Archive for September, 2007
September 26th, 2007, 2:47 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
More contests — see Contest category
 Big video-game festival coming our way next month. The first-ever “E For All Expo” sounds like an attempt to be what annual E3 game conference used to be but open to the public.
The Expo will have the latest games ready to play, celebrity sightings and competitions. So gamers and fans, mark you calendars for Oct. 18 to 22 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
And in the meantime… try to win $2,000.
Event organizers have teamed up with Threadless.com for the “Loves Threadless t-shirt design competition, which ends Oct. 1. Competition looks tough though. Check out some of the designs so far:
 The challenge: Create a t-shirt design to express what “Power Up & Play” means to the world of video games.
The prize: Free trip for two to the E for All Expo ($400 airfare gift card + lodging), a Nintendo Wii and $2,000.
To enter: Visit www.threadless.com/loves/eforall for details.
Contest ends Oct. 1.
Posted in: Uncategorized • EVENTS • GAMING | Post a Comment »
September 26th, 2007, 12:03 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 Using a home’s power lines to network computers never quite went away, but I haven’t heard much about the technology in years.
But apparently, Powerline networking, a.k.a. HomePlug, never went away. It’s still a good way to connect computers when you don’t want to run Ethernet cabling through the walls or opt for wireless. Why? High throughput of up to 200 megabits per second!
Three new products from ZyXEL Communications in Anaheim: NBG318S Powerline Wireless Router (pictured on right and below from the back), PLA450 Powerline Wireless Access Point and the PLA470 Powerline Wireless Switch.
ZyXEL promotes Powerline as a way users can “extend their existing wireless network.” Check out the rest of ZyXEL’s Powerline page — there are some more “coming soon” HomePlug products.
Posted in: Wi-Fi & networking • OC gadgets | 1 Comment »
September 26th, 2007, 9:21 am by Sonya Smith
At the end of this week, Apple promises an update for iPhones that includes a wireless iTunes store. And surprise, surprise, the update could result in “irreparable damage” to anyone who has unlocked their iPhone. Who didn’t know this was coming?
The company issued a statement earlier this week warning against hacking your $599 $399 phone to get it to work with other cell phone companies, play SuperMario and more. The statement goes on to say that if you mess with your phone, any damage is not Apple’s fault and the warranty is void. According to this article, the hackers are vowing to persist hacking the phones.
What do you think, is Apple just trying to scare folks away from unlocking phones? Why? Will you hack your iPhone? Why?
Posted in: iPhone • Apple • iGirl | 1 Comment »
September 26th, 2007, 1:18 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
::UPDATE:: D-Link says service is FREE unless channel already charges, such as Movielink.
I feel like I’ve heard this one before. A company jumps into Internet TV offering dozens — no hundreds — of “channels” for your viewing pleasure. Only the channels are obscure, content is infrequently updated or required spending money on hardware.
 Hopefully, Fountain Valley’s D-Link Systems has figured a way to make this work. Today, it announced a new service for its MediaLounge player, a device that connects a TV to the home computer network.
The service offers more than 200 channels of Internet TV to users of its MediaLounge player, a gadget that connects your TV to the Internet.
While watching D-Link’s new “TV” service only works if you buy the $250 DSM-520 MediaLounge, unclear is whether the Internet TV service will cost extra. Just heard back from D-Link. Service is free for most channels, just as they are online. But if they charge online, MediaLounge customers will have to pay up too.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • Wi-Fi & networking • OC gadgets | 3 Comments »
September 26th, 2007, 12:00 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
More contests…
 
People I know with Sidekick cell phones really love their phone. Big QWERTY keyboard. A nice screen… So, good news for you all and anyone who wants to join in on the fun. T-Mobile is offering new models, the Sidekick LX and the Sidekick Slide.
The Sidekick LX ($299 with a 2-year contract) has a screen that uses Sharp Electronics’ high-definition Aquos LCD technology. Plus, it has a 1/3-megapixel camera with flash, mood lights and ships with a 128 MB memory card. Two colors: midnight blue and espresso brown. Available on Oct. 24.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Cell phones | Post a Comment »
September 25th, 2007, 10:15 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
When Boost Mobile invited me to meet some X Games athletes at its Irvine headquarters, I should have known it wouldn’t be just a meet a greet. I couldn’t make it, but fortunately an OC Register videographer stopped by and shot some great footage.
Check it out:
This is part of the Boost Mobile Freestyle MotoX Tour, a national demo tour that travels the country and features a rotating rider roster. This stop includes Boost team riders - X Games Gold Medalists Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg, Jeff Kargola (aka Ox), Derek Garland and Jeremy Lusk. Sorry I missed it!
Posted in: Cell phones • EVENTS • Geek culture • OC tech news | Post a Comment »
September 25th, 2007, 3:12 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
Big day for Irvine’s Toshiba America. New projectors, new music players and now new laptops.
The HD series
 Qosmio G45, Qosmio F45, Satellite X205, Satellite P205 and Satellite A205 — count them up, five altogether. All have HD DVD drives.
The Qosmio G45-AV680, in particular, will set you back $3,200. But you get and HD DVD recorder, built-in HD TV tuner, 17-inch screen, four high-fidelity Harman Kardon Bass Reflex speakers and subwoofer, plus Intel Centrino Duo processor, WiFi (including the new draft-n technology), 320 GB hard drives and NVIDIA’s new GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB of VRAM graphics. More DETAILS.
 AMD computers
- Satellite P205D-S7479 — A desktop replacement, meaning it’s hefty with a 17-inch screen. Also, a AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core chip, 2 GBs memory, 250 GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, web cam… More DETAILS. Price: $1,350
 Gaming machines
- Satellite X205-SLI: Features dual NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics chips with combined 512MB of dedicated video RAM. To support the launch of this notebook, Toshiba is hosting a Gears of War tournament in New York. Notebook starts at $2,000. More DETAILS.
- Satellite X205-SLI3: Also has the dual NVIDIA chip plus a external HDTV tuner (connects via USB) and HDMI output. Price: $2,500. More DETAILS.
Posted in: Computers • OC gadgets | Post a Comment »
September 25th, 2007, 2:16 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 Toshiba unveiled some new music players today that will compete with probably anything that isn’t an iPod.
The gigabeat T400 runs on flash memory so it only has 4 GB of storage (that’s 1,000 songs at 4-megabytes a song). But it does have a 2.4-inch color screen for photo slide shows and videos — up to 5 hours on a single battery, says Toshiba.
And it features H2C, a high-end audio enhancement that improves the quality of compressed digital music. This appears to be a Toshiba technology — I’m waiting for more details on this.
This is a very Microsoft-heavy gadget, playing MP3, WMA, WAV, WMA Lossless and WMV files.
Comes in a dark magnesium case with trim in three colors: blue, pink and orange. Includes matching headphones. Price: $120 and available at toshibadirect.com.
And if you have an old gigabeat, trade up and get cash back from Toshiba’s recycling program. Details HERE.
Posted in: Music • OC gadgets | Post a Comment »
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Tamara 'the Gadgetress' Chuang
Here's a list of TV/mobile companies helping consumers one tweet at a time. 
