Magellan unveils eXplorist GC GPS

I spent my fair share of time running around digging holes in the yard as a kid searching for treasure. I never found anything. If you still like to hunt for treasure, geocaching might be appealing to you. Geocaching uses GPS coordinates to lead a searchers to a geocache, which is a box of stuff other searchers have left behind for the next person to find.

Magellan is a big name in the GPS market and the firm has announced a new GPS device specifically for geocache hunters called the eXplorist GC. The device has a built-in database of the most popular geocache locations around the world.

The eXplorist has special interfaces to make sorting the locations easy to do and promote a sense of community. The handset has logs and graphics like smiley faces and merit-based awards to show off. The device is powered by a pair of AA batteries and can run for 18 hours straight per set. It uses a SiRF starIII GPS chipset with 3-meter accuracy. The eXplorist GC will ship in April for $199.99.

MSI Wind12 U230-040

MSI’s Wind12 U230 range are described by the company as netbooks, but with 12.1-inch displays we’d say they slot more into the consumer ULV segment; either way, one of the newer models, the U230-040, has shown up for a review over at TestFreaks. Based on a dual-core AMD Athlon Neo X2 processor, along with ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics, MSI reckon it’s a step up from the regular Intel Atom based crowd.

According to TestFreak’s benchmarks, that’s not entirely true. Booting into Windows 7 Home Premium takes over a minute and a half, and the system scores just 3.1 in the Windows Experience Index (held back by the GPU); still, they reckon the U230 can cope with more concurrent tasks than an Atom-based machine without slowing down.

As with other AMD-based ultraportables we’ve seen, though, battery life seems to suffer; the U230 manages just four hours of light internet use. There are also some odd build issues, like a webcam that seems to have been installed pointing at too low an angle. Still, there’s more raw power there than Intel-based rivals, and the larger keyboard keys get the thumbs-up too.

Sony Bravia NX800 series HDTVs now available

Sony makes some of the most popular HDTVs around. The company has announced its slick Bravia NX series sets with a cool design and very thin profiles. The sets are now up for pre-order on some models are set to ship in mid-May with others available now and backordered.

Common features of the model range include six-degree tilt system to let you place the TV lower to the floor and still watch comfortable. The sets all use Edge LED backlight and the Bravia Engine 3 video processor for smooth video and quality images.

The refresh rate for the range is 240Hz and the sets support internet video, widgets, USB input, and have energy saving features. Three NX800 series models are available now including the 46-inch KDL-46NX800, the 52-inch Bravia KDL-52NX800, and the 60-inch Bravia KDL-60NX800. The sets are also said to be 3D ready. Prices start at $2299 for the NX800 series. The 46-inch set will ship in mid-May, the 52-inch is backordered until March 30, and the 60-inch version is in stock.

Kyocera offers new Android-powered Zio M6000 smartphone

Kyocera has pulled the wraps off a new Android device called the Zio M6000. It has been a long while since I saw any new devices from Kyocera and the company claims that the new M6000 adds a human touch to the smartphone market.

The Zio device runs on the CDMA2000 1x EVDO rev A network and sports WiFi. The screen of the handset is 3.5-inches and is touch capable. A track ball for navigation also complements the touchscreen. Other features include a 3.2MP camera that can record video at 30fps and a media player.

A full HTML browser is integrated along with Google Maps and widgets for Facebook, Twitter, and more. Internal memory for the M6000 is 256MB and an additional 32GB is supported via a microSD card slot. The handset measures 116 x 58.6 x 12.2mm and claims up to six hours of talk time and 18 days on standby. Pricing and availability are unknown at this time

Kempler & Strauss announces limited edition gold W PhoneWatch

We first caught wind of the Kempler & Strauss W PhoneWatch back in October. The firm behind the cool watch phone has announced a new and limited edition version of the device that will be gold at CTIA.

The new golden version of the W PhoneWatch will be limited to only 1000 units made and will start shipping in Q3 2010. Other than the gold case, the W PhoneWatch is the same underneath. It still operates on GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz networks and has a 1.5-inch TFT LCD.

The tiny little screen is touch sensitive and the watch can play music files and has SMS messaging, call history, video playback, video recorder, camera, utilities, and games. Pricing on the limited edition watch is not offered and no pictures are available of the gold watch at this time.

ASUS GeForce GTX 480/GTX 470

Can we really get excited about box-art? When it’s the box-art for NVIDIA’s upcoming Fermi-based video cards – in this case the ASUS GeForce GTX 480 and ASUS GeForce GTX 470 – we can, yes.

ASUS are being tight-lipped on the video cards actual performance, so anything new will have to be gleaned from the boxes themselves. The ASUS ENGTX480 comes with 1536MB of GDDR5 memory, while the ASUS ENGTX470 makes do with 1280MB; both get Voltage Tweak for straightforward overclocking of the GPU by up to 50-percent.

Last we heard, however, poor GPU yields had left NVIDIA facing underperforming cards, with early examples of the GTX 480 expected to have 480 cores and the GTX 470 448 cores, instead of the initially tipped 512. Initial availability is predicted for the end of March, with broader sales in early April 2010.