Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Not one to let the prolific Ben Heckendorn get all the attention, fellow modder Brian Gardiner has fired a shot across the bow with his latest creation, the palmPS2. While it's a generation behind Heck's most recent mod, it certainly looks to hold its own in the usability department, with the fit-and-finish to match. Gardiner even went as far to include as many original PS2 parts as he could manage, and kept the size down by opting for an external battery pack. The only downside, apart from being far beyond the skills of most of us, is that the screen apparently suffers from a bit of a green tint due to the PS2's RGB output. Of course, you could just wait for that PSP download service, but that wouldn't be nearly as satisfying now, would it? Come to think of it, you might just be better off sticking with Heckendorn and his two-year-old take on this same project -- sometimes you just gotta go with what you know.

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Filed under: GPS, Handhelds, Tablet PCs, Transportation

It may look a lot like a UMPC, what with its tablet-style form factor and seven-inch LCD touch screen and all that, but the new UREN V1 is what they're calling a "Mobile Auto PC". So what's the difference? Mainly that it comes with integrated GPS and is supposed to be mounted on the dashboard of your car (though when you think about it, all UMPCs should probably have GPS, it'd make them much more useful). The UREN V1, which runs Windows XP, also sports a 30GB hard drive, a DMB TV tuner, a memory card slot, and a three megapixel digital camera on back for, uh, taking pictures of the road while you're driving. This one looks like it's currently for the Korean market only.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

If the Boy Genius' soiled-trow, hands-on of the HTC Excalibur had you gasping for more, then peep the full review of the O2 Xda Cosmo just posted at the::unwired. Their unit from O2 Germany came ready to go with Windows Mobile 5.0 and AKU3 which, besides some low-level tweaks, brought a new Internet Sharing application in replacement of HTCs Wireless Modem app. The reviewer who admittedly comes from a more traditional GSM phone background (read: no real experience with a QWERTY/Z Smartphones or BlackBerrys) found the keyboard confusing for "regular phone stuff" like entering a phone number or searching for contacts -- apparently preferring T9-style input instead. Still, he was stoked by this quad-band GSM phones WiFi, GPRS, and EDGE data connectivity options and "satisfied" by performance under normal usage or while watching live, Slingboxed TV. However, the reviewer then goes on to worry unnecessarily about the OMAP 850 processor getting overloaded if say, using it for GPS, watching live TV, and listening to audio over Bluetooth all at the same time. Hell, why not agonize over the risk posed by it getting lodged in your skull when used near certain supermodels? Geesh. Bottom line: if you're looking for a WinMo device with keyboard and "all the latest and greatest technologies" (well, almost all) then the Cosmo is a "great device."

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Many people look upon GamePark's GP32 handheld console as a revolutionary product in the world of videogames -- it was, after all, one of the first platforms to actually encourage homebrew and emulation -- and now DCEmu is reporting that the company is poised to launch what it's calling the GP32's successor, the "XGP kids." Shaped more or less like a tiny PSP, this new model is the third in the XGP lineup (following the original XGP and XGP mini), none of which should be confused with the similarly-named GP2X (this latter console is manufactured by GamePark Holdings, a company composed mainly of disgruntled ex-GamePark employees). Although not all its specs will be revealed until September 16th, we do know that it will be powered by a 140MHz ARM processor (probably overclockable), sport a 2.2-inch, 220 x 176 LCD, feature 8MB of RAM and 2MB of flash memory, and support USB 1.1 file transfers, but unlike the GP32, will eschew the old school SmartMedia slot for more modern SD cards. The best part here is the anticipated price (according to Wikipedia, at least); unlike the $300 XGP, $230 GP2X, and $150 XGP mini, the XGP kids is expected to slide in at under a C-note -- $75, to be exact.

[Via DCEmu]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Home Entertainment

You know, there are all kinds of people in the military these days. And we just know that the geekiest of our armed forces are going to go gaga over this new UMPC, called the Catcher. This new rugged, superportable computer has 802.11a/b/g support, Bluetooth, dual-mode CDMA / GSM data, fingerprint reader, GPS, iris scan, a pair of VGA cameras (one pointing toward the user, and one away), and an "emergency alert feature" that sends an auto tracking signal back to the server. The Catcher is also designed to support a three foot drop and up to 50 Gs of shock -- slightly better than our consumer-grade laptops, hey? We've got zero intel on price or availability, but surely Uncle Sam spares no expense for our elite fighting force. And we're sure that our men and women in uniform running around Saddam's former palaces are going to want something like the new application Lifeware to control audio and video systems that they surely have spread throughout the house. Lifeware promises to control everything from temperature to audio controls, but no word on if our soldiers will be able to run military applications, control their in-base audio systems, and play solitare all on the same device, which would clearly be the holy grail in convergence.

[Via jkOnTheRun and eHomeUpgrade]

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Filed under: Handhelds

While the Sony mylo isn't really meant for your lap (we envision it as more of a dual-handed device -- or, erm, "dual-core," if you will), Laptop nonetheless decided to take 'er for a spin -- one of the first in-the-wild reviews that we've seen since our recent unboxing. The verdict? It's a cute little curvaceous piece of hardware that does what it advertises -- you can surf the web, Skype, IM, and play back media from it all with ease (they even claim it plays back WMA "secure", i.e. PlaysForSure, which we somehow highly doubt). But the mylo isn't the be-all Sidekick killer that Sony would surely like it to be. The magazine described the keyboard as too small and cramped for their liking and added that the mylo didn't handle all web pages perfectly (specifically the image-heavy MySpace, whose denizens Sony is aiming at) on its 2.4-inch display. This led us to wonder if we'll start seeing mylo-friendly webpages in the near future, but nevertheless, we still think Engadget looks best on the biggest screen in your house.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Has HP come through in the clutch -- or is it too little, too late? That's the question Pocket PC-hungry consumers will be answering in the next few weeks now that the long... nay, long-rumored hw6940 Mobile Messenger is finally shipping stateside. We were sorta excited about this thing, like, nine months ago, but at this point we're not sure how we feel about Bluetooth 1.2, a pedestrian 64MB of RAM, and the lack of 802.11g -- not to mention that the inclusion of AKU2 doesn't command the same respect it did just a few short months back. Add to that the $600 this thing will set you back, and needless to say we're hoping Cingular's going to bless it with a hefty subsidy when it finally drops in their neck of the woods.

[Via MobilitySite]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

So, Toshiba is taking a page from the Nintendo playbook, and have built themselves an e-book concept with a bit of dual-screen action. The similarities don't stop there, since the "Dual Display PDA" e-book accepts pen-based input, and, well, then the similarities do stop. This monster of a PDA runs some full-blown Windows CE, takes SD cards, and even looks to have a PCMCIA slot. We can't say with all honesty we see ourselves being any more productive with that much screen action if Toshiba's concept ever came to fruition, and that glossiness seems like it'd be dang annoying -- but boy, wouldn't we look cool. Peep the read link for more sexy pics.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Just in case one Apple patent filing wasn't enough for you, another one has just hit the internets -- filed April 26, 2005, and published on the US Patent & Trademark Office's site today. As always, the patent lays out in explicit and excruciating detail what Apple has in the pipeline. This time, it's a "hand held electronic device with multiple touch sensing devices." Not clear enough for you? If you scroll down far enough, you'll find reference to the possibility of merging of many electronic devices into a single device: "Each device 102 includes both hardware and software components 104 and 106, which are integrated into multi-functional hand-held device 100. It should be pointed out that the multi-functional hand-held device 100 is not limited to only two devices, and may in fact integrate any number of devices." The patent filing goes on to say: "By way of example, the portable electronic device may correspond to tablet PCs, PDAs, media players (music, images, video), game players, telephones, cellular phones, mobile radios, cameras, GPS modules, remote controls, and/or the like." So, in short, it'll be something between anything and everything. Now, invoking the WANL ("we are not lawyers") clause here, we're really scratching our heads at this one -- because if our scant knowledge of patent law is correct, it would seem that prior art would apply. That is to say that surely there are millions of devices out there that have a touchscreen and have multiple functions. Surely one of these patent lawyers has a Treo or a BlackBerry, no? Assuming that those brainiac Apple attorneys know what they're doing, this patent potentially paves the way for an an even awesomer touchscreen-based iPhone than the rumors we've already heard about, or other devices that may or may not have something to do with products to be unveiled next week -- so until then, run along now.

[Via CrunchGear and MacNN]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

Well, we sure didn't see this one coming: those sneaky devils over at Samsung have very quietly released yet another version of their Q1 UMPC into the wild, and to the delight of the few, the proud, the Origami lovers, this one features a Pentium M ULV CPU among several other spec bumps. You'll recall that the original Q1 sports a Celeron M processor, while the updated Q1b and Q1p offer Via chips to extend the battery life, and now an OrigamiPortal member named "millard" claims to have picked up a speed-stepping, Pentium-powered model at his local Fry's. Besides the improved battery life that should result from the 1.0GHz auto-adjusting processor in this new Q1 (which curiously retains the original "Q1" designation, though its model number has been changed to NP-Q1-V0002), other welcome improvements over the original include a 60GB hard drive and a full 1GB of RAM (compared to the 40GB / 512MB configuration on the debut model). At $1,249 the spec-bumped Q1 will set you back $250 more than the Celeron-powered version, but hey, it's still over $1,000 cheaper than the upcoming Q1-SSD with that hot little 32GB solid state flash drive.

[Via Carrypad and JKOTR]

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