Packard Bell gets into the netbook arena, with the dot. According to a company spokesman, the netbook is aimed less at the business user and more toward families. Features Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom, 1GB of RAM and an 8.9-inch display running at 1024 x 600, and a 160GB hard-drive. It also sports a built-in webcam, 6-cell battery, three USB 2.0 ports, one VGA, microphone and headphone ports, and a 5-in-1 multicard reader. In fact, it’s alot the Acer Aspire One. It will be available in Europe in November, priced around $584, with Windows XP Home.
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Written by Conner Flynn on September 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
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These fun drink coasters may just look like an abstract dot pattern on the surface, but thanks to some cleverly placed perforations, you can actually make your own custom pixel creations out of them.

Each coaster is made up of 110 individual 1cm square “pixels” which are perfed in a way that lets you selectively remove blocks from each square. Through what sort of amounts to “pixel sculpting”, you can create your own personalized designs.

They come in a stack of 50 coasters, which start out conjoined into a 500cm (almost 200″) long chain which can be broken apart into individual pieces. Each square has a random arrangement of color shades, so each coaster is just a little different from the next one.

They’re made from a resilient paper fiber that should hold up to the condensation you might get on the bottom of your cup, or the occasional spill. In addition to the blue palette (which I prefer), there’s also a hot pink version if you’re looking for something a bit more girly.

At this point Pixel Coasters are only available from Taiwanese design retailer 25togo, I’m hoping somebody eventually imports these to the States. A pack of 50 coasters sells for 260 Taiwan Dollars, or just about $8 bucks.

Written by technabob on September 5th, 2008 with no comments.
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