Sure, we weren’t exactly brimming with excitement about the iRiver N12, when we first caught sight of it a couple of weeks ago. But we’ve heard at least one good thing about the new player that sets it apart from its lookalike predecessor, the N11: the N12 will be available in capacities of up to 2GB, for a price in Japan of about ¥21,980 ($195). Other specs remain the same: OLED display, and support for MP3, WMA and PlaysForSure. Yeah, we know what you’re thinking: iRiver’s about to give up on the digital audio player business altogether in order to focus on WiBro gaming, so why should I even consider buying one of their players? Well, don’t worry. We still don’t expect this one to make it to the US, so unless you’re in Asia, chances are they’re not about to try selling it to you to begin with.

DualCor Technologies has just released the final specs for their cPC “ultimate convergence device,” and those who were looking forward to this model are bound to be horribly disappointed: not only will the production version lack cellphone capabilities out of the box as first promised, but the device contains no radios whatsover. That’s right, if you want to get your WiFi, Bluetooth, or 3G on with the cPC, you’ll need to bring your your own CF cards or USB dongles to get connected, which takes an awful lot of convenience out of a product designed to lighten your load. Besides the crushing lack of wireless, the rest of the specs seem decent enough, with the XP side of the device powered by a 1.5GHz Via processor that’s backed by a full gig of DDR2 RAM. Both OSes can store data on the 30GB hard drive (and not 40GB as we previously reported) or the 1GB of NAND flash memory, with the Windows Mobile 5.0 side is supported by a 400MHz Intel PXA263 chip and 128MB of DRAM. GottaBeMobile is reporting that the cPC will be shipping within the next 90 days, though now that the product is devoid of any wireless capabilities, we’re curious to see what type of customer actually picks one up. [Warning: PDF link]

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Each week Tom Whitwell of Music Thing highlights the best of the new
music gear that’s coming out, as well as noteworthy vintage equipment:

Connecting a guitar to a USB socket is one of those technical questions that nobody has ever asked, but
lots of people have tried to answer. The latest, and possibly neatest, solution is the href="%E2%80%9Dhttp://musicthing.blogspot.com/2006/04/lighsnake-usb-guitar-cable.html%E2%80%9D">SoundTech
Lightsnake, a simple 10-foot guitar cable with a quarter-inch jack on one end and a USB plug on the other. Plug it
into a USB socket and it will glow green (mmm… retro!), and it promises to pump your guitar neatly into
GarageBand or whatever.

There’s a big cultural barrier between the two ends of the cable.
Quarter-inch jacks are indestructible, ancient and roadworthy. They were introduced in 1878, for use in telephone
exchanges, and they’re still in almost any piece of musical equipment you’d ever want to use, from a Les
Paul to a Moog Modular. They never break, and if they do happen to fray, can be mended by anyone who knows which end of
a soldering iron to hold. With no tools, a combination of sharp teeth and nimble fingers can make a workable repair. />
Meanwhile the new-fangled USB plug, introduced in 1995, has no place in rock’n’roll. It’s
invariably plastic, and was literally designed by a committee. Neutrik does produce a nickel-housed USB socket that
could almost fit on a guitar amp, but would be unlikely to survive attack from a flying bottle of beer.

In the last year, USB/Guitar hybrids have been everywhere. The href="%E2%80%9Dhttp://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/01/add-usb-port-to-any-guitar-and-some.html%E2%80%9D">GuitarPlug
does the same job as the Lightsnake, without the attached cable or the glowing LED. Towards the end of 2005 there was a
rash of USB guitars, released by many, bought by few, culminating in the href="%E2%80%9Dhttp://musicthing.blogspot.com/2006/03/messe-whats-on-behringer-photocopier.html%E2%80%9D">Behringer
iAxe, a $149 guitar with a built-in USB socket and a bundle of free software. I’m sure it sounds great.

We've seen plenty enough units claiming to be the "world's ____ flash drive," and while we think most of the size awards can safely go to the iDisk Diamond, it's hard to begrudge the title of "world's thinnest flash drive" to a 3mm thick unit that features a whopping 16GB of storage. The new U510 from PQI in Taiwan takes its credit card form factor seriously at 3.3 x 2.12 x 0.1 inches, and the USB 2.0 device features a thin retractable USB jack. No word on pricing or availability, but we're guessing it's not going to be cheap.

[Via New Launches]

We’re always a little suspicious when a company releases a line of products labeled with terms like
"ruggedized" or "shock-proof," especially when those items are packed into tiny packages. So, we’re
a little wary of Plextor’s claims that the company’s new PX-SP USB hard drives, which weigh in at less than 8 ounces,
are shock-proof. However, according to the company, the drives — which are available in capacities of 80GB and 120GB
– are protected by a "silicon jacket bumper," which allow users to carry them "anytime, anywhere."
We’ll reserve judgment for now, though we’re eager to hear how these survive some real world "anytime,
anywhere" tests involving drops, falls and the wheels of large military vehicles.

Sharing USB devices is about to get a lot simpler thanks to a new hub powered by technology from chip developer SMSC, which will allow two computers to access up to four shared devices without the need to set up a local area network. Called the MultiSwitch hub, this device creates a proprietary behind-the-scenes network, allowing USB-equipped printers, cameras, hard drives, and other peripherals to be accessed by any combination of desktop, laptop, HTPC, or game console -- with both machines able to interact with the devices simultaneously, according to the developer. PC OEMs are supposedly working on MultiSwitch-enabled chips for distribution this fall, with the resulting consumer electronics products expected to hit stores early next year.

Although we're pretty sure that many of you wouldn't agree with Newnham Research CEO Michael Ledzion's assertion that "connecting a graphics card to a PC is hard, and expensive," you might still be interested in his company's technology for connecting multiple displays to a PC through a standard USB connection, which will debut in a Kensington laptop dock in June. The Cambridge, England-based startup is able to achieve this rather amazing feat through a hardware rendering engine call NIVO, which can either be built directly into a monitor or incorporated into other peripherals, and which uses proprietary compression algorithms to deliver video up to 1280 x 1024 at 75Hz. As you could probably guess, this technology isn't designed for gaming -- the company suggests using it to display "largely static images" -- although it's supposedly capable of HD playback, which is something we'd definitely like to see firsthand.

[Via Extreme Tech]

That 12GB partition on your Xbox 360 not doing it for you? Datel -- the company that's carving out something of a niche with console storage peripherals -- has what looks like a unique solution. The XSATA connects to your 360 and your PC, letting you back up your console data to the PC, freeing up space on the 360. Once your 360's content is on your PC, you can also email unlocked files. Oh, and it has a blue glowing LED base, just 'cause. Expect to pay about $40, which is a lot less than you'd pay for an external drive for your 360 (though if you must have one, Datel would be happy to oblige).

[Via Gadget Review]

src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/04/kingstondatatraveler.jpg" alt="" />The href="http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=u3">U3 standard for mobile applications continues to gain steam, with href="http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=kingston">Kingston being just one of the latest to add another
U3-compatible flash drive to its lineup. The U3 Data Traveler, now in capacities of up to 2GB, comes bundled with
mobile versions of the Pass2Go password manager, the ACDSee image browsing application and the Zinio e-reader. It would
be nice if Kingston could also throw in mobile versions of apps like Firefox and Thunderbird, but it’s easy enough to
download them from the U3 site. Kingston’s a little vague on whether the software
on the drive consists of free "lite" versions, or trials of the full-featured programs, so don’t be surprised
if you’re hit with nags after using the drive for a while. The 1GB version has an MSRP of $47, while the 2GB goes for
$75.

We have no idea who these guys are, where they came from, or if they're even real, but the buzz is a new Chinese ODM by the name of Tech Faith Wireless (TWF) is about to storm HTC's castle with a sweet lineup of Windows Mobile devices. The specs seem a little pie in the sky (at best), with most rocking quad band GSM, HSDPA, 2.4 and 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreens, MicroSD, 512MB flash, 512MB RAM, GPS, USB On-The-Go, 2 megapixel cameras, optional WiFi, and optional MicroDrives (in their larger PDA devices). We're not saying it can't be done, but they're going to have some convincing to do that they, and their products, are the real deal, not to mention the uphill battle they're going to have getting these things on the market and taking on the 800 pound ODM gorilla. Tons more -- and we mean way too many -- shots after the break.

[Via MobilitySite]