Category: Peripherals
CES 2009: Thrustmaster T.16000M joystick
I’ve just had a quick look in the archives, and it’s been a long time since we covered an actual joystick product, as opposed to some sort of joystick-related piece of art or hackery. For the few of you who still use a joystick, then (flight sim enthusiasts?), here’s the Thrustmaster T.16000M.
It’s got some brand new tech, called H.E.A.R.T., which pretends to stand for “Hall Effect AccuRate Technology”. Some “Hall Effect” magnets sit on the stick, giving the sensors far more precision than most other joysticks. On each axis, there’s over 16,000 different values. That’s a little ridiculous, but might be worth buying if the person with the steadiest hands in the world is your Secret Santa next year, and is a big flight-sim enthusiast.
The T.16000M is ambidextrous, comes with 16 action buttons, and offers a wide hand rest and weighted base as additional features. It’ll be available in February and cost £50. That seems fairly cheap. Maybe I should give it a shot.
For more CES-related goodness, check out our index post.
CES 2009: Cisco announces Internet-connected Media Hub: get your music and video organised
Cisco has announced its new Media Hub (well, the Linksys by Cisco Media Hub, but that’s a bit of a “my company owns your brand” mouthful) which allows users to consolidate their home multimedia libraries and access them from their network or over the Internet.
The Hub comes preloaded with a general media server as well as an iTunes server, and automatically searches the network for other media devices, presenting music, pictures and video within a simple web browser…
Logitech shows off its revamped gaming lineup – two keyboards a headset and a mouse
Next up, it’s Logitech’s turn to show off its new products to the world. They’ve got the G19 keyboard, the G13 gameboard, the G9x mouse and the G35 surround sound headset. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that the G stands for ‘gaming’, because these are all very squarely focused at PC gamers.
I’ll start with the G19, which we spotted previously, but called the G18. In every other respect, though, it seems to be the same model – it’s got the same 320 x 240 colour LCD, the same 12 macro keys, and the superb “game mode” switch that disables the Windows key so you don’t hit it by accident at a crucial moment. No sign of that D-pad, though.
Freescale Semiconductor planning 1GHz, low-power netbook chip
At CES this week, chip makers Freescale Semiconductor will be launching a ARM chip architecture-based i.MX51 processor, that Freescale reckon could bring about $199 (£140ish) 1GHz netbooks. It’ll be a competitor to Intel’s Atom chip, which powers many of the netbooks in the market today.
However, Freescale don’t see themselves as competing with Intel, because their product is targeted at the lower end of the market, with machines running Linux rather than Windows XP. You’ll start to see machines with these chips in entering production towards the middle of the year, and showing up to buy in time for Christmas 2009.
Freescale Semiconductor (via Cnet)
Related posts: Intel chip roadmap emerges, “Medfield” and “Pineview” promised | Intel’s Xeons: faster, more eco-friendly quad core chips on the loose
LAST MINUTE GIFT IDEA: HANNspree's 8" SD8073 Digital Photo Frame
If you’re stuck for a Christmas present idea and didn’t already buy everyone you know in the whole world a digital photo frame for Christmas last year, how about a digital photo frame?
They’re relatively cheap, plus they come in a nice box so will feel like a substantial, heavy present. The SD8073 has what HANNspree calls a “high-resolution” 800×600 16:9 screen, although we’re not sure 800×600 has been considered high-res since the late-1980s. Still, it also supports MP3s and MP4 video playback…
Logitech G13 "Advanced Gameboard" is a gamer's dream add-on
I really want to try this. It’s a “Gameboard” (i.e. mini-keyboard for gamers) that’s designed to complement an existing keyboard and mouse setup, rather than replace it, like other gaming keyboards.
It’s got 25 programmable keys, as well as a programmable analogue stick and three different ‘game modes’. Logitech claims this gives you “87 ways to control their game”, though that seems like they’ve just picked a random figure out of the air. 25 x 3, plus 1, then bump it up a bit more to make it sound good?
Features-wise, it’s got backlit keys, it’s got onboard memory, so you can store your configs and port them to other PCs, it’s got a 160 x 42 LCD panel, for displaying stats and other random info, and it comes pre-configured for WoW, CoD4, and “many other popular games”. It costs £70 and appears to be available now.
DiBcom claims world's first HD DTT decoder in a USB key
DiBcom, maker of hardware for mobile TV, has claimed a world first with the introduction of its HD ready digital terrestrial decoder in a USB key device.
It’s likely that the “world’s first” claim is to do with the size of the device, because other manufacturers including Happauge and Elgato have already developed USB devices capable of receiving over-the-air HD broadcasts…
The μTRON Keyboard – a terrifying new form of Japanese brain torture
As if typing isn’t a difficult and tiresome enough chore that only exists because voice and brain recognition technology is STILL rubbish, here’s something to make it harder. The μTRON Keyboard. A keyboard that’s been chopped up and rearranged. An invention that could halve office productivity over night.
The μTRON Keyboard comes in two pieces, with the space bar relegated…
One-eyed artist plans Borg-like installation of webcam into her spare eye socket
San Francisco-based artist Tanya Vlach lost an eye in a car accident in 2006 – now she’s planning to replace her standard-issue fake eye with a webcam. Preferably wireless – and with a 3x zoom. And infra-red support so she can see what she does in the dark.
Here’s what Tanya asked for in an advert she placed for a suitable technician for the job…
Keep your porn more hidden than ever with Lenovo's 128-bit encrypted ThinkPad USB Portable Secure HD
We’re sure there are plenty of uses for external hard drives other than using them as hiding places for pornography. Like, er, as a back up for treasured family photos. 320GB of treasured family photographs.
If you have need for a large chunk of external memory and need it safely locked away behind a 128-bit virtual wall (then hidden in the loft or underneath a floorboard until you’ve got the house to yourself), Lenovo has it covered with its ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive – complete with onboard…
