Monday, October 27, 2008

iPhone software 2.2 features Google Street View, mass transit directions

The T-Mobile G1's Google Maps Street View implementation is one of the slickest features of the first Android phone, but it looks like Apple's going to keep feature parity the latest builds of iPhone OS 2.2 seeded to developers have Street View, as well as the ability to give mass transit directions. That's pretty useful for cityfolk like us and we're also stoked that line-in audio is now supported in the SDK, giving devs the ability to create voice recorders and other interesting audio apps. Of course, there's no word on when 2.2 will actually arrive, but until then we suppose we'll live with regular, non-data-augmented streets. Lots of screenshots of the new features at the read link.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

USI introduces MID-160, 'world's thinnest' with an Atom

Size definitely matters for MIDs, what with the whole Mobile moniker in there, but features matter too, and USI's upcoming MID-160 offers most of the important ones. It's got a 5-inch 800 x 480 touch-screen, connectivity over 802.11b/g as well as HSDPA and WiMAX, plus GPS and Bluetooth, served by an (unspecified) Atom processor and 512MB of RAM with 8GB of flash storage (expandable via microSD). All that's delivered in a package just 15mm in thickness and 250 grams in heft, but sadly missing one thing we tend to use a lot when surfing the web: a keyboard. Nokia's N810 WiMAX Edition has one, plus most of the other goods (lacking the Atom and 8GB of storage), yet manages to be just as thin and even lighter -- not to mention available right now. By contrast we have no information on availability or price for MID's sleek, but perhaps unnecessary, successor to the M-150.


AMD rolls out budget-minded ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card

It's not quite a $39 graphics card but, at "less than $150," AMD's new ATI Radeon HD 4830 is still quite the bargain compared to ATI's higher-end offerings, and you'll get a good deal more oomph for those extra bucks. That includes a 256-bit GDDR3 memory interface (the actual amount of memory will vary from card to card), an impressive 640 stream processing units, AMD's second generation Unified Video Decoder for improved HD video playback, DirectX 10.1 support, two dual-link DVI ports, and, of course, support for ATI's CrossFireX technology. What's more, while AMD isn't willing to mention any specific prices below $150, The Tech Report has already turned up one card from MSI that's selling for just $120 after a $10 rebate and, if you're looking for a bit more information to inform your purchase, you can check out their review and benchmarks by htiting up the link below.

3G-enabled Archos 5 and Eee PC 901 announced by French wireless carrier SFR


You don't see a lot of PMPs or netbooks out there with carrier branding, but both the Archos 5 and the Eee PC have gotten themselves 3G-enabled recently, and French wireless company SFR isn't wasting any time with the silkscreen machine it's just announced subsidized versions of both. The Archos 5 3G+ comes dressed in sharp new black suit and features a smaller 30GB drive to go with its integrated 3G modem and custom SFR menu items you're looking at €249 ($320) with a monthly data fee of €19 ($24) for existing SFR customers or €24 ($30) for new subs. More or less the same deal with the Eee 901: you're getting the familiar 1.6GHz Atom with 1GB of RAM, a 16GB SSD, and an integrated 3G modem for €279 ($358) with €29 ($37) / €34 ($43) monthly contract fees.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Apple's MacBook gets a fresh face, NVIDIA graphics, original drops to $999

Apple's taking all that new MacBook Pro love and shrinking it down to size for the all-new MacBook. The laptop includes those same NVIDIA 9400M graphics, Mini DisplayPort plug, new manufacturing method, backlit keyboard and fancy glass trackpad of its big sibling, but does it with a 13.3-inch LED-backlit screen and typically friendly MacBook pricepoints. The laptop is 0.5 pounds lighter than its plastic predecessor, 0.95-inches thick, and Apple's also claiming 5 hours of battery life here, but we'll have to wait and see how realistic that number is. The base model weighs in at $1299 with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, while $1599 gets you 4GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD. There's also an SSD option if you're really looking to splurge. If none of the new speed or style appeals to you, Apple's also slashing its existing low-end MacBook to $999, which is still a bit steep if you ask us. Hit the jump for a breakdown of the configurations.

Friday, October 3, 2008

D-Link debuts SharePort packing DIR-825 dual band router


It's pretty tough for a wireless router to stand out from the pack these days, but D-Link's new DIR-825 models looks to at least make an admirable stab at it, with it not only boasting dual-band capabilities to pump out 2.4GHz and 5Ghz signals simultaneously, but some fancy USB sharing as well. That latter bit comes in the form of D-Link's trademark SharePort technology, which will let you plug in any USB printer or storage device and access 'em from any computer on the network. The router is also supposedly "optimized for HD video streaming" and, according to D-Link, it'll also out-perform most other Draft N routers in general and
save the planet in the process. Sold? You can snag one now for $200 even. Those that already have an 802.11n D-Link router (namely, the DIR-628, DIR-655, DIR-855, or DGL-4500) may want to think twice, however, as they can now add SharePort support to their existing router with nothing more than a firmware update, which is already available on D-Link's website.