Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
The steering wheel mounted laptop has to rank in the top 10 craziest gadgets around. I am unsure of the benefits of needing such a device. I do admit that the design of it is sleek and nice to look at, but the idea of it mounting in and around your steering wheel is just crazy.
I doubt that this laptop will hit the shelves soon but if it does then just make sure you dont try to use it while driving 😉
Via: TechEBlog
The Seagate FreeAgent is more then just a portable USB hard drive in which I thought it actually was at first. It is actually your whole computer environment that can be stored in your pocket. It is aimed at those who travel a lot on either business or pleasure and allows you to keep everything with you, including your computer settings. You can go to any PC with Windows USB 2.0 and connect it and you have your own PC right there to use. It is compatible with Windows XP and 2000 and just needs 2 USB ports to function.
Some of you might ask about using a laptop, and why would you need this. Not all of us have laptops and want to carry them around with us. Having this device will weigh you down by just 6oz and stow away in a pocket or your bag, but yet allow you to still fully use your computer while you are on the go. This is an excellent idea and suited to many people.
Via: CrunchGear
The Pioneer PDSP-1 was first mentioned a number of years ago. I never noticed it back then in 2002, but I did recently and thought it was worth writing about due to the different approach to a speaker system that it has.
The PDSP-1 was a way of integrating surround sound in to your home which reproduced multi channel sound via the 1 speaker panel. To do this it has 254 individual speaker units which it uses to bounce sound of walls and give the effect that sounds are coming from behind you and all around you for that fact. 7 beams of sound are created which can be adjusted, focused or made wider depending on the room size and shape you have. It uses Dolby Digital and DTS decoders and digital amplifiers to create a clear sound.
Via: Pioneer
The Sony Ericsson W range of phones has always been full of great features along with the style that you would expect from Sony. The W580 is the latest in this range and has an interesting feature that I have not seen on any other mobile phone – a pedometer. This is indeed an excellent and innovative idea because each of us probably carries around our mobile phones everywhere with us. Being able to keep track of your steps, calories and running speed, distance and time are great little features. The phone comes in 2 flavours which are Style White and Urban Grey.
As well as the use of a pedometer you get a 2 mega pixel camera, 2 inch QVGA screen, EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 connectivity and a generous amount of memory at 512Mb via a memory stick micro card.
The phone is set to launch later this year and is one phone worth waiting for.
Via: Hiptechblog
AirCell will be bringing Wifi access to airplanes soon. It will use the same frequency that air phone services used to use and provide transfer speeds the same as what they would be on the ground. Cost for the service is expected to be $10 for the day which depending on what you use it for it could be well worth paying that.
The service at first will not allow VOIP services such as Skype, Vonage V-Phone etc. although it would be possible and might be opened up at a later date. The equipment needed can be installed overnight for $100000 and the costs that airlines run in to for this would be made back with a revenue share with AirCell.
The services are set to be available with in 12 months allowing the whole cabin of the plane to be a flying hotspot for its passengers.
What are your thoughts on this? I am personally ok with this as time wasted travelling can be put to productive use. However, I am not keen on the idea of VOIP being enabled although it might be useful to have cheaper calls in another section of the plane for emergency calls home etc…
Via: WSJ
iPod docks are very handy devices allowing you to connect to a bunch of audio and visual equipment while charging at the same time. The next one in line is very unexpected though and comes in the form of an iPod fireplace dock. The fireplace is a CalSpas FRP4300 version and has built in 4 x 9 inch speakers and comes with a remote control to control the iPod.
My honest opinion on this… Its a little crazy 🙂
Via: UberGizmo
The US are getting a good deal this time around with the price cut of the Sony PSP. The core PSP pack will be dropping in price from $199.99 down to $169.99 which is around 85 pounds for us in the UK. The core pack includes the PSP, battery and power adapter. In the UK it still costs 150 pounds which is a bit crazy if you ask me with it being almost 2 years old in the UK.
A Sony rep was asked if the price cuts would come to the UK and Europe but they responded that they have no announcements at the moment.
Via: Engadget
If you would like 16Gb of extra memory for your Vista PC in either drive space or RAM then you can give this Transcend 16GB Express Card a test drive. Unfortunatly the steep costs puts the price at 1000 Euros which is probably not worth bothering with at the moment. But as memory prices are always coming down then it should be more affordable in the not too distant future.
Via: Akihabaranews
Ok, I dont think this really needs my thoughts expressing. I am kind of stuck for words. Its a Macpack. If you want full instructions on how to make it then click here.
The Olympus Stylus 1000 has a huge 10 megapixel CCD crammed in to its small body. As well as being able to shoot high resolution pictures, it features a gyroscopic sensor which helps eliminate camera shake which is more apparant when zooming in with the 3x optical zoom lens.
A full review of this great little camera can be found here.
Via: Fosfor
The SCH-B680 is Samsungs latest clamshell to hit the market. It has a 1.3 megapixel camera, built in DMB tuner, your regular MP3 music type functions and comes in a very sleek case. The keypad is smooth and has the regular numerical keypad. The outside of the phone features a second screen which shows a clock as well as other details like caller ID.
Via: TechEBlog
IBM have created a chip that can shift 160GB of data per second. The little chip is just 3.25 x 5.25 mm in size. This is 8 times faster then the current optical components available today. In English this means that a whole HD movie could be downloaded in less then 1 second rather then 30+ minutes that it takes now. That is a huge difference. This technology could have an amazing impact on communications of the future allowing far greater bandwidths, on demand TV, films and more.
The reason this chip was created was due to the amount of data constantly growing. Having this chip would make the use of optical signals more practical.
As well as being for communications between 2 locations, this technology could be used between devices in your home allowing for instant access to data on another device in your home. This would make everything more effective and shifting large amounts of data around far more practical.
Full technical details can be found on this press release.
Via: Gizmodo
