FocuSoft Tech Blog

Creative’s latest point-and-shoot camcorder has emerged, and though the feature list isn’t exactly overwhelming it’s a decent update over the second-gen version.  The new Creative Vado HD still grabs 720p high-definition footage but now the company are claiming improved low-light and bright-light performance together with out-of-the-box compatibility with both PCs and Macs.

There’s also more choice in terms of connectivity, with a freshly added stereo microphone port and headphones connector.  The Vado HD will also now take still photos, and can be used in a motion-activated mode.  HDMI connectivity, a pull-out USB cord and a wide-angle lens are still present, though the 8GB model appears to have been canned in favor of the 4GB version, which can store up to 120 minutes of HD footage or 7,000 still photos.

Most obviously, the somewhat bland casing of the previous versions has been replaced with a choice of glossy black or white, with red, blue and purple to follow.  It’ll be available to preorder imminently, priced at $179.99.

Press Release:

CREATIVE UNVEILS ELEGANT NEW DESIGN WITH THIRD GENERATION VADO HD

Creative, a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products, today announced the chic third generation Vado HD Pocket Video Cam, combining a sleek design with stunning HD video quality.

“We’ve won prestigious awards and accolades for the great performance, ease of use and compact form of our Vado HD cameras. The third generation Vado HD brings a cool new design and adds additional features to the already award-winning feature set. The design looks so cool people will stop you on the street and ask you where you got it,” said Steve Erickson, VP and GM for audio and video at Creative.

Building on the great features the Vado HD line is already known for, such as HDMI out and a wide-angle lens, the third generation Vado HD adds important additional features:

• Improved quality of video in low light or brightly lit conditions with manual exposure adjustments
• External stereo microphone support for better audio recording
• Headphone output for private listening
• Motion Detection Mode enables users to program the camera to begin recording as soon as motion is detected
• Out-of-the box Mac and PC compatibility
• Still Photo Capture Mode

The third generation Vado HD also features new Vado Central 3.0 software with more instant web uploading capabilities and integrated editing options. Users can simply select one-click uploading to a number of popular social media sites, including Facebook and YouTube, and their videos will be ready to view or share in a matter of minutes. For users who don’t want their videos to be shared publicly, videos can be uploaded to KinKast via one-click uploading and then those services offer a variety of other features, including an email invite option for a more private viewing experience. Simple video editing capabilities enable users to edit videos directly in Vado Central 3.0. For more advanced editing options, users can edit videos in other editing programs, including iMovie and Movie Maker.

The third generation Vado HD with better compression can still hold up to 120 minutes of HD quality video or up to 7,000 still photos in 4GB of onboard storage. The removable rechargeable battery provides more than two hours of recording or viewing. Users can easily recharge the battery via the flexible, pull-out USB cable, with no additional cables required. Extra batteries and a wall plug-in battery charger are also available.

Pricing and Availability

The 4GB third generation Vado HD is available in black or white and is available for pre-order from www.amazon.com and www.us.creative.com for US$179.99. For more information about the complete line of Creative Vado Pocket Video Cams and Vado Pocket Video Cam accessories visit www.us.creative.com.

• Creative Vado HD 720p $200 camcorder up for preorder
• Creative Vado point-and-shoot budget camcorder
• Flip Mino camcorder landing June 4th
• Creative Vado HD Gets Upgraded With Memory, Mac Support, and New Colors
• DXG launch 567V $179 high-def camcorder to take on Flip Mino

The rest is here:
Creative Vado HD camcorder boosts low-light performance

Google has obviously tired of waiting for handset manufacturers to push out Android 2.0 to existing handsets before users can play with the Google Maps Navigation beta, and as such has released the turn-by-turn software for Android 1.6 devices.  Available now in the Android Market, Google Maps Navigation for Android 1.6 delivers the same topographical layers, voice guidance and automatic rerouting as we found so useful on the Motorola DROID.

Unfortunately not all the functionality has made it across.  One of the more obvious missing features is the “navigate to” voice command shown in the demo video below; instead, Google suggest creating shortcuts to specific locations – such as your home or workplace – which can be placed directly onto the Android desktop.

As before, only US Android users have access to the Navigation beta; those outside of the country will have to wait until Google see fit to extend their testing.  If you’re in the US and you have a device such as the T-Mobile myTouch 3G or the G1, you can download Google Maps Navigation now.

[via Xatakamovil]

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• Google “doing exactly what Microsoft did” says angry GPS app dev
• Rubin confirms 18-20 Android phones on sale by end of year

See original here:
Android 1.6 phones get Google Maps Navigation beta

We’ve reviewed a fair few MIMO secondary displays – the original 7-inch USB panels back in November 2008, and then more recently the touchscreen 720-S – and now the company has another on offer.  The MIMO iMo Pivot is being billed as the cheapest (sorry, “most inexpensive”) touchscreen mini-monitor so far, coming in at $199.99.

As with its siblings, the iMo Pivot has a 7-inch 800 x 480 LCD panel and gets both power and signal via a USB connection and the DisplayLink software.  Rather than a fixed stand there’s a ball-and-joint system, but the iMo can also be detached and used with its simple flip-out kickstand too.

Screen specs are 350cd/m2 brightness and 400:1 contrast, but at the end of the day this is a convenience monitor rather than something you’d want to do your primary computing or media consumption on.  Think separate IM, Twitter and email window rather than anything else.

Press Release:

New 7″ LCD iMo Pivot Touchscreen Monitor Now Available with Free Shipping and Free MIMO Care Package at mimomonitors.com

Latest from mimomonitors.com is the Most Inexpensive Touchscreen Mini-Monitor on the Market Today; Device Features Full 360 Degree Maneuverability for Optimum Viewing

mimomonitors.com, the leading online retailer of the MIMO family of USB-based 7″ mini-monitors, has added the revolutionary iMo Pivot Touch to its roster of cutting-edge displays. Available for an amazingly affordable price of $199.99, the iMo Pivot Touch is the first touchscreen monitor on the market to dip below $200 — allowing consumers to experience full touchscreen capability at a very low price.

Featuring a fully pivoting ball-and-joint 7″ LCD screen, the iMo Pivot Touch sets a new standard in affordability, earning the title of most inexpensive touchscreen monitor on the market today. The device — which is also fully detachable from its stand and can operate in stand-alone mode – boasts 800

The ebook reader market has steadily segmented into two niches: the entry-level, non wireless devices and the generally store-affiliated, connectivity-stuffed models. Astak’s EZ Reader falls resolutely into the former category, a compact tablet with a 5-inch E Ink display and basic functionality. Amid the Kindles and Nooks of the world is there room for the EZ Reader? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.

With no wireless to consider, the spec list for the EZ Reader is pretty straightforward. The 6 x 4.1 x 0.4 inch device is smaller than the average paperback novel, and just leaves room for a 5-inch 600 x 800 E Ink display and a few rows of shortcut buttons. Onboard storage is 512MB but there’s an SD card slot content with up to 16GB cards (and a USB 2.0 connection to make transferring files straightforward). The underlying OS is Linux, running on a Samsung ARM 9 400MHz processor; it’s certainly nippy enough that any page navigation delay is a side-effect of the e-paper rather than the system itself. Battery on the unit is user replaceable and provides roughly two weeks of reading time.

As you’d hope, there’s a broad range of format support for ebooks (and other files). The EZ Reader will display ADE, PDF, TXT, PDB, DOC, HTML, FB2, LIT, EPUB and PRC ebook files, together with BMP, JPG, TIF, PNG and GIF images, while there’s also a mediaplayer that will load MP3 files and play them in the background as you read. Astak have also built in some fancy text reflowing technology which handles PDF text reasonably well, even when the original document wasn’t really intended for ebook reader use, and there’s text-to-speech which is as clunky as you’d expect (but no doubt interesting to some users).

There’s no QWERTY keyboard or touchscreen, but given you’ll only be using the hardware controls to navigate files already on the EZ Reader, rather than accessing some sort of wireless ebook store, that’s less of an issue. Both right- and left-handed use is accommodated, using either page back/forward keys (on the left) or a scroll-wheel (on the right). At 6oz it’s easy to hold in one hand, and to do so for reasonably extended periods.

What sets the EZ Reader apart from some rivals is in its reading flexibility. Not only does it come with multiple language support – including English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and more – you can install your own fonts to use rather than the default set. At least three zoom levels are available, and the E Ink panel seemed to boast better contrast than Amazon’s second-gen Kindle, with text looking blacker and more defined.

Amazon have spent big money on their Kindle UI, and the shortcomings of the EZ Reader are obvious after even a brief play. Lists are navigated via the numbered keys under the display (you bizarrely can’t use the jog-wheel on the side to scroll through them) and there’s more digging through menus than we’d like. Still, we’re guessing the sort of audience who’ll buy something like this Astak will be slightly more tech-savvy than, say, a Kindle buyer; they’ll need to understand how to side-load content, after all.

It’s easy to knock ebook readers that don’t include wireless connectivity; after all, an integrated 3G hook-up means you’re more than halfway to an eye-catching headline. Still, what it actually means is that there’s no one-click way to wireless spend money at a specific ebook store, and for many users that’s not something they actually want or need. In fact, there are plenty of reasons – cost being just one of them – where relying on the flexibility of side-loading content makes perfect sense.

The Astak EZ Reader doesn’t exactly grab the eye like a Kindle or Barnes and Noble Nook, but it’s reasonably flexible. The display may be compact at 5-inches, but that allows the device as a whole to be particularly portable; after all, just as the best camera is the one you have with you, the best ebook reader is the one you always drop into your bag as you leave the house. Our biggest disappointment is that Astak haven’t done some extra work to bring the price down: at $199 it’s close to Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s ebook reader offerings, and we reckon if the company undercut those by $100 or so then they’d have a decent competitor on their hands.

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

• Astak Pocket PRO eBook Reader announced
• Pocket PC with GPS
• Lindy Electronics puts mirrors on a couple of weird devices
• Sony Reader gets thumbed
• Bookeen Cybook Opus eBook reader fits in your pocket

Go here to read the rest: 
Astak 5″ EZ Reader Pocket PRO Review

Electronic versions of the classic Etch-a-Sketch aren’t particularly unusual, but so far this is the first time we’ve seen Arduino-controlled knobs with physical resistance and a proper shake-to-clear integrated into such a project.  The Hack-a-Sketch takes a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop and adds the usual two Etch-a-Sketch rotary knobs; this time, though, they’re hooked up to two potentiometers which control the onscreen drawing.

Video demo after the cut

Built into the knob board is a mercury switch used to trigger the screen-clear action.  As with the original toy, shaking the laptop harder clears the screen faster and more completely; of course, in the original there was less chance of hard-drive damage after particularly vigorous shaking.

Project builder Michael has released the source code for the Arduino, and so if you’re tempted you could build one yourself.  Using a Tablet PC or an old UMPC would mean you could create something that looked more like a proper Etch-a-Sketch, too.

[via MAKE]

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• Apple TV plays DivX files

Here is the original post: 
Hack-a-Sketch takes classic toy digital [Video]

Data Robotics have doubled their range of so-called intelligent backup systems with the launch of two new models, the Drobo S and the DroboElite.  The Drobo S takes the original four-bay Drobo and adds in not only an extra drive bay but an eSATA port and enhanced FireWire 800 performance, meaning that the backup system now boasts hardware redundancy against up to two simultaneous hard-drive failures.  Meanwhile the DroboElite has a full eight drive bays and dual iSCSI ports and is, unsurprisingly, targeted at small and medium businesses who want 16TB or more of backup space.

The Drobo S also has a faster ARM processor than its Drobo predecessor (that will remain on sale alongside it) and overall Data Robotics are saying it’s offering 150-percent the performance of that earlier model.  Storage is up to 10TB (depending on redundancy) and as before the system is self-healing and automatically sets itself up when you throw in a new drive (or replace an existing one).  However it’s not compatible with the DroboShare network adapter.  The Drobo S is available now, priced at $799 sans-drives or up to $1,799 with five 2TB drives in place.

The DroboElite, meanwhile, drops the FireWire and USB 2.0 connectivity of the DroboPro in the pursuit of absolute speed.  Up to 255 Smart Volumes can be addressed, together with up to 16 simultaneous hosts, and a choice between single- or dual-drive redundancy (i.e. a choice between space or data safety).  The DroboElite will kick off at $3,499 sans-drives.

Press Release:

DATA ROBOTICS LAUNCHES NEW DROBO WITH eSATA

Drobo S Delivers High Performance Desktop Data Storage

SANTA CLARA, CA – November 23, 2009 – Data Robotics, Inc., the company that delivers the best data storage experience ever, today introduced Drobo S, a professional-class storage solution designed for Windows, Mac, and Linux users who require high-speed data transfers and reliable data storage. With the introduction of eSATA and a fifth drive bay, as well as enhancements to FireWire 800 throughput, the Drobo S offers 150 percent of the performance of the current four-bay Drobo, making it an ideal storage solution for creative professionals, small offices, and home office users.

Built on the company’s award-winning BeyondRAID virtualized storage platform, which eliminates the lock-in of traditional RAID configurations, Drobo S features a one-click toggle between single- and dual-drive redundancy and provides protection against up to two concurrent drive failures. Drobo S supports on-the-fly capacity expansion along with the flexibility to replace failed drives, add drives, and swap out drives from disparate vendors and of varying sizes without ever losing access to data.

“Data Robotics’ Drobo S is an important addition to the company’s product line because it offers professional users a larger, faster, more reliable data storage solution with all of the automation and simplicity that Drobo fans are accustomed to,” said Brian Babineau, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. “Small offices and creative professionals generate large quantities of data that need to be kept secure for both short and long term storage. With its automatic capacity expansion and self-healing technology, Drobo S is an ideal way for customers to manage explosive data growth without becoming or hiring storage experts.”

Drobo S Features and Benefits:

5-Drive Capacity and Instant Expansion to 10TB – Customers with growing storage requirements can easily add data capacity with minimal effort. To add capacity, customers simply insert a new hard drive or replace the smallest drive with a larger one, even when all five drive bays are full. With Drobo S, expansion is automatic and instantaneous, and access to data is always maintained.
Single- and Dual-Drive Redundancy – The Drobo S dual drive redundancy option protects against the simultaneous failure of up to two hard drives. Customers can engage this option with a single click without ever losing access to their data.
Self-Healing Technology – With BeyondRAID, the Drobo S continually examines data blocks and sectors on each drive to flag potential issues. The preemptive “scrubbing” helps ensure data is being written only to healthy drive areas and automatically keeps data in the safest state possible – even when a drive fails.
Interface Options – Users can take advantage of eSATA, FireWire 800, and USB 2.0 connections for ultimate flexibility.
“Drobo S represents our continued commitment to our customer base of professionals and small and home office users,” said Dr. Geoff Barrall, CEO and founder of Data Robotics. “Significant performance enhancements, the addition of eSATA, increased capacity, and the flexibility of single- or dual-drive redundancy make the Drobo S an ideal solution for this increasingly sophisticated set of users.”

Price and Availability Drobo S is currently available starting at a price of $799 MSRP, with multiple configurations to $1,799 for a 10TB (5x 2TB) solution. Drobo S is available now from authorized partners worldwide and on www.drobostore.com. For a list of partners or to learn more about Drobo S, please visit www.drobo.com/drobo-s.

Press Release:

DATA ROBOTICS INTRODUCES FIRST iSCSI SAN THAT MANAGES ITSELF

Fastest Drobo Ever, DroboElite, Brings BeyondRAID with Multi-host Support to SMBs

SANTA CLARA, CA – November 23, 2009 – Data Robotics, Inc., the company that delivers the best data storage experience ever, today announced DroboElite, the first iSCSI SAN storage that manages itself. DroboElite is a powerful and flexible business class data storage solution that brings Data Robotics’ award-winning BeyondRAID technology to a broader range of small and medium businesses (SMBs). The fastest Drobo to date, DroboElite features a new hardware architecture that includes an enhanced processing engine and dual high-speed iSCSI interfaces for 150 percent of the performance of previous Drobo models. True multi-host support with LUN affinity allows small and medium businesses with limited IT resources to simplify management and reduce costs by consolidating storage across multiple servers.

“We’ve been using Data Robotics storage for several years because it is so simple to use and keeps our data safe. The new DroboElite solution takes Data Robotics’ technology to the next level. It enables us to pool storage capacity across several servers and the Smart Volume technology makes it easy to efficiently provision, reclaim, and re-provision storage across our business environment,” said Tarun Chachra, CTO at KSL Media.

DroboElite delivers automated capacity expansion and one-click single- or dual-drive redundancy for optimal data protection for Windows, Mac and Linux machines. The new system extends the number of Smart Volumes – Data Robotics’ unique thin provisioning that pulls storage from a common pool of drives – so that users can now create up to 255 virtual storage volumes, making DroboElite an ideal solution for companies that require storage solutions that can scale with their infrastructure.

“As SMBs mature they typically deploy multiple servers in both virtualized and non-virtualized configurations, creating a need for storage that is easy to manage but has the flexibility to continually grow as the server mix becomes increasingly complex,” said Benjamin S. Woo, vice president, enterprise storage systems, at industry analyst firm, IDC. “A unique thin provisioning approach like the Data Robotics’ Smart Volume technology gives companies optimal use of their existing storage and allows IT managers to more effectively manage their entire IT network without wasting time and money on storage management.”

DroboElite Features and Benefits

Multi-host Support – Companies with multiple servers can easily add or consolidate storage by connecting the DroboElite into their existing TCP/IP network and utilizing the industry-standard iSCSI protocol.
Fastest Throughput of any Drobo Solution – Enhancements such as multiple stream optimization and dual Gigabit Ethernet interfaces for high-speed iSCSI deliver best-in-class performance.
Tested VMware-ready Features – With dual iSCSI ports and the ability to create up to 255 Smart Volumes, DroboElite can support growing VMware environments and advanced functionality including VMotion, Storage VMotion, snapshots, and high availability.
8-Drive Capacity with Instant Capacity Expansion to 16TB and Beyond – DroboElite ensures continuous data access by automatically expanding data capacity and enabling IT managers to efficiently mix and match drive brands, capacities, and speeds.
Advanced Thin Provisioning – Smart Volumes allow companies to create new volumes in seconds and manage them over time by pulling storage from a common pool rather than a specific physical drive allocation. Smart Volumes are also file system aware which allows deleted data blocks to be immediately returned to the pool for future use.
Simplified Dual-Drive Redundancy – Companies are protected against the simultaneous failure of up to two hard drives without losing access to their data. With a single click, companies can switch back to single disk redundancy if capacity runs out without losing access to their data.
“Data Robotics’ continued success is a testament to our providing the best data storage experience ever. Our products are exceedingly simple and straightforward to use while providing all of the features that SMBs need to keep their data safe and accessible,” said Dr. Geoff Barrall, CEO and founder of Data Robotics. “We can deliver cost savings up to 90 percent compared to other iSCSI solutions by combining cost-effective hardware with robust iSCSI features. The new DroboElite takes our solutions to a significantly higher level of performance and supports our mission of bringing the benefits of BeyondRAID technology to a much greater range of businesses.”

Price and Availability
DroboElite is currently available starting at a price of $3,499 MSRP, with multiple configurations to $5,899 for a 16TB (8x 2TB) solution. DroboElite is available now from select partners worldwide and on www.drobostore.com. For a list of partners or to learn more about DroboElite, please visit www.drobo.com/products/droboelite.php.

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

• Drobo NAS gets SDK for UPnP, Linux support and other tweaking
• Drobo 2 sports Firewire 800 ports
• DroboShare – Turns your Drobo into NAS
• SlashGear Review: Data Robotics Drobo intelligent data robot
• Drobo drops 2TB & 4TB NAS prices; adds $50 holiday discount

Read more: 
Data Robotics unveil new Drobo S and DroboElite backup systems

Week in review time again, here we go! The Lenovo IdeaPad Pineview netbook hit the FCC Monday. The FCC is one of the most prolific leaker of gadgets and gear around and we love them for it. The CrunchPad is now said to be steamrolling toward a launch and may have a sponsorship deal in place. Word was a few weeks back that the tablet was dead.

The ORNL updated its Jaguar supercomputer with new 6-core Opteron processors recently. The newly updated rig grabbed the top spot on the list of fastest supercomputers in the world. The Samsung Go netbook is coming to the AT&T Wireless network as a subsidized offering. The machine will hit November 22 for $199.99 after rebates and a new agreement.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 smartphone was spied on video this week. The snapdragon speed that the prototype spied previously lacked was in effect this time around. A paper claims that the Dell Streak MID will be hitting the AT&T network in 2010. I’m not sure that a MID will really make the grade; most of us want smartphones today.

A job listing over at Apple is looking for a game engineer. This has rumors swirling that Apple is set to develop first party games for its rumored tablet and the iPhone/iPod touch. We heard this week that the fix for the camera autofocus woes of the Droid may be as easy as wiping the lens well. Other reports claim that an unannounced software patch was pushed out to fix the issue.

The Windows Marketplace for Mobile hit WinMo 6.0 and 6.1 smartphones early in the week. The store had previously only been offered to those running WinMo 6.5 devices. The Malata R108T Windows 7 convertible touchscreen netbook broke cover Tuesday looking familiar. The rig has a 10.1-inch screen and Intel Atom processor, standard netbook fare.

MSI debuted the Wind Top AE2220 AIO 1080p computer mid-week with multitouch and a 21.5-inch display. The machine can be had with Intel Core 2 Duo power and Ion graphics. ATI unveiled the Radeon HD 5970 dual GPU video card this week. The thing is very powerful and has a price tag to match.

A report came in Wednesday that had Nokia using mostly Maemo rather than Symbian on its N-series devices by 2012. Nokia later came out and said that the announcement was premature. The sexy Dell Adamo XPS went on sale this week at $1799. It’s expensive; by man do I want one.

Vizio again grabbed the top spot on the LCD shipper list in the US for the quarter. People are flocking to the firms lower priced LCD TVs rather than the more expensive big names like Sony and Samsung. Sony Ericsson has confirmed that the Xperia X1 will not be getting a WinMo 6.5 update. A ROM hinted previously that such an update might be coming.

A new version of the ever popular Flip camcorder is coming in the first half of 2010 that has a sliding screen and WiFi. The WiFi will presumably allow you to send your movies directly to your computer without connecting a USB cable. The Sony Reader Daily Edition is available for preorder now for $400. The device has wireless access to the Sony eBook store.

Olive debuted a new 4HD Hi-Fi music server this week. The thing offers audiophile grade sound quality at a steep price of almost $2000. This is a strange report, the Apple tablet is said to be delayed until the second half of 2010 to get OLED and LCD versions. The odd part is how can a device be delayed when it was never officially announced?

Thursday we detailed the Chrome OS on video. The OS has been anticipated for a while and could replace Android in devices like netbooks. The Archos 9 PC tablet has been delayed with preorders shipping in December and the full retail launch pushed until 2010. You should be able to pick the thing up at retail locations once it launches.

Imation unveiled the world’s first wireless USB external storage solution Friday called the Pro WX. The HDD has a 30-foot range and enough speed for data backups sans cable. The Motorola Motus was spotted in a particularly blurry pic this week and promises an unusual form factor. The device appears to fold back.

The Pantech Impact is now avaialbl on the AT&T network for $99.99 after rebates. The device has haptics feedback for the touch panel front keypad. That’s it for this week, have a great Thanksgiving!

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

• SlashGear Week in Review – June 23rd
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• PS3 the “console war king” in Australia, or is it?

See the original post:
SlashGear Week in Review – Week 47 2009

We’re only now seeing the first Pineview netbooks – based on Intel’s next-gen Atom platform – begin to show themselves, but details are already emerging about the silicon company’s intentions for the platform after that.  Come 2011, say Fudzilla, Intel are expected to out Cedarview, a 32nm processor with a new, DDR3-compatible memory controller.

That DDR3 compatibility is particularly interesting, as it will put Atom’s RAM support on a par with what Intel’s Core i7 – Bloomfield processors can utilize.  However Intel will limit supported memory to single-channel sticks, though you’ll at least be able to use two DIMMs; that, say Fuzdilla, is confirmed for the nettop platform, but it’s likely to be the same situation for netbooks.

Pine Trail processors are expected to ship in early 2010 – with some sources saying as early as January – with the Atom N450 and N470 processors on sale throughout next year and into 2011.  No specific release details for Cedar Trail processors are known.

[via Netbook Choice]

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

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• Amino shows off IPTV set-top box running Atom CE4100

See original here:
Intel Cedarview 2011 Atom platform detailed: 32nm & DDR3 support

We were only talking earlier on today about Pegatron’s Smartbook plans, and then along comes Shanzai with a quick hands-on report with one of the company’s first models.  There’s no telling whether this is merely a prototype or something we’ll see in Q1 2010 with a brand-name plastered across it, but we do know it was featured at ARM’s “Technical Symposium 2009″ in Taipei this week.

According to Shanzai, it’s a 10-inch unit with a fanless ARM processor – no word on whether that’s Qualcomm’s Snapdragon – that the company expect to have always-on connectivity and speedy boot times.  Meanwhile battery life is deemed to be sufficient for “all day” use, and while we’re still more than mildly sceptical about such claims, we’re definitely hopeful that it turns out to be true.

The Pegatron machine looks slightly thicker than the Quanta prototype we played with earlier this week, though given the amount of flex in the Quanta’s keyboard that’s probably no bad thing.  Only Lenovo have publicly confirmed that they’ll be pushing a Smartbook out the door in January.

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• MOTORIZR Z10
• Wii Wheel caught in the wild? Not quite

Originally posted here: 
Pegatron Smartbook caught in wild (again)

We saw the slick looking Samsung Omnia II when it first tipped up for preorder on Amazon earlier in the fall. The handset was cool and all, but the thing has a preorder price of $999 seriously hurting the attractiveness of the device. Engadget reports that it has had a look at the Verizon launch packet for the device and the handset it set to launch on the carrier on December 2.

The best news is that the handset will be a much more reasonably priced device once you sign away two years of your mobile phone freedom. The handset will sell for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. The phone has a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display, 8GB of storage and a microSD card slot for expanding storage.

Other features include a 5MP camera and it runs Windows Mobile 6.5 Pro. Some feared the device might run WinMo 6.1 when we first caught wind of the device, so 6.5 is an improvement. Sounds like a nice handset and if you want one December 2 will be here before you know it.

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

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• Samsung Omnia II gets video review

Read the rest here:
Samsung Omnia II hits Verizon on December 2