The machine demonstrated was a dual Quad FX configuration featuring 8 total processing cores. While clock frequencies were not released you can bet this machine can put the hurt on calculating pi.

AMD is expected to unviel it’s R600 line of graphics cards next week, including the ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT. The other technologies demonstrated are not expected to see the light of consumer day until Q4.

AMD Demos Next-Generation Platform [via dailytech]

If you think about this for a second it makes perfect sense: what better resource is there to start a fire with than a 1.988 435×10E30 kg ball of nuclear fueled combustion? Why worry about matches that can get wet or lighters that run out of fuel when you can harness an energy source that will be around several billion years.

At $20 this gadget can be a great help around the campfire or kitchen and also comes with a bottle opener in the base, though, I’m not sure opening beer’s and lighting fires is the best combination.

Solar Powered Lighter [via uberreview]

This latest product from LG, a TV-fridge “convergence appliance” comes complete with a 15-inch LCD including HDTV capabilities. For $4,000 though, one would expect at least DVD playback capabilities.

One potential flaw in the design is the TV is right next to the ice dispenser; not only is this a poor height for anyone over 4 feet in height, but should you ever be watching a channel about an ice dispenser someone could mistakenly put a glass through the screen.

The latest convergence trend: fridge TVs [via cnet]

Even though its $1,099 pricetag will make any consumer conscious buyer cringe, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual 2.0TB RAID solution is a sign that larger physical storage solutions are coming.

This device features a 7200RPM, 2TB striped RAID array and connects to the PC via FireWire 800, 400 or USB 2.0.

2TB RAID Array From Other World Computing: Enough Space For You? [via crunchgear]

This little ExpressCard/54-compatible sound card uses Creative’s X-Fi Crystallizer and 3CMSS-3D technology to give your laptop a boost in the audio quality department. A 7.1-channel speaker docking module is also included to provide easy access for connecting to your home audio setup.

The Extreme Audio Notebook will ship for $106 later this month.

Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Audio Notebook from Creative [via gizmodo]

The Windows Live Messenger update will allow XBox 360 gamers to communicate with the rest of the world, which is a good thing given the scheduled lineup of games for the rest of the year.

The dashboard update also features the addition of the Xbox Live Marketplace “blade” to its user interface allowing easier access to downloadable game content, TV shows and movies. The update is now available to XBox 360 owners via Xbox Live and xbox.com.

Xbox 360 Spring Update Adds Messenger, Improvements [via dailytech]

Part of the marriage between HP/Voodoo, a line of laptops will ship this fall using Voodoo’s water-cooling technology. Engineers at HP are estimating 8 hours of battery life for the gamer who always needs to get just one more frag.

HP Preps Fanless, Water-Cooled Laptops for This Fall [via crunchgear]

The HDX is powered by a Core 2 processor and GeForce 8000 Series GPU and will run Windows Vista Ultimate. Integrated Wi-Fi, ATSC/NTSC tuner and a full-size keyboard round out the features on this first offering from the HP-Voodoo PC alliance.

Expect more details on this gaming laptop to be released in the coming weeks including most importly the as-of-yet unannounced release date.

Report: HP Set to Deliver 12-lb, 20″ Pavilion HDX Gaming Laptop [via dailytech]

T-Mobile’s Dash received their update last week though no information on an update for AT&T users has been released yet.

What can AT&T users do in the meantime to get their ROM updating fix on? There’s a minor update available directly from Samsung that will improve roaming capabilities.

Samung BlackJack Getting Windows Mobile 6 Update After June? [via gizmodo]

Data transfer to the device is managed via a USB connector concealed by the blue-lit rim on the top. Able to hold up to 15 hours of your favorite MP3, WMA, ASF and OGG files, the YP-U3 provides a simple way to access your music anywhere.

If affordably priced this little unit could be a good entry level unit, though no launch date or pricing is available yet due to the device not being ‘officially’ announced yet.

Samsung YP-U3 Specs Leaked [via crunchgear]

Included in the discussion was a list of features including improvements in RSS, CSS and AJAX support as well as additional user interface customization options. Another possible feature making it’s way into the release could be support for microformats, small tags embedded in HTML that can be used by software to interact with specialized data.

No word has been given yet on a release date for Internet Explorer 8.

More information on Internet Explorer 8 [via pclaunches]

This Monday, after over a year in development, Microsoft will update Hotmail.com to Windows Live Hotmail, a service that provides more storage capacity and communication features.

Beyond a 2GB storage capacity upgrade, Hotmail users can expect an updated user interface that draws heavily from Microsoft’s Outlook mail application. Featuring the latest in ajax wizardry the new user interface promises to be responsive and intuitive, though users will be able to disable these effects.

Other features include e-mail conversation grouping and enhanced connectivity to Messenger. Users of Hotmail will not be required to do anything to receive these enhancements, all accounts will be upgraded automatically on Monday.

New version of Hotmail to launch next week [via tgdaily]

With a running time of 4 hours the LawnBott can cover 33,000 square feet per charge. Want to impress the neighbors? Run the near silent LawnBott at night for that fresh cut look every morning. It also features a flat blade that mulches the grass as it cuts and is smart enough to seek shelter in the rain.

All this lawn-cutting goodness comes at a price though, expect to pay $1,749 for the LB2000/Professional.

LawnBott, Where Have You Been All These Years? [via crunchgear]

Should all that battery powered goodness not be enough for you, you can download the companion software that allows you to see in real time how much power has been transfered from your computer to the batteries.

At a retail price of $14, this little device may be a worthwhile purchase for those with battery powered peripherals on the go.

Energizer’s USB Charger [via ohgizmo]

The Nokia N75 is AT&T’s (formerly Cingular) first 3G Nokia offering and comes with a 2MP camera, music-playing capabilities as well as a Symbian-based OS.

There’s no pricetag on the N75 yet, though, with the solid line-up of features you can bet this little slice of 3G bliss won’t come cheap.

Nokia N75 Hitting AT&T “Imminently?” [via Gizmodo]

This new card is expected to be available worldwide on May 15th and is promised to run 10 to 15% faster than it’s 8800 GTX predecessor. While the card maintains the same number of stream processors (128) and memory (768MB), increased frequencies on the board increase it’s bandwidth from 86.4 to 103.7GB/s.

The real question remains though, is this increase in performance worth with the $830 estimated price tag?

Nvidia unviels $830 GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics card [via tgdaily]

With a higher reported quarterly earning, Verizon has said it will be spending close to $18 billion dollars in the coming years on FIOS installs. This is certainly good news as at this time the service is only available in limited areas.

The service offers download speeds ranging from 5 Mbps to 30 Mbps for $40 to $180 a month. Upload speeds still enjoy their strict limitations with 2 Mbps for the lower plans and 5 Mbps for the 30 Mbps plan.

Verizon’s earning rise, FIOS installs accelerating [via tgdaily]

Rumors are going around now that later this year the 360 will ship with the smaller, cooler and cheaper 65nm Xenos GPUs.

Sources say an engineering version has been shipped and that production would begin in May which would lead to a release this fall.

Xbox 360 GPU Slims Down For Fall [via crunchgear]

Released to retailers in March 2007 this 3.5-inch drive provides the speed and performance today’s media editing applications require. With its 3.0Gb/s Serial-ATA (SATA) interface and 32MB cache this massive storage device provides an affordable way to backup large amounts of data quickly and efficiently.

With new forms of media finding their way to the mainstream such as HD-DVD and Blue-Ray using up to 45GB/50GB respectively, there will soon be a need for continually larger amounts of physical storage space to back them up on. Products like Hatachi’s Deskstar 7K1000 are the first of a new generation into terabyte storage.

Hitachi Ships the One-Terabyte Hard Drive [via businesswire]