By Chris Scott Barr

I’ve built quite a few computers with eSATA ports on them, as they have become fairly common on most motherboards. However, I can’t recall ever actually using a device that utilized one of these ports. Sure, there are external drives out there that ship with an eSATA connector, but I rarely have a need for one. Flash drives are getting large enough and cheap enough that I can generally use one to carry almost anything I need. So why not use a flash drive with an eSATA connector? Because you can’t, not without a power source like, say a USB connection.

eSATA has a much higher data transfer speed, but lacks the power of USB, so what’s the solution? For the sake of this article, I’m going to pretend that you didn’t say USB 3.0. (though that would have been my answer too). If you ask MSI, their solution is to combine the two ports into what they call Power eSATA. Essentially this is an eSATA port that can also provide 500mA current from USB. It’s actually a pretty neat idea, but I’ll be the first to say that it probably won’t ever take off. So far OCZ is the only manufacturer with a product that uses the connection, and we’ve got USB 3.0 sneaking up on us. Sorry MSI, I don’t care how many motherboards and notebooks you put this in, I just don’t see this one working out.

[ MSI ] VIA [ EverythingUSB ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Remember yesterday when I told you that the SlingPlayer app was hitting the App Store? That was all good and well, but quite a few people have been upset to hear that there won’t be any streaming over 3G. AT&T stated that such streaming would cripple their infrastructure and cause major issues for customers, however, that’s not the whole truth.

Many people just like me were skeptical of AT&T’s answer, mostly because there are plenty of other ways to stream video to your iPhone. What makes the SlingPlayer so different? Apparently the issue is that AT&T has been hard at work on their own app that essentially provides the same functions, only using their own U-Verse recorder at home instead of a SlingBox.

So the real issue here is that AT&T is worried that they are going to lose money selling their own application. Since SlingBoxes are already somewhat common among the techie crowd, the only way they can compete is to cripple the competition. You could always build a better application that offered more features, but preventing the competition’s software from accessing your 3G network is probably the easier route.

VIA [ Gizmodo ]

By Evan Ackerman

Woot.com normally sells one heavily discounted gadgety item every 24 hours, but during a Woot-Off, a new item appears as soon as the current item sells out (sometimes after mere seconds). Nobody knows what’s coming up next, but whatever it is, it’s dirt cheap (with flat rate $5 shipping). Among the items you’ve missed so far have been an 8 gig 4th gen iPod Nano for $90 and a 6 pack of Star Wars bobble heads for $30.

If you’re too lazy to refresh the page to see when the item changes, here’s a list of automatic Woot-Off checkers.

[ Woot! ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I don’t know about you, but I find those dynamo powered flashlights pretty useless. The minimal amount of light they put out just isn’t the worth the endless cranking or shaking needed to keep them powered. But spinning a mapless globe to produce light? Well that’s something I can easily do all night long! Thankfully, that’s exactly what Karin Johansson has created with her Dynamic Lamp. It looks like a run-of-the-mill globe, minus the map graphics, but thanks to a dynamo hidden inside it will actually softly glow when you give it a spin.

Now it’s not exactly as portable as a flashlight, but it can be used anywhere since it’s not tethered to a power outlet. And as you can see in the video I’ve included after the jump, it actually doesn’t take that much of a spin to keep it glowing for quite a while.

[ Dynamic Lamp ] VIA [ Gizmodiva ]

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By Andrew Liszewski

According to Akihabara News, LG Korea announced this new Blu-ray home theater combo this morning that includes a pop-out iPod dock on the player that will apparently accept all iPod models (I assume that means the iPhone too) allowing you to listen to music stored on the devices. There’s no word on whether or not it can access video content on the iPods, but details are a bit vague at the moment. What is known though is that the HB954TBW will be sold in Korea for just over $1,000.

[ Akihabara News - LG latest Blu-Ray Home-Theater combo iPod friendly ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you don’t think a vinyl decal or a plastic shell is going to make your iPhone stand out amongst the crowd, then head on over to the SGPstore where you can get a skin that’s actually made from extremely thin, laser-etched nickel. And if that’s not ‘blingy’ (ugh) enough for you, there’s also versions that come coated in 24k gold or tinted in various colors.

The iPhone skins range in price from $14.99 to $21.99 depending on the finish, but the company also makes metal skins for most of the popular smartphones on the market as well as MP3 players, PMPs, laptops, gaming consoles and unfortunately, digital SLRs. Now don’t get me wrong, I can understand why someone might want to fancy up their cellphone or MP3 player, but doing that to your Canon or Nikon DSLR is quite simply a crime against technology.

[ SGPstore ] VIA [ Gear Live ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The Nintendo DS and DSi are great little consoles, but are there really that many titles that justify the use of this grip accessory? Has anyone ever had their DS fly out of their hands during a round of Mario Kart? Sure it’s convenient that you can stash an extra game cart and an SD card on the back, and there’s a built-in stand, but other than that, is this really necessary? From what I can tell it’s only available in Japan at the moment, and if anyone can dig up pricing info please feel free to leave it in the comments.

[ Game Watch - Cyber Game Grip ] VIA [ GoNintendo ]

By Shane McGlaun

I am a big fan of netbooks, I like the small size and portable nature plus the machines have plenty of power for everything I want to do while I am on the road. My wife doesn’t like netbooks, she prefers a larger screen when she uses a notebook.

Dell has announced new products that will meet the needs of both the netbook and notebook shopper on a tight budget. The new Dell Inspiron 15 comes in several colors and offers a starting price of only $399 for a notebook with a 15.6-inch screen. The low-end model runs Vista Basic and offers 160GB HDD, 2GB of RAM, and an Intel Celeron processor. Many options are available that can greatly increase the price of the notebook.

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By Shane McGlaun

I still think of those giant yellow cassette players from the 1980′s when I hear the Walkman name. It also reminds me of those huge headphones with the built-in FM radio sporting the giant antenna that I used to see people wearing when they ran. I’m surprised most joggers didn’t end up with neck injuries from the massive things.

Sony has added a new product to the Walkman line that is slick and sounds a lot like the iPod touch. The new gadget is the Walkman X-series and it is available in 16GB for $299 and 32GB for $399. Other than the amount of storage, the two models are the same. Both sport a 3-inch OLED screen for video in WMV or MPEG-4 formats.

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