x

I long ago resigned myself to the fact that I will never write about an Apple product without receiving at least one critical reader e-mail. That said, I was surprised at the consistency with which people were irritated by our video of Psystar's Open Computer, wherein I refer to its illicitly-installed Apple operating system as "OS Eks."

In the video of the un-boxing there was one glaring annoyance. OS X is pronounced OS TEN, not X. If you need proof of this, use a Mac system, turn on Text to Speech and type OS X. The system … Read more

Let the Xperia hysteria begin. Thanks to loose-lipped mobile content provider Handango, we may now know the general launch date of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. According to a newsletter Handango sent out to its partners, the highly anticipated Windows Mobile smartphone will launch in "mid-September 2008" with the Handango InHand service onboard. The company also noted that if partners want their software to be considered for the catalog, it must support "International English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish," so presumably, the smartphone will be available in appropriate markets. Now, we're not taking this as … Read more

Intel's long-awaited DirectX-10 graphics update for its chipsets is available.

DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling multimedia tasks in Microsoft-based environments, especially those tasks related to games and video. DirectX-10 support was mentioned by Intel as far back as 2006 when its popular 965 chipset was introduced.

The new Windows Vista driver enables DirectX10 functionality for Intel GM965 and G35 Express chipset based platforms. The GM965 uses the X3100 Intel graphics engine, while the G35 uses the X3500.

The update is available here.

"We have been able to add features to products using … Read more

Who knew that there would be an arms race in multiple monitors? First there was the six-screen "MasterPlex," then the eight from the Humanscale's hydra-headed display set-up. But all have been dwarfed by the 30 screens of 9X Media's top-end model.

The massive apparatus is customizable for as few as two monitors at a time, though that would hardly be any fun. Perhaps the most curious thing about this set-up--other than why anyone would need it, for personal use anyway--is the claim that it's an "ergonomic solution," as mentioned by BornRich. Because as … Read more

How much longer can Psystar get away with selling Open Computers?

Now that Psystar has satisfied any doubts that it's a real company making real products, the propriety of those products seems bound to be tested. In case you missed it, Psystar is currently selling Open Computers with Apple's Mac OS X Leopard preinstalled, in what appears to be a clear violation of Apple's software license agreement for that product.

There's a running joke about the number of consumers that actually read the licensing agreements that come along with new software. But these types of agreements … Read more

Discount online retailer Overstock.com announced on Thursday that it will be selling its products outside the United States for the first time.

"We're actually right smack dab in the middle of integrating," Jake Bailey, Overstock's director of international sales, said in an interview with CNET News.com on Thursday. No final date has been given for the launch of international sales, but Bailey said it will be before the end of 2008.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based company has inked a deal with E4X, which runs a service called FiftyOne Global Ecommerce. The partnership has … Read more

If you're a company that makes equipment for a medium facing extinction, it's probably not a bad idea to keep trying something different with your wares. One way is unusual designs--and in that category, Shanling excels.

The Chinese company specializes in CD players that have unique looks, specs, and characteristics, as evidenced by its tube- amplifying "MC-30 Music Center" and other models. Its latest offering is no exception: The CD-T300 Pro has four amplification valves, two remote controls, and gold-plated tube legs. But the most striking thing about it is the way it looks.

Boasting what … Read more

Way back in November of 2007, Alienware told us about its rebooted gaming laptop series: the 15-inch Area-51 m15x and the 17-inch Area-51 m17x. We first got our hands on the 15-inch version a month later in December, and it officially went on sale in February of this year, but in all that time we never heard another peep about the 17-inch model--a design that's the mainstay of any gaming laptop lineup (the only 17-inch choice was the older m9750 model).

We're pleased to say the long-awaited 17-inch Area-51 m17x is finally up and available to order on … Read more

There was a time, somewhere back in the Dark Ages before cable and satellite, when the television set needed only to have a single connection--plug it into the wall outlet, and it was good to go. That day may finally have returned for Sharp's newest line of ultra-thin LCDs with the help of Amimon, an Israeli company that developed its first chips for wireless HDMI connections last summer.

The technology--known as WHDI, for "Wireless High Definition Interface"--can send 1080p signals up to 100 feet and "through four or five walls," according to Dvice, which … Read more