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iRobot trots out Looj 330 gutter-cleaning robot, three entry-level Roombas (video)
With Roomba being the household name that it is, it can be easy to forget that iRobot also makes robots of the outdoor persuasion. In fact, though, the company's been selling its Looj gutter-cleaning bots for five years now, occasionally treating us to demos involving leaves, dirt and fake roofs. Today the company announced the third-generation model, the Looj 330, which has been completely re-tooled to add a four-stage auger, multiple speed settings, an automated "Clean" mode and a lithium-ion battery. It's also a bit more compact this time around, increasing the likelihood it'll fit your gutter. Meanwhile, for those of you who can't bring yourselves to spend $700 on a robotic vacuum cleaner, iRobot is adding some entry-level models to its Roomba lineup: the 620, 630 and 650. Though these cost about half the price of the flagship offerings, they actually feature many of the same technologies, including iAdapt, the sensor arrangement that allows Roomba to crisscross the floor like it does. Here, though, the cosmetic design is different, and you also won't find bells and whistles like capacitive touchscreens or fine Hepa filters. What's more, these guys only use acoustic sensors to detect debris, whereas the pricier models add optical sensors to pick up on lighter particles, like fuzz. All of these products are available now, with the Looj 330 going for $299 and the Roomba 600 series starting at $330. Not in the market for a cleaning bot? You can at least get a vicarious thrill out of our Luge hands-on video, embedded after the break for your viewing pleasure. And yes, those are Goldfish and m&m's flying out of that gutter. It rains snack food here in New York City.%Gallery-162090%%Gallery-162091%%Gallery-162088%
Intel 330 Series SSDs official, prices start at $89
Been holding off on stuffing solid state storage into your existing machine because of high prices or reliability issues? Bargain hunters, your SSD may have just arrived in the form of Intel's 330 Series SSDs. We got the low down on them weeks ago, but in case you forgot, Intels new 25nm NAND entry utilizes a SATA 6 Gb/s connection to deliver up to 500 MB/s sequential reads and 450 MB/s writes. Such speeds aren't spectacular compared to other SSDs, but combine them with Chipzilla's reputation for crafting quality drives, low prices -- $89 for 60GB, $149 for 120GB, and $234 for 180GB -- and a three year warranty, and the 330 has some serious curb appeal. Want one? All three sizes available now online or at you local retailer (assuming it's still there, of course).
Intel 330 SSD leakage hints at bargain price tag, perhaps just $149 for 120GB
A number of online retailers listed an Intel 330 SSD over the weekend, which would have been cool except that the drive was supposed to remain in the shadows until given a proper announcement. Some sellers pulled their listings pronto, but not before giving us a good glimpse at the drive's likely specs. These include the arrival of the SATAIII 6Gbps interface in this budget line, the same 25nm NAND fabrication process used for last year's 320, and promised sequential read / write speeds of up to 500MB/s and 450MB/s. None of this is especially thrilling, perhaps, when you recall that a similarly-specced SSD, the SanDisk Extreme, topped even the premium Intel 520 in recent benchmarks, but it all starts to make sense when you look at the pricing. SabrePC lists $149 for the 120GB variant, which is a full $40 cheaper than SanDisk's rival, $60 cheaper than the Intel 320, and only enough to pick up 60GB-worth of Intel 520. There are also 60GB and 180GB flavors, listed at $89 and $234 respectively. Assuming these prices hold tight, and that there's no repeat of the 320's firmware issues, this could be a bargain drive worth waiting for.Update: Amazon UK helpfully lists April 13th as launch day.
Sony Alpha NEX-5 in the wild, plays David to A330's Goliath
Talk about envy. One of our lucky tipsters just wrote in to talk about the training he did this week for -- and here's the kicker -- Sony's brand new Alpha NEX-5. Just to prove his conquest, he also managed a picture of the compact DSLR next to the Alpha 330. Yep, it's still really, really small. If that's not enough, the tipster apparently also will be able to use the SAM and SSM Sony lenses, both with functional autofocus. We know what you're probably thinking: the pre-order details are right here. Update: Perpetual Radio has some hands-on impressions and a video (embedded after the break). Go forth!
PlayStation 3.30 firmware is a go, 3D games support 'prepped'
When the PlayStation blog said firmware 3.30 -- you know, the one that "preps" the console for added 3D support (games for now, not movies) -- was "coming soon," we figured that meant some indeterminate day or week ahead. Not so; we just turned on our Sony consoles and, lo and behold, we got a new update sent our way. There's nothing you can do with the third dimension at this point, but take solace in a handful of Trophy enhancements. And Linux support? Don't be silly, it's not coming back.
Acer's Atom 330, Win7-packin' AspireRevo now shipping to America
Acer's been on quite the rampage of late, pumping out more machines during this week before the Windows 7 launch than in the past few months combined. The latest rig to get the a-okay from the shipping department is the refreshed AspireRevo R3610-U9012, a machine which was originally outed back at IFA. This one ups the ante over the former with a 1.66GHz dual-core Atom 330 (as opposed to an Atom 230), Windows 7 Home Premium, NVIDIA Ion graphics, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB hard drive, six USB 2.0 sockets, an HDMI port, eSATA connector, VGA, multicard reader and gigabit Ethernet. There's also WiFi, audio in / out and a bundled wireless keyboard and mouse, though all that oomph in such a small package will cost you $329.99 to bring home.
Lenovo serves up Atom-powered C100 all-in-one desktop for $399
Clearly there's something special waiting for some product manager who gets all of his / her new kit out the door before the fiscal Q4 ends, as Lenovo has been on a serious tear of late. Hot on the heels of its ThinkPad X200, T400s touch and IdeaPad S12 comes this, another all-in-one desktop that should suit the web surfers and email checkers of the world just fine. Starting at $399 (or $50 less than the similar IdeaCentre C300), this rig is equipped with an 18.5-inch LCD, a two-inch thick chassis, Intel's Core 230 or Core 330 CPU, a DVD burner, four USB sockets, GMA950 integrated graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB (5400RPM) hard drive and Windows XP running the show. Something tells us these will be flying off the shelves come Christmastime.
ASUS EeeBox EB1012 teases home theaters with dual-core Atom and Ion graphics
Looks like our dreams of a discrete, low cost home theater PC are about to be realized. ASUS has a new EeeBox PC EB1012 touting a dual-core Atom N330 (just as rumored), NVIDIA MCP7A ION graphics, a 250GB SATA hard disk, 2GB of DDR2-800 memory expandable to 4GB, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n WiFi, S/PDIF 5.1 audio jack, and HDMI out. As such, this little 222 x 178 x 26.9mm box should handle your hardware accelerated 1080p content just as readily as it does full-screen Flash video from Hulu and beyond -- a place where single-core Atom-based Ion nettops fail. It also features an eSATA jack, 4x USB ports, and an SDHC card reader for plugging in more media. No word on price or ship date but we'll keep an eye out. [Via eHomeUpgrade]
AspireRevo rebranded as the Atom 330-based Gateway QX2800
Looks like the kids in Taiwan will be able to take everyone's favorite Ion-based nettop for a spin sometime soon. Except, instead of being known as the Acer AspireRevo, its been rebranded as a Gateway QX2800. Actually, that isn't the only difference -- the CPU on this new guy has been upgraded to an Atom 330 dual core, and storage is now 500GB. But besides that, its the same kid: NVIDIA Ion 9400M graphics chipset, 4-in-1 card reader, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, HDMI output, and six USB 2.0 ports. According to PCADV, the dual core processor could give this machine a 40% performance increase over the AspireRevo. To ship with Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 at some vague point in the not too distant future.[Via iTech News Net]
Sony's Alpha 230, 330 and 380 DSLRs get flood of official pics
Sony's latest mainstream DSLRs cameras got the seal of officialness this past Saturday, and now the company's added some icing to the cake by releasing of plethora of pictures for its α230, α330, and α380. Direct your eyes lovingly at the articulating screens and SD/SDHC card slots in the gallery below. Pre-orders for the trio are supposed to start today at Sony's official retail site, but as of this writing, they're not yet there.
Zotac Ion-based IONITX-A SFF motherboard review roundup
Jonesing for a new small form factor PC, are you? Not so keen on selecting a pre-fabricated unit? If you definitely fit the bill here, it's worth taking a gander at Zotac's recently released IONITX-A motherboard. As the first of its breed to actually ship, a whole lot is riding on its solder points, and according to reviews found 'round the web, it's done a satisfactory job of living up to expectations. The test bench-abusin' kids over at Hot Hardware found that Zotac's board (and the included dual-core Atom 330 CPU) performed "as expected," notching results that were "significantly better than any of the single core Atom 230-based systems." The unique DC power input was also lauded, and the silent nature made this a perfect candidate for a low-power, highly-capable carputer building block. All in all, this here mobo won't transform your life, but it's certainly a welcome extra in the all-too-stale DIY SFF market. Check the links below for all the bar charts you can handle.Read - Hot Hardware ("most appealing of the Ion-based products")Read - PC Perspective ("an impressive motherboard for its size")Read - The Tech Report ("as good as the Ion platform gets")Read - Tom's Hardware ("it's most promising destination is in the HTPC space")
NVIDIA: 40 Atom-based ION platforms by end of 2009
After being let down by the Atom 230 processor in our review of the Ion-based AspireRevo, we're comforted by NVIDIA's promise of more Atom / Ion configurations on the horizon. Forty of 'em by the end of the year including some based on the beefier dual-core Atom 330 processor just like this ASUS reference design that NVIDIA was showing off earlier today. Of course, the Computex show in Taipei (kicking off June 2nd) would be the obvious venue for such a full scale assault against Intel's GMA lethargy. Fortunately, Engadget Chinese will be on point to witness the carnage.[Via Tweaktown]
MSI's Wind Top AE1900 all-in-one PC comes to US at $529
MSI's eco-friendly Wind Top AE1900 has already been formally introduced and spotted over in Hanover earlier this year, but the outfit notorious for withholding price and availability information until the last possible moment has finally let loose those very details. The 18.5-inch all-in-one PC is available with an Atom 230 or 330 CPU, a 1,366 x 768 resolution touchscreen, integrated GMA950 graphics, 2GB of DDR2-533 RAM, a 160GB or 250GB hard drive, 4-in-1 multicard reader, dual-layer DVD writer, WiFi, gigabit Ethernet, a 1.3 megapixel webcam and audio in / out sockets to boot. Two configurations are available (both are shown after the break), with the lesser of the two going for $529.
Shuttle intros Atom 330, SUSE Linux-packin' X270V nettop
Go 'head, Shuttle -- break on out of that shell! The company notorious for pumping out the same barebone rectangle with a different model name and a few extra ports has finally seen fit to do something a touch different, and what we're dealt is the X270V. This so-called Mini-PC relies on Intel's 1.6GHz Atom 330 to push the computations, while up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM keeps things in order. There's also gigabit Ethernet, 6-channel audio, a PS/2 connector for the retro folks, six USB sockets and VGA / DVI outputs. Shuttle also claims this bugger is energy efficient, though it doesn't go into great detail about just how much it'll save you each month. Oh, and it also comes loaded with openSUSE 11 (a Linux flavor, for those unaware). Interested? Move to Europe and plop down at least €299 ($390).[Via Slashgear]
Atom 330 is benchmarked, fares slightly worse than expected
PC Pro's given Intel's dual-core, 1.6GHz Atom 330 (coupled with a 7200 RPM SATA hard drive and 1GB of DDR2 RAM) the benchmark run-through, and they've got some conflicting details to pass on to you. Overall, the testers found the Atom to be, as expected, faster than the N270, but only by 16 percent. In specific tests, the 330 ran Office 2003 slower than both a 2GHz VIA C7-D and the single-core Atom; PC Pro actually performed the test several times just to be sure it wasn't a glitch... and it wasn't. The 330 performed better running 2D graphics, outpacing the N270 by 41 percent, and it also outperformed its competitors in encoding and multitasking. Not enough details for you? Hit the read link for the full-on benchmarking experience.
Intel's dual-core Atom 330 reviewed in desktop guise
Intel's Atom processor and the netbook are the silicon equivalent of Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson; they're inseparable. Naturally we can't wait for the dual-core Atom 330 to cozy up to the next generation of economical portables, but have to wait a bit as it's being soldered exclusively into tiny desktops at the moment, like the one tech site The Guru of 3D just ran through a series of benchmarks. The posted results could have been interesting had they compared its performance to the single-core Atom 230 rather than AMD's (relatively) heavy-hitting Athlon 4850 X2 and Phenom 9850 -- not exactly apples to apples. We'll just have to assume it's roughly twice as fast on the right apps, all that for only twice the power consumption. That's still only a measly 8-watts! [Via The Inquirer]
Dual-core Atom ready for showtime? Tranquil PC thinks so.
Tranquil PC just announced two new products based around Intel's upcoming Atom 330 dual-core processor, which Tranquil has confusingly dubbed the Atom2 Z330. We'll find out soon enough who's right in their terminology, but cheap-ass speed freaks have more exciting distinctions to worry about. The new processor has dual Atom wafers, for pretty much twice the fun, and Tranquil says that desktop performance is "very very snappy." They're celebrating the new processor with the T7-HSG Home Server, which will start shipping on September 30th in very limited supply for £299 (about $528 US). There's also a DVB-T Media Center in the works, but we're otherwise short on details.
Nokia's 330 Auto Navigation: their first dedicated GPS device
Ah, there you are sweet, sweet Nokia GPS navigator, official at last. Dubbed the Nokia 330 Auto Navigation by the cats in Espoo, this device marks Nokia's first entry into the dedicated GPS satnav market. It features a 3.5-inch touch-screen with ROUTE 66 Navigate 7 application and European NAVTEQ map data pre-installed on a bundled 2GB memory card of unspecified origins. The 330 is also able to playback unspecified audio and video formats with MP3 and DivX rumored to be in the mix. The press release is so light on specs that we're unable to confirm if it is in fact rockin' SiRFStar III let alone provide any details regarding internal storage, battery capabilities, or whether it includes Bluetooth for hands-free linkup with your cellphone. We do know to expect it to hit Europe sometime in Q4 for an estimated retail price of €360/$458 sans taxes. So yeah, they're looking at you TomTom and Garmin. See the 330 in its car mount after the break.
More mysterious Nokia GPS handheld pics surface
Still no official word from Nokia about this thing, but two "official" seeming pics have surfaced of the cute little GPS handheld, which at least gives us a bit more confidence in this device -- if little more info. We're mainly miffed at a lack of an obvious web browser on the main menu, but the device -- which some people have taken to calling the 330 -- does have some rugged good looks, and that DivX playback never hurt anybody. We'll naturally be keeping you posted. Second pic after the break.
