Filed under: Laptops

The Santa Rosa bonanza continues with the "leak" of information on two new Asus laptops. The Asus G1S and G2S are updates on the G1 and G2, and will come with Santa Rosa Core 2 Duo processors up to 2.2GHz. Both models get bumps in screen resolution, with the 15.4-inch widescreen G1S moving to the G2's 1680x1080 resolution, and the 17-inch G2S going for 1920x1200. Powering those multiple megapixel displays is an Nvidia GeForce 8600M with 256MB of video RAM, which gives these models the DirectX 10 compatibility which all the kids seem to want these days. Rounding out the specs is all the usual high-end laptop gear -- 2GB RAM, 160GB and 200GB HDDs, DVD burners, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth -- which is just what you'd expect with the €1700 and €1900 ($2300 and $2560) pricetags. The source says that these numbers will hit on May 21, and judging by the Euro pricing information, we'd guess that they'll remain Europe only for now.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Announcements

Just in case you need one last reminder before time's up, the Engadget mascot contest ends tonight! You can win yourself a Wii and some serious Engadget notoriety by whipping up a mascot (or a family of 'em) to help represent. All the details you need to know are here, but the most important bit is the cutoff time: tonight at 11:59pm EST. Best of luck!

Big ups to the WMExperts store for providing the still very difficult to find Wii as the grand prize for the contest!

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming

It's fairly safe to assume that Microsoft as a whole ain't hurtin' in the wallet, but for its Xbox platform, the positive cash flow is (possibly) just around the corner. According to an interview with Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, the firm's gaming business "will be profitable next year," which will certainly be a breath of fresh air considering how much loot it has been losing for years in the arena. Still, it's not like any major competitors aren't suffering through the same pains, and while the Big N is smiling all the way to the bank with the profits it makes on every Wii sold, we're glad that at least a few consoles are offering up high-definition and true online play regardless of the cost. Obviously, the continual decrease in component costs are making the consoles cheaper to produce, but Bach went so far as to point out that (overpriced) peripherals, an increased user base on Xbox Live, and software sales would be the primary margin drivers next year. So now that the Xbox 360 is looking rosy, what's to be done about the Zune?

[Via Joystiq]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

SIGGRAPH has certainly been the home of many virtual reality demonstrations, and this year yet another contraption that (partially) removes us from the world we know will be on display. Similar to the Powered Shoes and Virtusphere seen in years past, the String Walker is a "locomotion interface that uses eight strings actuated by motor-pulley mechanisms mounted on a turntable" in order to let users walk through virtual landscapes. Proprioceptive feedback allows the VR system to translate actual footsteps into the digital world, giving participants a reason to stroll around rather than just twiddling their thumbs. Reportedly, the biggest challenge was mastering the floor, which enables omni-directional walking that simple "treadmill-like" surfaces don't offer and in a simpler fashion than the "complicated" CirculaFloor. Next-generation DDR, here we come.

[Via Gizmag]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!