Hi-tech Frontier

iriver Dicple D35 and D31 For a company that pretty much just makes PMPs, iriver manages to pull off an incredible quantity of surprising product moves and design choices. Its new Dicple D35 and D31, for instance, square off any of the sexiness and sleekitude of previous iterations, like 2007's D5. The devices seem to be getting inexplicably thicker, the screen bezel has become more prominent, and iriver just doesn't seem to care. However, the software has certainly come a long way from those electronic dictionary days, with widgets, advanced multimedia features (like DMB and radio recording), handwriting recognition and PIM functions -- all of which we have little idea as to the functionality, since the spec list is in Korean, and we don't imagine iriver plans on shipping this sort of stuff to the States any time soon. Still, we can dream.

Zypad mil-spec wrist PC -- Zypad WR1100 Looks like the Parvus wrist computer we last saw almost three years ago has received an upgrade. The Zypad WR1100 is a 3.5-inch color touchscreen device aimed at the defense industries, soldiers of fortune (who, surprisingly enough, make a large part of our readership), futuristic Boy Scouts, and anyone else who needs a Linux device strapped to their wrist. Aside from a high strength / low weight fiberglass-reinforced nylon-magnesium alloy housing designed to take a licking in the field, this wrist-worn bad boy rocks 256MB memory, 128MB flash storage, various connectivity options (including WiFi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee), a GPS, a compass, biometric fingerprint sensor, and an accelerometer that puts the system in standby when the arm is hanging down beside the body. Let us take a moment to ponder the irony of the inevitable Quake mod this device will certainly see at some point in the near future.

Toshiba ApriAttenda Robot As you're no doubt aware, it's the cute ones that can cause the most trouble. For instance, consider Toshiba's newest: ApriAttenda, pictured here at a press event at the company's lab in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture, suburban Tokyo, is one meter tall, has three fingers and small CCD cameras in the palm of each hand, and can rise an additional 0.3 meters if the need should present itself. Sure, the device's ability to open refrigerator doors and lift boxes is impressive, but can we realistically believe that things will end there? Or does the permanently astonished look on its slightly Wall-E-esque visage disguise more sinister motives? You've been warned.

Vivitar new ViviCam 8027 Vivitar is hardly the only camera manufacturer to go back to its roots with some of its digital offerings, but that's hardly a trend we're going to complain about, especially when the cameras in question are such a marked improved over the company's standard fare. Of course, there's a decidedly less substantial difference once you move beyond the appearance, with this new ViviCam 8027 packing the same 8 megapixels, 3x optical zoom, and 2.4-inch LCD as its blander 8025 counterpart, plus the usual anti-shake measures, a basic movie mode, red eye reduction, and a rechargable lithium ion battery. No word on a price just yet, but it looks like you'll be able to snag this one in your choice of black or yellow in addition to the red.

CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 3D desktops Well, it looks like high-end gaming PC manufacturers are now well and truly on board the 3D bandwagon, with CyberPower only the latest to toss out a couple of systems bundled with some 3D glasses and the necessary hardware to back 'em up. As is their nature, CyberPower is offering both Intel and AMD-based options in the form of the Gamer Xtreme 3D 1000 and Gamer Xtreme 3D 2000, the former of which packs a 2.66GHz Core i7-920 processor, while the later opts for a Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition triple-core CPU. Otherwise, you can expect to get NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 graphics on each, along with a bundled 22-inch Samsung Syncmaster 2233RZ 120Hz LCD monitor, 3D Vision stereoscopic glasses, and some expectedly high-end specs across the board, with the Core i7 rig edging out the AMD in most respects. That also includes price, of course, with the Intel-based system running $1,839, while the AMD-based rig will set you back a more reasonable $1,299.

AgfaPhoto "world's first" HD photo frames The "world's first" claim may be a tad on the dubious side, but AgfaPhoto's new 10-inch AF5105MS and 13-inch AF5135MS HD photo frames certainly seem to deliver where it counts, with each packing a 1,280 x 800 resolution and all the usual multimedia-related features you'd expect from a high-res frame. At just 22mm thick, they're also pretty slim by photo frame standards and, in addition to being available in black or white, they each come with a set of interchangeable frames to suit your decor. No word on a price just yet, but you'll likely want to factor in the cost of a memory card, as each come equipped with just 256MB of internal memory.

Pentax X70 Oh sure, you've got plenty of options when it comes to selecting a shooter with zoom for days, but what's the harm in having one more option to comb over? The X70, which we saw peek out ahead of PMA, is finally up for pre-order on the outfit's own site. In case you've forgotten, this 12 megapixeler boasts a stupendous 24x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD monitor and an SDHC card slot. Worth four Benjamins? Depends on how bad you want to see that blade of grass way over there on the 30 yard line.

Toshiba JournE air 801 / 1000 WiFi digiframes Another day, another digiframe to incite waves of yawns. This go 'round, we're looking at a pair from Toshiba, which have been announced for a bit now but just got priced across the pond. Both JournE air frames include built-in WiFi capability and offer online access to photo communities like Flickr and Picasa. As for the former, it touts an 8.4-inch LCD, dual 0.5 watt speakers, an exchangeable metallic silver colored frame, rechargeable battery, touch-sensitive buttons, 1GB of internal memory and a multicard reader that accepts SD, SDHC, MMC, Memory Stick, MSPro and xD cards up to 4GB in size. The bigger brother (that'd be the 1000, y'all) ups the ante with a 10-inch LCD and support for internet radio. Reportedly, these will run you £139.99 ($195) / £169.99 ($237), respectively, when they land sometime this quarter.

Mouse Computer NextGear L720 and Masterpiece V1200 It has seriously been a hot, hot minute since we've seen a compelling new desktop from the doors of Mouse Computer, but lo and behold, we've finally found a pair worth glancing all the way to Japan just to swoon over. The outfit's NextGear L720 and Masterpiece V1200 lines arrive with all manners of Core i7 CPUs within, each boasting between 3GB and 12GB of DDR3 RAM, SATA hard drives and NVIDIA GeForce graphics. Prospective buyers can also load one up with a Blu-ray drive should they choose, but you can plan on laying down ¥110,000 ($1,121) at the very least to get your palms around one.

LaCie itsaKey, iamaKey and PassKey USB drives Remember those so-very-key-like USB keys we peeked from LaCie earlier this month? Yeah, those bad boys are now priced and available for shipment. Designed by 5.5 Designers, the itsaKey, iamaKey and PassKey USB drives are now available to order, with the first two sporting up to 8GB of internal capacity and the PassKey boasting a built-in microSD card slot. As for pricing? Try starting points of $14.99, $17.99 and $9.99 in order of mention.

Versa's game pad At this point, the Versa is little more than a glorified Glyde when it's in its QWERTY wallet (okay, that was harsh) -- but it looks like at least one other module is still on track for release. phoneArena has documentation suggesting that the game pad will go on sale for the rumored $29, which should help make the phone a formidable little entertainment device. Interestingly, rumor has it the pad isn't made by LG -- which leads us to wonder whether the company has made the Versa's interface specification available to third parties, which further leads us to wonder whether we'll see other devices using the same connector. Anyhow, unlike the keyboard, the game pad conveniently slides away when not in use, which is kinda nice, and it should be available around the first of April.

VIA VX855 Media System Processor Big news, folks -- 1008p is about to hit the minuscule PC market, and VIA's making darn sure it doesn't miss the boat. Hot on the heels of HABEY's BIS-6550HD announcement, VIA has stepped in to formally introduce its VX855 Media System Processor, which aims to bring hardware-based 1080p decoding to VIA-based rigs. The highly integrated single chip package sucks down just 2.3 watts and provides hardware H.264 video acceleration when snapped in alongside a VIA Nano, C7 or Eden processor. Other specs include a 400 to 800MHz FSB speed, support for up to DDR2 800 memory (4GB maximum), six USB 2.0 ports and the company's own Chrome9 graphics set. There's no mention of when this bugger will find its way into shelf-bound rigs, but we're hoping Computex sheds some light on the situation.

Toshiba Camileo S10 pocket camcorder It's been a while since we first caught wind of the mysterious Toshiba Camileo S10, but the pocket camcorder has finally broken loose, and it's looking like a pretty solid competitor to the Flip Mino HD and the Kodak Zi6 -- it amps up the video resolution to 1080p and also takes five megapixel stills. That's pretty impressive for a pocketcam spec sheet, but the best part is the price -- if this thing lands Stateside for close to the £130 ($181) UK pricetag, we'd have to find reasons not to snap one up.

DISH SlingLoaded ViP 922 / 822 DVR Up for an investigation? We've got a curious case going on with a recent FCC filing, which sees the user manual of the recently unveiled DuoDVR ViP 922 (yeah, the SlingLoaded one) alongside images of a heretofore unseen ViP 822 DVR. Curiously, the actual FCC label corresponds with the "922," through the logo on the pictured Sling DVR definitely shows "822." So, is this just the typical step a device takes before it hits shelves in America, or is this a DVR we've never seen before? Something tells us it's far less exciting than our imaginations are leading us to believe.