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Tim Hanlon
Samsung develops 4Gb DRAM chip: 32GB DIMMs around the corner
By Tim Hanlon
22:15 February 2, 2009 PST
Samsung Electronics has developed the first four gigabit DRAM memory chip using its 50 nanometer technology. 16GB modules using the 4Gb chips use 40% less power than previous DDR3 modules thanks to higher density and half the number of chips. Read More
Killzone 2 Review (PlayStation 3)
By Tim Hanlon
00:18 February 2, 2009 PST
It's no secret that the PS3 needs a Halo/Gears of War to call it's own. Haze and Resistance 1/2 have tried to take the crown, but ultimately failed. Sony and Guerilla Games certainly have a lot to live up to with Killzone 2, having turned the hype up to 11 way back in 2005 with their now-infamous pre-rendered trailer at E3. So is this the system-selling franchise Sony need? Read on for our full review. Read More
Comment on Gizmag with your Facebook account
By Tim Hanlon
00:38 January 31, 2009 PST
In our ongoing quest to make commenting on Gizmag as easy as possible, we've implemented Facebook Connect, so now you can comment on our articles using your Facebook account. Just click the "Connect with Facebook" button in the "Post a Comment" area beneath an article, and regale us with your savvy commentary, safe with the knowledge that no one will be able to impersonate you, or accuse you of not being who you say you are. Read on for a list of the articles that have generated the most discussion on Gizmag. Read More
Major iPhone hardware revision in the works?
By Tim Hanlon
22:55 January 28, 2009 PST
MacRumors has found a reference to "iPhone2,1" in the iPhone's 2.x Firmware. What makes this special? The original iPhone is "iPhone1,1" while the iPhone 3G is "iPhone1,2" - which points to a major hardware revision in the works. Read More
Measurement Lab detects blocked or throttled ports
By Tim Hanlon
21:51 January 28, 2009 PST
Google, the PlanetLab consortium and the Open Technology Institute today launched the Measurement Lab (M-Lab), an open platform for Internet measurement tools, along with three tools for users to test their Internet connections - including Glasnost, which tests whether BitTorrent is being blocked or throttled. Read More
Sony's XEL-1 OLED TV launched in the UK
By Tim Hanlon
23:24 January 27, 2009 PST
Sony is asking "What recession?" with the launch of their coveted XEL-1 OLED TV in the UK. With the price set at a whopping 3,489 pounds, which is double the US launch price set last January, we're wondering how many of these things will sell after the "hundreds" of pre-orders are fulfilled. Read More
Resident Evil 5 demo hits Xbox Live
By Tim Hanlon
02:16 January 27, 2009 PST
After having been available in Japan since 2008, the demo for Capcom's upcoming survival horror game Resident Evil 5 has finally been made available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers in all regions. Silver account holders have to wait until January 29, with PS3 owners getting theirs last on February 2. Everyone else will just have to check out the screenshots. Read More
PS3 gets DivX 3.11 playback, Photo Gallery in Firmware 2.60
By Tim Hanlon
00:08 January 23, 2009 PST
The PlayStation 3 Firmware 2.60 has been released, adding DivX 3.11 playback, a new photo gallery feature, and allowing guests without PlayStation Network accounts to access the PlayStation Store. Read More
Bug Labs' BUG: modular, open-source platform for DIY gadget makers
By Tim Hanlon
11:55 January 17, 2009 PST
While we've heard the term "mashup" apply to music and web services before, we think the hardware mashups that Bug Labs' BUG platform enables have far more to offer. Read More
Akai announce APC40 Control Surface for Ableton Live
By Tim Hanlon
14:44 January 16, 2009 PST
Akai has unveiled the APC40 controller, designed in conjunction with Ableton specifically for use with Live 7. The APC40 is the first controller to feature bi-directional communication with Ableton, allowing it to give visual feedback on the state of 40 clips and 16 parameters. Read More
Toshiba's flagship Regza SV670 series LED-backlit LCD TVs
By Tim Hanlon
11:08 January 16, 2009 PST
We saw more than a few "me too" LCD TVs at CES 2009, so we have to give it to Toshiba for the laundry list of features in their flagship Regza SV670 series, including a few that no-one else has bothered to think of including in a TV - like Dolby Volume, which promises to sort the age-old problem of volume inconsistencies between advertising and programming, or between channels. Read More
The VAIO P: Sony's answer to the netbook
By Tim Hanlon
17:26 January 15, 2009 PST
Sony has set out to prove that form and function aren't mutually exclusive with their answer to the netbook, the VAIO P series. Starting with a tiny form factor and a 1.33GHz Intel Atom CPU, and adding a 128GB SSD, built-in 3G connectivity, 802.11n wireless, and a GPS that doesn't require an active Internet connection (among other things) this is one seriously portable, connected device. Just don't expect an Eee PC price point... Read More
Disney Star Guitarist: Guitar Hero with a real guitar
By Tim Hanlon
13:01 January 14, 2009 PST
US Music Corp., parent company of several music brands including Washburn Guitars, have partnered with Disney to create the Disney Star suite of applications - which unlike console-based music games, will teach children to play a real guitar or piano using familiar songs from Disney franchises like Hannah Montana and High School Musical. Read More
Sony shows off prototype OLED TVs at CES 2009
By Tim Hanlon
11:01 January 14, 2009 PST
While Sony's XEL-1 OLED TV represents a leap forward in technology, the 11-inch size leaves a lot to be desired for applications like the living room. It won't be long though, as Sony showed off their prototypes for larger OLED TVs including 21-inch and 27-inch models at CES 2009. Don't miss the gallery. Read More
SanDisk announces world's fastest SSD
By Tim Hanlon
17:32 January 13, 2009 PST
Hard drives have been the bottleneck in modern PC performance for some time now, and while SSD technology has led to new levels of performance, the price point has left a lot to be desired. Enter SanDisk, with a new range of SSDs based on multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory. SanDisk claims their G3 SSDs are twice as fast as prior SSDs and over five times as fast as the fastest 7200RPM HDD, with sequential performance of 200MB/s read and 140MB/s write. The price? Just over US$2 a gigabyte. Read More
KITT makes an appearance at CES 2009
By Tim Hanlon
00:27 January 11, 2009 PST
Mio needed a little help promoting their Knight Rider GPS at CES 2009, and we can't complain about their choice of KITT - it's certainly holding up a lot better than David Hasslehoff. Whether you're a fan of the TV show or not, you'd be hard pressed to convince any of the team at Gizmag that this isn't a gorgeous machine. Having said that, two things disappointed us - the fact that no-one was keeping it clean, and the fact that we weren't allowed to jump in the driver's seat! Don't miss the gallery. Read More
Roland's DT-HD1 drum tutorial software will teach you to play the drums
By Tim Hanlon
22:36 January 10, 2009 PST
While it's awfully easy to sit in front of Guitar Hero or Rock Band for hours on end, having the discipline to practise a real instrument for the long hours required to reach proficiency (and mastery) is much harder. Roland's Drum Tutorial DT-HD1 is the first of many products we've seen at CES 2009 that will help change this. Read More
Ears-on with Beats by Dr. Dre Studio headphones
By Tim Hanlon
00:15 January 10, 2009 PST
While we covered the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones back in July 2008, it took a trip to the Monster Audio booth at CES 2009 for Gizmag's Tim Hanlon to get his ears on a set. So how do they compare with the benchmarks set by the German engineering coming out of companies like beyerdynamic and Sennheiser? To put it bluntly, he was blown away. Read More
Shure announce PG27USB/PG42USB condenser microphones and X2u XLR-to-USB adapter
By Tim Hanlon
00:06 January 7, 2009 PST
With the democratization of digital music recording and production in full flight thanks to applications like GarageBand, Shure have released three new USB-based products to cater for the ever increasing market of users who need to record audio to their computers, but don't have access to professional pre-amplifiers - the PG27USB and PG42USB USB condenser microphones, and the X2u XLR-to-USB adapter which turns any existing XLR microphone into a plug-and-play USB microphone. Read More
Pacemaker portable digital DJ system gets an update, lower price
By Tim Hanlon
23:59 January 6, 2009 PST
We first covered the Pacemaker portable digital DJ system back in June 2007, and it has since won a number of awards including a CES Innovations and Engineering Award for 2009. A new model targeted at consumers has arrived with a smaller 60GB hard drive, a lower price point (US$550) to match, and one key new feature designed to aid beginner DJs - the ability to beatmatch and synchronize two songs with a single button press, and get straight to the fun stuff like EQ, filters, effects and crossfading. Read More
iTunes changes: more DRM-free music, three-tiered pricing and iPhone downloads over 3G
By Tim Hanlon
11:45 January 6, 2009 PST
Apple today announced a number of changes to their popular iTunes Music Store, with all four major labels on board to offer a substantially increased range of music in the DRM-free iTunes Plus format, access to the store available via the 3G network for iPhone users, and a new three-tier pricing system. Read More
GarageBand '09 will teach you how to play guitar and piano
By Tim Hanlon
10:52 January 6, 2009 PST
Today at MacWorld 2009, Apple unveiled the next feature to be added to their entry-level music production application GarageBand, that is sure to capitalize on the mass of budding musicians created by games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. The software ships with nine included lessons for the guitar and piano, and an integrated store that allows you to buy "Artist Lessons" from famous musicians such as Sting and John Fogerty. Read More
How Sony's R&D budget subsidized the Xbox 360 processor for Microsoft
By Tim Hanlon
23:58 January 1, 2009 PST
When Sony entered into a partnership with Toshiba and IBM to design the Cell processor for their PlayStation 3, they agreed that IBM would eventually sell the Cell to other companies. What they didn't know was that parts of the Cell would be sold to their major competitor Microsoft for use in the Xbox 360 processor - before the Cell was completed. Read More
FIC's CW001 netbook has a DVD-RW drive and ExpressCard/34
By Tim Hanlon
23:22 January 1, 2009 PST
First International Computer's CW001 netbook is destined for US shores after arriving in the FCC database on the 31st of December last year. The 10.4-inch, Atom-based netbook is noteworthy for finding room for both a DVD-RW optical drive and an ExpressCard/34 slot - which appears to be a first for this form factor. Read More
yellowsn0w released: unlock your iPhone 3G
By Tim Hanlon
20:52 January 1, 2009 PST
Dev-Team has made good on their promise of an unlock for the iPhone 3G, with an unexpected bonus: it will unlock phones running the latest firmware (2.2) and baseband (02.28.00). Read More
John M
- November 25, 2009 @ 17:19 UTC
