We received an interesting tip that we thought we'd share with the group. Windows expert and all-around bon vivant Paul Thurrott recently previewed Microsoft's new Arc mouse on his personal blog, detailing the device with a handful of photos. In the final shot of the series, what appear to be two Xboxes side-by-side can be seen in the lower right-hand corner... but one of those consoles looks thinner than the other. The appearance of what might be a slimmer Xbox 360 has (needless to say) sparked a debate amongst our editors here. Some say it's nothing -- a matter of angle -- while others argue that this could be just the scenario in which you'd see a leak of a new form factor. Either way, you can't simply brush off the differences here, and a little Photoshop matching on our end proved that these edges are decidedly different in angle. So we put it to the Engadget reader: is this a sign of things to come, or just our imaginations running wild?

Update: And we have our answer! Paul Thurrott has gone to the trouble of detailing just exactly what's going on here, and it is an angle issue. Needless to say, we've got a lot of deflated dreams and lightened pockets in the office today.

[Thanks, Brian]

Remember Kerbango? In the early months of the decade, 3Com's foray (via acquisition) into the then-nonexistent world of tabletop internet radios crashed and burned before it was ever even launched, a classic example of an arguably visionary product launching well, well ahead of its time. Over seven years have passed since the Kerbango Radio's untimely death, but for whatever reason, the concept really hasn't re-emerged on a grand scale. On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer: everyone has an alarm clock, many have bedside or kitchen radios, WiFi has since emerged as a ubiquitous cloud of high-speed data, and more people are listening to streamed audio than ever before -- yet the market for these devices is still treated like a niche. What gives?

According to a report in the Economic Times, Sony will be introducing a slimmer (well, "slimer" if you want the direct quote), sleeker, and "more suave" version of the PS2 in Indian and European markets come Fall. If you believe what you read, the new system will include a built-in power supply, will make its debut by Diwali (which falls on October 28th), and will keep the current sticker price of Rs 6,990 (or about $162). The article also claims that Sony will bring its PlayStation Network to India by the end of the year, which should make a lot of competition hungry gamers very happy. Sony reps say that the move is driven by the belief that, "Console gaming is in its nascent stage in India," adding, "We have no plans to phase out PS2 anytime soon." The PS2: you just can't kill it!

[Via Joystiq]

Samsung -- known for dropping a PMP or two on the public -- has introduced a couple of new media players sure to have you tearing up and snapping open piggy banks. First up is the S2 "Pebble" player which we saw a little while back, a tiny, rounded DAP with 1GB of storage on-board that can tune in your favorite FM stations (they still have those, right?) as well as play back MP3, WMA, and OGG files. The S2 comes in green, purple, red, and black / white, which should make it easy to match up with your outfit. The other new offering is the S3, a 4GB or 8GB full-function (yet slim) device which sports a 240 x 320 display, plays MP3, MPEG4, and WMA files, includes an FM tuner, flash games, and comes in green, red, blue, or black / white. Both models will be available in June, no word on price. Stay tuned for a thrilling hands-on experience with both new models.

The oft-irrational quest for thin already overwhelming television R&D budgets just hit our beloved LCD monitors. Meet the BenQ V2400W billed as the "world's slimmest 24-inch LCD monitor." BenQ claims that the LCD's 2.44-inch max depth is 21% thinner than any of its chubbier competition. Unfortunately, while BenQ happily drones on and on about the monitor's B-2 stealth bomber inspired design, it remains tight-lipped on the specifications. We know it offers a 4,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 2-ms response, touch control panel and selection of ports including HDMI, DVI and VGA inputs. However, the V2400W's brightness, panel resolution or backlighting tech, color reproduction capabilities, HDCP support for that DVI jack, and something so trivial as price all remain closely held secrets. Nevertheless, it'll be available at the end of this month in Asia then heading to North America and Europe in April. You know, if you can find it.

Update: Some of the specs found: 1920 x 1200, 250 cd/m2 brightness, 16.7 million colors, and 160-degree viewing angle.

[Via Fareastgizmos, thanks Strayan]

Well you knew it was coming. That PSP hack we told you about a few weeks ago has hit the interblogs, and we predict all hell will be breaking loose any moment. Un-retired homebrew mastermind Dark_AleX has come up with a little number called Timemachine, which is capable of spinning your PSP back to all sorts of crazy firmwares at the touch of a button. We know you can hardly stand finishing this post due to excitement, so... get out of here and grab it!

[Thanks, Craig]

Hey, look at that -- the Squeezebox Duet just popped up for pre-order. Slim Devices's answer to Sonos was pretty impressive when we played with it at CES, and it looks like pricing is exactly what we heard: $400 for the wireless controller and a single Squeezebox Receiver, which can stream music off your home machine or tune into Rhapsody or Pandora. Units are expected to ship at the end of the month, but it doesn't look like you can buy additional $150 receivers or $300 controllers yet.

[Thanks, Gregg]

According to T3 magazine and a "particularly well-informed insider," the PS3 is due not just for hard drive updates, but a total design revamp down to a slimmer and smaller package sometime in the Fall. If you believe what you read, the refreshed console will sport all the same specs, but will receive a fresh coat of paint, a trip through the shrinking machine, and probably a lightened load. Of course, this is all just wild speculation coupled with salacious, magazine-selling 3D renders of the phantom device, as Sony denies the existence of an update and we don't really know who this source is. On the other hand, the company pulls this kind of ditzy "who me?" stuff whenever it's got a new product up its sleeve -- though we're not feeling the timing on this shocker.

It may not be the biggest name in consumer electronics, but when it comes to stuffing megapixels into ridiculously-skinny packages, there aren't many out there who do it better than BenQ. Case in point is the new eight megapixel DSC X800, which, at just 9.8 millimeters at its thinnest point (14mm at its fattest), is not only slimmer than the recently-announced DC X835, it even gives the company's trimmest seven megapixel shooter, the 12.5-millimeter DC X725, a run for its money. Besides its pocketability, however, this model doesn't offer much in the way of high-end features: 3x optical zoom, 3-inch LCD, digital image stabilization, VGA movie mode, and a rather non-standard microSD slot are par for the course here. Keep reading after the break for another angle / color combo of the as-yet-unpriced shooter, which should be shipping sometime this quarter.

[Via Slashgear]

Samsung can join Hitachi while crying into their sake as its 52-inch "thinnest non-OLED HDTV ever" is around 4x as thick as Pioneer's 9mm heroin-chic Kuro. Take heart Sammy, because your 82-inch -- and btw, what is with the 82-inch obsession (2005 & 2006 CES), we need to talk about that -- Quad HD display is like looking out of a window, if we had bigger and cleaner windows. Check out the gallery to see what we mean.

While we wait for the commercialization of those crazy-flat, high-contrast OLED televisions from Sony, Sharp and now Hitachi are trying to tempt us with super-thin LCDs of their own. Either way, we're good. Hitachi's 19-mm (0.74-inch) thin 32-inch LCD television was just announced but won't be revealed until CEATEC Japan 2007 gets underway. Not bad... not a scant 3-mm OLED mind you, but not bad. CEATEC kicks off on Tuesday so be sure to check back then for pictures and specs.

Sure, you've had the space of a few minutes without Apple rumors, but be honest with us: it felt lonely, didn't it? Well don't worry, because the rumors are back... with a vengeance. According to 9to5mac (who recently nailed news on the iPod nano), Apple is readying a new line of black and silver aluminum laptops, which might be the slimmer MacBook Pros mentioned previously. Details are, of course, totally speculative and entirely unconfirmed, but it sounds like the systems will be considerably thinner and lighter than current models, will have screens that reach further to the edges (which apparently suggests a smaller footprint), have keyboards in the vein of the new Apple Bluetooth models, and are set to be priced "extremely aggressively." In addition, the report says that there is "something strange about the touchpad," which could mean we'll be seeing some sort of multi-touch functionality, or it could mean nothing at all. We'll keep you posted on what the mill has to say.

Just hours after getting wind of Sony's plans to unveil a three-millimeter OLED, Luminoz is claiming that it has "developed a screen that can reduce the depth of a rear projection TV to about 12-centimeters." Apparently, the newfangled screen "eliminates the need of a large mirror that is necessary in the existing rear projection TVs," and as if the space savings weren't spectacular enough, we can also expect increased contrast ratios. Reportedly, the firm is hoping to inject its screen into 65-inch or larger rear projection televisions, and if all goes as planned, commercialization should occur sometime next year.

For those not quite ready to take the high-definition plunge, LG is looking to make burning those vanilla DVDs a whole lot easier whilst on the road. The uber-slim GSA-E50N (and LightScribe-equipped GSA-E50L) measure in at just 6.14- x 6.5- x 0.84-inches and weigh 0.84-pounds, come in black or white motifs, and play nice with Windows Vista. Moreover, the unit is powered completely via USB, and can burn DVD+R / RW, DVD-R / RW, and DVD-RAM discs at up to 8x speeds. Both units are slated to hit the streets soon, and while the GSA-E50N will ring up at €89 ($122), the GSA-E50L will demand an extra €10 ($14).

[Via The Inquirer]

Korean display-maker Alphascan, a company of dubious and confusing origin, has apparently licensed Samsung's flat-panel technology and applied it to its new 22-inch slim monitor, the J2210W. The stylish, 16:10 display features a brightness of 300cd/m², a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 1680 x 1050 resolution, 5ms response speed, and D-SUB / DVI jacks. No word on price or availability Stateside, but we wouldn't recommend holding your breath. Feel free to peruse the monitor's "translated" info page on the read link.