Thursday, November 20, 2003

Daily mailbox: I4U, Bjorn3D, JSI Hardware, Designtechnica, TrustedReviews — Cormac @ 15:18 

I4U News: Realistic Japanese Female Actroid Robot

"The Future Now: Japanese Kokoro Dreams and the Osaka University present a relastic looking female robot at the International Robot Exhibition 2003. The Actroid or Actress Robot can speak, blink with her eyes and feature several facial expressions. The face looks similar to computer animated humans like in the Final Fantasy Movie."

Read more at I4U.

Metal Gear Box 3.5-inch USB 2.0 & SATA HDD Enclosure @ Bjorn3D

"One feature that you will no doubt notice right away when looking at the Metal Gear Box is the stylish design. The MGB is built from aluminum and punch metal. No flimsy, cheap plastic here! Not only does the design look great, but it also feels very solid and seems to be of high quality. Everything you´d want in an external HDD enclosure."

Read more at Bjorn3D.

Xtrac Ripper Mousemat & Xtrac Eels Review @ JSI Hardware

"The Ripper is 11" x 17" in size with 1/8" thickness. The surface layer is made of smooth cloth with a distinctive hexagonal pattern all over, the material is soft to touch and feels better than other pads I have used in the past. If you look closely at the inside of each hexagon you will notice a vast array of small dots which provide the precision control."

Read more at JSI Hardware.

Philips Key Ring 003 MP3 player review @ Designtechnica

"While we think the premise behind Philips´ wearable digital audio line is great, it is poorly executed. We do not think an LCD, or a bunch of controls are necessary, but as it stands we are lost in the dark while using this player. There is no power indicator and the controls are just too basic. The Key003 looks great and will be sure to turn heads while in use, but it is certainly a digital audio player that sacrifices functionality for looks. Our recommendation for an MP3 player of this size would be the MPIO-DMK or iRiver iFP-180T. And if you absolutely want the thumb drive Plug and Play capability then you might want to check out the Creative Labs Muvo NX."

Read more at Designtechnica.

Panasonic Toughbook CF-W2 @ TrustedReviews

"Panasonic has carved a strong niche for itself with the Toughbook range of notebooks. The Toughbooks appeal to a different market from most other notebooks in that they are built to withstand a significant amount of abuse. As such Toughbooks are often seen in the hands of field engineers where a rugged shell is far more important than a few more MHz of processor power."

Read more at TrustedReviews.