AT&T seeing executive shakedown?
Monday, March 31st, 2008Posted Mar 31st 2008 8:14PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Misc. gadgets
Details are still shaky, but GigaOM is reporting that the futures of certain AT&T executives may also be dubious. In addition to a recently replaced CTO and recently departed USi CEO, apparently VPs are being offered exit packages or demotions (their choice!), possibly to trim some of the fat at the top of the pyramid before the US economy gets any crappier. We can’t say for sure, but hey, those billions of dollars in 700MHz auction funds have to come from somewhere — immediately, too, you don’t want the FCC sending over hundreds of goons to kneecap thousands of employees. AT&T had no comment on matters both of downsizing and the FCC’s mafia-like collection practices.
It looks like Hitachi is aiming to give those normally confined to XGA projectors a bit of a boost, with its new CPX3 model not only boasting a slightly more home theater friendly WXGA (1280 x 800) resolution, but some short-throw capabilities as well. Exactly how short that throw is isn’t clear, however, with Hitachi only going so far as to describe the projector as boasting a wide-angle lens that’ll let you use it “close to the screen with no obstructions.” Apart from that, the 3.9-pound projector is fairly standard fare, with it packing 2,000 lumens of brightness, HDMI input, and a built-in 1 watt speaker, along with some security measures sure to please more business-minded types. While there doesn’t appear to be any official word on a price from Hitachi, a couple of retailers seem to already be selling it for around $1,000. 
Okoro Media Systems has been offering up well-spec’d HTPCs for quite some time, but it has finally seen fit to jump on the flash-based storage bandwagon. The firm’s new ZX series of Extreme Digital Entertainment Systems gets going with the OMS-ZX100, which comes standard with a 32GB SSD (for the OS and such) and a 1TB HDD for media storage. Moreover, you’ll find a 3.0GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor, 3GB of DDR2 RAM, NVIDIA’s 256MB GeForce 8600 GT graphics card, Blu-ray / hd dvd playback and your choice of “any automotive color” on the chassis. ‘Tis a shame it costs $5,995 to even join the ZX100 club, but look to spend even more if you’re hankering for a built-in CableCARD tuner and WiFi adapter.
LG have announced their new external Blu-ray rewriter and HD DVD-ROM drive, the LG BE06LU10. It has the ability to both read and write Blu-ray and also read hd dvd at 6x speed. The LG BE06LU10 offers a quick and easy way to add a permanent or portable HD drive to your computer.
There is a new Suunto Core watch in town, and this one, like its predecessors, cater to folk who love the great outdoors, especially climbers, mountain bikers and other adventure sports enthusiasts. It allows you to track both your altitude and bearings while being smart enough to alert you of oncoming storms so you won’t be caught unawares. All this is made possible by Suunto’s own ‘ABC functionality’ mantra that includes an altimeter, barometer and compass. The compass itself is electronic, so there will be less chances of it malfunctioning compared to a standard model. The new Suunto Core watch comes in a choice of half a dozen colors and has different straps to choose from.
