AJ & Kasia’s Weblog

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

For the attentive in attendance, you likely noticed that none of Toshiba’s newly announced laptops (yes, even the absurdly powerful Qosmio rigs) have built-in Blu-ray drives. Like, there’s not even an option. When questioned about the obvious oversight (ahem), Tosh’s Europe CEO Alan Thompson noted that “Blu-ray was just one of the many ways that you can get HD content and is not required for accessing HD content.” Furthermore, it seems as if the outfit is continuing on in its pursuit to develop the best DVD upconverting technology in the whole wide world, as it explained to the press in London that its forthcoming technology would “fill in the gaps” and “add resolution.” Company representatives even remarked that “Blu-ray was only a storage medium,” and reiterated that BD “wasn’t the only way to view high-def content.” It’s one thing to bow out gracefully, pick up the pieces and get on with life. It’s another thing to douse yourself in ignorance and pretend that Blu-ray (let alone HD DVD) never happened.

Read – Toshiba’s London press event
Read – Toshiba Europe CEO comments

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Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops, Tablet PCs

Whoa, has it been a hot minute since we’ve seen a Pepper Pad 3 or what? Straight from the depths of left field comes Hanbit’s Pepper Pad 3, this time with a slightly more adept processor at the helm. Reportedly showcased ever-so-quietly at Computex (alongside a Tablet PC prototype), this critter was purportedly packing an Intel Atom CPU and a Linux-based OS. Further specifications included a 7-inch VGA touchscreen, QWERTY (loose interpreters, we see) keypad, integrated WiFi and a 20GB / 30GB hard drive. Not a clue when this thing is scheduled to slip out, but it will certainly give the Everun a run for its money in the ugly department.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, HDTV

If you were even the slightest bit intrigued by our hands-on with Samsung’s SC-HMX20C HD camcorder, you may be interested in seeing what we thought about it after a good bit of shooting. That’s right, the full review is ready and waiting over at Engadget HD. So, it’s a date?

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays

If you’re not snoozin’ by the end of this one, clearly you haven’t been paying attention to just how many humdrum digiframes have been pumped out over the past six months or so. Nevertheless, NuTouch’s 7-inch Touch Frame does manage to stand out somewhat in the legions of mediocre alternatives, as the sleek, glossy black frame gets complemented with an array of touch-sensitive controls, built-in stereo speakers and integrated MP3 player. The panel packs a 800 x 480 resolution, and furthermore, you’ll find 128MB of storage, a multicard reader, internal battery, clock / calendar functions and USB connectivity. Still, we can’t help but balk at the £139 ($273) price tag — then again, we are dealing with the declining-by-the-second greenback here.

[Via GeekAlerts]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Famed chip maker Intel is doing more than just buying up Renewable Energy Certificates like they’re going out of style. It’s cranking things up with a spin-off outfit that will soon be creating photovoltaic cells for solar module makers. Intel Capital is pouring some $50 million into SpectraWatt Inc., and it’s being joined by Cogentrix Energy, PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund and Solon AG. Aside from making that dough, the new company will also “concentrate development efforts on improvements in current manufacturing processes and capabilities to reduce the cost of photovoltaic energy generation,” and if everything goes smoothly, it should break ground on its manufacturing and development facility in Oregon in 2H 2008 (with product shipping in mid-2009).

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