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(Credit: wmpoweruser.com)

Here we go again. The gadget blogosphere is abuzz Wednesday with images of what may or may not be Microsoft's next-generation portable media player, the ZuneHD.

The renderings surfaced on the Windows Mobile Power User site without attribution or the more colorful flair of the earlier images leaked to Engadget on April 10. The big debate, of course, is whether these renderings are real or not--and more importantly, whether the accompanying specs have any validity.

Based on a source from Zunited, Engadget's saying the images really are the ZuneHD, but no one's quite buying that the alleged leaked specs are accurate.

Call them the fantasy musings of a Zune fanboy--or call them maybe real--here are the details, distilled from the Windows Mobile Power User via Engadget:

• Multitouch capacitive OLED screen in a 16:9 aspect ratio
• Will support Xbox "3D" games (unclear what this exactly means)
• Playback of "HD media" available from Zune Marketplace
• TV-out from what appears to be mini-HDMI port on the device's left side
• HD Radio
• Comes in 16GB or 32GB storage capacities (seems skimpy for HD, no?)
• Wireless sync (no reference to Bluetooth, however)
• A browser that supports multitouch
• Launches this fall ("around September") in the U.S., Canada, U.K., France, and possibly other European countries
• Likely to be a "showcase" for Windows Mobile 7 when released (note: WinMo7 isn't supposed to be out until 2010, but rumor has it Microsoft is going to bring out "Zune services" for Windows Mobile phones)
• No word on price

(Source: wmpoweruser.com via Engadget)

Second-gen ruggedized Latitude from Dell.

(Credit: Dell)

Dell is back with a slimmed down version of its fully rugged 14-inch laptop.

Like the company itself, the XFR's second-gen improvements on the device are incremental and in some cases, slightly experimental. The E6400 XFR is the name of what used to be the Latitude XFR D630. The laptop gets an internal tuneup, boasting better processing power (Intel Core2Duo), discrete graphics enabled by better cooling. The new XFR also keeps most of its original features: touch screen, a solid-state drive, mobile broadband, GPS, and long battery life. In this case, Dell says an additional battery pack will keep the laptops going for up to 13 hours.

The XFR is strengthened by a new exterior material the PC maker is calling Ballistic Armor, which replaces the magnesium alloy used in its other laptops. It's allowed the machine to be trimmed down--it's now 8.5 pounds instead of 9 pounds--and also strengthened: it meets military specifications for ruggedness and can withstand a 4-foot drop rather than 3.

Ballistic Armor was developed by a partner company and licensed exclusively to Dell. It's a hybrid, nonmetal polymer designed to better absorb shocks and withstand the elements. That Dell is experimenting with different materials is intended to signal its willingness to try new things and focus on creating different options for targeted customers.

In this case, that's military contractors, government, and utility company field workers, law enforcement, and other groups that are not known for being particularly gentle with their computers.

If CDs really are on their way out, Sony is ready with their replacement: Blu-spec CDs.

Although details about the new format, launched in Japan in November, are somewhat scant, we do know that users won't need a new player for Blu-spec CDs.

"The Blu-spec CD format boasts a new approach to the faithful reproduction of music by utilizing the leading-edge blue laser diode technologies optimized for the manufacturing of Blu-ray," according to CDJapan. The new discs' polycarbonate plastic, optimized for Blu-ray discs, is used "to ensure accurate reading of the data."

Sony doesn't claim that the Blu-spec CD sounds any better than a CD or how the new discs compare with Sony's previous and nearly dead super-CD format, Super Audio CD (SACD).

Although Sony made its Blu-spec PR splash in Japan, a few titles to the United States. The site lists Blu-spec CDs from Aerosmith, Jeff Beck, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Weather Report. While most Blu-spec CDs carry a list price of $25 in Japan, Amazon.com is selling them for $35.49 here.

Another CD format, SHM-CD, seems to be similar to Blu-spec CD, but with non-Sony artists.

Have you heard a Blu-spec CD or SHM-CD yet?

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)

Sometime earlier this week, Apple updated its least expensive notebook.

Engadget noticed Wednesday that the white $999 MacBook was slightly--and quietly--upgraded. It now has a newer Intel processor (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo), 2GB of memory, integrated graphics (Nvidia GeForce 9400M), and a faster frontside bus, now 1,066 MHz.

Besides that, almost everything else remains the same. But at $999, it's now much closer to its more expensive, unibody-constructed MacBook cousins.

Will the Canon 40D soon have a brother?

(Credit: CNET)

Whoops. It looks like Canon's China site accidentally posted specs for the company's upcoming Canon 50D dSLR, which seems all but confirmed. The Web page that the specs were on has been taken down, but the Photography Bay grabbed them before it disappeared. The biggest highlights include a 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor (yes, you heard right, 15), ISO 100-12,800, and a 920,000 points VGA 3.0-inch LCD monitor.

No word on price, when the 50D will actually be available, or whether it will replace the 40D--but stay tuned.

Find the full leaked specs at Photography Bay.

Philips' cryptic patent illustration shows the glasses and a body sensor communicating with a computer--we think.

(Credit: Philips)

A future product from electronics maker Philips could make it easier for the visually impaired to detect moving objects in daily life.

According to New Scientist, Philips has filed a patent for a movement-detection system, including a pair of glasses that will use a camera and accelerometers to distinguish between stationary and mobile objects.

The smart specs would work with a computer to spot obstacles, while an orientation sensor worn on the body would tell the computer about the wearer's movement. To help the user navigate, the device would also provide audio signals notifying them of moving objects.

The patent was filed in August. Along with other concept products aimed at serving the visually impaired, here's hoping it could soon become a helpful reality.

(Credit: Crave UK)

Crave has often mused on the pathetic flimsiness of modern gadgetry. But in a world where waterproof means splashproof and ruggedized means you'd better not drop it, there's all the more reason to celebrate tech that just won't die.

Whatever the reason for its survival, the technology we've collected here deserves enormous credit. It's coped with years of abuse and thousands of meters of cumulative drops, but it continues to operate as well as it did on the day it emerged from the factory. Click here to view the collection.

(Source: Crave UK)

(Credit: Acturion Datasys)

From Bavaria here's a new, "ruggedized" military-spec notebook PC with a keyboard that converts to a touch-screen, tablet PC in seconds by flipping the display 180 degrees and pressing down.

The magnesium alloy housing (4.85 pounds with battery) is completely sealed making it splash-proof, according to Acturion Datasys. (Even the integrated speaker is waterproof.) Since there are no fans, processor heat is distributed directly to the housing, which doubles as radiator.

Two models are available--the Victum-Note V10 (10.4-inch XGA display) and the Victum-Note V12 (WXGA 12.1-inch). Both come with sunlight-readable displays and work off a Intel Core Dual Processor Yonah U2500.

Options include Bluetooth, built-in 1.3MP CCD camera, GPS receiver for satellite navigation and a couple of different modems. Windows XP Pro or Windows Vista comes pre-installed. Linux should be available soon, according to the company. To qualify for military standard certification a PC must undergo temperature testing (minus-4 Fahrenheit to 131 Fahrenheit), plus withstand a 3-foot drop onto a concrete slab and continue to drive on.

Is it too late to do something about that name? Who wants to Farfegnugen a Victum around the battlefield.

(Credit: Apple)

According to Apple, you can ditch your fears over the rumor that the iPhone has 45 minutes of talk time. The company announced Monday that the much-anticipated handset will ship with much better battery life than was expected when it was first announced in January. The iPhone will finally be released, as you probably already know, on Friday June 29.

The numbers from Apple? The company had initially anticipated that the iPhone battery would allow five hours of talk time (though rumors around the blogosphere suggested it was actually much less than that), but now Apple is boasting that it'll last a full eight hours with a whopping 250 hours of standby time. Apple is also saying that you'll alternately be able to enjoy six hours of Internet use, seven hours of video playback, or 24 hours of audio playback. That's twice as long as the ultra-efficient iPod Shuffle.

A comparison chart from Apple pitting the iPhone against its rivals.

(Credit: Apple)

Additionally, the touch-screen of the iPhone has been upgraded from plastic to optical glass to make it clearer and more scratch-proof. So, with that and the extended battery life, maybe you can take your iPhone on wilderness excursions.

Update at 10:12 a.m. PDT: Whoops! There was an error in Apple's original competitive data chart (above, corrected). The original chart said that the Nokia N95 did not have Wi-Fi capabilities. It, in fact, does.