Gadget Access

Posted Jan 29th 2008 2:54PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio
Nah, Roberts’ RD41 isn’t quite as minuscule as its RD49, but unfortunately, it’s essentially just as ugly. Taking a few notes from tableside radios circa 1990 (and sadly, today as well), Roberts has crafted a fairly well-spec’d DAB iteration that also does FM on the side, can record to an SD card and touts a dozen alarms that can wake even the most notorious slumberer. You’ll also find MP3 / WMA playback from the SD card, rewind and pause functions, scrolling text about the station you’re tuned into and audio in / out sockets to boot. Word on the street pegs this one at £139.99 ($277), but we’d recommend hiding it somewhere good before company shows up.

[Via The Red Ferret Journal]

Have you ever wanted to post something about a favorite restaurant or shop in one of those city guides where users contribute content, but you’re too busy to sit and write out a detailed review? Meet PlaceShout, a site for snappy user reviews that’s perfect for our attention deficit culture. Organized by city, you can contribute your own two cents (in this case, exactly 100 characters, no more) about your favorite restaurant, club, park, shop, farmer’s market, whatever, as well as look up places that you think might have been mentioned by someone else. If you agree with the contributer’s comments (”best fried chicken in the world,” for instance), you can click “agree” under that item in Digg-like fashion.

I’m not a big user of Twitter (I don’t know why anyone would care what I’m doing right now), but I can seeing logging into PlaceShout on my iPhone when I find a great restaurant or shop I want to share. What I’d like to see is Twitter crossed with PlaceShout so you can get updates from your network of friends when they’re in interesting, fun places.

In Star Trek, they use the Universal Translator. It’s a cool gadget which allows our favorite characters to talk to other species without having to wait for a translation. Life has been imitating art in Iraq as troops at checkpoints have been using iPods equipped with a kind of universal translator to speak in Arabic to Iraqis while on mission.

Due to the Popularity of the iPod, it’s relatively low cost (procurement wise) and it’s lightweight pocket size, the gadget has proven extremely successful in communicating with the indigenous population. Organized by mission, The translator application is called VCommunicator and it has proven to be a handy device that not only translates necessary English phrases, but also includes handy greetings and blessings, animations of hand gestures with audio, map reader, mug shot database, and several other applications that troops need in the ongoing battle against terrorists seeking to derail the Surge. And with the line/out capability of the iPod, Soldiers can connect to a loudspeaker communicate to large crowds in their native language.

Now, the VCommunicator’s maker, Vcom3D, is planning to bring the application to the travel industry with a civilian version that will enable travelers to use similar technology to make their way around locations they are travelling in and blend deeper into the culture.

No word on price, but we’re betting it’ll make it’s way to downloading on iTunes really soon.

Virtual demo can be seen here.

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If you’re hard at work on your fitness resolution to run a marathon this year or hike a mountain, consider treating yourself to a watch loaded full of excellent training features. Garmin’s Forerunner 405 monitors your time, distance, pace, calories, and (when paired with an optional heart rate monitor) heart rate.

Record-keeper
All of your runs are stored in memory, so you can keep track of how you’re improving or in some cases keeping steady.

GPS
The GPS receiver is robust enough to sustain satellite reception from a variety of urban and suburban locations.

Touch navigation
The touch bezel face of the watch makes navigating options simple and intuitive. Tap, hold, or run your finger along the bezel for instant results.

Connect to your computer
Garmin’s “ANT + Sport” connectivity system allows you to interface wirelessly to transfer data to your computer. You’ll be able to analyze, categorize and share through Garmin’s online community, Garmin Connect or optional Garmin Training Center software. Wirelessly send workouts from your computer to Forerunner, too.

At $299, this isn’t a cheap training watch, but if you’re a serious runner or want to become one, or have a goal (like training for a marathon), this digital companion will help you make the most of your routines and reach your goals.

Price: $299 at Amazon.

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The Pro Race Trainer looks a little overpowered for most racing game fans. The aluminum chassis is lightweight at 75kg, sports a PC backbone (no word on specs) and seems to be designed to prepare people for real racing rather than merely satisfying a Gran Turismo jones.

When I look at the Pro RaceTrainer, I cannot help but think that it looks like something that most people with a little bit of technical knowhow could manage. The key is the software more than the equipment. This is professional simulation software and that costs real money. There is a 21″ TFT screen, 5.1 channel sound, a racing seat, some pedals and a steering wheel.

For the price, which is a touch under $20,000, I would expect to see something that has a little more in the looks department, but this thing would most likely rock. If you consider the price of a real race car, twenty large is something of a bargain.

Born Rich

Posted Jan 29th 2008 12:01PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
It’s that time again boys and girls — the time when Sony pours out enough VAIO updates all at once that your head starts throbbing uncontrollably. Without further ado, we’ll start by tackling the Type T (pictured), which gets upgraded to a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo U7600, goes from 1GB to 2GB of RAM and now comes in a bevy of swank designs. Moving on, we’ve got the 17-inch Type A, which now sports one of those speedy new Penryn chips (exact model apparently depends on how you CTO it) but otherwise remains similar to the prior iteration. Lastly, we find that the outfit’s adorable TP1 now houses a Core 2 Duo T8100 CPU, a 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M and a Blu-ray burner to boot. For all the nitty-gritty, put on your patience cap and wade through the links below, but be forewarned, it’s a jungle down there.

[Via AkihabaraNews]
Read - VAIO Type T / F / N updates
Read - VAIO Type A, TP1 and Type R Master updates

Is it possible for Motorola to be #1 in non-touchscreen Windows Mobile smartphones and still be considering selling off its handset business?  Sure.  But it is awful odd that both stories are popping today.

According to DigitTimes, Motorola is just edging out Samsung and HTC for the lead in non-touchscreen smartphone sales.  Add in the touchscreen units and HTC has 50% of the market (#1 with Palm coming in at #2).  Motorola is listed as one of the companies eroding HTC marketshare.  But is that enough for Motorola?

No, according to DailyTech, who says Motorola is/should be considering selling off it’s handset division.  After ending 2007 with a $1.2 billion loss, it must be hard for them to hope for better days.  DailyTech also notes there is another rumor that Moto will sell to a Chinese company but discounts it due to the fact no one can figure out the convoluted menu tree.

So what will 2008 bring to the once-mighty Moto?  All they need is a product that is fun to use, sounds easy right?  They’ve got a running start with the Rokr E9 that I’ve been excited about is a good start.  I expect they will build on that with the Q10, a haptic keyboard on a touchscreen; this info is now loosely confirmed by sources in Taiwan’s handset industry.  Woohoo!  That is exciting stuff.  Is it enough?  Will it trickle to mass-adoption phones like the Razr?  Is it too late?

Read [DailyTech] and [DigiTimes]

So how often have you found yourself looking at porn playing Solitaire at work, only to have your boss bust in on you? Well, when you suddenly start clicking like a madman, it’s usually pretty obvious that you weren’t actually working. If you’re really that bored at work on a regular basis, you might consider investing in a new mouse.

How exactly is a mouse going to help you out? Well, most mice really wouldn’t do much, however, this little guy has a special red button that could save your job. When the “Phantom button” is clicked, one of two things will happen, depending on how you have it set up. You can either have it minimize all programs, or you can have it bring a particular program to the front of your screen. Personally, I’d have it do the latter.

The price for this piece of mind is only $24 (from Japan). Then again, you could always consider getting a job where you weren’t bored to death every day. You know, whatever is convenient.

Source: NewLaunches

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Posted Jan 29th 2008 2:25PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Desktops
Most of the questionably-ostentatious gear we see is designed for use on the go — why else spark out your kit if not to blind your frenemies at the club? — but at some point even Diddy runs out of handhelds to ice up, which is where Japan’s Zeus Computer steps in. The company is offering two different glam desktops for your wallet’s delight: an ¥80,000,000 ($747,768) diamond-studded model, or (for cheapskates) a ¥60,000,000 ($560,826) gold version. Both offer a 3GHz E6850 Core 2 Duo on an Asus board with 2GB of RAM, a 256MB GeForce 8400GS, 1TB drive, Blu-ray + HD DVD combo drive, and Vista Ultimate — but that’s not at all what matters here, is it?

[Via F******gaijin, warning: sitename may be NSFW]

The Nokia 2600 Classic is a candybar cell phone offering a VGA camera as well as the following features:

* GSM 900/1800MHz
* GPRS/EDGE
* 65k color TFT, 128×160 pixel resolution Main Display
* Record/Playback Video
* MMS/SMS/IM Messaging
* POP/IMAP/SMTP Email
* Bluetooth 2.0
* Speakerphone
* FM Radio
* Xpress-On changeable covers

Via MobileBurn.