Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
With Google aiming for world domination they have now released a free 411 service. Dial 1-800-GOOG-411 from your cell phone, tell them where you are and what you are looking for and you will be connected free of charge. Not a bad deal at all if you ask me. For those who use regular paying services often you will be glad to know those charges will go away should you decide to use Googles service.
Via: GOOG411
If you cannot afford to fork out several hundred dollars for an iPhone and put it on contract then you could go for a 3D wireframe model. I know it doesnt have the same effect but still looks the same….. on screen. The iPhone is available for download in a lowpoly format in 3D Studio MAX format at Exchange3D.
Via: Exchange3D
According to some research done in Australia, the colour of your mobile phone says a lot about you. The research found that Aussies have stronger colour preferences. If you have a stone grey coloured phone then you are sleek, cool and modern. If you like bright colours then you live in Queensland. If this survey is real then I think its rather bizarre my self 🙂 I just went for the silver N73 because thats all that they had in stock.
Via: News
Here we have a demonstration found over at Metacafe which shows you how to wipe out screen scratches on your PDA, Phone, camera screen etc… It works by heating up the egg to 65 degrees C (not higher as egg goes harder at 71 degrees C). You then get a cloth, soak it, put it in the oven and repeat a few times. Once it dries out you have a cleaning cloth which apparently will wipe scratches out (or fill them in). The cloth works for about 100 times and seems like it could do its job. I think I need to try this on my mobile phone screen to see if its true.
Another option is to purchase a cheap screen scratch remover from Amazon costing less than $10.
Occasionally you get a call and know the moment you answer it that you are going to be on there a long time even though you dont want to be. Sometimes you cannot find a good excuse to make your exit off the phone. Phone Excuses has been created to make that getaway easier. It has several sound effects such as a door bell, flush, alarm and more which you can playback over the phone. The quick hang up suddenly became easier.
The Phone Excuses is available from IWOOT and costs 4.95 pounds.
This projector is Texas Instruments Pico Projector and it looks quite cool. It can project a 15 inch screen on to a wall and also in to a well lit room. It works by shining tiny red, green and blue lasers on to a micro mirror in a similar way to how DLP works. To save on power, the later versions will use LEDs. The good news is that this technology is not far away and we could expect to see some mobile phones with built in projectors sometime next year.
Via: PopSci
The LP player has been around for a long time now. A new one has been created by Transrotor and is named Artus. It weighs 250 kilos and costs $150k. Apparently weight is everything when it comes to audio quality. For some reason I cannot imagine a mobile DJ wanting one of these to carry around too soon. The Artus has a contact less magnetic field drive, a balanced arm and new electronics.
Via: poandpo
It was announced that the iPhone is coming to the UK and O2 will be given exclusive rights to sell it. The price of the iPhone will be 269 pounds including VAT which I must say is not bad at all. As well as paying out for the iPhone you will need to sign up for an 18 month contract with O2 which again, is not too bad. When signing up you will get free use of 7500 wi-fi hotspots across the UK and also unlimited mobile data usage. Tariffs will be 35 – 55 pounds a month for the 18 month contract. Maybe they will also have a 12 month contract for more.
I have to admit that I am fairly impressed that they made it an affordable price. I was half expecting to see it go up to the 400 – 500 pound mark for just the phone. It will still be nice to see it even cheaper as the UK is quite competitive in the mobile phone market.
Via: BBC
I knew someone was going to do it, and that was iFixit who just took apart an iPod Touch. The series of pictures starts off with comparisons with the iPhone and they the dismantling gets going by removing the back panel, battery, main boards and what ever else is tucked inside the iPod touch. For a full set of images check out iFixit.
AT&T introduced Picture Phones back in 1964. The problem was that if you got one of these phones, would you actually know someone with one who you could call and see them? With it being back in 64 I have no idea what it actually did, or if it was just displaying a static picture. Surely this is one of the first video type phones available.
Via: La2Day
Motorola are releasing a new clamshell phone named the Rokr U9. It looks ok, although I am not a huge fan of clamshell phones. The screen is a 1.4 inch 128 x 160 pixel OLED which seems quite cool. It is a quad band phone with GPRS and EDGE. The camera is lacking at 2 mega pixels with no auto focus or flash. Inside is a 1.8 inch QVGA screen which has more colours then the outside one and is slightly larger in resolution at 240 x 320 pixels. Other features such as MP3 playback, memory card slots and Bluetooth connectivity can be found. Its not a bad phone, but nothing too exciting to be honest.
Via: akihabaranews
Nokia Maps has been released which has a few new features. A GPS status indicator can now be seen which shows you when a GPS signal is available and when it is in use. Also the map loading software is quicker which allows quicker navigation loading. Maps by Nokia is a powerful free application which has maps for more then 150 countries. The only things you need to watch out for are data charges from your mobile phone carrier. It helps to have an unlimited plan. Nokia Maps can pinpoint where you are via GPS and can pull information from a database of POI (point of interest) telling you things like how far the closest cash machine is.
Via: Nokia
