Transformers Movie toys transform green paper into silver plastic

Like Howie Mandel, the Transformers have been given yet another shot at a career -- but unlike Howie, we are like, totally love the Transformers. We'll do our best not to wax on with all the Transformers lore and all, but we'll just say the death of Optimus Prime made some pre-pubescent Engadget editors reevaluate their young lives. So it's with no small amount of nostalgia that prior to the release of the Michael Bay Transformers live action movie later this year, Hasbro's launched a new line of change-'em-up-robots. The new Prime, which keeps kind of in line with his original old school truck body (we have mixed feelings about the painted flames) will drop for $40 on June 2nd; a cost-crazy 14-inch tall 1/14 scale $80 Ultimate Bumblebee comes out this fall; also look forward to the $30 Optimus Prime Battle Rig Blaster (hey, wasn't that Megatron's gimmick?), and the $30 Prime Voice Changer Helmet, which makes your tykes sound a little more like Peter Cullen than you might like. Oh, how joyful this resurrected 80s mania for robots makes us.

[Via Autoblog]

Sony claims Blu-ray "winner" in format war

That's it folks, let's pack it up and go home: the format war is over. Or at least so says Sony, which is bragging about some solid numbers from the month January. Reportedly two Blu-ray Discs were sold for every one HD DVD last month, and while HD DVD standalone players still edge out Blu-ray by a slight margin, PS3 sales have given the Blu-ray camp a solid win for the month. Numbers are still hard to read, due to disparate launch titles and quantities for Blu-ray and HD DVD, but the 25 Blu-ray movies and 11 HD DVD movies give a good impression of the current trend. Reportedly HD DVD sales are growing, just not as fast and Blu-ray, and Sony seems to think they have it in the bag: "We have a critical mass of content, we have the biggest mass of consumer electronics companies in the world supporting this format. That has moved Blu-ray into the forefront." And despite the fact that Universal Studios is still holding out on putting its movie on Blu-ray -- the last of the studios to do so -- Sony would like to let consumers know it's alright to come out of hiding. "The message that we're going to put out to the consumer now is, now it is safe to make a choice. No more fence-sitting is needed." We can't blame Sony for trying to spin these numbers as a win, it's pretty clear that consumers are wary of committing to one format while another is still alive and kicking, but we're afraid this might be calling the game a tad prematurely.

[Via Engadget HD]

Sandisk intros 8GB iNAND embedded flash drive

It may not be 16GB, but Sandisk's new embeddable 8GB NAND flash drive is still pretty darn spacious as far as these things go, so much so that the company's deemed it necessary use an extra letter to fully express the drive's expansiveness. Dubbed the "iNAND," the drive is fully JEDEC-compliant (that's Joint Electron Device Engineering Council, for those that have better things to memorize) and SD bus-compatible, designed for use in just about anything that needs to cram a lot of storage into a small space, including cellphones, PDAs, MP3 players, and GPS devices. It looks like we'll still have to wait a while before we see one of these actually turn up in a device, however, with SanDisk only just now distributing engineering samples for testing and evaluation, with mass production slated to get underway sometime in the third quarter of this year.

[Via Tech Digest]

Nokia's YouTube features in action

We weren't exactly sure what sort of level of integration to expect from this YouTube and Nokia dealio, and now we've got some legit video proof that's simultaneously promising and disappointing. On the plus side, the YouTube videos seem to be easy access, and are accompanied by a nice collection of other RSS-subscribable vids, which makes content consumption much less of a chore than it can tend to be on phones. It's also nice to see that the YouTube channel being accessed seems to be for the most part a stream of YouTube's featured videos, so you can keep up with what all the cool kids are watching. Unfortunately, it looks like the selection stops there: no search or browsing capabilities to speak of. From the looks of things, you might be able to subscribe to other YouTube channels, but it seems that dreams of free-roaming mobile access to YouTube content will have to be put on hold for the time being. What we do know is that more partnerships are in the works, so hopefully YouTube will keep on trying out partners until somebody actually gets it right. The video is after the break.

[Via Ring Nokia]

Continue reading Nokia's YouTube features in action

Korea's Kedcom showcases T-DMB PoDi handheld

While it seems that a new T-DMB-equipped portable video player hits the South Korean market every week or so, Kedcom is busting out its own flavor, but not without taking a stealthy approach at swiping the oh-so-popular Apple moniker. Out of all the potential device names in the world, this glossy black handheld somehow boasts "PoDi," which eerily resembles "iPod" to even the untrained eye, but nevertheless, this pocket-friendly TV viewer boasts a sizable antenna, T-DMB capabilities, a 3.2-inch LCD, internal speaker, headphone out, FM radio tuner, kickstand, and a rechargeable Li-ion battery. Additionally, it weighs just 77 grams, plays nice with a matching docking station, and can reportedly be synchronized with a car stereo via FM. Of course, we've no details concerning price or future availability, but we're sure Cupertino's trademark militia is already on the prowl.

SSPS-1 Speaker System keeps you safe, annoys your friends

Safe Sound Sports' SSPS-1 Speaker System might be a bit "S" zealous, but it's also serious about keeping your jogger hiney safe on those mean streets -- even at the expense of bothering everyone around you. See, these new SSPS-1 speakers clip onto your clothing to keep your ears free to hear "potential attackers, traffic noise, animals and other serious threats." Of course, this means your Private Mix of Power won't be so private anymore, and there's no chance these non-powered speakers are going to be near as dynamically rich as your average pair of earbuds, but with The Man cracking down on headphone use, it might be your only option in a year or so -- and hey, the whole "not getting hit by cars" thing is always kind of neat. The SSPS-1 Speakers are available now for $20.

Meizu M8 / miniOne closer to production, litigation

Last we saw Meizu's curiously familiar M8 handheld device, it was looking like it still had a long ways to go before we'd actually see one out in the wild. As these latest tantalizing shots show, however, the device seems to be rapidly winding its way into reality whether Apple likes it or not, also picking up a new name in the process: the miniOne. Although if that one sticks, Meizu could well be facing problems of originality on multiple fronts, as the admittedly-catchy name is already in use by another company and presumably trademarked. C'mon Meizu, we know you're fans of Apple, but this is taking the imitation a little too far. Unfortunately, there's no further word on specs for the device, though you can get a couple more good looks at it after the break.


[Via Meizu Me]

Continue reading Meizu M8 / miniOne closer to production, litigation

Crisis averted: CycloWiz now works with all Wii chipsets

We were a little afeared for the burgeoning Wii modchip community with the revelation that the current crop of Wii modchips wouldn't work on the newer Wii systems running the D2B Panasonic chipset, but have no fear, TeamCyclops has already cleared that hurdle with a new version of its CycloWiz chip. So if you've been holding off on purchasing a modchip to make certain sure it could run on your shiny new Wii, it looks like you're in the clear. Now if it could only handle Wii imports...

[Via DCEmu]

NVIDIA launches "low-end" 320MB GeForce 8800 GTS

If you find it rather appalling that a $300 graphics card is on the budget end of things these days -- back in our day that was the price of a next-gen console, now get off our lawn! -- you might be comforted to know that NVIDIA's 320MB 8800 GTS ain't no sloucher. Sure, the 500MHz G80 core is stepped down from the 575MHz in the GTX, with the 320MB of memory falling far short of the 768MB in the GTX or even the 640MB in the beefier version of the GTS, but you're still getting a whole lot of DirectX 10 juice for your dollar, relative to the $600+ GTX and $400+ 640MB GTS. If you're still having trouble justifying the price, just google yourself a few Crysis screenshots -- there won't be any turning back. Be sure to peep the uniformly awkward OEM box art after the break.

[Via TrustedReviews]

Reveal Light brings windows, sunlight into wall-locked apartments

Sprucing up your domicile with various forms of light has been trendy for quite some time, but rather than constructing an entirely new building or installing a fiber optic chandelier, you could just mount a Reveal Light. In what appears to be nothing more than a wall-mountable projector with pre-loaded imagery, this not-yet-priced artsy device can beam images of windows onto your drab apartment wall, complete with sunlight, trees, and a light breeze blowing around the leaves. Sure, some would say that artificial light and scenery is better than none at all, but the inner geek in us would argue that a 100-inch projection image of your favorite shows (or games) in HD would be a much, much better use of that bare wall.

[Via SciFiTech]

Fujifilm's Z5M compact digicam arrives in pink

If there's ever a good time to locate a pink-clad gizmo to fit in with the surrounding holiday, that would be now. You latecomers or forgetful ones should greatly appreciate Fujifilm's pretty-in-pink Z5M digital camera, which sports a six-megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom, 2.5-inch monitor, face-finding abilities, and built-in image stabilization to boot. Moreover, you'll find 26MB of internal memory in case you don't have the cash to spring for an xD card right away, and the dual shot mode, iFlash, and 30fps movie mode should come in handy capturing the night out on the town. Possibly the best feature of this digicam (aside from the color) is its immediate availability, but you should probably scrounge up that $219.99 and make a run for it to beat the hordes of others having the same idea.

[Via ChipChick]