surprise

CES: The three most stunning surprises

LAS VEGAS--It is Saturday. Though some have sped off to the airport nursing contracts and hangovers, many still pour into the Las Vegas Conference Center seeking edification.

As someone from slightly outside the technological world, I pondered over dinner last what were the three most stunning surprises that made me reassess my own view of life, not merely of technology.

1. OTHER THAN AMERICA, THERE ARE ONLY FOUR COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD. I made it my business to wander over to the International Zone. I expected to find clever people from all around the world showing off their flying laptops, … Read more

Sony E3 shockers still coming?

In case you hadn't heard, pictures and a video of Sony's new PSP Go, the worst kept secret in gaming, appeared ahead of Microsoft's news conference today. After the Go leak, the question is whether the PSP announcement remains the Sony E3 headline or just a subplot.

If you're to believe Sony Computer Entertainment's representative Jake Osuwah, the company's still got a few surprises up its sleeve. "Pre-E3 announcements or not!" Osuwah tweeted after the leak, "There's still lots of shockers planned for you guys @ E3, stay tuned..."

Whether … Read more

Toshiba, AMD caught off guard by morning news

Turns out this morning's news that Toshiba will be using AMD processors in up to 20 percent of its laptops in the United States and Europe--thus ending its exclusive association with Intel--wasn't exactly a planned announcement. When we caught up with our PR contact for Toshiba, he was scrambling to put together an official release and would only confirm the content of the news stories that had appeared thus far. He did mention, though, that the first Toshiba notebooks to see AMD processors would be in the company's Satellite line, and that we can expect to receive … Read more

A very 'forensic' Christmas

This is either a mildly interesting gift idea or a way to ruin the holidays/someone's life.

The DNA Ancestry Project has produced a CD-ROM Participation Kit that gives you information on your family history and heritage. Packages range from $119 to $199, not including shipping. The interactive features allow users to collaborate with other project participants to research his or her own ethnic and national origins back 150,000 years ago.

For a fun C.S.I.-style twist, there's a cheek swab kit included. The DNA Ancestry Project will trade you the stuff you've scraped … Read more