Speck offers up a new case for the aluminum 13-inch MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro that uses a hard shell design for extra protection. The case uses what Speck calls a soft touch See Thru Sating design. The exterior of the case is translucent allowing you to see the Apple logo and some of the case though the protective covering.

In addition to being see thru, the case also has a soft touch rubberized feel that looks cool and offers additional grip to help prevent drops. At launch, the case is available in black, purple, and red colors. Additional colors will be offered in January. The case is available now for $49.95.

Speck

The Tokyo institute of Technology has built a supercomputer called TSUBAME that uses NVIDIA's Tesla GPU. It is fast enough to enter the coveted list of top 500 most powerful computers in the world (as measured by the Linpack benchmark). The reason for switching to GPU computing is clear:

“In testing our key applications, the Tesla GPUs delivered speed-ups that we had never seen before, sometimes even orders of magnitude – a tremendous competitive boost for our scientists and engineers in reducing their time to solution.” (Satoshi Matsuoka, Tokyo Tech)

It's unclear what is the ratio between space, power consumption and performance, but something tells me that we will see more of these.

Permalink: NVIDIA enters the top supercomputers list at #29 from Ubergizmo | Good deals | Hot: BlackBerry Storm

Wasn't it just 24 hours ago that Asus released its 15.6" Eee Top all-in-one desktop computer? Well, they certainly aren't one to rest on their laurels, having already released news that they will be outsourcing future 20" and 22" models to Quanta Computer for manufacturing. These larger sized Eee Top computers will be out in the first half of next year. How much do you think Asus will price these new models, considering the current Eee Top retails for approximately $565 at this point in time? Whatever the figure, surely they won't be as expensive as Apple's offerings, right?

Permalink: Larger Eee Top Models Coming Our Way from Ubergizmo | Good deals | Hot: BlackBerry Storm

The display, which wraps around the three most visible sides of 1 Times Square, is capable of playing contiguous video using all of its surfaces at once. Made up of a mix of 13 60in plasma TVs and over 12 million individual LEDs arranged in diagonal panels, the screen is purported to display a resolution of "20 times the resolution of standard HDTV," though it's not completely clear what that's supposed to mean. As far as the back-end goes, to play just 30 seconds of video calls for 150GB of data sent from 30 computers, all of which, I hope, one day conspire to make the greatest BSOD of all time. The sign was flipped on officially last night, though the trial run, featuring the awesome test pattern picture in this article, took place on Wednesday. Check out the local news report below for some more background and neat little renderings to put the whole thing into perspective. [NYT, image from Gothamist]

The first 50 cars will receive a City of Newport Beach reusable bag “big enough to fit a turkey.” The event benefits Goodwill of Orange County.

Reminder, it’s illegal to toss an old monitor or computer into any trash can (but you knew that right?). All of this electronic waste must be discarded at a hazardous waste center or an e-waste event.

::details::  

When: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m Saturday, November 22, 2008.

Where: City Corporation Yard, 592 Superior Ave., Newport Beach

Items accepted: Comptuers and accessories, scanners and printers, fax machines, TVs, cell phones, telephones, cameras, PDAs, radios, VCRs, DVD players and microwaves. 

More details: (949) 644-3055, Mon.-Fri.

More green links:

• The OC Register’s Green OC blog
• What can I recycle?
• Guide to recycling e-Waste
• RadioShack offers gift cards for your old electronics
• Toshiba’s PC recycling program now accepts all e-junk
• A TV that uses less energy? Vizio unveils the EcoTV
• How much do Energy Star computers save?
• O.C.’s green award winner turns sewer water into drinking water
• Toshiba names finalists for O.C. green innovation award
• Free software to help your PC conserve energy
• Bamboo hard drives NOT made in OC
• Your cell phone will get a charge out of this bag
• Intel’s tips for conserving PC power and saving money
• Fullerton students win honors in Microsoft eco-game contest
• Every thing is going green, even Ethernet

Post from: Alt+Save with the Gadgetress

Newport Beach e-waste event on Saturday

Apple late Thursday night released a major software update for its iPhone operating system, introducing features such as remote podcast downloading and Google Street View.

Remote podcast downloading enables users to download audio and video podcasts onto their iPhones with the iTunes app over a wireless connection. In the past, to get podcasts on iPhones, users had to download them onto iTunes on their computers and then connect the handset to sync the files.

Apple also made major changes to the Google Maps app, which is now capable of displaying Google Street View, a mode that provides a 360-degree view of thousands of locations taken with cameras mounted on Google's cars. Also new to the Maps app are the abilities to look up walking and public transit directions, view addresses of dropped pins and share location via e-mail.

In addition to new functions, iPhone 2.2 decreases dropped calls and set-up failures, according to Apple. Other fixes include better sound quality for voicemail, improved Safari performance and enhancements to the Mail application.

Thursday's release validates a few rumors and leaked screenshots floating around about the update a few weeks ago.

And no, there isn't yet copy and paste.

Mossberg said that "neither I, nor any of the several BlackBerry addicts I asked to try it out, considered typing on the Storm’s keyboard to be very similar to using the keyboard of a traditional full-sized BlackBerry," but ultimately concluded that it's "another good option for anyone who is looking to buy one of the new, more powerful, pocket computers."

Matt Buchanan said "I kind of came to hate typing on it" and called it "tiring".

Joshua Topolsky, quested if the clicky touchscreen could "actually improve the experience of using this sort of device -- and in our opinion, they do not."

Danny Dumas says the laggy operating system "moves like a tranquilized yak," and that it's not as good as RIM's own Bold, let alone the iPhone.

Yardena Arar, from PC World described it as "awkward and disappointing," and that "People who were hoping for a credible iPhone alternative fortified with BlackBerry's strengths as a mobile tool for corporate travelers will likely find the Storm a disappointment."

Laptop Mag's Mark Spoonauer knocks the "sluggish performance," issuing a verdict that stops short of outright condemnation: "The one thing that most BlackBerry users have grown accustomed to—a superior keyboard—is frustrating to use on the Storm."

Peter Ha at CrunchGear won't be ditching his current model: " I wish the Storm were the real iPhone killer, but it’s not..."

So, who, apart from Mossberg, liked it?

Boy Genius Report goes back and forth at length, but its firmest points are the positive ones: "This is the best phone to ever touch Verizon Wireless so far. If you’re a Verizon Wireless subscriber and a dumb phone won’t cut it, you’d be pretty air-headed to not pick this bad boy up above any other smartphone in Verizon’s lineup. ... "

David Ciccone at Mobility Today offers unreserved praise: "We will not compare the iPhone to the Storm since the iPhone is clearly not a full fledged business messaging device. If you are in the market for a new phone the Storm definitely has to be on your holiday list this year! Great job RIM!"

Today’s offering from the Cruise/Spielberg flick is the G-Speak, designed by Oblong. I think of all the reports that I have done on gesture-based interfaces, this one is the closest to Minority Report so far.

As you can see, the user has the gloves, just like Tom Cruise. There is even that cobalt blue effect that was the film’s most featured color. Of course, the similarities should come as no surprise, because one of Oblong’s founders served as on Spielberg’s “think tank” for the 2002 film.

So, it will appear that gesture based computers are going to be a reality soon. That’s good, because when I saw Minority Report, I kept saying to myself: “I want Tom Cruise’s computer”. Back then, I just assumed his gesture-based controls were just special effects and not actual technology. I also wondered how much Cruise was seeing when he was making weird gestures.

So, what is it about Minority Report that keeps us coming back to it? Is it a science fiction classic like Blade Runner? Drop me a comment if you agree or disagree.

Source

Kodak, the camera manufacturer we all know and love, is opening up both barrels of legal shotgunnery on LG and Samsung for the camera modules and software they use in their phones. Supposedly the patent in question deals with “image capture, compression and data storage and a method for previewing motion images”. This litigation comes shortly after Samsung being nailed for infringing on flash memory patents, so they’re going to have their hands full over the next couple of months on the legal front. LG has had better luck on the patent front, having gone on the offensive on Quanta Computers and winning their case last summer. Whether or not they can play the defensive just as well will be seen. As for Kodak, they say they’ve been plenty patient with the issue.

“Kodak has a long history of innovation and we have invested many millions of dollars developing our digital camera technology,” said Laura G. Quatela, Chief Intellectual Property Officer, and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. “We’ve held discussions with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue and have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement. Consequently, we must take this legal action in order to ensure that we protect the interests of our shareholders and existing licensees of Kodak digital camera patents.”

[Kodak via BGR]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia gets sued by Interdigital, again, over 3G patent violations
• Qualcomm Gets $20 Million Payment From Nokia - Patent Battle Continues
• Qualcomm kicks off patent infringement case against Nokia in the UK
• Nokia appeals German courts dismissal of Qualcomm lawsuit
• Kodak inks patent cross-licensing deal with Nokia