Back when we were students, the only things our dictionaries could do were weigh down our backpacks and act as a home base during kickball. It's no secret that, like everything else, the Japanese have had better study aid options. Now not one, but three manufacturers announced new additions to their respective mega-dictionary handhelds: Seiko in conjunction with Franklin, and Canon. First up is Seiko's and Franklin's SII by Franklin DB-J990 which defies category conventions and opts for a slider design reminiscent of the Vaio UX rather than the usual clamshell. In addition to MP3 audio playback and support for common eBook formats, RSS, Word, and Powerpoint, it contains ten dictionaries, including The Princeton Review's "Cracking the TOEIC" test preparation, and boasts full PC connectivity, allowing users to access and manipulate all the information on their handheld from their computer (for instance, annotating words you're having difficulty with). Not to be outdone, Canon is offering a pair of dictionaries which also have MP3 playback: the Wordtank V300 ($471) and the Wordtank M300 ($386). Both devices have 38 reference guides in five subject areas, some with text-to-speech ensuring proper pronunciations. There is also a built-in voice recorder, so you can compare your articulation against the device's. The only differing factor between the two Wordtanks are in screen size and battery life: the V300 donning a 4.9-inch screen with 80 hours to the charge, versus the M300's 3.78-inch screen and 107 hours of life. Both Wordtanks should be available in Japan come February 2, and the DB-J990, which will retail for $295, will also be available in next month. For those not turned off by the usual not-for-the-U.S. disclaimer, you can peep pics of Canon's devices are after the break.

[Via Akihabara News]

Read - SII by Franklin DB-J990
Read - Canon Wordtank M300
Read - Canon Wordtank V300

We fly high at Engadget -- our chains hang low and our gadgets shine bright. When Sony told us they were dropping a gold PSP, we thought we finally had a gaming device gaudy enough to roll with our PharrellBerrys and Vertus, only to be disappointed by an unimpressive paint job. Well at least someone is coming through for us and releasing peripherals baller enough to be added to our growing collection of luxury devices. Swiss manufacturer Pat Says Now's "world's most expensive mouse" comes in three choices of 18-karat white, yellow or red gold, with 59 diamonds in either a flower or scattered design. For what it is, you would think it would offer a resolution higher than 800 dpi, but for the privilege of having another "world's ___" we suppose that's a small price to pay in paying such a large price.

[Via Shiny Shiny]

Sure the Xbox 360 has awesome games like Gears of War, but what good is all that bloody carnage when all the other next-gen systems have motion sensors? We were just ready to throw in the towel waiting for that extra level of game play, when modder Adam Thole answered our calls. Investing about two-and-a-half weeks worth of time, he was able to put together a fully-functioning wired 360 controller with a 2-axis accelerometer -- and he makes the hack seem pretty straightforward. There are a lot of details on his site for those looking to emulate this mod, and Adam claims that he may even hack a wireless controller for version two. So keep on clicking for a vid of this hack-tastic mod in action, and then hit the Read link for the full deets...

Unbeknownst to most, we are lovers of our planet Earth and depend so much on solar power that we're often compared to the mighty Birdman. We cheered during Sanyo's CES keynote when it announced "Think GAIA," and now we come again to applaud Tesco. Joining forces with Solar Integrated Technologies, the British supermarket giant is set to build what it claims to be the "world's largest" solar roof on its new distribution center in California. By the end of the $13 million project, the roof will provide 1/5 of the facilities power and save "1,200 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year." With all that said, now we have to go and ponder whether or not this is enough for us to leave our beloved Trader Joe's.

So you've thrown down some major cabbage and gotten yourself a serious gaming PC for the new year, and now you want a mouse just as fitting -- well look no further than Razer's DeathAdder, say the guys over at ExtremeTech. They took the sinisterly-named peripheral for a spin, all the while pitting it against their previous fav, the Logitech G5. Well after some grueling rounds in the pits, the DeathAdder eked out a tie with the champ, garnering a 10/10 rating and the lofty distinction of being one of the best mice they have ever used; Team ExTech loved everything about the slithery rodent, from the feel of the rubberized shell to the perfectly placed thumb buttons to the fully customizable drivers. So based on the review, it seems that any gamer even remotely serious about their ranking should be considering, if not knocking down the doors to add this glowing glory to their arsenal -- if they can deal with "only" five buttons, that is.

We try to keep it on the low, but when it comes to clothes shopping, the Engadget crew is like a gaggle of school girls -- running up and down the aisles comparing outfits and finding the latest accessories to go with our gear. Well the malls might be a bit quieter now, thanks to IconNicholson's Magic Mirror which, not unlike it's Snow White namesake, lets you get the opinion of others before making a decision. What it does is let you try on virtual outfits and share with friends, allowing them to then text you back with a yay or nay. Besides the main panel where you can see your proposed new look, there are two other panels: the left showing you available pieces from the store, while the right offers up info on accessories that you might like. IconNicholson is scarce on the details of how it is exactly your friends are getting this feed from the dressing room, but it best be most secure, because we know all too well how miscreants like to take advantage of technology.

Seems as though paper has found its way into another battle -- the National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative wants to replace our old tree-based friend with a presumably much safer Web-based system. Rather than continually risking the lives of millions of people by making pharmacists decipher doctors' illegible handwriting, prescriptions will are entered into a website, hopefully leaving less room for harmful and fatal errors. It's amazing that only "one fifth of U.S. doctors" use this kind of electronic system; by now you would think the robots that have invaded hospitals would be the ones doling out the happy pills, but we guess that's a battle left for another day. On the plus side, hackers will now have endless access to the uppers they need for monitoring their botnets around the clock.

Sanyo had a bit of a twist this year at CES -- it was making a push for the environment. In between displays of HD camcorders and wireless projectors were numerous low consumption devices and solar powered chargers. Keep reading to see what you may have missed among the plethora of products that were on display this year.

Sharp was riding high on the success of its 108-inch LCD TV here at CES, and rightfully so, because it is amazing. However, that was not its only highlight of the show; as you will see in these photos, there were other wonders such as a multitude of displays and next-gen fax machines.

Sharp booth tour

In between all the announcements, Dell was kind enough to bring some humor to CES with its irony -- after finally making something that doesn't look like it was designed in Soviet Russia, the company reveals that it's only a concept product. The "ultra-flat" LCD (with a resolution estimated as high as 1920 x 1200-pixels) is encased in glass and features four built-in speakers. Dell manages to keep it svelte by taking a design cue from Microsoft and outsourcing the power supply to your floor rather than keeping it inside the actual device. There is also a microphone / webcam on the top, not unlike the supposed Apple display rumors; overall a very well thought out and nicely designed device -- we're hoping to find it leaked somewhere on Dell's site soon.

In almost a bit of underwheleming news -- considering the "true HD" pitches that other companies are making -- Infocus has announced three new projectors, none of them displaying higher than XGA. The Work Big IN24+ and the Work Big IN2+ (both of which are available now) share mostly similar specs including a brightness of 2,200 lumens, contrast of 2,000:1, and VGA, S-Video, and Composite RCA ports; they only differ in resolutions -- the IN24+ ($649) features 800 x 600 SVGA while the IN26+ ($799) sports an XGA-tastic 1024 x 768 pixels. Its other big model for CES is the Play Big IN1, which is scarce on deets -- including pricing and availability -- but has an integrated DVD player and allows you to display movies onto your ceiling so you can enjoy them without the stress of having to sit up. As convenient as that may be, we'll continue to go out of our way to be upright if it means watching at least 720p.

Considering that it has been made explicitly clear that iPods are not meant to be eaten or chewed on, the popular DAP is pretty much ruled out as a contender for the ears of our wee young ones. Thankfully Hasbro-subsidiary Playskool and Creative have teamed up to make sure that baby Apple isn't left out of the loop (you could be missing a key demographic, Steve). The "Made For Me" line of MP3 players is pretty scarce on details, but what we do know is that it comes preloaded with 50 songs, has a voice recorder, and can be used with other appropriately labeled "Made For Me" toys (sounds familiar). The device should be available come fall and is expected to retail for about $80. While we'd personally just stick a stereo in our kid's room and call it a day, we will reserve judgement and leave the parenting to the parents.

[Via Shiny Shiny]

Honestly, it's hard for us to imagine that companies are wasting marketing money to announce a minor update in an already overly-saturated market at one of the largest tech events of the year. It seems the not-so-money-Smartparts would disagree, and has chosen this occasion to roll out 7-inch versions of the two digital photo frames we announced a couple months back. What's different? Just OptiPix, and some "smart" software that can resize and optimize pictures for maximum viewing pleasure. With that said, we are officially putting the kibosh on posting about other products in this category -- so unless something truly noteworthy comes about, please enjoy the rest of the non-digital-picture-frame-related-CES news.

It's always good to see companies looking to improve the quality of life for the disabled, and now Able Planet, known for it's audio and communication products, has announced a new wireless audio amplifier for those suffering from hearing loss. The Able Talker Assistive Listening System is a noise filtering microphone that links to the joining Clear Harmony Wireless headphone through proprietary means as far as 35-feet away. Sound is enhanced through its Linx Audio technology that "increases the perceived loudness without boosting volume" and can be transmitted in mono specifically for speech or stereo mode for entertainment. The device runs on just one AAA battery and gets a good 15 hours to the charge.

Linksys announced the PowerLine AV Ethernet Kit, its first HomePlug AV release. The bundle includes two PLE200 PowerLine AV Ethernet adapters and companion cables, and allows data to flow around your house as fast as 100Mbps (as in Ethernet, theoretically enough to support HD streams). Currently a HomePlug AV network will support up to 16 devices, and can "combat electrical noise generated by appliances, electronic [products] and halogen lights." A quick refresher for those unfamiliar with the concept, PowerLine allows you to create a home network via electrical outlets rather than running CAT-5 cables up and down the stairs. You plug any internet ready device into one adapter, and connect the other adapter to your router, plug both adapters into a wall socket, and like magic you've got internets. It is backwards compatible with PowerLine 1.0 (a sigh of relief for early adopters) and the kit and additional adapters are available now for your enjoyment.

[Via Crave]

Snapping super-secret spy pics of unreleased products is hard enough as it is without having to worry about blinding flashes tipping off the guards to our dubious activities. Thankfully, Planet82 has announced a CCD chip dubbed the SMPD -- Single carrier Modulation Photo Detector -- which may be the answer to all our problems. The chip's sensitivity is claimed to be 2,000 times higher than your standard sensor, and it's this vast increase in performance that allows it to capture images without the need for flash. No word yet when these chips will make it into consumer cameras and brighten up all our nightshots, but with some of the crappy pics we've taken, it can't come soon enough.

For almost a year, Belkin has been teasing followers of the Wireless USB hub by constantly pushing back the official release date. At the rate they're going, someone else might beat them to market, Icron hopes it's them. The WiRanger is a 4 port USB 2.0 hub that leverages the company's proprietary ExtremeUSB technology to connect devices to any PC or Mac via 802.11g within a 100-foot range. We're skeptical to say the least. Icron has set a Spring release date and considering Belkin's track record, it will likely be the first product out the door.

Sahara is back at it again with three new additions to its TabletKiosk line: the i440D, i440T, and the i417T. All three computers share a similar feature set, including a 12.1-inch XGA screen, "TruePrint" fingerprint reader, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 802.11 a/b/g WiFi, 802.11d QoS, a PCMCIA slot, and up to 4GB of RAM. The main differences are that the i417T has an 1.2GHz Intel Celeron M ULV, while the i440D and i440T both have a more up to date 1.8GHz Core Duo LV. Additionally, while the i417T and i440T sport a touch screen, the i440D has an active digitizer display so you can actually use the TabletKiosk as, you know, a Tablet PC. All the devices weigh in at a reasonable 3.3 pounds and can be custom configured with either Vista, XP, or Linux.

You didn't think the Mac-daddy of iPod accessories was going to go through CES, letting other companies show off wireless speakers for the famed MP3 player without throwing down its own now did you? The Evolve is a $350 system that comprises of a dock, RF remote, and two rechargeable, wireless speakers. The system streams "CD quality sound" over an unspecified wireless protocol as far as 150-feet. Finally, the dock doubles as a charger for the iPod as well as the speakers. There is however, no date specified yet for release.

[Via iLounge]