The PSP Go isn’t even out yet and Sony’s already dishing out the feature updates — PSP firmware 6.10, announced today, allows the slider handheld to tether to your cellphone over Bluetooth for remote internet access. That’s actually a pretty handy feature for a system that relies on network game distribution, don’t you think? That’s not all, however: all PSPs will get a new XMB feature called SensMe which can generate playlists based on “moods,” and the PC-based MediaGo software is being updated as well. Not a bad haul — we’ll let you know when it goes live. SensMe video after the break.

[Via Joystiq]

Continue reading PSP firmware 6.10 brings Bluetooth internet tethering to the PSP Go

Filed under: Gaming

PSP firmware 6.10 brings Bluetooth internet tethering to the PSP Go originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell’s 11.6-inch Inspiron 11z just went on sale last month, and already the outfit is opening up the options for those not entirely pleased with the single $399 model. Starting today, a $479 configuration is available to ship with a 250GB HDD and Vista Home Premium (with a Windows 7 upgrade, of course), and if that’s still not enough, prospective customers can soon select their 11z in a variety of colors. We’re talking Alpine White, Ice Blue, Jade Green, New Cherry Red, Passion Purple and Promise Pink, with the latter contributing $5 to breast cancer research. As for optional hardware upgrades, you can slot a dual-core Pentium SU1400 CPU in there alongside 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. As of this very moment, Dell has yet to open up the CTO doors, but we’re guessing an admin is on that as we speak. Right, Dell?

Filed under: Laptops

Dell adds dual-core SU1400 CPU, other options to Inspiron 11z originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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10-Year-Old Girl Lists Grandma on eBay…Borders Pulls Yet Another B&N…In Case of Stroke, Heart Attack or Physical Trauma, Please Register Your iPod…Lenovo’s Laptop Lost and Found

Don’t you hate when your disabled grandma comes home from the hospital after painful surgery, moaning and doped on painkillers? Worst of all, your parents make you do chores for her, so that she can just lie there, lazing around like a good-for-nothing! It’s just not fair. But can you make things better by auctioning Gran off on eBay? No, it turns out, you can’t. It’s “against the rules.” Way to make little girls sad, eBay. [Daily Mail UK via Pocket Lint]

The story is that Borders got free Wi-Fi, which is nice news for the last three people who actually think Borders is anything but a money suckhole. But I more particularly enjoyed Engadget’s phrasing: Borders had “pulled a B&N.” I like it—I am not just making fun—and it got me thinking. When hasn’t Borders pulled a B&N? Borders’ annual reports could consist solely of listings of the latest B&Ns they’d pulled, opening internal coffee shops, gobbling up old-school mall bookstore chains, selling CDs at their laughable MSRPs and, ultimately, licking Amazon’s muddy combat boots. So Borders has pulled yet another B&N. Cool. Why change horses in mid-cliff-jump? [Engadget]

One of the starkest signs that we’re well into the digital years is that personal electronics serve as electronic dog tags—even ones we choose not to laser-etch with our vitals. A 23-year-old jogger in Atlanta was hit by a car and rushed to the emergency room. She had no identification, but carried an iPod. A nurse got the serial number of the iPod, and used it to track down the Jane Doe’s name and address, eventually reaching her mother. The woman was last reported in critical condition, with her mom by her side. This isn’t the first time an iPod performed this unintended, tragic public service, and it certainly won’t be the last. [Fox 5 Atlanta, CBS Atlanta; Thanks Michael]

You know when you find a laptop just lying around, and you have to open it and start it up, search it for porn or personal financial data, maybe check what games are on it, or read some private emails, all before you stumble across identifying information that will help you return it to the rightful owner? Lenovo wants to free you from this tedious process by providing an 800 number you can call to return the laptop without copying the contents of the hard drive to your home server. Oh, and that laptop with the 800 number? It’s got a tracking system on it too, so don’t even think about making it your own. [Engadget]

We don’t hesitate to show excitement over non lethal and less-than-lethal weapons, but the reality is that they’re kinda scary. In particular when we’re starting to see hand-held heat weapons which leave little to no trace of ever being used.

A long time ago we heard about the UK considering testing out some non lethal directed energy gear. Basically a beam-based weapon which would cause a burning sensation to discourage a victim (or attacker), but not actually damage skin or leave burn marks. This is what the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, JNLWD, has been exploring since 2005. But according to project engineer Wesley Burgei, they’ve still got a few bugs left to work out:

“We have established the minimum irradiance to cause a sensation and have characterised where thermal injury begins,” he says. “But the exact operating irradiance which balances a useful military effect with a conservative margin of safety has not been nailed down yet.”

In plain words? There are some itty bitty safety issues. Thankfully those will be ironed out before the weapons ever hit the streets due to some UN protocol on blinding laser weapons. It turns out that they forbid weapons which would penetrate the retina and cause blindness. It seems odd that a beam-based weapon could affect skin without damaging eyesight, but, according to Burgei, it’s entirely possible to use a “retina safe” wavelength.

It’s great that safety is a priority in the design and creation of these beam-based weapons, but Steve Wright, a non lethal weapons analyst at Leeds Metropolitan University, raises an interesting point about them:

“Persuading by pain rather than brain – through conversation – has led to push-button torture in the past. If it leaves no mark on the skin how will anyone prove it’s been abused?”

Tasers and the like leave evidence, marks and traces of use, but once they’re within proper safety limitations, beam-based weapons like the one being built by the JNLWD won’t. Not to start the “Oh, no! They’ll be abused!” train, but how will we regulate them? [New Scientist]

There are 2,000 in that container. And there are 112 such containers in Microsoft’s $500 million Chicago data center. It may seem somewhat ridiculous, but this container-based data center design is absolutely brilliant (and environmentally sustainable to boot).

While we haven’t seen Microsoft’s newest data center, we hear that it has 700,000 square feet of space, really, really high ceilings, and 40-foot stacks of server-filled containers. Thinking about the stacks may leave me with vertigo, but thinking about the ingenuity of the design leaves me impressed: Microsoft has built something which’ll “deliver huge benefits in cost, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.”

All those containers are plug-and-play in a way, complete with corresponding bays, and can be set up by “as few as four employees” in hours. Yes, they’ve designed it so that moving 60 ton stacks of servers requires only four people. If that’s not incredible then let’s consider that the place has a huge focus on being energy efficient: Despite the facility having a 30-megawatt power capacity, steps have been taken to make it as economical and sustainable as possible:

[T]he Chicago site employs water-side economization [which takes] advantage of cool outside air to reduce the data center’s reliance upon power-hungry chillers to produce chilled water. Air economizers introduce fresh air into the data center, while water-side economizers use cooling towers to remove waste heat.

Basically Microsoft is cutting down energy waste, saving on labor, and being all-around economical. While the modular, server-in-a-box approach might not get the stamp of revolutionary, the way Microsoft is approaching it is something worth paying attention to because it might just be what’ll help “meet the demand for cloud computing at scale.” [Data Center Knowledge]

Japanese teen? Got it. Cheerleader uniform? Hmmm-hmmm. Video camera? Sure enough. Push ups? Yes. You know exactly where this is going.

Yes, it’s an application in which a Japanese cheerleader encourages you to do sit-ups. Why the name, then? Apparently, fukkin means abs in Japanese. Whatever. For $1, it’s certainly the cheapest fukkin exercise you are going to find.[iTunes Appe Store via Krapps]

The Swordfish Net netbook won’t be the same as other 10″ netbooks – after all, it will feature a couple of the Intel Atom 1.6GHz processors running within. Make no mistake about it, this isn’t a dual core processor, but will just run a couple of processors within where it is claimed to increase overall power. Overall power usage, that’s what we say – considering a 3-cell battery resides within, you can expect the Swordfish Net netbook to remain plugged in most of the times. Would you fork out $450 for this?

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LG’s latest GD510 Pop phone will continue where the hugely successful LG Cookie left off, being an entry level touchscreen handset that was specially designed to appeal to the masses. After all, 7 million Cookies sold worldwide to date can’t be wrong, resulting in the GD510 Pop successor that will come with a 3″ WQVGA touchscreen display, 8GB of internal storage, a 3 megapixel camera and a brushed aluminum case alongside a single multi-function button and a slim 4.8mm bezel. This won’t reside on the high end market, but expect it to be a hit with those who want a sleek phone without breaking the bank. The LG GD510 Pop will arrive in Europe later next month for an undisclosed price.

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The Motorola Ruby clamshell was thought of to be canceled, although it did make its rounds in press photo circles after that. Guess the handset will see action in the market after all, known as the Motorola V13 instead. Having gained approval from the Bluetooth SIG yesterday, we have garnered information concerning the V13 which includes a 2.2″ QVGA internal display, a 2″ QVGA external touchscreen display, CDMA/Ev-Do connectivity, Bluetooth support and a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash. Too bad there is no official announcement concerning this phone just yet, but stay tuned.

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Sony Japan has unveiled a new product page for their upcoming Sony Vaio X series notebook, where the Vaio X will be a thin and light notebook that won’t be more than 0.55″ thin, tipping the scales at a mere 1.5 pounds courtesy of its carbon fiber chassis. Be prepared to fork out much more compared to a netbook though, considering this is a Sony product. We heard that the Vaio X will rely on the Intel Atom processor to keep things running from within, and judging by how thin it is, it could possibly run on a fanless design.

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