GadgetReview

It’s official. Microsoft will begin selling its new Xbox, called Xbox 360 Elite, come April 29th. No HD DVD drive, but the ‘new’ machine will sport a larger hard drive (120GB), an HDMI out.  Other items included are a matching black wireless controller, a black Xbox live headset,  and a hi-def cable. Price is set at $479.99 and it will be finished in black. Microsoft’s current top Xbox 360 goes for $399 and MS says they’ll continue to sell this version with an option to purchase the 120GB hard drive separately for $179.99.

Official page here.

Microsoft to sell Xbox 360 with larger hard drive [Reuters]

Fujistu began ‘offering’ its first set of ‘solid state drive’, or as I have awkwardly called them Flash Memory (hard drive) Based notebooks, today. The drives are set to appear in the touchscreen Lifebook P1610 and B6210. There will be two sizes available: 16GB and 32GB and will carry a premium of $500 and $1,300 respectively. According to Informationweek, Fujitsu will start by targeting companies that are looking to order 50+ notebooks, so I don’t expect these specific models on store shelves in the very near future, but sometime soon (I really don’t know and I’m just inferring – take it or leave it). The P1610 weighs a mere 2.2lbs, while the B6210 weighs 3.2lbs. The current P1610 and B6210 go for about $2k and $1400 respectively.

If you’re aren’t willing to bare network configuration to stream your recorded shows or movies from your PC to your media center, then the SanDisk USBTV has the quickie fix. From what we gather you essentially transfer up to 2GB of data/media (expect actual capacity with firmware to be lower) to the thumb drive like device and then plug it into the included USB-to-video out dongle, which also includes the necessary video decoder. Control looks like it can be harnessed from the cradle portion of the device (almost an all in one device) which includes, from the looks of it, your standard DVD controls – pretty slick. According to EverythingUSB many LCD TVs now include a USB input – I’ll have to inspect next time I visit my local electronics retailer – thus making the dongle not necessary. No word on release or availability, but apparently SanDisk will be giving out free devices for testing and feedback.

About 6 month ago a company called Cell Disk boasted the largest USB stick. We all knew that wouldn’t last long considering the memory debacle we have all come to hate and love - Apple’s iPod comes to mind. Toshiba recently announced the soon to be available Toshiba 16GB USB Stick. A price hasn’t been announced yet, but according to T3 we should expect this device sometime in November of this year. No doubt someone, perhaps SanDisk, or some other memory manufacture will counter with a 32GB stick shortly after its release. Now, why haven’t we seen an MP3 players of this capacity emerge? Perhaps to expensive.

Toshiba puts big storage in a small package [T3]

We know it looks cool to walk the streets with a b-ball in hand, but if you wanna store ‘the rock’ in your back pack you probably end up experiencing a rather large and uncomfortable bulge in your back. The Urban Basketball Backpack looks like it resolves this issue by storing the ball in its own dedicated pocket.

Urban Basketball Backpack [YankoDesign]

That’s right.  One of the world’s best portable video game systems has already undermined its proprietary format and cut all further production of UMD movies.  Sony’s medium of choice for the PSP is now Sony’s somewhat other failed format: The Memory Stick.  Don’t worry, it gets worse.  According to EHomeUpgrade, Sony’s PSP can handle 480×272 - what you’d expect all your movies in, right?  Guess again.  Sony’s Memory Stick movies will be scaled down to 320×240 - probably done to reduce size and accomplish the necessary “squeeze”.  What does this mean for Sony PSP games?  Who knows, but we gotta question Blu Ray, and oh ya, there is that damn Mini Disc format that never quite took off, but just won’t disappear.

Sony Kills UMD Movies and Moves to Memory Stick Entertainment PacEHomeUpgrade [EHomeUpgrade]

Samsung announced today their new high capacity 2GB MMC memory cards . The cards, about the size of a key on a standard keyboard but only .04″ thick, should also arrive in a 1GB format, write data at 7MB/s, and should be available later this year. As noted by Mobility Today, MMC cards have obeen rivaled by microSD cards, and both are often found in many of today’s handsets.

Although still in its design concept phase, the Flash Bag inflates like a balloon to represent total stored capacity. So, as the USB based flash drive is filled with data a built-in pump (assumption) fills the surrounding bag with air inflating it. The idea is that you can, at a glance of course, look at the Flash Bag to determine if any space remains.

More product info here.

Flashbag – The Inflating USB Flash Drive [EverythingUSB] 

No doubt the Xbox 360’s hard drive will fall short of space for some users as their library of games continues to grow. A new device by Datel hopes to eliminate this issue by linking your 360’s HD to your computer. The XSATA, which wedges between the 360 and hard drive, allows you to seamlessly transfers files via USB and then email them to friends.

According to T3 the XSATA should be available soon, and cost around $50.

We’re having a hard time believing this 64GB flash drive is real, and at a whopping $5000 we’d be surprised if anyone is daring enough to test it. Not too long ago we heard rumors of Samsung flash capacities like this emerging, but this soon? Measures 3.875″x1″x .625″, and weighs just .05lbs.

Check out purchase info and full details here.

Thanks Erik

BUSLink’s 64GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Pro 2 Series [Engadget]