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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

It’s been over a year and half since Sling first announced the SlingCatcher, but the mythical streamer is finally, finally here — it’s now officially for sale on Sling’s site and at other major retailers. You already know most of the details about the $299 box — Slingbox playback, SlingProjector computer streaming, extensive codec support including XviD, eventual Sling.com content delivery — so we’ll just let you hit the order page, but rest assured we’ll be tearing this thing apart when our test unit arrives.

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Filed under: Household

In-home power consumption monitors are trendy pieces of kit lately, with a new one popping up every few months. But, while they’re all happy to just kick back and tell you what a wasteful pig you’re being, a new service from UK security company AlertMe could actually make you more efficient. Subscribers to the company’s monitoring plans, which start at about $260 plus another $17.50/month, will be able to purchase Smart Plugs for $43 each that can communicate wirelessly to an AlertMe Heating Controller. From there subscribers can monitor their energy usage online via computer or phone. That’s all standard stuff, but the service also includes keyfobs that will automatically turn down the heat and deactivate devices when you leave, and allows users to manually control the plugs and the thermostat by text message, meaning you’d never be more than a few thumb-presses (and a 20 cent service charge) away from a warm and inviting home.

[Via SmartPlanet]

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Filed under: Laptops

Hey guys / gals, check this out. Best Buy is practically admitting that it is just now starting to “gather insights from customers and work with manufacturers to design products that address [consumers’] needs.” In a rather odd release, the big box retailer is announcing two new laptops that’ll be exclusive to its store: the 14.1-inch Toshiba Satellite E105-S1402 (we which already knew of) and the 13.3-inch HP Pavilion dv3510nr. As for the former, expect a 1.2-inch thin frame, WXGA (1,280 x 800) panel, backlit keyboard, DVD burner, 5.5-hours of battery life and an $1,199 price tag. The HP (shown after the break) will include a LED-backlit WXGA display, up to 4-hours of battery life, inbuilt webcam and precisely the same retail price. Eventually, Best Buy is hoping to expand the Blue Label series to other product lines, though there’s no word on where to find these elusive input cards that it’s supposedly using to pick and choose wares.

Continue reading Exclusive HP / Toshiba laptops first in Best Buy’s Blue Label lineup

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

At first glance, there were definitely some things we liked about Samsung’s 10.2 megapixel NV24HD: the UI’s touch-sensitive buttons (as opposed to a crowded touchscreen), the 2.5-inch AMOLED display looks great (even in direct sunlight) and the camera shoots generous 720p, 30fps video. Now the folks at PC Magazine have had a chance to give the thing a more in-depth going over, and for the most part they seem to think the camera isn’t half bad. They say the $349 point-and-shoot works well enough in perfect conditions (outdoors on a sunny day), but cite “weak indoor shots,” heavier than average barrel distortion on the telephoto lens, and a bit of pincushion distortion on the wide angle lens as reasons you might want to give this camera a pass. If you’re still interested, you can expect the usual features: face detection, image stabilization and scene settings, and an optional cradle ($79.99) offers and HDMI connection to your HDTV (plus a tiny remote). Interested? Sure you are! Hit the read link for the complete review and sexy, sexy slideshow.

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Slatterz writes “Sony and Microsoft are poised to do battle in virtual worlds. The console kids both announced Second Life-style virtual environments at the Tokyo Game Show today. Both games show striking similarities to Linden Lab’s creation. Players are represented by avatars which live a virtual life — engaging in relationships, going about day-to-day business.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.