While Toshiba’s stateside reps had us convinced its 14-inch Ultrabook wouldn’t see the light of day until sometime in June, that message of withholding apparently didn’t make it Down Under. Outed by its Australian arm today, that would-be Portege is actually the company’s Satellite U840. We already knew the electronics giant had intended on shuffling this Windows 7 machine out under that brand umbrella back at CES, but now we have a ,500 AUD (about ,608 USD) price tag to go with a list of confirmed specs. Officially on deck for this aluminum-bodied laptop are an Intel Core i5-2467M processor and HD Graphics 3000 GPU, 720p-capable 1366 x 768 LED display, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 320GB of storage, in addition to ports for HDMI, mic, headphone and USB (1x USB 3.0 and 2x USB 2.0). We still don’t know much about the capacity of the six cell battery powering this svelte notebook entry or a concrete landing date for that matter. But from the looks of this Aussie product page, that release is creeping mighty close.

Toshiba Satellite U840 goes official for Australia, still waiting on its US passport originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Listen up, those of you with PlayStation Network IDs. Sony Computer Entertainment International has announced that, as of February 7th, the PSN will fold into its existing Sony Entertainment Network. The company has aimed the move at clearly unifying the services of PSN and SEN, such as Music Unlimited. Fret not, however, as Joystiq notes that the change is basically a looks-only affair, meaning your current account information and related services will remain the same. Notably, the moniker refresh won’t apply to the PSP, which will curiously remain under the PSN moniker for network services. The news comes as a part of SCEI’s updated Terms of Service and privacy policy, both of which take effect on the same day. Those changes, by the way, appear to mainly be regarding location-based services for PS Vita, and parental controls for sub-master accounts. After all of the bad times PSN has been through, its upcoming SEN identity might just be the new outlook on (online) life it needed all along — and hopefully with less downtime. Hit up the source link below for the full details.

PlayStation Network moniker sacked, falls under Sony Entertainment Network umbrella on Feb. 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consider yourself a New Yorker? If so, you could find yourself underneath Sprint / TWC / Clearwire’s 4G umbrella, as the trio has announced a 21 percent coverage expansion in the greater New York City area. Folks in Alpine, Bayonne, Elizabeth, Fair Lawn, Newark, Paramus, Secaucus, Union, NJ; and Hartsdale, New Rochelle, New York, Rockville Centre, Yonkers, NY will now be covered in the regional Clear network, and as of last count, that amounts to an extra 91,363 people. ‘Course, a few newcomers will be born every minute, so maybe we’ve breached 91,369 by now. Or maybe more. Talk about confusing.

Continue reading Clearwire boosts NYC WiMAX coverage by 21 percent, 91,363 people rejoice uncontrollably

Clearwire boosts NYC WiMAX coverage by 21 percent, 91,363 people rejoice uncontrollably originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 01:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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by *USB*

Question by Somebody’sMother: Need a name for a gadget that attaches two umbrella strollers?
I saw a lady the other day that had two umbrella strollers attached to eachother and it was some kind of plastic looking clamp/lock connecting them together in the middle. Anyone know what they are called and where to buy them?

Best answer:

Answer by Son of Troll
a father …. you can get one at Walmart in any isle ….

Add your own answer in the comments!

I’m just curious.

Please be sure to tell me the name of the hero or villain and the gadget. If you want to give me a “why?”, you can, but you don’t have to.

Mine: The Penguin’s umbrella. Because it’s a weapon and a handy umbrella.

By Andrew Liszewski

Brilliant! The only thing worse than a rainy day is having to carry around a wet umbrella when you get inside. I usually carry a plastic bag so I can stash it in my messenger bag, but that leaves you with a wet plastic bag to deal with as well. The problem appears to be a minor issue in Japan though, where you can find these clever umbrella bag dispensers.

The dispensers can accommodate tall or compact umbrellas, and when you get inside you simply collapse and insert your wet umbrella where it will be encased in a waterproof bag via a set of old-fashioned springs and levers. No electricity needed. And so you don’t have to deal with removing a soggy bag when it’s time to head back out into the deluge, the machines take care of that for you as well. Check out the following video to see one of them in action.

With a price tag of about $1,800 plus the cost of replacement bags it might not be an economical solution for every company, but the worry of someone getting hurt and litigious after slipping on a wet floor might just make it a worthy investment.

[ Japan Trends - Umbrella bagger dispenses, collects on rainy day ]