Just when we were getting used to having most Nikon announcements thoroughly preceded by a flood of leaks, the company's managed to totally surprise us by introducing a new head-mounted display with PMP features -- and it actually looks pretty sweet. The WiFi-enabled 8GB Media Port UP UP300x has a .44-inch 640 x 480 screen that appears to be the equivalent of a 50-inch image viewed from about 10 feet away, and includes a motion sensor that allows media functions to be controlled through head movements. (There's also a "basic" 4GB UP300 that omits the motion control features.) Codec support is pretty slim, but there's a browser app and a new UP media store that allows for direct downloads. Two AA batteries will last for two hours of video or 270 minutes of audio, which should be enough time for you to look thoroughly like a dork, but we won't lie -- we'd buy one of these in a heartbeat if they ever make it out of Japan.

[Via Akihabara News]

Anxious to get your claws around an Eee PC that looks -- amazingly -- nothing like an Eee PC? Feast your eyes on the S101, which was recently toyed with by our brethren over at Engadget Chinese. We must say, this here piece of machinery looks mighty fine save for that not-at-all appealing brown coat, but we suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. As for launch dates (pricing is still a mystery), we're hearing that the Asia-Pacific realm could see it as early as tomorrow, while Europe will get it in around a fortnight and North America sometime later this month. Oh, and if you're in that latter region, you better bite early -- just 1,000 of 'em will be made available here initially.

In a fashion not dissimilar from one tiny multitouch device (save the outcry), Microsoft's large multitouch device -- the Surface -- will be getting its very own SDK at Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference this month. The package, which the folks in Redmond have apparently been promising since April, will introduce developers to "vision-based object recognition" and something called ScatterView, and a session at the PDC will detail how the kit "aligns with the multitouch developer roadmap for Windows 7." All exciting stuff, but if we don't see a giant, multitouch version of FreeCell soon, we might just stop paying attention.

The cats at UMPC Fever have taken the liberty of cracking open Aigo's P8860 MID and splaying its contents out for the world to see. Apparently, the crew was looking for modding possibilities, and discovered that while the RAM and SSD are soldered to the mainboard, there's ample room for an HSDPA or flash drive upgrade (they suggest 16GB or 32GB is doable, and who are we to argue). A picture says a thousand words, or so we're told, so hit the read link and take a look at all the nasty innards.

[Via iTech News Net]

If researchers at Boston University's College of Engineering have their way, light bulbs of the future may be the highway your data gets carried along. A team at the school is working on low-power LEDs which could utilize an optical communication system to carry data wirelessly. Using a technique which rapidly switches the LEDs on and off data transmissions could be made via imperceptible -- yet undoubtedly brain-scrambling -- flickering patterns, and each light would be its own network entry point at speeds of 1 to 10Mbps. The concept is more secure than current RF techniques because it requires linked devices be in line-of-sight, and the technology would draw far less energy than conventional radios. Says professor Thomas Little, "Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate with you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch and without the usual cluster of wires." Yes... and talk about you behind your back. And plot your "accidental" death after taking out a large life insurance policy on you. You won't get away with this LED network!

[Thanks, Travis]

Sure, we've seen projects like SplashTop boot a stripped Linux build quickly, but Intel engineers at the recent Linux Plumbers Conference took things a little farther last Thursday, starting up modified versions of Fedora and Intel's own Moblin Linux on an SSD-equipped Eee PC in just five seconds. That's all the way to an idle CPU and disk, not cheating and starting a window manager while background services thrash in the background, mind you -- and it's fast enough that the splash screen was removed from both distros. The changes are being sent back to the Moblin and Fedora trunks, but if you're curious, a detailed overview of the changes awaits at the read link.

[Via SlashGear]

After seemingly endless delays, it looks like the SlingCatcher is finally making its way into the world, as evidenced by this grainy unboxing at the SlingCommunity forums. Sure, it looks exactly the same as the prepro boxes we've toyed with, but we won't lie -- we've been waiting for this box with breathless anticipation ever since it was announced at CES 2007, and combined with the recent launch of the Sling 2.0 software, the Slingbox PRO-HD, and the seemingly-imminent launch of the the Sling.com video portal, Sling's ending the year strong. Click on for a few more pics, and don't worry -- we'll be blowing this thing out as soon as we get our hands on one.

[Thanks, Christopher]

AMD just issued a release saying that president and CEO Dirk Meyer will be making a "significant corporate announcement" tomorrow, which sounds ominously like those breakup rumors are coming true -- particularly since Dirk's on record saying that the chipmaker plans to spin off manufacturing and fabrication into a new company. We'll see in the morning -- anyone planning on throwing a blowout "last night of the old AMD" party in the meantime?

Update: The WSJ confirms it's a breakup -- but don't worry, they'll still be friends. [Thanks, aztalon]

Update 2: Official PR is here. How's "AMD and Advanced Technology Investment Company of Abu Dhabi to Create New Leading-Edge Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Mubadala increases investment in financially-stronger AMD, which is simultaneously unlocking the value of its manufacturing assets" for an exciting title?

Get ready, Blackberry fans. After weeks of leaks and goofy internal videos, it looks like the Storm's finally a-comin' -- the first ads for the RIM's touchscreen wonder aired on CBS tonight. We're on the lookout for a better video, but even at this low res we can't help but notice how chunky this thing looks -- but we're totally willing to trade some heft for some sweet, sweet copy / paste action. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Jerry]

We've seen some fairly fascinating things at CEATEC this year, but this one could be the biggest game-changer of 'em all, if you'll allow us just one buzzword. The LED-backlit 52-incher you see above comes attached to a not-at-all convenient solar floor panel which presumably provides at least some of the energy required to power this thing. We've no clue how close the design is to being viable for the commercial realm, but we'd say Sharp's definitely headed in the right direction here.

Let's be honest here -- you skimped by snagging the 40GB PlayStation 3 back in the day, and now you're in need of a few extra USB ports and a multicard reader. Thankfully, your fortunes have changed since the days of your original purchase, primarily due to your drunken decision to bet the farm on Seth Petruzelli over the weekend. Whatever the case, Nyko's unsightly Media Hub+ -- which adds a trio of USB sockets and a multicard reader to the 40GB PS3 -- is finally available, and it's just $19.99 for those with no shame in adding it to the face of their console. So, who's tossing a brown grocery bag over their head and picking one of these up?

[Via IGN]

Just when you think you've escaped the darkened woods of firmware 2.0.2 and previous ilk, along comes 2.1, wrapped in faster-loading-contacts-finery to convince you all is well in the iPhone world. That isn't entirely the case, it seems, if you're user of POP or IMAP mail accounts which are set to fetch messages. Apparently, a maddening bug exists in the new software which -- in the interest of battery power conservation, we assume -- stops the device from pulling down new emails while sleeping... unless the phone happens to be plugged in and charging. An ever-growing thread on Apple's support forums has been barraged with reports of the problem, and editors here at Engadget have certainly felt the burn. So we're putting the question to you, dear readers (and hoping the folks in Cupertino are paying attention). Are you noticing email issues with firmware 2.1? Let us know in the poll below!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We knew it would be going down, but the formal announcement has finally been made: MSI's Wind will soon be gracing store shelves at Best Buy. As early as "right now" if you're lucky enough, the 10-inch netbook can be procured at your local BB (no word on Future Shop), and we're told that it'll pack a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, Windows XP Home Edition, a 10-inch WSVGA (1,024 x 600) display, GMA950 graphics set, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 120GB hard drive, 3-cell battery (sigh...) and a black or white motif. You might expect to just snag one real quick like for $399, but don't expect to leave without being hassled for one of those Product Replacement Plans. Fun, fun! Full release is after the break.