Best computer news

SmartFish is no stranger to ergonomic peripherals (still remember their keyboard?). What we didn’t know until now is that it’s interested in PC gaming market. Its latest Pro:Motion is the first controller of its kind that emphasizes more on preventing hand fatigue than improving your performance.

Unique to the “batwing” gamepad is the ergonomic shape. Instead of a conventional “fixed position” design, the Pro:Motion relies on robotic technology that tracks your usage pattern, and it will actually reposition itself (vertical & horizontal wrist rotation) using its built-in motorized parts. So, the dynamic positioning gamepad in aluminum finish is literally made for everyone. Besides its sophisticated ergonomic features, the Pro:Motion comes with two analog sticks, triggers, and D-pad as well as vibration feedback. Its 5-year warranty reassures us that the doctors are quite confident about the product, or they could be hit with a heap of lawsuits.
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Long, hot summer looms heavily upon us. While we often concern about computers getting overheated, we should actually worry about overheating ourselves in a room cluttered with NASs, overclocked rigs, and alike. USB fans are one eco-friendly way to keep ourselves cool while we are at our desk. They come in all types of style, from classic to LED illuminated.

Now, we have the ultimate USB fan that pretends to be a packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC). Even if this isn’t the real thing, the dual fan “AC” can be mounted on a wall and comes with a remote for power control. As soon as USB 3.0 arrives on PC, we may even see a quad-fan model. Fly to Japan if you really want this fake AC, or instead wait for a gadget importer.
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Put these cute little guys to work cleaning your monitor with their dust pads, then savagely pop off their heads to brush all of the Cheetos crumbs hiding in the crevices of your keyboard. Action shots are available after the break.

Product Page ($5)

Tengu – the interactive USB-powered gadget character – really doesn’t do much except reacting to sounds and then responds by making animated faces through LEDs as if it’s lip syncing. Its LEDs can show 14 different facial expressions. To wake up Tengu, simply blow. And when Tengu doesn’t detect any ambient noise, it goes to sleep.

As cool as the USB toy is, things can get quite boring after a while. The developer now tries to extend Tengu’s life through personalization, and he names the new series, All Stars. The three Tengu’s are Rotten, Stardust and Woodstock, all of which are technically the original version. Each box set contains a wig (if you can call it that) and stickers (e.g. sunglasses, tattoos, eye patch) to give Tengu’s personalities. For those who haven’t already been trying to dress their Tengu’s, the All Stars series is now available for $40 each.
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The FreeAgent series (i.e. XTreme, Go, Desk, Theater) has long been Seagate’s cash cow. So when the manufacturer rolls out new, bigger drive, the FreeAgent will be the first to get it. Seagate’s own website provides a teaser on what appears to be the largest FreeAgent Go ever, equipping with a 640GB 2.5″ drive. Before this, 500GB is the max. capacity offered by anyone in the laptop-friendly HDD form factor. So, this product page sheds light on what is to come.

As a consumer storage line-up, the FreeAgent Go comes in 250GB, 320GB and 500GB as well as the unannounced 640GB. While all the other capacities are available in at least 5 colors, the 640GB will only get two (titanium silver and tuxedo black) for now. In-house developed backup software is for Windows only and oddly works with Seagate drives only. And a 5-year warranty is about as good as it gets for a portable USB drive.
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Trying to burn CDs or DVDs individually is such a chore, not to mention the inherent inefficiency. That’s why auto-loader exists in the first place. You can feed more than a dozen of discs and let the loader proceed with content duplication in batch. While this kind of device has been around for a while, Nimbie from Acronova raises the bar on the device’s versatility to appeal SOHOs and organizations . Nimbie comes in three varieties: one that writes regular CD/DVD; one equipped with Blu-ray burner; and another version specifically optimized for LightScribe.

What distinguishes the Nimbie apart from others is the top-feeding loader that allows you to refill discs as simple as adding more on top, making it possible to duplicate unlimited number of discs. Also worth mentioning is the independent loader that shortens the cycle time, hence reducing production time and increasing productivity. For audiophiles, the Nimbie can work together with bundled QQripper to automate music ripping processes for up to 100 CDs at time unattended. The plug-in will also fill in all the ID3 tags as well as you are importing to iTunes or Windows Media Player. The regular Nimbie goes for $599 MSRP, and the Blu-ray version goes for $1,199 MSRP.
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Keyboards are just getting better not just in the ergonomic aspects, but also the bells and whistles that come with them. So far, we’ve seen keyboards with a LCD screen, a USB speaker, a cooling fan, and even a motor that can slowly rotate itself to adapt your typing style. It shouldn’t be a surprise when someone decides to throw in an iPod / iPhone dock.

The iConnect Media Keyboard from iHome has a prominent display of slightly elevated dock. It comes with 3 inserts to fit everything from iPod nano 1G to iPhone 3G (oddly, iPhone 2G is left out). The play button is below the dock, and we have no idea why it isn’t together with the illuminated touch-sensitive media keys on top of the keyboard. The volume control section can also detect finger swipe. That’s kinda cool. You will also find a rubberized wrist rest as well as a rotating 2-port USB hub. Oddly, flipping through the manual reveals an auxiliary power connector which iHome explicitly warns users must connect the supplied AC adapter to use the “Works for iPhone” keyboard. At MSRP of $149.99, most of keyboard revenue may go into Apple tax department.
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This rather industrial looking USB hub distances itself from designer quality counterparts such as ones from LaCie. The latest Buffalo ‘expansion bar’ provides four USB ports, whose power can be controlled individually by a switch. So, if you don’t need that peripheral to operate 24/7, you can save some power and hence reduce some carbon footprint by turning off the device. This comes in very handy for those novelty USB gadgets without a power switch so you don’t have to unplug it every time you want them to stop humping.
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Archos might have turned its attention to netbooks and tablets, but the France-based company wants us to know it’s still in the PMP game. The recently leaked Archos 3 PMP whose product name hints on its display – a 3″ tactile touch screen. Archos is keeping quiet on the specs, but what we know is that the 3 comes with built-in accelerometer, virtual wheel for navigation, integrated 8GB memory, and a very affordable price tag (as low as $100 MSRP). Battery will last for about 14 hours.

That’s pretty much it for now. But it has become obvious the software is increasingly more important as it is what creates the virtual on-screen buttons that replace physical controls. Well, if you can’t afford an iPod touch, Samsung YP P3 or Sony Walkman X1000, Archos 3 PMP might be the next best thing for the buck.
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Let’s face it – you can’t get enough of storage. When you think your brand new 32GB flash drive has you covered, you will soon find new ways to fill it up, such as backing up the whole system for data recovery on the go. Before you know it, you will be googling your next thumbdrive again. Kingston will be shipping a 128GB flash drive – the largest capacity yet as of this writing.

Designated DT200, the series also comprises of 32GB and 64GB, has a capless design, comes with five-year warranty, and includes data protection that is less likely going to rival that of Ironkey. It’s not going to matter anyway since most recovery software already incorporates some form of AES encryption. Keep in mind the 128GB is build-to-order only, and Kingston asks for a staggering $546, not to mention the drive is limited to USB 2.0. (Where is SuperSpeed USB when we need it?) As for the other two, the same company has been selling 32GB and 64GB that belong to the DT150 at a relatively attractive price.
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