Engadget

Solar powered denim jacket at CeBIT

by Andres Palmiter posted Mar 13th 2006 at 11:57AM

We're not exactly sure whether a technology trade show is the best place to debut a new line of denim wear, but who are we to argue with Bogner Jeans' solar jean jacket? Bogner promises the jacket will keep your iPod, cellphone, and laptop charged as you make your way through the day (though we'll probably stick with a solar paneled bag for charging up the laptop). Although we won't argue with yet another product looking out for the battery life of gadgets, we're not sure if sticking some solar panel shoulder patches on designer denim is going to make for the best look. Even a big Roadhouse fan would have to admit that lugging a laptop around in your jacket doesn't make you look any tougher, but then again, neither does having Swayze's immaculately combed hair and rugged good looks.

MviX MV-5000U reviewed

by Andres Palmiter posted Mar 13th 2006 at 4:45AM

The MviX MV-5000U, yet another product trying to seduce its way into your livingroom, got a glowing review from Tom's Hardware for its audio / video capabilities. Bought as a case or equipped with a 80GB, 160GB, 250GB, or 300GB hard drive, the MV-5000U packs standalone audio, video, and photo viewing capabilities, an IR remote control, FM transmitter, a small LCD display, optical, coaxial, RCA composite, S-Video, and component outputs. Whether connected to your computer via its USB 2.0 cable, or left on its own by your TV, the MV-5000U handles MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, AVI, DVD and XviD on the video side of things, and MP3, AC3, WMA, OGG, and DTS on audio. Considering Tom's Hardware says this thing can do everything it says it can, and with a slick TV setup interface to boot, we just can't understand why other hard drive manufacturers have been holding out on us for so long. There are a couple downers for the MV-5000U, though: no network interface and no second USB port. Don't hang your head MviX, you did good, real good.

Robot bartender listens, makes jokes

by Andres Palmiter posted Mar 12th 2006 at 9:56PM

We've got plenty of robots more than happy to get behind the bar for a shift, but we wish they could be a little more personable as they make our gin tonic with soulless precision. We're not talking about dancing on the bar or anything, but we all know how therapeutic a long talk with your local bottleman can be (we prefer Lloyd at the Overlook). Enter the University of Saarland's barbot, which understands voice commands and will mix you a drink while telling ingredient-specific jokes (let's hope this feature plays better in German than it would in English) -- it'll even even tell you the alcohol content of your libation. Thanks though, we'll decide for ourselves when enough is enough (unless there's also robo-bouncer present).

SanDisk e270 reviewed

by Andres Palmiter posted Mar 12th 2006 at 7:20PM

After SanDisk announced their superiority over every portable audio player manufacturer (except one), you might have thought they were getting a little too big for their britches. Well, CNET finally got their hands on SanDisk's e270 (the 4GB flash-based player from their e200 series) and ran it through its paces. Is the e270 going to give the iPod nano a run for its money? Well, maybe. With built-in voice recording, photo and video playback, a removeable battery, FM-tuner, and a MicroSD slot, SanDisk's feature set seems to one up the nano, but there are some caveats. CNET notes the scroll wheel isn't all that great, photos have to be converted using bundled software, you can only record WAV files, and some mechanical noise bleeds through the headphones during playback. Praising the e270's durability twice, CNET seems to be taking a not-so-subtle swipe at the competition. Either that, or the SanDisk is really just that durable.

[Thanks, J. Brown]

Panasonic's KX-TG9000 cordless Skype phone

by Andres Palmiter posted Mar 12th 2006 at 5:07PM

Slowly but surely Skype is aiming to take over your phone. And for those who don't have access to a PC, WiFi, a Skype-equipped cellphone, or a router (all of you 13 lonely souls), Panasonic and Skype's cordless phone lovechild was finally announced at CeBIT. Using a run of the mill DECT cordless phone base station, Panasonic's KX-TG9000 series phones (pic is of Skype-less KX-TG5456S) handles calls through your traditional landline or Skype's P2P network via a broadband internet link. Besides not requiring a router or PC, Panasonic's offerings will support free calls between Skype accounts, SkypeIn, SkypeOut, Voicemail, and allow users to choose whether their outgoing calls are handled by Skype's network or their landline. Move over a little Ma Bell, Skype phones aren't just for Engadget readers anymore.

V-Gear's TalkCam Beauty at CeBIT

by Andres Palmiter posted Mar 11th 2006 at 9:35PM

Unless your webcam is saving lives, most people are merely content using theirs to communicate with family and friends. But the good lawd knows we can't always get dolled up to video conference: enter the V-Gear's TalkCam Beauty with its "One Button BeautyMode." Never having to cover up a fat zit again had us excited for a second, but then we found out just how V-Gear defines beauty: white, super-white, normal and bronze. We're a little dubious about the effectiveness of V-Gear's tech (or exactly why anyone would want to be super-white), so it might just be smartest to take the $39 V-Gear plans to sell these for and finally go invest in a comb, some shampoo, and some concealer.

[Via Tech Digest]