Archive for the ‘General’ Category
The BlackBerry Storm is RIM’s long awaited answer to Apple’s iPhone. It is a touchscreen smartphone, and it is RIM’s first venture into the touchscreen market. Apple has already released their second generation iPhone while RIM and other major handset makers like Nokia are barely getting their feet wet with touchscreen devices.
That puts some pressure on this BlackBerry to perform up to par with the existing touchscreen phones on the market, especially considering that RIM still has a substantial share of the smartphone market.
From what I have seen so far, it seems like this phone could be quite a contender. The phone features a 3.2″ tactile-feedback touchscreen that sends subtle signals to your finger to let you know that it has received your input.
It has built in GPS navigation and a 3.2 Megapixel camera with video recording capabilities.
It also comes with some useful apps pre-installed including AIM and Facebook. (more…)
The term UMPC gained most of its momentum in 2008 when many major manufacturers produced a model to compete in this growing market. We saw everything from the 7” Eee Pc to the 10” MSI Wind. Many of them offered a hard drive size to be laughed at and poor battery life with 3 cell batteries. Nevertheless a flower has bloomed between the weeds and that flower’s name is the Ideapad.
The Lenovo Ideapad S10 to be more precise. It is competitively priced with specifications that make this UMPC in a class of its own, at least for now. (more…)
If you like your images big and shiny, we’ve got something for you. Leica has announced a brand new autofocus DSLR system that has a 30x45mm sensor. That is approximately 56% larger than the current 35mm full frame sensor. (more…)
It’s quite surprising to see so many unique gadgets catering to the amphibious crowd *ribbit, ribbit*, from cars to digital cameras – the intrigue never ends! Here’s a list of the 20 most interesting submersible gadgets that we’ve found:
- Bubble O Seven – The Amphibious Car
Inspired by the James Bond Film “The Spy Who Loved Me”, the SQuba is an amphibious car designed by Frank Rinderknecht. The SQuba will operate like a boat if driven into the water, and is propelled along the surface by two propellers on either side of its license plate. To submerge the vehicle, the driver opens a door to let water flood the passenger compartment. Once underwater, the SQuba uses a third engine to suck in water through the car’s front grille and pushes it out through two side jet vents. The vents enable the car to manuevre underwater. The Lotus Elise-based SQuba is not for sale, but cost £750,000 to be built by Mr Rinderknecht’s company Rinspeed. It will go on show at next month’s motor show in Geneva, Switzerland. [ Via ]
- The Linde Werdelin – Dive Computer
Here’s another James Bond inspired gadget: The Linde Werdelin Sea Instrument Dive Computer. Ever since Sean Connery wore a Rolex Submariner for the role of James Bond in 1962, the public imagination has been captivated by watches capable of enduring the most extreme of conditions such as submersion, pressure and shock. The Linde Werdelin Dive Computer brings the diving watch into the 21st century; it is packed with a full suite of diving sensors that guage depth, orientation, direction, and of course, time. The watch uses the Buhlmann’s algorithm to compute how much time the diver needs to safely surface, and has 128MB of inbuilt flash memory to log up to 60 hours worth of dive data for later analysis. All this high-tech wizardry doesn’t come cheap though, with the standard unit costing US$3069 or the 18karat gold version costing US$45,542. [ Via ]
- Aquasonic – Underwater Loudspeakers
These are Aqua-Sonic Underwater speakers, thats right, full-range speakers that function underwater! They were originally developed for use by marine biologists, olympic swim teams and the US Navy, however, they’ve since been commercialised for the audiohydrophile in you! The speakers can either be mounted into the pool wall or simply placed at the bottom with a cord running to the surface for the audio-input. These aquatic buzzers are available for $595. [ Via ]
- SwiMP3 Player – Groove as you swim
This underwater MP3 player lets you listen to your favorite tunes during a monotonous pool workout. The unit attaches neatly to your goggle-straps and uses bone-conduction to deliver sound to your ears. The bone-conduction pads rest on your cheeks and vibrate the sound into your head, thus allowing you to avoid sticking ear buds in your ears or the hassle of donning watertight headphones. Users report that the sound quality is about the same as regular ear buds. This aquatic jukebox will set you back by about $140. [ Via ]
- Digital Camera Swim Mask – World’s First Underwater Camera-Goggles
The Digital Camera Swim Mask is made by Hammacher and Schlemmer and is an entry-level underwater digital camera. It is equipped with a 5 megapixel CCD and is usable till a depth of 15 feet. The mask’s eyepieces are made from tempered glass that have integrated crosshairs, allowing you to properly frame your aquatic subjects. The downside is that the mask has only 16MB of internal flash memory, however a microSD card slot allows you to expand its memory capacity. The Camera Swim Mask would set you back by about $99. [ Via ]
- Sentry Safe – Water Resistant Hard Disk Enclosure
The Sentry Safe is the world’s first waterproof and fire resistant hard drive. The drive comes in a range of capacities, from 80GB to 120GB and finally 250GB. It connects to your PC or laptop via highspeed USB and the internal hard drive is actually a One-Touch Maxtor drive. Cost: $351. [ Via ]
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Now you 
know why we say never get your keyboard wet–it shrinks! Actually this is the Super Tiny Keyboard and possibly one of the smallest portable keyboard on earth. It’s small enough to go with you wherever you want. Measuring only 17 x 7.3 x 1.5 cm, it has 56 keys and a USB port.
It is static resistant and weighs 116g. It comes with a retractable cable. Yep, sure looks like a shrink ray hit this one! This tiny little keyboard has a tiny little price of $25.00 USD. Check it out at Brando.
The iPhone is already in its second generation and Apple is now ranked in 3rd place in the smartphone market while Nokia hasn’t even made a competing phone. Well all of that is due to change as Nokia is set to release the touchscreen Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone. The phone could be released as soon as October 2nd of this year.
It has some strong features to pit against the Apple iPhone including a 640×360 display and a 3.2 Megapixel camera with video capability, both of which are better than whats available on the iPhone 3G. The 5800 will also include 3G, GPS and WiFi. (more…)
Being green isn’t just the political movement it once was. It means working smarter and conserving; being conscientious and responsible about your surroundings. It’s also become a big business, which is good because it’s now easier to be greener than ever, and more cost effective for you in the long run.
Check out our 2008 list of our favorite green gadgets that will help you be a little nicer to our planet.
- Dell Laptops
Dell tops off our list because of it’s most recent green, laptop initiative. By 2009, the PC manufacturing giant has announced that 80 percent of the laptops it sells by 2009 will be equipped with energy-efficient LED displays. On a 15-inch screen, LED’s use 43 percent less electricity than traditional cold cathode fluorescent lamps. Not only will this give users an average 3 to 6 hour boost in battery life, but by 2011 it will save 220 million KWh.
- Audioengine A5N Speaker System
Bamboo is quickly becoming a favorite material for many component manufacturers because of its sustainability and versatility. The sound technicians over at Audioengine are exploiting bamboo for its superb acoustic properties. These A5N speakers are a great addition to any home setup, and can connect to virtually any speaker system, but has a special charging dock for iPods. A built-in subwoofer system eliminates the need for bulky external units.
The best part? These speakers are absolutely gorgeous.
- Ego Electric Scoota
This cool little guy is designed for the cost and environmentally conscious urbanite. It quick charges in 3 hours, full charges in 8, and has a top speed of 30 mph. At roughly 15 cents for a full charge, the Scoota will be able to transport you around town for up to 40 miles, which is more than enough for most city dwellers. Say goodbye to high oil prices!
- D-Link Xtreme Router Series
D-Link recently updated its Xtreme series to go green, and in ways you might not expect. The routers are intelligent. They detect things like cable length and link status, adjusting power to meet the current demand. You’ll find this new, smart, green technology in the D-Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router DIR-665, Xtreme N Duo Media Router DIR-855, and the Xtreme N Gaming Router DGL-4500.
- Robomower RL850
This is just plain cool. Who hasn’t dreamed of having a robot servant, taking care of all your dirty, time consuming chores? The Robomower does just that. Simply install the charging station and guidance wires around your lawn, and the Robomower handles the rest. The Robomower uses no gasoline or oil, and emits no emissions, making it one of the cleanest mowers available. It also comes with onboard sensors to work it’s way around obstacles. When the grass is cut, it simply returns to it’s charging station. The Robomower starts at $1,499.99.
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The Immersive Cocoon, or i-Cocoon for short, has 360 degree surround video capabilities. Add that to it’s 3d surround sound as the audio-visual experience provided by the i-Cocoon completely envelops you, creating very realistic virtual environments.
It has a 3D motion tracking system which senses arm, hand and leg movements using a series of motion tracking cameras inside the Cocoon. Monitoring your movements using this system allows you to “fight in a Kung Fu game or swim through a sea of jellyfish, with the display responding in real time and surround vision. The system was developed my a former researcher at MIT and it was the inspiration for the futuristic computer shown in Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report.” (more…)
Panasonic is getting tougher. Tougher with it’s Toughbook series. The newest one is the F8 and it’s built like a brick outhouse. That means military specs like surviving falls from tall buildings and even running in 100 degree heat. This one has 3G–Gobi 3G WWAN to be exact–and at 3.7 lbs. is the lightest one yet.
It has an Intel Core 2 Duo speeding along at 2.26GHz and has space for up to 4GB RAM. It sports a shock-mounted 160GB HDD with a six-hour batter life. Take that to impress the guys! And don’t worry, they can’t break it. It has a magnesium alloy body, spill-resistant keyboard and flexible internal connectors. (more…)
The BlackBerry Storm is RIM’s long awaited answer to Apple’s iPhone. It is a touchscreen smartphone, and it is RIM’s first venture into the touchscreen market. Apple has already released their second generation iPhone while RIM and other major handset makers like Nokia are barely getting their feet wet with touchscreen devices.
