NES console mods are cool, HTPCs are pretty cool, and nettops with NVIDIA Ion graphics are darned cool too, so when you put all three elements together you’ve got a recipe for something with a whole lot of cool potential. Modder drumboog has been video documenting his work transforming a NES into an Atom 330 based Blu-ray HTPC with GeForce 9400M graphics, and while it’s not quite complete yet, it’s certainly 99-percent awesome.
Video after the cut
Fujitsu have outed two new notebooks, the AMILO Pi 3560 and 3660, with optional Blu-ray, HDMI connectivity and NVIDIA GeForce GT240M 1GB graphics. The AMILO Pi 3560 has a choice of 15.6 or 16-inch 16:9 LED-backlit displays, while the AMILO Pi 3660 has an 18.4-inch 16:9 display; both have standard WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth.
Toshiba have announced their latest high-end LCD TV, and it’s the first to include the Cell Broadband Engine for multi-channel display and DVR recording. The Toshiba CELL REGZA 55X1 has a 55-inch, 5,000,000:1 contrast LED-backlit panel, with independent control over each of the 512 LED backlighting zones and 240Hz refresh. It’s accompanied by a processor box, housing the Cell goodies, which can pump out eight channels to be shown on-screen at once, time-shift up to eight channels simultaneously for 26 hours, or boot up a web browser based on Opera.
ASUS have stepped up their nettop game with the arrival of the ASUS EeeBox EB1501. The first of the company’s range to include an integrated optical drive, the EB1501 also includes Intel’s Atom 330 dual-core CPU and NVIDIA’s 1080p-capable Ion graphics chipset, turning the neatly-balanced nettop into a pretty impressive media center PC.
ASUS’ diminutive O!Play HDP-R1 HD Media Player has finally gone on sale, with the 1080p-capable box priced at $99.99. Announced back in June, the O!Play offers playback of local, network or internet content, via various USB 2.0, eSATA or wired ethernet ports.
Networked media players are, if not quite ten-a-penny, then at least increasingly common these days, so it takes more than an ethernet port and an HDMI output to impress us. QNAP are hoping their NMP-1000 will do just that, however, thanks to its onboard 3.5-inch hard-drive (up to 2TB), Full HD 1080p output, YouTube and Flickr support, automatic NAS backup functionality and UPnP streaming.
Video overview after the cut
Sharp Japan have outed four new LX-series HDTVs, each boasting massive 2,000,000:1 contrast ratios. The range starts from the 40-inch LC-40LX1 and tops out at the 60-inch LC-60LX1, with 46- and 52-inch models in-between; each offers Full HD 1920p resolution, “industry’s lowest” power consumption, and a six-speaker integrated sound system with dual sub-woofers on all but the smallest.
Lurking in among the lenses, mattebox, external microphone and video viewfinder is Dan Chung’s Canon EOS 7D, while after the cut you can see the HD video he shot around an hour after picking the new uber-DSLR up from his local store. Filmed in low light at 1600 to 6400 ISO, it’s left Chung – and us – mightily impressed at the EOS 7D’s abilities.
Video demo after the cut
Samsung and Sprint have finally come clean and officially announced the Instinct HD, which will hit stores in the US from September 27th. The Instinct HD brings with it a 3.2-inch 320 x 480 touchscreen, EVDO Rev.A, WiFi b/g, GPS, a 5-megapixel camera recording 720p (1280 x 720 30fps) video and, perhaps most interesting, a TV-out connection supporting HD resolutions with an optional HDMI adapter.
An NVIDIA executive has confirmed that the company is working with Google to produce Tegra-based Smartbooks running Google Chrome OS. Talking to jkOnTheRun’s Kevin C. Tofel, NVIDIA’s GM of mobile business Mike Rayfield revealed that the company expects to see Tegra-based smartphones using Windows Mobile and Android, while Smartbooks or netbooks would use Chrome OS or Windows CE.
SlashGear Japan
