Gadget Access

Said to replace the Treo 700wx is the new Treo 800w. No official word yet from Sprint as this is a mere speculation as only a release chart has already been leaked.

July is reportedly the release date of the long awaited Treo 800w, but let’s hope Sprint releases it as soon as possible. Rumored features include EvDO Rev A, Wi-Fi, Windows Mobile 6.0 and A-GPS among others. Camera and non-camera versions of the Treo are expected to become available.

Looks like the Treo 800w will the dethrone the 700w as Treo’s flagship Pocket PC with Windows Mobile Professional. Still only a rumor, there is a big chance that this could be true as Palm’s Ed Colligan recently stated that the company will be releasing their new smartphone line up before the end of summer.

Via [gadgets on the go]

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Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho of Hawaii seem to have been smoking too much stuff lately. I’m saying this because on March 21, they filed a lawsuit in a district court in Honolulu, Hawaii against the European Center for Nuclear Research or CERN. This lawsuit seeks to place a temporary restraining order on CERN’s latest and greatest project ever: the Large Hadron Collider. And what is it that the L. H. C. does, you ask? Oh, nothing. It just recreates the Big Bang. You know, that awesome explosion that started the Universe?

For those that don’t know (or haven’t read Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons), a large hadron collider has the ability to supercharge protons up to seven trillion electron volts and then afterwards let them collide to recreate the energies and conditions resulting from a “Big Bang.” CERN aims to further understand these forces and presumably apply them for the good of mankind, but the two concerned complainants are worried about something else occurring in the aftermath: black holes that could quite possibly eat up the earth, and even the whole universe. What?

CERN says it has done a lot of previous testing and can attest to the L. H. C.’s complete harmlessness. And the Safety Assessment Group was even set up to do another anonymous review of the said project last year. But still, Wagner and Sancho won’t give up easily, even though the party they are trying to shut down is at least a few thousand miles away, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Now I know most people would have mixed views regarding this matter, but judging from the popularity of Sci-Fi pop culture movies and the like, I think more people would agree with the complainant’s arguments, at least at first. And from what most of us were taught back when we first learned of it, isn’t a Big Bang supposed to naturally cause a black hole to appear anyway? I’m no Physics major, but judging from the facts, I think it’s quite safe to say that there really will be a black hole after the blast. But then again, people at CERN say that there should be absolutely no cause for panic, as the large hadron collider is tested to be problem-free (both by in-house physicists and trusted third-party experts). But for now, no one can say for sure what the effects will be after this projects is initiated. Will a black hole grow and eat earth, or worse, the universe? Will the colliding particles release so much energy that will it tap the inner core and send all volcanoes across the world exploding? No one really knows. Maybe it will just turn out the lights.

Read [NY Times] Image [Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times]

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The Boy Genius is reporting that there is going to be a slight delay in the release of the much-awaited Blackberry 9000, and will more likely be released around late May at best, and if not then June or possibly August. I know a lot of Palm users are already itching to get their hands on a new blackberry device, but I’m afraid there’s nothing else for them to do but wait. The 6-month exclusive AT&T US contract speculation still lives, as well as a late May release date, but according to BGR’s sources, “the July / August release date might be accurate.” So if you’re a CrackBerry user yourself and are eagerly looking forward for this device, pull yourself together and tell yourself the wait isn’t that long. Practice Yoga or something to help you cool down. It’s just a few months. You’ll live.

Via [Boy Genius Report]

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Adobe’s highly buzzed launch of Photoshop Express has been well-received, for the most part. However, some users have been appalled by a discovered clause in Adobe’s full terms of service for Photoshop Express, which reads:

“8. Use of Your Content. Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However, with respect to Your Content that you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Services, you grant Adobe a worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such
Content into other Materials or works in any format or medium now known or later developed.”

The paragraph practically grants Adobe full rights to do whatever they wish with your photos (including monetary gain), which I admit, is quite ridiculous. The eyebrow raising discovery has caused some hesitation on new user signups and some current users have ceased their use of Adobe’s web application. Why would anyone want to use a service that takes all rights of ownership of your photos when there are alternatives, like Picnik, that ask for no rights whatsoever? In fact, some sites that reviewed Photoshop Express with positivity have since retracted their recommendation. However, in all fairness to Adobe, the clause in question appears to be a “lawyer slip up” that was unintended. The “mistake” was confirmed when John Nack, Adobe’s Senior Product Manager for Photoshop, posted a response from the Photoshop Express team regarding the backlash, saying:

“We’ve heard your concerns about the terms of service for Photoshop Express beta.  We reviewed the terms in context of your comments - and we agree that it currently implies things we would never do with the content.  Therefore, our legal team is making it a priority to post revised terms that are more appropriate for Photoshop Express users.  We will alert you once we have posted new terms.  Thank you for your feedback on Photoshop Express beta and we appreciate your input.”

It appears the clause was indeed a mix up that meant no ill-intentions. I’m sure the Adobe lawyers were trying to cover every loophole imaginable, but unfortunately, the language used did not sit well with the entire world. To be on the safe side, if you’ve yet to sign up for the service, you may want to use another online photo editing alternative or wait for the Photoshop Express terms to be revised. In the meantime, everyone else can call off the dogs.

Read [CNET News]

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The Mr Jones Accurate watch will be the perfect gift for yourself, your lover, or your mortal enemy. That’s because the Accurate watch’s casing is made of stainless steel, it has a black leather strap with white stitching, it’s waterproof up to 5ATM, and best of all, the hour and minute hands are fitted with legible words. And not just any ordinary words. Mind you, these words seem very well researched. The hour hand says “remember” while the minute hand says “you will die.” Perhaps the best reason why this is perfect for giving out death threats! And while some people might question the taste of the maker Crispin Jones for his choice of words to implement on the clock hands, he had this to say: “I… work very hard to make them beautiful objects in their own right.” Uh, right. Beautiful in the eyes of the Grim Reaper? You bet. You can get one of these for only $145 a piece, which I believe is more than enough to remind you of “it.”

Via [Watchismo] Via [Oh! Gizmo]

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Gadget mavens Firebox has finally made available the Tengu USB desktop toy which is guaranteed to add a whole lot of excitement to your world. Perfect for folks who have very few or no friends at all, Tengu will be able to keep you company at the office by making different faces according to its mood. In addition, he isn’t as tone deaf as you might think despite the lack of biological ears - Tengu is smart enough (or at least he was programmed to be) to lip sync according to the music that is played, making it look as though he is singing his heart out with you as the only sad audience!

There are several innovative ways to interact with Tengu - you can choose to blow on his face to rouse him from his slumber, play your favorite tunes and see him join in on the fun, or even blow on the microphone to change his facial expression. I guess I’d wake up from my sweet dreams too if somebody was daft enough to blow on my face, but I sure as heck won’t be as forgiving as Tengu who lacks the limbs to retaliate after leaving some spittle on his face. I guess this highly interactive toy won’t make your bosses too happy, since it will most probably lower your productivity as you spend more and more time with it instead of churning out those numbers on a spreadsheet as required by the upper management.

I suppose for £19.95, there really isn’t much to ask from Tengu. So what if he can’t bring in the paper, transfer files from a memory card to your computer or speed up the time so that you can clock out and hit the local tavern for some winding down drinks. At least Tengu shares your musical preference without ending up being a critic like those nasty colleagues of yours, and best of all is you will be able to share your deepest, darkest secrets with him without having him ask you to shut up or charge you by the hour. Of course, should the situation actually whittle down to that, I’d strongly recommend you make an appointment with the nearest qualified shrink. Pronto.

The Dsus DS-400GB rear view camera is truly a thing of wonder - it looks like a standard rear view camera, but offers way much more functionality compared to the standard rear view mirror you get in your vehicle. Hailing all the way from the East (China), don’t be misled by the Dsus DS-400GB name given to the device. It is not an offshoot of Asus, and neither does it feature 400GB worth of storage space.

The Dsus DS-400GB itself comes with a video input that allows you to hook up a rear-mounted camera. This camera will kick in the moment the vehicle is put into reverse, switching from whatever current GPS information display to a live view of whatever’s located right behind your car. At last, you no longer need to rely on those reverse sensors when attempting to park and you will be able to park even in extremely tight spots without worrying about giving your car insurance agent a call due to a miscalculation.

Some of the specifications found on the Dsus DS-400GB include the following :-

• Samsung S3C2440A 400MHz processor
• Windows CE 4.2 operating system
• 4″ touch screen display at 480 x 272 resolution
• Rear view camera to prevent untoward accidents
• Bluetooth connectivity for hands free calling when driving
• Integrated speakers (a pair with each having 1 watt amplifiers)
• Audio and video playback
• SD memory card slot for expansion option
• SiRF Star III GPS chipset for navigation purposes

There is no word on how much RAM the Dsus DS-400GB comes with, and neither do we have any idea on just how much flash memory is available for your use before you augment it with an SD memory card. There is no word on pricing either, but I would say that this is a pretty handy device to have if you tend to back up into garbage bins and puppies. Just kidding about the latter

Source: Windows for Devices

You got to give credit to these guys who have such sharp eyes that they can see even the smallest details of approval documents coming to the FCC. These guys must have really sharp eyes or the FCC is intentionally disregarding confidentiality of information with regards to documents submitted to them by manufacturers seeking their approval.  Thus, we keep on discovering information about new devices even before they are released for official announcement by their manufacturers.

The latest of these FCC sightings is an entry bearing the mark OZ2, and the manufacturer happens to be Pantech, who is the maker of the Helio Ocean. The Ocean had the same mark when it its prototype was submitted before the FCC prior to its release as Helio Ocean. Naturally, we can’t help but deduce that this FCC entry is for Helio Ocean 2.

According to the picture accompanying the document at the FCC site, OZ2 would have a camera, Bluetooth, microSD below the battery slot, and it is definitely made by Pantech. These features are also found in the original Helio Ocean. Aside from this, there’s nothing much to see about this alleged Ocean 2 from the FCC entry.

The Helio Ocean may not be the most advanced mobile phone when it was released, but it had the distinction of being the first phone with dual slider. We’ll see if Pantech would come up with something better and more innovative in Ocean 2, granting that the FCC documents were indeed for Ocean 2. With the current crop of high-end mobile phones today, a touch-screen feature seems to be the only way to go for the Helio Ocean’ successor.

Via [Heliocity]

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AT&T has introduced their new mobile TV service called the AT&T Mobile TV with FLO. The new service from the two companies will according to the press release, feature high quality live programming. MediaFLO, still yet to be launched, is expected to be available in May. AT&T Mobile TV will also be featuring two channels exclusive for this mobile service, aside from the top channels like Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile, NBC 2GO, CBS Mobile, Nickelodeon and NBC News2Go.

The only phones launched that will support MediaFLO will be the Samsung Access and LG Vu, both providing a clearer view of the TV as compared to other phones. This joint venture by FLO and AT&T plans on expanding the FLO TV service not only to AT&T subscribers but also to consumers in the US.

AT&T’s wireless unit’s vice president of Consumer Data, Mark Collins said in a statement:

“AT&T Mobile TV is a powerful new mobile entertainment offering, which will give our customers a formidable lineup of sports, news and primetime shows, including two channels exclusive available to AT&T customers.We are thrilled to team with MediaFLO USA to offer our customers an unmatched mobile entertainment experience that is changing the way we all look at TV.”

As of now, only the LG and Samsung phones support the new service but I am certain that it won’t be long until mobile TV becomes available to other phones and be included to their mobile TV line up.

Read [AT&T]

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Posted Mar 30th 2008 12:31PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Laptops
Sounds like we’ve finally got a price and a date for the XP powered Eee PC: $400, and April 9th. The hardware’s identical to current-gen Eee PCs, though, so if you’re happy with your little white lappy and are itching for XP you might try to pick up a license on eBay. Still, if all goes well for ASUS, they’ll be selling 4x what they did the first time around, innit?

P.S. -If you are, for whatever reason, itching to read more about current hardware running the 7 year old OS, Laptop’s got a hands-on. Nothing that wasn’t already out there though.