Intel UrbanMax Slider Laptop

Among the treats that Intel has bestowed on the computer world at the IDF, Intel Developers Forum, one of the more intriguing has been a concept slider laptop design that is quite unique and aims to offer a unique experience to all users. Very little has been released regarding the specification of the laptop but then the concept is all about the form design rather than the laptop itself so that’s hardly surprising.

Engadget has an image of the little laptop which not only uses a slider design but also incorporates a tilt function to make it increasingly user friendly and to ensure that you still get the same feel as you would with an ordinary folding mechanism. For now it’s carrying the working title of the UrbanMax although that could change numerous times before it’s actually developed and released.

It is also known that the display isn’t just a display and offers reactive touchscreen features and combined with the tilt/slide mechanism that means complete flexibility in how you view your media, games, and work on the miniature device.

All in all, while it is a unique concept to the laptop world, it’s debatable whether it offers any more value to users than a normal laptop design. The display has less protection and all the sliding and tilting in the world means you can only get the same layout as you would with an existing laptop.

Virtual Economies Booming

A report on the BBC website shows the quite staggering impact that virtual world gold farming is having on the economies of developing countries like China, where the cost of living is still low. It’s estimated that the farming industry for games like World of Warcraft and Second Life, while strictly against the terms of play for the majority of games, employes nearly half a million people with over three quarters of these based in China.

Games developers have tried to crack down on the practice, because they claim it is an unfair method for some gamers to get a heads up on other players. Some games do initially seem to encourage it; Second Life for instance has a fervent economy with its own exchange and marketplace which certainly attracts farmers.

The average gold farmer only earns about £75 per month with similar fees being paid to power levellers (people that take control of an account and then level it up at an extraordinary rate – another practice that is, strictly speaking, against the terms and conditions). While it’s believed that developers are putting in some effort to curb the trend it would be nearly impossible to eradicate it entirely.

The Solar Powered Tie

When I read the term “solar powered tie” I have glorious images of an automated tie that harvests the power of the sun in order to loop itself around and around in an intricate and elaborate attempt to perform the perfect bow but then perhaps that says a lot more about me than it does the actual solar powered tie.

Despite the name being something of a misnomer (which is a good thing – would you trust anything that might go wrong to tie something around your neck?) the concept is pretty good and while the design, which reminds me of the neck of a guitar complete with frets and everything, may not be to everybody’s taste it’s certainly unique and like may of the gadgets we seem to be featuring at the moment it takes being green to the extreme (there’s an advertising slogan that somebody that should use).

While it doesn’t tie your tie it does harvest the power of the sun’s rays and by slotting your mobile phone into the pouch at the back of the tie you can charge your phone while going about your daily business – although, obviously, your daily business should be conducted in high natural sunlight to get the best results possible.

The Media Player Bracelet

If you didn’t know that it was a media player bracelet, then it wouldn’t look particularly cool but now that we’ve told you that’s what it is it should have taken on an entirely new light. The concept of the thing works entirely because it utilises e-paper which is an ultra thin method of displaying multimedia content and can be wrapped around the wrist like and bracelet and then unwrapped again when you want to watch Eastenders.

Design wise it doesn’t look that great and it brings to mind an old camera film reel, for some reason, but in all honesty it’s only likely to come into its own when used as an item of gadget jewellery of which there are scant few options available. It certainly out techs the magnetic, health improving, soul saving bracelets that realistically probably don’t do anything.

Obviously, this is still in the conceptual stage and, as such, there’s not many details such as price but we’re willing to wager a small fortune that that’s how much you’ll have to pay for one. If it ever makes it into full production and retail we don’t, unfortunately, see this version selling too many units but in a couple of generations you never know.

New iPod Nano Design?

Rumours abound regarding the new look iPod Nano and Gizmodo is carrying a reasonably good looking picture although there’s some concerns over whether it’s quite as nano as its predecessors. Engadget is also carrying some rather more colourful images that, in my opinion, don’t do the design anywhere near as much justice.

Of course, there’s also the very real possibility that the images are completely fake and the best reason readers seem to be able to give for that view is the mini USB that is unlikely to ever grace any incarnation of an iPod in the near future; it’s just not going to happen. In that case, the question is, who the hell does the design belong to? Should we expect another entrant to the market posting their own renders as leaked nanos for a bit of free blog advertising?

According to the founder of Digg, the Nano is to be replaced by the end of next month with a new look but don’t get your hopes up too much because he has made some monumentally incorrect assumptions in the past. If it is the real thing then it’s major new direction for the Nano line in terms of form design.

Microsoft Sidewinder X6 Keyboard

Recently, Microsoft hasn’t really been the first name you think of in terms of hardcore PC gaming peripherals. Obviously, they do have a reasonable claim to be involved in the gaming world through various other ventures but their PC peripherals had seemingly take a back seat to these for some time now. Well, fret no longer, because they’re releasing the Sidewinder X6 gaming keyboard.

The biggest feature of the X6 is definitely the number pad, which can not only be removed and attached to the other side of the keyboard for lefties but also has macro buttons that enable you to record nearly 100 in game macros to speed up and automate those monotonous button pressing tasks.

Front lit keys enable you to play well into the night without even having to get up and switch the lights on and Cruise Control can be applied to four different buttons. The Cruise Control feature enables players to continue performing the action of a particular button without having to keep it held down.

Considering two factors (it’s a gaming peripheral and, more importantly, it’s a Microsoft product) the price is surprisingly reasonable at the equivalent of about £40 and is perfect for any left handed computer users as well as hard core gamers.

16 Year Old Quits School In Hope Of Becoming Professional Guitar Heroist

As far as careers go, professional gamer must rank up there as being one of the most desirable, except of course that it’s highly unlikely to ever become reality and it pays surprisingly very little. Well, in true American style, one kid’s parents have allowed him to quite school aged 16 in a bid to become a professional Guitar Hero player.

Blake Peebles (middle names Randy and Chuck – possibly) from North Carolina will now be home schooled and will concentrate a large chunk of his time on playing Guitar Hero (don’t most 16 year-olds concentrate most of their time on that kind of activity anyway?).

The story on Gizmodo drags up a few other points worth noting, especially the fact that professional gamers typically earn less than £10k a year and even the very best struggle to topple the £40k bracket.

Perhaps the most incredible thing about all this is that young Mr Peebles has his parent’s blessing in his latest endeavour that sounds like little more than a good excuse to live off crap food and sit in his room playing on the Xbox. The reason they let him do it? Because he said that school is a waste of time – well, that’s ok then, as long as there’s a valid reason for it.

Asus Laptop Upgrades – Including The Scented Laptop!

Asus has announced various upgrades to their line of laptop PCs and, for a refreshing change, it’s not the Eee PCs that have been given the upgrade. In fact, it seems like Asus has been storing up a few of these for a while and is now hitting us with everything at once while they have the chance and before they probably launch a new Eee sometime soon.

There’s an awful lot of changes coming and we’ll cover some of the more intriguing ones in separate posts but here’s a few notable releases. The most bizarre of all is the scented laptop range – the F6. As well as coming with various visual lid designs there are also numerous fragrances for you to pick from – you wouldn’t believe it would you? The F6 will also have fingerprint scanning security.

Republic of Gamers laptops are going to look the part featuring, we’re promised, LED lighting effects among a number of impressive features that are demanded for modern gaming. Also included in the G71V and G50V are gaming hotkeys and up to 2 500GB hard drives and a dual layer burner.

The Travelodge Made Of Shipping Containers

Travelodge is clearly vying for the extreme recycling award 2008 by knocking up a 120 bedroom hotel made almost entirely out of shipping containers. Not only is that one of the most ingenious pieces of commercial architecture you’re ever likely to see but it’s estimated that the process knocked ten weeks off the total build time along with a cash saving of more than half a million pounds. The finish also helps ensure that you wouldn’t know to look at it.

The process has obvious environmental benefits and presumably they got permission before thieving eighty six containers of varying sizes from a dock somewhere (imagine the surprise when everybody arrives at work on Monday).

Exterior and interior finishes help mask the rather industrial and rusty look that containers normally have and you genuinely wouldn’t be able to tell the difference either from the outside or while you’re asleep (obviously you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference while asleep but you get the point).

It’s not a one off venture for Travelodge either and now they’ve proven the efficacy of using prefabricated containers they’re planning a bigger and better version in Heathrow and expect to save more than 10 million a year using this new method of building.

The 01 Phone – Just Who’s Is It?

T3 has potentially found the most incredible phone that, if it’s real and comes to fruition, would blow pretty much the entire range of iPhones and 3g phones completely out of the water; not least for its laser keyboard (touch screen is so passée). The 01 is quite possibly its working title and some of the details are both sketchy and completely unconfirmed at the present time but it’s always good to dream.

For a start, it looks exquisite with ultra thin form, and a big honking screen taking up the entire front of the phone. Throw into the mix a list of features that look like the designers have just gone “we’ll give it everything that all other phones have got and we’ll max the specification of the lot” and you’re half way there.

A 5MP camera, 3g Internet connection, and a massive 32GB storage place in comparison to the concealed laser keyboard that will project onto the surface below the phone and enable you to use just about any surface as a keyboard. The laser tracks finger movements so that you can use it as you would an ordinary computer keyboard. Whether it’s a phone being knocked up by an existing manufacturer or something completely new is unknown but the onsite countdown signifies we’ll know more in less than a month.

<« Previous page — Next Page » 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 « Previous Page — Next Page »