Are Blu-ray discs really blue?

Not really. That was until Primera Technology Inc and TDK announced the world's first inkjet-printable Blu-ray recordable. Now you can print a cool shade of blue on your disc. These media are coated with TDK's advanced DURABIS 2 hard-coating technology that offers durability and reliability. As long as you have a DVD/CD compatible inkjet printer, you can print custom-made designs on the Blu-ray discs. Bravo.

Sony, we hear yer

It’s Sony’s new high-end earphones and it looks like an amalgam of the company’s own Fontopia series and Shure earphones. The MDR-EX90 comes encased in a lathed aluminum housing that’s reminiscent of B&O’s signature style. Sony promises the earphone casing will reduce vibration noise. Danish design influence notwithstanding, the MDR-EX90 looks just plain odd--it seems like someone had stuck on two in-ear rubber foams at a 45-degree angle on top of a standard earphone. But these extraneous protrusions do help. They provide an extra layer of noise protection without the discomfort of canal foam or the expensive circuitry of noise-canceling technology. More info here

SOL8 Solar Briefcase

This ought to literally warm the cockles of every tech geek's heart. Personally, the SOL8 Solar Generator Briefcase not only lacks aesthetic appeal, we can't for the life of us imagine why any road warrior would want to lug around a 4.4kg suitcase. And that's without packing a notebook and peripherals yet. Still, if it's to impress your clients, all you have to do is whip out the SOL8 and watch those jaws drop in amazement. It's not clear how long the panels need to soak in the sun's rays, but Velleman claims this power brick's good enough to charge laptops, electric hand tools, GPS systems and--we kid you not--caravans, yachts, and DC refrigerators.

Get the big image

Goes swimmingly with the Solar-Powered Handbag | Voltaic Solar Backpack | "Fusion" Solar Messenger Bag w/ optional PowerPac | Juice Bags

Via CNET News.com Blogs

Price: US$139
Availability: See site
Device: Solar briefcase
Basic specs: 13W solar chargers, adjustable support, 20.1 x 14.7 x 1.6inches, 4.4kg, working current of 750mA

Asus to launch P525 in Singapore

At an Asus event held recently, CNET Asia was able to catch a glimpse of the company's P525 PDA-phone. In an aside, local sales manager Joseph Hoo confirmed that the device is slated for rollout in Singapore possibly within the next few months. On first impressions, this quadband phone bore design similarities to the BenQ P50 PDA-phone. However, in place of the P50's QWERTY keypad, the Asus featured a regular number pad much like those found on standard mobile phones.

The P525 had been announced earlier at the CeBIT 2006 fair in Hannover, Germany. Specs-wise, it will have a 2.8-inch 16-bit QVGA display, a 2- megapixel camera and a miniSD card expansion slot. Inbuilt connectivity options include 802.11b Wi-Fi, infrared, Bluetooth (version 2.0) and USB (version 1.1). No pricing detail was given.

Asus phones coming soon?

It looks like the Taiwanese mainboard maker may soon introduce its range of mobile phones to Singapore. According to Asus local sales manager Joseph Hoo, there are tentative plans for the company to launch its handsets across the island-state. Hoo, however, was noncommittal about the rollout time frame or what handset models consumers could expect, but revealed that the mobile phones would likely be 3G-enabled.

Asus recently opened the doors to its first overseas international headquarters, located in Singapore, from which it is expected to extend its range of product offerings to the region. It also announced plans to set up an R&D center in the Republic within the next three years. Currently, the company’s key consumer products for the Singapore market include notebooks, PDAs, motherboards, graphics cards and wireless LAN devices. (Shown on the left is the upcoming Asus P525 PDA-phone)

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