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Logitech Squeezebox Boom hits the stage


It's been a month since we first caught a glimpse of the sharp-looking Logitech Squeezebox Boom, but the wireless network speakers are official today, coming in at a list price of $299. Yeah, it's basically a standard-issue Squeezebox with a built-in amp and speakers, but that's a pretty solid idea, especially since we're guessing the 24-bit Burr Brown D/A converter and bi-amped 3-inch woofers and 3/4-inch tweeters will offer up some decent sound. Everything else is regular Squeezebox kit -- 802.11g WiFi, SqueezeNetwork, optical and S/PDIF out, VFD display, 10/100Base-T Ethernet -- so if you're looking to expand your system, this is probably a pretty solid way of getting it done. Expect to see this one on shelves next month. One more pic after the break.

SanDisk Extreme III SDHC cards hit 30MB/s

SanDisk's pushed both Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo and regular SD cards to 30MB/s transfer rates before, and now it's SDHC's turn with the new Extreme III series. Yep, it's a really fast memory card for DSLRs, and it'll cost you: 4GB will be $65, 8GB $110 and 16GB will set you back whopping $180 when these hit in October.

[Via Digital Camera Info]

Creative X-Fi Go! mobile sound card set to appear at IFA

Creative isn't showing off too much new stuff at IFA this week, but we should be hearing about the X-Fi Go! mobile sound card, which looks to be an update on the old Soundblaster Play!. The tiny USB 2.0 stick packs in quite of bit of audio-tweaking magic, with Crystallizer, CMSS-3D, EAX Advanced HD and OpenAL support, as well as 1GB of flash storage preloaded with Alchemy, WaveStudio, and other apps. Available now in Singapore for S$79 ($56), we'd guess it'll be similarly priced when it hits Stateside.

[Via Electronista]

Sony expands Nav-U GPS line with four new models


Sony's Nav-U line of PNDs hasn't made big waves in the States yet, but the company's keeping at it, releasing four new touchscreen navs today. The new $400 NV-U94T (pictured) takes over from the NV-U83T at the high end, featuring a 4.8-inch touch screen in a 30 percent thinner case, gesture commands, POSITION plus accelerometer and barometer (wild)-based dead reckoning in case of signal loss, Quick Links POI icons, and an RDS-TMC traffic receiver built into the cradle, as well as basic PMP functions, Bluetooth with A2DP output and Memory Stick Duo expansion; the $300 NV-U74T is basically the same package minus the PMP features and with a 4.3-inch screen and the $350 NV-U84 keeps the 4.8-inch panel but doesn't have Bluetooth, dead reckonings, or traffic. There's also a totally new 3.5-inch unit, the $250 NV-U44, which is pretty basic but seems like a fine deal: text-to-speech nav, maps of the US and Canada, and split-screen 3D views with lane guidance. All four should be out in September.

[Via CNET]

Samsung prepping YP-Q1 PMP for IFA


It's not officially announced yet, but Samsung's expected to announce the YP-Q1 PMP at IFA this week. The vertically-oriented player will come in 4, 8 and 16GB varieties with a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, support for MP3, WMA, WAV, Ogg, FLAC, MPEG4 and WMV, and an FM RDS radio. No word on pricing yet, but does anyone else think it's funny that Samsung will now have two entirely different slow-selling Q1s?

UK's Advertising Standards Authority yanks iPhone ad for being misleading

Apple's iPhone 3G ads paint a pretty cheery picture of the device in action, but just as many of you have noted, the omission of Flash and Java means there's a big difference between what the "the real internet" and what's on the iPhone -- enough so that the UK's Advertising Standards Authority has pulled one of Apple's latest ads from the airwaves because it claims "all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone." At least two people complained to the ASA that the ad was misleading because sites that use Flash and Java don't work on the iPhone, and the board agreed, saying that "We concluded that the ad gave a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone" because "viewers were likely to expect to be able to see all the content on a web site normally accessible through a PC rather than just having the ability to reach the website." If we had to guess, we'd say this decision is more likely to prompt Apple to be more careful with its ads in the future rather than ever bring Flash or Java to the iPhone, but you know Adobe is feeling pretty smug right about now. Check the ad after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Microsoft hints at new mice: "Say Goodbye to Laser"


We'd say the jump from traditional optical mice to laser mice was pretty momentous, and it sounds like Microsoft is getting ready to jump again -- Microsoft Hardware put up a teaser this afternoon for a September 9th announcement featuring the tagline "Say Goodbye to Laser." Yeah, that's not exactly subtle, is it? We're hoping a return to old-school trackballs with grimy little wheels is in order, but we're just sentimentalists at heart.

[Via Seattle PI, thanks Spencer]

iLuv intros the iMM173 dual-dock iPod / iPhone alarm clock


Putting two iPhone / iPod docks in an alarm clock is a simple and clever idea that's so far only shown up in the JVC NX-PN7 (which we have and love), but it looks like iLuv's getting in the game as well with the new iMM137. Apart from the two shielded iPhone 3G-compatible docks up top, it's the usual iLuv kit with 5 watt jAura sound, an aux input, and dual alarms -- not a bad deal for an MSRP of $129 that'll almost certainly be lower at retail when this hits in September.

Samsung's SpinPoint N2 drive gets a glossy black case


Samsung was pretty boastful about its high-capacity SpinPoint N2 1.8-inch drives when they launched back in June of 2007, and now the company's decided to show them off a bit -- check out this hot new credit-card-sized external model in glossy black with a flip-out USB connector. Specs are the same as before -- 4200rpm, 27MB/s read and 23MB/s write -- but sadly the most important spec is that it's China-only for now and pricing is in the stratosphere, with the 120GB version clocking in at RMB1999 ($293). Yeah, we'll stick with saving our pennies for an SSD.

[Via Everything USB]

Nikon D90 outed by USA Today (Update: Now official)


Sure, the Nikon D90 isn't going to be any huge surprise when it arrives at this point, but it looks like whatever ta-da moment Nikon had planned just got upstaged by USA Today, which is running its piece on the new cam just a little early, complete with quotes from Nikon's senior technical manager. Nothing we don't know about here: 12.1 megapixels, 3-inch Live View screen with HD video recording and a kit price of $1,299. Not bad -- and that HD video mode certainly sounds intriguing. At least detailed specs will still be a tiny surprise, eh?

Update: Nikon press release makes it official. Read it here.

Dell Inspiron 13 now available build-to-order


Dell's Inspiron 13 made its Wal-Mart debut earlier this month, but now the budget back-to-school lappy is ready for you to trick it factory-style on Dell's site. Nothing too crazy on the options list, and it looks like you're stuck with some form of integrated graphics no matter what -- but hey, when the most extravagant configuration maxes out at $1,149, you can't be too picky.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Psystar to countersue Apple for antitrust violations, will ask court to declare Leopard EULA void


Wannabe Mac cloners Psystar hired itself some hotshot lawyers to defend against Apple's lawsuit, and they're not wasting any time earning their fees -- as Psystar's hinted in the past, it's going to countersue Apple for antitrust violations and ask that the court declare the Leopard EULA void. That's a pretty longshot argument, especially since EULAs have traditionally been upheld in California and Florida and we find it hard to believe a court would find a company with ten percent marketshare to be abusing a monopoly position, but we'll see how everything goes down -- this one is going to have some fireworks for sure.

Dell Studio XPS 13 and 16 leak out, due in November?


We sort of figured Dell's Studio branding would come to the XPS line sooner or later -- the family resemblance between the Studio laptops and the XPS m1330 and m1530 is hard to ignore, after all -- and it looks like we don't have much longer to wait, if you believe these slides discovered by Jayson in the NotebookReview forums. The Studio XPS 13 and 16, due in November, will be Intel Centrino 2-based machines with hybrid SLI support, slot-loading Blu-ray drives, edge-to-edge glass displays with optional LED backlighting, backlit keyboards, and WiMAX and UWB support. We're digging the funky woodgrain on the Studio XPS 16, but it'll be interesting to see how much these cost if and when they hit -- the Studio line was supposed to sit in between the Inspiron and XPS lines, so we're hoping these'll also come in below the current XPS price tags. Check the other four slides, including the Studio XPS 13, after the break.

[Thanks, L. Rawlins]

FAA computer glitches causing significant flight delays


It's not clear what the exact problem is, but every major airport in the country is currently experiencing flight delays because of an FAA computer problem at a facility south of Atlanta. All that's being said is that the system that processes flight plans is having troubles, but that all flights currently in the air are fine and should land safely. Given that a single FAA computer failure has caused over 17,000 passengers to be stranded in the past, we're not too optimistic that these delays won't get worse and worse -- but then, nothing about air travel really inspires optimism lately, does it?

Update: All better now. Too bad air travel is still generally a dismal nightmare.

New iPod nano and touch revealed by case manufacturers?


Man, Apple's lockdown on product leaks just isn't as tight as it used to be -- remember when having new iPod designs leaked by case manufacturers seemed totally unthinkable? Yeah, those times are over -- check out these silicone cases for a fourth-gen iPod nano and second-gen iPod touch that just appeared on Alibaba. We're not totally sold on the touch cases, but the nanos look way more legit, especially since we've seen some others matching this general look before; while nano KIRFs in this form factor aren't uncommon, we'd say it's pretty unlikely that anyone's making several different types of silicone cases for them. We're not calling this anywhere near 100 percent yet, but let's just say we're hoping Apple's press photographers can make the new nano look a whole lot better than our pal Mr. Blurrycam by the time September 9th rolls around. More case photos after the break.

[Thanks, Samm]

Read - iPod nano case
Read - iPod nano case
Read - iPod touch case
Read - iPod touch case



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