Inkjet / all-in-one printers may not typically be things that get gadget-lovers excited (please don’t correct us…TMI), but the Artisan 700 and Artisan 800, announced by Epson today, are interesting for a number of reasons. First, they don’t look like the typical, nigh-hideous printer you see on most desks. Plus, they both feature WiFi, which is awesome if your desk has as much junk on it as mine…stick the printer wherever you have space. And power. They both feature dual-tray paper cassettes so that you can load up both plain paper and photo paper, direct CD/DVD printing (provided you use inkjet-printable media of course), ethernet and a two-year warranty. Both models print at up to 38ppm black / color, 4×6 photos as fast as 10 seconds, and 8×10 photos in as little as 50 seconds. Which is a lot fast than I could draw or paint something of the same size. And mine wouldn’t be recognizable, either.

The Artisan 800 also features fax, ADF (an Automatic Document Feeder) and a 7.8″ Smart Touch Panel & 3.5″ LCD. The Smart Touch Panel only displays the controls needed at any given time, perfect for those with ADD I suppose.

The Artisan 700 should sell for around $200 and the Artisan 800 for around $300. Both are available for preorder from places like Best Buy, Amazon, etc.

Epson

The speculation can finally end, now that Canon’s officially announced the 50D. The price for the body only is set at $1,399, and a new lens, an 18mm-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS unit, will go for $699. Both will be available in October. Other highlights include a DIGIC 4 processor, ISO up to 12,800, 3″ display with 160-degree viewing angle, dedicated LiveView button and HDMI connectivity.

Full release & specs after the clicky thingie…

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According to LEGO, today’s the 30th anniversary of the world-famous minifigure. I’m not sure how that’s the case since the first sets with mini-figs started showing up in the U.S. in ‘77, but I’ll play along. You may have already heard that there’s a dedicated website for this most plasticky of birthday parties at gominimango.com, The Brothers Brick is having a Go Miniman Go photo contest, and Gizmodo is sponsoring a similar video contest with excellent prizes. Read more, including my list of favorite mini-fig sets for each year from 1977 to 2008, after the clicky thingie…

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Back to School Season is winding down, and everybody who lives by the Target Calendar knows that Halloween Season is next. And just in time for that, Sony’s lowering its pricing on Blu-ray players, according to HD Guru. In anticipation of the release of a new, higher-end player, the BDP-S550, Sony will be lowering pricing on the BDP-S350 from $399 to $299. Other manufacturers are expected to follow suit. This is great news for all of you meanie parents out there who waited for Biff and Heather to head back to college before springing for new tech.

HD Guru

Well I guess we’ll find out if Blackberry are the litigious types, what with Bandai naming their kiddie “smartphone” SmartBerry. No chance of getting them confused visually, though: Bandai has colored this little gadget all pink and blue in an effort to appeal to everybody (or nobody, depending on your point of view). So what’s it do? It allows kids to share “virtual business cards”, does e-mail, instant messaging and plays games, via both a keypad and touchscreen. There’s also a calendar and alarm clock. All for under $100. I have to wonder if this has an airplane mode, for when your 8 year old exec hits the friendly skies for that all-important field trip to early adulthood.

Finally, Bandai’s website says “Currently, adults are also a tool for smart mobile phones type of products are popular because of ‘Very smart,’ the fashion-conscious and fashion conscious of the girl’s body shape preference has been adopted.” which, um, I don’t know what that means.

Bandai via DVICE

I guess somebody was distracted by them there Olympics, cuz they hit a button they shouldn’ta hit and all of a sudden, BANG, official specs for the 50D appeared out of nowhere as if by magic. Or by accident. And then like so many dashed Olympic dreams (assuming you’re not Michael Phelps, who you’re probably not), they were gone. But of course lens-heads everywhere were able to stop drooling long enough to grab them and post them…translated even! So here you go.

Photography Bay

This morning, T3 (which, by the way, we love ’round here) posted a blurb in which they claim to have “stumbled across” the website at www.the01phone.com, which they’re reporting is going to make the iPhone, Nokia N96, Blackberry Bold and Samsung INNOV8 i850 obsolete. Read more after the clicky thingie…

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In the Stargate: SG-1 season 5 episode ‘Wormhole Extreme’, one of the funniest bits is the younger cast of characters in the fake show. Much humor is made about this “hot, young cast” in the episode, but now it seems as that’s the only way Stargate’s producers could keep the franchise on the air.

Sci-Fi has announced that Stargate: Atlantis will not be picked up for a sixth season, and instead a new Stargate series titled Stargate: Universe, featuring…you guessed it, a hot, young cast…will begin.

I’m not sure what to make of this…SG-1 was a fantastic show, with 10 seasons of fun stories starting where the original film left off. Atlantis was a great spinoff, with its own extremely likable cast, threats and brand of humor. I’m sure if the same production team is involved, we can expect more of the same. But shame on Sci-Fi network for (I’m guessing) forcing this move. I’m sure fans would rather see SG-1 brought back or Atlantis continue than to see a new spinoff geared toward a younger generation of viewers.

What do you think?

Hollywood Reporter

Here are a few pix of the 2011 Chevy Cruze. Visually, I don’t really like the silly split-grille design aped from the current Malibu, nor do I appreciate the chromed bar on the back. The Chevy logo is too big, and for heaven’s sake why on earth is it gold?! Those elements aside, the Cruze is actually an attractive cross between Japanese and German styling cues. It would have to be, considering it’ll go on sale in Europe first, where buyers are much more accustomed to voting with their wallets and have generally not been super-crazy about U.S. cars that are overflowing with U.S. automaker styling (or lack thereof) and U.S. automaker cheapness. Good thing, then, that in addition to swell looks, GM claims that the Cruze will feature quality fit and finish inside and out, including interior surface materials specially designed to give the small car a world-class feel. They’ve got about six months to pull it off before it goes on sale across the pond, and another year or so after that until we’ll see it in dealerships here.

Autoblog

To be honest, we would rather have heard about a new Samsung Blu-ray player that’s $100 cheaper than the BD-P1500, not $100 more expensive. On the other hand, the new player, in stores now, does have 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD lossless audio output, USB and ethernet jacks, HDMI-CEC and is compatible with MPEG2, VC-1 and H.264 CODECs, too. Unfortunately, according the user’s manual on Samsung’s website, there’s no mention of BD-Live, which means that if this player is gonna have it, it’ll have to be via a later firmware update. Meaning you’ll have to wait that much longer if you want to walk hard with Dewey Cox.

Best Buy