Every Thursday night is Bingo Night at my local dive bar. The prize for hitting five in a row? Free drink tickets. And a good round can mean endless photo ops for me and my crew. As excited as I was to start capturing the, uh, memories, I was a little disappointed by this camera's bulk. At just over 6 ounces and 1.4 inches thick, there's no squeezing it into a back pocket. But 8-megapixel resolution, combined with a sharp 5X optical zoom, guaranteed that every celebratory shot of Jameson was captured. Reliving the hilarity the morning (or afternoon) after was a snap. I just hooked the cam to my computer via the included USB cable and transferred the images with the push of a button. Next Thursday, I'll probably opt to leave this beefy cam at home, but I'll cherish those intoxicating images forever. -- Jenna Wortham [RATING: 7/10] [RETAIL: $200] [ kodak.com ]
Another victory for content aggregator Buongiorno, as the company managed to haul in an exclusive deal with Three UK & IR to deliver their white label mobile games store. Through this move, Pocket...
It's June 29th and Apple is finally ready to let the public play with the iPhone. The past six months have shaped up to be the highest profile mobile phone launch ever, Apple has conjured up an...
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Part of me just wants to post this screenshot, link this app, and say "go get it," but I have a feeling that my blogging overlords here would think I was just being lazy -- they might not understand that this is a screenshot from Adventure, which is available for free on the iPhone. Anyone who ever played an Atari 2600 and owns an iPhone won't need any more explanation than that to install this.
But I don't want to be seen as lazy (any more than I already am), and so I'll also say that Adventure basically pioneered the action-adventure genre of games, and that though its art is spare and its noises are little more than bleeps and bloops, both are classic and coated with pure nostalgia. While Adventure is currently controlled on the iPhone with tilt controls, its designer will add touch controls as well in the future.
Celio today unveiled two new models: the REDFLY C7 and REDFLY C8N. The REDFLY series of products are smartphone terminals designed to offer the mobile workforce a larger keyboard and screen for easy use of e-mail, web, business applications, ...
The iPhone is more than a smart phone for some users -- it's a portable entertainment system. It's also become a gold mine for entrepreneurs like Steve Demeter, developer of the popular puzzle game "Trism," which earned him $250,000 in two months.
No more rumors, speculation or innuendo. The BlackBerry Storm officially arrives on Verizon Wireless on Nov. 21 for $199 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year contract.
BLACKBERRY STORM AVAILABLE IN U.S. NOVEMBER 21 EXCLUSIVELY FROM VERIZON WIRELESS
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. ? The BlackBerry® Storm? (model 9530) from Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) ? the first touch screen BlackBerry smartphone with the world?s first ?clickable? touch screen ? will be available beginning Nov. 21 in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. For additional details and specifications about the BlackBerry Storm, please visit www.verizonwireless.com/storm.
If you're thinking about giving out any strange, or just plain wacky items, then here are some gift ideas that may inspire you to give your friend something that is more original than a shirt or necktie. Some of these items are not yet available in the market, but do check them out so you'd at least get an idea out of them.
Shock-Your-Friend Gadgets
We all know how much some people like to borrow things, and sometimes we can't help but wonder if we can do something to correct them if they tend to borrow too often. A bunch of "Shock-Your-Friend" items from online retailer Deal Extreme may help, and it may hopefully prove to be effective.
Basically, this Shock-Your-Friend gadgets look like innocent every day items, but don't be fooled: they're really not what they seem. Two of these items, the Chewing Gum and the MP3 player actually emits mild electric shock when handled.
The shocker chewing gum looks almost like a pack of Wrigley's Doublemint, but upon closer inspection the packaging actually reads as "Shock: Pull Here." Of course, the intended victim may just go ahead and attempt to get a piece of gum before they get a chance to read it, and they'll be treated to a dose of mild electrical shock instead of the expected chewy, minty treat.
Another clever Shock-Your-Friend Gadget is the MP3 Player, which looks like a nicely-made clone of the Apple iPod. As expected, this doesn't play music like how MP3 players are supposed to but emits a nice, solid shock.
They serve as good party gadgets, but since we're talking about zapping you should be careful not to use these on people with heart ailments, or people who use pacemakers.
Guitar Hero Air Guitar
Those who master any of the Guitar Hero games certainly look cool while they're doing their virtual riffs, but this contraption, the Guitar Hero Air Guitar by Jada Toys, will make you look even more cooler (or just make you look...odd). The package includes a guitar pick, a Guitar Hero belt buckle, and a wearable amplifier that allows you to unleash rockin' tunes anytime, anywhere.
For instant jamming all you need to do is wear the belt buckle, and wave the Guitar Hero Air Guitar pick. The detector will sense a guitar chord being "played" and the wearable amplifier will instantly belt out tunes from Van Halen, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, and other bands.
What's good about this contraption is that the tempo of the tune being played depends on how fast or slow the air guitarist waves the pick.
Here are some of the songs included in Guitar Hero Air Guitar:
And 5 original Guitar Hero Air Guitar freestyle riffs
ZUSE Toast Printer
Breakfast is oftentimes a bland affair with the usual glass of milk, bowl of cereal, and slices of toast. But not when you have the Inseq Design's ZUSE, a bread toaster that prints out 12 by 12 pixel designs on your daily breakfast toast, giving you your dose of happy every morning.
Each ZUSE toaster has a several images stored in its memory chip, and designs will be randomly toasted/printed on each slice of bread. It's a rather nice spin on the archaic dot matrix printers, and we're wondering why this idea was thought of only now.
It's not specified just how many pixelated images are stored in a ZUSE toaster, but we spy in one of the images that it can print a Space Invader on your bread. Yes, we're sold. Here's a video embed so you can see the ZUSE in action:
We're not sure whether the ZUSE toaster is already out in the market, or if/when it's going to be released if it isn't yet. We suggest keeping an eye out for it though, you don't always get to see household appliances that actually make day-to-day stuff a bit...happier.
Sweety
If you find yourself always stressed out and there's no one to talk to about it, or if you ran out of breakable things to help you cope with life's daily let downs then you may want to turn to Sweety, a cute, cuddly desktop shrink.
Sweety (designed by Haishu Zhang) actually listens as you let out your rants for the day, and analyzes your troubles in its sweet, colorful way by displaying graphic patterns depending on your problems.
If the problem proves to be too much and you need to get physical about it, you can feel free to squeeze or beat the stuffing (well, not really) out of Sweety. See, Sweety will do anything to help you ease the pain!
Once you've calmed down a bit this desktop shrink will let you play games, too. Yes, Sweety is a friend who's willing to listen to your every problem, even those sordid secrets gone awry that you couldn't talk about with just about anyone.
It's not known when this cute little friend will hit the market, but when or if it does, we're definitely going to get one for ourselves and our friends.
Mix Tape USB Stick
Several years ago the most popular method of showing someone that you care is by giving them a mixed tape, a cassette tape recording of all the songs that you'd like to dedicate to that one very special person.
Yes, its a tad too sappy, but that's the way things were done back then. It's a good thing that the guys from SUCK UK Studio is bringing this sentimental custom back, with a little twist in the form of the Mix Tape USB Stick.
The Mix Tape USB Stick is a USB flash drive that snugly fits into a retro cassette tape-style casing. It's fitted with all sorts of accoutrements that you'd expect from a blank cassette, such as cover and the cassette tape labels where you can doodle all sorts of cheesy notes and declarations of love (if applicable). Even the USB stick has a retro cassette-style label slapped on it, which is nice.
Available in 64MB, the Mix Tape USB Stick is pretty much one of the best ways to show someone just how much you care.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese private broadcaster TV Asahi Corp aims to ally with an information technology and telecoms firm by the end of the year and is open to a capital tie-up, its president said.
In the past we've linked to some of Ian Rogers great presentations at music industry conferences, and now he's done it again. At a recent music industry conference, he told the assembled industry execs to basically stop whining about "losses" due to piracy and start making money. While I don't entirely agree with what business models will eventually be successful, Rogers makes a few key points in showing how musicians are making more money than ever before by figuring out ways to connect directly with fans, and not worrying about how many CDs they can sell.
It's worth reading through the entire presentation, but the key points he makes: the industry has changed, and the record labels no longer have a monopoly on distribution, and it's time they got over thinking that they can stuff that genie back into the bottle. Instead, they need to realize that people are spending more than ever on listening to music -- just not on buying CDs. Once they realize that, they need to get into the game, but do so by realizing that, as labels, they no longer have total control. In fact, it's now the musicians and the fans who are in a position of power, and the role of the labels should be to help enable the connection between musicians and fans.
Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc and South Korean partner KTF Co will jointly develop a smartphone using Google Inc software for launch next year, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday.
"Last month I posted in this topic about Colorware's process for customising the Samsung Blackjack II. Colorware graciously offered to repaint a truly battered Blackjack II that team member 'encece' hooked me up with, and i've been using the resulting device for a few weeks now. So what's the finished result like? Gorgeous!"
[Photo courtesy of MoDaCo]
Over at MoDaCo, Paul was brave enough to send in his Smartphone for the ol' paint job finish. I have to say that I am highly impressed. While the Samsung Blackjack II is a powerful device, I was always put off at how cheap and shiny the outer body looked. It was as if Samsung had learned nothing from the mistakes of other manufactures and ignored the fact that shiny finishes on and tiny gadget turns the device into a fingerprint magnet. Even if you do not suffer from my hatred for smudges and fingerprints, there is no denying that after spending 5 minutes with a super shiny device like the Blackjack II that it just looks trashy and cheap because it is all smudged up and gross looking. From the look of the images that Paul has posted of this new paint job, while the device still looks shiny, it looks a whole lot more refreshing than the standard black paint job. Hopefully these lighter and brighter colors will do more to hide all of the smudges this device picks up.
Though nearly the entire pre-flight process has been tweaked to make use of modern technologies, one outdated aspect still lingers: the tickets. Every single time I fly, I find myself checking the location where I put my tickets once every 3-4 minutes. Are they still there? Did I remember to zip up after I last checked? When I pulled my hand out, did the ticket sneak out? I’ve never lost a ticket, yet I consistently fear that I will. It’s just such an abnormal thing in our daily lives - when else are we given something to hang on to for a few hours that is so easy to lose or destroy, yet so significant in the success of our plans? Lose that ticket, and there’s a good chance queues and regulations might just make you miss your flight. Miss your flight, and you’ll be making up for it your entire trip.
Fortunately, the times are changing. As handset displays grow to higher and higher resolutions, functionality generally limited to ink and paper becomes possible. Scannable barcodes can easily be printed onto just about any device made within the last few years, opening the door to ticketless boarding via your cell phone’s display.
Continental was the first in the US to embrace this concept, back in May of this year. Now American Airlines has hopped on board with the launch of their Mobile Boarding Passes program. If you’re flying out of Chicago (ORD), Los Angeles (LAX), or Orange County (SNA), you’re given the option to send a digital boarding pass to your cell phone via e-mail. The boarding pass contains a QR-code-ish bar code - security will scan this, and you’re on your way. Just remember to juice up your phone before heading to the airport!
Crunch Network: CrunchBoardbecause it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
One of the hottest gifts this holiday season is going to be GPSs. Everyone, at some point in their life, has gotten lost multiple times while on the road and owning a GPS these days seems almost as necessary as having a cell phone.
In case you want a general idea of what to look for in GPSs, you can check out Gadgetell’s Buying Guide for GPSs. However, if you are in need of a GPS and plan to buy one on Black Friday, then you will want to know what’s going to be sold at a cheap price and where it’s going to be sold.
We have three different GPS companies to talk about - TomTom, Magellan, and Garmin. Overall, we have four different GPS models that are going to be sold in many different stores. First, let’s begin with the TomTom One 125, which is going to be sold at Sears, Circuit City, Office Max, RadioShack, and Navy Exchange - all for the same price of $99.99.
This GPS comes with a 3.5 inch touch screen, voice guidance capabilities, FM Traffic updates, and maps of US and Canada. Right now, this GPS is available for $179.99 at Circuit City, so it definitely will be marked down by a lot come Black Friday.
Next up, we have the Magellan RoadMate 1200, which is going to be available at Meijer, Military BX, Sears, Target, and Navy Exchange. Meijer will be selling it for $89.99, Military BX for $95.00, Sears for $99.99, Target for $99.99, and Navy Exchange for $99.99. If there is a Meijer store located near you and you want to buy this GPS, you should probably head over there first to see if they have it in stock. Now, this GPS features a 3.5 inch touch screen, 1.3 million POIs, SD memory expansion, Auto-Route recalculation, as well as a Dash Mount. I went to the Target website for this GPS as well as the Sears website and right now they are selling this for $199.99 and $149.99, respectively. Again, this gives you some perspective on how much GPSs are being marked down.
Moving on, we have the Garmin nuvi 260 only available at Circuit City for $149.99. This GPS comes with a 3.5 inch touch screen, SD memory expansion, maps of the United States and Canada, picture display, many POIs, and voice guidance. Also, this GPS is available right now for $249.99 at Circuit City.
Lastly, we have the Garmin nuvi 260W, which is only available at Best Buy for $189.99. This comes with maps of North America, a 4.3 inch QVGA TFT LCD touch screen with 320 x 240 resolution, SD memory expansion, automatic rerouting, and a high-sensitivity receiver, meaning it will calculate available routes fast. Also comes with voice guidance, POIs, conversion calculators, 2D and 3D mapping, and a battery life of up to 5 hours. This is available right now at Best Buy for $299.99.
Stay tuned to Gadgetell for more GPS deals as they become available.
Semiconductor manufacturer Quantance has raised $12 million in a second round of funding. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company develops technology that it says can improve the data speed and battery life of mobile devices using third- and fourth-generation cellular technology. It plans to use this latest cash infusion to make its patented technology commercially available for 3G devices, which is where the company is focusing its business interests. The latest round of funding was led by new investors TD Fund and DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) Capital contributed as well. Original investors Granite Ventures and InterWest Partners also participated in the round. The company expects to begin shipping its first commercial chipset in the second quarter of 2009. Release.
Mark Logic Digital Publishing Summit, Thursday November 6, Westin Times Square. Insight and perspective from Outsell, Gilbane, Simon & Schuster, BusinessWeek.com, more. Evening cocktail reception. Cost is complimentary. Register now!
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you took the Motorola ZN5, made it a slider rather than a candybar phone, and added 3G, you now have an answer: the Motorola VE66. Also, stop thinking about stuff like that, weirdo.
It’s not quite that simple, but it’s pretty close. Like the ZN5, it’s got a QVGA screen (albeit .2″ smaller, at 2.2″), 5 megapixel camera (though with LED flash, rather than Xenon), Stereo Bluetooth, a microSD slot, and WiFi.
While the official announcement fails to mention it, GSMArena reports that there will be two models of the VE66: One with quad-band GSM/EDGE and no 3G (headed to China), and one with UMTS and HSDPA 3G. No word yet on availability beyond “Q4 of 2008″.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoardbecause it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
An ongoing US National Science Foundation-funded project, the Institute for Chemistry Literacy through Computational Science (ICLCS), involves instructing rural Illinois high school chemistry teachers in the educational uses of computation. The project's training helps participants become educational leaders and change agents.
Timothy wrote: I saw this post Saturday titled "Vodafone And Orange Fight For The iPhone - InformationWeek"
"While we're still waiting for the June launch of the iPhone on this side of the pond, UK carriers Orange and Vodafone are fighting it out for exclusive ..."
Look, here's what you need to do: reach into the appropriate pocket on your personage, take out your phone, and throw it into the nearest wall. It sucks. The N70 from Lanye (or ChinaKing, or... somebody from China), which we've drooled over previously, is a candybar phone with a 2.4-inch screen, Bluetooth 2.0, and a little bit of dual-band GSM. Oh, and a built-in projector. And an interface that almost perfectly mirrors that of the iPhone with the addition of voice recording and MMS. It's awesome, and it's now available for import for a mere $345. A bargain at any price.
Hands down it looks like something for make up. But what it is - the Samsung Cleo. They say women can fit anything into their handbags so Samsung was consistent with this belief and crammed a QWERTY keyboard inside one of these things. Can you believe it, because I can’t!
The device comes with a 1.3MP camera and colored LCD screen. Samsung introduced this phone as part of their sponsorship for Desperately Different Spring/Summer 2009. The Samsung Cleo will be available through Bell in Canada. What, none in Asia?? What gives?!
Today I’m unboxing two gadgets, first of all a really big box featuring LG’s latest top notch 42 inch LCD TV, the LG7000 (42LG70 in the US). A review will follow in the next couple of weeks but until then you can check out this small unboxing gallery.
¡Café mexicano! El operador Movistar lanza mañana la red 3,5 G en México.
Si bien es cierto es la tercera operadora en ofrecer 3G en la nación azteca, promote ser más rápida que la red 3G de Telcel, porque cuentan con HSDPA y estarà disponible en 8 ciudades tras una inversión por 125 millones de euros erogados por la compañía española en este año.
A principio de año América Móvil anunció un despliegue masivo de su red 3G en sus operadoras de América Latina,Telefónica recogió el guante y se propone a dar pelea. Movistar canta jaque en los cuarteles generales de la empresa del Sr. Carlos Slim, seguro que ellos no pueden hacer lo mismo con ellos en Madrid.
Annie Chen / Gmail Blog: Spice up your inbox with colors and themes — Gmail fans have been building unofficial extensions to spice up their inboxes for a while, but up til now themes haven't been an integral part of Gmail. We wanted to go beyond simple color customization, so out of the 30 odd themes we're launching today …
"Since I got my HTC Mogul from Sprint last spring, I had been syncing with two PCs, one at home and one at work. Life was good - I was where I was supposed to be on time, and remembering everyone's birthday and anniversary. "
Then the problem began. She upgraded her Mogul to Windows Mobile 6.1 and was no longer able to sync with two PCs. Instead, ActiveSync throws back error 86000107. It works fine with the first PC, but not the second. Microsoft Connect has a more detailed thread about this issue. I don't use ActiveSync (I'm on Vista now with WMDC) and I don't sync with two PCs, so I've not seen this issue. In the Connect thread, the resolution is given as it being an OEM issue that needs to be fixed.
If you use ActiveSync and sync with two PCs, have you seen this issue after upgrading to WM6.1? I am wondering if this affects all 6.1 devices or just a few.
Asus is laying claim to the title for the fastest smartphone in the world, and there's little reason to doubt them. The news, though, is hollow: P565 with its 800MHz Marvell processor is objectively impressive, but underneath the oppressive, unflattering veil of Windows Mobile 6.1 it's not likely to blow anyone away. Carrying a dense 480x640 touchscreen to complement a solid range of specs — HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and 24fps video recording to name a few — the P565 is nonetheless fighting a software war with hardware improvements. On the other hand, if you're one of those odd folks for whom any superlative is an automatic selling point, then this may be your ultimate handset. [Reg Hardware]
Jyoti is the Hindi word for light. It's something Pranav Mehta has never had to live without. And he is lucky. Near where he lives in Gujarat -- one of the most prosperous states in India -- thousands of rural villages lack electricity or struggle with an intermittent supply at best.
Every Thursday night is Bingo Night at my local dive bar. The prize for hitting five in a row? Free drink tickets. And a good round can mean endless photo ops for me and my crew. As excited as I was to start capturing the, uh, memories, I was a little disappointed by this camera's bulk. At just over 6 ounces and 1.4 inches thick, there's no squeezing it into a back pocket. But 8-megapixel resolution, combined with a sharp 5X optical zoom, guaranteed that every celebratory shot of Jameson was captured. Reliving the hilarity the morning (or afternoon) after was a snap. I just hooked the cam to my computer via the included USB cable and transferred the images with the push of a button. Next Thursday, I'll probably opt to leave this beefy cam at home, but I'll cherish those intoxicating images forever. 
No more 
We all know how much some people like to borrow things, and sometimes we can't help but wonder if we can do something to correct them if they tend to borrow too often. A bunch of "Shock-Your-Friend" items from online retailer Deal Extreme may help, and it may hopefully prove to be effective. 
Those who master any of the 
If you find yourself always stressed out and there's no one to talk to about it, or if you ran out of breakable things to help you cope with life's daily let downs then you may want to turn to Sweety, a cute, cuddly desktop shrink. 
Several years ago the most popular method of showing someone that you care is by giving them a mixed tape, a cassette tape recording of all the songs that you'd like to dedicate to that one very special person. 
¡Café mexicano! El operador Movistar lanza mañana la red 3,5 G en México.
Asus is laying claim to the title for the fastest smartphone in the world, and there's little reason to doubt them. The news, though, is hollow: P565 with its 800MHz Marvell processor is objectively impressive, but underneath the oppressive, unflattering veil of Windows Mobile 6.1 it's not likely to blow anyone away. Carrying a dense 480x640 touchscreen to complement a solid range of specs — HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and 24fps video recording to name a few — the P565 is nonetheless fighting a software war with hardware improvements. On the other hand, if you're one of those odd folks for whom any superlative is an automatic selling point, then this may be your ultimate handset. [