Best computer news

If you have a strange need to have your gadgets covered in gold and the bank account to support the fetish we have found your iPod. This is the normal smallish iPod Shuffle but a German company called Xecoo has swathed the MP3 player in 18 carat gold.

The catch is that they are asking $20,000 for the golden Shuffle, which is just insane. I mean can a tiny iPod Shuffle really hold that much gold? The company says that they are going to offer 24 hour service in case you have problems with the device and a free replacement is waiting in case it is needed. A diamond version is coming as well. I can only imagine how expensive that Shuffle will be. Those wanting the golden bling on the larger iPods can buy their own gold iPod back plate for $298.
Permanent Link

• If you have lived in one area most of your life you may not be aware the McDonalds varies their menu for different parts of the world and different states, Trifter has a sample menu for us. For example India gets the Maharaja Mac, think Big Mac with Lamb or chicken. Canada and Maine get the McLobster roll which is self explanatory. The worst sounding meal is in Japan where you can get a Koroke Burger with mashed potato, cabbage and katsu sauce…ick.
• Microsoft announced yesterday that their annual revenue surpassed $50 billion. Microsoft says that is a 13% increase over the same period last year. That marks a diluted earnings share of $0.31, which would have been $0.39 if not for the Xbox warranty changes.
• CDRLabs has a review up of the LG GGW-H10N Super Multi Blue drive. This drive can burn Blu-ray 50GB discs and play back both HD DVD and Blu-ray movies. Burn speed is 4x on BD-R. The verdict is the drive is way expensive at nearly $1000, but performs well.
• Woot! Gamespot says that Ubisoft is looking to make a follow up to one of the best FPS titles ever made, Far Cry. Oddly Crytek, the guys behind the original Far Cry, has now partnered with EA for Crysis, but Ubi owns all the IP to Far Cry which probably means a different developer for the sequel if it pans out.
• Brighthand is reporting that Apple could use up to 25% of the worlds flash memory supply. The chips would be used in flash based iPod’s and the new iPhone. This high usage is reportedly not only because Apple products are in demand, but because flash chip production is down.
• I posted some info yesterday over at I4U News about a new Shuttle bare bones media center rig. The system is built around the Intel G33 Express chipset and uses integrated graphics with an HDMI out. No word on if it will ship outside of the UK, but if it did the price would be around $453.

Permanent Link

Small, underpowered and freakishly retro, it’s quite obvious that DreamCheeky’s USB Fridge doesn’t hold a candle to today’s modern refrigerators. After all, it only holds one soda can! But that’s not stopping us from taking a gander at this fine novelty, because it’s just what we need to keep from leaving the keyboard in order to stuff quarters down that mechanical beast’s exact-change gullet. Full review ahead.
Permanent Link

USB cables are now powering the vast majority of computer peripherals from webcams to keyboards and printers. Many users in an office or home setting run into a problem at one time or another with the length limitations of a USB cable. With a maximum length of 5 meters, it’s easy to run out of cable before you get your USB devices where you want them.

Cables to Go has a new product that extends USB over CAT 5 cable and looks very slick doing it. All you need to do is run your CAT 5 cable like you would for networking, and then you use the Cables to Go USB Superbooster Wall Plate. This wall plate allows you to place any USB peripheral up to 150 feet away. For easy installation, the wall plate even uses tool-less termination and the plate requires no external power to operate. Pricing is $129.99 and the plate is available now.
Permanent Link

Those who have long commutes to and from work and like their coffee have probably seen the mugs that can keep a drink warm by using your cars cigarette lighter. Now Macy’s is offering a cup that uses the cig lighter, but also gets a little geeky with a USB option as well.

Now once you get to the office you can keep your drink piping hot by simply plugging the mug into your computers USB port. I did find it quite funny that the person who wrote the description of the mug on the Macy’s site hasn’t a touch of geek in them. Evidently you plug the mug into your USB drive to power it according to them. Nothing goes together like hot liquids and sensitive electronics so coffee fans get yours today. At least Macy’s mug isn’t as prone to spills as the MugMouse.
Permanent Link

Last week Saitek introduced a few new products in their PC gaming line including a new gamepad called the Cyborg Rumble Gamepad. At first glance, the gamepad looks just like every other gamepad aimed at PC gamers, but this one has some nifty tricks you haven’t seen on a gamepad yet.

Saitek designed the gamepad with a left side that allows you to change the location of the left analog stick and D-pad. This lets you set the gamepad up in a PlayStation style configuration with the sticks side by side or in an Xbox 360 layout. The other interesting feature is the Precision Control mode that allows you to choose the buttons on the gamepad to desensitize when the mode is activated, making sniping and precision tasks easier.
Permanent Link

Recently Cooler Master introduced a new notebook cooler called the NotePal Infinite, which they claim has a 150% larger cooling area that other notebook coolers. This enlarged cooling area is intended to cool multiple hot areas at one time such as the CPU and GPU areas. Typical notebook coolers use fans that blow onto one specific area of the notebook so they can’t cool CPU areas and GPU areas at once. The NotePal Infinite gets the power it needs to run the cooling airflow from your notebooks USB port and the device is claimed to be able to reduce the temperature of your notebook by up to 17 degrees. Anti-slip rubber strips help keep your notebook in place and the design helps raise your notebook display to a higher level for more comfortable use.
Permanent Link

We see there will be two purposes to Wireless USB adapters, first as a host to other cable-less hubs and devices and second as a network adapter connecting to another PC in ad-hoc style. Belkin’s yet-to-be announced package which includes a pair of WUSB dongles will take advantage of these two potential applications.

Belkin didn’t say much about the wireless technology being used in the this product, but since the page talks about USB 2.0 speeds and interoperability with future wireless products, such as the WiQuest-based CWUSB hub announced earlier last week, it’s safe to assume the dongles are Certified Wireless USB-based.

The details are sketchy, but at least we know the product with a part # of F5U035 will carry a MSRP of $179.99 and support Windows XP SP2 and Vista.
Permanent Link

Sara Yirrell, CRN, Wednesday 25 July 2007 at 00:00:00

Global distribution giant Arrow Electronics has seen second quarter 2007 profits shoot up by 17 per cent. The firm, whose European subsidiary DNS Arrow acquired the security and storage distribution business…

> Read the full article

Sara Yirrell, CRN, Tuesday 24 July 2007 at 00:00:00

A massive, multi-year piracy investigation ended dramatically this week as the biggest counterfeit software syndicate in the world was brought crashing down….

> Read the full article