Hi-tech Frontier

Cyber Fox USB Flash Drive This “cyber fox” USB flash drive is another example of a cute looking memory device - cute until you rip its head off, that is. Just like the Koala Bear USB Card Reader. He looks quite web browser Firefox-ish with his blue hair, don’t you think? Features: Capacity: 2GB Hi-Speed USB 2.0 certified Plug and Play, Hot-Swapped capability Mass Storage Device class compatible Support: Windows Vista, XP, 2000 and Mac OS Dimensions: 7cm x 10cm tall (approx.) Weight: 18g The Cyber Fox USB Flash Drive is available from the USB Geek website for $20.

Powerful USB Mini Speakers from Grandmax Let’s stay on the tiny gadgets topic with the brand new Grandmax Pull-n-Play Tweakers - a pair of portable mini speakers that show “sound can come in small packages”. The design and the way they work is quite similar to the USB Spring Speaker. The Grandmax Pull-n-Play Tweakers mini speakers are available for $44.95.

Hello Kitty Keyboard Great news for those of you who have a thing for computer accessories inspired by a certain japanese cat, like this webcam, the USB fan and this small speaker. You will now be able to expand your collection with this brand new Hello Kitty keyboard. The keyboard comes in the traditional red and white colors and features the well-known bow tie on the Shift key. Kitty’s head can be found on the Enter key and as an ornament at the very top of this playful Sanrio style keyboard. The Hello Kitty Keyboard is available from the Geek Stuff 4 U website for $106 .

Dell's Inspiron 1410 spec bump is too mild to notice Okay, so maybe the newest Inspiron 1410 internals are something to celebrate if you're really looking for low-end, but you'll be hard pressed to find a real tech enthusiast that's jazzed about a 2GHz Core 2 Duo T6400 processor within a 14-inch laptop. At any rate, the aforementioned machine has been juiced (we're being liberal here) with 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 14.1-inch WXGA display, 250GB of hard drive space, a DVD burner, Intel's GMA X3100 graphics, 802.11b/g WiFi and a sweet, colorful lid. Oddly enough, both the customize and buy links are currently dead, so it looks like you'll need some patience in order to buy one without talking to an actual human.

Pentax bridge digital camera image leaked? It appears the folks at Colorfoto.de have erred in our favor. In an article for the Olympus E-620, a seemingly random image has popped up of a currently unknown Pentax digital camera. What makes it especially interesting is the appearance of an EVF / LCD option -- which so far the company has not use for any of their models. It also bears a striking resemblance to a DSLR-esque "bridge" camera, which would make it Penny's first in that category. Looks like we've got another reason to anticipate next week's PMA.

GPS-equipped Sony HDR-XR520V camcorder now available to order We already knew that Sony's GPS-equipped HDR-XR520V camcorder (and the slightly lower-end HDR-XR500V and HDR-XR200V models) would start shipping in March, but you'd be rightly skeptical if you thought that meant it'd be arriving closer to the end of the month than the beginning. Sony looks to be bucking the usual trend, however, as the camcorder is now in stock at Amazon and selling for the not-so-discounted price of $1,499 (SonyStyle itself, meanwhile, lists the camcorder as shipping on March 8th). It seems like quantities may be a tad limited to start with, however, as Amazon lists only four left in stock as of this writing. A handful of sellers also appear to have the HDR-XR500V and HDR-XR200V available, which each pack 120GB of storage as opposed to the 240GB on the HDR-XR-520V.

Fujitsu Siemens introduces "zero-watt" Esprimo 7935 PC Calling it a "zero-watt" PC may be a bit of a stretch, but Fujitsu Siemens is nonetheless breaking a bit of new ground with its new Esprimo 7935 PC, which supposedly consumes no energy at all when it's powered off, as opposed to the one to four watts an average PC consumes unless it's actually unplugged. As you may recall, Fujitsu has already gotten in a bit of practice with its zero-watt monitor, although the PC takes things a bit farther by switching into in a low-power mode for a predetermined time period each day to get its necessary business done, after which it cuts the power off completely. According to Fujitsu, the PC also comes with a power adapter that's 89 percent efficient and, to add a bit more eco-friendly cred, it also conforms to the EPA's new Energy Star 5.0 standard. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any word of the PC's specs just yet, but we're assuming it...

iriver Japan looking to brand its own e-reader? It's a touch early to truly understand what's going on here, but it looks as if iriver Japan (read: not the same iriver Korea you're used to) is hoping to make a splash in the burgeoning e-reader market by popping out a device of its own. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much innovation going on, as we're pretty certain this is simply a rebadged version of the Netronix reader we spotted about this time last year. Word has it that the unit will handle PDFs and feature a simple joystick control scheme, an SD card slot and compatibility with music files. We'll be keeping a close eye out for any developments, but our gut tells us this thing won't make it far outside of Japan's walls, anyway.

ASUS to showcase Marine Cool concept motherboard Check it, OC'ing freaks -- ASUS is apparently planning to debut a new concept motherboard at CeBIT, the aptly titled Marine Cool. The high-end mobo is said to be "unlike any other motherboard on the market," with the all new backplate being the showstopping feature. It's said that the backplate features a "micro-porous ceramic" technology, which delivers quicker heat dissipation than existing alternatives. If you're still scratching your head in a seemingly futile attempt to figure out why this matters, the new cooling tech should allow for components to handle even more extreme overclocking without having to hook up some sort of liquid nitrogen rig. One curious aspect was the decision to include dual SO-DIMM slots in place of traditional desktop-grade DIMM slots, though we don't suspect that'll be a deal breaker for those willing to accept sacrifices for maximum cooling. As is always the case wit...

Gigabyte new mice and keyboards: GM-M8000, GM-M7800S, GK-K6800 and GK-K7100 We already knew that Gigabyte was planning a few netbook launches here in Hannover, but now we're receiving word that a number of new mice and keyboards should also be on display. First up is the GM-M8000 laser gaming mouse, which boasts a 4,000dpi sensor, a scaling-designated switching button, five other programmable buttons, an ergonomic design and a trio of profiles for storing different macro settings for different titles or users. Next up is the GM-M7800S wireless critter (pictured above), which tops out at 1,600dpi resolution but sports a leather coating along with Swarovski crystals. Closing things off are the multimedia-centric GK-K6800 and ultrathin GK-K7100 keyboards, both of which are blessed with copious amounts of hotkeys and an appropriately placed Shift button. Mum's the word on price, but hopefully we'll learn more once CeBIT opens its doors.

Navigon announces Rand McNally-powered 4300T max and 7300T nav units, less awesome 3300 max Looks like Navigon's new relationship with Rand McNally is starting to bear fruit -- the company just announced two new GPS units preloaded with McNally Scenic Routes. Both the 4300T max and the 7300T have over 250 pre-programmed routes from Rand McNally's Best of the Road series, sorted into categories like "weekend getaways" and "regional trips." The $279 4300 max (pictured) is the more basic of the two, featuring a 4.3-inch 16:9 touchscreen display, 2GB of storage with microSD expansion, Bluetooth, free traffic updates, and the new MyRoutes personalized routing system, while the $399 7300T repackages all that into a slicker "frameless" case and adds in voice-enabled address entry and control. Navigon will only say Q2 for the 7300T, but the 4300T max is due to arrive on March 9 along with the identical but stripped-down 3300, which drops Bluetooth, traffic...

Samsung's hybrid NX Series camera: point-and-shoot with DSLR-like image sensor While we still prefer the Micro Four Thirds approach (we love lens selection, so sue us), Samsung's conceptual NX Series is still looking pretty boss for those needing a true (or close to true) point-and-shoot frame. Announced here at PMA, this new "hybrid" camera maintains the slim stature of a standard pocket cam, yet includes an APS-C sized image sensor that is traditionally found on DSLRs. In layman's terms, that means this camera will boast a larger surface area "to gather light and produce higher-quality images than comparable digital camera systems." In order to keep things thin, the electronic viewfinder (EVF) replaces the DSLR mirror box, but details beyond that are scant. The good news, however, is that Sammy plans to commercialize the NX line and have 'em shipping by the second half of this year.

Samsung SCH-u350 Sammy typically does a bang-up job of hiding actual photos of its devices in FCC documentation, so here's a nice change of pace. Unfortunately, the SCH-u350 is just about the most boring flip imaginable -- as far as we can tell, it doesn't even do EV-DO -- but on the upside, this is some of the more artistic photography we've seen in any FCC filing. Look at that depth of field, the angle, the geeky ruler... if anything, we wouldn't mind seeing this on a brochure, because the spec sheet certainly won't be drawing our attention. Speaking of spec sheets, we don't have one, but you can pretty much gather that it'll be rounding out the low end, possibly when it takes the place of the long-running u340 on Verizon.

HTC Touch Diamond2 While we wouldn't bet the bank on this price and date from eXpansys, it does give us a warm fuzzy feeling to know it's at least en route. The oft mis-stepping -- you know, leaking and such -- retailer has tagged the HTC Touch Diamond2 at £399 (roughly $570) with a potential shelf date of the 17th April. While it will ship with Windows Mobile 6.1, there is a mention in the "liner notes" on the page stating that it will be upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5. Now we'll simply have to wait and see how it really pans out and how its bigger -- and likely pricier -- sibling, the HTC Touch Pro2 gets treated. References in earlier entries: HTC Touch Pro2

Verizon's LG VX9600 Versa Right on -- well, the predicted -- schedule, LG's unique Versa handset hits Verizon Wireless stores nationwide. We've specced, reviewed, and generally fondled this set enough to give us a pretty warm fuzzy feeling about it and if you've about made up your mind by now, plonk that cash down. Pricing is set at $199 on a two-year, $269 on one-year (both after online $50 rebate), and a whopping $449 if month to month is more your thing. Admittedly, while cool and we're really digging where it fits in the market, it is still a feature set and the off contract price is a bit heavy. If anybody has been dying to get their hands on this phone or picked one up today, do let us know what you think.

Nokia's N97 spotted online It seems eXpansys is on a roll with new sets, dates, and pricing as Nokia's flagship N97 device gets on the board for a mind numbing $1075. Sure, it has quad-band GSM, triple-band HSDPA, 32GB of storage, and just about every other bell and whistle imaginable, but that hurts. When it ships on the 23rd June -- that's IF it ships that day -- we're hoping the price will have wandered south a fair bit, because that'll hurt even with a carrier subsidy -- though, yeah, we know we'll still line up. References in earlier entries: Nokia N97

LG 30,000 830 Spyder handsets for crappy 911 connections While things like copy and paste, multimedia messaging and video calling are nice extras to have, there's really only one thing that's most important when it comes to a reliable cellphone: the 911 functionality. Evidently, around 30,000 LG 830 Spyder handsets aren't having the easiest time dialing for help, with a product recall noting that a huge swath of 'em have "difficulty sustaining a connection or have poor voice quality on calls to emergency 911." It should be noted, however, that LG's actually being really, really proactive here, as it has only received a single report (and no injuries) to date. The Spyder phones affected have software versions T83LGV03 and T83LGV04.

Nokia E75 reviewed We're still convinced that the N97 is a more fitting successor to Nokia's Communicator series than the E75, but Espoo says this is your one true heir -- so if you like QWERTY, you like S60, and you know what's good for you, you'll listen up. mail.ru has a killer review of the device (in both red and black flavors, no less), going through the hardware with a fine-tooth comb along with some of the latest innovations in the E75's load of S60 3.2 like the all-new email client -- a key feature considering the device's business aspirations. Shouldn't be but a few weeks before we see this bad boy start to hit retail, but if you're looking for some reading material to kill the time while you wait, this is about the best thing going. References in earlier entries: Nokia N97