The ToyBox

February 10th, 2010

Panasonic unveils Toughbook H1 Field, world's most rugged tablet PC

Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 6:53 am

Categories: Computers, Laptops, Netbooks, Panasonic

Tags: Panasonic, Mobile, PC, Tablet PC, Battery, Worker, Wireless, Toughbook H1 Field, Tablets, Engineering

Panasonic on Wednesday introduced the Toughbook H1 Field, what it calls the world’s most rugged handheld tablet computer.

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February 10th, 2010

Hands-On Review: How easy it is to unbox a Sling Box

Posted by Rachel King @ 5:10 am

Categories: Home Theater, Slingbox

Tags: Sling Media, Slingbox, Cable, Network Technology, Telecommunications, Personal Technology, Networking, Rachel King

This isn’t a new product, but it is in my household. Recently, I realized what I was missing in my life: a Slingbox - and it might be one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

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February 9th, 2010

Netgear's new mobile broadband router offers 802.11n and 3G for your boat

Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 10:01 am

Categories: Netgear, Networking

Tags: Andrew Nusca

In partnership with Ericsson, Netgear on Tuesday announced its new MBRN3300E 3G Mobile Broadband Router with internal 3G radio.

The new router was announced just in time for the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The companies say the new router’s ability to connect using HSPA mobile broadband targets the SOHO (small office, home office) and “semi-nomadic” user.

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February 9th, 2010

Apple releases Aperture 3 photo software suite

Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 6:54 am

Categories: Apple, Cameras, Camcorders and Software, Software

Tags: Software, Apple Inc., Photograph, Photo Software, Aperture 3, Andrew Nusca

Apple on Tuesday introduced Aperture 3, the next major release of its photo editing and management software suite.

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February 9th, 2010

With quantum physics, Samsung aims to make smartphones smarter

Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 6:40 am

Categories: Mobile, Cell Phones and Smartphones, Samsung

Tags: Quantum Physics, Smart Phone, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Cellular Phones, Smart Phones, Keyboards, Handhelds, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Hardware

A unit of Samsung has licensed technology that could help it build smartphone handsets with the ability to navigate via the amount of pressure applied to a touchscreen.

U.K.-based Peratech’s Quantum Tunneling Composite technology is at the center of Samsung’s plans. The tech allows electronic currents to be controlled by touch pressure — not merely just on or off, but all the gray areas in between.

So if you’re scrolling through a list or playing a game, your input could change depending on how much pressure you apply.

Interested? Read the full story on SmartPlanet’s Smart Takes blog.

February 9th, 2010

Lullabelly brings the sound of music to the womb

Posted by Rachel King @ 5:35 am

Categories: Feature, Toybox Highlights

Tags: Mother, Baby, Music, Lullabelly Prenatal Music Belt, Media Players, Digital Music, Digital Media, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Rachel King

There have been studies about getting infants and toddlers to listen to Mozart, Beethoven and the works of other classical geniuses in order to make these kids way smarter than their contemporaries.

The Lullabelly will help excited (overachieving?) parents with that before the kid is even out of the womb!

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February 8th, 2010

BenQ unveils V2220, 'world's slimmest' 21.5-inch monitor

Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 8:05 am

Categories: Monitors and displays

Tags: Headphone, Monitor, BenQ Corp., Monitors & Displays, Hardware, Components, Andrew Nusca

BenQ on Monday announced the V2220, what it claims is the world’s slimmest 21.5-inch LCD monitor.

The flagship V2220 model — just one of an entirely new V series, including an 18.5-inch N920, 23-inch V2320 and 24-inch V2420 — is just 15 mm thick.

Models with an “H” designation also offer HDMI and headphone connection options.

BenQ says these displays sport a 10,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 1920 by 1080 resolution (1366 by 768 on the V920), 250 nits of brightness, 5ms response time and a 1,000:1 real contrast ratio.

Otherwise, you’ll find such features as:

• Senseye Human Vision Technology: amplifies image richness, clarity, and depth
• Six presets: Game, Movie, sRGB, Standard, Photo, and Eco (up to 65.6% energy saved)
• Independent color management
• LED technology
• DVI and D-Sub on all models, HDMI 1.3 and headphone jack on “H” models.
• Displays having a “P” in the model name are glare panel.

The monitors will be available around the world starting in June.

February 8th, 2010

HTC Incredible Android smartphone caught in the wild

Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 7:58 am

Categories: Google Android, HTC, Mobile, Cell Phones and Smartphones, Verizon Wireless

Tags: High Tech Computer Corp., Optical Mouse, Smart Phone, Mice, Smart Phones, Handhelds, Hardware, Peripherals, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology

Another HTC Google Android smartphone? You don’t say!

The HTC Incredible — yes, it’s quite a name to live up to — has been caught in the wild courtesy of Pocketnow, which managed to snag a few photos and video of the device, two of which you can see above.

There are a few details about the device, according to a tipster to the site: A Snapdragon processor, Android 2.1 (with HTC’s Sense UI, of course), 256MB of memory, an optical mouse pointer and a camera with a dual-LED flash.

From the looks of that photo, the display is at least 3.5 inches, and the camera is as big on the back as the one on the Google Nexus One, I reckon. According to an old Engadget tip, it’s coming to Verizon, too.

So what — another Android phone. My question: will Google begin to woo business users away from BlackBerry so that Android can run free in the enterprise?

February 8th, 2010

Report: Google developing on-the-fly translation software

Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 7:20 am

Categories: Android, Google, Google Android, Mobile, Cell Phones and Smartphones

Tags: Software, Google Inc., Voice Recognition, Speech Recognition, Telephony, Tools & Techniques, Telecommunications, Emerging Technologies, Networking, Management

Google is developing mobile phone software that’s capable of translating foreign languages almost instantly, according to a new report.

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February 8th, 2010

Barnes & Noble says Nook e-readers officially back in stock

Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 6:57 am

Categories: Barnes & Noble Nook, E-book Readers

Tags: E-reader, Stock, Barnes & Noble Inc., Nook, Investment, Finance, Andrew Nusca

Barnes & Noble said on Monday that its popular but hard-to-find Nook e-book reader is now officially back on store shelves as of this week.

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