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Fishbone USB Hub If you are looking for a fish inspired USB hub, but you feel that the Fishbowl / LED Crystal Ball USB Hub is a little bit over the top, this new model might be just the ticket. The Fishbone USB Hub is available over at the USB Geek website for $10.

Apple axes the numeric keypad on iMac's standard wired keyboard Apple almost snuck this one past us, but friendly tipster Graham spotted the change-up: Apple has swapped out the standard wired Apple Keyboard for a new model lacking a numeric keypad. It's the same design as the wireless model, which also lacks a numeric keypad, except that this one has USB plugs on each end, and a cord of its own snaking towards your otherwise immaculate desktop. The good news is that the regular keyboard hasn't gone anywhere, you just have to make sure to configure your new purchase with it when you order -- it's a free "upgrade." Inversely, the Mac Pros still ship with the regular keyboard, but you can get 'em numpad-free if you'd like, for a similar zero cost. We're not sure what game you're at, Apple, but if you're trying to make us forget all those maths we struggled so hard to comprehend back in the day... well, OK, you win.

Apple MacBook Pro 15-inchers get quiet CPU spec bump While poring over the metric ton of PR this morning, we didn't immediately notice that Apple has turned up the juice ever-so-slightly on MacBook Pro 15-inch models. Instead of coughing up a CPU bump from 2.4GHz to 2.53GHz, the company now offers an upgrade path to 2.66GHz and the 17-inchtastic 2.93GHz, which should ensure your lap is ruined for ever and ever. Any other surprises Apple?

Onyx International's Boox e-reader Onyx International may just be breaking into the e-reader world, but it's pretty confident that its Boox will be a hit when it ships (at least to the US) in three or so months. We spoke with representatives from the company that were on hand here at CeBIT, and while they wouldn't divulge a definite price, they were adamant that it would be cheaper than Sony's PRS-700 Reader (which is $400). The model they had on hand wasn't quite ready for shipping, as the final model will sport a slightly different chassis than the white shell used for display. The OS, on the other hand, seemed ready to go, and we were able to catch an Onyx employee as he walked through a number of the menus and options.

Garmin unveils nüvi 1200, 1300 series GPS units Garmin's just unleashed two new lines of GPS units, the nüvi1200 and 1300 models. Both lines are capable of pedestrian navigation (making use of CityXplorer maps), which is totally awesome if, like us, you use the GPS to get you where you're going, then get lost as soon as you set foot outside your vehicle. The new, super-slim nüvis come in 3.5-inch (1200) and 4.5-inch (1300) variations, and some models in the lines will offer features such as Bluetooth and text-to-speech, and all of them feature Garmin's free lifetime traffic service. The new units should be available in North America in the second quarter of 2009, for prices ranging from $250-$300.

Sigma DP2 We saw the Sigma DP2 poking around in preproduction form last month, but the update to the DP1 just had itself a little announcement down PMA way. The new model has a faster f/2.8 lens on top of a 14 megapixel Foveon X3 sensor and 20 percent faster image processor, along with a revised control layout and slightly lighter body. Interestingly, max ISO has been dropped to 1600 from the 3200 we saw in the prepro models -- too bad, night owls. No word on pricing or availability just yet, we'll let you know when we find out.

ASUS debuts the Eee PC 1008HA "Shell" 10-inch ultraportable ASUS has taken the wraps off its latest Eee PC, the 1008HA we heard was on the way to follow up on the S101. As far as anyone can tell -- ASUS is a little coy on specs so far -- the laptop harbors fairly traditional netbook specs and a netbook pricepoint, but the exterior is all new and rather attractive. The computer is 1-inch thick and weighs 2.4 pounds, with a curved, shiny plastic "shell" (ASUS calls it "pearlescent") to give a bit more luster than the average Eee PC. ASUS is including 802.11n, Bluetooth, 3G and WiMAX options, and packing in it Eee Sharing and Eee Arena software. We'll be looking to dig up more specs and some hands-on time with this unit this week at CeBIT.

ASUS Eee Top Been looking for an inexpensive all-in-one to unify your life, something that your zombie slave Fido could use in the kitchen to look up recipes yet would also look equally good perched on a minimalist desk? ASUS's first Eee Top could fit the bill, and it looks to be very close to US availability with the appearance of a pre-order page on Amazon.com. The 15.6-inch touchscreen model has the standard 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of memory, and XP installed on a 160GB drive. Right now it's available in either black or white, and whether you're choosing the presence or absence of all colors you'll be asked to pay $599.99 -- naturally with free shipping available if you're not in too much of a hurry.

Dell Studio 15 Special Edition laptop Dell's Studio 15 laptop is already a decent enough budget-minded system as is, but those looking for that little something extra may want to consider the company's new Special Edition model, which adds a snazzy "Black Vapor" paint job and, more importantly, a 1440 x 900 LED-backlit display. Otherwise, you can get it configured with your choice of Pentium Dual Core or Core 2 Duo processors, up to 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 graphics (though Intel's integrated GMA 4500MHD is standard). Prices have also expectedly seen a bit of a hike over the non-Special Edition models although, at $799, $849, and $949 for the standard configs, they're still far from premium territory.

ASUS announces stylish U/UX series ultra-thin laptops Looking to add some allure to its portable lineup -- as if a model named Lamborghini wasn't enough -- ASUS has announced the U and UX series of ultra-thin laptops, expected to launch sometime in Q2. Both feature an illuminated chiclet keyboard and auto-adjusting LED backlit display. The U series also features a 15.6-inch glossy LCD and a touchpad that uses progressively fading lights to follow your fingertips. Under the hood, there's an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA GeForce G105M, up to 500GB HDD, and Altec Lansing speakers with SRS true surround sound. We don't have nearly as much information on the UX, unfortunately, but we do know it's sporting a slot-in optical disc drive.

PSP2 rumor surfaces once more, sounds awfully familiar The PSP2 rumor mill has certainly been cranking overtime as of late, and it doesn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down, even if it isn't exactly churning out many new rumors. This time, however, they're apparently be backed up by a developer source "close to Sony," who again says that the PSP2 (or PSP-4000, as it's also being called) will ditch the UMD drive and add a sliding screen that covers most of the controls when it's closed. According to the source, that would still let folks play games like LocoRoco that only use the shoulder buttons when it's closed, and Sony is reportedly keen to get developers to create more games that can be played in that state. No word on a release date from the latest source, unfortunately, although Eurogamer seems to be sticking to its earlier report that it'll launch by the end of the year. References in earlier entries: PSP 2

WD 2TB Caviar Green HDDs Remember those absurdly capacious 2TB Caviar Green hard drives that Western Digital pumped out earlier this year? If not, WD's hoping to jar your memory by cramming no fewer than four of 'em into its newest, most spacious ShareSpace NAS ever. The four-bay device is now being offered in an 8TB flavor, and it promises to deliver up to 30 percent faster transfer speeds than prior models and to support DLNA media streaming. As with before, this one also doubles as an iTunes music server and comes bundled with the company's own Anywhere Backup software. Other specs include gigabit Ethernet, RAID 0/1/5 capabilities, an email alert system in case failure is imminent, a trio of USB 2.0 sockets and a built-in FTP server. It should be ready to house all of your, um, old tax documents later this week for $1,699.99.

Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera We're not gonna get excited just yet, but Olympus has shown one of its cards at PMA , and it happens to indicate at least one of its Micro Four Thirds cameras will be hitting retail channels this summer. That jibes with a rumor we heard back in late January. From what we can tell, there's still a dearth of detail / specs on this hunk of retro hotness -- a shame, too, since it'd have pretty much every camera aficionado's attention right now. With several months to go, we get the feeling the company's gonna play this one close to the chest for a little while longer.

Elecom new TK-FCP004 ultra-slim keyboard Pining for a numeric keypad, which Apple has so unceremoniously discarded, but can't bring yourself to pick the numeric version off a list? Do you have other personality problems, but appreciate good design? Do you live in Japan? Then Elecom's got just the thing for you, the new TK-FCP004 series ultra-slim keyboards. Rising a mere 0.57-inches off the ground, and sporting incredibly minimal aesthetics, we'd say Elecom has hit a real nerve here. The keyboard comes in silver, white or black, and hits Japan mid-October for 5040 yen after tax (about $50 US).

Sony plays catch up with hackers, mulling over PSP 'virtual console' We're pretty sure a good lot of you with PSPs have used them for, shall we say, less than reputable means -- like playing 16-bit era games using emulators. Soon, there might be a more legit outlet for that fix, as Sony's head of US marketing for PlayStation hardware John Koller tells MTV Multiplayer it's looking to bring classics from before Sony entered the arena to the handheld, à la Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console. The company's also expanding North America's library of PSOne downloads to eventually match the plethora of titles available to the Japanese market. It's all part of a greater initiative to make more digitally-distributed, download-only titles, which we wholeheartedly support -- now, about those pesky UMD-less PSP2 rumors...

LG X110 Ever get the feeling LG's netbook sector has something against the US? The X110 has been out in Europe since September, and the X120 is scheduled to be joining it later this month. But across the pond? Zilch -- until now, at any rate. President of Mobile Communications Skott Ahn told Forbes that the X110 will be landing here with Uncle Sam's approval sometime before July for a cool $400 unsubsidized. With so much competition, however, isn't that a bit pricey? Since the company's yet to go through the official channels with this information, it could be subject to change. Either way, it looks like we'll find out soon enough.

Motorola ZN300 First in the "we're surprised they did it" category today is Motorola's ZN300, a handset that doesn't look even a little like a RAZR. We knew you could do it Moto, and congrats on what seems at first glance to be a pleasant departure form the rehashes we've seen so much of lately. The ZN300 is a slider set with quad-band GSM, CDMA, and TD-SCDMA, which makes this set a shoe-in for China mobile. Other notables include 8 MB (hopefully a typo for 8GB) of built in memory that can expand to 32GB, 3 megapixel camera with 8X zoom, Bluetooth, and styling that finally may make some people take notice. Sure this handset may not deserve a ZOMG!, but hey, we're happy to see something, anything, new from these folks.

Mio Explora K70: beauty, 3G, and GPS abound Mio's rumored Explora K70 is sitting pretty at CeBIT, and while we wait for the full hands-on treatment, we thought an introduction to what appears to be a stunningly loaded GPS phone was in order. Network connectivity is a blow out in the K70 with quad-band GSM, triple-band HSDPA / HSUPA, Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS which is handled by Qualcomm's gpsOne chip. The 3.5-inch touchscreen display is a 400x240 WQVGA number, a 3 megapixel camera hides around back, a jog dial's included for quick scrolling, and it is all powered by Windows Mobile 6. Looking at the spec sheets it seems there will be two different SKUs, a handset-only package and a "Full SKU" that includes in-car charger, device mount, and so forth. We're suitably impressed, expect more news including dates and pricing as soon as we can get them.

Toshiba TG01 Toshiba's TG01 and its surprisingly awesome color bar-centric UI will soon be saying "guten tag" to its German friends. O2's announced that it'll be the exclusive carrier for the phone in Deutschland and will launch it sometime this summer, with mum being the word currently on price. So far it's the only TG01 launch we've heard about on this or any other planet, but we'd reckon a few more carriers will be chiming in soon to pick up the device for their respective countries.

LG Arena KM900 We already saw every angle of LG's newly launched Arena (or KM900, if we're being formal) at Mobile World Congress last month, but there's just something calming about witnessing an unboxing free of nearby gawkers and devoid of spiraled cables tethered to alarm systems.

Doro five new mega-simple handsets : 338gsm, 342gsm, 345gsm, 410gsm and 334gsm Easily missed amidst the bright lights, festivities, and OLED displays of Mobile World Congress last month was Doro, which makes a handful of ultra (and we mean ultra) basic phones targeting seniors, young'uns, and pretty much anyone else who can't be bothered with actual... you know, "features." Turns out the Swedish company used the occasion to launch not one, not two, but fully five new models, including its first flip -- the 410gsm -- which is apparently a form factor that Doro's customers have been specifically requesting. Also in the mix is the insanely straightforward 334gsm, which foregoes a keypad in favor of speed dial buttons, and three other candybars, the 338gsm, 342gsm, and 345gsm, which are evolutions of the company's older 330gsm design. All five will launch to market in the next six months.

Samsung Haptic Pop Samsung's not hurting for killer full touchscreen hardware right now, so when it starts spouting off about 3 megapixel dumbphones launching strictly within South Korea, you'll have to excuse us for tempering our excitement. The W750 Haptic Pop is -- as its name implies -- a haptics-enabled handset with a 3.2-inch display measuring 432 x 240 pixels, T-DMB tuning capability, an emergency alarm to scare off baddies, and to use Samsung's own machine-translated words, a "cute new standby screen." That's all well and good, but it looks like Sammy's positioning this as a fashion phone, because they're really pushing the changeable backplates -- of which we count nine to choose from on the product's details page. Still, yeah, we'd gladly take an OmniaHD in just one color. Any color you want, Sammy.

Acoustic Energy Radiance speakers The economy has made for a bumpy ride since the CES preview, but holding true to its promise of a February release, Acoustic Energy got official with its Radiance series of loudspeakers this weekend. Now officially available and holding the prices at their initially announced levels, the lineup that serves as the company's HT-specific flagship series consists of the floor-standing Radiance 3 ($3,000 per pair), stand-mounted Radiance 1 ($1,200 per pair), Center ($800) and Subwoofer ($1,200) models. If you're in the market and get some audition time with these, let us know what you think of that tweeter/woofer blending DXT Lens feature on the primary speakers.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 Not even a year after its Lumix DMC-G1 got all the glory as the first Micro Four Thirds camera on the market, Panasonic is back with a slightly tweaked version in the DMC-GH1. We say slightly tweaked since the exterior is more or less the same, but under the hood the camera has 1080p recording at 24 frames per second, or 720p recording at 60 fps, which the camera stores to AVCHD format. Panasonic has also included continuos auto focus, something lacking from most DSLRs with video capability. Users can set the shutter speed and aperture manually, and record stereo audio -- with an optional external mic if they so choose. The camera shoots 12.1 megapixel stills just like the G1, and now offers iPhoto-style Face Recognition in addition to Face Detection to make sure particular people are well exposed and in focus. No word yet on price or availability.

SageTV HD Theater Fans of SageTV will love this one -- out now in the latest beta release of the software is HD Theater streamer playback of ripped Blu-ray discs. There's no support for the interactive features, but based on what we've seen from BD-Live so far, you won't be missing much; what you are able to do is point the HD Theater at the ripped BDMV folder on your SageTV PC and enjoy multiple audio tracks and chapter support, with subtitles promised somewhere down the road. For now, this only works when the HD Theater is used in extender mode, but a future firmware upgrade promises to bring the functionality to streamers used in standalone mode. This certainly gives SageTV something to crow about with respect to, say, a Kaleidescape setup, doesn't it? Beta testers, let us know how this feature works out for you.

Pioneer 8x BDR-203BK Blu-ray burner Blu-ray burners that do their thang at 8x aren't entirely new, but Pioneer is just now deciding to follow those other guys with an 8x BD writer of its own. The BDR-203BK is fully compatible with Blu-ray, DVD-+R/RW, DVD-RAM and CD media, and can toast BD-REs at 2x, DVD-R/+R at 16x, DVD-R DL/+R D at 8x and CD-Rs at 32x. It's available now on an OEM basis across Europe for €250 ($314), but there's no word on when us Yanks can expect a release here on US soil.

JVC Everio X GZ-X900 JVC's new "Everio X" GZ-X900 camcorder is just what we like in a flagship device: incredible style, crazy specs, and awesome slow motion video of us slapping people. The GZ-X900 reworks the Everio line into a new brick-like form factor that's bordering on the shape of camcorders of yore, but JVC puts a nice twist to it, and the camera is obviously very compact. JVC used some "premium materials" in the construction and it really shows, but what's more exciting is the high-end 1080p resolution, with 1000 "TV lines" to sample from (it's not upscaling from a completely bum source like many compact camcorders). The unit also works as a fast-action still camera, for 9 megapixel shots at 15 fps, and 5.3 megapixel shots at 60 fps. What we're really wild about is the 600 fps slow motion, which operates at a 640 x 72 resolution -- you can get more pixels at slower frame rates. Unfortunately, none of this good stuff comes chea...

Kaleidescape "whole-home" Mini System Our hearts were aflutter at the sight of a new Kaleidescape product today, but alas, it wasn't the fabled Blu-ray player we were hoping for. Instead, we're getting the cutely named Mini System, which bills itself as a complete multi-zone entertainment server for those with oodles of cash and a thing for ease-of-use. The device is the company's first to combine the player and server functionality into one unit, and it's also the firm's first product to ship with a remote control. With installation "as ease as an ordinary DVD player," the system contains space for DVD and CD storage as well as a main "Player" zone and two music zones; those wishing to expand things can tack on more Mini Systems or additional Players / Servers. Said system is available as we speak for a somewhat reasonable (by Kaleidescape standards) $7,995, and the 1080p Player, 1080p Mini Player and Disk Cartridges for the 1U, 3U and...

Black Box video and audio over Ethernet Transmitter Another day, another way to distribute your media over tried-and-true Ethernet. Black Box Corporation has just announced its very own content-over-Ethernet box, which is hailed as a video and audio over Ethernet (VAoE) media distribution system. The device can utilize CAT5, CAT5e and CAT6 cabling to transmit high-definition video and audio to one or more displays up to 300 feet away; if you're hoping to reach farther, just throw in a standard network switch. We're told that it can support resolutions as high as 1080p, and it even acts a true gigabit Ethernet switch by supporting IP cameras, NAS components and other devices through its trio of 10/100/1000Mbps ports. There's nary a mention of price, but we get the feeling it won't be affordable.

ZillionTV Just in case hooking up ZeeVee's ZvBox and getting access to all available online media is too difficult, there's ZillionTV. This admittedly interesting startup is looking to pick up where Hulu, ZeeVee, Netflix Watch Instantly and all the rest have left off by bringing true on-demand content to one's television (read: not PC or mobile device) for almost nothing. For a one-time fee of "under $100," users will be given a ZBar and a ZRemote, both of which enable interaction with the VUI interface. Put as simply as possible, ZillionTV is hooking up with ISPs, content producers and advertisers in order to bring loads of popular material to the TV sans a subscription, though you will have to watch ads (which are optionally customizable to preferences) in order to play along. The company asserts that SD quality content can be achieved with a 3Mbps connection, while HD material will need upwards of 7Mbps. Currently, a beta program is ongoing, but a nationwide la...