Hardware – Page 10

Amazon Kindle available in Canada

November 17, 2009 Doug Groves Amazon, Kindle2 Comments

Amazon has announced that the Kindle ebook reader is now available in Canada, which bring an integrated ebook reading experience to the market. Besides books, Canada will have wireless access to over 90 newspapers on a single use or subscription basis. In the US, customers can browse and buy books directly through the device using a 3G connection, for a fee of 10 cents per book. There is a similar deal with one of Canadas wireless carriers, but as of yet that carrier hasn’t been announced. If you’re interested in…

Trio of Acer convertible tablets announced

November 10, 2009January 28, 2010 Doug Groves 1420P, 1820PT, 1820PTZ, Acer, convertible, Laptop, multitouch, netbook, tablet, Windows 72 Comments

Netbooks have been with us for a couple of years now, and although the market has been one of the largest growing consumer tech sectors, there’s been little innovation beyond increasing screen size and the blurring of lines between netbook and laptop. Sitting squarely between the netbook and laptop markets are ultra thin devices that range from reasonably priced products like the Acer Timeline to the ultra expensive and stylish Dell Adamo and Sony Vaio X. I had a chance to play with the Acer 1410, and found it to…

A Look at the New Wacom Fun Pen & Touch Tablet

November 5, 2009November 6, 2009 kingpinlei draw, editing, input, mouse, multitouch, nonlinear, replacement, tablet, Wacom23 Comments

Okay, so I recently picked up the new Wacom Bamboo Fun (Pen & Touch) Tablet to see if it holds up to what Wacom’s been promising about offering multitouch and pen tablet experience on both a Mac and a Windows-based computer. I know what you’re thinking, why don’t I wait for one of the new multi-touch monitors coming out? Well, for starters I’m impatient; I want multi-touch NOW! Second, I really like using a pen for some of the drawings and Photoshop touchups I like to do. Thirdly, I have…

Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0 trumps GPS for anything else. Pricewise, at least.

October 28, 2009October 28, 2009 Danny X 4 Comments

You hear that? On the wind? That’s the sound of a million TomTom, Garmin, and Magellan owners saying “aw, crap.” It’s because Google today announced their own turn-by-turn navigation application, dubbed Google Maps Navigation. The buyer’s remorse for anyone who bought a standalone GPS will set in when they hear the price, which is significantly less then any other GPS nav system on the market. 100% less, to be precise. In true Google fashion, Google Maps Navigation is available on the Android 2.0 mobile OS and is absolutely free.

Apple refreshes its consumer line, still not quite everything you’re hoping for.

October 20, 2009October 20, 2009 Danny X 8 Comments

Apple today released a refresh to the iMac, Mac Mini and Macbook lineup. The iMac now sports a 16:9 LED-backlit display at 1920×1080 (21.5″) and an extremely impressive 2560 x 1440 (27″), making it one of, if not THE, largest AIOs available (commercially, at least). Under the hood you’ll find a 3.06ghz Intel C2 Duo (upgradeable to a 2.8ghz Quad Core), at least 4gb RAM (but room for up to 16…that’s right, 16), at least 500gb of HDD space, and a variety of video options depending on which model you…

Pixel Qi display technology “coming soon”

October 17, 2009October 17, 2009 Doug Groves 3Qi, Amazon, display, e-ink, Kindle, netbook, Pixel Qi, tablet1 Comment

Often, we see demos of great technology, only to see it never come out in a usable form. I was kind of worried that this may be the case with Pixel Qi and its 3Qi display technology. Instead of being a whole new type of display, replacing LCD, Plasma, OLED etc ad nauseum, 3Qi is a layer that’s included in the manufacturing process of garden variety LCD screen. With this inserted layer, it allows a traditional LCD screen to be read in direct sunlight. The display desaturated to almost the…

Mouse 2.0 via Microsoft

October 13, 2009 Doug Groves Microsoft, mouse, multitouch, research1 Comment

Though the images above may not be much to look at, what they represent is actually interesting on a couple of levels. With multitouch input being all the rage, and the occasional musing on the mouse being dead as an input method, it appears that Microsoft Research has turned conventional thinking on it’s head with 5 new prototype mice, each with it’s own twist on the venerable input device. The antennae on the Arty for example are individually articulated touch surfaces. By the way, if you’re wondering what FTIR stands…

Acer Aspire AS 1410 aka Timeline Review

September 22, 2009October 19, 2009 Doug Groves Acer, AS 1410, Aspire, netbook, review, thin and light9 Comments

Ever since the netbook market took off, tech pundits have been asking “What are the defining characteristics of a netbook?” Is it price, size, storage or some combination thereof? I can safely say that Aspire AS 1410 (also known as the Acer Timeline in Europe but oddly rebranded here) should not only be considered on the fence between netbooks and ‘thin and light’ machines. It pretty much IS the fence. With an 11.4″, 1366 x768 display and a full sized keyboard that feels as expansive as the prairies compared to…

Wacom Bamboo Touch Tablet

September 17, 2009 Doug Groves Bamboo, hypothesis, Wacom5 Comments

It’s been a long time since there’s been a major change in a product line from tablet maker Wacom. All that has changed though. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, Wacom makes tablets that allow you to draw naturally on a computer. Using a piezoelectric pen, the harder you press on the surface, the thicker the line, or the heavier the ink flow, which makes the old days of trying to draw with a mouse seem positively comical. The last time Wacom introduced something revolutionary as opposed to…

WiFi 802.11n Greenlit?

September 14, 2009 Doug Groves 802.11n, WiFi2 Comments

It was a long time coming, but the high speed WiFi standard that’s been available in ‘draft’ mode for what seems like forever has finally been approved. According to a PCWorld article… Despite lack of an official announcement, task group chairman has sent out a notification to a listserv for task group members. For years now, the draft version, which is essentially beta, has been available on a number of networking devices, and millions of users have been able to take advantage of marked wireless transfer speeds. Many existing routers…

So you wanna buy a Netbook.

September 9, 2009 Danny X Acer, computers, Dell, Gateway, Hackintosh, HP, Mini 10v, MSI, netbook12 Comments

Recently I was in the market for a new laptop computer. I was going to be travelling in the near future and I needed something I could carry around with me. It didn’t need to be a workhorse or anything; just something with which I could stay connected for email, internet, write a few blog posts, and maybe watch some episodes of Burn Notice on in my down time. Having no desire to lug around my tank-like Macbook Pro for these meagre tasks, I made my way to Best Buy…

PS3 Slim is a perfect storm of give and take. Mostly take.

August 19, 2009August 29, 2009 Danny X PS3 Slim, Sony22 Comments

So the PS3 Slim was announced today, to mediocre fanfare. Is it everything you’ve been hoping for? In short, no. In long, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.