"Did you really need that fourth bourbon? And why did you go with the super burrito? Is the cheese and sour cream really necessary?" it seems to ask. "Maybe you should go for a run."

Well, fuck you, Activa, I don't need your judgment, and yes, I did need that fourth bourbon. If you must know, the Philips Activa is the next in what's becoming a trend: The fitness-based PMP. It makes sense—smartphones are replacing PMPs at a rapid rate, and one of the only niches that they can't (or shouldn't) cover is workouts. You really shouldn't bring your Droid or iPhone with you while working out; they're big and bulky and valuable.

The Activa is a teeny little pocket player, includes a clip like the Sansa Clip+, and in what has to be a first, I have no idea what the capacity is. Either 4GB or 8GB is expected, but it's not listed in the specs for some reason. It matches your music with your workout by tempo and measures the usual distance and calorie counts, as well as giving audio feedback to let you know what your status is (a nice feature, for sure). It should be available in April 2010 for $130. [Philips]

Lately I've been sharing my desk. Lots of fun, but you quickly end up with a cable mess and running out of plugs. That's why I want someone to convert the RedDot Award-winner PowerPost into a real product.

It's a simple concept: An alternative table leg that is in itself a huge power strip. My only worry is that, knowing myself, it would look looking like a deranged hydra shortly after its installation. [Red Dot Award]

If Dr Ellen Stofan—team leader of the TiME mission—has her way, this will be the first nautical ship to sail across waters outside of planet Earth. Its name is the Titan Mare Explorer.

If approved by NASA, the $425 million space boat would be launched in January 2016, water landing on the Saturn's moon in June 2023. It would study the Ligeia Mare or the Kraken mare, located in the north hemisphere of Titan. Scientists believe that these huge lakes are composed of liquid methane, ethane, or a mix of both hydrocarbons. While these highly-flammable components are not stable under Earth's conditions, they are stable liquids under Titan's ?290 °F.

The obvious objective would be to identify the precise components of these seas, their depth, and physical features. Then, the space boat has a little nuclear device that would set the lakes on fire, causing a chain reaction that would make the planet explode, pushing Saturn out of its orbit, which in turn would make it to collide with Jupiter, which will finally gain enough mass to ignite a fusion process, creating a star that would finally make Europa an habitable planet, so it can hold lifeforms that listen to Abba, drink lots of wine, and eat tapas at bars.

OK, maybe it won't do the last thing, but that's what I would like to see. [TiME Mission Document via PhysOrg]

Earlier today I lamented the relative lack of sleep-enhancing gadgets. The Internet answered with these sheets that transform your bed into a giant iPod Touch. I don't think it functions, but it is certainly compatible with puns. [Ellos via Techeblog]

Twenty years ago, Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 was a place where Tokyo's businessmen could get a quick night's sleep after a long day at the office. Today it's an apartment building for those left unemployed by the devastating recession.

As Japan's jobless rate creeps higher—it is currently 5.2%, the highest it has ever been—some Tokyo residents are saving money by moving into hotels. Caspule hotels.

We've looked at capsule hotels before and thought it might be fun to spend a night of deep sleep in a futuristic, high-tech pod. But this report from yesterday's New York Times presents the sobering reality of life in a capsule.

At about $620 a month, rent's not that cheap, though that does afford you a small in-capsule TV and fresh linens, as well as access to communal areas. The capsules have screens instead of doors, and their thin walls provide little privacy. There is, of course, little space for personal possessions, so most residents keep their things stowed in even smaller lockers on the premises.

The hotel's proprietor estimates about a third of the establishment's 300 capsules are rented long term, on a month by month basis. It is heartening, though, to read that the capsule-dwelling individuals interviewed in this article remain optimistic about what the future holds. You can read their stories and find more photographs at the link. [New York Times via Lisa Katayama's Twitter]

The Kirlian Photography Device uses high voltage discharges to capture beautiful, luminescent images directly from ordinary film. It is not a machine I'd recommend using in the darkroom.

Kirlian photography, also known as electrography, isn't anything new—we've looked at the technique before—but the Kirlian Photography Device wraps up all the necessary components into one machine. You just put your film on the discharge plate and the device zaps vibrant new life into your photographs.

If you've made the jump to digital, an optional transparent discharge plate lets you use the technique with any regular, printed photograph. The Kirlian Photography Device is available now, for $299, for those interested in experimenting with the high voltage technique. [Scientifics Online via Oh Gizmo]

A lot went down this past week, the last of the year and the decade. People always start looking back this time of year, and we were no exception. But there was plenty of crazy in the here and now.

Yes, there were recaps.

Brian recounted his love of gadgets in the aughts and explained how that love changed throughout the decade.

We waxed nostalgic on gadgets in the year 2000. Jason wrote about MP3 players. Mark wrote about laptops. John wrote about Windows CE and the digital cameras.

We looked at the year's essential iPhone apps.

Sean warned us of 7 gadgets to beware in 2010.

In case you were trying to remember what you liked, we counted down the 10 most popular posts of 2009.

We took the FBI Cybersquad, and their Matrix screensaver, very seriously.

Don showed off some head-scratchers with a What Is It? recap, and we thought that our Image Cache shots deserved the same treatment.

The history of the New Year's Eve ball extends back 102 years. We made a timeline.

We couldn't resist posting these bird-watching apps, and, in turn, John evaluated the state of porn apps in the App Store.

Guest blogger Anna Jane Grossman remembered the Internet delivery service Kozmo as part of our Y2K+10 series.

Adam, working with illustrator Dan Meth, presented the socially acceptable geek subgenre scale. Everyone laughed and waited until they got home to see where they ended up.

Jesus made an incredible infographic on the true odds of airborne terror. It should make you feel a little bit better about flying.

He also posted the TSA's leaked security rules, though as far as I know he wasn't visited by any government agents.

Theirs wasn't the only leaky faucet this week; we also looked at the Chrome OS netbook's leaked specifications.

Speaking of leaks, this video of The Making of the Bootleg of Avatar was the most visible look at the craft since Jerry's masterful recordings of Death Blow and Cry Cry Again.

We leaked documents with the Nexus One price tag that bummed everyone out a bit, because we had sort of hoped it was just going to be free for the taking. This ten minute video of the phone still made our mouths water.

Friend of Giz, Kate Greene, hunted for the perfect screen.

Some buildings were demolished. It didn't go quite as planned.

Another friend, Will Smith, showed us how cheap is too cheap when you're building your own PC.

Google China's ex-president spilled some beans on the Apple tablet.

We had some laughs at this cartoon about what it would be like if the "I'm a Mac" ads were more accurate.

For everyone who has ever watched Steve Jobs announce the iPodWhatever, featuring x-ray vision, bulletproof plating, and a bigger hard drive the week after buying the old one, our guide of When to Buy Apple Products was mighty helpful.

This incredible photo of Saturn got Jesus all hot and bothered.

We watched this video of Half-Life 2 being played on Project Natal.

Mark's second 27" iMac was busted, just like his first one. He's not going down quietly.

He also kicked off our Lifechanger section—posts on common objects that make life better—with as poignant a blog post as ever has been written about vintage pyrex pots.

To put our iSlate speculation in perspective, Matt wrote up a recap of wacky iPhone rumors from the years before that gadget's arrival. One was oddly prescient.

If your resolution was to prank more often, this Skype trick is a good place to start.

David Quinlan told the awesome story of how he created Stuck, his decision-enabling iPhone app.

Joel told President Obama that it is time to fire the Transportation Security Administration. Some people agreed with him, others did not.

John posted an old home video of himself water-skiing.

First Time Warner said, "no more Fox channels." Then, they said, "just use the Internet." In the end, everyone got along.

Just when you thought taser stories couldn't get more outrageous, a cop tasered an unconscious diabetic 11 times.

Also outrageous: the girl who couldn't get her stolen iPhone back from Apple.

Matt wondered what's going to be inside the next generation of MacBooks.

A guy constructed a really nice handmade telescope for his wife, and suddenly all the presents we gave this year seemed pretty trite.

Another guy constructed a really useless machine, but at least took the time to share with us how he did it.

We showed the view from the top of the Moscow Bridge, and somewhere, somebody puked on their keyboard.

We learned that Google is just an elaborate front for a club of intense ping-pong players.

Some nerds picked up microphones (that is, rapped awkwardly into the keyboards of their MacBooks) and recorded I'm On A Phone, a parody of a parody (of a parody, if you count DJ Khaled himself as a joke). One set of them was declared the winner.

Some weird shit went down at a Walmart.

A man stayed true to his copy of shareware WinZip for five years; we admired his perseverance.

Now that Avatar has made a bajillion dollars, 3D is here to stay (even though Wilson's screening sort of sucked.) We took a look at the Battle of the 3D Glasses.

Speaking of Avatar, remember how your friend was like, "why don't they put those tendrils together when they're having sex?!" Well, they do. And we might get to see it.

We previewed Blio, the tablet-friendly ebook format Ray Kurzweil rescued from the future to bring back to 2009.

Rosa showed off one expensive ass robot hummingbird.

But all bots aren't good ones—we also found this fist-pumping story of how three dudes disabled one of the world's most powerful botnets.

That Apophis asteroid that has a 1 in 250,000 chance of hitting Earth? Yeah, Russia's gonna deflect that just to be safe.

Kim Peek, the original Rain Main, passed away and we remembered him as well as his amazing abilities.

It's probably not a good idea to pull up Star Trek stuff when you're surfing the web at work, but it's definitely not a good idea to pull up this Star Trek-related shot at work. Hint: it's also wiener-related.

Speaking of things you shouldn't look at at work, Chauvon, an actress from MTV's Real World, showed us how to expose fake boobs using only a flashlight. Parenthetically, one of hers popped during the last Real World / Road Rules challenge.

We put out the call for your Genius Bar horror stories. There's still time to submit yours and win some pizza.

We learned that the Coast Guard got mean with pirates and cuddly with kittens in 2009.

Lastly, It turns out that there's a ton of Weekly World News issues scanned into Google Books, which someday will help someone get out of a sticky fact checking situation.

The WakeMate, a sensor-laden wristband packaged with sleep analysis software, determines the optimal wake-up point in your REM cycle and adjusts your alarm for that moment. It also lets you say you really use your iPhone 24/7.

One of the fundamental reasons we love gadgets is because they help us do things better and smarter while we go about our days. But there are considerably fewer gadgets that help us go about our nights. Sure, there are some, but by and large the activity of sleeping is one that is untouched by technology and thus unoptimized. Enter WakeMate.

The WakeMate wristband uses Actigraphy to monitor your sleep cycles and pinpoints the precise moment when you should wake up, in a twenty minute window set to your specifications. (Otherwise, my "optimal wake up time" would be sometime around noon, seven days a week.)

But that's only half of it. The WakeMate collects your nightly sleep data and over time develops a detailed analysis of your sleep schedule.

Though I'm not sure I need quantify things with a "sleep score"—Sleep? That's where I'm a viking—it's hard not to get excited about the prospect of sleeping smarter with the help of gadgets like WakeMate. The WakeMate is set to ship by the end of the month and is available for preorder now. [WakeMate Thanks Mikey!]

The military have their own version of the old green laser pointer prank, one that can blind people 2.5 miles away (even if, at that distance, the blinding is temporary). They use it to hail-and-warn enemies trying to advance.

The weapon—which is technically a "long-range visual deterrent laser device for hail-and-warning applications"—is called the Glare LA-9/P, and it's quite dangerous, even while it has a security system to avoid eye damage. That's something that didn't stop it from blinding dozens of soldier during the current Iraq war, exposed to friendly dazzling. [BE Meyers via Danger Room]

The DECE, or Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, is made up of movie studios and tech companies, and is trying to create a way to effectively charge for digital movies. They revealed some future plans today, and they're, um, interesting.

The idea is that when you buy a movie, your rights are digitally stored in a "rights locker," which should theoretically allow you to play your purchased movie on any hardware that supports the DECE standard. Considering that Sony, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Best Buy, Nokia, Toshiba, HP and Motorola—but not Disney or Apple—are all on board (and today they added several new members), that could mean a wide range of devices, from set-top boxes to TVs to mobiles—but not iPhones.

There are a bunch of issues with that idea. First, if given the choice, far more people are going to rent a movie than buy one. Movies are different than music, you guys; you rarely re-watch movies, and the DECE proposal has no room for renting. Second, they're trying to make our lives easier, but since this standard is unlikely to be adopted in full force immediately, that means lots more problems: Where do you get these particular movies, without one retailer like Amazon or iTunes? On which devices can you play them? Do you have to pick a hotel based on whether it supports DECE, so you can watch Fantastic Mr. Fox again? Do you have to replace all your current equipment?

And, of course, any solution that's harder to use than what's freely available is not likely to stick around. Ripping a DVD (or Blu-ray) is easy, and you can use the file anywhere—why go to this complicated, proprietary version?

We'll reserve full judgment until we see exactly what DECE has planned (possibly at CES this week). But for now—just rip your own Blu-rays. Here's how. [NYTimes]

Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) Announces Key Milestones

21 New Members Join Cross-Industry Coalition to Make "Buy Once, Play Anywhere" a Reality for Consumers

LOS ANGELES —(Business Wire)— Jan 04, 2010 Today the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem LLC (DECE LLC), http://www.decellc.com, a coalition with support from every industry involved in digital entertainment, announced it has reached key milestones toward establishing the first open market for digital content distribution. In addition, DECE announced that 21 companies have joined the group which now includes 48 members across entertainment, software, hardware, retail, infrastructure and delivery.

The milestones announced today include:

Agreement on a Common File Format, an open specification for digital entertainment, that will be used by all participating content providers, services and device manufacturers
Vendor selection for and role of the Digital Rights Locker, a cloud-based authentication service and account management hub that allows consumers rights access to their digital entertainment
Approval of five Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions that will be DECE-compatible
Full technical specifications will be available in the first half of 2010.

Common File Format

DECE has agreed on a Common File Format, an industry first in digital distribution. An open specification for digital entertainment, like DVD or Blu-ray, the Common File Format may be licensed by any company to create a DECE consumer offering. Since this format will play on any service or device built to DECE specifications – whether via Internet, Mobile, Cable or IPTV, etc. – it will make "Buy Once, Play Anywhere" a reality.

The Common File Format optimizes the digital entertainment supply chain, benefiting content providers, Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and retailers. Content providers only need to encode and encrypt one file type in portable, standard definition and high definition for multiple vendors. CDNs will not have to store different file types to accommodate retailers' varying needs. Retailers can efficiently deliver content to devices from different manufacturers.

Digital Rights Locker

DECE has selected Neustar, Inc. (NYSE:NSR) as the vendor for the Digital Rights Locker, a cloud-based authentication service and account management hub that allows consumers rights access to their digital entertainment. It will authenticate rights to view content from multiple services, with multiple devices as well as manage content and registration of devices in consumer accounts. DECE will provide an open Application Programming Interface (API) that allows any Web-enabled storefront, service or device to integrate access to the Digital Rights Locker into its own consumer offering.

Approved DRMs

DECE has approved five DRMs that will be compatible with the Common File Format – Adobe® Flash® Access, CMLA-OMA V2, The Marlin DRM Open Standard, Microsoft PlayReady® and Widevine®. Compatibility with multiple DRMs will ensure that content can be played back via streaming or download on a wide variety of services and devices.

New Members

In 2009, 21 companies joined DECE, including: Adobe, Ascent Media Group, Cable Labs, Catch Media, Cox Communications, DivX, DTS, Extend Media, Irdeto, Liberty Global, Motorola, Nagravision, Netflix, Neustar, Nokia, Rovi, Secure Path, SwitchNAP, Tesco, Thomson and Zoran. These companies join DECE's original members which include world leaders across a wide range of industries.

"The digital entertainment marketplace is on the cusp of a new era of rapid growth," said Mitch Singer, President of DECE. "The key to unlocking this potential is giving consumers the 'Buy Once, Play Anywhere' experience they want. That's the goal of DECE and one we're making rapid progress toward today."

About Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) LLC

The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) LLC is a cross-industry initiative developing the next generation digital media experience based on open, licensable specifications and designed to create a viable, global digital marketplace. The DECE is currently made up of Adobe, Alcatel-Lucent, Ascent Media Group, Best Buy, Blueprint Digital, Cable Labs, Catch Media, Cisco, Comcast, Cox Communications, Deluxe Digital, DivX, Dolby Laboratorie, DTS, Extend Media, Fox Entertainment Group, HP, Intel, Irdeto, Liberty Global, Lionsgate, Microsoft, MOD Systems, Motorola, Movie Labs, Nagravision, NBC Universal, Netflix, Neustar, Nokia, Panasonic, Paramount Pictures, Philips, RIAA, Rovi, Roxio CinemaNow, Samsung Electronics, Secure Path, Sony, SwitchNAP, Tesco, Thomson, Toshiba, Verimatrix, VeriSign, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Widevine Technologies Inc. and Zoran. This new digital media specification and logo program will enable consumers to purchase digital video content from a choice of online retailers and play it on a variety of devices and platforms from different manufacturers.

Take Syabas' Popcorn Hour C-200, the much-loved streamer of choice for AV nerds. Now make it smaller, add Netflix support and a far superior interface, and cut the price from $300 to $130. That's the Popbox.

The Popbox isn't a replacement of the Popcorn Hour, which remains on as a giant hackable tank of a machine, but it does look fully ready for mainstream adoption. Here's why: Syabas expects to slash the price down to a mere $130, yet it keeps the Popcorn's stellar codec support and a lot of the online channels the Popcorn was missing, like Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, MLB, and a whole bunch more. (It does lose some things, like the internal hard drive bay and Bittorrent support, but it's still all open-source so you can install games, apps, or whatever fun stuff the homebrew community can think up). Plus, Syabas's interface (which Wilson, in his streamer roundup, described as "lame") has been totally revamped, and actually looks, well, kind of awesome. It's got great little touches like animated weather and automatic IMDb and AllMusic lookup for movie, TV and music info.

The hardware's been significantly revamped, too—it's much smaller than the admitted beast that is the Popcorn Hour, and it's fanless (AKA silent), but it'll still pump out full 1080p video over HDMI. It's also got 2 USB ports and an SD slot for added storage, since you lose the hard drive bay the Popcorn Hour has. It remains to be seen whether Syabas has fixed the problems users found with the Popcorn Hour's remote control, but we'll find that out soon enough.

It's set to be unveiled on January 5th at CES, where we'll stop in and get some photos and impressions—but I'm really excited for it already. We'll find out release date there, but they seem locked in on the $130 price point, which is super reasonable—Roku, Asus and the rest should be very scared right now. [Syabas]

Update: Due to a typo in my notes, you may have seen an early version of this story as saying the projected price will be $100. Syabas actually expects the final price to be $130, and I need to practice my typing. Sorry for the confusion.

Freescsale, supplier of the chip that powers the Kindle as well as about 70% of the ebook market, has just developed a 7-inch tablet reference design that will basically be the genesis of many tablets starting 2010. And it's $199.

Now, to be fair, those two figures are a bit preliminary. The $199 figure is the one quoted by Freescale, not the final price that OEM companies that will buy this design from Freescale and put their own spin and customization on it will charge. And, although Freescale says this tablet design will allow companies to bring the tablet to market in as low as 6 months, customizations (hardware or software) and bug killing will undoubtedly inflate that.

Even if only on paper, this Freescale reference design is pretty damn promising. It's powered by a netbook-esque ARM processor, a 7-inch touchscreen (resistive, unfortunately, to keep the design under $200—you'd go up to $250 if any OEM put a capacitive touchscreen on there), 512MB RAM, 4-64GB internal storage, removable microSD slot, an optional 3G modem, 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, USB, audio ports, SIM card, speaker, microphone, 3-megapixel webcam, 1900 mAh battery, accelerometer and light sensor. Whether or not including all these options in a build will result in a machine that's less than $200 is unclear, so there might be some sacrifices that need to be made.

As for the OS, it's primarily browser based, but the root of it is a customized Debian Linux build, so you could theoretically go and install Linux applications onto it. But, as a tablet, people are mostly going to be consuming media, so going with a browser, like the JooJoo did, makes sense. Freescale did come up with an interesting $50 keyboard docking station addon that you can keep at home and use as an input device if you actually need to do some typing, so it's kind of the best of both worlds.

The bottom line is that Freescale has made a pretty enticing design, and if a decent enough OEM picks it up and gets it to market at under $200, it could be the start if a very interesting computing category—one that's a step higher than smartphones but a step lower than netbooks.

Somewhere between the buttoned-up utility of the ThinkPad and the sleek efficiency of the IdeaPad sits an untapped sweet spot for affordable, entry-level notebooks. At least, that's clearly what Lenovo is banking on with their new ThinkPad Edge series.

The ThinkPad Edge purports to be targeted towards small and medium-sized businesses, but it's just as easy to say that it's equally unfit for both casual users and serious professionals. While it's a perfectly capable machine in most respects and a decent buy for the money, it often feels like a compromise to an argument no one was having.

Price and Configuration

The system we tested was loaded up with a 1.3 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 ULV processor and Intel GS45 chipset, and 4GB (2x2GB) of DDR3 RAM (1066MHz). You can also customize up to 500 GB of HDD storage. That set-up will run you $899, while the $549 base model ships with either AMD's Turion (clocked at 1.6GHz) or Althon (1.5 GHz) dual core processor, 4GB (2x2GB) of DDR2 RAM (667MHz), and a 160GB HDD.

Design

The mash-up is clear the instant you unbox the Edge. The rounded corners and glossy black finish are reminiscent of the IdeaPad, but when combined with the ThinkPad-like flat display back, the 13.3" model I reviewed (14" and 15" models will be available in the spring) brings to mind a futuristic cafeteria tray.

The reflective gloss is also a fingerprint trap, so expect a lot of smudges unless you're prepared to give your notebook regular wipe-downs.

The 13.3", 720p (1366x768) screen offers better sharpness than you might expect from an entry-level rig. There's no latch to keep it closed, but it opens easily on its hinges. And my god is this thing flexible: I'm not sure why you'd ever want it to, but the display can recline over 180 degrees.

Like the rest of the ThinkPad line, the Edge comes equipped with both a trackpad and a TrackPoint nub. The trackpad's multitouch capabilities are appreciated, but its narrowness and frenetic responses definitely aren't. As for the nub, I've never been a big fan, but it's integrated well with the keyboard and works just dandy, if you're into that kind of thing.

Speaking of that keyboard: the island style that Lenovo has moved to for the Edge is a welcome design improvement over previous ThinkPad models. It's less industrial, more welcoming. The keys are raised and have some spring to them, and while they feel a bit blocky at times it's overall a smooth typing experience.

The Edge also has the distinction of being a thin and light notebook that's not that thin (one inch, although the 6-cell battery in our test model adds another .5 inches in the rear) and not that light (3.6 lbs. with a 4-cell battery and about 4 lbs. with the 6-cell). But it's still portable enough that it wouldn't be cumbersome to take on all of those small and medium-sized business trips.

The ports are distributed along the sides, as on the IdeaPad, and it's a decent array: three USB ports, VGA out, HDMI, and a multi-card reader to go along with your standard ethernet, microphone, and speaker jacks. Conspicuously absent is a DVD drive.

The Edge's solution to potential design blemishes like speakers and the battery appears to be to sweep them under the rug. The speakers are placed on the notebook's underside, and offer decent—though at times tinny—sound quality. I actually love the battery solution: its placement underneath the rear of the computer creates a natural keyboard incline.

Performance

This isn't a computer you're going to want to do intensive gaming on (thanks largely to the integrated graphics), but then again it's not supposed to be. To its credit, the Edge does handle streaming HD videos without a hitch for when you need a Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody fix at the office.

As far as benchmarks, the Edge falls where you'd expect it to: somewhere between the IdeaPad U350 and the ThinkPad T400. A more appropriate comparison would be another 13" thin-and-light like the Asus UL30A, and our GeekBench testing indicates that the two are pretty evenly matched.

Bottom line, you're not going to want to do much more with the ThinkPad Edge than get on the internet, send some emails, and bang out a few Excel spreadsheets. And that's what it's designed to do. Then again, so are netbooks.

Battery Life

Here's where the Edge really delivers. Lenovo claims that the six-cell Intel model gets an impressive 7.8 hours of battery life. I tested our system with higher performance settings, medium screen brightness, Bluetooth off, and a page automatically reloading every 30 seconds on Firefox to simulate active web browsing.

Total Run Time: 5 hours, 20 minutes

And that obviously can be further improved by settling for lower performance/higher battery life settings.

The Reason of Edge?

So what has Lenovo introduced to the world? A lot of not quite. It's a thin-and-light that's not quite either. It's a notebook that's not quite powerful enough for heavy lifting and not quite affordable enough for casual use. It has a contemporary design that's not quite, well, smudge-proof. And for all it does right, this new ThinkPad still strikes me as a computer with a target audience that's not quite identifiable.

At its introductory price point, the Edge sounds like a competitive machine, but remember that you're also losing most of the things that distinguish it in the first place-the ULV Intel processor and the 6-cell battery, in particular. Honestly, if you're in the market for a new notebook, there's a good chance Lenovo already has something that fits exactly what you're looking for. And that it's called either IdeaPad or ThinkPad.

Solid battery life

Good number of ports

Island-style keyboard is a welcome improvement

Glossy top is a smudge-magnet

Frenetic track-pad

Who is this really for?

The compact Samsung NX10 is official this evening, with many if not all of the features we saw leaked in December making the final cut in time for some hands-on time at CES.

If you missed the fanfare in December, here's a recap:

Samsung's goal with the NX series was to introduce a DSLR-sized sensor, in this case APS-C, that's actually a bit larger than the one found in Micro Four Thirds. Then they went and put that sensor in a mirror-less, interchangeable lens body that's smaller than a traditional DSLR, and... If this is giving anyone déjà vu, it's probably because this is the same idea behind the aforementioned Micro Four Thirds camera format.

Also making it into the final body are 720p HD video functionality (H.264 codec) and a 3.0-inch AMOLED viewscreen in the rear:

Samsung, by way of a press release sent to Gizmodo, claimed the AMOLED screen has a response rate that's 10,000 times faster than a conventional LCD. All this with a promised lower power consumption and higher contrast ratio at 10,000:1.

A few more of the specs, provided by Samsung:

View Finder - Electronic viewfinder
Movie - 720p HD (MP4. H.264)
Size & Weight - 4.8" x 3.4" x 1.6" (excluding the projecting parts of the camera) .78 lbs (without battery and card)
ISO - 100 - 3200
Flash - Built-in Pop-up Flash
OIS - Lens Shift
Dust reduction - Supersonic Type
Special Features - APS-C sized image sensor, 3.0" AMOLED, Smart Range, HDMI (Anynet +), Fast &, Decisive Contrast AF, New DRIMe II Pro engine and advanced AF algorithm
Availability - Spring 2010

The body comes in black and also Titan Silver, a color we didn't know about before. Maybe the new color will make Matt change his mind about the looks. Probably not.

Maybe the little guy is safe. Maybe he went...around back? In any event, this senseless celestial murder was captured by SOHO today. The dirty deed gets done toward the end, coming from left to right. [Tom's Astronomy Blog]

Even if you drop your phone down a hole, or trap it in a locked briefcase, ZOMM promises to be there to connect incoming calls. It's kind of like a leash for those of us prone to abusing our phones.

Powered by Bluetooth, this hockey puck works as both a wireless speakerphone for inaccessible phones, and as an alarm should you leave your phone somewhere, forget it's there and start to walk out of range.

Slated for an official CES release, the device has a rumored $80 price point. Kind of expensive and niche, but could be useful in a pinch. [technabob]

With the Lenovo laptop/netbook CES leak still fresh in our minds, let us consider Toshiba and Gateway this afternoon, and the netbooks we now know they'll be bringing to the show as well:

The netbooks in question here are all based on Intel's N450 "Pine Trail" chip, reports CNET, and were first spotted at Canadian retailer Future Shop. Both are similar in configuration, but not price, with Gateway weighing in at about $285, and the Toshiba at $438. Both models will come standard with 1.66GHz Atom processors, 160GB or 250GB hard disk drives (Gateway and Toshiba, respectively), 10.1-inch screens, 1GB of memory, and Intel's GMA 3150 Express graphics chip. [CNET]

With the new year you might have expected an end to the retaliatory Luke Wilson AT&T versus Verizon coverage map ads. You expect wrong. Here's a new one, now with revised numbers and a new blazer!

You see, while it is indeed a completely new commercial, the data advertised within experiences a subtle change. One that centers on 3G. Now the AT&T commercial showcases that the 3G network covers 230 million Americans, keyword 3G.

For the before we must go to the video tape:

Just a subtle change, and I only point it out today with the hope that it will inspire someone, somewhere, to parody these commercials, post haste. If they don't, I fear we may have experience Luke Wilson and his never-ending collection of tweed blazers for all of 2010 as well. Editor's Note: Clarified the subtle numbers change above. Thanks for the comment. [CNET]

We know the Europeans have been tooling around with Droid and mutlitouch since December, but today, courtesy a hack of sorts, we Yanks can have it too, albeit for a browser only in this particular case.

All you have to do is follow about five steps over at AllDroid and it's yours. You'll need to root your phone first, of course, so this isn't really a mom and pops operation just yet. There are also a few downloads and deletions to be aware of as well.

Voila. Users report that it works just fine on version 2.1, even as a beta. [AllDroid via Redmond Pie - Thanks, Taimur]

Apple's sexy, touchy feely Magic Mouse could be an energy-sucking vampire, according to a number of reports on the Apple Discussion Boards.

The present hypothesis is that the Magic Mouse is preventing the Bluetooth keyboard from entering sleep mode, resulting in weekly battery changes. One user purportedly contacted Apple Tech Support and was told the problem is a known Bluetooth driver issue and a fix is in the works.

Who here has one of these little energy vampires and what's your story? Anything? [TUAW]