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"Every PS3 hard drive is shipping with Linux onboard."

I sure hope that's true, but I'm pretty sketical. Sony makes butt loads of cash off the software sales for the PS2 so if Sony actually does give us Linux it's going to have some strings attached. For example, I very much doubt that Sony will give us access to the GPU.

What gives me the most hope for a relatively unencumbered PS3 Linux distro is the Blu-Ray format. All Blu-Ray players will have a Java layer for interactive crud, which should be enough for stupid little games( i.e. Tetris, Puzzle Bobble, Metal Slug ), Sony almost has to concede the the non-3D market.

I'm personally really excited about the BD-J stuff, and the homebrew scene that will grow up around it.

It's going to set fire to houses and KILL PEOPLE!!
You mean like this?

Every PS3 hard drive is shipping with Linux onboard.

If that $20 hard drive conks out in 2 or 3 years or quits working the first time the dog knocks the machine over, Microsoft is going to have a ton of angry customers.

You don't say?

This is certainly NOT normal for the console industry.

All jackassery asside (and yes, that is a tranvistive verb, so I guess not all, pi) instead of always bitching on /. about /., put your code where your mouth is and get it done. Even if you are not a coding wizard, there are any number of portals and blogging scripts available, so no excuses. I, myself, recognize the flaws in the /., but still enjoy the /., so I am still here. You are still here too, so you must enjoy the /., or at least have a positive apathy/dupe level.

German punk band Wizo already released an EP on USB-Stick (64MB) with five tracks and a video for 16 Euros.

Sexohol released an album on iPod shuffle for $109.

Or if you don't feel like installing tweakUI (no reason not to, it's got some great stuff) you can change it in the registry. http://features.engadget.com/entry/323923647827989 2

AutoPlay and AutoRun are two different "features." In order to disable AutoRun you have to edit HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom\AutoR un [via]

They haven't won that contract yet and the Wi-Fi Google is planning on supplying will be slower than 56k dial up;

Source? I've found 300kbps, and no mention anywhere about a slower speed.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000783061372/

Later this year Microsoft is planning to release a hard drive based MP3 player.

They already have. It also plays video. And it was released over a year ago.

I just love the fact that when my friend put the Natasha Bedingfield CD to listen to it, I told him I wouldn't be suprised if his computer broke (or at least got mad at him) by putting that crappy excuse for music in there. Seems I was right- his attempt to remove the rootkit totally borked his XP to the point it no longer boots. Guess he should have read the article at the Register first.

I really wanted to buy the NW-A3000 MP3 player when it's released here (everyone and their mom has an iPod... literally). iPods are nice and all, but I'd like something a bit different. Now that I don't know if I can trust Sony, where am I to turn? That thing was so cool looking too.

This has a lot more than two good uses - but not for consumers. Microsoft - and the advertising agencies that would pay for such targetted adspace - would be getting hundreds of billions of good uses out of this ($$). I read somewhere that for your average hour long television show the tv companies make 64 cents per viewer. Now, given that a)internet style ads have lower apparent yields than tv ads and b) OS ads can be much more specifically targeted at the users (depending upon what kind of information they're collecting on you) and c) OS based advertising can be linked directly to actual advertising yields (much more so than standard banner advertising right now). This has the potential (without crunching any numbers, i'm lazy, what can i say) to be substantially more profitable (i'm thinking orders of magnitude, per user) than the revenue returned from the $199 per user (or whatever) yielded by XP Home sales. So...in short - I would use it - but only if they paid me to choose an ad supported OS over a standard purchased license.

For those like me who can access the site or the morros... enjoy

Someone else has already posted the link to this: previous story about the same company improving gasoline engines.

What I would like to know is will this gadget have the same effect as increasing the octane rating of the gas? So, if I have a turbo-charged engine that wants the high-octane stuff, can I, at least in theory, use the cheap gas plus a little itty-bit of hydrogen and get the same effect?

We're all still wondering where the extra energy comes from. The Engadget article helps:

"[The system] uses current fed from the car's battery to generate the hydrogen and oxygen from a distilled water and chemical mixture."

Ah ha! So the battery generates the hydrogen and oxygen, which are used to create energy, thereby saving some extra gas, gas which you can then use to recharge your battery.

To quote the Guinness gentlemen:

BRILLIANT!

This is not the first marketable apparatus using this technology. H2N-Gen has their very own unit that will cost about 4 grand, will fit under your car's hood, and will be on the market by March. There's been several articles on this (and a recent one in Popular Science, December issue). Here's one http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000373059415/

Engadget story

The machine is 500MHz, has no disk, a 1 megapixel dual mode display, and 1G of RAM (*not* 128M, as you claim here).

Specifications were gathered from these sources:

http://laptop.media.mit.edu/faq.html
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000120060924/
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003707.html
http://news.com.com/The+100+laptop+moves+closer+to +reality/2100-1044_3-5884683.html

-- Terry

Nintendo has kept a lot of info about the Revolution under tight security for some time. One of their most closely guarded secrets has been the design of the controllers. That's been revealed here:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000077059062/

Basically, its looks like a TV remote with a D-Pad and some buttons, but looks can be deceiving. The controller has 3D Directional Recognition meaning that you can point it at the screen and the game will know what you are pointing at, and it will be Tilt Sensitive. A port on the back of the controller will allow users to add a separate analog stick and buttons with Rumble features. The whole thing will be wireless and rechargable. This thing is pretty new and innovative and it will be interesting to see what sort of games they can make that works with a controller like this.

Or next to the break-in resistant kryptonite bike locks. Able to keep superman at bay, but not Bic-Man!

I wonder if it's anything bigger then this
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000253066406/
...

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000770065138/

80 MB/s transfer. $1900.

Brian

South Koreans game with PCs (as Consoles where illegal till last year)

On the contrary, in the early-to-mid 90s, consoles were quite popular, even though they were partially rebranded. Samsung and Sega agreed to market the Master System, Genesis and Saturn under the Samsung logo while Hyundai and Nintendo co-branded the GB, GBC and SNES. Sony also released the white PSOne here as well, so illegal wouldn't quite fit.

Samsung Saturn
Samsung Master System
Check the history section

Oh wait, actually, that made NO sense at all. Would someone please care to explain how this arbitrary string of words got modded +5 Funny? Is there some long-running "do not eat _______" joke on slashdot akin to the "in soviet russia _______" joke?

iPod shuffle

Notice the comparison to the packs of gum beside the first paragraph. Unfortunately they've removed it now, but one of the footnotes at the bottom of the page used to say, "Do not eat iPod shuffle."

Apparently in the UK it said do not chew instead.

http://www.donoteatipodshuffle.com/

This brings to mind the latest iTunes compatible communication device from Motorola which doesn't have a headphone socket. Instead it is rumored to require a bluetooth device with which to experience the stereo audio feed.

If it ends up never having a stereo socket, and subsequent devices don't have an audio output either, we could be seeing the beginnings of a closed system which stops "pirates" in their tracks by sending audio directly to a device which lives inside your ears.

Although there are bluetooth products out there which have audio out, they may soon start becoming scarce if this is indeed how the industry intends to keep music in a closed loop.

and one gigantic 200-inch big screen TV where players can weep knowing that they will never be able to have this kind of setup in their own home.

"That's the second biggest TV I've ever seen."
-- Maxwell Smart (RIP)

And still not as big as Frank's 2000 inch TV.

I wrote BMG and asked for the instructions, here's what they said: To get around the DRM you have to install their software so you can access the pre-ripped WMA files they've "generously" provided on the disc. Then you hafta burn the WMA files to yet another CD in order to re-rip them into iTunes.

Is this CD playable without the drm software after using cdparanoia or some other tool? SonyBMG is now added to my list of labels not to buy due to copy protection, which previously included ToshibaEMI and Avex Trax for their (cdparanoia breakable) copy protection. In fact I don't buy CDs any more, I just keep a copy of cdparanoia around because sometimes people give me CDs as presents and often they seem to have some kind of copy garbling, erm protection.

"What is next? Drm that will rewrite your bios and turn your pc into an expensive doorstop for copyright violation?"

Yes, look for it in your next Blu-Ray Disc Player.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000737057152/

"On top of that, consumers should expect punishment for tinkering with their Blu-ray players, as many have done with current DVD players, for instance to remove regional coding. The new, Internet-connected and secure players will report any "hack" and the device can be disabled remotely."

That would be the CEO of Verizon.

This article has an interesting perspective as to why iTunes doesn't have the things you want. Essentially, the tv companies, the advertising agencies that support them are reluctant to change a business model that's been a steady source of income for many, many years. So $1.99 per show, and a wimpy 320x240 res is more a move to limit the consumption of this particular format.

Libel is already illegal.

I think what they're trying to do is track down and prosecute people commiting libel.

It looks like Kryptonite bike locks deserve to be bashed.

cingular will also be offering the service start (supposedly) in November. http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000743057416 http://www.girlgeekette.net/2005/10/08/cingular-an d-pust-to-talk-ptt-service/

... that allow them to sell their iPod nano player at a price lower than than any competitor can reach.

Apple doesn't compete on price

A Monopoly is where their is only one supplier of a good or service, a monopoly is impossible in a true market economy but "near monopoly" and "monopoly like" situations are entirely possible,

Anyone can build mp3 players. Apple is merely dominant in this market.

Microsoft did not have a monopoly in the OS market, but they were still found guilty of abusing their monopoly status.

Yes they did. Their OS was sufficiently complex that no new competitors could enter the market, and all the OEMs would be bundling a MS OS with their PCs anyway, due to exclusivity deals.

Try these instead:

Canon develops fuel cell prototypes

Canon shows prototype hydrogen fuel cell

Canon to develop fuel cells for printers, cameras

Now, this is what i'd call superhandphone. Finally with something real for networking, 4Gb hdd, 10+ hrs of music, with equalizer(!!!), 3.5mm jack for headphone, and radio. Lot of euphoria news for this one as well, but keep the dreams up guys!

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000483064834/ [Viewsonic announces 2ms 19" lcd.]

I bought it more than two months ago. This just isn't news at all.

Especially when the same company announced a 2ms-display just a couple of days ago.

Most of the measurements are fudged. Sometimes there are different end-user monitors that use the same LCD part from another company, but the two LCD's quote different specs. (eg. the Dell and Apple 20" widescreen). That's why a lot of people try to figure out who made the LCD panel itself, so they can find the published specs for that, as it's potentially less fudged.

The E-Series phones are being made to compete with the BlackBerry line. I currently own a Nokia 6820 which is the text messaging phone with a fold-out keyboard. I absolutely love it. It seems they have improved on this design with an enhanced screen and BlackBerry mail support.

Check out the E-Series line: http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000193062973/

I saw this some time ago (august 5) on Engadget. That story also linked to a movie of a remote controlled girl.

Enjoy.

I saw this some time ago (august 5) on Engadget. That story also linked to a movie of a remote controlled girl.

Enjoy.

In all seriousness, I wish them success. It remains to be seen whether they can create an efficient system for collecting the corroded/expended metal. How often do you see puddles of leaked material under a car? No mention of how much "metal oxide" this venicle produces, but I cannot imagine it's something we want leaked onto the ground.

I'd put my money on the H2N-Gen, but then again that guy's being sued for patent infringment.

As long as MSFT gets a cut. Why else would they close and lock the Xbox 360 peripherals:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000417054017/

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000943061481/ http://news.techwhack.com/2182/041013-toshiba-unve ils-a-laptop-with-hd-dvd-drive-to-showcase-technol ogy/

So... a 1x read-only HD DVD drive vs. Pioneer's BDR-101A which reads and writes and is faster than 1x. Oh, and it's only just been shown in the past 2-3 weeks. Bravo!

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_06/pr080 1.htm

Fair enough, you got me. They talk about mass production, but they don't put any timetable out for when they'll ramp up production. For a press release directly from Toshiba, it's sorely lacking in details you'd think they'd want to tell the whole world about.

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ne xt-gen-dvd.ars/2 http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/1451 10.html

An Ars Technica article written by someone who failed economics, and a press release touting HD DVD replication hardware by a Swedish firm. Not exactly what I was hoping for...

How is there aren't sites like blu-ray.com that have pictures of tons of HD DVD hardware and media? Why is this stuff so hard to come across? It's almost like... it doesn't exist.

Public demos of a *laptop* HD DVD drive enough for you?

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000943061481/
http://news.techwhack.com/2182/041013-toshiba-unve ils-a-laptop-with-hd-dvd-drive-to-showcase-technol ogy/

And for HD DVD-R media:

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_06/pr080 1.htm

On replication issues:

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ne xt-gen-dvd.ars/2
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/1451 10.html

I know this is not simple but it plays ogg and you can take it with you but the real down side is space and its ugly. lol :( but you have to give it to me i found something different than everyone else. :) http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000953056118/

just took a look at videohelp.com
When I checked the HD WMV box, the only player to come up was:
    I-O Data AVeL LinkPlayer2 AVLP2/DVDLA for $250
When I checked the WMV9 box, 3 standalone players came up, again no pioneer.
Searching for the Sigma EM8620L chip which is apparently the one that has the potential to do the HD WMV, comes up with 9 hits. Still no pioneer.
A brief browse over at http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/ I dont seem to see any dvd players that mention WMV period, let alone wmv9 of HD WMV. Granted I didn't do an exhaustive search, but I checked the specs on the top models in the two dvd player categories they had, elite and pro. Maybe they just like to hide it, or I need to dig down more.

Maybe you should learn how to use google or MSN Search. Here is the first hit I got even...

http://msmvps.com/chrisl/archive/2005/07/17/57932. aspx

And here is a link from last December on units available then as well.
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000427023177/

Also if you do some further looking, many of the popular online Movie sources have just recently moved to WMV-HD - like AtomFilms.com etc.

I just did a quick google and pulled the first result and the second one that looked relevent. Interesting is that many of the newer IN-Car DVD players already support WMV-HD content as well.

So if you don't think this stuff exists, or I was making it up, sorry, take a reality check...

It seems it took pocketpc's a few years to go through enough iterations to become useful. Over the past month a couple have come out that make them borderline useful. The one I'm going to get is the HTC Universal (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000777057087/). It seems to have decent battery life, can play music/video, has wifi/bluetooth/3g connectivity, can edit office docs, pick up e-mail, and play games quite reasonably. The storage is SD cards, which are now up to 4GB, which is starting to get useful now were counting in GB's. The only downside is it can't act as a USB host - then I could plug in my ipod and use it as extra storage :). The best thing is they're going on cheap mobile contracts for no more than a 3g phone...