Features

• Switched On: Baby steps toward intelligent apparel
• Engadget named #13 in PC World's 100 Best Products of the Year

News

• Get your Q now in "just 2 easy steps"
• The Big Three's consoles: size matters
• Maverick's remote BBQ thermometers
• DS Lite US street date broken, now available!
• Airgo makes advances in WiFi-delivered IPTV
• Hitachi's Ultravision HLT79: a 32-inch 1080p LCD TV for $2200
• XM suspends shipments of certain radio units, Sirius might follow
• IO-DATA's LCD-TV241X: 24-inches of PC/TV LCD goodness
• Dell XPS M2010 gets official
• M-Cody's M20 merges nano with Chocolate
• Nokia E62 on Cingular soon
• JVC Victor's XA-C109 and XA-C59 audio players
• AMD Live! goes live
• ASUS releases P525 Pocket PC phone
• Samsung's 26-inch LE26R41BDX LCD TV Reviewed
• Buffalo's latest USB key packs 8 gigs
• Hack gives Minty Boost to an iPod battery
• Dell brings two new XPS models to the US
• More networks suing Cablevision over networked DVR
• Micro Reactor System's flexible electronic curtain
• Dutch designer's Solar Lampion
• Apple gets going on recycling program
• Oppo's upconverting DV-970HD DVD player
• iRex poised to take B2B orders for iLiad e-book reader
• Lenovo's compact V100 reviewed
• Unannounced Vaio TX800 surfaces at FCC
• Virgin installing telemedicine systems in every plane
• HP intros four new Photosmarts: R967, R827, M627, E427
• Robots turn 85 years old

Rumors

• AMD to buy ATI?

Dear Robots,

We’re very sorry. It appears we missed your 85th birthday two days ago — the anniversary of which is marked by the date Czech writer Karel Capek debuted his play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) to its first audience in Prague. Yes, we know the concept of the automaton dates back much further, but we think it’s well agreed upon that Capek’s play marks the robot’s entry into mass consciousness (as well as marking the first use of the word “robot”). No matter, we’re just saying happy birthday, robots — not because we fear you’ll one day you’ll subsume us in some dystopian nightmare of artificial intelligence gone terribly wrong, but because from Asimov to AIBO, from Roomba to Ri-Man, from QRIO to ASIMO, we just love ya. So happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday, robots, and when the day of reckoning comes, please remember: Engadget and its readers are your friends.

All our love,
Engadget

P.S. -And we, for one, welcome our new robot overloards.

We really didn't want to brag, but we've gotten literally dozens of tips on this... so we moved our post which was originally only available at meta.engadget.com on to the main page. Thanks for your support everybody, it's you -- our loyal readers -- who keep this site running!

Yep, that's us, wedged right in between FireFox 1.5 and Toshiba's HD-A1 in PC World's 100 Best Products of the Year. Nice! Glad to hear we beat out HD DVD. Hell, we even beat out Google (17), TiVo (31), the iPod (36), Dell's 3007WFP (64), even EV-DO (82) and the Xbox 360 (89). Wow, how meta that we beat out so many products that comprise a huge amount of our coverage -- it's an honor! We think you guys are alright too, PC World. And we're not just saying that, you know?

[Thanks, DJ]

Among the 100 new products HP introduced today (we’re not joking) are these four new Photosmart digital cameras, the R967, R827, M227, and E427. The R967 is the highest-end of the bunch, a 10 megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom, 3-inch LCD, an anti-shake, and 32MB of internal memory — price is $449. Next up is the $299 7.2 megapixel R827, packing an internal 3x optical zoom and a 2.5-inch LCD in an ultracompact body. Rounding out the entry-level side of things are the $229 7 megapixel M627 with a 3x optical zoom, and the $129 E427 with six megapixels and no optical zoom. All four will be available in September.

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:

For years, futurists have considered a world in which nearly everything one touches or even wears is intelligent and connected. With such a vision in mind, it's easy to poke small holes - eyelets, if you will - around the Nike-Apple "iPed" system announced last week; neither company jumps into partnerships very often. The system that the hardware and footwear giants trotted out works with only one form factor of iPod, albeit Apple's most popular and one that is well-suited to running.

The dock-connector receiver that picks up the sensor's signal protrudes from the nano and may cause problems for some carrying cases. In addition, the NikePlus online service, while slick, has no integration with dotMac, Apple's set of online services that have been a sleeper story since all the online excitement around the iTunes Music Store surfaced. And, finally, the "PowerSong" feature sounds like the kind of device that has magically reinvigorates cartoons, like spinach for Popeye, clapping for Tinkerbell or breakups for Nick Lachey. Indeed, the partnership will probably do little to move the needle of Apple's iPod market share in the short run. Most runners who have been in the market for an MP3 player probably purchased an iPod anyway, and competition for real-time data tracking as it exists in Garmin's Forerunner GPS watch is a relatively small market for now.

While the partnership will translate into more differentiation for Nike (I can see the rise of the show-modders now, cutting holes in their Dr. Scholl's to order to accept the Sports Pack transmitter), both companies suggest that these are the early days of a longer-term collaboration. Perhaps the next component will be a power fork. Dip it into a serving of mashed potatoes and it signals your iPod to play the verse of Old McDonald that describes an oink-oink here and an oink-oink there.

As the RAZR name splinters into a seemingly endless array of variants, how can the average user be expected to know the difference between a V3i, a V3c, and a V3x? More importantly, how are we to know whether that shiny new clamshell goodness is worth divorcing ourselves of several hundred dollars? As usual, we've got you covered. This time, we have Mobledia taking an up-close-and-personal look at the V3m, the successor to the CDMA V3c. The V3m is basically a V3c that's been taking its vitamins -- the only major additions are the MicroSD slot, music playback, and location-based services. Externally, the phones are identical, so V3c users fishing for compliments on their hot new upgrade best look elsewhere. Mobledia faults Motorola for carrying over the same 65,000-color displays from the V3c, but left us with a generally positive impression of the phone, crediting it for addressing the major complaints leveled against its predecessor. If that's enough to get you excited, the V3m is expected shortly on Verizon for $150 with contract.

News

• KT Powertel introduces South Korea to BlackBerry
• Get your Q now in “just 2 easy steps”
• The BlackBerry 7130e: Sprint gets shown up again
• Nokia E62 on Cingular soon
• ASUS releases P525 Pocket PC phone
• Nokia cracking down on counterfeiters
• Pantech C300 drops on Cingular, sort of
• Das BlackBerry 8707v now available on Vodafone Germany
• Vertu looking to expand infection of world’s jet set
• Samsung ZX20 poised to usher in HSDPA age on Cingular
• 911 Cell Phone Bank takes old phones, postage paid
• Debitel launches Samsung P900, T-DMB in Germany

Air travel is about to get just a little bit safer -- though not in the anti-terrorist, heavy-handed security type of way -- thanks to Virgin Atlantic's impending fleet-wide rollout of a device that allows ground-based doctors to remotely diagnose passengers in medical distress. The airline has just announced a deal with Remote Diagnostic Technologies that will result in each of Virgin's planes being outfitted with the Tempus telemedicine system, which contains blood pressure and pulse monitors along with an integrated video cam, and transmits data down to medical personnel via the on-board telephone system. Flight crews will be trained to independently operate each of Tempus' individual instruments, but unlike the in-flight defibrillators that preceded this system, attendants will have the added benefit of live instructions from experts on the ground, if necessary. Virgin will employ the Tempus boxes until at least 2009, and claims that it would like to eventually see an industry-wide implementation, which RDT probably wouldn't mind too much either.

[Via MedGadget]

Our pals at the FCC have let another laptop slip, and this time it looks like a Core Duo upgrade to the TX790 and company. There's no hard facts on the specs, but according to the manual it doesn't look like this first wave will have 3G data, just the usual 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth good times. Core Duo News is guessing Sony will stick with Core Solo ULV 1.06 and 1.2GHz chips for now, and wait for those Core Duo ULV chips coming this fall. There's an 11-inch screen and plenty of similarities to the current TX series, including a nicely skinny form factor, but we'll just have to sit tight to learn any more.

[Thanks, Staska]

Yeah, we’re officially removing any “ultracompact” or “ultraportable” marketing speak that might have slipped in to describe the V100 from Lenovo, but there’s plenty else to love about this slightly bulky compact notebook. First off, at 1.25-inches thick and weighing 4.4 pounds, the laptop is no X60 (which doesn’t contain the DVD burner of the V100), but it does look positively skinny beside Dell’s new M1210. The V100 features a nice glossy 12.1-inch WXGA screen, and a built-in 1.3 megapixel camera that captured his smarmy mug much better than those featured on the M1210 and MacBook. Lenovo also doesn’t seem to have as much trouble keeping the Core Duo cool as Apple is; the V100 ran plenty cool even though it doesn’t have the low-voltage version of the chip run by its X60 brother. The plastic case build is a bit drab and not near as sturdy as a ThinkPad, but it should hold up fine. However, the 3 to 4 hour battery life seems barely acceptable. There’s an ExpressCard 54 slot, so you might want to hold off until an EV-DO solution comes along. The integrated graphics really limit the gaming options, but the V100 really does provide a lot of functionality for the price, especially if you’re not up for lugging an external drive around and want some of that Core Duo power.

Productivity everywhere stands to suffer for the next month or so as World Cup Fever sets in, but expect German productivity to take an even stronger hit — carrier Debitel is using the tournament as the launching pad for its new T-DMB service. No word on how many games will be available for viewing, but we suspect there’ll be enough to justify stealing off to the office bathroom at an alarming frequency. The service launches today along with the compatible Samsung P900, which will set you back €199 (roughly $250) with contract.

We’ve had our eye on Philips (that’s Royal Philips Electronics to you) spinoff iRex Technologies ever since we heard that the company was developing a Sony Reader-like e-book device with some pretty compelling features, but there’s been no word on the so-called iLiad since it failed to ship last month as we were expecting. Well now iRex has finally updated its website with some new information about the 400MHz, multi-format reader, and the news is not so good if you’re hoping to get your hands on one of these any time soon — consumers will have to wait until at least September to order a model with “extended functionality” being designed for the general public. Businesses, on the other hand, can start placing their orders for the regular, “less-functional” models within the next month, with Europeans getting a shot at the e-ink-based ‘books a month ahead of the rest of the world. We’re hoping that along with the new features promised in the consumer version, iRex also manages to shave a few bucks off of the cost, as that $800+ pricetag we previously reported is pretty steep no matter how much you like to read.

[Thanks, Alex]

Oppo's just announced a new upconverting DVD player, the DV-970HD, featuring HDMI and a very reasonable $149 price tag. The player will convert standard DVDs up to 720p/1080i and can output a native 480i/576i resolution over HDMI. Sure, it's no match for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, but we're guessing most of you aren't ready to trade in your DVD collections just yet. In fact, the player should play just about anything short of HD or Blu-Ray, including DVD-Audio, SACD, DivX, and XviD -- we remember when all that format support used to cost you a grip. It's also both PAL and NTSC compatible to boot, and includes a 4-in-1 flash memory reader and a USB interface. And did we mention it's only $150?

[Thx, Dustin]

After announcing their free computer take-back program in April — just in time for Earth Day — Apple is finally getting the program off the ground and are now accepting any old Mac or PC with the purchase of a new Mac. When you purchase a computer from the Apple Store or an Apple retail location, you can opt for the program and Apple will email you instructions and a shipping label to get your old box to their recycling center. We’re not sure it’ll quiet the company’s detractors on environmental issues, but it sure makes for a fancy press release.

We’re all for solar power around here but we’ll admit it’s not always the most aesthically pleasing way to save energy. While it won’t quite power your house, Dutch designer Damien O’Sullivan has come up with a practical and attractive solution to generating a bit of light. His Solar Lampion consists of 36 small solar panels that form the design of the lamp. You simply leave the lamp outside during the day while it collects sunlight, which should give it enough juice to shine all night, whether you want to bring it into the house or leave it outside. It is still a prototype, unfortunately, but O’Sullivan says it is close to production.

Another hack in the grand tradition of Altoids tin usage, the Minty Boost hack from from Ladyada is a new external iPod battery pack that uses AA batteries and some design smarts to about double the battery life of your iPod. The last time we saw an Altoids-based charger for the iPod it was running off of some 9v batteries, making the hack a simple one, but not very efficient. By using cheap and available AAs, the Minty Boost should make quite the addition to your collection of iPod accessories — as long as you can manage to follow along at home with Ladyada’s detailed instructions. Luckily, she’s quite thorough, and even has a kit available to make things even easier. Plus a little bit of fresh breath never hurt anybody.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

If you go through cellphones as rapidly as we do, odds are you have a few laying around that are never going to find their way into your pocket again. If you're looking for a way to make those "classics" useful again, we've caught wind of a program called 911 Cell Phone Bank that collects used phones, and either sells them or adds them to a bank of phones available for use in emergencies, depending on their value. Proceeds generated from the sale of phones are forwarded to local law enforcement agencies. The best part is, you can print out a free postage-paid shipping label from the organization's website, so the whole process won't cost you one red cent. Now where did we put that StarTAC?

[Thanks, James]