Sure, it's foolish and low-tech as hell. But in the 8-hours you were cooped up on that transatlantic flight, did you ever once think about using the barf bag as an adjustable mount for your media player? No, you just held your iPod touch in your hand, occasionally dozing off until awakened by a jerk of the earbuds from your fallen iPod. Who's the fool now?

[Via Random Good Stuff]

While everyone wants their gadgets, particularly smartphones, to become smaller and smaller we paradoxically want the screens to get bigger and bigger. That's why so much R&D money is spent on wearable, folding, projecting, swiveling, and rollable displays: there's a gold mine to be had by the first to offer a solution with mass-market appeal. Here's Taiwan's great economic hope developed by its Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) with some help from industrial design house, PilotFish. The TFT-EPD (Thin Film Transistor Electrophoretic Display) panel combines a folding-top display with a bottom-sliding secondary (separated by a 1-cm flexible strip) to double the total panel size to 5-inches -- other screen sizes are also in the works. What looks like a break through the center of the combined display above is actually a software taskbar. While these are obvious mock-ups, prototype displays do exist with plans to take the technology -- which will included touchscreen capabilities -- into production sometime next year. Imagine this applied to an N97 followup and you might appreciate our enthusiasm.

[Via Computerwoche]

It's been almost a full year since we last heard from AMtek, but we have to admit that we're at least mildly interested in what it has going on in the T10L. The touchscreen-based UMPC packs an Intel Atom N270 CPU, integrated graphics, up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a rechargeable Li-ion, 80GB hard drive, 10.2-inch 1,024 x 600 resolution display, 1.3-megapixel camera, dual speakers, WiFi and a basic array of ports. Everything's tucked into a portable 2.6-pound package, though there's no telling when or where we'll see it emerge. CES-bound, maybe?

[Via GottaBeMobile]

Bezel-integrated webcams for laptops will soon get a sore-ly needed boost thanks to Samsung. Its new 1.2 megapixel S5K4AW System on Chip does what your VGA webcam can't: shoots real-time 720p at 30fps. The 1/4-inch CMOS imager is also 3x more sensitive to light than current sensors thanks to its superior 2x2 binning technique -- or so Samsung says in hopes of drumming up interest to sell samples to OEMs. Mass production is set to begin in the first half of 2009 for all your dimly lit, locked door, HD video conferencing needs. Just remember, some things are not meant to be seen in high-def. You listening Bruce?

Axiotron has the upgrade bug again, and it's making a litany of small, useful improvements to its Modbook that add up to a seriously improved machine. For starters, the rig now has a new hardware controller board for improved sleep, battery and system performance. Moreover, a fresh bonding process for the AnyView LCD panel and paper-emulating ForceGlass screen cover results in a "better contrast ratio, a firmer etched drawing surface, and decreased parallax between pen tip and cursor." Also of note, the updated beast incorporates the company's QuadCoat process, which protects the top shell with a liquid metallic coating and decreases the weight to 5.3-pounds. The Modbook starts at $2,249 by itself, or users can convert their non-aluminum Core 2 Duo-based Macbook into one starting at $1,299.

Simmer down athletic supports, we didn't just call your beloved NFL boring. But Thursday night's matchup between the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers wasn't going to generate this much interest on its own. As described by the LA Times who attended the 3D broadcast of Thursday night's "football" game at Burbank's 3ality Digital cinema,

"The experience wasn't jaw-dropping, but it was noticeably better than a conventional broadcast. The game was drama-free, yet the novelty of 3D made it hard for me to take my eyes off the screen... The effect was subtle at times, but just as compelling as in "U2 3D," 3ality's concert film of the Irish rockers. The most striking thing in both cases was how much more you could see in three dimensions than in two."

The event wasn't glitch free, however. Two hiccups caused the satellite feeds to go black in Boston, New York, and LA. and a few quick camera pans and poorly executed transitions had viewers convulsing behind their polarized glasses. As a proof of concept though, viewers generally seemed impressed which means more of this in the future.

[Via Yahoo]

See that Meizu M8 there? See that multitool-equipped hand? Yeah, you know damn well what's going to happen next, and we think the translated text expresses it best: "Well, the last one of the screws removed, MEIZU M8 has been completely broken up in a heap before us." The M8's guts make for some predictably boring pictures (unless you're really into circuitry), but the interesting bit might come in the accompanying narrative where we learn that the phone seems pretty dang solid -- good build quality, good materials, and name-brand components. That being said, they found it wasn't quite up to the iPhone 3G's standards for sheer manufacturing prowess -- but hey, they wouldn't want to take any cues from Apple, would they?

[Thanks, Jeff]

If you've been itching to get your GPS on but weren't feelin' the $9.99 monthly charge for VZ Navigator, today is a good day. Verizon 8330 Curve and 8130 Pearl devices have finally been (somewhat) decrippled, as users over at HowardForums are reporting that the GPS in the aforementioned devices started working once they applied the 4.5.0.97 update. As this is an unreleased firmware version, we're unsure if this was an intentional measure, or simply an epic mistake. But one thing we're sure about is that if Verizon does shut this down in the next firmware update, the backlash will surely be enough to whip up one heck of a Storm. Unfortunately at this point, it's only working in BlackBerry Maps, while Google Maps is left out of the party; but hey, we'll take whatever we can get.

[Image via Boy Genius Report, thanks Nate]

It happens every year -- the holidays roll around, and you realize that you've missed out on chatting with some of your loved ones. They offer to video chat, and you have to politely decline while resorting to the not-nearly-as-personal telephone call. Trey's ready for a change:

"I'm looking for a webcam to connect to my desktop, preferably one with great video quality and at least decent capture abilities in low light. Size isn't too much of a factor, though I would obviously prefer it to be as small as possible with sacrificing quality. What's the best one out there?"

Don't deny it folks, we know you've got a favorite webcam when it comes to chatting with your undercover SO. Just give us the answer here -- no details about how you know it's the best are necessary. Oh, and feel free to hit us up with your own question at ask at engadget dawt com.

Unlike another automaker out there, Fisker Automotive's eco-friendly vehicle looks a whole lot like the concept, and while the Tesla Roadster is certainly a sexy beast, we're having an exceptionally difficult time taming our fondness for this ride. The $80,000 $87,000 plug-in hybrid has been officially revealed ahead of its "debut" at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, but sadly, it seems that the '09 ship date has already slipped to "late 2010." We can't say looking at the gorgeous pictures make that fact any less depressing, but they're all there in the read link if you care to indulge.

[Via CNET]

The definitions for netbooks and MIDs, and the distinctions between the two (and regular laptops, for that matter), have always been more than a little nebulous, but it looks like Intel is doing its part to clarify things a bit (for itself, at least), and it's now sharing its internal definitions for the categories with the general public. According to jkOnTheRun, Intel sees netbooks as "clamshell notebooks" with 7-inch to 10.2-inch screens that are "purpose built for Internet use." MIDs, on the other hand, are "pocketable devices" with 4-inch to 7-inch screens, which can also be clamshell devices, or come in slider or tablet form, each of which must also be built specifically for "internet-based targeted usages." In related, confusion-inducing news, Intel also says that it expects to see an increasing number of specialized MIDs that focus on more narrow uses like navigation, entertainment or, yes, even gaming.

While the N97 was free to fondle, the slightly less exciting E63 was decidedly bolted to a table, so we had to take what angles we could get. The phone is basically a cheap-o version of the E71: Nokia figured it had a good thing going on in that QWERTY candybar, and decided to spread the love at a lower price point, with a slightly thicker, plastic handset. The good news is that no matter what you do to cheapen the phone, the E63 comes from good stock, and is really a compelling form factor. The slight bump in thickness is negligible, and while the cheaper materials are easily distinguished from the luxury feel of the E71, the phone by no means feels cheap. Except for the keyboard. For some reason Nokia opted to remove the hardened, clickier E71 keys and replace them with a softer, rubberier keyboard with a considerable amount of distributed give to it -- that still leaves it as one of Nokia's best QWERTYs to date, but we greatly prefer the E71. The other compelling difference between the phone and its inspiration is the inclusion of a full 3.5mm headphone jack, instead of the mini jack found on the E71. Not bad at all, but we'd guess Nokia saved a lot more money in materials and manufacturing process than with the sorry removal of GPS and HSDPA.

Man, we can bet there's some serious celebrating going on at the Buffalo offices today. After being barred from selling its networking gear here in America last June, Buffalo has finally been freed from its CSIRO-given chains. Who's to thank? A federal judge who has stayed the permanent injunction in the ongoing US patent litigation, which opens the doors for the company to sell "IEEE 802.11a, 802.11g and 802.11n compliant products in the United States." Finally, we USers can look forward to buying helicopter inspired routers on our home turf.

[Thanks, Mark]