gadget news and reviews

SlingBox Solo + iPhone SlingPlayer (Review) +

I rarely begin a review by drawing final thoughts right off the bat, but the SlingBox Solo simply rocks. For those that haven’t heard of SlingBox, it’s a little set-top box that streams a residential Satellite or Cable TV feed over the internet for remote viewing on a Mac, PC, or mobile device. That means being able to enjoy the TV content you receive at home from just about anywhere that has internet access. Asides from wishing for a few additional features in a future iteration, this was simply one of the few products that worked so well right out of the box that it deserves commendation. There are usually many pitfalls set-top boxes wind up in, but fortunately, SlingMedia got it all right. Read More

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 Netbook (Review) 2

The IdeaPad S10-2 Netbook is likely Lenovo’s final model running on Intel’s Atom Diamondville processors as most new models are taking the leap to the Pineview series. Although this might be at the verge of getting “outdated” as the new IdeaPad S10-3 series is just beginning to hit shelves, these will begin to drop in price and will still be worth every penny. With a 6-cell battery offering nearly 8 hours of juice on Windows XP and 7 hours with Windows 7, it’s quite impressive. I’ve been putting it to the test for the past few weeks and here’s what we found:

The Specifications:

• Processor: 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
• OS: Windows XP Home with SP3
• RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
• Screen: 10.1-inch LED Glossy 1024×600
• HDD: 160GB at 5400RPM
• Video: Intel GMA 950
• Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
• Battery: 6-cell Lithium-Ion
• Card Reader: 4-in-1
• Ports: 3x USB, VGA, Ethernet
• Weight: 2.65 lbs with 6-cell

Read More

Apple Announces The iPad 4

Apple just finished up their Press Conference at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco and finally announced their poorly kept secret: the iPad. There’s a lot that the media expected, however details such as the price range was quite impressive. So here’s what it can do:

“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way”

Read More

In Photos: Palm Pre Plus & Pixi Plus +

About two weeks ago at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Verizon Wireless and Palm announced a new partnership and the launch of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus. Our review units just came in, courtesy of Verizon Wireless, and these are looking great. There’s one big difference between the ‘Plus’ and the regular version that we reviewed for Sprint last year: it sports a built-in hotspot feature. With just one-click, customers can enable a local WiFi hotspot for up to five devices. And of course, it that will run off Verizon Wireless’s 3G network. Both the phones still sport the existing popular features such as the webOS, Palm Synergy, App Catalog, QWERTY keybaords, WiFi b/g, GPS, Email, MMS, Sensors (Proximity, Light, Accelerometer), replaceable batteries, and much more.

The Pre Plus also comes with some extra goodies over its predecessor. It now comes with a touch-stone enabled rear cover. You won’t need to spend extra cash if you decided to buy a Touchstone Dock. The phone now has 16GB of internal storage versus the 8GB available on its older sibling still running on the Sprint network. The phone also has double the RAM, meaning more multitasking. The hardware gesture key is now embedded into the casing and is no longer visible, but functions just the same. The Pixi Plus also has some improvements in addition to the new hotspot feature. Yes, if you didn’t guess already, that means the Pixi now has WiFi. It’s also compatible with a variety of designer rear plates that are all compatible with the Touchstone Dock. Read More

Sprint Overdrive (Preview) +

During the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Dominic Raad and I attended Sprint’s Hottest Spot 4G event. Although we arrived late since Microsoft’s Press Conference lasted longer than expected due to a power failure, we still made it to the event. Steve Ballmer made it to the stage and presented to the audience at Sprint’s event immediately after his own keynote even though we didn’t make it there on time. Sprint’s CEO, Dan Hesse, hosted the event and Best Buy’s CEO, Brain Dunn, joined him on stage as well. The topic was of course their new 4G offerings and a the new Overdrive personal WiFi hotspot, much like Verizon’s MiFi. Read More

SanDisk Extreme 32GB SDHC (Review) 2

SanDisk was kind enough to lend us one of their most expensive memory cards, the SDHC 32GB Class 10. With an advertised 30MB/s transfer speed, we couldn’t resist to put it to the test. The capacity alone is enough to heighten any hard-core photographer’s interest. But the cost, convenience, speeds, and compatibility are important factors to consider. So after some benchmarks and real-life use tests in an entry level DSLR camera, here’s what we found.

Performance:
If you are a professional photographer, it’s a pain when your DSLR camera has to freeze up for a few seconds to wait for the data to get copied over from the cache to the memory card. It’s annoying when you realize that you finally have a great camera but the cheap included memory card is a bottleneck. Although speeds aren’t necessarily an issue for casual consumers, those making their way into professional photography will find many situations when fast write speeds are necessary. Sports games and keynote presentations are great examples of when the burst mode demands fast write speeds. SanDisk’s Class 10 SDHC memory cards hopes to solve those problems. Read More

OrigAudio Fold & Play Speaker Giveaway 31

Last month we gaveaway a Powermat wireless charger to one of our lucky readers. Today, we’ve got 5 OrigAudio Fold & Play speakers to hand out. If you haven’t heard of these, it’s a portable foldable eco-friendly speaker system that works with iPods, Zunes, or device with standard headphone jack. We’ve got our full in-depth review here as well. (Each cost $15) Here’s how it’s going to work:

Special thanks to Orig Audio (@origaudio) for sponsoring our giveaway!

How to enter the contest (TWO Options):

Option 1:

1. Become a Facebook Fan of Skatter Tech
2. Use Facebook Connect to leave a comment below

Option 2:

1. Follow @skattertech on Twitter
2. Click here to retweet the following message

Some Rules Apply:

• Don’t try to enter more than once. (We have robots!)
• Must live in the United States. 13 and older only.
• Winner is randomly chosen by computer auto generator.
• Entries close after Thursday 01/22/10 11:59 PM (PST).
• Winner will be announced on this post on the next day.
• Winner has 24 hours to respond to DM or Facebook Message.

That’s pretty much it. If you don’t know what Facebook Connect is, it’s simple. Just click on “FB Connect” next to the comment box and login with your Facebook Account. If you do that and become a Fan of Skatter Tech, you’re in! And for Twitter, if you don’t have an account, just get one! It’s quick!

UPDATE: Contest entries closed. We’ll be posting results shortly.

The Results: The winners are: Poline Chuon, David Chang, Dev Butt, Mariela Elizabeth Lopez, and Tuyen Nguyen! We’ll be contacting you shortly to get you your free set of OrigAudio Speakers!

CES 2010: Audiovox Press Conference Live +

11:00 AM – Press conference just started. Tom Malone is speaking.

11:02 AM – Preview of FLO TV. A IPTV streaming service. Getting good content and channels was first priority. It happened.

11:04 AM – New hardware piece announcement. It’s for cars. Companies have to install it into their vehicles. It allows the TV service platform to be delivered to cars. Read More

CES 2010: Toshiba Press Conference Live +

Just got seated in Toshiba’s Press Conference. It’s starting. Here we go!

10:00 AM – A quick preview of Times Square Toshiba Ads!

10:03 AM – Toshiba’s representative just took stage. Talking about Social Media and dialogue between companies and customers.

10:05 AM – Toshiba is showing off their new Ad campaign

10:07 AM – They want us to tweet and update Facebook statuses more! They are launching a new social media hub. Read More

Dell Refreshes Mini 10 For 2010 +

Although analysts keep debating whether Netbooks are a brief trend or whether there here to stay, they’ve still been fairly good sellers. The current generation of Netbooks running on Intel’s Atom N270 have a few drawbacks. While they are highly efficient when it comes to conserving battery life, they begin to choke during media playback. These are great for web browsing, word processing, but often can’t handle much more. That’s all about to change. Intel’s new N450 Atom processor will become available in netbooks in early January. Paired with a new graphics chip, the new processor will run faster and consume even less power. Dell’s new Mini 10 will be sporting that processor.

In addition to the new Atom processor, the 2010 refresh of Mini 10 claims up to 9.5 hours of battery life (6-cell), a new Broadcom HD media accelerator, surround sound, an optional built-in HDTV tuner, Bluetooth, and  WiFi with a GPS module. The Mini 10 is also available with Mobile Broadband as well. The current lineup looks like it will be available in 6 colors: Blue, Red, Pink, Green, Black and White. Read More