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Russound has introduced their new UNO-TS2D Desktop Color Touchscreen, which controls their multizone audio system and other peripherals.  The device is a great design for a kitchen computer… it’s a shame that it’s primary function is to control your home audio system.  Other places you could use it are on your night-stand, desk, or living room.  The controller is derived from Russound’s wall-mounted UNO-TS2 Color Touchscreen.  The UNO-TS2D begins shipping in Q1 of 2006.  It will run you $1,499.

Via [eHomeUpgrade]

Cingular announced today that they are beginning shipment of the Motorola SLVR L7 phone with iTunes (still a 100 song limit like the ROKR E1).  The slim candy-bar style phone, which first surfaced in November, features a VGA camera, 262K TFT color display, a 512 MB MicroSD card, built-in stereo speakers, and an EMU-to-3.5mm headset adapter.  The SLVR is available for $199 with a 2 year contract.

Check out the SLVR L7’s product page.

Via [Ployer]

Dave Rubin is comedian and writer who has pitched shows to HBO, Showtime and Comedy Central.  His cable access show, “The Anti Show” was secretly shot at NBC studios in New York.  Dave lives with his gold fish, Fritz. He will be updating us on his quest to conquer the tech world, in a new weekly column here on Gadgetell.

My days are limited, and I know it.  For the first time in my life, at 29 years old, I have begun to look back on my life and wonder where the time has gone.  Things were going so well, so smoothly, until that fateful Saturday two weeks ago.  That was the day that it all changed.  That was the day that my 14 year old cousin beat me at Madden Football on X-Box 360…

It seems like only yesterday that I could sit Alex down in front of my Sega Genesis and put the game on “Computer Mode” and let him think that he was actually playing.  It was a win-win situation back then.  He didn’t know that he in fact was doing nothing, and for me, I didn’t have to play against a 4 year old.  Clever, indeed.

As time went on he learned to how to actually play and over the years we’ve played every version Madden known to man.  We’ve matured from Sega Genesis, to the original Playstation, to PS2 and finally to X-Box 360.  I should’ve known before we sat down that day that disaster was about to strike, I mean the controllers don’t even have wires, but I played nonetheless.

Ultimately, the reason for my loss wasn’t because of my advanced age, or because of my lack of practice, but because of the evolution of the video game controller.  See, I grew up playing the original 8-bit Nintendo.  Oh, those were the days.  The controller had only 2 buttons, “A” and “B”, and they were more then enough.  I mean for God’s sake, we even could do fancy codes in there like Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right- B-A-Select-Start to get 30 lives in “Contra.” Yea, they were good times.

Continue on the road to Dave’s gaming retirement…

Then, along came Sega Genesis, with it’s three button controller.  At first I didn’t like the “C” button, but I soon grew accustomed to it, and dare I say my best video game playing days were on this 16-bit system.  Sonic ran where I wanted him to and jumped whenever it was appropriate.  Those too, were good times.

A couple years later, my sophomore year of college to be precise, came Playstation.  Originally, I was scared of the system altogether, much less the controller itself, but eventually I gave it a try.  I found it quite bizarre that the buttons had shapes on them, like square and triangle, instead of letters, but I like to think that I can change with the times, and I think that my play in “NBA Live ’98” reflected such.  The good times continued to roll.

Within weeks of buying PS2, I knew that my best video game playing days were behind me.  Somehow, while I shot my way through “Metal Gear Solid” on Playstation, I just couldn’t get a hold of the second one on PS2.  The controller was the same, but something about it just wasn’t right.  Nonetheless, I have played and continue to play many games on PS2, and while often am frustrated, I still have my shining moments.

And now back to where we started.  I shouldn’t have even played my cousin on that day.  See, I had been doing a lot of drinking the night before and forgot that I had to make the trek on the train all the way out to New Jersey from New York City early in the morning.  On the train I sat next to an old woman who told me her life story while knitting.  By the time I got to Jersey I was a complete mess, and before I could even sit down my cousin Alex was challenging me to a game of Madden ’06 on X-Box 360.

A half hour later I came upstairs from the basement as a defeated man.  Yea, the buttons were mostly the same as the original X-Box, but the various circumstances left my coming up short.  The 4 interceptions I threw probably didn’t help, nor did the two safety’s.  (For the record though, I do think I’m the first person to ever get even one safety in a football video game.)

Anyways, my retirement from video games is now a forgone conclusion.  However, I want to wish all you video game hotshots out there the best of luck when you’re my age and you’re playing against your younger, quicker cousin who also happens to be so hopped up on Ritalin that he can actually leave the room to get a drink during a defensive play and still manage to sack you in the endzone.

So good luck to you, and try to stay as far away as possible from the new Nintendo Revolution Controller…

Read more of Dave’s musing at The Daily Dave

The PSP evidently was not Sony’s first attempt to create a portable gaming device. Skatter Tech has details of another portable device that Sony drew up in December of 1998. The “PocketStation” was set to compete with Sega’s VMU for the DreamCast. The unit was released in Japan, but was never released in the United States or other countries. It probably failed because there was no type of game cartridge to insert into the unit.

To play games on the unit you were required to own a PlayStation One. Then to get games onto the Pocket Station you had to plug the unit into the memory card slot on the PS1 then transfer games over. The Pocket Station had speakers, a clock, infrared (for multiplayer), and served as a memory card.  Another pic and technical specs after the break.

Technical Specs:

• CPU : ARM7T (32 bit RISC Processor)


• Memory : SRAM 2K bytes & Flash RAM 128K bytes


• Graphics : 32 x 32 dot Monochrome LCD


• Sound : Mini Speaker (12 bit PCM) x 1 unit


• Switches : 5 input buttons + 1 reset button


• Infrared : Bi-directional (IrDA based)


• Dimensions : 64 x 42 x 13.5 mm (L x W x H)


• Weight : Approx. 30g (w/ battery)

Read [Skatter Tech]
Images via Vidgame.net

Unicon Systems’ MCopy connects USB devices together, transferring data and content between them. With 2 Hi-Speed USB connectors, a USB mini OTG, and an internal SD card slot, you can now eliminate the need for a PC in the middle. The unit sports a 3.5” 262k color touch screen LCD that is useful for file transfers and flipping through photo albums. The MCopy supports MP3 playback as well.

Read [Ubergizmo]

After we posted our rumor of a redesigned Nintendo DS, the company released a statement declaring that there would be no redesign. Well today Nintendo Japan announced Nintendo DS Lite. This unit shaves off 1/3rd of the bulk and 20-percent of the weight, and will sport a brighter screen than it’s older brother (much like Sony’s PS2 redesign a year back). The unit will be released in Japan on March 2nd for Â¥16,800 (about $145).

Japanese release date: March 2, 2006 (Details on the North American release coming soon)
Weight: 218g (compare to 275g for the current Nintendo DS)

Dimensions: 133mm x 73.9mm x 21.5mm

Read [Engadget]

JVC launched flash memory players in different colors in 512MB and 1GB memory capacity. The 1GB players XA-E105-B/-S and 512 MB capacity players XA-E55-A/-R/-S has built in FM tuner & voice recording function. The players support MP3, WMA, and WMA-DRM formats. The player can also be used as a USB mass storage device for storing music, data, and picture files, a great feature that we have missed since the death of Rio Audio. The system has 5 pre set equalizer and a 5 band custom equalizer.

The players will last for about 15 hours. The dimensions are 73 x 17.5 x 41 mm and weigh 39 grams.

Read [New Launches]

Gizmodo has caught wind of rumors that Sony is about to announce a smaller, lighter and lower-priced HDV camcorder for the consumer market. The HDV-HC1 is lower-priced, HD camcorder is hyped to bring HD into the home video department. The camera records (thankfully) on a well known format, the DV.

The Sony HDR-HC3 will reportedly have a single 1/3” 2-megapixel CCD, 10x optical zoom, a 16x9, 2.7-inch, 211,000 pixel LCD viewfinder screen and will be about 5.5 inches long. The camera will record on DV tapes, and has a powered automatic lens cover that opens when the camera is turned on. The 1080i, 25 megabit-per-second unit is expected to be announced about two months from now. Being the HC3 one would expect that it will come in priced less than the HC1 (which sells for $1500).

Read [Gizmodo]

Makayama’s PSP Media Studio 2.0 offers a 300% increase in conversion speed from DVD to PSP (45 minutes per DVD transferred).  The software allows users to pick any video file from their hard drive, CD, or DVD and the PSP Media Studio turns it into a compressed movie file for transfer over to a MemoryStick.

The software is compatible with AVI, MPEG1, DivX, XVID, VOB, and ASF formats. The PSP Media Studio 2.0 goes for $32.95 while existing users may upgrade for only $14.95.

Read [Ubergizmo]

Can’t do a perfect pour for the life of you?  If you’re a challenged beer pourer, or just love having little gadgets around, you’ll be interested in Asahi’s new beer robot.  The bot will refrigerate up to 6 cans of your favorite brew (or soda for you little ones) and will get you the perfect pour every time.

The company only has 5,000 of these guys available so you’re going to have to do some dirty work to get one.  Applicants are required to collect 36 seals from Asahi beer cans.  There will then be a contest held from February 20 to May 22.  Start drinking now to have a chance to get an Asahi beer bot.

Check out the PR.

Via [Random Crap Online]