All 4 Toys

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Addison, who now needs a shiny new laptop bag to house that shiny new laptop that arrived for Christmas. The kicker? TSA approval is passionately desired.
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Sony Ericsson extends its lineage of entertainment phones line-up with the new Sony Ericsson Vivaz a.k.a Kurara touchscreen smartphone, where it will features a 3.2-inch touchscreen display, Bluetooth, WiFi, FM tuner, A-GPS with Google Maps, built-in media player, DLNA support, microSD card slot, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a 8MP camera with face and smile detection and can record 720p HD video. The Sony Ericsson Vivaz also offers the customers to access a popular social media sites, including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter easily, similar function with the XPERIA X10. Other features include tri-band UMTS/HSPA 3.5G and quad-band GSM/EDGE networks supports, Moon Silver, Cosmic Black, Galaxy Blue and Venus Ruby colors, and running Symbian OS. No idea on pricing, but you should be seeing this one hit shelves in Q1 of 2010. See Video preview and image gallery after the jump

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Think Sony would be happy with just making its latest shooter waterproof and calling it a day? Not a chance. Early information on this as yet unannounced compact indicates a 10fps burst mode, 4x optical zoom with optical image stabilization, an intriguing image stacking mode for reduced noise in high ISO shots, and full 1080p MPEG-4 movie recording. 1080i / 60fps AVCHD video is also possible, apparently, and if recent trends are continued the DSC-TX5 will also be able to store media on SD cards. Hallelujah. You’ll find a couple more water-soaked images after the break, and the official launch is expected to take place at PMA 2010. Read more »

TruTouch Technologies has been working on various non-invasive means to detect intoxication for quite a while now (like the rather elaborate TruTouch Guardian pictured at right), but it looks like it’s set to simplify things even further with its new TruTouch 2000 device, which has apparently passed though clinical tests with flying colors. Like the Guardian, the TruTouch 2000 uses near infrared light to detect possible intoxication, but it’s apparently able to do that by simply scanning your finger instead of your entire forearm. Quite the leap, to be sure, but TruTouch says that the device is able to ‘produce accurate results in less than 15 seconds,” and that it packs a built-in biometric identification system to ensure the test results are legit. No timeline for an actual deployment of the device just yet, but it looks like TruTouch has its eye on applications far beyond the expected law enforcement uses — including even vehicle safety systems, and “Alcohol Point-Of-Sale Liability Reduction Systems.”

TruTouch 2000 promises to detect intoxication with a finger scan originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The new Toshiba’s Satellite E205 (model number;E205-S1904) is a WiDi-enables laptop that has unveils at CES 2010 (January 7-10). Powered by an Intel Core i5-430M processor, the laptop features a 14-inch HD LED-backlit display, a 4GB of main memory, Mobile Intel HD graphics engine, a 500GB hard drive and a slot-loading DVD SuperMulti burner. With the Intel’s Wireless Display technology (or WiDi), users can wirelessly connect their laptop to a HDTV to stream video and audio with an HDMI adapter. As an additional features include 6 hours of battery usage, webcam, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, memory card reader, HDMI port, and eSATA/USB combo port. The Toshiba Satellite E205 is expected to available at Best Buy stores at an MSRP of $999.99.

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It’s a well documented fact that the Robot Apocalypse is only a matter of weeks, moments or scores away, but today we’re facing the grim reality that it may already be underway in certain sections of Germany. Thanks to a tie-up between whiz kids at the Technical University of Dortmund and University of Manitoba, the so-called Bioloid you see above can actually scale walls on its own. As in, autonomously. The robot doesn’t rely on a predefined motion sequence; instead, it looks up and figures out the most efficient way to get from the bottom to the top based on the X / Y positions of the grips. Future versions of the critter will utilize a full-on vision system, but hopefully we’ll have outposts established on Mars by then in order to maintain some semblance of freedom. Peep the horror show after the break (if you must). Read more »

The Premier Kids CyberNet Station is a kid-focused All-in-One desktop PC from Kid Computers, where it will helps for both classroom and homeschool programs who want to teach their children computer skills. Powered by an Intel Pentium dual core E5200 processor, the Premier Kids CyberNet Station features a 19-inch touchscreen LCD display, a 4GB of main memory, a 500GB of hard drive, a DVD Super-Multi burner, and an integrated GMA 3100 graphics. As for connectivity, you’ll get two Gigabit Ethernet ports, WiFi, and HDMI port.Priced at $1999:, the computers is available in three packages : Early Learning Package- for ages 2 to 5 (toddler to pre-k), Elementary Package – for ages 5 to 11 (kindergarten to 5th grade), and Middle & High School Package – for ages 11 to 18 (6th grade to 12th grade.

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Nintendo may be a lot of things, but stupid it ain’t. Cashing in on yet another gift-giving holiday, the console sales leader is bringing Americans a pair of freshly paint-licked Wii Remotes that should appeal to the his-and-hers demographic that seems to grow in number at this time of year. As you can see above, grabbing one will set you back $54.99, which is about the same price as the regular MotionPlus bundle. So, even if you weren’t thinking about wooing your loved one with yet another Wii peripheral, at least the US now gets a 200 percent improvement in MotionPlus color choices. How is that not progress?

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We’ve never heard of Astri before, but it sure seems to be one ambitious company. We figure it’s got to take real ambition to create a pocketable dualscreen device with not just one non-working touchscreen, but two! In theory, the Marvel-powered MID or My Interactive Device (not to be confused with Mobile Internet Devices) runs Android on its 4.8-inch LCD touchscreen, while its neighboring 5-inch e-ink Wacom-enabled touchscreen is meant for reading and taking notes. The concept is similar to the much-more-polished Entourage Edge, or even Spring Design’s Alex, though we have no idea if Astri intends the two displays to communicate with one another. We’ll be siding with those alternatives until Astri can work out its many issues, though we do like the idea of the more portable device e-reading device. Oh, and please don’t miss one of the most abusive hands-on videos ever after the break. Read more »

Amazon has begun to ship the Philips’ PVD900/37 portable digital TV, where it will be priced at $113.53 including the shipping cost. On the specs department, the PVD900/37 features a 9-inch LCD screen at 600220-pixel resolution, a built-in HDTV/ATSC TV tuner and a detachable antenna for free-to-air digital TV channel reception. There also a 250mW of speaker and three hours of rechargeable battery.

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