Hi-tech Frontier

CowCow USB 4-Port Hub Here’s a fun new USB 2.0 compliant 4-port hub for you. Product Specifications: USB 2.0 backward compatible with USB 1.1 Cute little cow design It will sound 3 cow calls when you plug it into the USB port Size: 90*50*48mm Weight: 50g The CowCow USB 4-Port Hub is available in white, blue, gold or yellow and the product can be purchased through the Gadget4all.com website for $12 a pop.

Thanko USB pen sports four SDHC card slots SD card-reading pens are amongst the oldest, most reverent gadgets on the face of this planet. That said, even they aren't immune from upgrades, as Thanko has just produced one that's approximately four times superior than the one you're still trying to squeeze ink from. It's latest USB pen contains not one, not two, not even three -- but four integrated SDHC card slots. We get the feeling that actually writing anything while transferring data from a foursome of flash cards will be near impossible, but aren't you strangely inclined to hand over ¥1,480 ($14.87) in order to find out?

Samsung TL320 digital camera We've been keeping our eyes peeled for the snappy, handsome Samsung TL320 ever since we first spied it. Well, now it's on hand at PMA 2009, and the fine folks at Pocket-Lint have gotten some time alone with the 12.2 megapixel digicam, and we have to say -- it's looking pretty sweet. If you'd forgotten, this baby boasts 5x optical zoom, a 3-inch HVGA AMOLED display, 720p video recording, an HDMI output, dual image stabilization, plus some really awesome twin analog gauges for checking out memory capacity and battery life. The TL320 is expected to be available in May of this year for about $380.

TabletKiosk MediSlate MCA i1040XT We've already seen a few devices based on Intel's Mobile Clinical Assistant platform, but TabletKiosk looks to be raising the bar slightly with its new MediSlate MCA i1040XT which, among other things, is apparently the only such device with a sunlight-readable touchscreen. This being TabletKiosk, the device is also ruggedized and rated for drops of up to four feet, and it's fully sealed to resist spills and hold up to hospital disinfectants. Otherwise, you can expect a Core 2 Solo ULV processor, 2GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, two hot-swappable battery bays to keep things running all day, an optional 3G data card, and a whole slew of built-in bonuses, including a barcode scanner, an RFID reader, a fingerprint reader, and a 2 megapixel webcam. What's more, while TabletKiosk is obviously targeting medical professionals, it seems like it's also more than happy to sell one to anyone else interested, as the tablet's now up for order ...

Pandigital 10.4-inch PanTouch Clear WiFi digiframe Pandigital just got official with its PanTouch Clear line at CES this year, but already the company's stepping things up with the industry's slimmest digiframe. The 10.4-inch PAN1000DWPCF2 was introduced at this year's PMA expo in Las Vegas, and aside from the 1,024 x 768 resolution, 2GB of internal storage space, 6-in-1 card reader, inbuilt WiFi, USB socket and support for audio / video playback, the device also ditches the traditional "rear housing" to make it just 0.33-inches thick. From what we can tell, this here frame is probably the one to snag if you're dead set on hanging one upside your wall, and the programmable on / off times enables you to leave the office knowing that your frame will go dark at the appropriate strike of the clock. Pandigital plans to toss in a dark espresso wood frame as well as white and charcoal interchangeable mats, but you'll have to wait until May to hand over your $229....

Weight Fat Checker Sure, this device is borrowing not a little from the look, feel and color scheme of the Wii Fit, but the Weight Fat Checker is a little more direct in its naming schemes. A handheld body fat meter unearthed somewhere in Japan, we don't know anything about its pricing or availability, but we assume we'll never probably seen one in the flesh. Regardless, we're pretty sure it'd make a fine gift for anyone you want to cross of your faves list a.s.a.p.

MSI three new Classic Series laptops: CX700, CX600 and CR400 MSI has certainly already made a respectable enough showing for itself at CeBIT this year , but it looks like company isn't done just yet, with it now getting official with three new "Classic Series" laptops. Those include CX700, CX600, and CR400, which each pack 16:9 screens of 17.3, 16, and 14-inches, respectively, along with ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 graphics on the CX700 and CX600, and an NVIDIA Geforce 8200MG GPU on the more energy-efficient CR400. Specs are otherwise still a bit light, but each will apparently come equipped with a combo optical drive that boasts a "high-speed CD burning" feature, along with a 4-in-1 memory card reader, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. No word on pricing just yet, but all three will apparently be on the more affordable side of things.

Pixelar e-Reader reviewed Slash Gear starts its hands-on review of Pixelar's e-book reader by stating the obvious: "this is no Amazon Kindle 2." And while there may be no integrated WiFi, no hardware keyboard, no Tom, and no Oprah, this device is not without its charms. It supports a generous helping of file types (including PDF, DOC, MP3, HTML, TXT, CHM, and at least a dozen others), comes with 512MB internal memory, supports USB and SD cards, and the reviewer found build quality to be "reasonable." The e-ink display shows some intermediate flicker, however, and the page turn speed "is just a little too long" for the reviewer's tastes. Probably the most off-putting thing about the device is its cost: in the UK (where the Kindle isn't available) it's going for a base price of £229.99 ($324), while Sony's Reader, for instance, is currently priced at £224 ($317).

Samsung's NC20 reviewed If all goes according to plan, Samsung's more-than-a-netbook NC20 is just a day away from its official American release, and, on this momentous eve, Laptop has graced us all with a full review of the thing -- or the Korean version, at least. We've been following the NC20's buildup closely, as it looks to slot in between flimsy netbook and a proper ultraportables in terms of size but at a sub-$500 price that's decidedly more Eee than X300. The review seems to echo that sentiment, with its VIA Nano processor found to be at least on par with Intel's Atom, if not slightly faster, and the 12-inch, 1280 x 800 display quite pleasing to the eye -- despite its glossy sheen. That (relatively) large size gives room for a comfortable keyboard, but overall this is a bit bulkier than its competition; heavier too, clocking in at 3.4 pounds with a 6-cell battery compared to about 3 pounds for a similarly powered Mini 12. Overall it sounds like a great de...

ASUS EzLink Series, VH192C / VH196 Green LCDs Just when you thought you'd heard the last from ASUS at CeBIT, in flies this. Here in Hannover, the outfit has broadened its reach by introducing a few new monitors, with the EzLink Series piquing our interest the most. The simply titled Wireless LCD Monitor can reportedly be connected via the Wireless Host Controller Interface (WHCI) or USB Host Wire Adapter (HWA), essentially turning it into a more recognizable USB monitor. There's also the Green line, which -- for now, at least -- contains the VH192C and VH196. Both of 'em reportedly save around 20 percent in the power consumption department compared to who-knows-what, while the former model incorporates Color Shine to nix the glare, enrich color density and make your life approximately 8.23 times better. Curiously, there's no word on specs, pricing or release dates.

Dell Phenom II-equipped XPS 625 Yeah, we already heard that Dell's Phenom II-equipped XPS 625 was a solid value, but what does that really mean? The testing fiends over at HotHardware sought to find out, and after putting this gaming beast through more tests than it ever wanted to endure, they mirrored most of the earlier (positive) sentiments. In fact, it was found to boast one of the best price-to-performance ratios out there, and the "minimalist" software installation definitely earned brownie points in our book. One thing that bothered critics, however, was the excessive amount of noise. We too have noticed that Dell's ginormous XPS towers -- which, by the way, reviewers also found to be unnecessarily heavy and unwieldy -- can emit some serious decibels under heavy loads, but you'd think the engineers in Round Rock would've figured out a solution by now.

VR headset offers the sights, sounds, and smells of cyberspace - and tastes, and hot air In an effort to bring the other three senses up to par with sight and sound in the virtual landscape, researchers in the UK have developed a headset that not only offers a stereoscopic display and four speaker surround sound, but throws in smells, tastes, and a fan for heating your grill up (or cooling it down) for good measure. The Virtual Cocoon doesn't look too terribly comfortable (this thing would be burdensome without the required tubes for the user's mouth and nose), but Professor Alan Chalmers of Warwick University doesn't seem to think this is a problem. If anything, the team is betting that you're going to welcome the opportunity to smell your co-workers when telecommuting, or your fellow cybernauts when running around Second Life. The device, which will have an estimated cost of £1,500 (around $2,100), should be ready for production within five years.

Yuruppy virtual pet ready to make you feel guilty for not taking good enough care of it Takara Tomy's taking the virtual pet territory most famously inhabited by Bandai's Tamgotchis to the next level with Yuruppy. Yuruppy's just like any other fake pet -- you need to slave away to keep it alive for seemingly little reward other than the knowledge that it will "live" to "see" another day. This one's got a touchscreen however, so that you can actually pet your needy little buddy, on top of training and feeding. Fun! Sure, it seems insane to pile fake responsibilities on top of all the actual ones we humans have to deal with... insanely awesome. Regardless, the Yuruppy also comes in kitten and chicken varieties (yeah, we don't know), and it'll be $21 when it's available in Asia, and a deluxe version with a larger screen will run $38.

Casio's burst-recordin' EX-FC100 pocket cam reviewed It's not enough for pocket cams to just shoot high-def video any more. Oh no, they have to do something fancy with it, like Casio's EX-FS10 and EX-FC100, both offering capture at up to 1,000 fps. The latter of those two, with its 5x optical zoom and 9.1 megapixel resolution, has been given the review treatment ahead of its US release, and the little burst-shooter seems to deliver. 30fps stills at 6 megapixels look clear and sharp, while watching the cam switch from 30fps to 210fps video on the fly is still an impressive thing to see -- especially when it's UNLV cheerleaders we're watching in slow-mo, as embedded below. Low-light photography was not found to be this cam's strong point, but it rarely is with shooters this size, so if you're looking for something to capture your own (well-lit) Mythbusters segments with at home, and you have about $400 to spare, this could be your cam.

Sony obelisk-inspired CMT-Z100iR iPod dock iPod docks come in all shapes and sizes, and while Sony's last attempt would be hard to miss in most rooms, this latest one is rather more subdued and sophisticated. It's the CMT-Z100iR, naturally compatible with the iPod, iPod Touch, and iPhone, but also sporting the ability to play CDs through a top-mounted slot-loader. It can even play tunes from other MP3 players through its USB port, if you're so inclined, and while its pair of 20 watt speakers probably won't shake the walls, they should suffice for filling your minimalist retreat with the groovy beats of the Future Sound of London. No firm price or availability details yet.

ASRock Atom 330-powered NetTop S330 We caught up with ASRock's new entrant into the netbook world yesterday, but today it was all about the nettop. On display at the company's CeBIT booth was this gem, the NetTop S330. Showcased in white and some strange, unusual other hue, the box was powered by an Intel Atom 330 processor and supports up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM. Other specs include a Super Multi DVD burner, gigabit Ethernet, 160GB 2.5-inch hard drive, audio in / out, VGA output and GMA950 graphics. We have to say, the design here is about as unimaginative as a nettop can get, but ASRock representatives informed us that it'll be aiming at a lower-end market as the box should list for $399 or less depending on options. Anywho, feel free to poke around in the gallery below, and if you dig what you're seeing, you can pick one up in America this April (or May if you're in Europe).

BMW designs PC case for Thermaltake This new case for the fashion-forward PC gamer was dreamt up by the design wizards at BMW's Designworks USA. Instead of throwing all the components in what essentially amounts to one big box (like practically every other case), Thermaltake's Level 10 sees all the machine's components -- mobo, hard drives, optical drives, and so forth -- seated in their own compartments. Constructed mainly from aluminum, this guy will make its official debut at Computex in early June.

Samsung NX Series camera Samsung has already offered up plenty of press shots of its new NX Series "hybrid" camera, but we're guessing most folks are still a bit more interested in some up-close, unpolished shots of the not-quite-compact, even if it is being kept just out of the reach of the teeming masses at PMA. In case this one slipped past your radar, the big news here is the camera's use of an APS-C sized image sensor, which is normally only found on full-size DSLRs, and should result in some better than usual shots from a camera this size.

Gateway 17-inch P-7808u FX multimedia laptop Gateway's been on a roll of late with its bargain-minded laptops, so it's no shock to see the trend continue with its latest addition to the FX lineup. The P-7808u FX is a 17-incher that's geared towards multimedia freaks, and aside from the lackluster WXGA panel, the specs aren't half bad for the price. We're talkin' a 2GHz Core 2 Quad CPU, NVIDIA's GeForce 9800M GTS graphics card (1GB of GDDR3 included), 4GB of DDR3 memory, an 8x dual-layer DVD writer, 500GB SATA hard drive, 5-in-1 multicard reader, a stately nine-cell battery, WiFi, three USB 2.0 sockets, FireWire, eSATA and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. All 9.05 pounds can be ordered up from J&R right now for $1,699.99, and hey, they'll even cover the shipping. Bonus score.

Cricket rolls out Samsung r211 candybar The "ultra-simple CDMA set with AWS support" category is getting pretty well-stocked the past few months courtesy of carriers like MetroPCS, and Samsung's helping to fill the shelves with another one on Cricket today. The SCH-r211 offers little more than what you can gather from the product shot -- it'll do data sans 3G, and that 128 x 128 display isn't helping matters either -- but more importantly, it runs just $89.99 contract-free, and it's available this very second.

LG GB125 and GD330 Given the constant barrage of beautiful devices coming out of Korea, you might imagine that a couple particularly unassuming models slip under the radar here and there -- and that's exactly what has happened with these two puppies. The strangely-hinged GB125 is an ultra-low-end flip that lacks an external display altogether, replacing it with a series of lights to indicate status (Motorola has tried this from time to time), but on the upside, you've got an FM radio buried in there somewhere. The GD330 slider, meanwhile, ups the ante -- if you can really call this upping the ante -- with a 2 megapixel cam, touch-sensitive softkeys, and a look that mimics its more expensive Secret sibling. Both are launching later this month; the GD330 will run about $200 while the GB125 clocks in at a downright affordable $65.

Elemental Designs A7S-450 subwoofer Physics being what they are, getting seriously low bass out of a speaker requires either a large driver/enclosure backed by a lot of power or a smaller driver/enclosure with a ridiculous amount of power; either approach tends to get expensive as things dip below 30Hz. But maybe not as expensive as you feared -- Audioholics put the circa $800 (exact price varies depending on options) A7S-450 subwoofer from Elemental Designs and found a lot to like for both music and movie lovers. The large basic black box may not be easy to hide, but it will probably match your decor better than the company's 12-sided contraption. Quit your snickering over the unfortunate references to Elemental Designs' self-imposed "eD" moniker, the 18-inch driver teamed up with the 1,300-Watt amp to deliver serious bass. If you buy one, be sure to leave it on -- at least until Elemental Designs adds "soft-start" circuitry that will keep your circuit brea...

Helio Ocean 2 Ah, the Ocean 2. The handset Helio loyalists have been clamoring for since, well, forever ago. After seeing the OZ2 break cover in the FCC last March, we wondered just how long it'd take for this thing to ever go on sale -- and that was assuming it even would go on sale. Now, Earthlings just like yourself can buy the handset for a buck forty-nine on contract, and given that hordes of you Helio faithful already have, we're now ready to hear how you'd change it. Is the fit and finish up to snuff? Is it the "3G Social Networking Powerhouse" you thought it would be? Are you digging the color scheme? Are you making others envious, or simply becoming envious of others? You've waited a long, long time for this opportunity -- don't blow it.

Toshiba REGZA C8000 HDTVs While the latest Toshiba HDTVs from Japan don't seem to sport any questionably useful upscaling technologies, the REGZA C8000 line does look to save you a few bucks on your monthly energy bill. The 32-inch 32C8000, 37-inch 37C8000 and 42-inch 42C8000 reportedly suck down anywhere between 31- and 51-percent less energy than prior models, with all three also sporting 120Hz Speed Clear Motion tech to nix those judders when watching intensely fast-moving scenes. The whole lot also includes digital TV tuners, while only the larger two get outfitted with 1080p panels (the 32-incher does 1,366 x 768). Pricing remains up in the air at this point, but all three should be in retail shops across Tokyo by the end of March.

Samsung Bordeaux PAVV Fabrizio 650 LCD HDTVs Considering that we can't even pronounce the HDTV lineup we're referring too here, we'll assume these are simply made to be enjoyed by a finer class of individuals. All jesting aside (sort of...), the Bordeaux PAVV Fabrizio 650 lineup that just landed in Korea contains two newcomers: a 40- and 46-incher, both of which sport full 1080p panels and 120Hz dejudder technology. They also include DLNA support and an integrated USB port alongside four HDMI 1.3 sockets and your favorite glass of wine. There's no mention of a price or US release date, but those with friends in high places probably needn't worry.