slim
Latest
BenQ's V2400W claims to be world's thinnest, stealthiest 24-inch LCD monitor
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]
PSP super-hack hits the internet
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]
Squeezebox Duet now available for pre-order
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]
Is Sony's PS3 getting a redesign?
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.
BenQ's emaciated 8 megapixel DSC X800: just barely three-dimensional
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]
Eyes-on: Samsung's 82-inch QuadHD & 52-inch Ultra Slim LCDs
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.%Gallery-13265%
Reminder: WoW Insider's notebook giveaway continues
Have you seen WoW Insider's huge contest for that kitted-out WoW edition notebook from Dell? It is blowing up-- there are already over eleven thousand entries and counting. And did you know that you can actually enter once every day the contest is in effect, all the way until this coming Friday afternoon? Sure, with 11,000 people entering, your chances of winning are pretty slim. But if you've only posted once already, you could double them by posting today. And triple them by posting tomorrow. See where we're going with this?Run over to the WoW Insider contest post and put another comment up if you haven't already today (and in the meantime, you can drool over their writeup of the system and think how much money you'll save if you win). Sure, it's repetitive and mindless action with the slim promise of a great reward, but c'mon, we're MMO players. We're used to that by now, right?
Hitachi announces 0.74-inch thin 32-inch LCD television
While we wait for the 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 CREATEC Japan 2007 gets underway. Not bad... not a scant 3-mm OLED mind you, but not bad. CREATEC kicks off on Tuesday so be sure to check back then for pictures and specs.
"Slim" MacBook rumors resurface
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.
Luminoz screen could lead to uber-slim RPTVs
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.
LG launches ultrathin USB-powered external DVD burner
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]
Alphascan J2210W display embeds a Samsung panel
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.
MacBook Pro 12-inch ultraportable rumor resurfaces
MacScoop is reporting that some "trusted sources" have intimated Apple is readying a new, ultraportable 12-inch laptop for its MacBook Pro line. The sources say that the new model -- which boasts a thickness of 0.6 or 0.7 inches, and will weigh less than 3 lbs -- will drop before the end of the year. Of course, MacScoop has been reporting on the "ultraportable" 12-inch Apple laptop since March of 2006, and we've heard this same rumor in one form or another over the past year, which should give anyone pause before they run screaming into their local Apple Store demanding to place a pre-order. However, the fact the this rumor persists does give the suggestion of some truth behind it, so if Apple suddenly makes the announcement, don't say we didn't warn you... repeatedly.[Via MacDailyNews]
ASUS V90 slimphone showcased at Computex
We can't help but notice that the ASUS V90 does seem to steal a few design cues from its J502 sibling, but rather than hiding its numeric pad underneath the sliding screen, the V90 shows it all with no sliding motions required. Unfortunately, there's not too many details on this one at the moment, but a snapshot of the device taken at Computex shows off its thinness and two-inch TFT display, and it purportedly includes a three-megapixel camera as well. Thankfully, we won't have to wait too terribly long for this one to arrive, as at least some parts of the globe should receive shipments by Q4 of this year.[Via Slashphone]
PSP Slim details leaked?
We're sure that a PSP remake is coming ... but when? Kotaku, in a "rumor" from "several sources close to Sony," suggests that a thinner PSP will be unveiled at E3 next month. The system will supposedly feature a new LED screen that delivers a crisp image in a new, thinner size. Due to new screen technology, battery life will also increase, up four-fold. Amongst other features is a faster UMD drive, 8GB of internal flash memory, and a revamped D-Pad. All of this is supposed to come in at a surprising cost: only $170, the same cost of the system now.Sound too good to be true? Maybe. We contacted Dave Karraker from SCEA and he commented: "This is pure rumor and speculation, for which we don't comment."We honestly find many of these details to be much too extravagant, especially at such a low price. (How much money would Sony lose on each system sold? 8GB of memory alone would make the $170 price much too costly for the manufacturer.) We'll have to wait until E3 to see if Kotaku's bold claims have any weight to them.
Uber-slim G4 Mouse slides away in your PCMCIA slot
Under normal circumstances, a palm-sized mouse with a built-in wireless transceiver is about as portable as it gets, but the G4 Mouse just showed all the other guys how a mobile mouse should be constructed. The uber-slim mousing instrument folds perfectly flat in order to fit in your PCMCIA slot when not in use, and when you're all settled, it pops out, ejects a USB cable, and folds into a more ergonomic position for all your mousing needs. Additionally, the slot card mouse comes in pink, blue, and silver colors, and it appears that you can even get a matching pouch if say, a 120GB hard drive is already occupying your PC Card slot. The 800 DPI mouse boasts a left / right click and a touch-sensitive scroll wheel, touts Windows compatibility, and will run you a respectable ???46,500 (or about $50). Click through for a couple more snaps.[Via CacheYourCash]
Samsung's i600 headed Orange's way
For those of you stickin' with the Orange and waiting in tense anticipation for the "world's slimmest" 3G QWERTY smartphone to head your way, the wait is just about over. Thanks to a pre-release page on Orange's webstore, the i600 is being boasted about in all of its uber-skinny glory before it actually becomes available, and unsurprisingly packs a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, speakerphone, video telephony, WiFi, Windows Mobile 5, and all the usual amenities that you're already so well aware of. No word just yet on an actual sale date nor a price to go along with it, but we'd suggest pinching those pennies (or should we say, pence) for an "any day now" release.[Via CoolSmartphone]
Just about the awesomest skins EVAR
As you can see, these "Slim Skins" are available to those who recently got their hands on a DS Lite for the first time in Korea. Who wouldn't want to dress their DS Lite up in such colorful skins? We sure as heck want to! Of course, the skin pictured above is by far our favorite.Question: does that say Lamb or Lame on that submarine?See also: Koreans encountering some problems with Brain Age[Thanks Andy!]
The Slim Machine melts away a dress size in 60 minutes
When it comes to shedding pounds, we've seen everything from doing it the Nike+iPod way, the Dance Dance Revolution way, and even the Wii way, but the big downer on all of those methods is they actually require hustle to yield results. Sousan Allami, owner of Sousan's Body & Skin Care Center in Houston, Texas, has what appears to be a miracle-working machine that can literally melt off a few pounds in just 60 non-grueling minutes. The Slim Machine subjects an individual to "powerful massaging suction over problem areas," followed by you getting all wrapped up in strange oils and gauze and laying in the cell for an hour. The machine utilizes "hydro fusion" to reportedly burn away around 2,000 calories per hour without putting the person in any sort of discomfort, and a tester was actually able to fit a bit better into her garb after taking a one hour ride in the weight dropping gizmo. Still, a local nutritionist noted that all the machine is doing is ridding your body of water weight, which will most likely return within 24 hours, but if you're desperate to fit into that tux or dress and only have an hour to spare, $150 can now buy your way in.[Via Spluch]
Samsung's Ultra Edition 10.9 to oust D900 as "world's slimmest slider"
Witnessing the dethroning of one crown thanks to a determined competitor is anything but surprising, but it seems that Samsung is ousting one of its own in order to make room for a newer champion, as the Ultra Edition 10.9 takes over where the D900 left off as the "world's thinnest slider." Continuing on Samsung's recent infatuation with creating increasingly slim mobiles, the 10.9's biggest feature is its ultrathin frame, as the spec list really doesn't deviate from what we found on the previous title holder. Onboard, you'll find a 3.2-megapixel camera, MP3 / video playback, Bluetooth, video output, 80MB of internal memory, and a built-in microSD slot for loading up additional media. Little more is known about the 10.9 as of now, but just about every detail you could need should be divulged during the 3GSM Congress in Barcelona next month.[Via Unwired View]
