z00pster’s gadget blog

It seems that Dell and Microsoft may be having a falling out as of late. For the past decade Dell and Gates have been closer than Bert and Ernie, but things are beginning to drift apart after two recent changes that Dell made. First, the company began shipping desktop and notebooks over in the UK with Firefox installed as the default browser, and that’s a big Microsoft no-no. Second, today we learned that Dell will not be supporting HD-DVD even though there are reported incentives that swayed HP happily over to the HD-DVD side. Is a more mainstream option to buy a computer without an operating system coming soon? Please say it’s so, Dell.

Is the Dell/Microsoft Alliance Fracturing? [Digital Media Thoughts]

 
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Related: Intel Logo Revamping Confirmed
Related: Zalman’s Big-Ass Fan
Related: The Infinium Phantom Lives On

Yesterday we speculated on the new Intel logo. Today the confirmed news came and we were correct in our speculation. The official rebranding will take place at CES, which is less than a week away. They will be scrapping the cliché and over-parodied “Intel Inside” logo for a new design that properly reflects Intel’s latest swing into the more general consumer market. The “Intel Inside” catch line will be replaced with the new “Leap Ahead,” and as we mentioned yesterday, the individual tags placed on computers will reflect what kind of processor is being used within.

Intel Launches New Logo and Brand Renewal [DesignTechnica]

 
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Related: Zalman’s Big-Ass Fan
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Overheating overschmeating is what Cool IT Systems has to say about the Xbox 360. From day one of the Xbox 360 release there have been complaints and issues that ultimately go back to overheating, so Cool IT has done something about this by installing a water cooling system in an Xbox 360 to be unveiled at CES 2006. Expect some very pictorial coverage of this next week from CES 2006.

Press Release

 
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Related: Sony Hasn’t Learned from Microsoft’s Mistakes
Related: UK’s First HD Service Almost Here
Related: $4,000 Tube Speakers for Your iPod

Our half-brother twice-related through marriage, Kotaku, has some juicy information coming out of the rumor mill regarding the PS3 and stability. Their insider, Fishie, unlike most tippers, actually has some credibility since he reported dead-on facts about the Xbox 360 prior to E3, and now he offers a little info about the PS3:

PS3 Info Before I Head Out Of Japan Friday Towards Noon, Thats Tokyo time. Have fun waiting a while longer, boys. No way that thing is coming out in March. The games just aren’t there and lots of other isseus I can’t delve into right now.

Bunch of rubbish? If not, what does this mean for the PS3? Lots of delays? A forced release full of bugs? A complete flop? Horrible game selection that will kill a good console? What you think, Gizmodoians?

Rumor: PS3 Riddled With Issues, Delay Likely? [Kotaku]

 
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Related: UK’s First HD Service Almost Here
Related: $4,000 Tube Speakers for Your iPod
Related: Nintendo Revolution Under $299

Who wants $500? Well then click here and vote for which gizmo you think should be the top dog of 2005. With your submissions, you have the option to include an email address that will be entered into a drawing to win a $500 Circuit City gift card.

Our last two contestants are the PSP, a mobile media and gaming powerhouse, and the Treo 650, a smartphone that has revolutionized mobile communication. Same old contest rules apply so get your vote on by clicking the linkage below. Polls will close on Saturday, so hurry up you money-grubbing sheep.

Best of Gizmodo – Final Thunderdome Battle

 
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Related: Best of Gizmodo – Final Thunderdome Battle

Filed under: Cellphones

src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2005/12/tsunami_menu.jpg" alt="" />We here at Engadget pass no judgements on
those who might find cellphone based tsunami alerts to be a needed safety feature and not just some gimmicky cash-in on
public paranoia, but seriously guys. The Mobile Tsunami Detector 1.0 relies on real-time earthquake readings to create
tsunami warnings for all countries along the Indian Ocean and is a free download for Series 60 phones. So there. Now
don’t come whining to us when you’re last on the block to know.

[Via href="http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/340/C5777/">MobileMag]

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eBay is being used to fight crime? Well it was, in a way, for a 44-year-old German whose digital camera was recently stolen. What did this guy do post-theft? Naturally he tried to repurchase the same model camera to match all of his accessories, then things got a little fishy when the eBay seller whom he bought the camera from happened to be from the same town as him. Police are now questioning the seller who claims he puchased the camera at a flea market.

German buys back stolen camera on eBay [Reuters]

 
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Related: EasyShare One flickr Upload How-To
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Just how different are the traditional music hardware manufacturers from, say, Apple? Here’s an example: while Apple sues and subpoenas bloggers for repeating an internal leak about a product that never shipped, legendary music synth maker Dave Smith Instruments casually throws a description, price, and color photo of its upcoming mono keyboard on a heavily-trafficked user forum. At least, we think they’re different; haven’t checked the fax machine for legal documents yet today. Expect a phat, real analog sound, mono operation (we don’t need no stinkin’ polyphony for our synth leads), and a street price somewhere around $1000.

Rumor Mill: Dave Smith Mono Evolver Keyboard, Revealed? [Create Digital Music]

 
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Related: Yamaha Motorcycle Navigation System
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Filed under: HDTV

src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2005/12/proton.jpg" />Taiwan’s Proton will roll out a series of HD LCDs at CES
next week, in sizes ranging from 37 to 55 inches. The displays will support both 1080p and 1080i, and will come
equipped with both digital and analog tuners. Sure, 55 inches may not be all that big anymore (though most of the
affordable sets in that size tend to be either rear-projection or DLP), but we’re banking on continued competition from
companies like Proton to keep driving prices down, to the point where we can actually put one of these on the wall of
every room in the Engadget mansion. We’ll try to grill these guys for some pricing info (the 37-incher has an MSRP of
$2,799, but we don’t really care about that) when we’re at CES.

[Via href="http://www.tgdaily.com/2005/12/30/proton_lcd_tv/">TG Daily]

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2005/12/playsforsure.gif" /> ED Digital are some new kids on the LCD TV block,
but they’re bringing the goods. They have been working with Microsoft on integrating href="http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=Windows Media Connect">Windows Media Connect into their forthcoming
Digitrex HD LCD TVs and will be showing their wares at CES. Making a network hookup into the next video connector via
your PC seems like a natural extension of the technology, and we sure wouldn’t mind putzing around with a bit of href="http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=PlaysForSure">PlaysForSure media directly on our TV, but somehow the
Microsoftyness seems a bit more restrictive when you’re not hooking up a whole Media PC to your display, so you let’s
hope some more vendors get in on this party.

[Via href="http://www.hdbeat.com/2005/12/30/hdtv-with-built-in-windows-media-connect/">HD Beat]

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