Month: June 2003

CNet has a first look at the Toshiba Satellite 5205-S705, which is a tricked out Pentium 4 laptop running Microsoft Windows XP Media Center OS. The laptop has an internal TV tuner, 15″ UXGA display, 60 gig HD, and DVD burner. The laptop can be plugged into the TV for watching recorded programs, or taken on the road for mobile entertainment. Oh yeah, it can also use regular XP programs, if you have to do work (ick!). Price is around $2700.

If you’re still loaded with cash during this recession, and have the leisure time for golf or sailing, you might want to check out Suunto‘s new line of GPS watches. The M9 and G9 are for marine use and golf use respectively. They provide unique funtions for each sport; the G9 counts strokes and calculates the length of your drives, while the M9 has a man-overboard feature that sets the exact position of your crewman’s departure from the boat so you can come back to get him (when you’re done with your Bloody Mary, of course). Both use internal GPS receivers to calculate your position within 3 feet, and can track way points and speed, etc. Both watches also include alitimeter, barometer and tilt-corrected compass functions (the latter being particularly important since a GPS cannot tell you direction unless you’re moving). Street price for the M9 is around $650, for the G9 around $725. GPS watches from Suunto for real sports like mountaineering are expected soon.

Fossil will soon be releasing three versions of its Palm OS-based watch — a plastic “sport” model, a metal-band model and a leather band model (pictured). Each has 2 megs of RAM, runs Palm OS 4.1 on a 33MHz Dragonball chip, and has a 1.4″ 16-shade grayscale 160×160 touchscreen, with a tiny stylus built-in to the band. The watches also have a USB port for syncing and IR port for communicating with laptops or POPping email via cell phone. Available exclusively from Amazon for $295, shipping June 30th.

RIM, maker of one of the most widely lauded wireless communication devices, has released a new color version of their handheld for the European market. The RIM 7230 combines a tri-band GSm cell phone and PDA features with a text-messaging/email focused device. It also runs Java for 3rd party applications. Check Infosync for more specs and hi-res pics.

Sony has announced a new version of the Playstation 2 will be released before x-mas in Japan, and later in the US. The PSX, as it is called, will be based on the same chipset for gaming as the Playstation 2, but adds significant new features, inlcluding a TV tuner and 120 GB hard drive for TiVo functionality, a DVD-R (or DVD+R?) for archiving programs and ethernet connectivity. Price is unknown, but expect around $499 initial price at least. Check PSX Extreme for pics.