Garmin Approach S1 is the GPS watch for golfers, sends that caddy back to the shack

Pack a lob wedge or extra utility iron? Punch and run or flop and drop? Crush a five iron or hit a three-quarter four? These are just a few of the questions that amateur golfers wish they had to ponder as they instead devote their time to rummaging through the brush trying to find what could be their fourth lost ball in three holes. Maybe Garmin's new Approach S1 watch can help. It's loaded with every hole from over 14,000 golf courses and, from anywhere on the course, will give you precise yardage to the front, back, and middle of the next green -- meaning it won't help your lay-up but could be just the ticket for nailing that approach. Its integrated odometer will even track how many miles you covered through the course of the day and, we're presuming, not tell your significant other whether you spent those drinking in the cart or walking at a brisk pace. The Approach S1 is available now for $249 and is subtle enough that your buddies might not even notice your new wrist-borne advantage.

Via : engadget

OCZ amps up performance on RevoDrive X2 PCIe SSD: 740MB/sec, up to 120k IOPS

Blink, and you've probably missed it. Just four short months after we saw OCZ Technology's original RevoDrive reviewed (and subsequently adored), along comes revision two. The RevoDrive X2 PCI-Express SSD looks, feels and smells the same as the first, but the performance is obviously looking north. The unit we saw introduced at Computex was capable of hitting 540MB/sec, while the X2 pushes that to 740MB/sec and up to 120,000 IOPS -- "nearly triple the throughput of other high-end SATA-based solutions." Furthermore, this guy packs double the SandForce SF-1200 controllers (four versus two in the original), and it retains the onboard RAID 0 design that you've come to know and love. It's available as we speak in 100GB to 960GB capacities, but there's nary a mention of price; something tells us that you're probably not the target market if you have to ask.

Via : engadget

BlackBerry Torch coming to AT&T in two fresh colors next month

Allow us to clarify, the colors are "fresh" as in "new," not as in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Don't get us wrong, though: white almost always looks fresh (in the Fresh Prince sense) on a phone, and the Torch seems to be no exception -- partly thanks to the matching white keyboard. As expected, it'll be coming in red and white and will be available on November 7 (a day before the HTC Surround and Samsung Focus, interestingly) at the same time as a sweet new promotion that'll allow folks to buy any two accessories from AT&T and get a third one of equal or lesser value for free. Don't violate any fire codes stuffing yourselves into your local stores, alright? Follow the break for the press release.

Via : engadget

Aperion's Zona wireless bookshelf surround system frees up your sound studio

Aperion Audio's Home Audio Link is already enabling content speaker owners to enjoy the spoils of wireless, but if you're in the market for a set of bookshelf speakers, the outfit's Zona system might just fit the bill.

Essentially, these monitors combine high-end audio fidelity with the aforementioned 2.4GHz wireless technology, allowing owners to plug a transceiver into a USB source up to 150 feet away and shoot all sorts of sine waves over to their two speakers. Of course, we wouldn't recommend these to casual listeners given the $499 asking price, but at least that gets you a pair of 20-watt Class D amplifiers, 4.5-inch woven fiberglass woofers, 1-inch soft dome silk tweeters and a feeling of pride that simply cannot be described in mere words. Or so we're told.

Via : engadget, Aperion Audio

ASUS gets in on the touch mouse craze with the puck-shaped WX-DL

Pity the poor fools who show up to the next LAN party with a mouse that doesn't have a capacitive top. These days it's touch-sensitivity or bust, and ASUS is latest in line, launching its WX-DL. This one takes its buttonless inspiration from the Magic Mouse but its design from another Cupertino creation: the puck-shape Apple USB Mouse. That rodent came with the 1998 iMac and was basically hated by everyone who placed a hand on it. It remains to be seen whether the slight tilt of this one (shown after the break) will make it more palatable to the digits of computer users everywhere, but it is at least suitably equipped with a 1200dpi laser sensor, 2.4GHz wireless connection, and a suite of media controls baked with care into the top of this aluminum cookie. Its yours for $80, so who wants to take a bite?

Via : engadget, Akihabara News

ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC getting Tegra 2 treatment ahead of March launch?

More from DigiTimes this morning and its chatty sources within NVIDIA and Taiwanese supply chains. First up is talk that ASUS' 10-inch Eee Pad -- presumably, the Android loving EP101TC said to cost less than $399 -- will launch in March of 2011 with NVIDIA's Tegra 2 taking care of the processing duties. DigiTimes' sources also remind us that Tegra 2 tablets are on the way from Dell, Samsung, MSI, and Toshiba in addition to smartphones from ASUS, Motorola, and LG. Good to know, but for as long as Tegra 2 has been discussed, we've yet to see the SoC ship inside anything worth getting too excited over. And don't even mention the Boxee Box, they switched to Intel at the last minute, remember? Maybe Dell's Looking Glass tablet will change all that when it launches any day now.

Via : engadget, DigiTimes

Razer debuts Anansi MMO gaming keyboard, dares you to ever leave your basement

And you thought you were set after procuring one of the many Naga mice on the market now. Think again. In a never-ending quest to milk the MMO market, Razer has just issued the planet's first (or so it says) MMO gaming keyboard. The Anansi is a jet black board with a rather standard layout, but those seven thumb modifier keys are bound to enhance gameplay in some way or another. You'll also get over 100 programmable Hyperesponse keys with on-the-fly macro recording, storage for up to 20 gaming profiles, five bonus gaming keys and 16 million color backlight illumination. Oh, and for those of you doubting Razer's attention to detail, you can totally deactivate the Windows key while in "gaming mode." Check it this December when it ships worldwide for $99.99 / €99.99.

Via : engadget, Razer

MacBook Air upgrade kit bumps capacity to 256GB, turns old module into USB 3.0 SSD

Sure, the only remotely user-replaceable component on the 11.6-inch MacBook Air are those tiny Toshiba SSDs, but PhotoFast's got what might be one of the most elegant upgrade solutions we've ever seen. The Air USB 3 Adapter gives you not only a brand-spanking-new 256GB module with a Sandforce SF-1200 controller, but a speedy USB 3.0 flash drive too -- which smartly doubles as the mechanism by which you move your old files over, as you can just transfer everything through the USB port. Once you're done swapping modules, the company says you'll see a 30 percent speed boost over the original drive, with reported transfer rates of 250MB/s on both sequential reads and writes. Shame the Japanese company didn't specify any sort of estimated release date or price.

Via : PhotoFast, engadget

BlackBerry Bold 9780 finally official, hitting T-Mobile on November 17th for $130

After what feels like an eternity of leaks, RIM has finally (finally!) come forward with the first BlackBerry Bold to ship with BlackBerry 6. The Bold 9780 looks exactly as we expected it to (meaning not too far from the 9700 design tree), boasting an optical trackpad, QWERTY keyboard, a WebKit-based browser and a five megapixel camera. You'll also get inbuilt 3G / WiFi, and at least on the T-Mob version, UMA / WiFi calling. Geotagging your images is a breeze courtesy of the integrated GPS module, and RIM's also tossing in 512MB of Flash memory as well as a microSD slot. We're told to expect it from "various carriers around the world beginning in November," with T-Mobile USA confirming that its version will hit on the 17th of next month for $129.99 on a two-year contract.

Via : engadget, T-Mobile, RIM

Adonit Writer adds one more option to the iPad folio + keyboard barrage

We weren't too fond of the AIDACASE KeyCase Folio, but we should've known a flood of alternatives would be hitting the market shortly thereafter. Adonit dropped us a line to say that its rival is in the final stages of production and should be ready to order by Christmas, and while the final edition will add a lot of polish, there's a gallery of pre-pro shots just below for your perusal. The Writer iPad folio + keyboard combines a Bluetooth keyboard with a case, and the board itself slides on a magnet for maximum positioning awesomeness. There's also a quick iPad release, auto-keyboard sleep function and an exterior that'll look far sexier than what you're seeing here. Hit the source link to be alerted when it goes on sale, and as for pricing, expect to part ways with $120 or so. Or $420 when combined with a Colorware Grip for iPad.

Via : engadget, Adonit