World's Most Expensive iPod up for Sale...!!!!

Charity auctions usually imply that there’s some really cool stuff on sale and that doesn’t really mean it’s all about the arts and crafts or boats and cars, gadgets also have their merit at these functions. It would seem like the world's most popular music player the iPod was also up for grabs at a recent London Charity Auction – the model – the Apple iPod Shuffle. If you’re thinking it was something that you’d see in any store you’d be dead wrong.

What was up on sale at the auction was what they’re calling the ‘worlds most expensive iPod’ which was essentially a diamond studded, 18 karat, white and pink gold iPod Shuffle. Reportedly it has a total of 430 diamonds and was created by Thomas Heyerdahl. It wasn’t just the Shuffle that was diamond encased, the earphones were as well. The device was estimated at about 20,000 pounds that's equivalent to about Rs. 1,639,673.55. Talk about RICH sound quality.Source

Widescreen Multimedia Laptops by LG

LG has announced the launch of its new range of widescreen entertainment notebooks- the E200 (12.1") and the E300 (13.3"). These notebooks come with power saving modules which offers extended battery life.

The laptops are powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors and have a stylish curl-fit design with LG Fine Bright LCD Technology that delivers vivid and life like images. Some of their other specifications include an ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 for their graphics, LG Smart Cam (Web Camera: 1.3 Mega Pixel), HDMI port, 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader (XD/SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro), Express Card Slot (34) and a Built-in DVD Writer.

"LG Electronics prides itself at being at the forefront of new technologies in terms of notebooks. Our new range of notebooks will forever change the digital entertainment experience of both the business and home users," said Mr. V Ramachandran, Director, Sales &Marketing, LGEIL.

The E200 and E300 are available in the market for the consumers at an MRP of Rs. 51,500 and Rs. 57,000 respectively.Source

iRiver E100 PMP Intoduced.......

IRiver has recently launched a new PMP, the E100. This loaded player comes equipped with plenty of all round features that include memory expansion via microSD cards. It’s also a neatly designed player with dimensions like - 3.65" x 1.88" x 0.44" and weighs in at just about 2.09 ounces. Its 2.4 inch TFT QVGA display has a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels so video viewing won’t be a problem at all.

Other features, besides its music and video playing capabilities, include an FM radio with a Timer Recording feature, image viewer that supports JPG, BMP, PNG and GIF formats, a voice recorder and a .TXT viewer as well. For video it supports MPEG4 and WMV formats and audio - MP3, WMA, ASF, OGG, FLAC ((Free Lossless Audio Codec). The E100 also incorporates SRS WOW HD sound field technology for a better audio experience. The device also uses an intuitive D*Click interface which makes things easier for navigation.

The E100 also has a line in socket for recording and supports USB data connectivity for file transfer. Like some of the other PMPs being launched lately, the E100 also has in-built speakers. It’s also out in 5 color variations viz. black, white, pink, sky blue and chocolate. The E100 is available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities and are priced at approximately Rs. 4,725 ($117), Rs. 5,936 ($147) and Rs. 8,683 ($215) respectively. However, there's no news on when it'll be launched in India. Stay tuned.Source

Sony Headphones Claim 99% Noise Reduction......!!!!!

Headphones that claim to reduce up to 99 percent of ambient noise at 160HZ, which happens to be the peak frequency of a jet engine -- Sony's MDR-NC500D -- have started shipping in the Japanese market.
Touted as truly the world's first digital noise-canceling headphones, the six-ounces MDR-NC500D headphones use digital technology to more accurately reduce stress-inducing noise from planes, trains, and buses, while providing a high-quality audio experience. This is the result of a unique digital noise-canceling software engine, a set of digital filters located in the built-in digital signal processor, the company said. Using digital technology, the headphones automatically create waves that travel in the opposite direction to noise waves. Noise is eliminated by the conflicting waves canceling each other out. The company claims that this digital-based process enables more effective noise cancellation than is possible using analog filter technology. The headphones offer three distinct noise-canceling modes optimized for different environments, including airplanes, trains/buses, or offices. According to the company, each mode uses a different digital filter in the digital signal processor, which is specifically tuned for effective noise reduction in these different sound environments. By pressing an artificial intelligence (AI) noise-canceling button placed outside of the right ear piece, the headphones scan the ambient noise profile and intelligently select the best mode to cancel out the highest amount of unwanted sound, the company said. In addition, the monitor switch allows users to temporarily suspend the noise-cancellation feature and mute the music to listen to flight announcements.
The MDR-NC500D headphones are powered by an internal lithium-ion battery that can operate for up to 16 hours on a single charge. The headphones are expected to roll out Japan in April for an approximate price of 49,350 yen.Source

Haze to be a PS3 Exclusive...for always

After making us believe for months on end that Haze may eventually land up on other platforms we get word via Ripten.com that the game will in fact remain a PS3 exclusive... forever!

While playing through the game we got speaking to two independent Ubisoft reps. On asking both separately whether the game will ever come out on the Xbox 360, they said in a resolute fashion that the game is not only a timed PS3 exclusive, but will never make its way onto any other platform. This result is apparently a recent decision, but final. Sony must have paid Ubisoft/Free Radical a nice little packet to bag this one.

Truth is I was never too keen on this game so this really doesn’t affect me a lot and more importantly GTA IV releases in just 42 days so I guess nothing can upset me now.Source

GTA IV muliplayer modes.......listed.........

As you all know, GTA IV is going to be a definitive "next gen experience" in every possible way and making this experience even sweeter is the fact that GTA IV is going to be crammed with 15, yes 15 Multiplayer modes that go something like this:

• Hangman's NOOSE
• Car Jack City
• Bomb da Base
• Bomb da Base II
• Mafia Work
• Team Mafia Work
• Deathmatch
• Team Deathmatch
• Turf War
• 10. Cops n Crooks
• Race
• GTA Race
• Deal Breaker
• Free Mode
• (some other mode?)

But, for a more detailed look at the modes, you’ll still have to wait for a while.Source

LOTRO Expansion 'Mines of Moria' Declared

The first expansion to Turbine’s Tolkien based MMORPG – Lord of the Rings Online: Shadow of Angmar – was announced at Connect 08 in Birmingham. The expansion will see LOTRO players dive deep into the goblin populated underworld, and will be called ‘Mines of Moria’.

The level cap will be raised from 50 to 60, as high leveled players will get a chance to venture out of the kingdom of Eraidor, and fight bosses like the Balrog and the Watcher.Source

Mobile Quad-Core Processors to be Launched by Intel

Keeping in mind the advent of desktop based quad-core processors in the mainstream, it was just a matter of time before they showed up in a mobile version too. This was confirmed by Digitimes, which goes onto say that Intel will be planning to launch its first quad-core CPU for notebooks, the Core 2 Extreme QX9300, in the third quarter this year. This new processor will be manufactured at 45nm and have a core frequency of 2.53GHz. The CPU will support FSB speeds up to 1066MHz, include 12MB L2 cache and have a maximum TDP of 45W.

While this announcement is good in terms of consumer choice, it raises a number of interesting questions. Despite the low heat dissipation of these processors, they will be a lot more power hungry as compared to standard dual-core processors and this will directly affect battery life. Secondly with such powerful chips, the GPU market will also need to keep pace enabling more realistic gaming on laptops, which is abysmal to say the least at its very best.Source

9051H Cheetah Professional Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Kit

The Cheetah Gaming Keyboard features 17 individual keys specifically for gaming input commands. The unique gaming keys are ergonomically designed and laid out on a gaming wheel for adjustable gaming positions. The keyboard features two sets of user customized commands configured in A and B memory modes, and can be setup for different games, or within the same game for different character controls. The Cheetah Gaming Keyboard use patented multicolored backlight technology that can be enabled at the press of a hotkey. If the speed of key presses increase during intense gaming, the color of the backlight will gradually turn red. When the keyboard is left idle mode, the backlight of the keyboard will glow blue.

This Laser Gaming Mouse reigns supreme with a true 2000dpi Laser sensor, which enables movement speeds of 2 times that of a standard 800dpi optical sensor. In the meanwhile, 2000 dpi Gamer - Grade Laser Engine for enhanced tracking on a wider range of surfaces.Gamers may now use 3 DPI Shift to speed up or slow down the pace of the mouse at their fingertips. Click to quickly shift from 800,1300 to 2000 DPI as the scroll wheel changes color -800(green) / 1300(blue) / 2000(red) dpi resolution between shifts.It also provides two programmable gaming buttons - Virtual-Run button and Wave Action button. In game play this powerful and useful Wave Action button, fires forever with just one click, and holding Virtual-run button, let you instant 180 degree turnaround to easily defeat your opponent.
Like a Cheetah attacking its prey this gaming keyboard and mouse kit will enable you to play games with breathtaking speed and ultimate precision ! Join the gaming elite using the 9051H Cheetah Professional Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Kit — your competition doesn't stand a chance!Source

USBee is flexible, doesn't fall apart.....

How many times have you broken a USB flash drive? I’m pretty hard on mine, and I can think of three different drives that I’ve broken. Two of them had the USB connector broken off due to me just being clumsy while the third’s outer casing just kind of fell apart. This is why I usually take interest in any such drives that claim to be resistant to breakage such as this USBee (get it?) concept drive.

This bee-themed concept drive utilizes a combination of a silicon and aluminum shell which allows for a bendable neck. The ability to bend at the neck will help to prevent both the drive and the USB port from getting broken. The black stripes are actually a cleverly-disguised cooling system to keep it from getting too warm. This is currently only a concept, so who knows if we’ll ever see it in production.Source