Gadget Access

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 30th 2008 at 1:37PM
Netgear looks to be doing its part to bring every last home network into the Wireless-N fold, with the company now rolling out its appropriately-named Wireless-N Upgrade Kit, which includes a 5GHz Wireless-N HD Access Point (WNHDE111) and that RangeMax Dual-Band Wireless-N USB adapter (WNDA3100) that made an appearance at the FCC earlier this year. Like most such kits, the included Access Point can function either as a standalone bridge (including with a game console or media receiver) or as a full-fledged 5GHz Wireless-N access point when it’s connected to an existing router or gateway. There’s also not many surprises with the USB adapter, although it does boast some “patented metamaterial micro-antennas,” which promise to out-do other non-metamaterial 802.11n adapters. If that’s got you sold, you can pick up the kit right now for $149.

[Via BIOS]

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Filed under: Wireless

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 30th 2008 at 2:03PMHere’s your afternoon dose of cuteness, ready or not. David McGoran’s Heart Robot has made its way into London’s Science Museum, and for good reason. This intelligent robot not only possesses a face with moving eyes and an external heart that blinks depending on what’s happening, but it actually encourages people to hug and cuddle it like a real human. Seen as being “among the first robots to signify a new era of emotional machines used for medical treatment and enjoyment,” this creature could one day become a mainstay in nursing homes where the elderly could interact with it and hopefully benefit in some metaphysical manner. Check out the read link for a video oozing with adorableness.

[Via TimesOnline]

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Filed under: Robots

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jul 30th 2008 at 12:08PM
Apparently, a leaked shot of GamePark’s next iteration of the GP2X — the GP3X (not to be confused with the Pandora project) — has gone and gotten itself leaked onto the interblogs. According to a post on GP2X News, the new system (which is being called the “Wiz”) isn’t set in stone, but will contain some form of a system-on-a-chip, and apparently will allow GP2X emulators to run after a bit of recompiling. There’s not a whole lot of information available right now, but we’ll keep you posted — in the meantime, enjoy the photo.

[Via GP2X News]

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Filed under: Gaming

For those of you who like to keep up with the latest in mobile electronic devices, you might want to look into Sky Link, as they have two new devices released simultaneously. 

The first is the Ubiquam U800 a mobile phone that has a blackberry look to it, and definitely targeted for the businessman.  The second is a handset known as the AnyDATA ASP-505 cell-phone, a PocketPC powered device. 

The Ubiquam U800 has EV-DO capability, as well as GPS navigation.  The display is 240 x 320 resolution display, and a full QWERTY keyboard.  It also has MP3 playback, Bluetooth connectivity, as well as a microSD memory card slot. 

As for the AnyDATA ASP-505, it supports CDMA and EV-DO.  It has a 2.8-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth 2.0 capability, Wi-Fi 802.11, and USB connectivity.  There is a built-in microphone and speaker, as well as a 2-megapixel camera.  It also has Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, and a microSD memory card slot. 

Unfortunately, there is no word when these two devices will be available, so we also don’t have a price. 

Via [ubergizmo] Via [ubergizmo]

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by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jul 30th 2008 at 3:15PM According to a report from AppleInsider, the Cupertino giant is issuing “advisement bulletins” to some of its channel partners suggesting they get their hands on iPods and MacBooks / MacBook Pros while the gettin’s good. It seems that Apple is telling resellers to place orders for a four-week block’s worth of top-selling iPods, saying that within the next seven days supplies will become extremely limited, while recommending a three-week supply of MacBooks and MacBook Pros. The article claims that this practice is familiar to third-party sellers, and indicates Apple is ramping up for its holiday season (and new iPods and MacBooks / Pros, presumably). Of course, right now this is just whispers in high school hallways, but we can promise you this: Apple will be selling something this holiday season. You have our word.

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Filed under: Laptops, Portable Audio, Portable Video

As we mentioned last week, Palm was getting ready to send out the update that would enable Bluetooth voice dialing for the Treo 800w, and that update has since been released.

Current Treo 800w users can head on over to the Palm website and grab the needed update, and take your pick of installation method. The voice dialing update can be applied from a desktop download, an over-the-air download or even using a microSD card. In order to apply this update you need to be running software version TREO800w-1.03-SPNT, you can check your current version by going to Start -> Settings -> About -> Phone Tab.

Overall a small but still worthwhile update to grab, now you can scream into your Bluetooth headset to ‘dial’ your phone, which in turn will hopefully keep the phone out of your hand a little more, especially when driving.

Read [Palm]

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by Darren Murph, posted Jul 30th 2008 at 11:21AMWe’ll admit, ASUS has us scratching our noggins on this one. Just last month, the outfit coaxed us into believing that EZLink was simply its way of saying DisplayLink. Now, however, it seems that it’s a blanket term being used anytime ASUS “simplifies” something. Whatever the case may be, the outfit has introduced its newest Wireless N USB adapter, the USB-N11. Sporting integrated support for Mac, Windows and Linux-based computers, this draft-N compliant device also features a WPS (WiFi Protected Setup) button — this is where the EZLink comes in — that “allows users to setup a protected networking environment with ease.” Per usual, there’s no mention of a price or release date, so it’s on you to keep an eye out for it to land anytime, anywhere.

[Via I4U News]

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Filed under: Displays, Peripherals, Wireless

Well, that’s what the team behind it are hoping… A group of former Google engineers is going up against their ex-employers with a new search engine called Cuil (pronounced “cool”), a word derived from the Gaelic for knowledge.

Cuil uses 120 billion(!) webpages to build up its index of search results, which its makers say is more than Google (although Google adamantly denies this).

The main problem I can see with the new search engine is that is doesn’t transform to a verb as readily as google did. Would you admit to “cuiling” yourself? If you’d like to try, click here.

Via The BBC.

Okay, time for something that everybody wants to read about, the jet pack! Back when I was a kid, I longed for the day when everyone would have one of these. Considering that this is the new millennium, I am really disappointed that someone has not mass-marketed these by now.

I believe that we are well on our way to jet pack proliferation with designer Glenn Martin’s model. It isn’t really a jet pack, per se, because there are no jets involved. Martin uses two gasoline-fueled 200 horsepower fans, which make the jet pack louder than a jet plane.

I suppose the lack of flaming afterburners is why Martin says that his jetpack is the safest. Another reason is that it comes with a built-in parachute, which will hopefully be a standard safety feature for every jetpack.

I can imagine that machine-assisted flight is probably one of the greatest thrills technology has to offer. It does cost about $250,000, though.

I hope we will soon come to an era when everybody is flying around on jet packs that are not so expensive. Maybe the skies will be filled with jet packers, and I wonder how long it will take for us to cease to be impressed by it.

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We’ve featured a number of sites that will either recycle or help you recycle your old electronics and gadgets, but here’s one with a twist. If it’s relatively recent (based on their database of items on their site), they (Gazelle) will pay you some cash to take it off your hands. They then either resell it or recycle it.

So far, they have a fair # of items in their database with prices attached, items like cell phones, GPS devices, cameras, game consoles and MP3 players. But don’t expect to get a lot of cash for your items. Unless it’s something hot like an iphone, you’ll get some nominal return. The bright side is that if you’re a gadget junkie who is constantly replacing your stuff, then this is a great way to not completely lose your shirt every time you turn over your arsenal.

Posted in Miscellaneous