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Hardly a Geek could help but smile at the R2-D2 digital projector from Nikko. The latest incarnation of the licensed R2 franchise is functional: The large version of R2 hooks up with any standard media, but doesn't do High-Def nor does it really save you from the evil galactic empire as its made of shiny plastic and the Millennium Falcon that comes with it only doubles as a remote control. A lightsaber you want, it is, then your option is to get the smaller version of R2 that is actually a webcam and the lightsaber is a remote for … Read more

I've spent the last two weeks on the road, meeting with customers and prospects. It has been enlightening, to say the least. One primary theme has emerged: the Web 2.0 revolution is over. The web has already won. Its chief weapon? Open source.

It hasn't "won" in the sense that every application is now social. It hasn't won in the sense of market share. But it has clearly won in the sense of mindshare and intentions.

Today I'm meeting with one of the world's largest and oldest retailers. Old school, right? They're building out social networking/social content tools to bring vendors and consumers together. All those words that are passe in the Valley like "mashup" and "user-generated content"? They've hit this company (and others with whom I've met) and are rapidly being deployed in applications potentially worth billions to this enterprise.

On Thursday I met with a major media company. Same thing. In fact, the passion with which they expressed their ambition was striking:… Read more

Intel introduced its Penryn mobile processors today, and Dell sent us a Latitude D630 with one of the new chips last week to test against an identical Latitude with a previous-generation Merom chip. As we found last year when we tested the first Penryn desktop chip, the Core 2 Extreme QX9650, performance gains aren't immediately evident. While the Penryn mobile processor we tested, the Core 2 Duo T9500, boasts a more efficient 45-nanometer manufacturing process, it really is just laying the foundation for architectural advances that Intel will release later in the year with Nehalem. Compared with the previous-generation … Read more

CES is not exactly a chip-maker's show, since chips look sort of lame next to flashy cell phones and 100-inch plasma televisions.

Still, Intel and AMD both plan to descend on the desert this week and each company is making some news. Intel has more than a dozen new chips to announce, and AMD has a new logo.

First off, Intel plans to unveil 16 chips on Monday, the same day CEO Paul Otellini delivers an afternoon keynote address at The Venetian Hotel. The five Penryn-class Core 2 Duo notebook processors are probably the highlight, the first of Intel'… Read more

Over the last few months month, Panasonic has put itself in the lead of the technological race between standalone Blu-ray players. Back in October, it released the first Profile 1.1 player before the deadline for the specification even hit. Now Panasonic is leapfrogging its competitors again with the newly announced Panasonic DMP-BD50, the first Blu-ray player to be Profile 2.0 compatible--also known as BD-Live. This means the DMP-BD50 will be able to handle any special features on future Blu-ray discs that utilize an Internet connection, similar to what has already been done on HD DVD discs like Blood … Read more

The Sony Mylo is back (remember that little Wi-Fi messaging device?), and it's looking a little more mature and wiser after learning some lessons the first go-round. Available later this month for $299, the Sony Mylo Communicator 2's got a new look and more features, including AIM support and YouTube support, but is it all enough to lure the young'uns? Meh, we're not so sure.

Starting with the design, I have to say I'm liking the changes. I actually got some brief hands-on time with the handheld before CES, and while it's slightly bigger … Read more

Soon after DVD hit it big--let's say right around the turn of the century--the concept of the home-theater-in-a-box ("HTIB," in the parlance of our times) was born. Manufacturers bundled up a 5.1 audio system with a DVD player and an amplifier--sometimes in one integrated unit--and sold the whole thing for a song, leaving the buyer to "just add TV." Not surprisingly, HTIBs soon became ultra-commoditized, with name brand units selling for under $300, and no-name budget rigs sitting on supermarket endcaps for half as much. But there's always a new high-end:… Read more

Debuting at CES is the iLuv i399, the successor to the i199, which we enjoyed for its array of features and affordable price. iLuv has completely redesigned the audio system into a much more compact unit.

Most of the features from the i199 look to be intact, although we're not sure the CD player survived the upgrade. What we do know is that the i399 has a built in subwoofer, support for iPod audio playback, an FM tuner, digital clock display, an auxiliary port, and features the next iteration of the company's "BluePin" Bluetooth dongle, called … Read more

With everyone becoming a producer in the YouTube age, self-branding ("The Brand Called You") has evolved from a fancy to a necessity.

Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame have shrunk to 5 seconds of microfame, and in the contained public arena of social networks, amateur paparazzi--thanks to the viral nature of social media--have the power to grant celebrity status. That, in a nutshell, is the thesis of Clive Thompson's poignant piece for Wired on the rise of "microcelebrities."

As Facebook walls make personal communications open to the rest of your trusted network, even your … Read more