Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

It’s that time again boys and girls — the time when Sony pours out enough VAIO updates all at once that your head starts throbbing uncontrollably. Without further ado, we’ll start by tackling the Type T (pictured), which gets upgraded to a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo U7600, goes from 1GB to 2GB of RAM and now comes in a bevy of swank designs. Moving on, we’ve got the 17-inch Type A, which now sports one of those speedy new Penryn chips (exact model apparently depends on how you CTO it) but otherwise remains similar to the prior iteration. Lastly, we find that the outfit’s adorable TP1 now houses a Core 2 Duo T8100 CPU, a 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M and a Blu-ray burner to boot. For all the nitty-gritty, put on your patience cap and wade through the links below, but be forewarned, it’s a jungle down there.

[Via AkihabaraNews]
Read – VAIO Type T / F / N updates
Read – VAIO Type A, TP1 and Type R Master updates

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

We’re going to hazard a guess that it’s been a while since most of you used good ‘ol IrDA to transfer any data to your cellphone, but it looks like the folks at KDDI have got themselves on an old school kick, and they’re now looking to bring the technology back to some of its former glory. To that end, the company recently revealed its progress on a new form of the technology that upgrades transfer speeds to a full 1Gbps, or about 250 times faster than the previous limit. That’s apparently possible by replacing the standard LED with a new speedy new semiconductor laser, which gets paired with some nonvolatile memory to ensure that burst of data doesn’t get lost along the way. Of course, all this is still in the early stages, and KDDI doesn’t even seem to be offering so much as a hint as to when we might actually see it put to use.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Say what you will about Renewable Energy Certificates, Green Tags, carbon offsets and the like, but Intel sure does own a lot of them. Intel just became the largest purchaser of Renewable Energy Certificates in the US, with a commitment to snapping up 1.3 billion kilowatt hours a year of the stuff. RECs act as a sort of green “currency,” allowing a company invest in renewable energy sources, instead of the pollution-ridden plant up the river fueled by the blood of innocents. Not a bad PR move, but the investment should make renewable energy sources more affordable down the line, so it’s hard to fault them there.

[Thanks, Issac]

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Filed under: Features, Home Entertainment

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment.

Apple TV was overwhelmed by the introduction of the iPhone at the Macworld 2007 keynote, but the little set-top device has been the recipient of a complete makeover in 2008. The rich visual menus of the first release are now revealed only after traversing a textual navigation grid that looks austere for an Apple product and downright grim for a TV-based user interface. “Take Two” as it is being called, upgrades Apple TV’s software and positioning, but the product will still struggle to break out of its niche in the mad rush to free movies from their disc detainment.

The first iteration of the Apple appliance was, like many products before it, focused on sending content from the PC to the television. Apple included a fast 802.11n receiver and even a hard drive for ensuring content availability when the network was offline, and the product’s media serving was tied to its popular iTunes software. But ultimately, Apple learned that the music and photos that populate consumers’ hard disks have a hard time competing for attention with premium Hollywood television. This curse of familiarity is especially insidious when it comes to video that demands constant replenishment.

As Steve Jobs noted during his Macworld keynote, Apple now “gets” that video is what consumers want on their TVs. And Apple TV should deliver. In fact, the movie rental and purchase proposition is now very similar to that of the device and service offered by Vudu, Inc., which has a head start on content but a higher price and nowhere near Apple’s brand or distribution power. Apple is also offering podcasts, YouTube and its original ability to access personal content from PCs.

Continue reading Switched On: Apple TV gets its second audition

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Good days seem to be the norm now, and today was no exception.

I can’t remember the last time I had any daytime drowsiness. I feel totally awake and alert all day long. On my previous diet, if I really worked hard in the morning, I might take a 20-minute afternoon nap. But now I don’t even think to do it. My mind just isn’t getting tired as easily.

Lately I’ve noticed that my thinking has been unusually clear and sharp. As I work on some of the more abstract and conceptual parts of my book, I’m finding it easier to grasp the big picture I’m trying to convey, and I’ve been coming up with much better ways to present various sections than I originally planned. Yesterday I read a couple passages to Erin, and she said, “How the heck do you come up with this stuff?” I replied, “I don’t really know. I just see how everything fits together somehow.” If improved mental clarity is a long-term side effect of this diet, that’s going to be a tough benefit to relinquish if I return to eating cooked food. I noticed a similar boost when I first went vegan, but this seems like another gain on top of that. It feels like I just have more mental RAM available for thinking deeply about certain ideas.

One downside is that I seem to be unusually sensitive to distractions. If there’s noise coming from the other room, I find it very hard to concentrate, whereas previously I was able to tune it out.

Weight Loss

My weight dropped 0.8 pounds to 178.0. Net weight loss is 8.0 pounds in 27 days.

Breakfast

1. green smoothie: 4 bananas (598g), spinach (100g), 1 cup water
2. blueberries (154g)
3. blackberries (232g)

743 calories, 4g fat, 185g carb, 14g protein

Lunch

1. salad: mixed greens (168g), cucumber (64g), grape tomatoes (136g), avocado (112g), lemon juice (10g), lime juice (10g)
2. okra (56g)

296 calories, 17g fat, 34g carb, 8g protein

Afternoon Snack

green smoothie: 4 bananas (422g), spinach (106g), 1 cup water

400 calories, 2g fat, 100g carb, 8g protein

Dinner

1. green smoothie: 4 bananas (490g), spinach (100g), 1 cup water
2. cherries (280g)
3. Asian pear (224g)

730 calories, 3g fat, 184g carb, 12g protein

Evening Snack

1. green smoothie: 4 bananas (478g), spinach (102g), 1 cup water
2. 3 stalks celery (96g)

462 calories, 2g fat, 116g carb, 9g protein

Daily Summary

2630 calories, 29g fat, 619g carb, 50g protein

487mg sodium, 106g fiber, 332g sugar

9% of calories from fat, 7% from protein, 84% from carbs

Only 2 days to go…

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