Microsoft showing off Windows 7-powered Viliv S5 MID at Computex

Being that Release Candidate 1 just hit the tubes, we weren't really expecting a big Windows 7 presence at Computex this year. Much to our surprise, Viliv has announced that it will be showcasing the first official Win7-powered MID at the Taiwan-based show later this week. The heralded S5 will be the lucky device, with a duo of WiMAX-equipped cousins (X70 EX and S7) hanging around to demonstrate live video streaming.

Philips GoGear Opus reviewed: solid audio, but painfully boring

When we had the downright magnificent opportunity to toy with Philips' latest PMP line here in the States, we immediately noticed that the GoGear Opus stood out among the rest. The crew over at TrustedReviews recently spent some quality time with the 8GB version of that very unit, and while they found the audio quality to be "excellent," they seemed rather disappointed -- if not irked -- by everything else in the package. For starters, the whole solution just felt boring, with critics noting that its biggest problem was a lack of "excitement." Granted, none of this would matter at a rock-bottom price point, but for $100, there's an awful lot of competition. As we found during our short time with the player, these folks also noticed that the user interface was simply "old-fashioned," and that video playback was nothing to write home about. The bottom line? Unless you score some kind of spectacular deal, your PMP dollars are probably best spent elsewhere.

Olidata Conte ultraportable finally shows itself, looks mighty good

My, my Olidata -- why on Earth have you been depriving our wandering eyes from this beauty for so long? After being originally introduced at CES, we've heard precisely nothing since... until now, obviously. At long last, the striking Conte ultraportable has found its way outside of the lab over in Italy, sporting an ultrathin frame, chiclet-style keyboard, a bezel that's a bit too wide for our tastes, an HDMI output and a price tag starting at just €799 ($1,129). From what we can gather, a few versions of the machine will be available, one of which sports an SU2700 CPU, 13.3-inch LED-backlit display, a 120GB hard drive, 3GB of RAM, Bluetooth, WiFi and a multi-touch trackpad. Another variant is slated to include a Core Solo SU3500 CPU and a 120GB HDD, while yet another gets a Core 2 Duo SL9400 and a 128GB SSD. Peek the read link for a few more looks, including one of the most bizarre advertisements we've ever seen for a mere laptop.

IDT to swap solar cells into LCDs, but not for energy reasons

Solar-powered LCDs? Oh, yeah -- we've got those. Sadly, that's not at all what Integrated Digital Technologies is aiming to improve upon next week at Computex, though we still find its approach to trimming LCD weight and manufacturing costs an interesting one. If we're digesting this correctly, we're hearing that the outfit plans to create interactive displays (or iScreens) that have embedded solar cells in the TFT array rather than extra film or glass with photo sensors. The result? A cost savings of up to 30 percent in manufacturing, not to mention a rather significant decrease in weight. Without any images to go by, it's still a wee bit tough to really wrap our heads around this new take, but hopefully we'll see more next week in Taiwan.

JMicron NAND flash controller could lead to significantly lower SSD prices

Truth be told, SSD prices have been declining at a noticeable tick since way back in 2007, but the reality is that the average consumer still can't afford one -- or, at least they aren't willing to pay the lofty premium for the decent increase in speed. If a bold claim from JMicron is to be believed, all that could change in the run-up to CES 2010. A new report has it that the aforesaid company will be demonstrating its new NAND flash controller next week at Computex, with the JMF612 aimed specifically at a "new generation of NAND flash chips built using smaller process geometries that will be entering the market soon." If all goes well, the cheap single-chip controller could lead to SSD prices falling by around 50 percent by Christmas, but after years of waiting for these things to really get priced for Joe Sixpack and his gaggle of siblings, we're still cautiously skeptical. Not that we wouldn't love to be proven wrong or anything.

DuPont crafts ultra longevous OLED materials, which likely won't be affordable

DuPont's been dabbling in OLED advancement for years now, and while the world waits for the introduction of market-ready big-screen OLED HDTVs, engineers at the miracle-working company are toiling away to make sure those very sets last quite some time. For anyone following the OLED TV scene, you'll know that luminance longevity has been a nagging issue, but if new developments pan out, stamina will be the least of our worries. In fact, the firm has crafted a green light-emitting material that can purportedly push onward for over a hundred years... continuously. Furthermore, the same scientists have engineered a new blue light-emitting material with a luminance half-life of 38,000 hours along with a red light-emitting material with a life of 62,000 hours. Unfortunately for the laypeople out there, we can't imagine this stuff being even marginally affordable -- but hey, it's great news for the sybarites!

Nikkei: Nintendo's Wii Fit plus coming to make weight loss competitive, Internet fun

Wii Fit not cutting the fat fast enough? Don't sweat it, the house of Mario is getting ready to make your weight loss competitive. According to Japan's Nikkei business daily, Nintendo will be launching its Wii Fit plus in autumn that will let users compete with friends and family over the Internet to "lose weight and other activities" -- the latter presumably hinting at cruel taunting Miis with the ability to point and laugh at the fatties. The new balance board is said to feature more precise measurements to better hone your sense of embarrassment and shame. E3 kicks off next week where we'll undoubtedly hear more if the rumor is true.

Dell's Mini 10v gets unboxed, cracked wide open, fitted with OS X

Not that Dell's other Mini machines aren't perfect candidates for creating your own hackintosh, but it's stellar to know that the outfit's newest member is as well. After going on sale earlier this month, the Mini 10v has been procured, unboxed and dissected, all in the name of unabashed discovery. Interestingly, it seems as if the RAM slot requires that the keyboard and motherboard be lifted for access, but for even the mildly seasoned computer user, that's absolutely nothing they can't handle. If you're into hardcore, uncensored splayings of newfangled netbooks, the read link is where you need to be, holmes.

Dell's Mini 9 vanishes from retail site as red Studio XPS 16 returns (update: Mini 9 is on the outs)

We don't want to point fingers, but at the same time Dell's Studio XPS 16 red option suddenly returns -- now a "Merlot" instead of once-axed "Crimson" -- the Mini 9 conspicuously goes missing from the company's website. Coincidence? We think not. It's a regular murder mystery, and it looks like we have our prime suspect here, caught... erm, red-lidded. Catching the killer, though, won't bring it back, but at least its younger brother, the Vostro A90, still seems to alive and kicking.

Microsoft confirms: no three app limit in Windows 7 Starter

We'd heard it through the grapevine that Microsoft was gearing up to right the wrong and nix that ludicrous three application limit for Windows 7 Starter Edition, and sure enough, it did just that via The Windows Blog. The company admitted that it was removing the three application at-a-time limit previously slated for inclusion in Win7 Starter "based on the feedback it has received from partners and customers." (Psst... thanks for yelling, people!) That said, the OS is still severely gimped, with no multi-monitor support, DVD playback, Windows Media Center, remote media streaming, XP Mode or network connectivity. Just kidding on that last one... we think.

NVIDIA GPU resurrected after 10 minutes at 425°F

We've seen some pretty weird stuff in our years on this planet -- heck, we've revived our own drenched Sony DAP by burying it in rice for 48 hours -- but this is easily one of the most bizarre gizmo resurrections we've ever come across. As the tale goes, one valiant NVIDIA GPU owner apparently bit on a myth which suggested that a pinch of time in the oven (quite literally, might we add) would repair faulty GPUs that were throwing up oodles of vertical lines. After purchasing another GPU to replace his ailing 8800GTX, he figured he had zilch to lose and gave it a shot; lo and behold, the temporary warmth seemingly melted the solder points and healed micro-fractures that were causing the unwanted lines. We've yet to hear how his attempt at returning the new GPU went, but hey, there's always eBay.

Updated Windows 7 and Vista downgrade rights leaked

Are you ready to have your mind blown by some truly incredible gadget news? No, we're not talking about our peek at the Zune HD with none other than Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. In fact, we have spicy hot new Windows licensing details. According to Tech ARP, Microsoft will soon allow end users to downgrade from Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate editions to either Windows Vista Business or Window XP Professional. If that weren't enough, OEMs may now choose to install XP Professional, XP Pro Tablet, or XP Pro X64, instead of Windows Vista Business / Ultimate -- as long as they fulfill a bunch of legalistic requirements regarding activation markers, certificates of authenticity, Windows Vista Logo criteria, and other stuff you probably don't care about. It looks like the repudiation of Windows Vista is continuing apace... and we're guessing that it doesn't stop until it results in a series of war crimes tribunals in The Hague. (We can dream, can't we?)

ASUS Mars GPU weds twin GeForce GTX 285s, might just melt your face

You into frame rates? No, we mean are you frickin' bonkers over watching your rig hit triple digits in a Crysis timedemo? If you're still nodding "yes," have a gander at what'll absolutely have to be your next buy. The ASUS Mars 295 Limited Edition is quite the unique beast, rocking a pair of GTX 285 chips that are viewed by Windows as a GeForce GTX 295. All told, you're looking at 240 shader processors, a 512-bit GDDR3 memory interface, 32 total memory chips and 4GB of RAM. Amazingly, the card is totally compatible with existing drivers and is Quad-SLI capable, and if all goes to plan, it'll actually peek its head out at Computex next week. Rest assured, we'll do everything we can to touch it.

Microsoft touts 30 million Xbox 360s sold, 20 million Xbox LIVE members

Sony may have been the first to claim the 20 million users number, but most will no doubt agree that Microsoft has a considerably stronger claim to that title, as their just-announced 20 million users apparently includes only "active members," and doesn't include users that have simply signed up to use their online forums. Even less debatable are Microsoft's latest sales numbers for the console, which now officially top 30 million worldwide. As Microsoft points out, that translates to a whopping $14.5 billion in sales across all Xbox 360 categories, or an impressive $5.9 billion in game sales for third-party publishers. Other tidbits include the fact that Xbox 360 users own 8.3 titles each on average, and that Xbox LIVE has seen a 136% increase in new members since the launch of the New Xbox Experience last year.

HP Mini 110 netbook gets examined on video

We've already gotten a decent look at HP's new Mini 110 courtesy of the usual carefully chosen press shots, but the folks at Tech65.org recently had a chance to get up close with the netbook, and they've now thankfully provided a thorough hands-on video for folks considering it or those simply curious. While there's not exactly a whole lot of surprises, we do get a good look at the new, slightly recessed "anti-glare" display, along with the revised trackpad, the new LCD-intergrated speakers, and the rearranged port and card slots.

Alienware's M17X gaming laptop with twin GTX 280M GPUs truly is all powerful

The announcement wasn't scheduled for a few more days -- four according to the teaser site -- but it looks like Alienware's All Powerful gaming laptop has been set free anyway. So, does it live up to the clues? Pretty much... how does a pair of 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M GPUs strike you? No Core i7 listed, instead we're looking at a Core 2 Extreme quad-core CPU at the top end with up to 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3 memory, and 1TB of 7200-rpm disk or a 512GB SSD if you prefer. RAID 1 or RAID 0? Sure. Rounding things out is a nine-cell battery of unstated performance, FireWire, 4x USB, eSATA, ExpressCard, 802.11n WiFi, 8-in-1 media card reader, dual-layer Blu-ray, a 1920 x 1200 pixel edge-to-edge LCD, DisplayPort and HDMI-outs all wrapped up in a massive chassis weighing 11.68-pounds with a 15.98 x 12.65 x 2.11-inch footprint. It's also packing a GeForce 9400M G1 GPU with HybridPower technology that allows you to scale the graphics back to conserve battery power. Prices start at $1,799 for a lot less than we mentioned above.

Zune HD is official, heading your way this Fall

That's right folks, the Zune HD is real, and it's coming this Fall. Microsoft officially announced the next iteration in their Zune line today, making it less of a tripped out pipe dream, and more of a totally tubular reality. The specs, which look exactly like that leak we saw, go like this: 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display, built-in HD Radio receiver, HD output (utilizing a new dock -- not on-board), and... not much more right now. Microsoft is doing away with the famed squircle in favor a full multitouch device, and they seemed to indicate that some new touch-friendly apps and games would be headed our way, though they were fairly mum when it came to details. The device will boast an IE-based, customized browser, but little else was said in the way of software.

Details are also scarce concerning storage capacities, CPU performance, and other crucial numbers, but it seems like they've got more in store come E3... and that's the next big piece of news. Zune integration is coming to the Xbox and Xbox Live, as the Zune marketplace will step in to replace the current Live video resources, expanding the library and offering all kinds of new perks, like Zune's first foray into international waters. According to the company, at E3 "attendees will see first-hand how Zune integrates into Xbox LIVE creating a game-changing entertainment experience" -- we're not entirely sure what the means right now, but it sounds sweet. Try to contain your excitement.

iRiver P35 headed to the US this fall

It certainly doesn't seem to have been in a rush to bring it to these shores, but iriver has now finally announced (in teaser form) that its P35 PMP will indeed be getting an official US release... this fall. That will version will obviously ditch the DMB TV found in its Korean counterpart, but it should be otherwise identical, including up to 16GB of storage (plus an SDHC card slot), a 4.3-inch WQVGA touchscreen, a full-fledged web browser (on the WiFi version, at least), a promised 16 hours of battery life (or seven for video) and, of course, iriver's trademark SPINN controls. No word on pricing just yet, as you might have guessed, but the Korean version started at the local equivalent of $286.

HP recalls another 15,000 laptop batteries, this time in China

HP just recalled a hefty 70,000 laptop batteries earlier this month, but it looks like it still has a few more fires to put out, and it's now recalled another 15,000 batteries sold in China. No reports of any actual "flames / fire" this time around but, as with countless other recalls, the batteries are apparently prone to overheating, and can indeed pose a pesky fire hazard. Word of specific models affected is also a bit hard to come by at the moment, but the batteries were apparently used in laptops manufactured between late 2007 and early 2008, and include models sold under both the HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario brands. If that sounds like your laptop, you can get in touch with HP China for a free replacement battery.

Sony updates plethora of VAIO laptops in Japan

Ah, Spring. The season of vacations, beach attire and VAIO updates. We already heard that Sony was giving its VAIO P netbook a dose of Windows XP and an optional 256GB SSD, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, the Type T, Type Z, Type F and Type A are all getting makeovers, so we'll do our best to break 'em down right. The beastly A series will continue to be menacing, boasting an 18.4-inch 1080p panel, WiFi, a HDD / SSD hybrid system, 4GB of RAM, a Blu-ray drive and a GeForce 9600M GT. The F series rolls in with a 16.4-inch display, 4GB of memory, ATI's 256MB Mobility Radeon HD 3470, WiFi, a battery good for three hours and a Core 2 Duo P8700.

JVC ships 42-inch LT-42WX70: $2,399.95 for more colors than you'll ever notice

JVC seemed pretty proud of its LT-42WX70 back at CES, and while some may consider this unit's main selling point a fillip, graphic professionals will likely disagree. The Xiview LT-42WX7 is a 42-inch 120Hz 1080p panel which targets imaging junkies and those who just can't get enough of those wild, vivacious colors seen in Family Guy re-runs. Said display covers 96 percent of the Adobe RGB color space, theoretically making it suitable for image editing. If you're buying all that, you can voice your support right now with $2,399.95.

HP's MediaSmart Server LX195 reviewed: impressive, but flawed

After being introduced to the world late last month, we've heard little else about HP's lower-end MediaSmart Server LX195... until now, obviously. This little media streamer made its way into the HotHardware labs for a little Q&A, and it managed to escape with lots of praise, a mild amount of criticism and a price tag that'll likely be too steep for most to swallow. As for performance and features, the LX195 was found to shine; the Media Collector, iTunes server and Time Machine backup functionality all worked great. Unfortunately, the "endless loop of updates" seen during the initial setup and the lack of an April update -- which was sent out to the EX series last month -- left somewhat of a bitter taste in reviewers mouths. Overall, the system delivered and worked as advertised, but the $360 to $400 street price is apt to turn all but the hardest of hardcore HP fans away, not to mention that the aforesaid EX update (which will hit the LX195 this fall) will require users to completely wipe their HDD and start over from scratch.

Windows Vista SP2 is live, ready to download

Face it: in between waiting for Windows 7 to launch and tweaking the XP build on your newly purchased netbook, there's this little thing called Windows Vista that needs to be maintained. Today, Microsoft did its part and released the standalone installers for the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Service Pack 2 for Vista and Server 2008. Now it's all up to you. Hit the read links to patch the Wow with a little SP2 Meh.

Intel said to slip Core i5 platform to September, competition needed

Want a good example of why Intel -- or we, the consumer -- needs a strong competitor? DigiTimes' has it from sources at motherboard makers that Intel will delay its mainstream desktop Core i5 platform (including Lynnfield procs and 5-series chipsets) from July to early September. A rumor with merit given DigiTimes' proven sources within motherboard makers like ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI. The reason for the delay is to allow vendors to deplete 4-series inventories that have piled-up during the economic slow-down. Of course, if AMD or... well, AMD could muster the silicon to compete with Intel at the same price point then such a delay would not be possible. How much you say? DigiTimes has the Core i5 processors priced at 2.93GHz ($562), 2.8GHz ($284) and 2.66GHz ($196) when purchased in bulk.

Nokia Ovi Store now live everywhere

We've just gotten word that Nokia has officially flipped the switch on the Ovi Store everywhere, which means you lucky Aussies, Irish, and Singaporeans just lost your coveted exclusivity. Nokia recommends that you hit up store.ovi.com from your phone's browser to start pumping thousands of euros into Espoo's (and, of course, developers') pockets, so get to it, won't you? Seriously, the economy isn't going to stimulate itself.

Sony VAIO P set free with XP, still not a netbook

Fascinating. Sony just figured out a simple truth of ultra-portable computing: for all its beauty, elegant hardware packed into a diminutive chassis will never make up for a perpetually sluggish OS, at least not for long. While it comes late to this understanding, Sony is finally making XP a standard load on its new VAIO P model VGN-P50. Not exactly aspirational, mind you, and very netbook-like... but at least it gets the OS out of the way of your applications unlike the original VAIO P Vista build. Any by not having to downgrade yourselves (or upgrade to Windows 7 RC), you'll keep all of Sony's optimizations like the VAIO P's XMB interface. Starting June 6th, our Japanese friends will also see a 2GHz Atom Z550 processor bump in addition to WWAN data as standard. They'll even toss in a 256GB SSD if you tick the right box. While we'd typically expect these specs to go global, the fact that we're still stuck with a 1.33GHz processor Stateside makes us doubtful, bitter even, and more than a tad envious. Available June 6th in Japan starting at ¥85,000 (about $900).

Nokia's stunning E71 gets diamond-clad makeover

Nokia's E71 looks perfectly elegant in its Espoo-sourced attire, but there's nothing that can't be made more gorgeous / gaudy with diamonds. Enter Continental Mobiles, which makes its ends by shoving all sorts of glitz and glam onto handsets and charging a ridiculous price. The phone you see above is doused with an undisclosed amount of VS1 quality diamonds, and thus, it'll run you a staggering £5,999 ($9,546). 'Course, it is hand-crafted in England, but you'll have to provide your own bodyguard when taking it to the streets.

Toshiba Biblio e-reader handled, deemed extremely small

We heard that Japanese carrier KDDI au had unveiled a Toshiba "e-reader," and now we're getting a first look at it. The e-inkless Biblio has a 3.5-inch, 960 x 480 LCD, with WiFi, 7GB of onboard storage, an electronic dictionary, and a 5.1 megapixel camera. The device features a slide-out keyboard which displays a numeric pad in the portrait orientation and doubles as full QWERTY in landscape. There's no word on pricing or availability for this bad boy as of yet, but we'll keep our eyes peeled and our ears to the ground.

Lenovo gets budget-friendly with IdeaPad U350, G550 and IdeaCentre C300

The IdeaPad S12 isn't the only new kit flowing from RTP today, as Lenovo is also choosing to celebrate Memorial Day with two new lappies and an all-in-one desktop. Starting things off is the IdeaPad U350 (shown above), a thin-and-light machine that packs a 13.3-inch LED-backlit display (1,366 x 768), an HDMI output, an ambient light sensor and your choice of Intel's 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo SU3500, the 1.3GHz SU2700 or 1.2GHz Celeron 723. There's also room for a 500GB hard drive, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a GMA 4500M / 4500 MHD graphics set, 1.3 megapixel camera, multi-touch trackpad, twin 1.5-watt speakers, Vista Home Basic / Premium and an optional 8-cell battery good for up to 10 hours of use.

Next up is the business-like G550, which sports a 15.6-inch display, a non-nonsense enclosure, WiFi, Bluetooth, DVD burner and a numeric keypad for crunching those end of quarter numbers. You'll also get upwards of 4GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 320GB of hard drive space, a Core 2 Duo processor, GMA X4500 or GeForce G105M graphics, HDMI output and up to five hours of battery life with the included 6-cell Li-ion.

Wrapping things up is the IdeaCentre C300 all-in-one, which aims squarely at the low-end with a lackluster Atom 230 processor, integrated Intel graphics and a preposterously low price tag. The machine features a 20-inch LCD, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB to 640GB HDD, Ethernet, WiFi, 1.3 megapixel camera, FireWire, six USB 2.0 sockets, a 6-in-1 multicard reader and a starting price tag of just $449. Not a terrible choice for the devout web surfer in your family, we must say.

Nokia Grouper, Mako, Snapper, and Thresher rolling deep on AT&T

Who said Nokia doesn't have a major commitment to North American carriers? We've landed news of a whole plethora of Espoo-sourced devices scheduled to hit AT&T over the coming months, and a few in particular caught our eye. Most notably, the Mako (pictured) is unlike anything we've ever seen Nokia make, mostly thanks to a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard that doesn't really resemble any existing hardware. It rides on the same S60 3.2-based platform as the 6650 and E71x, features dual-band HSDPA, a 2.4-inch QVGA display, AGPS, 2 megapixel camera, Video Share, and 128MB of internal storage with microSD expansion. Sadly -- this is going to be a dream killer for some folks, we think -- it's only got a 2.5mm headphone jack, which is a step back for multimedia support. This one was at one time targeted for June 5, but if we had to guess, it's been pushed back -- maybe we're crazy, but we feel like it hasn't leaked enough to meet that date at this point. Anyhow, looks like this one's a good foil for that QWERTY swivel allegedly due on Verizon.

Speaking of "this looks nothing like a Nokia," the Thresher is an ultra-glossy slider that doesn't quite resemble anything officially announced in other markets. It shares its Series 40 guts with Grouper, which was the codename assigned to the 6750 Mural flip we recently saw hit the FCC. Both devices do HSDPA and AGPS; the Grouper makes do with a 2 megapixel cam, though, while the Thresher steps up to 3.2 with an integrated flash. The Thresher's signed up for September and the Grouper for July, but as with all of these, it's anyone's guess whether those dates will hold.

Finally, the Snapper flip is a lower-end device that we could envision replacing the 6555, lacking the Grouper's style but still staying strong with triband HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.1, AGPS, and a 2 megapixel camera. This one's tentatively targeted for August.

HTC's Warhawk and Fortress are AT&T's Touch Diamond2 and Pro2

We know that Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile are all getting versions of the Touch Pro2, but what about little ol' AT&T? Turns out that device is codenamed "Fortress," and it'll accompany a Touch Diamond2 version known as "Warhawk" to market this summer. The Fortress is actually listed as targeted for May 25, which seems a bit unrealistic -- but we think the document we're looking at is a little stale, so we're sure the inevitable delay has crept into the schedule by now. It's expected to launch with WinMo 6.1 AKU6 (presumably upgradeable to 6.5 down the road) with full HSPA on three bands, AGPS, a 3.2 megapixel AF cam, 3.6-inch WVGA display, and Video Share support. Curiously, the bottom of the slide mentions that a "WM 7.X refresh" is in the works with a September 2009 launch date, which underscores the fact that this slide is likely a little old -- there's no way anything running Windows Mobile 7 is hitting this year if 6.5 will just be coming to market in volume toward the holiday season.

Blackberry Magnum, Onyx, Pearl 3G, and Gemini to harmonize on AT&T

BlackBerry lovers, AT&T beckons. Looks like the just-reviewed Onyx is heading to AT&T and, as rumored before, so is the Magnum. We've got no pics of the latter device, but it's being touted here as the "BlackBerry Bold portfolio evolution" and uses the same processor as the Bold. It's also got a HVGA touchscreen, QWERTY pad, quad-band GSM / GRS / EDGE, GPS, and WiFi. Want more? How about an apparently non-flip Pearl 3G with 3.6 Mbps of HSDPA goodness, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headset jack, trackball, SureType, and aGPS. Rounding out this quartet is the Gemini, with a 512MHz processor, 256MB flash memory, 128MB RAM, Bluetooth, QVGA LCD, 2 megapixel sans flash, trackball, QWERTY keyboard, 3.5mm headset jack, a microSD slot, possibly GPS, and sadly, no 3G. There's no release date in sight, but hey, knowing they're on the way is half the battle, right?

HTC Touch Pro2 brandishes Verizon logo, poses for camera with Cedar

Not that it wasn't without warning, but we've now got some pretty definitive picture proof that HTC 's Touch Pro2 is set to bask in Verizon's CDMA goodness -- we guess your Sprint friends won't be having all the fun, after all. Also caught on camera here is the HTC Cedar, a CDMA version of the HTC Maple / Snap. It's got a slightly different button layout just under the screen than the Sprint version we recently saw, which itself is different from its initial unveiling. According to 474RPR, who leaked these pics, this one's bound for Alltel's network, which while we don't see any proof from the image, we could totally buy that. Of course, none of these pics give a release date of any sort, so hang tight while we all anxiously wait in unison.

BlackBerry Onyx reviewed way before RIM intended it to be

We don't know exactly what they're feeding the engineers up in Waterloo, but we're guessing it's a combination of Red Bull, NoDoz, and speed, because they appear to be working on about ten devices at once -- awesome news for anyone looking to pick up a new BlackBerry in the next 6 to 12 months. We've already seen the Onyx in the wild, but as a refresher, this puppy does UMTS (and we'd assume HSDPA as well), a 3.2 megapixel AF cam, an undoubtedly gorgeous 480 x 360 display, GPS, and WiFi in a body more svelte than the Bold's; now, CrackBerry's managed to score a unit and give it a quick once-over. All told the impression seems very positive, with the takeaway being that RIM has taken the best personality traits of the 8900 and 9000 series and stuffed it all into a single device. We're not necessarily expecting this one on the market any time soon -- AT&T just launched the 8900 a couple days ago, after all, and CrackBerry believes RIM could replace the trackball with a Gemini-style optical pad prior to launch -- but it's something to look forward to.

Plethora of Palm Pre interface videos emerge from leaked emulator

Palm Pre secrets? That's very quickly becoming a thing of the past. After getting some pretty good shots of webOS last week, the "invisible man" from PalmPreForum.org has uploaded an absolute ton of videos -- fifteen in all, at last count -- showcasing the interface from a leaked emulator given out to early developers (available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, in case you were wondering). Browser, tasks, memos, YouTube, Google Maps, backup, settings, copy and paste -- frankly, we're still wrapping our heads around all of them, and while it's a shame we can't see any multitouch gesture since he's limited to a mouseclick, we're not gonna be choosy here.

BlackBerry Aries spotted: a Gemini with CDMA in its heart

If you had your eye the BlackBerry Curve 8520 / Gemini, somehow above all the other number of RIM devices that have surfaced as of late, it looks like the stars have aligned (har har) for you. The gang at Crackberry have gotten a first peep at the Aries, which they say is essentially a CDMA-equipped Gemini that's likely to go by the eventual name Curve 8530. Not much else to note here, here's hoping we got some more concrete details -- and maybe a committed carrier or two -- in the not too distant. As for the naming conventions, we now anxiously await for alliterative darlings like a touchscreen Taurus, slide-out Sagittarius, and 18 megapixel Pisces.

Liquid-cooled desk contains full-fledged PC, won't be sold at Ikea

We've heard of productive work spaces, but this thing has feng shui written all over it. The geeks and gurus over at Popular Mechanics were able to mix their construction and PC building skills in order to create the rather astounding desk that you see above. Aside from serving a purpose as a desk, looking fantastic and being next to impossible to keep clean, it's also a full-fledged computer. Packed within is a half-gallon of glycol, twin 300GB VelociRaptor hard drives, a GeForce GTX 280 GPU, seven fans, a Sony Blu-ray drive, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 3GHz Core 2 Quad processor and copious amounts of "win."

Dell now offering Studio XPS 13 with Ubuntu

Dell's been showing Ubuntu lots of love over the past few months, so it's no real shock to see the Linux-based operating system slide on over to Dell's hottest (literally and figuratively) 13-incher. The Studio XPS 13 can now be ordered with Ubuntu 8.10 or 7.04 right from the factory, though it seems you'll be forced to upgrade to Jaunty Jackalope once the rig hits your doorstep. Ah well, you won't find us kvetching over added options, so we'll just pencil on a smile and raise a glass to diversity at Round Rock.

Samsung ships $129 SPF-87H 8-inch digiframe / secondary monitor

Samsung's been dousing just about anything it can get its paws on with that 'Touch of Color' design scheme, and even the outfit's latest digiframe wasn't able to dodge the madness. The 8-inch SPF-87H, which was originally introduced to the world back in April, is now shipping to those scouting a multifaceted digital photo frame. Unlike traditional alternatives, this 0.91-inch thick frame can double as a secondary display (via USB), and the respectable 800 x 480 resolution panel ensures that you can fit more than just a weather widget on there. Other specs include 1GB of built-in storage, an SD expansion slot, 500:1 contrast ratio and a $129 price tag.

iriver's T-DMB-packin' B30 portable media player emerges

Check it, North Americans -- yet another PMP that'll never arrive here in this form. The T-DMB-equipped B30 just popped up over on iriver's Korean website, complete with an FM tuner, 2.8-inch QVGA display, a microSD expansion slot, 4/8/16GB of inbuilt memory, white / black / silver color options, USB 2.0 connectivity, a user-selectable equalizer and a list of supported file formats too lengthy to cover in this space. Furthermore, we're told that the battery is good for 40 hours on audio and 5.5 hours with video, and while a ship date has yet to be revealed, we're expecting 'em to go for around $155, $183 and TBD from least capacious to most.

BenQ's $499 Joybee GP1 pocket projector up for pre-order

We had the pleasure of checking out BenQ's Joybee GP1 pocket projector back in March at CeBIT, and now the bantam beamer is just about ready to ship here in the States. Starting now (like, right now), interested consumers can plop down $499 in order to secure a place in line, ensuring that you'll be one of the first on the block to take possession of the planet's first LED-based PJ with a USB reader. Specs wise, you'll find a DLP projection system kicking out an 858 x 600 resolution, 100 ANSI lumens, a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, a built-in 2-watt speaker and VGA / component / composite inputs. Five bills sounds a little steep for what it is, but hey, it's a 1.4 pound projector -- did you really expect it to be economical?

US Army equipping all Windows PCs with Vista by end of 2009

While a good number of its machines are already running the OS -- about 13 percent at this point -- the United States Army has mandated that before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, 2009 that all of its Windows-powered computers must switch from XP to Vista, presumably and hopefully with Service Pack 2. Additionally, all Office 2003 users will have to upgrade to the 2007 variant, but thankfully, someone with a little Vista experience made sure to omit standalone weapons systems from the mandate -- you know, because there's not really time to click through eight confirmation boxes when launching a time-sensitive homing missile. All jesting aside, we're flummoxed that the Army didn't just wait for Windows 7 to roll out in a few months before making this decision, but hey, what's a few more billion in upgrade costs next year, right?

Samsung's M7600 Beat DJ music phone on sale at O2 UK

Quite a bit has gone down in the cellular realm since Barcelona opened its beautiful doors to host Mobile World Congress 2009, but how could we ever forget this gem? Samsung's M7600 Beat DJ is about as close as we'll ever come to a real live Pilotfish Ondo, and after months of waiting, it's finally on sale across the pond. Available for purchase right now at O2 UK, the Bang & Olufsen-infused handset packs a 2.6-inch OLED panel, perfect for mixing, scratching and texting your mum when you stay out too late. It's all yours for between £0.00 and £146.80 ($233) depending on your choice of contract, and if any of you kind, gentle Britons feel like importing a few for the deprived Yanks over here, drop us a note in comments.

Microsoft wants you to share WinMo apps with yourself; others, not so much

With the App Store, App Catalog, App World, Ovi Store, and all shades of third-party mobile software stores out in the wild, Microsoft's undoubtedly looking at Windows Marketplace as being one of the more important features it's bringing to the table in the fanfare surrounding WinMo 6.5. Differentiating features that Redmond can pimp against the competition -- all of which sound like identical concepts from a quick glance on paper -- could be a key offensive weapon in keeping 6.5 playing with the big boys long enough to get WinMo 7 out of the door, but one thing we now know won't be a part of that is a useful app sharing concept. As it was originally understood, the idea was that the Windows Marketplace would allow you to share purchased apps with up to a total of five devices, meaning friends, family, and coworkers could exchange wares. Seems like a good idea to casually spread the word about great software, but Microsoft's now followed up to clarify: turns out you'll only be able to share the app with five of your own phones, the idea being that you'll be able to easily transfer software licenses when you upgrade to new hardware. To verify the link, you'll need to use the same Windows Live ID on all devices -- so unless you plan on sharing your htc_blue_angel_4_lyfe@hotmail.com with everyone you know, you're out of luck.

Air-fuelled STAIR battery could last ten times longer than traditional cells

It's funny, really. We've figured out how to put men an women on the moon and repair an orbiting telescope, but we can't concoct an AA battery that lasts more than four days inside a Teddy Ruxpin. Thanks to a revolutionary new design from the labs at the University of St Andrews, all that could be well on the way to changin'. Researchers at said institution have teamed up with partners at Strathclyde and Newcastle in order to design an air-fuelled STAIR (St Andrews Air) cell that could theoretically last up to ten times longer than current batteries. Put as simply as possible, this design utilizes oxygen in the air as a re-agent instead of heavy, costly chemicals; the result is a lighter, cheaper battery with loads more capacity. Needless to say, gurus within the project are already dreaming of a prototype to fit in small gizmos such as cellphones or MP3 players, though we wouldn't expect one anytime soon -- after all, there's still two years of research left to complete.

Microsoft publishes maximum Windows 7 netbooks specs

One step forward, one step back: just as we were getting ready to celebrate Microsoft's decision to remove the three-app limit from Windows 7 Starter Edition, we're hearing that Redmond is still planning to impose strict limits on what types of machines get to run the stripped-down build. Just like today's max XP specs, things are pretty weak all around: Window 7 Starter machines will max out at 10.2-inch screens, 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drives or 64GB SSDs, and single-core processors under 2GHz. Of course, Microsoft's told us all along that it thinks lots of OEMs will ignore the max specs and just ship Windows 7 Home Premium since it runs way better on netbooks than Vista, but we'll see how this plays out at Computex -- we're expecting a wave of 10.2-inch netbooks with 2GHz procs and 1GB of RAM in the near future.

Rogers to sell HTC Dream, Magic for $199.99 on contract

Canadians have had to wait quite a while to get their first official taste of Android, and even longer to know how much it'd cost, but it looks like that last detail has now finally been cleared up. According to The Boy Genius Report, Rogers will be asking the ever popular $199.99 for both the HTC Dream and HTC Magic on a three-year contract when they launch on June 2nd, or a hefty $649.99 off-contract. As Boy Genius points out, that's actually $100 more than the previously rumored off-contract price, which briefly spurred talk of a too-good-to-be-true $149.99 on-contract price.

Japanese college giving away free iPhones, using them to track students' attendance

Nearly 500 students and faculty at Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan will receive free iPhones as part of the school's new Mobile & Net Society Education and Training program. The trial, which is set to begin this fall, will use the iPhone's built in GPS function to determine if the students are present, and use that information to replace traditional methods of taking attendance. The university's announced a deal with provider Softbank Mobile to provide the phones and basic services to all students and staff at the school for no charge. The school also plans on rolling out simple tests and homework assignments using the device. So... is there an app for that, or what?

Google Chrome celebrates version 2 release with autofill, fast-paced video

We know you've been avoiding Chrome because it puts your most visited sites on a display the size of the JumboTron in Times Square, and we don't blame you. You don't need the folks in Accounts Receivable knowing every detail of your life (including all the time you spend in the Cat Fancy online forums). Well, you're in luck! Google's infamous browser is now officially out of beta, and has been designated version two -- and among the improvements is a feature that allows you to remove those pesky thumbnails from the browser home screen. Also in store for faithful users are such key features as Form Autofill and Full Screen Mode. Sadly, neither Linux or Mac users get to join the party just yet -- but we'll let you know as soon as that changes.

Castrade's Game Box lets your game consoles talk VGA, sweet nothings to your computer monitor

If you have HDMI out on your game consoles and HDMI in on your computer monitor you can pretty much stop reading. If, however, you're still stuck in the analog realm, check out Castrade's upcoming CG-USC01HD-PLUS Game Box. It sports composite, S-video, and component inputs, porting everything over to VGA at resolutions ranging from 800 × 600 at 75Hz all the way up to 1920 x 1200 at 60Hz. But, with maximum input resolutions of 1080i or 720p, true 1080p to your display is right out. DVI output would also have been nice, but there are adapters for that, and since the box sports a VGA pass-through you can use that same monitor for PC gaming, too -- you know, in case you start to miss patches and pesky DRM and such. The Box ships in Japan on May 27 for ¥10,000, which equates to about $100 here. Just like that white PS3 in the background, though, there's no word of an official US release.

Sharp's 20-inch AQUOS DX LCD HDTV has a built-in Blu-ray player, no 1080p panel

Cute Sharp, real cute. Brag about releasing the world's first 20-inch LCD HDTV with a built-in Blu-ray player, but don't even mention to consumers that they won't have the luxury of seeing their flicks in full resolution. For reasons unknown, the latest set in the AQUOS DX range does indeed pack a remarkably convenient integrated BD player, but the 1,366 x 768 resolution makes the whole thing sort of pointless. As Liz Lemon would say: "That's a deal-breaker, ladies." At any rate, folks who snap one up in Japan will also find a digital TV tuner, DVD support, a 1,500:1 contrast ratio and 450 nits of brightness. It'll be available in black (LC-20DX1-B) and white (LC-20DX1-W) for ¥150,000 ($1,593) at the tail end of next month in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Hitachi's Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Wooo cellphone does 720p video recording

While it won't be the first handset to capture 720p video (hello, OmniaHD!), Hitachi's Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Woo is still apt to garner quite a bit of attention. As the leaked images hosted down below show, this clever flip phone packs 1,280 x 720 video recording, a 5 megapixel sensor, HDMI interface and a microSDHC slot for good measure. A generous tipster has informed us that said phone is slated to launch this coming Monday on KDDI, though we fully expect that envious North Americans won't ever get to toy with one on their home turf. For shame.

UMID mbook M1 now shipping worldwide for $659

And here you were expecting this day to never, ever come. At long last, e-tailer Justek has begun to ship UMID's dainty mbook M1 to customers all over the globe, with pricing set at $659.42 for the Linux model and $765.78 for the Windows XP model (along with an 8GB microSD card). By this point, you already know whether or not you can live without one, so now's your chance to pull the trigger before Monday rolls around with a weekend full of regrets.