, you'll find Windows XP Home running the show, and ASUS is spicing things up by tossing its newly unveiled Express Gate fast boot technology on here too. There's nary a mention of a price or release date, but that's pretty much par for the course with this company.

ATI Radeon HD 4850 gets official: available immediately

Considering that we've already seen AMD's ATI Radeon HD 4850 benchmarked, it's not like we really needed some official verbiage to cement our belief that the unit was real. Nevertheless, said verbiage certainly doesn't hurt, and that's precisely what's been delivered this morning. The HD 4850 is a single-slot PCIe 2.0 card featuring 512MB of DDR3 RAM, a 625MHz clock speed, 993MHz memory speed, 480 stream processors and support for CrossFireX / DirectX 10.1. We're also told that at least Diamond Multimedia's HD 4850 is available as we speak from a number of fine retailers, thus we presume everyone else's version of the card shouldn't be too far behind.

Canon Rebel XS previewed, Canon's lightest DSLR ever

Canon's aiming for an all-new, entry-level DSLR class with the Digital Rebel XS / 1000D, so don't expect to have your mind blown by the specs here, but that said, Canon isn't just pussyfooting around in this market segment. LetsGoDigital calls the XS the XSi's "twin brother" on the outside, with only minor differences between the two like the smaller 2.5-inch screen on the XS. On the inside, the XS is fairly similar to the XTi, with a 10.1 megapixel resolution, but Live View, DIGI III and auto ISO to keep things interesting. The 17.7 ounce weight is the lightest ever for a Canon DSLR, with a tiny battery and only SD card memory, and the price should be similarly miniscule when the XS lands this July.

Dell's new UltraSharp 2709W 27-inch LCD

Dell just busted out a new member in its storied line of LCDs, the UltraSharp 2709W. The 27-inch LCD is Dell's followup to the 2707WFP, and features the same 1920 x 1200 resolution, 9-in-2 media card reader and 6ms response time, but bumps the contrast ratio to 3000:1 and goes for some new all-black stylings. Brightness is a mean 450 nits, but the real fun comes with ports: Dell squeezed just about everything known to man in here, including HDMI, DVI-D, VGA, component, composite, and DisplayPort. There's also a nice collection of USB ports, plus HDCP for good measure. With a three year warranty the display sells for $999, quite the steal compared to the 2707WFP's intro price of $1,400 last year.

iPhone 3G must be activated in-store and other followup questions answered

Yesterday we went over a few of the more confusing bits of the iPhone 3G launch -- and let's be honest, the details of this launch are confusing as hell compared to the original go-round. Of course, there were a lot of burning questions to be answered from the audience, so we got an AT&T spokesperson to weigh in on what's on your mind. The most surprising answer? Contrary to reports implying otherwise, AT&T pretty much categorically claims that no matter where you buy your iPhone 3G, be it from AT&T or Apple, you have to walk out of the store an activated customer. That means no in-home activation, and definitely no buying an iPhone for your friends or family. Check it out below, more questions after the break.

How would you change Wii Fit?

Okay, so you've had ample time now to shed a few pounds courtesy of Wii Fit. Whether or not you've been diligent enough to stick with it is another thing. Regardless of your level of dedication, we're certain there's a few things Nintendo could have done differently to make the entire experience a bit better. Heck, our own Ryan Block has already chimed in with a few things that he would like to see tweaked, so what's stopping you?

Shuttle XP19 touchscreen display's official images and specs unearthed

While it's been spotted at Computex for a couple days now, we got our hands on an official picture of the new Shuttle XP19 widescreen touchscreen LCD display. We also dug up some spec bits for you: you're looking at a 19-inch Wa-Si TFT active matrix screen, 1680 x 1050 resolution, 5ms response time, 1000:1 contrast ratio, and 170-degree viewing angles. Oh - and it all comes in a shiny metal case.

Western Digital working on 20,000 RPM Raptor

You read that right. Bit-tech has it from "several sources close to the hard drive industry" that Western Digital is working on a 20,000RPM followup to its new 10,000RPM VelociRaptor performance champ. Same 2.5-inch format, same 3.5-inch housing only now designed to better cancel out the drives noise. The idea is to take on SSDs in terms of performance while offering substantially greater capacity as flash memory prices continue to fall. We'll just have to pretend that power consumption, vibration, and ruggedness aren't a concern.

JVC unveils duo of VHS / DVD / HDD recorders

For the folks that just can't let go, JVC is introducing a new duo of recorders that handle VHS, DVD and HDD-based logging. Predictably, the DR-HX500 holds 500GB while the DR-HX250 gets a 250GB drive, and outside of that, both units are identical. You'll find a built-in analog / digital TV tuner, an HDMI socket and all the dubbing features you (or your grandmother) can handle. It should be noted that digital TV recordings can only be stored on the HDD, but it is possible to capture a digital show there while copying an analog broadcast to VHS / DVD. The pair is all geared up to land in multi-generational homes this July, with prices being pegged at ¥95,000 ($906) and ¥75,000 ($715), respectively.

Zink-based Polaroid PoGo makes its debut

It's gone by a couple names since we first heard about it two CESs ago (Zink, Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer, etc.) but the first Zink-based product is finally on its way to buyers as the Polaroid PoGo Instant Mobile Printer. It'll run you $150 for the unit (and $10 per pack of 30 sheets), and can print up to fifteen 2 x 3-inch photos on its rechargeable battery from any PictBridge capable camera or over Bluetooth. PC Magazine took a peek and found each print took between a minute and a half to two minutes (the latter over Bluetooth), and felt the quality was adequate at best, albeit sufficient for such small prints. Still, it's no secret that your options are extremely limited when it comes to pocketable printers, even of the dye-sub variety (which Zink-based devices like the PoGo hope to put out to pasture).