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Eye tracking Tobii Glasses enable 'fully valid research' from a bodaciously styled pair of shades
If you're looking to get in touch with some styling cues you left behind in the '80s, or perhaps just perform a study on effective product packaging, Tobii Technology would like you to get a load of these. They're called Tobii Glasses, a pair of eye-tracking specs that look a little less obtrusive than some others we've seen, but despite that are also a bit less practical. These glasses pack a VGA camera, write to a hip-mounted unit with SDHC storage, and rely on IR emitters that apparently must be scattered about the field of vision that the researcher is looking to study. Those emitters enable very accurate and reliable monitoring of where the research participant is looking, making these possibly an ideal accessory for all you marketing research managers out there. Update: We got a note from Rasmus Petersson at Tobii Technology indicating that, indeed, the glasses can be used without the IR transmitters -- you just lose some automation when it comes to data aggregation at the end of the study. So, married dudes, look out if your wife buys you a new set of specs for your birthday.
SanDisk's 1GB WORM SD card stores evidence longer than your prison sentence (video)
You can think of SanDisk's latest WORM SD card like a mini time capsule... for criminals. As the name implies, these write-once-read-many cards are tamperproof slivers of flash storage that can only be written to once by an SD WORM-compatible device like, say, those security cameras, witness voice recorders, and photo cameras used by the police. SanDisk claims that the data will still be readable after 100 years, long after you and your crimes have been forgotten. Why the fuss after not hearing about SanDisk's SD WORM ambitions since 2008? Well, Sandisk just announced that Japan's police force will use the SanDisk SD WORM card "as the storage media of choice for tamper-proof forensic image archiving." We suspect that the Yakuza will be getting right on that "tamper-proof" claim just as soon as they finish viewing the video embedded after the break.
Toshiba looking to standardize wireless memory cards, crash Eye-Fi's party
We're big fans of Eye-Fi's wireless memory cards, which enable you to toss that card reader out the window and download all your pictures wirelessly. So far Eye-Fi is about the only player in that little niche, but Toshiba's looking to blow it wide open with charmingly titled "Standard Promotion Forum for Memory Cards Embedding Wireless LAN," which could be given the equally catchy abbreviation SPFfMCEWLAN (a name that is, thankfully, subject to change). Toshiba's forum, which also includes Singapore-based flash company Trek 2000, will look to create a standardized 8GB SDHC card with integrated 802.11b/g, able to transfer JPEG and RAW images either from camera to a server or directly to another camera. Toshiba is hoping other camera and flash manufacturers will join in the standardization fun and we certainly do too -- just like we hope they move past 8GB quickly.
Mac mini updated with HDMI, aluminum unibody, and SD card reader
Would you look at that, some love for the seemingly abandoned desktop crowd. Apple has today unveiled a freshly redesigned Mac mini, which benefits from a unibody aluminum exterior and more grunt under the hood. Prices start rolling at $699, where you'll get a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive. HDMI-out is finally included, along with an SD card reader, 802.11n wireless, a Mini DisplayPort jack, and what Apple claims is a doubling of graphics performance thanks to an NVIDIA GeForce 320M chip inside. Then again, when you double a little, you still end up with not much. The newly polished nettop is a minimalist 1.4 inches tall, but manages to fit all the power circuitry inside, which means (yay!) there'll be no power brick to spoil your hipster desk space. Don't fret if you were looking to drop the optical drive, Apple retains the config option that allows you to add in a second HDD in lieu of its DVD burner. You can grab two 500GB plate spinners, Snow Leopard Server (we thought Apple only had one OS version?), 4GB of RAM, and a 2.66GHz Intel chip for $999. Finally, the new enclosures will come with user-accessible memory slots courtesy of a removable panel at the bottom of the case. Neat that the designers didn't take the unibody idea too literally.%Gallery-95228%
Eye-Fi's 4GB Geo X2 WiFi SDHC card now shipping for $70
We heard that the Apple Store-exclusive Geo X2 would start shipping to Americans at some point in May, and it looks like the time is now for those who've been patiently waiting. Eye-Fi's latest Class 6, WiFi-enabled SDHC card packs 4GB of space, an 802.11n module and auto-geotagging for those who can't make heads or tails of their latest gallery of vacation shots. It can be headed your way any moment... so long as you're cool with handing over your name, address, credit card number, favorite TV drama from 1988 and $69.95 (plus tax, where applicable). Oh, life and its choices. [Thanks, Christopher]
Eye-Fi Pro X2 review
Five years ago, stuffing a fully-functional WiFi radio into the size of a standard SD card would've seemed like science fiction -- and actually, it kind of still does. Be that as it may, Eye-Fi is now well into its third generation of products, amazingly, and we've gotten a chance to check out the company's newest top-of-the-line model that just recently started shipping, the Pro X2. Like the original Pro model before it, the Pro X2 is differentiated from its less pricey stablemates in two major ways: one, its support for RAW uploads, and two, its ability to connect to ad-hoc networks -- in other words, you can wirelessly tether the card straight to your laptop rather than going through an access point. Where the Pro X2 gets the nod, though, is in what Eye-Fi calls the "X2 Engine," a three-pack of features that includes 802.11n support, Class 6 SD performance, and a nifty feature coined Endless Memory. Let's have a closer look at what's changed -- and for current Pro owners, whether the X2 warrants an upgrade.
Eye-Fi announces Apple-exclusive Geo X2 card, more WiFi hotspot support
In the event that none of Eye-Fi's existing 802.11n-capable offerings meet your wireless photo upload needs, take heart, because there's a new model getting shoehorned between the $49.99 Connect X2 and the $99.99 Explore X2 that might just satisfy your discerning tastes. Like the entry-level Connect X2, the Geo X2 brings 4GB of Class 6 (read: high-speed) photo and video storage plus an "Endless Memory Mode" that can automatically delete shots once they've been safely uploaded to their destination -- but like the name implies, the new model adds the automatic geotagging support offered by its pricier siblings. It'll be an Apple Store exclusive starting next month for $69.99. Along with the Geo X2, Eye-Fi is announcing a partnership with Devicescape that's yielding significantly expanded support for open WiFi hotspots with splash screen logins such as those offered by schools, cafes, and WiFi providers like Boingo, arguably addressing one of the card's biggest weaknesses. The new capability will be available to users by the end of May -- so start finding more awesome stuff to photograph, alright?
Samsung first with 20-nm NAND Flash: cheaper, faster SD cards on the way (update)
Let it sink in, 20 nanometers. It wasn't that long ago when 45-nm manufacturing processes were all the rage. Now we've got Samsung following Toshiba with a sub-25nm flash memory announcement all its own. Samsung's 20-nm class 32Gb (gigabit) MLC NAND is sampling now, however, for use in embedded memory solutions and SD memory cards ranging from 4GB to 64GB. In addition to increasing densities and decreasing manufacturing costs, Samsung's 20-nm class NAND is claimed to be more reliable and 30 percent faster than the 30-nm MLC chips forming the core of its existing 8GB and higher SD cards. That translates to cheaper class 10 (20MBps read, 10MBps write) SD cards when these ship to consumers later this year -- always a good thing. Update: There's a chance that Samsung is playing fast and loose with words here. It repeatedly says "20-nm class" without specifying the actual node size. Is it 20nm, 22nm, 27nm? We're digging for details and will update this post when we have them. Update 2: Samsung's response: "Unfortunately, we are not disclosing the actual process node for our memory devices. Thank you in advance for your understanding." Yeah, we understand: Samsung's process node is likely larger than the 25nm threshold set by Intel and Micron.
Protip: Microsoft Kin not compatible with microSD
Dear SanDisk, The Kin does not have a microSD slot. We checked. Love, Engadget.
iPad Camera Connection Kit finally surfaces for pre-order, still absurdly overpriced
If you'll recall, Apple had no qualms revealing the iPad Camera Connection Kit at its 'Latest Creation' event back in January, but the solution seemingly dropped from the face of the Earth shortly thereafter. Even as cases, keyboards and all sorts of other iPad accessories surfaced for pre-order, the camera kit remained nowhere to be found. Over the weekend, the $29 adapter bundle finally found a home at the outfit's website (with a "late April" ship date), offering users a pair of dongles to support USB and SD cards. Of course, one could easily argue that the iPad should have native support for both of these widely used formats without forcing users to lug around two extra peripherals, but if that were the case, this thing just wouldn't be an Apple, now would it? %Gallery-89227%
Eye-Fi Pro X2 cards have arrived, and you probably want one
I pre-ordered an Eye-Fi Pro X2 from Amazon a few weeks ago. (Don't be too jealous, I did it when I decided that I was going to have to wait for an iPad for financial reasons.) This is not my first Eye-Fi card, as I bought a 2GB version a few years ago -- and quite frankly, I hated it and thought it was overpriced. We have talked about the Eye-Fi before, but if you are not familiar with it, here's a basic summary: the Eye-Fi cards are Wi-Fi enabled, meaning that you can upload your pictures from your camera without a USB cable or card reader. You can set it to automatically upload to iPhoto, or just to a specific folder on your computer. You also have the option to have your pictures uploaded to MobileMe, Flickr, Evernote, Picasa, Facebook, and many other places (see chart in new window). Videos can be uploaded to Flickr (only 90 seconds maximum, though), Picasa, YouTube, Facebook, Phanfare, and Photobucket. You can even set it up to send notifications via email, Facebook, Twitter, or SMS when transfers start, finish, or are interrupted. The Pro X2, at US$150, is still expensive and it is SD-only (sorry, CF users), but the new card comes with a host of new features which make it worthwhile. The first is the the card is a Class 6 device, meaning that it is fast. The older Eye-Fi card always felt like it was really slow to me, which meant that I didn't always want to use it. This new card is as fast as any card I own, and the limiting factor now seems to be my camera, not the card. There's a whole lot more.
SanDisk ships 32GB microSDHC card for $200
Our 16GB microSDHC card has been treating us well since shipping early last year, but obviously no capacity is capacious enough. SanDisk has just announced that a Class 2, 32GB version of its microSDHC card is now shipping (remember that "something big" thing?), bringing gobs and gobs (and gobs) of storage space to whatever phones still support it. SanDisk claims that this is the first of its kind, but you can bet that other memory outfits won't be far behind in matching it. It should be hitting e-tailers momentarily for $199.99 (and around £200 if you're in the UK, we're told), which is almost certainly more than the (subsidized) price of the phone you'll be sliding it into.
AirStash brings the WiFi, neglects the storage, for a cent under $100
When we last saw the AirStash, it was keeping its mystique about it and refusing to disclose any salient details beyond the fact that it'll function as a wireless SD/SDHC card reader. Today, the fog of war is lifted with the news that the AirStash is now officially on sale for $99.99, and will come with a battery good for five hours of continuous data streaming. Marketed primarily at iPhone OS devices, it creates a wireless network that allows any WiFi and browser-equipped computer to access the storage cards within it. The UI is built around HTML5 and recharging is done via a USB connection, which also turns the AirStash into a simple SDHC card adapter when plugged in. Check out our hands-on with it from CES over here and look for a full review coming up shortly. We do care so very deeply our portable storage.
Kingston whips out speedy Class 10 16GB microSDHC card
While some camps are pumping out larger microSDHC cards, Kingston's done the world a favor by working on speed instead. The result is this Class 10 16GB microSDHC card -- possibly the world's fastest of its kind (at a minimum data transfer rate of 10MB/s). Who would need this, you ask? Well, there's the speed freak in your own self that you're trying to suppress, for starters, and don't forget all those snazzy phones that can do 1080p video recording. As with most nice things in life, this blistering card will cost you a fair bit -- $138 for the card sans adapters. Oh, go on, it's totally worth your liver.
Apple rolling out $1 TV shows for iPad launch?
According to a story posted by the Financial Times on Wednesday, Apple may be in talks with studios to bring $1 TV shows to iTunes, as part of the official iPad launch. Apparently this will be a test to model for the company to see whether cheaply-priced content will spur sales. Given yesterday's news about declining iTunes music growth due to higher prices, I'm betting it will. The story goes on to claim that Apple has been engaged in secret talks with major networks for the past few months, to cut prices on standard definition TV shows in half -- currently priced at $1.99. The reason behind this move is the iPad's 4:3 aspect ratio, ideally suited for standard def content which Apple hopes consumers will eagerly download at a buck a pop. True or not, I just hope we see this long-rumored $30 subscription model we've been hearing about, so I can finally tell the nice folks at Comcast where they can put their cable. Hint: not in my home.
iPad hands-on: Not a full desktop replacement, but the keyboard works
For all of the back and forth about the iPad over the last week, only a handful of people (including Stephen Colbert) have gotten to actually touch one. Fox News, of all the outlets out there, posted a pretty clean and objective hands-on with the iPad earlier this week, and you can get a pretty good idea of what it's like to actually hold the device in your hands from them. They say that it works well -- the keyboard is about the same as an iPhone keyboard (though they don't say whether they try the hunt-and-peck of the iPhone, or actually try to lay their hands down as if on a laptop), and they agree to what we've heard elsewhere: that while the iPad is a nice computer, it's much more of an iPhone extension than a full laptop or even desktop replacement. One of the most interesting notes is that the much-discussed camera might not be the biggest omission from Apple's tablet -- Fox says that an SD slot or a USB port is a much bigger exception, meaning that if you want to actually do anything with files (view photos or print PDFs) from the iPad, you'll have to transfer them to and from another computer first. Of course Apple is introducing an SD addon with the device, and I thought that I'd heard the Bluetooth connection would print from the iPad, but then of course you've got to have a Bluetooth-enabled printer, and as you already know if you've ever depended on Bluetooth, even then it may be a crapshoot. Still, the device sounds about like what we all predicted a tablet would be: a MacBook Air sort of satellite extension to your household web browsing and minor computing. I still can't wait to get my hands on one -- hopefully we'll get to see a unit in person at next week's Macworld. [via MacDailyNews]
10 reasons to pass on the iPad? TUAW fact check
Over at TechRepublic's 10 Things blog, Debra Littlejohn Shinder has posted an article called "10 reasons why I'll be passing on the iPad." Some of her reasoning is sound, but quite a few of her points are easy to refute. It's worth looking at her post and the points it tries to make, because it's indicative of a widespread misunderstanding of not only the iPad's capabilities, but also its intended consumer base. 1. There's no physical keyboard Debra's correct that the iPad has no physical keyboard. But what she fails to account for is that not only will Apple sell a keyboard dock for the iPad, the device can also be paired with any existing Bluetooth keyboard. Apple's reasoning for not including a physical keyboard on the iPad is even more compelling than for the iPhone, because unlike the iPhone, you at least have the option of pairing the iPad with a physical keyboard. In order to put a physical keyboard on the device itself, there'd be two options: keep the iPad the same size and sacrifice a third of the screen's real estate, or increase the iPad's size beyond what some (including Debra) already consider unwieldy in order to include a keyboard. In landscape orientation, the iPad's virtual keyboard is nearly the size of a conventional keyboard, too, so while touch typing is going to be a challenge, it's a fair bet that typing on the iPad will be much faster and easier than the high end of 30 - 35 WPM thumb typing many people (myself included) achieve on the iPhone's far smaller keyboard. The lack of a physical keyboard on the iPhone hasn't measurably affected its sales; the iPad isn't likely to suffer many lost sales from this, either. (Note: a few people have asked for a source on the Bluetooth keyboard issue, particularly my assertion that you can use any BT keyboard and not just Apple's wireless models. During her hands-on with the iPad following the device's announcement, Jacqui Cheng at Ars Technica verified that "You can use any bluetooth keyboard you want, instead of Apple's keyboard dock. You could use the case/stand with your existing bluetooth keyboard. You cannot use a bluetooth mouse, however.") Check out the other nine points by clicking the Read More link below.
Toshiba demonstrates 64GB SDXC, pledges spring release
We've known since August that Toshiba was working to rule the roost when it came to voluminous and speedy SDXC storage, and at CES it took the time to beat its chest again, indicating that its new 64GB SDXC cards have started shipping in samples, putting them on a crash-course with card slots sometime this spring. The 64GB cards offer 60MB/s reads and 35MB/s writes, which should be enough to keep up with the Jonses, and the company's upcoming 32 and 16GB SDHC should be dropping about the same time. Toshiba is claiming this is the world's first 64GB model, but we're only interested in retail releases, and Panasonic and its February-bound offering might have something to say about who gets there first. The race is on.
AirStash wireless SD card reader hands-on
Just as CES is wrapping up, we managed to get some hands-on time with the AirStash wireless SD card reader, which is targeted at iPhone OS devices (but does work with other WiFi-enabled devices). Like many of the mysterious products from Vegas we have no price, release date or battery life, but what we do know now is that it's indeed very light (1.5 ounces), fits nicely in our hands and supports up to 32GB SDHC cards. As for wireless connection the AirStash acts as a WiFi 802.11b/g access point -- a cunning way to dodge the Apple dock connector license fees or the lack of Bluetooth profiles. Sadly, the prototype wasn't working properly due to "some RF interference," but as you can see above, the AirStash is accessed via a browser (UI design not final). Sure, this would mean you'd lose Internet connection via WiFi, but if the AirStash is cheap enough, then we'll live with it. Let's hope they hurry up with the release, though. %Gallery-82619%
Eye-Fi 802.11n Pro X2 hands-on
Not every SD card merits the hands-on treatment, but Eye-Fi is blazing a trail of its own into the WiFi wilderness, so we decided to swing by their booth to check out their new 802.11n-equipped Pro X2 first hand. Available in 8GB form only, this one is a Class 6 memory card so it should be equally speedy when taking photos or video as well transferring, and it packs the same geotagging, RAW, and ad hoc support seen in previous Eye-Fi cards. New with this card, however, is a so-called Endless Memory mode that'll free up space as photos are uploaded via WiFi, and the company's new Eye-Fi Center photo management software, which you'll be able to check out for yourself later this month. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look at the card itself. %Gallery-82032%
