MainGadget

Right on schedule , PlayStation 3 firmware 3.0 is now out and being fed directly into your console (should you opt to download it, at least), offering a number of changes to the user interface and Trophies section and animated themes with avatars.

Here is the original: 
PlayStation 3 firmware 3.0 now available

Guitar Hero and Rock Band ’s plastic axes aren’t exactly behemoths in their own right, but if you need something even tinier, little-known game accessories company NEXiLUX looks to have a more portable solution in the works. The video for its mini guitar isn’t the clearest, but from we can see, the body is about the same size as the retracted neck, which expands from behind the touch-sensitive pads to reveal the infamous quintet of colored buttons

Excerpt from:
Video: Retractible wireless Rock Band / Guitar Hero controller perfect for the five-button shredder on the go

Dell’s 11.6-inch Inspiron 11z sure looks promising, with a sub-$500 price tag and an Intel Celeron 723 / non-Atom processor, but if you ask the gang at Notebook Review to describe it, it’s unfortunately a pretty big letdown. Some minor issues with the body from the get-go, it’s apparently got one of the worst touch pads the site’s ever seen, and the 1.2GHz processor ended up underperforming compared to its Atom-based competition (although we gotta wonder how using Windows 7 instead of Vista might help here). There is some good here, with the GS45 chipset and X4500 graphics allowing for decent 3D performance and smooth 720p playback

View original here:
Dell Inspiron 11z reviewed with high hopes, disappointing realities

Nokia’s latest mystery device to hit the FCC , the RM-550 “Alvin,” holds itself in some good company given the known specs. Its 32GB internal memory is matched only by Espoo’s other flagship devices N97 and N900 , and it’s also got the same BL-5J battery as the aforementioned pseudo-MID

See the original post:
Nokia’s 32GB Alvin RM-559 hits FCC, Simon 561 and Theodore 563 nowhere to be found

We know Leica’s target demographic is decidedly less consumer and more devoted professional photography, but even still, September 9th isn’t exactly the most apt timing to maximize press coverage on a next generation camera lineup when your competition of the day will be Apple’s annual iPod event and the release of Beatles Rock Band . Still, the urge to make announcements on 9-9-2009 at 9:00AM ET has gotta be too hard to pass up, and possibly not topped until 10:00AM on October 10th of next year. Video teaser after the break; no idea what we’re expecting to see from Leica ( M8 successor , perhaps?), but we can all but guarantee it won’t be priced for mass consumption

Read more from the original source:
Leica to announce new cameras on September 9th, absolute best day to stand out in the headlines

If you’re very clumsy (or you love watching TV in the bathtub) Sony Japan has just the thing for you. The Rimotokomanda RM-PZ3SD universal remote comes in a palette of soothing colors, works with a wide variety of sets (including those by Panasonic / National, Toshiba, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Victor / JVC, Sanyo, Aiwa, Sharp, Funai / PRECIOUS, NEC, Fujitsu, Pioneer, Philips, and, of course, Sony), and offers at least a modicum of water-resistance for wet-handed TV viewing (we’ll leave that part up to your imagination). To be unleashed on the Japanese buying public “soon” for

While it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given the fairly steady growth netbooks have seen since their inception as a product category, it’s still pretty notable that they’ve apparently now managed to nearly double traditional laptops in sales growth during the second quarter of this year. That word comes from market research firm DisplaySearch, which found that netbook shipments grew an impressive 40% compared to the same quarter last year, as opposed to 22% for plain old laptops

Originally posted here:
Netbook sales growth doubles laptops in Q2 ‘09

We’re starting to get the feeling they just didn’t know about WiFi in Waterloo until now, because almost every BlackBerry hardware rumor we’re hearing lately is all about how RIM’s adding the wireless networking spec and everyone’s oh-so-happy. Case in point: today we’ve got word of a new BlackBerry Essex, which is essentially..

See more here:
BlackBerry Essex to bring WiFi on Tour?

Shoving breathalyzers into MIDs and PNDs has been all the rage overseas for quite a while, and now it looks like Toyota itself is getting in on the act. The breath-alcohol ignition-interlock system features a handset that detects alcohol on your breath (if any) and snaps your mug with a digital camera.

Excerpt from: 
Toyota develops breathalyzer ignition-interlock, BJ McKay promises to hack it

Researchers at the University of the West of England have snagged a grant to fund the building of a whole new type of robot — a non-silicon, biological plasmobot, built using plasmodium, a vegetative type of slime mold .

Go here to read the rest: 
English scientists set out to build first biological robot using mold