Gadget Access

Posted Feb 19th 2008 1:08PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Handhelds, Wireless
Just when you think Nokia doesn’t have any more tricks up its sleeve — wham! the WiMAX-equipped N830 internet tablet gets all up in your section (maybe). According to a sweet, sweet photo which appeared in Best Buy’s February Mobile Buyer’s Guide, the Finnish giant is preparing to unleash a new version of its popular N810 tablet, and it seems like this could be the rumored WiMAX device that we’ve heard whispers about. Of course, this could also just be a new paint job and refreshed number — though something in our heart tells us that ain’t the case. Word on the street is that we’ll know what’s up come CTIA. In the meantime, feel free to zoom, zoom, and zoom some more on this picture, and check out the full page of the brochure after the break.

[Via IntoMobile]

Read - WiMax N810 Leaked, To Be Announced At CTIA?
Read - N810 at Best Buy/New Color

Posted Feb 19th 2008 1:02PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Just in case you missed the big news earlier this morning, after more than two years on the market, HD DVD finally rolled over. Here’s everything you need to know:

• Official: HD DVD dead and buried, format war is over
• Toshiba: “no plans” to adopt Blu-ray
• HD DVD casualty report: over 1m players, recorders, and drives lost to the format war
• Paramount and Universal to publish films on Blu-ray

More

• Live from Toshiba’s hd dvd press conference in Tokyo
• Top ten things to do with your now-defunct HD DVD player

Though Yahoo rejected its “undervalued” bid, Microsoft’s part-time chairman Bill Gates said the show must go on and the software giant will continue to invest heavily on Web search to snatch sizeable share away from Google.

Gates boasts Microsoft has enough resources to invest in engineering and marketing. However, he also admitted that Yahoo’s superior engineering technology and manpower will help fast track development. But the whole Microhoo deal may not be over yet. Many analysts expect Microsoft to sweeten the deal and open negotiations with a bid of $35 per share. Although Gates reiterated that the offer was “full and fair”, he did not elaborate further on the next steps of this acquisition talks. Going solo may not be the best move for Microsoft, considering the dominant leadership and know-how of Google. Without Yahoo, it will be very difficult or even hopeless to advance.

Good luck with that, Microsoft. If your plans don’t work out, you can always change the Wikipedia entry and say it did.

Read [Reuters]

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Posted Feb 19th 2008 12:41PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: cellphones
According to man-about-town, Robert X. Cringely, Samsung is readying not one, but two separate Android-based phones, one of which is due in September, with another model following around Christmas. If you believe what you read (and what his tipster says), these phones will not be labeled Samsung, rather they will be released as Google-branded gPhones. The model released in the Fall will be a “higher-end” model which apparently looks “somewhat like a blackberry Pearl” but with a screen that flips and “a keyboard for texting” (though to be honest, that description makes little sense, as the Pearl has a keyboard). The second device will be a cheaper model (under $100), and will likely be released after the holidays. Of course, right now this is just speculation — given the large gap of time between now and September, these plans could be completely rearranged or nixed altogether… even if they are accurate.

[Via IntoMobile]

Have you ever been camping and decided to go on a long hike, only to discover your walkie-talkie batteries are dead, leaving you without any means of communication? We all know cell phones are pretty much useless anywhere that’s good for hiking, so you’re stuck with a pair of walkie-talkies. Wouldn’t it be great if someone created a set that charged up via a hand crank? Don’t worry, they already have.

This handy little device actually serves several purposes. It will play music from any AM/FM station, or let you listen in on the weather over the NOAA channel.. You can also use the VOX feature to communicate with any other matching Crank Radio (or any other radio tuned to the right band) within a 5-mile radius.

A few cranks is all it takes to power the radio for up to an hour’s worth of music, which makes this great for anyone venturing out into the wild. You have the option of popping in four AAA batteries, but that takes the fun out of it. The only flaw I see is the high price of $149.95 for a single radio.

Source: GeekAlerts

Posted Feb 19th 2008 11:51AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Peripherals
It’s strange how “ergonomic” devices rarely look like they’d be comfortable to use. Such is the case with the Wow-Pen Joy, a new mouse that conforms to the hand like a pen would, apparently making your computing experience a little less tough on the wrists. Although it resembles one of your clay sculptures from elementary school, the twisted lump of plastic sports 800 dpi resolution and can be jacked right into any XP or Vista machine. We can’t promise this will actually help with the chronic, stabbing wrist pain caused by your “regular” mouse (see inset), though we can tell you it won’t break the bank at 20,000 KRW, or about $30.

Apple announced today that they’re dropping the price on the 1GB iPod Shuffle to $49 and they’re adding a 2GB model for $69 (available soon). Here’s the press release from Apple:

iPod shuffle Now Just $49

New 2GB Model Priced at $69

CUPERTINO, California–February 19, 2008–Apple today announced that its iPod shuffle, the world’s most wearable music player, is now even more affordably priced at $49 and that it is introducing a new 2GB model of the iPod shuffle for $69. The popular ipod shuffle is just half a cubic inch in volume, weighs just half an ounce, features an aluminum design with a built-in clip and comes in five colors–silver, blue, green, purple and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition.

“At just $49, the iPod shuffle is the most affordable iPod ever,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. “The new 2GB model lets music lovers bring even more songs everywhere they go in the impossibly small iPod shuffle.”

The iPod is the world’s most popular family of digital music players with over 140 million sold. The lineup includes iPod shuffle, the world’s most wearable iPod; iPod classic holding up to 40,000 songs*; the incredible iPod nano with video playback and the breakthrough iPod touch with a revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface. iPod owners can choose from a vast ecosystem of accessories with over 4,000 products made specifically for the iPod including cases, fitness accessories, speaker systems and iPod connectivity in over 75 percent of US automobiles.

Pricing & Availability
The new 1GB iPod shuffle is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $49 (US) through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The 2GB iPod shuffle will be available later this month for a suggested retail price of $69 (US) through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. iPod shuffle requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later and iTunes 7.4; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) or later and iTunes 7.4 or later.

*Music capacity is based on four minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding.

Nice to see some action and development in Apple’s “budget” line of products rather than just making changes in their high end products. I may have to pick one up now!

[Apple.com]

NEC from Japan is the latest company including the “soon to be a success” wireless USB on their notebooks. There are 3 new models included on the LaVie J series.

All the laptops have a 12.1-inch screen and boast a Core 2 Duo U7600 processor, at 1.2GHz. One of the best features is being resistant to shocks, which means that it will still work after light bumps, because it can handle a total pressure of 300kg.

The top model which is priced at €1,735 comes with Wi-Fi, bluetooth, a hard-drive with 160GB, and lastly, 2GB on the RAM.

via Akihabara

Dell has once again added to the Ubuntu lineup. This time its the Inspiron 1525 notebook and it will come with Ubuntu 7.10 along with built-in DVD playback capability.

The Inspiron 1525 will be immediately available for those in the UK, France, Spain and Germany. Those in the US will have to wait till later in February for availability.

Read [Direct2Dell]

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Colorware has announced the availability of the MacBook Air in your choice of 35 different colors. Just in case the aluminum casing of the Air was not exciting enough for you, Colorware now has a wide variety of options for you to choose from. The Air will be available in black, along with 34 other individual colors and just in case you cannot decide which color works best for you, Colorware also offers the option to mix and match colors between seven areas of the notebook. The custom paint will begin at $500 if you already own your MacBook Air or $2,499 if you purchase the macbook air from Colorware. Each custom job will take about 3-4 weeks to complete and ship.

In addition to the latest offering on the MacBook Air, Colorware will also customize many other items. They have also announced an engraving service that will become available in a few weeks.

Read [Colorware]

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