I’ve been using the Kindle DX for several weeks now, and it was anything but love at first sight. This is my third Kindle: I was one of the first with the initial Kindle, got the Kindle 2 when it first shipped, and figured, what the heck, I’d pick up the Kindle 2’s big brother, the Kindle DX. I wanted to try it with newspapers, since it had a bigger screen, and was initially anything but impressed. The Kindle 2 is smaller, lighter, and since the newspapers don’t render like newspapers, I thought that all I’d done was pay more for something that wasn’t either as portable, or as convenient.
Tag Archive: LAN
Qualcomm Eyes Wireless HD Streaming with 600 Mbps Wi-Fi
Communications chip maker Qualcomm is looking to leave all other 802.11n high-bandwidth Wi-Fi solutions in the dust, announcing it has created a new Wi-Fi chip—the N-Stream Wireless LAN WCN1320—capable of pushing 600 Mbps. Qualcomm is positioning the chip as idea for whole-house media streaming solutions, noting the system’s bandwidth makes it capable of handling multiple streams of high-definition video, data, and voice traffic without wires.
“Qualcomm’s advanced 4×4 MIMO technology sets a new performance milestone for home media streaming devices,” said Qualcomm’s senior VP Mike Concannon, in a statement. “Our N-Stream solution delivers a new level of performance and range, enabling next-generation whole-house wireless LAN coverage.”
AMD Overclocks ATI Radeon HD 4890 Graphics Past 1 GHz
High-end gamers have been ratcheting up the cycles on their graphics cards for years, hoping to eake out more frame rates in games so they can dominate LAN parties and (of course) win their contents fair and square. Now, chipmaker AMD is getting in on the act, offering the world’s first 1 GHz graphics card in the form of a jacked-up ATI Radeon HD 4890. Unlike home-cranked graphics cards, the Radeon HD 4890 actually comes with a warranty—and, somewhat surprisingly, the unit is still air-cooled.
LaCie Hops on the Time Machines with New NAS Offerings
Storage and peripheral maker LaCie is no stranger the network-attached storage (NAS) market, and the company has just introduced two new systems intended to offer professional-class reliability and ease of use without breaking budgets…or forcing users to become rocket scientists to get the devices up and running. The new d2 Network and Big Disk Network NAS devices offer streaming media support for UPnP devices, quiet operation with an aluminum heat sink design, and compatibility with Apple’s Time Machine software, built into Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
World of Warcraft in 3D
3D Gaming: World of Warcraft, etc.
Like a lot of you I waited to see the 3D Super Bowl ads and then watched Chuck in 3D (well the first 10 minutes anyway) and was disappointed with the result. The 3D Monsters vs. Aliens ad just sucked too: I mean, do we really need any more cute monster and alien movies? Bring back the real Aliens – you know, the ones that Sigourney Weaver used to fight, and put them up against the Vampires and Werewolves from movies like Underworld or Blade. Now that would be cool.
At Last: Retrospect 8 for Windows and Mac
EMC’s Retrospect backup software has long been a major player for all levels of users, from everyday folks just looking to safeguard their personal data to small businesses and enterprises looking to back up small (and large!) herds of machines. The application backs up intelligently—only one copy of a file gets stored, no matter how many copies of it might live on a network—, supports incremental backups (so you can restore systems to any given snapshot, or retrieve long-deleted documents), offers great reporting, supports a wide variety of media and data types, and features powerful, flexible scripting so users (or administrators) can make sure the data the want backed up is backed up at the right times. But while Retrospect 7 for Windows was at least a competent product, Mac OS X users were stuck with Retrospect 6—which lacked support for features Apple introduced into its operating system years ago—ironic, since years ago the Mac version of Retrospect used to be one of the most reliable ways to back up Windows machines. As a result, Mac users have abandoned the product in droves, and while there are workable backup solutions out there for individuals and businesses (including Apple’s own Time Machine backup in Mac OS X Leopard), none really rise to Retrospect’s level of sophistication.
Toshiba TLP-X200U Projector Talks Back
Toshiba’s Digital Products Division has announced its TLP-X200U portable projector, a wireless (and wired!) LAN-compatible projector sporting an XGA 1,024 by 768 resolution, 3,000 ANSI lumens of brightness, and a 600:1 contrast ratio. But none of those are the TLP-X200U’s signature feature: rather, the projector is the first in the world to offer voice guidance to help users through setup, operations, maintenance, and system alerts, with the idea of making use and operation of a project easier for non-technical folks. And, of course, good projector maintenance means a longer lifetime for the projector, and that makes everyone happy.
Gateway Rolls Out New Quad-Core Desktops
Gateway has introduced two new desktop computers, specifically designed to appeal to gamers and digital media enthusiasts. The new FX6710 and LX6200 both feature quad-core processing, tons of RAM capacity, and speedy graphics processing at prices that won’t make customers feel like they’re shelling out for a high-end rig.
"Consumers looking to maximize their budgets as the holiday season approaches will appreciate these affordable, powerful, no-compromise systems that get the job done without breaking the bank," said Gateway’s senior manager for desktop products Glenn Jystad, in a statement.
Archos 5, Zune 4, and Slacker 2: Battle of the Non-iPods
While I think the new iPod Nano may be one of the best designed hardware products ever, I’ve never been a fan of iTunes and tend to avoid iPods as a result. Three products I’ve been testing couldn’t be more different than the iPod – or each other. These offerings all have unique advantages and disadvantages and, given that the stock market was up sharply on Monday, some of us may actually be able to afford one.
Let’s talk about putting a little non-iPod excitement in your pocket.
Archos 5 and 7
Nova Gaming Brings Peripherals Stateside
The market for high-end gaming peripherals just got a little more crowded. On Thursday, the French outfit Nova GamingRazer and Saitek in the United States by introducing a gamer-centric line of mice, keyboards, LAN bags and other accessories this fall. Its first offerings for the U.S. market will include the brand new Slider X 600 mouse and Over mouse pad. announced that it would join the likes of
