By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Prior to last week, when Linksys announced their WRT-600N router, Buffalo Technology had the only shipping dual-band 802.11n router that would work in both bands simultaneously. Well, Linksys now has that all to itself (except for what’s in inventory) because of a patent case against Buffalo.

Buffalo Technology has issued an official statement about its battle with Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Visitors to the Wireless Products section of Buffalo’s website are now redirected to a page that states “Buffalo cannot offer for sale, sell, import, or use its IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g compliant products in the United States”. Existing inventory can still be sold and in-warranty defective products can be replaced. Source: SmallNetBuilder

We Say: Don’t go rushing off to get a Linksys WRT-600N just yet. Lately the firmware on their routers has needed a couple of revisions of “bake time” to get things right — or at least it has seemed that way.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

First, before anyone objects, this is not an endorsement … I just found this to be an interesting intersection of gaming and politics. On to the post …

They’re holding a fundraiser for Republican candidate Ron Paul, and using Master Chief to do it.

Three college roommates located somewhere in the Southeast (exact location undefined) play Halo 3 from noon to midnight, 7 days a week, and broadcast live. At the same time, there’s a big Ron Paul Donation logo on their site, to encourage people to donate to the struggling candidate.

The three roommates, known only as J, Danielle, and Mike have had 37,406 visitors at the time of this writing, and besides trolling for Ron Paul donations, are also trying to get donations toward a HD TV tuner card, so they’re not totally altruistic.

We Say: BTW, they do invite visitors to join at the end of each round, so if you’re interested, head over to their site. You can also email them at halothreetv@gmail.com.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

I’ve said before this country is overly litigious, but in this case virtual sex toys have some real-life monetary value — and are intellectual property — thus, the lawsuit. Despite the reality of the legal issues, the case still has some humorous qualities.

The case is Eros vs. Simon. Eros is a virtual sex shop, and is one of six plaintiffs in the case. Thomas Simon is accused of using a hack to “clone” products from the plaintiffs, including virtual sex toys.

Despite the fact that this is, quite honestly, an online game, the players (or inhabitants if you will) pay real money for clothes and other items and services, including prostitutes. Because of this, the case does have some actual merit. And in fact, since companies such as IBM, Dell, Circuit City and even Reuters have opened stores and bureaus in Second Life, some prefer to call it a “platform” and not a game.

It gets still stranger though, as Simon says the evidence gathered against him was obtained by Eros “breaking into” his virtual house which, in real-life, without a search warrant, would be inadmissible.

We Say: So not only is a judge going to have to decide the merits of the theft, he or she will have to rule on whether a virtual search warrant is required? Also, should Linden Labs, Second Life’s creator be responsible because of the hacks used? Stay tuned.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

The OLPC Foundation has garnered a lot of interest, but not a lot of orders. In fact, today a country placed the first real order for the XO-1.

The first official order for the so-called “$100 laptop” has been placed by the government of Uruguay.

The South American country has bought 100,000 of the machines for schoolchildren aged six to 12.

A further 300,000 may be purchased to provide a machine for every child in the country by 2009. Source: BBC News

We Say: An additional boost to the program may happen on November 12th, when the “Give 1, Get 1″ program starts, allowing end users to buy their own OLPCs, in exchange for donating one at the same time.

By David Johnston
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Razer’s new Lachesis gaming mouse is the latest in Razer’s line of laser-based gaming mice to hit the streets. The mouse looks quite good on paper. Its “3rd Generation”, 4,000dpi laser sensor is unmatched in precision and sensitivity by any competing mice (the new Logitech G9 boasts a dpi rating of “only” 3,200). The mouse can also be used with a 1,000hz USB polling rate which decreases the response-time lag from the standard 8ms to only 1ms. There are a large number of additional improvements to the mouse which you can read all about here if you’re interested.

Upon receiving the mouse, I was immediately struck by the quality of the packaging. The box is black with a rubbery matte finish. There is also a swing-out front door which shows the mouse behind it. There are also a large number of informational sheets and manuals in the box. Too many if you ask me, but perhaps some people enjoy thumbing through five generally-redundant pamphlets. When I first picked up the mouse I was surprised by how little it weighed. It is noticeably lighter than both my Logitech G5 and MS Intellimouse Explorer 3.0. The extremely light weight combined with low-friction mouse skates makes this mouse glide across my mousepad with greater ease than either of the other two mice. However, this is not necessarily a good thing for everyone. The mouse is so light and easy to move that it seemed almost spastic before I got used to it.

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By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Crysis, perhaps the most anticipated first-person shooter in recent memory, has just gone gold. With that, Electronic Arts and Crytek say that the game will ship on time, on its already announced release date of 11/16.

Crysis is also a game which will demand a DirectX 10 card in order to see it in all its glory. While other games have already been released which support DirectX 10, Crysis is the one gamers have been looking to for a reason to upgrade their hardware (although Gears of War will release on November 10th and will also support DirectX 10).

We Say: And just a reminder that Microsoft may be happy also, as we all know that Windows Vista is the only version of Windows to support DirectX 10 (sigh).

By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

WAKING UP IN STYLE

Boston Acoustics claims that its unit produces, “big, rich sound you never thought possible in a system this size,” and by looking at it, there’s definitely a hint of audiophile to it.

Spec wise, the MicroSystem CD is impressive, with three auxiliary inputs, 24 radio presets, slot loading CD player and a credit card style remote.
The unit also boasts a 9 volt battery backup system in case of power outages as well as a clever auto dimming display.

Interestingly, the unit’s remote fits right inside the flip down CD tray making it a very neat and stylish solution to avoid misplacing the remote.

What, no iPod dock?

The MicroSystem CD is available in Charcoal or Polar white and has a recommended retail of $499. For more details, see the Boston Acoustic website.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

My wife is deathly — I mean deathly — afraid of flying. So afraid that a 50 minute flight to L.A. sends her into a panic. Thus, I will probably never get to Milan to see “The Last Supper” in real-life at the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. If you won’t get there either, you can see it, as can I, at Haltadefinizione — according to the press release, the highest definition photograph ever in the world, at 16 billion pixels. At that resolution, this image has 1,600 times the number of pixels of a standard 10-megapixel digital camera.

At this level of detail, experts will be able to examine portions as though they were just inches away.

“The Last Supper,” as you probably know, depicts the meal shortly before Christ’s death when he announced to his disciples that one of them would betray him. It was painted in the late 15th century by Leonardo Da Vinci, and has been the subject of much discussion, particularly since the publication of the Dan Brown novel, The Da Vinci Code.

The project was made possible thanks to the assistance of the following partners: AMD; Clauss, a German company which provided the high-precision orientation structure; De Agostini, who provided web and communication support; I-Net, who provided high-speed Internet access, and Nikon.