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Serious challenger to Intel Atom chip emerges

Advanced Micro Devices appears ready to offer the stiffest challenge to Intel's Netbook processor yet. AMD's trump card: extra circuitry integrated into the main processor that brings a higher level of graphics horsepower to small, thin laptops.

Today, at the company's finanical analyst day, AMD announced an umbrella technology dubbed "Brazos" that comprises two new lines of processors for Netbooks ("Ontario") and small laptops ("Zacate").

Aimed at designs that typically range from 10-inch to 13-inch diagonal screen sizes, Ontario and Zacate graft AMD Radeon 6000 series graphics technology onto the main … Read more

The company behind Sony's e-reader touch-screen technology

When Sony's latest e-readers were introduced recently, a lot of people wondered whether the touch-screen interface would be improved after previous attempts met with complaints of screen glare, contrast issues, and only so-so responsiveness. We expected it would be better, but were surprised by how well the touch-screen technology worked. So, what's the secret sauce?

Well, what's interesting is that Sony didn't use its own technology but actually licensed it from another company called Neonode. We're not saying that Sony never does this, but the company does take a certain pride in developing products with its own proprietary technology.

The latest Sony Readers, including the Pocket Edition PRS-350 ($180), Touch Edition PRS-650 ($230), and Daily Edition PRS-950 ($300), use a customized version of Neonode's optical touch-screen technology.

Neonode says its patented touch-screen technology, zForce, "supports high resolution pen writing in combination with market leading finger navigation including gestures, multitouch, sweeps and much more. zForce uses no overlay (like resistive and capacitive touch screens) on top of the e-ink display thus creating a 100 percent clear window free from reflexes and parallax effects and produces a true paper like experience."

The company also adds that its zForce technology is energy efficient and reduces the power consumption for so-called "low-power consumption" mobile electronics devices.

Neonode is a Swedish company that's been around for a while and even made some mobile phones, including the Neonode 2 in 2007. Back in 2008, the company filed for bankruptcy and many thought it had died but it's now become solely focused on licensing out its infrared-based touch-screen technology. … Read more

Hang a classic car on the wall of your man cave

There's a Nudie-built Elvis car hanging on a 50-foot wall behind the bar of Buck Owens' Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, Calif. Legend has it Owens won the car in a poker game against the King, but now that both men are deceased, we may never know.

While 3D Classic Car Shelves from Gadgets and Gear aren't the stuff legends are made of, one of these babies won't need a 50-foot wall either.

Replicas of the front end of classic automobiles, the shelves come in shapes ranging from muscle cars such as the 2010 Chevy Camaro and … Read more

Sony's PRS-350 e-reader just misses greatness

In 2009, Sony was one of the few digital reader manufacturers to release a model with a 5-inch screen--an inch smaller than the standard 6-incher found on the Nook and Kindle. Now the same model--the Pocket Edition--is back in a sleeker, more compact package, and with more internal memory (2GB). Just as importantly, it now sports a touch-screen interface along with the new higher-contrast E Ink Pearl display found in the latest Amazon Kindle and Kindle DX.

That the PRS-350 Pocket Edition Reader, which weighs a mere 5.64 ounces and measures a very compact 5.71 inches tall by … Read more

Sony takes on Kindle with next-gen e-readers

Maybe the third time's the charm for Sony. After two tries at touch-screen e-readers, the company has officially unveiled its latest generation of Readers, and this go-round Sony's engineers have finally gotten it right--at least the touch-screen part.

As the rumors suggested, Sony is basically upgrading all three of its Readers with new technology, leading with the new higher-contrast E-Ink Pearl display, which is used in the latest Amazon Kindle and Kindle DX. In the upgrade, the smaller 5-inch Pocket Edition goes from PRS-300 to PRS-350 and the Touch Edition goes from PRS-600 to PRS-650. Those models will retail for $179.99 and $229.99 respectively and are available now.

Meanwhile, the larger Daily Edition PRS-950, which features an 7-inch screen along with built-in Wi-Fi and 3G wireless from AT&T, will list for "about" $299.99 and hit stores in November.

Yes, you heard right, only the top-end model has built-in wireless, which seems a bit odd when both the Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook cost less than the Sony Touch Edition and have built-in Wi-Fi and 3G. And both the Kindle and Nook now come in Wi-Fi-only versions for less than $150.

On a more positive note, we had a chance to play around with the new Reader models, and the touch-screen interface--and the screen itself--has been improved to the point where we can say it's finally hit its stride. Sony has managed to remove a layer of screen protection that previously hurt the contrast (the letters weren't as dark as on the Kindle or Nook) and caused glare issues due to increased reflectivity. Those matters appear to be resolved, though we'll wait till we get our hands on a review sample before making a final verdict.

While the touch screen may not be quite as responsive as the iPhone's, it's more responsive than it was, and, as we've said before, this type of interface is ideal for e-readers because it allows the designers to cut down on buttons and whittle the device down to just slightly bigger than the screen itself. You can also mark up text with the included stylus and turn pages with a swipe of a finger.

The 5-inch Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350 is small and lightweight, weighs 5.64 ounces, and is only .33 inch thick. Sony has also increased the built-in memory to 2GB.

Here are the PRS-350's key specs: … Read more

Netgear to ship HD network media players

There have been a slew of network high-def digital media players on the market lately, and soon there are going to be even more.

Netgear announced Tuesday two new HD media players: the NeoTV 350 HD and the NeoTV 550 Ultimate. Similar to the Seagate GoFlex TV or the WD TV Live Plus, the NeoTV players are designed to play back digital content stored on USB external hard drives, network storage devices, or the Internet.

According to Netgear, the new players support both DLNA and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) streaming standards, video resolution up to 1080p with Dolby Digital, … Read more

New Sony Readers coming soon?

With both Amazon and Barnes & Noble announcing new e-readers and price cuts in recent weeks, we've been waiting for Sony to bring out its next-generation e-readers.

Well, rumor has it that we're weeks away from that happening, as the blog Sony Insider is reporting that Sony will announce two new e-readers, the PRS-350 and PRS-650.

According to Sony Insider's "most trusted sources," the new e-readers will both be e-ink touch-screen models, with a very slim design (10mm), expanded internal memory (2GB), user-interface tweaks, and "competitive pricing." The report states that the PRS-350 … Read more