Unlike last year, when the iPhone dropped at 6pm, this year the iPhone 3G will be available early: 8am. That's presumably because they'll need to sign everyone up for an AT&T account in-store, so it'll take a lot longer. That means no day of fun in the sun in line; instead, people with a penchant for being first will be sleeping on the sidewalks. Good times! [AT&T]

The Gadget: The Moshi Zefyr, which is a collapsible USB-powered notebook cooler for the MacBook and MacBook Air (MacBook Pro version coming soon). The USB slot is pass-through, which lets you plug in another USB device so as to break even, and the whole thing can collapse into itself for easy transport.

The Price: $75 for the MacBook and MacBook Air versions (both silver and black), $86 for the upcoming MacBook Pro version.

The Verdict: It works great. Moshi's own temperature measurements for the MacBook listed a 6 degree Celsius drop in temperature between using the Zefyr and not using the Zefyr after an hour's worth of video playback. We didn't have a MacBook to test it on, so we tested it on the even hotter MacBook pro, and got similar results. Temperatures on the enclosure bottom were up to about 36 degrees Celsius without the Zefyr, and around 32 degrees with it.

The best part of the Zefyr is that it looks great and only lifts up the back part of your laptop. This tilts your MacBook at a comfortable angle for typing while on a desk, but might not be terribly secure when it's on your lap. Seventy-five bones might be a bit steep for a laptop cooler, but it's probably one of the best ones we've used yet, and it goes well visually with your laptop. [Moshi]

T-Mobile is hiking its SMS rate to 20 cents a text (up from 15), effective Aug. 29. Annoying, unless you want to get out of your T-Mobile contract. Raising prices is typically considered a material breach of contract, meaning you can weasel out of it with a bit of elbow grease and persistence, avoiding that hefty early termination fee.

Consumerist lays out exactly how to do it (it's for AT&T, but it should still work): Cite the hike as your reason for canceling; don't pay your bill at the new rate; don't give in to a cheaper plan; be steady like a rock. (Update: Make sure you get the notification of the price change first.) BTW, anyone else think doing this pre-iPhone 3G launch (whose 3Gness won't work on T-Mo) is like the worst timing ever? [BGR, Consumerist]

Prince Charles has discovered the perfect use for crappy English wine: He is using it as biofuel for his classic Aston Martin DB6. The Prince converted the 38-year old car to accept ethanol to play his part in reducing carbon emissions in the UK. The wine in question is a white distilled from the excess stock of a vineyard near Swindon, Wiltshire, which has the leftover wine because of EU quota restrictions, and not because it sucks or anything. Chuck's ride gets an awfully low 10mpg, equal to 4.5bwpm (bottles of wine per mile), but it pairs nicely with his tilapia-powered subwoofer, so who's to complain? [Daily Mail via Jalopnik]

Kudos to AT&T. They've assembled a very useful FAQ page and cut several videos to lay out all the necessities of picking up an iPhone 3G. It includes topics like what you should have on hand if you're transferring a phone number from another carrier (bring you current wireless bill, they suggest, along with your old account PIN or passwords), the costs of various plans (they start at $69, but expect to be jacked for text messaging), the unsubsidized price of an iPhone ($399 for the 8GB, $499 for the 16GB), and the unlocked, unsubsidized price of the iPhone ($599 for 8GB and $699 for 16GB). So hit the links if ever wondered if hair will start growing in funny places once you buy your new iPhone (which it will). [iPhone FAQ and Helpful Videos]

For a shortcut to plan pricing, read on:

As for the subsidized iPhone pricing, AT&T has clarified that it's available for "new customers, current postpaid iPhone customers in good standing prior to July 11, and AT&T non-iPhone customers who are currently eligible for an upgrade discount" with a two-year agreement.

Kudos to AT&T. They've assembled a very useful FAQ page and cut several videos to lay out all the necessities of picking up an iPhone 3G. It includes topics like what you should have on hand if you're transferring a phone number from another carrier (bring you current wireless bill, they suggest, along with your old account PIN or passwords), the costs of various plans (they start at $69, but expect to be jacked for text messaging), the unsubsidized price of an iPhone ($399 for 8GB, $499 for 16GB), and the unlocked, unsubsidized price of the iPhone ($599 for 8GB, $699 for16GB). So hit the links if ever wondered if hair will start growing in funny places once you buy your new iPhone (which it will). [iPhone FAQ and Helpful Videos]

For a shortcut to plan pricing, read on:

As for the subsidized iPhone pricing, AT&T has clarified that it's available for "new customers, current postpaid iPhone customers in good standing prior to July 11, and AT&T non-iPhone customers who are currently eligible for an upgrade discount" with a two-year agreement.

The AMK (that's Alle Meine Kl

By Brilldea, this "living room" has been loaded with LED-backlit paneling to add "ambiance." In reality, they've constructed a sci-fi nightmare suitable for some sort of legitimate sequel to Kubrick's 2001. It's a bit freaky, but what's even more freaky is that we can actually do this stuff. Here's the video:

The money shot is 18 seconds in. Watch a bit longer if you want to see the mechanics behind the panels.
On this second clip, just FF to the very end. [Brilldea via Hacked Gadgets]

It looks like the iPhone gaming scene is getting more solid by the day: Crash Bandicoot is the latest famous franchise that is going to appear at the app store in the form of Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart, a racing game that—looking at the demo video—looks smooth and quite impressive running in the iPhone classic.

• Stunning, console quality graphics
• Twelve beautifully crafted tracks
• The famous Crash Bandicoot cast of characters
• A host of weapons, items and power-ups
• Fully configurable controls

It's not Mario Kart, but it will do until Apple merges with Nintendo. [Polarbit]

Forget the cheapo DIY SSD option: OCZ's new Core Series SSD's are designed to be large and affordable. So the new 2.5-inch SATA II flash drives are coming in 128GB, 64GB and 32GB sizes at $479, $259 and $169 respectively. And while they're too big to drop into the smallest laptops (MacBook Air owners will weep), they might be just the ticket for people looking to upgrade with the power savings and speediness of an SSD—OCZ claim ten times faster than HDD and half the power. Available "soon." Press release below.

Jul 01, 2008 04:00

OCZ Technology Announces Core Series SATA II 2.5 Solid State Drive Delivering the World's First Truly Affordable High-Performance SSD for Consumers at Price Points Less Than 50% of Comparable High Performance SSDs

SUNNYVALE, Calif. —(Business Wire)— Jul. 1, 2008 OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (LSE:OCZ), a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled the OCZ Core Series SATA II 2.5" Solid State Drives (SSDs). OCZ has gained momentum in this pioneering technology, which uses NAND flash instead of rotating platters as the storage medium, and is a high-performance, highly reliable and energy-efficient alternative to conventional hard disc drives.

The OCZ Core Series delivers the performance and reliability of the latest SSDs at a 50% less price per gigabyte than other high speed offerings currently on the market. For the first time, OCZ is putting SSD technology within reach of the average consumer, and delivering on the promise of SSDs as an alternative to traditional hard drives in consumer targeted mobile applications.

"SSDs offer higher performance, reliability, and energy efficiency than conventional HDDs but the cost variance has limited adoption of vastly superior SSD technology, until now," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology. "It is our mission to deliver the highest performance products to consumers at reasonable prices, and with the release of the Core Series SSDs we have done exactly that."

OCZ Core Series Solid State Drives enable enhanced productivity in everyday computing and intensive multi-tasking applications. Perfect for notebooks, the Core Series is ideal for energy-efficient mobile computing to extend battery life, increase access time, and provide a durable alternative to conventional hard disc drives with superior shock resistance. High capacities and low power consuming NAND flash technology provide the necessary performance and battery life boosts generated by the proliferation of mobile gaming and new ultra-thin laptops. With fast access and seek times combined with excellent reliability, the OCZ Core Series SSDs are the answer for consumers demanding this latest storage technology.

The drives feature a durable yet lightweight alloy housing, and because OCZ SSDs have no moving parts, the drives are not prone to damage from common mishandling. Designed for ultimate reliability, these SSDs have an excellent 1.5 million hour mean time before failure (MTBF) ensuring peace of mind over the long term. All Core Series SSD drives come backed a two year warranty and OCZ's legendary service and support.

Core series SSD drives are available in capacities of 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB and deliver incredible 120-143Mbs/ 80-93Mbs read/write speeds and seek times of less than 0.35ms, making the Core series up to 10x as fast on a seek-time basis and up to 40% faster on a R/W basis that the best performing 2.5" HDDs on the market, all while consuming 50% less power. MSRPs at time of launch are USD $169, $259 and $479 for 32GB, 64GB and 128GB models respectively.