Force3D, Asustek, GeCube roll out Radeon HD 4850, 4870 series cards

AMD has already gotten its official business with its new Radeon HD 4850 series out the way, and it now looks like the flood of various iterations is in full swing, with at least three manufacturers already pushing cards out the door. Among the first out of the gate is relative upstart Force3D, which has not only let loose a Radeon HD 4850 card, but a Radeon HD 4870 as well, the latter of which AMD still seems to be staying mum about. As HEXUS.net reports, however, this particular version will boast a core frequency of 750MHz, along with 512MB of GDDR5 memory and an effective clock speed of 3,600MHz. According to DigiTimes, Asustek also has a pair of similar Radeon HD 4870 cards set for release, along with a pair of HD 4850 cards packing 1GB and 512MB of DDR3 memory, while GeCube seems to be content to launch just a single 4850 with 512MB of DDR3 memory. Hit up the links below for the full rundown of specs, which unfortunately doens't include prices just yet.

Genius' SP-T1200 speaker system loves to be touched

Okay, so you could argue that most any speaker system would appreciate some TLC, but Genius' latest really adores it. The SP-T1200 2.0 Touch Speaker System comes with a black-onyx finish and enables owners to rely on a touch screen to control function, volume, bass or treble. When touched, the panel lights up to visually show that contact has been made, and while these promise 30-watts of skull-rattling sound, we wouldn't count on audiophile type results. Grab 'em now if you wish for $99.

WiiHD's homebrew guide: hacking doesn't get much easier than this

The folks of WiiHD, in honor of the recent Quake release for Wii homebrew, have put together an easy-to-follow guide for getting the Wii homebrew channel up and running on your little white console -- plus a pre-packaged zip file with some ready-to-go 'brew if that's the way you like it. You've really got zero excuse to hold off on homebrew with as purtiful and straightforward all these fine hackers have made the process, but if you're still unconvinced, check out the Quake video after the break.

American Airlines to test in-flight WiFi tomorrow

You heard right, folks. American Airlines is planning to open up the world wide web to passengers on board an unspecified round-trip flight from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles. The Gogo service, provided via Aircell, will be free for patrons tomorrow, but will eventually run users $12.95 for flights greater than three hours and $9.95 for trips under said threshold. We're also told that more trials are expected to get going on flights between New York and San Francisco and New York and Miami, though no time frame is given for when the service would escape the beta stage and hit mass implementation. Additionally, the Gogo system is supposed to "prioritize the flow of data so that passengers downloading movies or large documents won't prevent other passengers from getting their email," so don't expect to use that excuse for not sending in those Q2 close reports.