Rodion's Media News

Thursday, January 14, 2010

GM to stop Hummer production as sale looms

General Motors will halt Hummer production next week at its Louisiana plant until sale of the brand to a Chinese company is completed.

Hummer spokesman Nick Richards said it was unclear whether jobs would be affected at the plant in Shreveport, Louisiana, which also builds Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks.

"It hasn't been determined what the impact will be but right now, but Hummer production is under a quarter of production" at the plant, Richards said.

GM agreed last year to sell Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery and expected the deal to close early in 2010 after approval by US and Chinese regulators.

Assembly of Hummers will halt Jan. 19 because there's "sufficient inventory in the field" to sustain dealers while the sale makes its way through the regulatory process, Richards said.

Richards said the company still expects to get regulatory approval and to complete the deal.

Sony Ericsson reveals two phones with Greenhearts – Elm and Hazel

Today Sony Ericsson presented their latest Greenheart tree-hugging phones - the aptly named Elm and Hazel. Those two are no slackers in functionality as they come with Wi-Fi, GPS and pioneer social networking integration via homescreen widgets. They also pack some innovative sound enhancing technologies such as Noise Shield, Clear Voice and Intelligent Volume Adaptation.

Both the Elm and the Hazel have splash-resistant bodies and curved designs meant to fit better in the palm of your hand (obviously based on the same design cues as the XPERIA X10).

New Asus G73JH-A1

Special Lighting for Total Gaming Experience, the Complete Gaming Kit

As you dig deep into your game the G Series comes alive with cool side bar, speakers and logo LED lights. Get the full gaming package when you buy a G Series notebook: the must have Republic of Gamers backpack – the right look for your next LAN party; the ideal gaming mouse from ASUS offering real time sensitive adjustment and 1600dpi.

ASUS Total Video Communication

With three cutting-edge technologies – LifeFrame, SmartLogon and Virtual Camera, ASUS offers you a complete solution to communicate wirelessly, making it easier for you to log on to your system, capture and edit images, and video conference with multiple parties in separate locations at the same time. Totally convenient and totally innovative – that´s the ASUS way!

Smart Technology – Smart Bootups in 8 Seconds and Fast Internet Connectivity with Express Gate

In addition to the unique technologies and software features, G73JH unveils the latest Express Gate that empowers users with the simplest usage experience. This additional built-in operating system enables ultra fast boot up for access to a host of most commonly used features, including web browser, instant messenger, Skype, photo manager, music player and online gaming.

The Unbelievable Visual Realism - The ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5870 3D Graphic Card with 1024 MB GDDR5 VRAM

The ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5870 3D Graphic Card with 1024 MB GDDR5 VRAM delivers remarkable performance and an unsurpassed acceleration for spectacular gaming. Experience a more fluid, more detailed, more realistic 3D high-definition while playing the game or watching movie. Never a moment of delay to occur, feel the excitement!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Cowon iAudio 9 and iAudio E2 media players make the scene stateside

Cowon-heads of the world, you are in for a treat today. It looks like not one but two of the company's snack-sized media players are finally hitting the big time. First off, the iAudio 9 PMP is due to hit the states within a week. Available in 8GB and 16GB denominations, for some reason the domestic version will be available only in black. Aside from supporting the usual compliment of media files (MP3, FLAC, Ogg, WAV, APE, WME, XviD, and WMV videos) this guy sports composite video out. Get your hands on the 8GB version for $129, or go wild with 16GB for $169. If video isn't your bag, the enigmatic iAudio E2 (all 2.5-inches of it) is also available. Sporting a bevy of EQ presets, 4GB of storage and a not entirely terrible 11.5 hours of battery life, this is the keychain you've always wanted -- but never wanted to pay $65 for. Additional glamor shots after the break.

One Force Tracker iPhone app Only for the Military

There are a lot of apps you can find over at the iTunes app store but this is one app you are not going to find. Unless you are in the military, the One Force Tracker app for the iPhone is only available from the Raytheon website and is made for soldiers who can make use of a constantly updating app detailed with friendly and enemy positions.

The gist of the app is to help enhance the military through the use of an iPhone app although it seems weird to find a soldier going off to war with an iPhone in tow. I don’t think their captains or commanders would even allow them to bring one on the training field or better yet, actual warfare.

Panasonic GF1 preview

Our hands-on preview of the GF1 - the third model in Panasonic's Micro Four Thirds 'G' system. The GF1 squeezes much the same functionality as the G1/GH1 into a body that's roughly the same size as the Olympus E-P1. We've had an early production sample for a few weeks now; just enough time to produce an in-depth preview and an extensive samples gallery (including plenty of shots taken with the new 20mm F1.7 pancake lens). Enjoy.

Microsoft Street Side

Microsoft’s Street Side does for interactive street level photographs what Google Maps did for regular maps.

You can interactively drive around the city using the keyboard and see street level photographs (left, window, front view, and right window), plus a satellite overview. This is a more effective and easier to use presentation than Amazon’s Block View .

It’s really pretty cool, though limited to Seattle and San Francisco for now.