Lexar has released its 8GB Platinum II 60x SD memory card that targets people who use devices that capture fast pictures, full motion video and is generally a winner with other SDHC-compatible devices. The speed is rated at 60x, which is roughly the equivalent of a minimum sustained write speed rate of 9MB/s. Since it is able to write data pretty quickly, you can use this in conjunction with more modern digital cameras that support the “burst mode” feature, since it is more than able to handle the vast amount of data that needs to be transferred over. No idea on the cost, but it ought to retail for a much higher premium compared to a standard SDHC memory card.

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Yes, with such a blurry spy shot (most probably due to nervousness of the person taking that snapshot), it is more or less confirmed that there is a brand new PSP hardware update coming our way, and most people have weighed in on their wants and needs. It is widely believed that if this hardware update makes a quantum leap seen in the DS Phat to the DS Lite, the PSP 3000 will sell oodles and oodles of consoles in a short period of time. Right now, it is comfortably outselling the DS Lite each week in Japan, and the PSP 3000 will come with a new PlayStation button, a microphone jack, a tinner outer ring, a headphone jack to go with the TV out port and more arrows than you can shake a stick at. Will you pick it up when it arrives?

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Fans of Zelda can now rejoice in the fact that they can belt out their own ocarina tunes thanks to this playable replica. It even comes complete with a tri-force logo at the bottom, and while it won’t turn you into a pied piper for ladies overnight, it should snag you at least one or two Zelda loving chicks - just make sure you have some sort of musical background beforehand lest you risk chasing all of them away with a tune that loses out to the wailing of cats. The ocarina itself is made from glazed earthenware and comes with half a dozen holes and a songbook containing all your favorite Zelda tunes over the years. ThinkGeek is carrying this for $39.99.

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Just weeks after “reinventing” Voodoo with the Envy 133 laptop and Omen gaming desktop, it looks like HP’s had enough — it’s decided to straight-up merge the specialty PC shop with its core consumer business, and sell its products alongside the Compaq Presario and HP Pavilion lines. Yeah, that’ll make Voodoo seem totally hardcore. For it’s part, HP says it’s always been planning on this kind of merger, and that the move will make Voodoo product easier to buy worldwide and faster to get with no change in service for existing customers, but it’s also oddly ambiguous on whether the Voodoo name will live on — saying only that it’s “likely,” but that a decision hasn’t been reached. All this means that it’s even weirder that HP has both the Voodoo and Blackbird gaming lines, of course — any bets on which one gets axed first?

Read - PC World article
Read - HP CTO Raul Sood’s blog entry on the merger

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Creative’s got yet another on the way: the Zen Mosaic, which will have a 1.8-inch display, 2, 4, or 8GB capacities, FM tuner, speakers, MP3 / WMA / WAV / Audible codec support, and 32 hours of battery life. They’re apparently starting in Singapore and working their way over, but they shouldn’t top $200 when they’re eventually announced for the US.

[Thanks, Rube]

Read - Announced details on the player [Via EpiZenter]
Read - First hands-on

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You may have seen Mamma Mia and feel an urge to download the entire Abba back catalogue from your nearest torrent site but, Whoa There! - park those Dancing Shoes because you may find yourself blacklisted and in receipt of a hamstrung Internet connection for your trouble.

The UK’s Big Six ISPs have agreed a plan with the British music industry - brokered by the government - to curb music piracy in a big way. According to the new plan - to be revealed in full later today - service providers will send warning letters to thousands, and maybe tens of thousands, of homes across the UK telling them they have been found illegally downloading copyrighted material.

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We’ve already seen the iPhone 3G got unlocked to function on any carrier (and you can already buy unlocked versions in several countries), but we haven’t seen a locked handset get unlocked via software only, and the folks at gsmphone-unlocking have the first video we’ve seen of Steve’s newest baby doing the SIM swap dance without any adapters. Yep, there it is, going from Rogers to Fido. Sadly, the video is more of a shameless ploy for publicity than actually useful information, and until we’re told otherwise, we’re just going to assume that they’ve just gotten hold of an early copy of the Dev Team’s unlocking tool — which should be free to the public sometime soon. So, you know: video after the break, but feel free to ignore the obnoxious phone numbers and URLs.

Continue reading iPhone 3G SIM unlock demoed on video, zero details given

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When it comes to cutesy robotic creatures with advanced AI, it’s hard to top the Pleo dinosaur. Steve Bannerman moved to Ugobe recently to head up the global marketing push to get the cute Pleo dinosaur robot into homes around the world. Bannerman was a key figure at Apple, working on Quicktime TV and responsible for launching Apple’s online media streaming business.

On a recent whirlwind trip to the UK, Gizmodo caught up with him to find out how Pleo - and Ugobe - plan to rule the world. Or at least a little robotic bit of it.-Martin Lynch

Why Ugobe?
SB: One of the things I loved about working Apple is the focus on the relationship between people and machines. It’s a similar type of exercise here at Ugobe - a wonderfully creative place to work

What are your immediate plans for Pleo?
SB: The thing we need to be able to do is to broaden what we have. One of the things we know about Pleo is that the users are very passionate - as a marketer I need to find a way to distil that optimism into a creative marketing message.

Any price cuts planned - there was one recently, yes?
SB: The recent price cut was a one-off thing to celebrate the first birthday only, but it was very successful. Our Web payments system hasn’t been great at dealing with other currencies though so we’re fixing that, in order to improve our ability to sell to anyone in the world.

How’s Pleo doing right now?

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Since the iPod nano comes in a variety of colors, it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to think that a red iPhone 3G model could be in the pipeline for the coming holiday season. I myself would take such whispers with a huge pinch of sale, but if it were to be recruited under the (PRODUCT) RED campaign, then there is a very high possibility of the colored iPhone 3G handset being released then, in line with Apple’s past policy of availing some of its products in the past to this campaign as well. Expect this to fetch a relatively high price in the second hand market if it ever gets released.

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Usually, you’d expect the models on offer to be pants but these aren’t bad at all. For instance, customers signing up for a £25-per month contract will get the snazzy Asus Eee PC 900 16GB model. Not too shabby but then - and here’s the catch - we are talking about a 24-month contract on all of these deals.

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