Its Electronica

Posted Feb 9th 2008 1:58PM by Chris Ziegler
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Given the sheer bulk of press Meizu’s M8 has received over the course of its young, controversial life, it’d seem likely that even the slightest trickle of units onto Chinese store shelves would lead to unboxing shots, videos, and reviews within hours, wouldn’t it? Reports are starting to flow across the ‘nets that M8s are now being made available through several of Meizu’s suppliers, but without a single in-the-wild picture of a fully functional, final spec unit — from Meizu, much less a paying customer — we’re not buying it. For one thing, there aren’t any “zomg I just picked up my m8!” posts on MeizuMe; secondly, MeizuMe’s Err0r says that his site will be the “first place” we read about a release (and frankly, we believe him); and third, after the trials and tribulations the handset has gone through on its long journey to retail, you’d think that we’d at least see it at a trade show before it hit the streets. So, anyone want to prove us wrong by posting shots of their M8?

We have seen plenty of good news coming from the Eee PC corner, but until now for the most part its all been favorable, Rise Security is now showing a less secure side of everyones favorite ultra-portable. They have found an issue with the version of Samba that is on the Eee PC. Taking a pre-built exploit they have found that they are easily able to root the system. While its not something that should be terribly worry some to most Eee PC owners, it is still something to take concern over. It will be interesting to see if we are going to see an update coming from Asus, until now the default OS on the Eee still has not had any updates, security or otherwise.

Possibly Rise Security said is best with their take on the Eee PC slogan; “Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to root.”

Read [Rise Security] Via [Engadget]

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Earthlink has begun to shop their citywide Wi-Fi business around, but until now no buyers have stepped forward. The business that has been scaled back drastically since the original plan is now officially on the auction block, but no mention pricing has been noted.

The citywide Wi-Fi plans seem to have just not taken off, we first heard of Earthlink considering selling this off back in last November. While a larger scale of these citywide plans seem to have not worked well for the larger cities such as San Francisco, it may still have some good traction with smaller cities or smaller projects. Recently there has been success with similar but smaller scale setups in Phoenix, Arizona where they used Wi-Fi-enabled IP video cameras downtown to help control the crowds for this years Super Bowl.

Via [CNET]

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Back at CES, Leadertone - a chinese GPS company, had on display a new GPS that seemed to be a pretty interesting high-end GPS unit. It comes with a really long model name of LT-GPS9100C, but it features a Innolux 4.3-inch touch screen. It also comes with 64MB of memory, USB port, SD memory expansion, and built-in speakers. Furthermore, it comes with Bluetooth capability for hands free calling and the battery is replaceable. Unfortunately, it probably won’t make its way to the States, but it has already been released in Saudi Arabia, although, the price is unknown.

Via [NaviGadget]

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Key Shaped Bottle Opener Keyring
It looks like a key. It feels like a key. It’s attached to a keyring, so it must be a key. No. You’ve been fooled, and so will your chums with this authentic hardened steel key that’s also a hardened steel bottle opener. Or maybe it’s a bottle opener that’s also a key.

See price

While we still are yet to see an official announcement from Lenovo, the X300 ThinkPad has now been confirmed. Once again the leak and confirmation comes courtesy of Best Buy with a listing for the Lenovo “Topseller” x300 that will retail for $2,743.99.

The X300 features an LED backlit 13.3-inch display, 2.0GHz Santa Rosa Dual Core processor, 2GB RAM, 64GB SSD and running Windows XP Pro. While the X300 appears to be a legitimate model that will be available for sale, it is still unclear as to when it will ship.

Via [SlashGear]

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Posted Feb 9th 2008 9:03AM by Chris Ziegler
Filed under: Cellphones

That alleged leak of Moto’s 2008 lineup last year in Amsterdam is looking more and more legit pretty much by the minute. First, we got a glimpse of what appears to be the Skarven — a phone that’ll probably become the Z12 kick slider at retail — a few days ago, and now an alleged shot of the TEXEL candybar has turned up. As much flak as Motorola has taken recently for yawnfest industrial design, we’ve gotta say that we’re sort of digging what they’ve thrown together with the TEXEL here (assuming it’s real, of course). The striped keypad is vaguely attractive, the display looks plenty big, and we’ll always take a few touch sensitive controls to turn up the sexy factor a notch or three. If the originally leaked specs on this one turn out to be accurate, it’ll be a ROKR-branded piece with a morphing keypad in the same vein as the E8 and should break cover in the first few months of the year. We’re going to cautiously — nay, very cautiously say that you’re headed in the right direction here, Moto.

[Thanks, deuxani]

Posted Feb 9th 2008 7:55AM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

Recognize this sound? “Blip da da blip da da blip da da blip da da bliiiiiiiip.” If you answered yes to any of the preceding questions, you may own an iPhone. The little bugger wreaks havoc on your average unsuspecting, unshielded desktop speaker — and most iPod docks, as it turns out — emitting audible blasts of interference from up to three or four feet away. Luckily, the DLO Portable Speakers for iPhone don’t have that problem, since they’re shielded from TDMA interference. You can power ‘em off of AAA batteries or an AC adapter, and since they plug into the iPhone’s headphone jack, you can use plenty of other audio sources. The speakers detach from the rotating base, and you can even use the setup as a speakerphone if you’d like. They’re out now for $50.

[Via iLounge]

Compact yet powerful, the DLO Portable Speakers for iPhone let you enjoy your music and videos in stereo sound without any threat of TDMA interference. Featuring an extra-wide sound stage and bass vents for delivering powerful sound, these small speakers pack a powerful punch.

The removable, rotating stand holds the iPhone upright or horizontally for the ideal portable movie-viewing experience. Plus, you don’t have to disconnect your iPhone if a call comes in – the Portable Speakers simply turn into your iPhone into a speaker phone! So while iPhone is connected, you can take and place calls as usual, without any disruption.

[Product Page]

The Sydney Morning Herald reviews the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic and writes, “It’s one of the few phones to sport a standard 3.5-millimetre audio jack, giving you the freedom to use your own headphones such as noise-cancelling earbuds, and the only phone we know of with a bespoke audio processing chip to reproduce your music crisply and clearly. This also helps to keep the music playing smoothly while you carry out other tasks, such as sending text messages or using the two-megapixel camera.”

Read more about the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic.