Do you consider your mouse needs a serious cleaning, but you are to lazy to carefully wipe it with a wet cloth? Well, Belkin has a solution, dump your old one and get their new washable mouse that you can even take with you under the shower.

Actually the device itself was designed to be water-resistant, because sometimes even the most careful person can spill a glass of Coke in front of their computer. If regular mouses would face a serious danger from such an event, Belkin’s product would not only be able to resist, but it would be able to withstand being hand-washed under a jet of water.

The 1200 dpi peripheral has a price of only $29.99 and it will be available starting August 2007 in the USA and at following dates for the rest of the world.

[Source]

After several months of rumours and anticipation, Sony finally admitted they are currently working on an upgrade to their PlayStation Portable (PSP) console. According to Kazuo Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, the new console will be 33% lighter, 19% slimmer than the current version and will also feature an improved battery.

The announcement also mentions faster load time for games and the ability to stream images directly to a high-quality display by a press of a single button. You can therefore enjoy, your games, videos or pictures even on your big screen TV. The good news don’t stop here as Sony gave September as launch data for their device so you won’t have to wait to long for it. Moreover the price is set somewhere below $200 area so it’s won’t be very expensive either.

[Source]

It looks like today is Samsung announcement day. There are news about the long waited CES announced DLP models in the 76 , 87 and 89 series that are now live. The models we’re talking about are all 1080p with 3 HDMI plugs, are 3D-ready if you get the $100 kit that includes the LCD glasses and are getting refreshed with 10,000:1 contrast ratios. The 87 series also have CinemaSmooth LED Light Engine and the 89 series adds Bluetooth headphone capability. The prices are as follows:

Samsung DLP 76 Series

50-inch : $1,899
56-inch : $2,199
61-inch : $2,599

Samsung DLP 87 Series

50-inch : $2,299
56-inch : $2,599
61-inch : $2,999

Samsung DLP 89 Series

50-inch : $2,499
56-inch : $2,799
61-inch : $3,199

Another news from Samsung is that they are launching a 94 series 1080p plasma HDTV with WiFi. How sweet is this? It has a 15,000:1 contrast ratio, 3 CEC HDMI ports, 18-bit color processing, USB, ATSC / clear QAM tuners and Ultra FilterBright light diffusion. What adds up is the 802.11n WiFi to stream up to 1080i video.

The prices are :

94 series

50-inch : $3,600
58-inch : $5,300 - both to go out during the fourth quarter of 2007

84 series

58-inch : $4,700 - will go live in September.

Source : Engadget 1, 2

A handheld microscope that can magnify 200 times and will send the image to your tv, how does it sound? It’s called EyeClops Handheld Bionic Eye, costs around $50 and looks really strange, like a very big eyeball. I am not sure how professional it is, since it’s designed as a toy but you can go ahead ad get yourself one to see things in your house. You just need to plug it in the composite video input and it will grow big. It’s for kids above 6 years old.

The EyeClops ships with a viewing tube, viewing dish, and base for hands-free use that you can use to take a peek at your own skin, your own hair or your … It will make everything big. Works with 5 AA batteries. Buy it on Toys R Us to see the unseen.

In the weird series of wake me up creations, we have a new concept that will prevent you from oversleeping. This is however something very useful, because not everyone in the room wakes up at the same time, allowing you to start your day at 8am, and your husband at 10am. It’s a very neat Ring, an elastic vibrating ring, which worn during the night will wake you up at the exact time you set it.

The original design shows an alarm clock dock with two digital times and of course two rings. It won’t bother my dogs, my girlfriend will be able to sleep more and everyone is happy. I am also thinking of the deaf people that cannot hear a normal alarm clock, this would be useful for them, too.

The design is from Meng Fandi and we got it via Yanko Design. See more pictures below:

The new i-Station model was launched. It is a GPS system that has DMB channels. A 7″ TFT touchscreen and the Windows OS transform this device in a portable media player. It can run different audio, video formats, and also has PiP capability. You can choose between a 30GB or 60GB hard drive to store all your data. Talking about storage, our device support SD cards and USB connection.

It comes with a fancy navigation software (Mappy United) that can display the Korean skyline in the background with realistic 3D buildings, says Navigadget. The i-STATION N7tu utilizes the SiRF Star III GPS receiver that also includes an external antenna. To be considered a real PMP, the system was conceived with stereo speakers. However, the bad news comes from the battery (1000mAh) that can’t offer a good working time. Thus you should keep the i-Station connected, as it consumes a lot of energy. There are no price details. All I know is this device was released in Korea. So, there are slight chances to see it sooner.

via Navigadget

A week after the iPhone met the US consumers analysts already started to hint at new products Apple laboratories are preparing. Even if sources in Apple’s supply chain are cited, I find it hard to believe an iPhone Nano with a circular scroll wheel will soon make its debut.

Seen as a competitor for the yet undisclosed Motorola RAZR 2, the product is supposed to reach the shelves sometimes before Christmas at a price of about $300. This will make Apple compete on the traditional mobile phones market (not just on the smartphones one) which could bring the company a bigger percentage than the initial Steve Jobs estimate of 1% (10 million handsets).

The second product rumored to be in preparation is a new iPod with borrowed features from the first generation iPhone. Yes, replacing the NAND memory with a magnetic hard drive for cheaper and greater storage seems a good idea. However, an iPod with a touchscreen and most of the features existing in the iPhone might turn out to be a competition for the very Apple handset that inspired it as it will most likely cost less.

This reasoning makes such an iPod very unlikely but an upgrade to the current Apple line of MP3 players is almost necessary as the competition already offers larger screen areas, greater storage capacities and other valuable features which often come at lower prices. However, nobody knows what Steve Jobs is planning but an announcement is near and we will then see what new devices and features Apple’s boss prepared to impress us.

Inspired by London’s complex surveillance system, New York city officials think of developing a similar project for downtown Manhattan. More than 100 cameras will be ready to monitor the area by the end of this year and more than 3 000 (yeah three thousand) are intended to be installed if the project is fully financed. Momentarily 25 of the 90 billion US dollars were already made available.

The surveillance system will mainly be destined at monitoring all the cars moving in the targeted area making it easier to detect and track terrorist. New York officials also want to use the system for taxing purposes if an unpopular decision is approved. A 6$ a day will be collected for every car detected in the city so the new surveillance system will have a direct way of recovering the initial investment. The camera’s will be able to read the license plates of cars moving in downtown New York, while an army of police and security officers will monitor their movement from a new operations center. Suspect cars will be neutralized trough movable roadblocks according to the same project.

Privacy concerns are however rising from the project and activists are accusing Big Brother scenarios which are becoming reality with complex surveillance system that tend to conquer the main cities of the world.

[Source]

What about this guys? How safe would you feel to board on a plane after you see this on the main screen of an airport? Sweet!

from Flickr

We’ve been tipped again by Martin from DigitalReviews.net about two unannounced news regarding some very powerful Clevo notebooks from Pioneer Computers.

We’re talking about one of the first laptops in the world to offer Intel Quad Core processors, Dreambook D90 (Clevo D900C), with DUAL SLI nVidia GeForce Go 8800GTX graphics card with 2×512MB and two 32GB SSD hard drives with RAID. You can also get the option of the 3rd hard drive if you need it. The price is very hot AU$8,000 (US$6,850).

The second notebook we can brag about, DreamBook Power M57R has Intel Santa Rosa processors and nVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX / 8800 GTX high performance graphic chips inside. Check below the break for full specs.

DreamBook D90 (Clevo D900C) configuration

Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40 Ghz 2 x 4MB Cache 1066 MHz Processor
Display	17″ Widescreen WUXGA+ (1920×1200) TFT Screen
Graphics	Dual nVidia SLI GeForce Go 8800 GTX 2×512MB PCI Express Graphics
NB Memory	4GB (2 x 2GB) 667MHz DDR2 RAM
2.5″ Hard Drive	32GB SSD Solid State Disk Serial-ATA
2.5″ Hard Drive 2	32GB SSD Solid State Disk Serial-ATA
2.5″ Hard Drive 3	160GB 5,400RPM Serial-ATA Hard Drive
HD Raid (Same HDs only)	RAID 0 Setup
Integrated Options	Bluetooth Module
Integrated Options	Build in Digital TV Tuner Mini PCI
Integrated Options	Intel Pro Wireless 3945AGM Module
Integrated Options	1.3M Pixel Build in Camera free
Internal Optical Drive	8x DVD-/+RW Dual Layer Drive
Operating System	Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (with Home Premium and Business)
Carry Bag	Pioneer Standard Notebook Carry Bag

DreamBook Power M57R Santa Rosa configuration

Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 667/800Mhz, Santa Rosa Speed - 1.6/1.8/2.0/2.2/2.4 GHz
Core Logic	Intel PM965 + ICH8M-Enhanced
Display	17″ WUXGA 1920×1200 OR WSXGA 1680×1050, Crystal Bright Screen
Memory	Support Dual channel DDRII SDRAM 64-bit wide per channel Two 200Pins SODIMM sockets Support for DDRII at 533/667/800MHz Expandable Memory up to 4GB, depends on 512MB/1GB/2GB SODIMM Module
Video Controller	nVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX / 8800 GTX high performance graphic chip 512MB DDRIII Video RAM on board Support PCI-E*16 MS DirectX 9.0 compatible MXM-IV (284pin) Support HDCP
Storage	One changeable 2.5″ 9.5mm(H) SATA HDD One changeable bay 12.7mm(H) Combo / DVD-Dual / 2nd RAID SATA HDD
Keyboard	Full size keyboard with Numeric pad. Multi-Language support Built-in Touchpad with four scrolling functions
Sound system	Intel High Definition audio interface 3D stereo enhanced sound system SRS WOW Surround Sound Technology inside Sound Blaster PRO Compatible S/PDIF Digital output 7.1CH 1x Built-in Microphone 2x Built-in Speakers, 1.5W 1x Built-in Sub-woofer, 2W
I/O ports	4x USB 2.0 ports 1x Mini IEEE1394a port 1x DVI port (support Dual link) 4x Audio jack (Microphone, Line in, headphone, S/PDIF out) 1x TV output port 1x COM 1x RF-in jack 1xRJ-11 jack 1x RJ-45 jack 1x CIR for TV remote control compliant 1x DC-In jack
Slot	7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RSMMC) Support Express Card 34/54 Built-in 56K MDC modem with V.90&V.92 compliant
Communication	Gigabit Ethernet LAN (Option) Intel Wireless LAN WiFi Link 4965AGN with MiniCard, PCI-E interface (Factory Option) Bluetooth V2.0 Module (Factory Option) Video Camera with USB interface (1.3M pixel) (Factory Option) TV Tuner module with Mini-PCI interface Three Instant Keys, www, email, AP
Power	Full Range AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, DC Output:20V, 7.5A, 150W (TBC) - (not available yet) Removeable 8 cells smart Lithium-Ion battery pack, 4.4Ah
Security	Kensington Lock BIOS Password (Factory option) TPM (Factory option) Fingerprint and Face Recognition
O.S.:	Windows XP Windows VISTA Premium
Dimensions	397(W) x 284(D) x 22~44(H)mm 3.95Kg with 8 cells Lithium-ion battery
Options	ODD device module (Option) Intel Wireless LAN WiFi Link 4965AGN with MiniCard, PCI-E interface (Factory Option) Bluetooth V2.0 Module (Factory Option) Video Camera with USB interface (1.3M/2M pixel) and Face Recognition (Factory Option) TV Tuner module with Mini-PCI interface (Factory Option) TPM (Factory Option) Fingerprint

[via DigitalReviews]