NYC

SanDisk has been pumping out press releases all day thanks to Computex-mania, so we shuffled past its stall to see what all the fuss is about. The biggest news is the U100 range of tiny SSDs for ultraportables, which crank data in and out at twice the speed of SanDisk's previous generation P4 drives. We're talking 450MB/s reads and 340MB/s writes thanks to the latest SATA III interface, plus a max capacity of 256GB -- specs which have already enticed ASUS to use the U100 in its lightweight UX-series notebooks. Mass production is expected in Q3 of this year. Specs table and triple-shot of PR coming up after the break, plus a gallery showing size comparisons of the U100 SSD in its glorious mSATA and Mini mSATA varieties, stacked up against some common objects like a 2.5-inch SSD drive, an HP Veer, and a vaguely goth bracelet. Meanwhile, SanDisk hasn't forgotten about our desperate need for faster tablets. The company has doubled the speed of its exist...

Look at what one curious tipster stumbled upon while thumbing through Best Buy's mobile app -- it's the five-inch version of Samsung's soon to be released Galaxy Player. The PMP is, for most intents and purposes, the Galaxy S handset devoid of that pesky 3G and calling functionality -- in fact, it's still known as the Galaxy S WiFi   elsewhere in the world. Priced at $270, according to the app, the 8GB touchscreen player has two cameras (a VGA on the front and and 3.0 megapixel on the rear), a microSD slot, and an FM tuner. Back in March, we heard that the music player would be hitting our shores this spring, between this and its FCC appearance a couple of months back, we've got our fingers crossed that it will still make it in under the wire.

Remember the rumor about an upcoming Acer laptop housing a super thin LG Shuriken display? Well, here it is at Computex. Thanks to the crazy thin bezel, we noticed this TravelMate 8481 series laptop quietly chilling out in a corner at Acer's booth, though upon closer inspection it turned out that the bezel is slightly deceptive. What's really happening here is that while the screen module (which includes the 1.3 megapixel webcam) really is eating away the bezel, the actual LCD (14.1 inches at 1,366 x 768) isn't really touching the edge. Still, it's one helluva slim display thanks to LG's display technology and Acer's carbon fiber chassis. Other highlights include Intel Core i7, NVIDIA GeForce GT520M, up to 320GB of hard drive space, up to 13 hours of battery life, USB 3.0 with power-off charging, fingerprint reader, HDMI, and Bluetooth 3.0. Oh, and like some of the ThinkPads, the mouse buttons use the same mechanism as the keyboard keys for better clicking ex...

Generally, shouting commands at the internet isn't going to get you very far but, if you're just yelling a few destinations and search terms, Chrome extension Chaufr can take you where you need to go. A previous add-on, Speechify, let you speak to fill input fields, but couldn't help you actually navigate the web. Chaufr, on the other hand, lets you simply say the magic word -- "Engadget" -- and it drops you right at our online doorstep. You can also use it to perform searches by saying Wikipedia, Google, Amazon, YouTube, or Yahoo followed by whatever it is you're looking for. It worked well enough in our brief hands-on, but we do have one nit to pick -- activating voice input requires you click on an icon in the tool bar  then  click on a microphone in the drop down menu. (Can't a brother get a keyboard shortcut?) You can try it out for yourself by clicking on the source link. Chaufr

Europe's already extensive broadband coverage may be expanding even further, now that Eutelsat's Ka-Sat satellite has officially gone into service. The new craft, which launched from Kazakhstan in late December, uses spotbeam technology to generate areas of connectivity that are about 250 kilometers wide, with each beam carrying a total capacity of 900Mbps. Unlike the Hylas 1, its reach will extend far across the continent, providing Tooway's high-bandwidth services to 13 million households in remote locations. Subscribers will have download speeds of up to 10Mbps and upload rates of 4Mbps, though they'll still have to put up with latency on the order of 250ms, making life even more difficult for Eastern European OnLive gamers. Of course, this access won't come for free, but Ka-Sat's 82-beam network structure significantly lowers its operating costs, allowing Eutelsat to offer prices that are on par with market rates. According to company CEO Michel de Ros...

If you're thinking this iPad audio breakout dock looks remarkably good considering its DIY origins, then you should know it wasn't put together by any old screwball with a soldering iron. Nope, this was made by Qubais "Reed" Ghazala, a very  particular  old screwball who's been blurring the lines between circuitry, music and art since the Summer of Love (that's 1967 on a normal calendar). His latest invention is all about getting pro-grade sound connections into and out of an iPad 2 -- much like an Alesisdock or Akai SynthStation, but with that special "I made this" charm and minimal price tag. Key ingredients include a Macally aluminium iPad stand and a 30-pin PodBreakout board. Hit the video after the break to get further instructions and hear Ghazala's "bottomless well of chance music" -- both come at your own risk. Create Digital Music qrghazala (YouTube)

The iCade Arcade Cabinet began as an April Fool's joke in 2010, but this golden unicorn of iPad accessories has actually made it to production, showing up at our door last week. iCade creatorThinkGeek partnered with Ion to make this former imaginary gadget a reality, and so far it appears to be a hit, backordered for weeks soon after hitting the online store in April. The $100 cabinet pairs with your iPad or iPad 2 over bluetooth, bringing familiar hardware arcade controls to the Atari's Greatest Hits app, which includes classics like  Missile Command  (free), and  Pong , which you can download from within the free Atari app for $1. The iCade is an awesome addition to your gaming collection, but it won't replace the hours of coin-dropping at your local arcade. Read on to find out why this accessory may become a permanent fixture on our desk. Ion iCade Design and Assembly With a footprint roughly as high and wide as two iPads stacked horizont...