SlashGear Week In Review - Week 16 2010
Time flies when you are up to your eyeballs in gadgets and geekery and it's time for another week in review! Monday we spent some hands on time with the Kin One and Kin Two mobile phones from Microsoft. The things miss some features like microSD card slots but have some nice features.
Panasonic tossed the AG-AF100 micro four thirds HD camcorder. We have seen a bunch of micro four thirds digital cameras, but this is the first time I have seen a micro four thirds camcorder. The iPad has been popular and when Apple has a popular product, you can count on competitors coming out with similar offerings. Such is the case with the Google Tablet, HP mini slate and a new Nokia eReader that have been rumored to be inbound to fight the iPad.
Flip tossed a new, cheap camcorder onto the market this week called the SlideHD that gets a touchscreen and 720p resolution for $280. The screen of the little camcorder itself is touch sensitive and there is a touch sensitive strip at the bottom too. The device sells for about $280. A new netbook from Samsung called the NB30 turned up that has a touchscreen. The machine also runs an Atom N450 CPU and has a matte screen.
Lenovo decided to move the launch date for the Skylight smartbook back with the official reason being the product needed to be finalized. DigiTimes reports that the reason was to rework the Skylight to compete with the iPad. Apple finally updated its MacBook Pro line this week. The machine got new storage options and Core i5 and i7 processors among other things.
Toshiba dropped a new notebook on us this week called the Tecra M11 with Core i3/i5 CPU options. The notebook is priced starting at $879 and uses a 14-inch screen. Nintendo was granted a win on the appeal of the ruling that found one of its game controllers infringed on a patent held by Anascale Ltd. You can be the legal battle isn't over yet though.
Intel debuted a new SoC this week under the Tunnel Creek codename. The SoC is aimed at embedded applications like in-car systems. We reviewed the HTC HD mini this week. In the end, we figure the device doesn't offer enough to justify buying WinMo 6.5 with WinPo 7 on the horizon.
If you are a fan of steampunk style, but don't want to make your own creations you can get a cover for your iMac. The cover makes the thing look like a wooden steampunk creation. Intel has been showing off its Light Peak optical cable solution that could replace USB 3.0. The Light Peak spec can support multiple protocols on one cable at the same time.
An Austin geek has sold a rare Atari 2600 game on eBay for $31,600. The game was Air Raid and the guy said he only had the game because it was so bad no one would trade him for it. Sony will be debuting new 3D HDTVs this June along with the 3D update for the PS3. Gamers and movie fans are waiting for that 3D update with glee.
That Samsung NB30 touch screen netbook that turned up early in the week was reviewed on Thursday. The thing is said to have decent enough multitouch capability, but a dim display. Opera Mini for the iPhone and iPad was approved this week and so far a million people have downloaded the new browser. The app was in the top ten free apps on the App Store.
RED showed off its new EPIC camcorder at NAB. This company makes some of the most expensive cameras around and the new offering can record at 5K resolution. A new GSM connected scale has debuted called the Body Trace scale. The scale uses GSM to upload your weight and BMI to the website for tracking and sharing with health providers.
One of the shiny new MacBook Pros that launched this week was torn apart already to see what's on the inside. The tear down was done by iFixit and they found a couple other new updates inside. Asus is set to offer up a new 17-inch 3D notebook in Q3 2010. The new machine is more rumor than fact right now, but you can be 3D machines will be coming.
Things are all starting to add up to a new iPhone coming this summer. AT&T employees have been barred from vacation in June, this is the same move AT&T has pulled each time a new iPhone lands. Thanks for reading this week's edition!