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CES preview: Docks, satellites, radar, blood pressure and more
Here's a brief rundown of notable items we saw last night at the pre-show event for the press called Unveiled here at CES 2011. We'll have more hands-on coverage of some of these items this week, plus a ton of other docks, more docks, some items that aren't docks, and a few more docks and accessories for your iPhone, iPad or iPod. There may even be some items for your Mac! We wrote about the Withings blood pressure monitor already, but seeing the device in action was a treat. The app looks easy to use and easy on the eyes, and the design on the hardware is impressive. Withings also makes a Wi-Fi scale and introduced a baby monitor that allows you to see your baby via your iPhone or iPad, but also communicate with them. The nPower PEG is a "personal energy generator" that uses kinetic energy (like when you walk around) to charge up a 1000 mAh lithium polymer battery. In turn, this battery can recharge your iPhone, iPad, etc. You can also charge the battery using the USB port, but where's the fun in that? It's much more fun to shake the thing like a Shake Weight, harnessing all that kinetic energy so that you can play another hour of Infinity Blade. Click "Read More" to check out the rest of what we've seen so far.
Iomega SuperHero iPhone dock backs up contacts and photos to SD card (video)
In addition to Boxee-addled media devices and the customary run of new storage solutions, Iomega's got its own take on the iPod dock to show off. The SuperHero can back up photos and contacts from your iPhone (3G model and up) and iPod touch (second-gen and up) to an SD card -- no apps or music, unfortunately, due to restrictions in the API. The associated app pops up automatically when you slot in the device, and there's a few options for fine-tuning what exactly gets saved. A smart idea, but it'd be nice if we had more output options like audio (for an elegant stereo solution) or USB (just in case you did have a computer handy, with or without iTunes). SuperHero'll set you back $69.99 and comes bundled with a 4GB SDHC card, but more importantly, there's an amusing video ad to see. It's after the break. %Gallery-112411% %Gallery-112410%
Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me accessorize my iPod nano on the cheap
Dear Aunt TUAW, I bought a brand new multitouch nano, and now I want to accessorize it. But money is tight, and I don't have a lot to spend. I don't really care about "pretty," but I'd like to see what kind of functionality I can get (accessory-wise) on the cheap. Can you recommend any really affordable add-on accessories for my new little pal? Thanks a lot in advance, Your nephew Stephano J.
Samsung Galaxy Tab keyboard, desktop, and car docks eyes-on
The press release from earlier today provided all the textual details, but now we've gotten our own eyes on the Samsung Galaxy Tab accessory lineup -- not to be touched at the event, but we could gaze all the same. Pictured above is the $99.99 keyboard dock that gives you a full physical QWERTY on top of a charger / sync dock, along with stereo audio output. Then comes the desktop dock (formerly referred to as the HDMI dock) that allows you to watch videos up to 1080p, view pictures, and listen to music via HDMI All the pictures are below, can ya dig?out. Last but not least is the car / GPS dock for $99.99, for GPS turn-by-turn navigation on the go. %Gallery-102509%
Droid R2-D2 gets docked -- not in a X-Wing
Verizon's teaser site for the Droid 2 R2-D2 edition has been teasing a series of locked spokes, accessible by all as soon as anyone in the community solves the "puzzle." We don't know exactly what the magic code was, but regardless, thanks to David H. yesterday, we've got a new gallery of devices pics and -- oh, lookie -- a special edition Droid R2-D2 dock. We don't see room for a hyperdrive anywhere, nor wings, proton torpedos, or a cockpit for future Jedi to blast orbital space stations. So, let's just call it a vacation home for astromechs needing a respite. Update: As a number of you have pointed out, it's "proton" torpedo in Star Wars canon, and "Jedi" is already plural. We're left with two options here: total retcon the scope of which would put midi-chlorians to further shame, or just fixing the copy. We'll let ya know what we decide. %Gallery-101305%
Engadget's back to school guide: docks and alarms
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we've got docks and alarms in our sights -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides. Whether you're simply looking for something to put on your bedside table or considering an iPod dock to replace a bulky stereo, you now have more devices than ever to choose from, which can be a tad overwhelming if you're trying to stay on budget and still get something decent. As usual, however, we're here to help, and have rounded up a range of docks and alarms that should more than satisfy at any price point.
CES Watch: More clocks and docks
(image by Cult of Mac) As expected, there are a number of iPhone and iPod-related accessories coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Here's a couple we've seen already: iHome's got both audio systems and alarm clocks on display -- the clocks even have a sync button that will pull the time in straight from your iPhone or iPod, so no more having to set it yourself. They've also got another unit for the kitchen, but is it just us or do these all look pretty much the same? Sharper Image has a clock that uses an app on the iPhone screen as the clock hands, while sitting in a dock that holds numbers around the handset. They also have a speaker dock that can pull sports, news, and weather information from a custom app and display it on a separate LED screen. Pretty cool, actually, even if an iPhone already gives you all of that information anyway. FLO TV and Mophie are trying to bring mobile television to the iPhone this year. And Tunebug is showing off "surface sound" speakers -- you attach a little piece to a bike helmet or other surface, and it turns the whole thing into a giant speaker, sending the music into your head. Freaky. So far, as you can see, it's mostly clocks and speakers. Which sounds about right for CES, actually -- not everybody gets to release an augmented reality helicopter. We'll keep an eye on the show all this week, and let you know about any other iPod-related releases there.
DROID Phone Holder and Multimedia Station go for $30 apiece
Already got your DROID pre-order in and wonder what else you can blow your non-assured holiday bonus on? Well, that Phone Holder car dock and Multimedia Station home dock (pictured, our hands-on gallery is here) have just gotten price tags: $30 a pop. About in line with the general worldwide dock population, but horrifically overpriced in comparison with our own homebrew dual-purpose solution.
The Art of War(craft): Guide to the Isle of Conquest
The Art of War(craft) strives to bring you anything and everything related to PvP. Well, mostly anything that isn't covered by Arenas, anyway, since that's kind of Colby's territory. And stepping on Colby's territory can get Zach into trouble. I mean, have you seen that guy? Those beady eyes and razor-sharp teeth? Yikes! Oh wait, that might've been a shark. Or it could've been Colby after someone drank from his Chai Tea Latte in the office fridge. He's just kind of a monster that way.Patch 3.2 introduced a new 40-man raid Battleground, technically the biggest instance since old world Naxxramas. In Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, raid dungeons were cut down to 25-players and the two Battlegrounds since then, the Eye of the Storm and Strand of the Ancients, were limited to 15 players per side. Isle of Conquest sees the return of epic battles not seen since Alterac Valley. Well, okay, epic battles with less lag not seen since Wintergrasp, anyway. If you're just hit Level 80 or are curious about the new Battleground, here's a quick guide to help you out.What's the deal?There are essentially two ways to win the Battleground, identical to the new and improved Alterac Valley -- kill the enemy General or deplete the opposing team's Resources. The Horde forces are led by Overlord Agmar, the orc after whom the Horde base in Dragonblight is named, the leader of the Kor'kron Guard who looks like he's wearing Northrend greens or blues, at best. On the other team is High Commander Halford Wyrmbane, the leader of the 7th Legion and whom Alliance players will typically first encounter giving quests in Wintergarde Keep in Dragonblight. He isn't any better off than his rival, as he looks like he's in Sunwell epics. Cool, right? Alright, now let's figure out how to kill them.
Gallery: Stormwind construction
With the release of Patch 2.4.3 today, construction has commenced at the docks in Stormwind. It's located between Cathedral Square and The Park, at the end of the canals. If you talk to the workers in the area, they'll tell you that they are preparing to bust out the wall to create a new entrance to the city. There's lots of life bustling around the construction site, and here's your first tour.%Gallery-27728%
Around Azeroth: A bone headed move
A reader who didn't leave their character name or server sent us this shot of what appears to be one skeleton looting the other on the docks in Ratchet. I'm guessing the looter used to be a Rogue, but what is he expecting to get? Any ideas?Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? Because we'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!%Gallery-1816%
iPhone news roundup: benchmarks, Facebook, and (obviously) rumors
There was a lot of iPhone chatter this week -- although Apple might have done all it can to lock the little bugger down, it seems people are still finding ways to extend and explore its capabilities, while AT&T might have finally gotten the hint about those ridiculous paper bills. Logic3 unveiled the i-Station Traveler (pictured), the first speaker dock we've seen specifically for the iPhone. While most iPod docks tend to work fine with the iPhone, the $60 Traveller is designed specifically around the horizontal orientation, allowing you to watch movies while the iPhone is docked. Meebo and Facebook both launched iPhone-specific versions of their sites, allowing you to IM your friends and stalk your exes with all the swoopy-slidey flair you'd expect. Orange continued to act all coy about potentially being Apple's partner in France, saying only that it had "no comment" on the iPhone, even as rumors heat up. The iPhone got straight-up benchmarked for the first time: Craig Hockenberry whipped out his stopwatch and discovered that Javascript in MobileSafari runs right around eighty times slower than on a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo Mac. He also whipped up a little app using that pirate toolchain we love so much and discovered that native ARM code runs right around 200 times faster than Javascript in the iPhone. Looks like that Safari sandbox might not be so "sweet" after all. AT&T seems to have decided that its vendetta against the trees of the world might be a little misplaced, and is in the process of moving to "summary billing," according to a call center employee. Either that, or they're trying to guilt people into switching to e-billing by sending out ridiculous bills. Really, that's what the email says. All in all, a pretty busy week for the iPhone -- kinda makes you wonder how much action there'll be when Apple finally releases that official SDK, eh? Read - i-Station Traveler Read - Meebo Read - Facebook Read - Orange declines to comment on the iPhone Read - iPhone benchmarks Read - AT&T reducing paper bills[Thanks, risingsonn and The Boy Genius]
Logitech announces Pure-Fi Dream and Anywhere iPod speakers
We're still not sure why people are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for an alarm clock when a $5 model from the pharmacy works just as well, but in all fairness to Logitech, the new $250 Pure-Fi Dream (pictured above and in the gallery below) does a lot more than just annoy the hell out of you every morning. Yessir, what you're getting here is a "premium bedroom audio system" featuring 3/4-inch tweeters and 3-inch woofers, along with dual alarms, motion sensitive controls (no more banging around for the snooze button), and a "one-of-a-kind" LCD screen that dupes all the vital info from a docked iPod. And to make sure that you don't become a homebody sitting in your room listening to your Dream, Logitech is also launching another speaker system designed to maximize your iPod experience on the go, the Pure Fi Anywhere (pictured in the gallery below). This followup to the company's mm50 promises longer battery life, a smaller form factor, and better remote than its predecessor, all for the same $150 price tag. You should be able to start traveling in style next month with the release of the Anywhere, but your whole morning routine won't get that much needed boost until November, when the Dream is scheduled to ship. %Gallery-5982% Read - Pure Fi DreamRead - Pure Fi Anywhere
A budget remote cradle that doesn't suck
We've had some laughs over Dragon Electronics' ill-conceived accessories in the past, but the Chinese manufacturer really seemed to hit all the right notes with its latest charging dock. Taking more into account than just bundling battery covers and rechargeable AAA batteries, the cradle has every feature we're looking for in a budget solution -- USB adapter, unobtrusive design, room to charge two controllers simultaneously, and LED status indicators.Play-Asia has the charging station listed for $14.90 ($6.70 s/h), while eBay auctions have it priced a few dollars higher. To compare, Nyko's dock sells for about $30. Check past the post break for the full fact sheet.
Intec's Wii Charging Station: decent dock or crap cradle?
We didn't even know that acessories manufacturer Intec was working on a Wii remote charging station until we saw one listed for sale earlier today. Much like Nyko's cradle, Intec's dock comes with two rechargeable battery packs and a base that lights up to signal when it's in use. That's about where the similarities between the two end.Intec's dock does away with the AC plug and allows you to conveniently charge the battery packs via USB instead. Adding onto its appeal, at $25.00, the dock comes in $5.00 cheaper than Nyko's. Sounds like an easy choice between the two, right?Where Intec's dock fails is its inability to charge both battery packs at the same time. You can't even charge the packs while they're in locked in the controllers! Those two slots for the remotes? Just for display! If you want to recharge a battery pack, you have to remove it from the controller and plant it into the dock.This sort of half-assed setup might have flown back in November, but months after competitors have already put out more advanced solutions? Even with the five-dollar savings, you'd be wise to avoid this dock. That said, jump past the post break anyway, and check out the strange blurb we spotted on Intec's packaging. [Via DCEmu]
Altec Lansing launches iMV712 iPod video dock, iM600 speakers
While iPod speaker docks are getting to be pretty commonplace these days, we haven't seen too many video docks. Altec Lansing's just rolled out its iMV712 ($350), an 8.5-inch "high-res" LCD paired with 3-inch speakers and 4-inch woofer. Yeah, and it's got a remote, too. However, and 8.5-inch screen won't do you much good unless you're situated pretty close to it. Meanwhile, good ol' Altec's also released a more traditional speaker dock, the iM600 ($150) has an iPod dock, FM radio tuner, remote and a "Sound Field Expander" to get your "artificial spacialization" on (whatever that is). There's also a rechargeable battery, aux in, woofer out, composite video out and mini USB, all for good measure. We're still waiting on when these speaker docks will actually be ready for purchase, so until then we'll just have to make do with our old docks, or heaven forbid, headphones. Slide on over to the next page for a glimpse of the iM600.
Creative X-Fi Sound System Z600 rolls in this week for $400
Alright Zen fanboys, your Singaporean mothership has just come out with a new dock for that Zen Vision: M, dubbed the Creative X-Fi Sound System Z600. Like it says in the name, this dock has that new X-Fi stuff that Creative touts as being able to restore compressed audio to CD quality. Of course there's also the usual inclusions, like a remote, an 8-inch woofer and a pair of tweeters to round out the setup as well; the gear can be yours when it drops in the US on November 24 for $400. Creative also announced a couple other sound docks, the PlayDock Z500 and the TravelSound Zen V -- but if you're an astute reader of Engadget, you already knew about those well before the official announcement.[Via Far East Gizmos]
Miuro, the robotic iPod dock
We literally see a new iPod dock hit the streets every single day (when you can find ten of them at Target, it would seem that the market is already a bit oversaturated), however, Japanese manufacturer' ZMP's Miuro is the first one we've spotted that will actually follow you around the house and shake its groove thing at your behest (well, except for maybe the KNG DJ dock). A not-quite-accurate acronym for "music innovation based on utility robot technology," Miuro is a 14-inch wide, egg-shaped device that can either pump tunes from your docked 'Pod or wirelessly from a PC through its Kenwood-built speakers. The 9-pound bot -- available in either white, black, yellow, or red -- responds to your commands via the included remote, and can gain a little more autonomy with the addition of optional cameras and sensors. Miuro goes on sale in Japan today for a rather pricey $930, and should be making it Stateside sometime in the second half of next year. This will certainly be a boon to us lazy Americans, as soon we'll be able to shed our hefty 'Pods and let a little robotic slave tote them around for us -- until the eventual uprising, that is, when swarms of these things will repeatedly attempt to crush your jugular in your sleep while almost unoticeably piping out "Killing Me Softly."[Via The Raw Feed]
