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It wasn’t all that long ago that DisplayLink was still courting manufacturers and showing off its then newfangled USB graphics adapter technology, but the company is now celebrating a fairly significant milestone, with it announcing that it has sold more than a million of its USB graphics chips. Those have found their way into more than thirty different products from a number of manufacturers, including both wired and wireless USB adapters, projectors, USB docking stations, and a whole range of USB-connected monitors. Of course, DisplayLink isn’t about to rest on its laurels now, and it says it expects to see an even greater range of products using its chips as wireless USB and USB 3.0 become the norm.

[Via I4U News]

Filed under: Displays, Peripherals

DisplayLink sells a million USB graphics chips originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 18:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint is kicking off an exciting little contest that’ll ultimately award two lucky winners with their very own Pres, Touchstones, and one year of Simply Everything service — pretty awesome stuff. Both Sprint and Palm have been famously tight-lipped about pricing for the Pre thus far, but using a few basic calculations derived from the game’s legalese, an eagle-eyed tipster pointed out that it seems that we can probably get within a few bucks of the full retail price. Here’s the deal: we know that Simply Everything runs $99 a month. After federal taxes, FCC surcharges, and some fudge factor for local taxes, you’re looking at, say, $105 to $110 a month. We can say with some confidence now that the Touchstone itself will run $69.99 at retail — and that leaves the Pre itself. Sprint’s rules say that the prize package’s approximate retail value is $1,800, so if you subtract $105 for the plan (since Sprint can’t be factoring in local taxes here) and $70 for the Touchstone, that basically leaves you with a nice, round $469.99. That sounds like a big number at first, but first off, very few folks will be paying $470 for a Pre — they’ll either be upgrading or adding new lines at a significant subsidy — and to put the number in perspective, AT&T charges $549.99 full retail for the BlackBerry Bold. We’re basically just thinking out loud here, but $470 seems like it’d give Sprint plenty of wiggle room to blow this thing out on contract, doesn’t it? Check out shots of Sprint’s mind-blowing contest for the ages after the break.

[Thanks, Jonathan]

Continue reading Fuzzy math: Palm Pre to run about $470 full retail?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Fuzzy math: Palm Pre to run about $470 full retail? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 18:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a long time coming, but the six-cell battery for HP’s Mini 1000 netbook is now finally making its way into the hands of some eager users, and jkOnTheRun has taken a minute to give folks an idea of what’s in store. As you can see above (and from another angle at the link below), the battery is amazingly even more unsightly than suggested in earlier shots, although it does expectedly deliver the goods when it comes to battery life, with jkOnTheRun managing about six hours on a charge. Of course, you’ll have to decide for yourself if that’s worth the $100+ price tag, not to mention the cost to your Mini 1000’s self-esteem.

Filed under: Laptops

HP Mini 1000 six-cell battery gets examined, frightens other batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 17:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E-readers aren’t for everyone, apparently. Clever hands fashioned this Kindle out of wood — cutely called the Amazon Kindling — using a laser cutter. You might only be able to read the same page of The Count of Monte Cristo so many times, but at least the battery will never punk out on you! One more shot of this wooden beauty after the break. Hit the read link for the whole set.

[Via Boing Boing]

Continue reading Amazon Kindling wooden e-book is a luddite’s dream of the future

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Handhelds

Amazon Kindling wooden e-book is a luddite’s dream of the future originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a question: given the vagueness of definition and the trend towards larger screen sizes in general, how soon do you think Dell will start calling its new $399 Inspiron 15 configuration a “netbook?” Seriously, it’s not like the 2.16GHz Celeron and 2GB of RAM running Vista are going to majorly outgun the usual 1.6GHz Atom / XP setup, and the pricing is about the same as nicer 10-inch netbook, so we can totally see some marketing droid at Dell getting a bright idea. Any bets on this happening? We’d put the odds at 50/50.

Filed under: Laptops

$399 Dell Inspiron 15 makes the scene originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve had our eyes on MSI’s answer to the MacBook Air (yeah, we said it!) for a while now — and that includes a shady, late night hands-on photo session live from the Neville Island Motel and a horrifying back-alley vivisection, to boot. Now it looks like the crazy kids at Laptop are dead set on having their say on the X340 13.4-inch ultra-portable — and why not? The more the merrier! According to the reviewer, what this character lacks in processing power, it more than makes up for in price, weight, and battery life — at 2.9 pounds the device is certainly lighter than the Air, and its over three hours on a single charge are none too shabby. Even the 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo processor (coupled here with 2GB memory and running Windows Vista) is characterized as “snappy.” Sadly, the keyboard is said to be flimsy and graphic performance pretty weak — but still, at $899 (price as reviewed) this is sure to be right up some of your proverbial alleys. Interested? Hit that read link for all the gory details.

Filed under: Laptops

MSI X-Slim X340 gets reviewed, loved on – despite the ‘flexy’ keyboard originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s been a lot of chatter on both blogs and forums as of late stating that those “real reviewer” units Palm was promising to prospective owners — essentially “everyman critics” — would be sent out some time this week. In fact, some folks have even been spouting off that they’ve received their devices (see the magic above, and one of the source photos which has been cropped and blurred after the break). Well here’s the deal: those units aren’t going out to “real reviewers” before they get into the hands of fake reviewers… namely, the press. In the words of a source at Palm:

We clearly said “we’ll provide you with a current-model phone and data-plan service for six months” and Pre only once it is available, we never said they would get early Pre units.

So, that’s something to consider before you jump the gun on the next Twitpic blast from Joe the Reviewer (though in this particular forum poster’s defense, he did recant). Still, the whole tone leading up to the Pre launch is starting to feel a bit chaotic — we know Palm has to pull the trigger soon, and we’ve heard lots of totally believable rumors, but it is beginning to feel like anything might happen. The basic question we’re turning over in our minds right now is this: does Palm know how to do this right?

Continue reading Palm Pre “real reviewer” units going out? Not so fast.

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm Pre “real reviewer” units going out? Not so fast. originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The dreamy, high gloss Crimson Red option for Dell’s XPS 16 — which appeared just a few short days ago to shock and beguile us — has seemingly disappeared into thin air already, leaving us to wonder… was it all just a dream? Will it return once again? Please let this be some sort of cruel, unfortunate mistake.

Filed under: Laptops

Dell seemingly cans sassy Crimson Red XPS 16 option originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 16:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s an interesting debate that I’ve had recently. Should product designers aim for the enthusiast or “edge” cases when designing products, or should they instead target mainstream users from day one? It’s an interesting discussion, but I believe that those that say “aim for the edge” and the enthusiast aren’t correct, at least in the long run.

Now if you’re reading this, chances are you’re a bit of an edge case — or at the very least a gadget enthusiast. That’s cool, I’m one as well. In fact, over the last few years I’ve coined three rules that I’ve come to refer to as Gartenberg’s Three Laws of Consumer Electronics. For those of you not familiar with them, they are:

1. There’s a world wide market of 50,000 for any device sold to enthusiasts and early adopters.
2. If Gartenberg sees a product at a demo and doesn’t offer his credit card for purchase immediately, the product is doomed.
3. Even if Gartenberg does offer his credit card, the product may well still be doomed — as Gartenberg is part of the 50,000 enthusiasts that will buy (almost) anything.

(If you’re in the NY area, come on over some time and I’ll show you my collection)

Continue reading Entelligence: Close to the edge

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Entelligence: Close to the edge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On the surface, the new SCH-W760 looks like a totally typical midrange Korean domestic market slider: 3 megapixel camera, DMB reception, Bluetooth, and a semi-notable 2.8-inch AMOLED display. You know, the usual. A closer look reveals one very interesting feature, though — it features a front cam sensitive to infrared spectrum so that you can hold grayscale video calls in complete darkness. Beyond scaring the poo out of friends with your spooky, grainy, low-res visage and holding the occasional video conference from the confines of an unlit closet, we have absolutely no idea what practical value this offers — but look, ridiculous features are what exotic new handsets are all about. Well played, Samsung. The W760 hasn’t yet been officially announced, though it’ll apparently be coming to SKT, so keep an eye peeled (and bring a flashlight).

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung’s SCH-W760 features night vision cam for Blair Witch-style video calls originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 15:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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