iPhone dock that looks like a mini iMac

What's the best way to show off your iPhone to jealous cubicle buddies? Get the coolest accessory to go with it. Mobis Technology, a mobile accessories maker has recently launched a metallic rotating stand for the iPhone.

The XStand is made from solid aluminum and allows users to adjust the viewing angle by rotating the holder. There's also a circular hole on the spine for you to slot your cable through when it's connected to the handset.

According to the company, the XStand will be available in June at all its distribution outlets including Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan at US$44.90. Yes, it does make your iPhone look like an ultra-mini iMac, which is pretty cool.

9-in-1 printer--makes you multitask

All-in-One (AIO) printers touting three to four features such as copying, scanning and faxing are aplenty. But when we received news of a 9-in-1 AIO, that blew us off. Well, almost.

Brother's MFC-885CW has to be one of the most feature-packed printer's we've seen this year. This color inkbox can not only print, scan, copy and fax, it is also capable of direct photo printing from a flash card or USB drive and PC fax. That's six features already. Ready for the weird-yet-wonderful? The Wi-Fi-enabled printer incorporates a cordless phone, built-in speakerphone and, to sweeten the deal, the gizmo is an answering machine, too.

Set on the printer is a nice 4.2-inch color widescreen display (one of the biggest we've seen for an AIO), which you can use to view photos or edit (tweak colors or remove red-eye) before printing.

The MFC-885CW is a part of the new lineup of printers that Brother is launching this year for its 100th anniversary. It's available now for S$528 (US$347.37).

For an additional 50 bucks, you can even make it dispense coke and toast bread. Just kidding.

Atom-based ASUS Eee PC 901 spotted

It seems as if only yesterday we were marveling at ASUS' new 9-inch Eee PC 900 (actually, it wasn't yesterday, it was Monday). About the only thing we didn't love about this pocket-sized marvel was its dated Celeron processor--especially since the fine folks at Intel have been talking up this whole Atom thing for so long (that's the company's new low-cost, low-power CPU especially made for netbook-style laptops).

We knew ASUS was working on an Atom-based version of the Eee PC, and now we have the first photos of what will be called the Eee PC 901--posted on French site blogeee.net. It looks pretty much the same--we see a slightly reworked hinge, the AC adapter plug has been moved from the rear to the side, and there seems to be some unlabeled quick-launch buttons right above the keyboard.

No pricing or availability information has been released, but the Magic 8-ball points to summer 2008, and it probably cost about the same as the current US$550 model.

Via Crave CNET

Backpack for voyeurs

We've seen hardworking backpacks being married with speakers, solar panels, even those with everything but the kitchen sink. So no surprise that the ubiquitous camera has hopped onboard a backpack.

The Porta2030 is a bag that's intended for some serious voyeurism. What's made more daunting is the fact that it isn't just a static eye, this is quite capable of streaming (in some cases, possibly damning) images to a Web site. And it's all thanks to a mobile data-sensing storage transmission unit that comprises a wireless hard drive, 1GB flash card, an open source backend and a Webcam with LCD mini-terminal. As if camera-phones aren't bad enough, now even bags are joining the Big Brother nation and watching your every move.

Via Make Blog

Samsung may abandon laptops by 2011

Samsung will cease operation of its laptop division if it doesn't improve its market share by 2011, according to one of the company's senior managers.

The news was broken to Crave UK while on a visit to Samsung's headquarters in Suwon, South Korea. Sukyong Hong, the senior manager of Overseas Sales and Marketing for the company's computer division, said an additional 11 million units must be sold worldwide by the year 2011 in order to reach 5.7 percent market share--a massive task, considering Samsung's worldwide market share has grown only from 1.2 percent in 2005 to 1.7 percent in 2007.

To stay afloat, Samsung says it will have to--at least--overtake Sony, which currently lays claim to 6 percent of the laptop market. The rest of its primary competitors seem out of reach. Toshiba has 10 percent, Dell is on 14 percent, Acer has 16 percent, and Hewlett-Packard tops the charts on 23 percent.

One of the most obvious ways of increasing market share is to venture into the mini-PC market, along with the likes of ASUS, HP, and MSI, but Samsung seems reluctant to do so. The company fears that making a low-cost laptop will jeopardize sales of its existing machines.
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