Get rewarded for not texting while driving with Text No More

Don Lynn | Mobile Devices | Sep 7, 2010 8:43 PM CDT

With texting while driving becoming a big reason for so many car accidents, injuries, and deaths all over the world, people everywhere are looking for ways to deter drivers from engaging in this possibly dangerous activity. The developers of Text No More have come up with a genius way to keep people from texting while driving: give them free stuff!

Text No More is an app available on all smartphone platforms that will hold incoming texts while it is active; sending a response stating that the person is driving and cannot reply. After the app is turned off or the time limit is over, the user will receive a coupon for every text that was blocked. Users can also gain points towards bigger prizes like iPhones and laptops.

Being able to get in on the big prizes requires paying $2.99 USD for the full version of Text No More, but the free version gives access to the coupons and smaller items. Text No More donates 25 cents of every full app purchase to organizations that benefit the families that have lost a family member to texting and driving.

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VIA launches EPIA-M850 embedded mainboard with Nano E-series CPU

Shane McGlaun | Motherboards | Sep 7, 2010 2:02 PM CDT

VIA has all sorts of products from mainboards for all manner of computer systems to CPUs and other offerings. The company has many embedded offerings that have the mainboard along with the CPU for various uses in the business and enterprise markets. VIA unveiled its newest embedded offering today called the EPIA-M850 aimed at commercial use.

The mainboard is a mini-ITX offering with the latest 64-bit VIA Nano E-series processor inside. The CPU is paired with a VIA VX900 media system processor to create a complete platform for commercial embedded multimedia and media center uses. The board can be had with two models of the Nano processor.

One model of the embedded system uses a Nano processor at 1.6GHz that is cooled by a fan. Another model uses the same processor at 1.2GHz with no fan needed for cooling. The hardware acceleration chip supports ChromotionHD 2.0 and offers hardware acceleration for VC1, H.264, MPEG-2 and WMV9 HD video formats.

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Cooler Master debuts slick HAF 912 computer case

Shane McGlaun | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Sep 7, 2010 11:04 AM CDT

When it comes time to build up a new gaming PC many gamers look to Cooler Master for a case that looks good, performs well, and won't break the bank. The company has some very expensive cases that look cool and then it offers some more mainstream cases that even those on a budget can afford. The latest chassis from Cooler Master falls into the latter category.

The case is called the HAF 912. It is made from steel with a mesh plastic front bezel. The chassis measures 91" x 18.9" x 19.5" with the stand attached and weighs in at 17.8 pounds. The case is designed with robust cooling in mind with support for multiple 200mm fans and up to four 120mm fans. The case is also designed to accept dual 120mm fan radiator for liquid cooling.

The interior of the case is modular with hard drive cadges that can be arranged in several layouts. The first cage has space for four 3.5" HDDs and the second has spots for a pair of 2.5" drives. The rear panel has seven expansion slots and grommets for liquid cooling. The case is deep enough for new high-end video cards that are long. A cut out behind the CPU for mounting coolers makes things easy for those apt to change coolers frequently. The chassis will ship on September 14 for $59.99.

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ExoPC Slate up for pre-order

Shane McGlaun | Laptops | Sep 6, 2010 12:04 PM CDT

If you have been following the ExoPC Slate over the last several months, waiting for the day you could order the thing for yourself, that day has come. The ExoPC Slate is now up for pre-order for those who are registered for the site forums. The pre-order offering comes with good news and bad news that may temper your enthusiasm for the Slate.

The bad news is that the maker of the Slate has had trouble getting GPS to work on the device and therefore at this point it is unknown whether the 64GB version up for pre-sale will have GPS when it finally ships. The expectation is that GPS will not be supported at launch. The good news is that in light of the question about GPS, the company has cut the pre-order price a bit.

The original pre-order price was pegged at 799 CAD and the new pre-order price is 749 CAD. The company states that the 749 CAD price tag will remain even if it is able to get GPS working in time for the devices to ship. The tablet promises 4-hour battery life and other good news is that the 64GB SSD inside the Slate is one of the blazing fast SanDisk units.

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Amazon lists Galaxy Tab at 799 Euros

Shane McGlaun | Mobile Devices | Sep 6, 2010 10:04 AM CDT

If you are looking forward to getting your hands on the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet and don't want a contract with a carrier it will cost you. The Samsung Tab has landed on Amazon and the pre-order price for the machine is listed at 799 euros. That is a lot of money and most people will opt to buy one through a carrier that will be subsidizing the price of the Android tablet.

Other speculation has the Tab selling in the $200 to $400 range depending on subsidies. You can bet the higher-end of that range is where the tablet will land. The Galaxy Tab is an Android tablet in case you have been living under a rock. Reports are that O2 will offer the thing for 99 euro with a 27.50 euro monthly contract for data.

The first offering will have a 7-inch screen. Samsung is working on an 8-inch and a 10-inch version of the Tab as well. The current 7-inch tablet will have WiFi and 3G data capability. The screen resolution will be 1024 x 600 and the machine has a 1.06GHz application processor with PowerVR SGX540. The battery promises 7 hours of use for movie playback and it has a 3MP camera, GPS, 1080p video capability, and up to 32GB of storage.

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41,000 Toshiba laptops recalled as possible fire hazards

Don Lynn | Laptops | Sep 3, 2010 7:28 PM CDT

Toshiba, a leading Japanese electronics maker, has done a voluntary recall of 41,000 laptops nationwide due to overheating issues that could make the laptops a possible fire hazard. In a notice released by Toshiba, they state that "The notebook computers can overheat at the notebook's plug-in to the AC adapter, posing a burn hazard to consumers."

The laptops that are involved in the recall are the Satellite T135, Satellite T135D and Satellite ProT130. 129 reports of overheating and case plastic melting have already been reported by owners of these laptops, with two minor burn injuries and two minor property damage reports being made as well. A software program that detects overheating and shuts off external power has been made available by Toshiba as well.

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PadTab mounts your iPad to any flat wall or surface

Shane McGlaun | Mobile Devices | Sep 3, 2010 2:10 PM CDT

With all the things that the iPad is capable of doing, I can see people wanting a way to mount the thing to the wall easily. Being able to wall mount the iPad is a good way to watch video while you are in bed or use the iPad to view recipes in the kitchen. If you have a home automation system with iPad controls, mounting it to the wall makes a cool touchscreen control.

The trick is getting the iPad securely mounted to a vertical surface. A new system called the PadTab has started shipping as of today. The system is a very simply setup with a square section that attaches to the iPad or other tablet and a WallTab that can be placed on any vertical wall or surface.

The tabs stick to your device using an industrial strength adhesive. If you wall mount the WallTab portion you can paint it to match the wall color. The system can also be used to mount the iPad to a mirror, cabinet, or fridge door. You can mount to anything the adhesive will stick to. The PadTab system is shipping now for $29.99 with two WallTabs so you can hang the iPad in two places.

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LaCie launches tiny MosKeyto flash drive

Shane McGlaun | Storage | Sep 3, 2010 1:00 PM CDT

I am glad that the days of the gigantic wireless receiver for wireless mice and keyboards are gone. Today just about every maker out there uses small receivers for their wireless gear that you can plug into a USB port and just leave there. The small devices don't block the USB ports around them either, which was an issue with large receivers of the past. The average flash drive is still a large and bulky gadget that looks like those old receivers though.

LaCie has unveiled a new flash drive called the MosKeyto that is just about as small as those little nano wireless receivers. The MosKeyto measures a scant 21 x 16 x 10 mm and weighs 10g. Despite the small size of the storage device, it has a decent amount of storage with 4GB and 8GB versions available. This might be the perfect external storage device for netbook users running out of storage space.

The MosKeyto is so small that you can just plug it in and leave it. The MosKeyto is Windows ReadyBoost compatible and supports USB 2.0 ports. The 8GB version of the flash device is $27.99 and the 4GB version sells for $17.99 making them cheap. You can order either capacity straight form LaCie right now.

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Logitech outs console style Gamepad F310, F510, and F710 for PC gamers

Shane McGlaun | Gaming | Sep 3, 2010 10:04 AM CDT

One of the reasons I steer clear of shooters on the console is that I am a mouse and keyboard man. I prefer shooters on my PC, but there are some PC games that are best suited to a gamepad or a joystick. Any gamer who has tried to play a racing sim or a flight sim will tell you the mouse and keyboard are not best for those types of games.

Logitech has unveiled several new gamepads for PC gamers that look a lot like controllers that PS3 players will be used to. The F310 has a floating D-pad and ships with profiler software for programming the buttons. The F510 is the same as the F310 with the addition of rumble feedback. The really cool controller is the F710.

The big feature of the F710 is that it is a wireless controller and uses 2.4GHz technology to connect. It uses the familiar nano-receiver Logitech uses for all its wireless gear. All of the controllers have the familiar shoulder buttons from console controls. Pricing and availability information is not offered at this time.

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Boxee prices Boxee Box update defends price against Apple TV

Shane McGlaun | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Sep 2, 2010 1:04 PM CDT

If you are one of the hoards of computer users that has a glut of digital content on your machine that you really want to watch on your big screen in the living room you may have been eyeing some sort of media streaming device. Many folks will be waiting for the new Apple TV unveiled yesterday to hit stores and use that to stream their content as best they can. The big issue with the Apple TV and any other Apple product for that matter is that Apple gear is locked down.

With the new Apple TV coming in at only $99 a bunch of the big names in the streaming market cut prices to compete with Apple. Boxee has pinned an official price to its updated Box landing in November and isn't concerned with pricing the Boxee Box along the lines of the Apple TV. Boxee has priced the new Box at $199, $100 more than Apple.

The company defends its pricing saying that many people will prefer the open nature of the Box. I would bet Boxee is correct, there will be a number of folks willing to spend more for a device that is open and can stream anything. That said most folks will want content from iTunes, which will make the Apple TV hard to beat.

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