Best computer news

Perpetual technology tease Yanko Design has unveiled its latest rendering that should breathe a breath of fresh air into your quality of life. This concept device, a USB air quality analyzer which looks like an upside down cereal bowl with a clear blue wind up key sticking out of it, samples air quality for you and let’s you know what you are breathing in. The small holes on its surface test the air quality, allergens, pollution and smoke and radiate pink or blue light to quietly pass judgment on your air. the blue light is normal in a pink light lets you know that you’re in trouble. what action you decide to take is up to you at the very least you have some forewarning of something foul in your air.

The design is still purely conceptual but theoretically it could send more detailed information to your computer over the USB cable that powers it. Depending on how sensitive this device could actually be, over time you may gather some really interesting data about your environment. is to be a great way for people with allergy problems to scope out potential places to live. Price and availability will only be available if someone decides to option this design. Don’t hold your breath. I’m still impatiently waiting for their Tetris watch to become available.
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While Netbooks continue to offer great prices, portability and battery life over the traditional notebooks you can’t say it’s been without some sacrifices. No optical drive, tiny SSD drives, cramped keyboards and peewee processors have been the necessary evils of the lovable ultra-portable netbooks. Seems Century has decided to lessen these evils with its USB 3-in-1 docking station. Roughly the same size as a netbook, this USB dock would make a perfect traveling companion for any road warrior. It appears to come with an DVD/CD burner stock and an internal SATA connector for you to add your own 2.5″ SATA HDD or SSD. You also get 2 extra USB ports for adding any other devices your heart desires. If your greedy heart is desiring any really power hungry devices you better make sure you attach the included AC adapter otherwise things might get a bit dicey. They’ve also included a 4 cm fan to help cool the laptop/netbook while it’s running.

There’s only 2 things that you may end up missing. Lacks the ability to turn off the internal devices individually. Having both these devices connected running on bus power (No AC adapter) can decrease battery life. A PCMCIA or ExpressCard reader might also have been a nice touch. While Bluetooth data connections are do-able you can’t really touch the speed of a hardwired connection via USB. You may be able to mod this into one of these if you are so inclined. At only $100 it could be a great addition to your gear bag and has plenty of potential for custom work.
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The Samsung Story is here looking more like a high-end home stereo component than a desktop peripheral. Don’t let its rigid looks fool you it’s actually meant to be a very user friendly 1.5TB backup device for all your favorite files. The machined aluminum casing houses a single 3.5″ SATA hard drive. Aluminum cases are notoriously good at dissipating heat which large fast drives generate in abundance. The Story is USB 2.0 enabled for fast transfers and speedy backups.

Backups and Data Storage are what this monster is really about. The Story comes with three extra features to solve your data storage needs. not just data storage and protection is the main focus of the software packages provided with the drive. Samsung provides a timed backup software package which can optionally include the backup sets with a password key that you supply. they also provide their own version of a Truecrypt type functionality. This program attaches an encrypted virtual drive to the host computer and all files stored within it are automatically encrypted. It’s available in 500GB, 1TB and the mammoth 1.5TB version but there’s no word yet on price but it should be available in May.
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Ennova Direct an IP company has been granted today a patent for an OLED lit fingerprint scanning thumbdrive. The flash Drive sports an OLED sensor screen capable of reading and storing fingerprints. Once the drive has been biometrically unlocked the OLED area can also be used as an interactive display. Consider it effectively an Optimus Micro if you will. The display will let you select which files you wish to unlock. The display to also be used to read out status information like remaining capacity or battery level. The clever flip cap hides and protects both the USB connector as well as the OLED screen.

Ennova Direct has been in business for five years now patenting device concepts. Their most recognizable patent is the retractable USB flash drive. Their concept picture looks strikingly similar to the Cruzer Contour flash drive. they also hold patents on Bluetooth audio devices, specifically for portable audio devices. Some other more pedestrian holdings aren’t as clever like their ‘flashlite’ flash drive plus rechargeable flash light, illuminated mouse pad and an illuminated mouse. I wonder how much money Brando has had to pay to these guys.
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Windows Vista and XP’s Autorun have become a hotbed for virus & malware activity, notably the Conficker worm spreading primarily via USB flash drives. To put a halt to the spread, Microsoft said it’s making a change to the default way of how Windows 7 handles USB drives. The first release candidate version of Windows 7 that will soon be released will stop any AutoRun tasks from tricking unsuspecting users into launching the apps.

CDs and DVDs as well as so-called “smart” drives (i.e. U3) that emulate a DVD drive will continue to use AutoRun. An old school way for all of us is perhaps to hold SHIFT key when plugging a drive or inserting an optical disc. Microsoft also intends to make this update available to Vista and XP users eventually.
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The Flip Video Mino Ultra HD still seems to be playing hide-and-seek in limited Best Buy stores but people are seeking it, with good reason. The latest from the Flip Video line but the first since the acquisition of the parent company by Cisco has doubled up on most of its specs added a few features but kept the price the same. That’s a nifty trick lately and one that’s hard to ignore. Supposedly found at $199 now its predecessor is still listed online for more.

This updated model boasts the same 720p high definition recording but twice the storage space fo the original. Enough room for 2 hours of capture. While the storage is fixed and not removable-card based like comparable models the power has been set free. The internal rechargeable lithium battery is removable and fits AA batteries for power extension on the go. Once you’re done filming you can use the HDMI output that’s been shoe-horned into this tiny package. As soon as they find a shelf tag big enough to host this thing’s entire name you should be able to pick one up. Let’s hope they come up with a better way to name the next one or we’re gonna run out of room for our titles.
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So you’re on a midnight stakeout, waiting to catch that cheating spouse/celebutant/drug smuggler in the act. You’ve got your best telephoto lens hooked up to your 25 mega-pixel, ultra low-light DSLR. Then, Uh-oh, your camera’s memory is full. Your car’s dark and you don’t want to switch on the interior lights. Fumbling with the camera in the dark is likely to cost you your camera or your shot may just pass you by. Then you remember, YES, you picked up the awesome, Thanko USB SD card-reader/flashlight. You quickly get the card out of your camera, move pictures off of it, reinsert the card and start snapping again. Bingo, got the money shot.

So that story may ring true for stalkers, P.I.’s and paparazzi but probably very few other people are really going to need a flashlight handy while they are moving files back and forth from flash memory. A niche device if ever there was one, this 3 LED mini flashlight which is powered by a rechargeable battery inside the card reader’s chassis challenges the imagination to find a good use for these 2 functions together. On the upside the 40mAh battery probably only takes about 30-45 minutes to fully charge and can probably run the LEDs for an hour. It is able to read SD, SDHC and any other card that is small enough that an SD adapter exists for. With that kind of flexibility and utility who wouldn’t shell out the $12.99 to have one of these handy for that next secret mission?
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Pricing for the much anticipated NWZ-X1000 has surfaced on Sony Hong Kong website, and it’s not pretty. The 32GB will retail for $3680 ($471 USD), and the 16GB for $2780 ($356 USD). Local Sony has started to accept pre-orders, and both PMP models will begin shipping in late May. Considering how competitive the PMP market is in area, we believe the X1000 to be priced similarly in the US. To put the prices into perspective, the X1060 (32GB) and X1050 (16GB) cost about $70 and $57 USD more than the iPod touch 2G of the same capacity.

You could argue Sony has a gorgeous 3″ OLED, superb battery life (33 hrs. music, 9 hrs. video), and a decent pair of nose canceling headphones as well as a host of audio fidelity enhancements, but the X1000-series may have a harder time winning back some iPod touch fanboys when their beloved PMP can run Need for Speed at full 3D and make long distance call with Skype. What we are most concerned about is the video playback compatibility (max. 2GB file size – 768kbps bit-rate at QVGA for H.264… sigh) and the Netfront browser rendering speed. We are keeping our fingers crossed.
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Whether you have an iPhone, iPod nano, shuffle or touch, you may find Apple cannot get anymore stingy with their accessories. The fruit company has long taken out the dock from the all the iProducts which have been shipping with just a USB cable and a dock adapter. On the bright side, this is an opportunity for third party manufacturers to come up with creative iPhone/iPod dock and to make a living.

The “Works for iPhone” Dexim Premium MHub Dock Station – similar to the Griffin Simplifi – can de-clutter your desktop with its 3-in-1 design which combines a iPhone/iPod dock, SDHC card reader on the side and a 3-port USB hub on the back. The station in an aluminum chassis also bundles with a variety of phone charging cable for mini-and micro-USB handsets. Its one-size-fits-all adjustable bracket seem to best Apple’s own dock adapter, and Dexim ships with four electrical plugs for customers from all over the world. You can get all of the above for $74.99 (Apple tax included).
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Another great one for your travel bag, this Digistor USB Blu-Ray burner from Sunland International is right-sized for travel. The Blu-Ray Burner is a slot loading type and is powered by a single USB or double USB connection. The Drive really requires more juice than a single USB connection can supply but they have come up with a couple of nifty solutions to get around those needs. The best way would be to use the included double USB connector.

Here’s the really unusual part, if you don’t have 2 available USB ports you can get by on a single USB connection with the help of the built in Lithium Polymer battery. While the drive is not in use the battery trickle charges off of the USB connection. As soon as the drive needs juice the battery kicks in. The battery is good for about 3 hours worth of use on a full charge. Unfortunately this flexible system looks to set you back 6 large (there are some cheaper options). If you want to buy an AC adapter to help speed charging there’s one available for another $15. So if you’ve got $599 and are yearning to take your BD collection on the road with you this is for you.
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