The Panasonic MW-10 has a built-in CD player and an FM/AM radio tuner with a 45-station preset memory. It comes with a “universal dock” that works with any iPod, and will play your saved music and videos. It also has a remote control that can play your iPod when it’s docked.

What sets it apart is its 9″ LCD screen, which can display photos from a CD, SD card, or the MW-10’s own 4GB of internal memory. When you combine the screen, the quality sound system, and your own media, you get an all-in-one device that can mix and match your own media with ease, such as displaying a slide show of your photos alongside favorite music from your iPod.

The MW-10 will be available in the three colors seen above in December for $299.95.

Image: Panasonic.

Post from: EveryJoe

Audio system + iPod dock + photo frame

The Rubik’s TouchCube brings the fun and challenge of the original Rubik’s Cube to the 21’s century. Using a grid of 45 LED backlit light squares, you can perform every action you could with the original cube, but with no moving parts. And in my case, no stickers or plastic blocks to take apart to get it to work again.

Even if you’re not playing with the new Rubik’s TouchCube and it’s just sitting on a shelf or table, its a great looking piece of modern pop-culture to enjoy.

I’m not really asking for much this Christmas, but if Santa wanted to leave one of these in my stockings, I might give him some extra cookies and milk in exchange. Just sayin’.

Keeping up with the times as well, you can also now follow Rubik’s TouchCube on twitter as well.

Post from: EveryJoe

The New Rubik’s Touchcube

The November ‘10 release date lines up with information that’s been making the rounds since the device was first announced, but this is the first time a price has been mentioned.

This information comes from a spy report published by gaming trade mag MCV. The report goes on to say that Microsoft is readying 5 million units to meet the demand when Natal goes on sale November 2010, and that at least 14 game titles are in the works for launch. Publishers committed to Natal-based games include Activision, Bethesda, Capcom, Disney, EA, Ubisoft, and more. And that doesn’t include Microsoft’s own first-party publishers, like Rare, Lionhead, and Epic.

The real news here is that jaw-dropping price tag. When I was at E3 earlier this year, where Natal was first unveiled, the most common speculation was that Natal would be priced at at least $200, if not more. Because Microsoft has made no secret of the fact that it sees Natal as a way of lengthening the life span of the 360, and avoiding a whole new console launch. Now normally I might be inclined to be cynical of MS for trying to “wring more money out of a current-gen console” while its competitors move forward… But in the current economy, a bargain-priced device that transforms your existing console experience into something revolutionary sounds like a pretty darn good idea.

MCV claims that Microsoft wants to make Natal an ultra-affordable “impulse buy” add-on for your 360, and right now, gamers everywhere are on their knees praying that this is true. One of MCV’s sources says the price might even go as low as $50.

Such a move would not be without precedent on Microsoft’s part. Both the first Xbox and the 360 have famously been sold for higher-than-manufacturing-cost prices, out of the gate, because of an intentional strategy from MS to recoup its hardware investment through game sales. And it’s a strategy that’s worked for them.

Whether or not any of this is true remains to be seen, so don’t count it as “fact” yet. In the meantime, Sony’s motion-tracking “want” controller for the PS3 will be launched in Spring 2010 — at least 6 months before Natal. And rumors persist that Nintendo is already at work on a next-gen Wii with heftier processing power.

The console war is far from over.

Image: Microsoft Corporation.

Post from: EveryJoe

Leak details Project Natal launch plans

The Intel Reader is a very smart idea. The paperback-sized device takes 5 megapixel images of any printed text and then reads them out loud. It runs on Intel’s Atom processor and is said to operate as simple as point-and-shoot. It’s designed for use by not only the visually impaired, but anyone with a reading-related learning disability, such as dyslexia. It was even conceived by a researcher at Intel named Ben Foss who grew up with dyslexia himself.

The Intel Reader features adjustable reading speeds, 2GB of storage that translates to 600 pages of scanned books, and weighs about a pound. It has two USB ports, a standard headphone jack, and supports common audio file formats like MP3 and WAV. It can even create MP3 audio books for you to download and save, and will read some existing audio books that can be purchased.

So why is Intel sabotaging such a great idea with a stratospheric price point of $1,500? Probably because Intel’s targeting the healthcare industry with this device, though it will also be available to individual consumers.

Image: Intel.

Post from: EveryJoe

Intel designs device that reads to you

If you had the foresight to order your Nook early in the game, you’re fine. Your device will still ship on November 30th as planned.

But from this point on, if you pre-order a Nook, your device won’t ship until at least the first week of December. It’s good news that the Nook is already so popular, but you have to wonder how many of the devices B&N intended to be available in time for Christmas this year. And you also have to wonder if those lovely in-store displays will be affected by the hard-to-come-by devices. If you venture out to your neighborhood Barnes & Noble, will you get to touch and/or buy a Nook of your very own? Probably not before Christmas.

Image: Barnes & Noble.

Post from: EveryJoe

Nook ereader delayed until December

Here’s how it works. You set up your Q2 with four pre-selected Internet radio stations, and then to change from one to another, you turn the device onto one of four “live” faces. The fifth face manipulates the speaker — tilt the Q2 forward to turn up the volume, or tilt it backwards to turn it down.

The Q2 Cube was developed by Cambridge Consultants and Armour Group PLC, it’s been designed as a novelty radio that eliminates traditional radio knobs and buttons in favor of something more intuitive and fun.

Little else is known about the device. It’s said to be about the size of the palm of your hand, and one assumes that presetting those four Internet stations will require a USB connection to your PC, though this is all just guess work. Pricing is unknown, as is an exact release date.

Image: Cambridge Consultants.

Post from: EveryJoe

Flip the Q2 Cube for Internet radio

Netflix and iTunes already offer streaming movie rentals to computers and game consoles, and more and more DVD and Blu-ray players are coming equipped with the ability to stream video from online services. Today, Best Buy announced that it’s adding CinemaNow’s DVD streaming service to “every Web-connected device” the retail chain sells.

So I have to ask the inevitable question: How long will it be until physical media goes away forever, in favor of entirely digital media?

There’s a report going around that Apple has been courting major TV networks to create a $30-a-month subscription service within iTunes that could replace monthly cable bills in consumers’ homes. Everyone pundit out there seems to agree that in the near future, no longer will we buy physical DVDs or Blu-ray discs or anything else to be held in our hands. “Cloud computing” will be brought to the masses for all of our entertainment needs, with movies and TV shows available for instant, on-demand viewing via the Internet or some kind of intranet service.

All this digital media will still come at a price, of course, but the videos already available on services like  iTunes and Netflix demonstrate that the lack of disc production equates to reduced prices for the consumer. Put simply: digital media costs less to produce than its physical counterpart, because nothing tangible has to be made.

We’ve been following the ebook trend a lot lately, and this digital media revolution strikes me as something very similar. Instead of physical books or magazines or newspapers made of paper, we’re starting to buy electronic books to be read on special devices, and we’re reading our magazines and newspapers on the Internet. And soon, instead of buying discs or tapes or anything else, we’ll purchase electronic videos that will be stored on a hard drive or streamed to a special media device and pumped straight to our high-def television sets.

And there are signs that other forms of entertainment media are shifting in this same direction. Video game download/subscription services already exist, though haven’t widely caught on beyond simpler games like those found on Xbox Live Arcade. The music industry is already feeling the crunch of the digital revolution, thanks largely to iTunes — it’s growing increasingly rare that consumers buy actual CDs anymore, preferring the cheaper and easier-to-manipulate digital tracks. Heck, even comic books have started migrating to the digital realm.

What do you think of this trending digitalization of media, across all mediums? Will you miss owning physical media you can touch with your hands? Or will be the near-infinite choices offered by cloud computing make it all worthwhile?

DVD image: Wikimedia Commons. Apple TV image: Apple, Inc.

Post from: EveryJoe

How long until video hardware is obsolete?

Creative calls it the MediaBook, and though what details we have are low on specs, we know that it has an SD card for storage, and it runs on Creative’s “Zii” technology (which sounds an accessory for Nintendo’s Wii, but in reality is a subsidiary technology based on a “StemCell Computer” nano-sized processor). No word yet on what wireless network will be involved or what ebook formats it will support. Those who’ve seen the prototype device in person report that it has a surprisingly large screen, which sounds like it could be close to the Kindle DX in size.

epiZENter.net reports that Creative has been talking to Singapore Press Holdings as one of ten publishers expected to provide content for the MediaBook. When Creative announces pricing, a release date, and other details, we’ll bring them to you.

Image: Creative.

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Creative MediaBook ereader (& more?)

Apparently the device works by a semi-complicated process where you transfer your Flip videos to your computer as you normally would, and then connect the FlipShareTV USB device to your PC. The USB device streams video from your PC to the FlipShareTV, which you connect to your television. An included remote control lets you control the videos that are played on your TV.

Not much else is known at this point, such as the price or when Cisco is planning to release it.

Image: Cisco.

Post from: EveryJoe

Stream Flip videos with FlipShareTV

Peek

Let me say that again: a messaging device you can only use with Twitter. A Tweevice that’s good for one thing alone.

Is it madness? You’ll have to decide for yourself. But I wonder if Twitter has really become so important that we’re ready for a computing device that allows you to do nothing but Tweet, 24/7. Especially when you can already do that all you want on your smartphone.

Peek’s current lineup consists of two flavors: the Peek Pronto, a $59.95 model that includes unlimited email and texting, and the Peek Classic, a $19.95 device that’s good for just email.

The TwitterPeek hasn’t been officially announced, but it’s available to pre-order on Amazon.com at a $99.95 price point, which comes with 6 months of service. After that, you’ll pay $7.95 a month to Tweet your little heart out. It has a QWERTY keyboard, a click scroll wheel, and a full color screen.

An exact date of availability is unknown, but the TwitterPeek is expected to arrive before Christmas.
In related news, it seems the company has created a new version of the hardware with dedicated Twitter access. We’ve seen images of the box, above, and we’re asking for more info right now.

Image: Amazon.com.

Post from: EveryJoe

TwitterPeek