As inadvertently proved in our uncapped tests, one of the great promises of WiMax is streaming media, everywhere. That's exactly what Pioneer's forthcoming PMP is for.

We've seen plenty of in-car PND/PMP/entertainment systems before, but the concept has always been flawed: either you had to carry around some kind of portable media, in the form of disks or flash storage, or you had to maintain a media library just for your car. Pioneer's nameless concept is essentially just a streaming client, which taps into your full media library at home.

Such a device will be more attractive when WiMax—or LTE—coverage is a little more complete and contiguous, but if you live in one of the lucky few markets that has decent access, it could be fantastic. No word on availability or price, yet. [Digi-Info via Electric Pig]

While it's probably not very practical for typical day-to-day laptop use, the Sugar Linux desktop environment, designed for the OLPC project, is a novel take on user interfaces. Now, Sugar Labs has released Sugar on a Stick, a version of the OS that is designed to boot, run and save data from and on a USB drive. [Techradar]

HTC's London event, happening today at about 12:00am GMT (7:00am Eastern) today, has already been pegged as a launch for two new Android phones in a report by Digitimes. Their invitation also contained certain, ahem, floral clues. Now, this tweet:

Really looking forward to HTC's new Android smartphone tomorrow; colleague who has played w it gives rave review

This particular Tweet belongs to Tim Weber, business editor at BBC Radio—a title that would seem to preclude rumormongering. That's Android smartphone, singular. And what about the Windows Mobile 6.5 Firestone?

Anyway, all will be revealed soon. We'll be there, so watch this space. [Pocketlint]

Real's new RealPlayer SP software, currently in beta, adds functionality to rip YouTube and other streaming videos from the Internet and get them onto whatever handheld you choose. It works well enough, but it's also crammed full of unnecessary features.

RealPlayer SP is the evolution of the long-running RealPlayer software, which has become a multi-limbed beast of a program: It's a media manager and player, along with a packaged web browser, a subscription and a la carte music store (Rhapsody), a gaming store (Real Arcade), an audio recorder, and now a streaming video ripper/converter with ties-in to social networking sites. It is at the moment Windows only, though we're assured a Mac version is forthcoming. The beta comes in two versions: One is free, and the other costs $40 and includes H.264 conversion, DVD playback and DVD burning.

The SP stands for Social/Portable, so you can get a hint of where they're going with all this. In addition to RealPlayer itself, the software integrates a button to rip video into your browser (Firefox, Chrome, and IE are supported, Opera is not, no word yet on Safari). This new addition includes a converter to pretty much every portable video format you could imagine, from BlackBerry to Symbian to iPod to Zune.

Where RealPlayer SP is convenient is in this video conversion, especially if you've got a more niche phone or PMP (and I certainly do). Normally, conversion to Zune-supported video is kind of a pain in the ass, but RealPlayer SP handles it easily and well. For newer devices like the Palm Pre and BlackBerry Bold, RealPlayer SP can pass the converted video right through to the player, while it's able to go through iTunes to get video onto an iPhone or iPod touch. Older or less common devices, like my BlackBerry Curve 83xx and my Zune, are still supported, but you'll have to copy the new video files over manually.

The problem with this new iteration of RealPlayer isn't the new features, it's the underlying RealPlayer media software. iTunes, Zune, MediaMonkey and WinAmp are all better and more full-featured media jukeboxes, and unfortunately, Real's new focus on streaming video is new to that category of software but certainly not new to any of us. Hell, Firefox has had extensions that can do the exact same thing for years, with admittedly weaker codec support.

I also wasn't thrilled with the conversion speed or efficiency. Real claims a 1x conversion time, meaning 1 minute of video will take 1 minute to convert, which is actually quite pokey. A 3.2MB music video took 3.5 minutes to convert, and I ended up with a 6.6MB file. Sure, it's not a big deal for such a tiny video, but it feels like it should have been far snappier.

RealPlayer SP is also tied in to various social networking sites, but it's pretty half-assed: For Twitter, it just provides a link to the page of the video you downloaded, along with some prime advertisement for Real that kind of makes you sound like a jackass. The default tweet is "just downloaded so-and-so video with RealPlayer!" followed by a link to the RealPlayer download site. So get ready to follow every single one of those Twitter posts with "Clarification: I do not work for Real."

Really, the new features in RealPlayer SP aren't bad at all. It's a good idea to integrate streaming video ripping into a media jukebox, and RealPlayer SP does about as good job at it as we could ask. But the overall package needs some work: RealPlayer SP is way too bloated to work as just a video ripper/converter, and as a media jukebox it's outdated and cumbersome. Real has a good idea here, but RealPlayer needs more than some flashy add-ons. We'd love it if Real would put out the SP features in a simple applet, and leave off the browsers and media managers that we don't give a damn about.

So who should actually use RealPlayer SP? If you're a BlackBerry or Zune owner who uses Windows, loves YouTube and is confused by the multitude of third-party video converters, RealPlayer SP would be an excellent choice for getting video clips on your phone. [Real]

Boxee held a big developer's meeting today in San Francisco, and boy did they pack in the announcements. Aside from Windows support, the platform as a whole now supports Digg, Tumblr, and MLB. Most importantly, it's finally leaving alpha.

At the event, Boxee announced that they'll finally be moving out of alpha to beta, starting this September. And they've got big changes in store: For one, Windows support.

Boxee'll have some stiff competition on Windows; anybody who's used Windows Media Center knows that it's one of the best pieces of software Microsoft's ever made. But Boxee's support for streaming video, along with new social networking sites, MLB.tv, and embracing of apps (over 120 in total) makes it the media nerd's 10-foot software. Unfortunately, Hulu is still off limits, as they refuse to allow Boxee to access it.

There may be even more good stuff in the future: Boxee CEO Avner Ronen hinted that if there's enough interest, they might create an iPhone app based on Boxee. We'll keep our fingers crossed for that one. [TechCrunch]

Boxee held a big developer's meeting today in San Francisco, and boy did they pack in the announcements. Aside from Windows support, the platform as a whole now supports Digg, Tumblr, and MLB. Most importantly, it's finally leaving alpha soon.

At the event, Boxee announced that they'll finally be moving out of alpha to beta starting this September. And they've got big changes in store: For one, Windows support.

Boxee'll have some stiff competition on Windows; anybody who's used Windows Media Center knows that it's one of the best pieces of software Microsoft's ever made. But Boxee's support for streaming video, along with new social networking sites, MLB.tv, and embracing of apps (over 120 in total) makes it the media nerd's 10-foot software. Unfortunately, Hulu is still off limits, as they refuse to allow Boxee to access it.

There may be even more good stuff in the future: Boxee CEO Avner Ronen hinted that if there's enough interest, they might create an iPhone app based on Boxee. We'll keep our fingers crossed for that one. [TechCrunch]

Most of us have no need for Panasonic's Toughbook-30: Its specs are unremarkable and the 13.3-inch laptop weighs over 8 pounds. But then, our mortal laptops could never survive the ridiculous, almost cartoony beating Forbes gave it.

Forbes's intrepid testers used the Toughbook to crush soda cans, used the screen as a dartboard, ran over it with a Volkswagen, gave it to a tiger as a chew toy, had an elephant stomp on it multiple times, and then the to top it all off, shot it with a .22 pistol. And the damage?

The only things that managed to do any lasting damage were the elephant and the gun; the elephant put two cracks in the case (purely cosmetic, however), and the gun did actually pierce the screen. But! The damn thing was still usable even after being shot! It never once ceased to boot and Forbes claims they were able to log into Windows even with a hole in the screen.

We ourselves have absolutely no use for the Toughbook-30, but we're tempted to get one in case we ever get that pet elephant we've always wanted. [Forbes]

With Steve Jobs's consent, the Memphis hospital that conducted his liver transplant two months ago issued a statement denying he received any special treatment, classifying him as "the sickest person on the waiting list."

Presumably in response to the New York Times' speculation that Jobs' wealth and influence helped him secure a liver sooner than he might otherwise have, the Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee issued a statement with Jobs's consent that denied any such thing happened.

"He received a liver transplant because he was the patient with the highest MELD score (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) of his blood type and, therefore, the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available," the hospital said. In addition, Tennessee has a much smaller waiting list than a larger state, like California, which also expedited the process.

The statement does not go into any more detail on the subject, citing a respect for Jobs's privacy, but does note that Jobs is "recovering well and has an excellent prognosis." So that should put any ugly speculation to rest.

It's safe to say we've hit the third generation of netbooks. They're nice now. The HP Mini 5105 strikes at Asus Eee Seashell's fancily contoured plastic with aluminum and magnesium. Oh yeah, and 95-percent chiclet keyboard that feels fantastic.

The weird, chewy line between netbook and notebook gets blurrier with a standard 7200RPM hard drive that has an accelerometer in it for sudden motion protection, like on real laptops. Though that faster hard drive means you'll need the fatter six-cell battery to get their claimed eight hours of battery life, not the standard four-cell pack.

It's still got an Atom processor inside, so it's not gonna be as fast as a Core-powered notebook by any means, but thankfully, even though they showed it off with Vista, you'll have other OS options that won't make it unusable.

It'll start at $449 late next month. That's at the high end of the netbook prices, but at the same time, as strange as it is to say, this is actually a high-end netbook (if you still believe in the term "netbook," anyway). Course, we'll have to beat it up more extensively before we can actually call it tops, but it's looking pretty good so far.

HP Blends Functionality, Durability and Style with New HP Mini PC

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 24, 2009 – HP today unveiled its top-of-the-line Mini PC for on-the-go professionals who demand a stylish, yet durable fully functional companion PC.

The HP Mini 5101 features a sturdy, lightweight anodized aluminum display enclosure with a black, brushed finish. Complementing the aluminum is the use of magnesium alloy in the lower case of the Mini frame. Soft-touch paint on the base and palm rest further advance the PC's look and feel. This combination of materials, an industry first in the netbook category, not only delivers an eye-catching design, but also improves durability.

Furthering the stylish look of the HP Mini 5101 is a newly designed, spill-resistant keyboard that is 95 percent of a full-size QWERTY keyboard. It features a visually open and spacious keyboard design with keys raised from the surface. HP DuraKeys, a clear coating over the keys, makes the keyboard 50 times more resistant to visible wear than keyboards without it.(1) In addition, the mouse buttons are located in the traditional space below the touchpad, making for a familiar user experience.

"HP Mini PCs have no equal when it comes to industrial design, use of innovative materials and overall feature sets," said Ted Clark, senior vice president and general manager, Notebook Global Business Unit, Personal Systems Group, HP. "The HP Mini 5101 is truly a work of art, a sophisticated companion PC crafted for the trend-savvy mobile professional who needs functionally, durability and style."

Starting at 2.6 pounds,(2) the fully functional and durable HP Mini 5101 is an ideal companion PC for the on-the-go professional. It features a large 10.1-inch diagonal LED display available in either WSVGA or high-definition (HD)(3) resolutions. Customers can also choose either the four-cell battery for lighter weight or six-cell battery for longer battery life. When configured with the optional six-cell battery, the HP Mini 5101 delivers up to eight hours of battery runtime.(4)

Mobile professionals can stay ultra-productive with the HP Mini 5101 PC's small, low-power Intel® Atom processor, which enables the unit to run cooler, use less power and improve battery life. A fast-performing 7,200 RPM hard drive comes standard with the unit. Alternatively, an optional Solid State Drive (SSD) is available in either 80 or 128 gigabytes.

An optional, integrated Gobi-powered HP Mobile Broadband module allows users to conveniently access the Internet, corporate intranet, email and other critical information around the world.(5) Other wireless technologies include integrated Wi-Fi Certified WLAN(6) and optional Bluetooth® 2.0. An integrated 2-megapixel webcam allows for easy still-image capture, web-conferencing or video-enhanced instant messaging(7) with no additional hardware.

HP QuickSync software, planned to be available as a web download in September, allows quick synchronization of the HP Mini with notebooks or desktops so users can avoid maintaining multiple documents, media files and email. Information also can sync to portable storage devices.

The versatility of the HP Mini 5101 can change how students learn and is the practical answer to providing each student continuous access to a PC in one-to-one computing. Its suite of wireless, (6) multimedia and security capabilities allows students to learn wherever they have Wi-Fi access – from the classroom, to the library, to their homes.

The HP Mini 5101 is built to last, featuring HP 3D DriveGuard, which offers a three-axis digital accelerometer chip that sends a signal to shut down the hard drive upon sudden movement or shock. The HP Panel Protection System includes a scratch-resistant acrylic LCD cover and magnesium hinge bracket for added durability in demanding environments.

The HP Mini 5101 has been engineered for reduced impact on the environment by eliminating or reducing substances of concern, using fewer resources and reducing energy consumption. Configurations of the HP Mini 5101 are ENERGY STAR qualified and are identified as HP Mini 5101 ENERGY STAR on HP websites and on www.energystar.gov. In addition the Mini 5101 is EPEAT Gold registered in the United States.(7)

New accessories designed for use with the HP Mini include a USB 2.0 port replicator that adds a variety of audio, networking and USB ports to allow greater productivity. A lightweight, functional messenger bag designed specifically for the HP Mini or a neoprene slip case offer added protection for professionals while on the go. Other accessories available for the HP Mini include a USB 2.0 docking station, external optical drive and USB-powered external speakers.

More information on HP Mini 5101 product specifications, images and other HP mobility solutions is available in an online press kit at www.hp.com/personal.

Pricing and availability
The HP Mini 5101 starts at $449(8) and is expected to be available in late July.

[HP]

A native Gmail app would allow for gestures, offline reading, and quicker access, but Google just keeps improving the iPhone-optimized mobile Gmail site instead. With iPhone 3.0, they've added swiping gestures within the iPhone's browser.

Google announced that they'd be periodically adding new features for both Android and iPhone, and today they rolled out in-browser swiping gestures that are, unfortunately, Apple-only for now. It's not a huge update, but one we know joint iPhone/Gmail users will like: You can swipe left or right to bring up Gmail's Archive button, which files the email away for later use. Sweet! Now what's next? [Google via TechCrunch]