Gadgets Future

Nokia Morph ConceptMar 05, 2008

This concept showcases some revolutionary leaps being explored by Nokia Research Center in collaboration with the Cambridge University – nanoscale technologies that will potentially create a world of radically different devices that open up an entirely new spectrum of possibilities.

Morph concept technologies might create fantastic opportunities for mobile devices:

* Newly-enabled flexible and transparent materials blend more seamlessly with the way we live
* Devices become self-cleaning and self-preserving
* Transparent electronics offering an entirely new aesthetic dimension
* Built-in solar absorption might charge a device, whilst batteries become smaller, longer lasting and faster to charge
* Integrated sensors might allow us to learn more about the environment around us, empowering us to make better choices

Related:

• Glamour Phone from Nokia
• Top 10 of concept mobile phones

A game of foosball with your mates at the local watering hole is always fun, but as you know, it gets boring after a while if you’re always on the losing end. Enter this concept foosball table that features electric shocks - an electric pulse will be generated if you manage to kick your ball hard enough across the field into the opposing team’s goal, delivering double the “punishment” to the team that has just conceded. This concept is called KICK IT! and comes with corner pinball bumpers that knock the ball around, setting up your strikers to make that killer blow.

The Register has a great little history lesson on the origins of the mp3 player. The first commercially available player was the Saehan MPMan F10, which went on sale in May 1998. The player featured what today are almost laughable specs: 32MB flash memory, a plug and pray parallel port and a tiny, wristwatch-style LCD display.

The MPMan was followed a few months later by the infamous Rio PMP300, commonly believed to be the first MP3 player; a mistake probably attributable to the fact that Rio was immediately sued by the RIAA. I guess some things never change.

Ten years old: the world’s first MP3 player [Reg Hardware]

Has Asus ruined its nice idea? Mar 10, 2008
A very interesting idea was proposed by Asus. A useful device was worked out. But it has one disadvantage that makes it almost impossible to use. Let’s find out why.

The elaboration is the following: the company thought that it would be nice to combine portable wireless mouse with flash card. But they have made a huge mistake - the form of the mouse is not comfortable at all, it looks like a memory stick.

One end of the gadget is held by a magnet. You separate the small part and plug it into your laptop’s USB drive. In order to charge the device you have to snap it back together while the transmitter is still connected.

Actually, the idea is great. But who will have the desire to use such uncomfortable mouse? On the one hand, it is narrow, like a lipstick. But on the other hand it doesn’t fit your hand at all.

It was one point of view. But there is also another opinion. If the shape of the device looked like a usual mouse, it would be too bulky and took much place while plugged into your laptop. But let’s remind that the mice for notebooks are often smaller and more compact than usual mice. That’s why Asus tried to make mouse for a laptop prettier and more functional.

So, if the device is re-designed and the form is changed a little, made smoother, for example, then a lot of people will like to have it. The form of the mouse has almost ruined a nice idea.

Khet Laser Game

You can have this for ?34.95

The British Transport Police have new toys to play with - a $60,000 remote controlled flying robot to be exact. It seems that theft of metal on British railways is a nagging problem that needs to be resolved as soon as possible, hence the introduction of such expensive Microdrones to help the Transport Police with their surveillance and investigation work. Each of these 2-feet wide robots come with an integrated infra-red camera and video to capture culprits in action no matter the time of the day, and can send these images and video within a 500 yard range to the operator. I wonder what a normal civilian would do with one of these - start his/her own voyeur site, perhaps?

Multi-taskers will definitely take to the Asus VW223B lcd monitor fondly, as it features DisplayLink’s DL-160 chip inside that allows you to daisy chain up to half a dozen LCD monitors over a single standard USB 2.0 cable. In addition, you get to enjoy widescreen resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 for each display, speedy response times for a smooth video display without image delay or ghosting and 32-bit true-color graphics. There is no word on pricing, but Asus claims that the VW223B will be available in the near future. Hopefully that’s marketing jargon for this quarter.

After Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead and other musicians have utilized the power of the web to promote and sell their music along comes REM with their latest album Accelerate. REM is making their 14th album available through audio streaming at a social music discovery service iLike.

To promote the release of REM’s album on its online music service, iLike will be holding a Worldwide Listening Party beginning March 24 and will be running through March 26, which is a full 6 days before the album will be release in North America on April 1, 2008.

The best-selling band will be recording an exclusive video message to introduce and promote their new album. The message will be distributed as well through iLike’s music service. REM band lead singer Michael Stipe said that the planned album release via web audio streaming is the bands way of keeping with the spirit and immediacy of their new album.

“We wanted to do something superfast and super real. Music, art, and pop culture are about right now, and nothing else matters. Accelerate is our turbo-charged response to the times we live in,” said Stipe.

The WorldWide Listening Party and REM’s video message will be made available on iLike’s website, as well as a sidebar desktop plugin on iTunes and Windows Media Player. Also to attempt in reaching a wider audience, these will also be available on various social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo, hi5 and iphone as part of the iLike application.

To listen to REM’s Accelerate and watch the band’s exclusive video message, please visit: REM on iLike.

Read [Business Wire]

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We’re always on the lookout here for gadgets That Want to Kill You, and we’re sorry to report that the formerly innocent-seeming iPod Nano now must be added to that list.

An unhappy San Francisco-area owner reports that he went to bed with his Nano plugged in to recharge and woke up later to discover "a small fire forming in the middle of my room." The Nano is trashed, the owner is OK and Apple will soon be getting an urgent warranty claim.

My ipod Nano blew up last night! [Nike Talk (via Gizmodo)]

Hope you kept the original box your Eee PC came in because it looks like a lot of of these systems are going to be finding their way to eBay soon. That’s right, there is some official news on the new versions of the Eee PC.

Laptop Mag’s blog has lots of good information on the 8.9-inch Eee PC 900 and the future of the notebook, all based on an interview with Asus CEO, Jerry Shen. The big news is that we will see an 8.9″ 1024×600 version of the Eee PC in the very near future. The projected release is April, but that is assuming there are no delays, like those we saw with the original date. This version will be available with Windows XP and 8GB of storage. Xandros versions will be available with 12GB of storage or even a a 20GB SSD.

If that was not enough news for Eee PC fans, Shen also said that the Eee PC will be going the Diamondville route in Q2, most likely in May. Regarding this Shen said, “From my view point, Diamondville is the better choice, because it uses the 45-namometer processor. And pricewise it is very competitive. In my planning I will continue to use Intel’s Diamondville. And for the VIA one I think from the power point of view, Diamondville is still better.”

Also on Asus’ to-do list are high-fashion versions with “New York City and London city style” so if you a don’t like the plain white/black you might be in luck. Accessories including web storage, TV tuners, Skype phones, and handwriting tools were also discussed which was expected given Asus’ intentions to push the Eee brand.

It’s a long interview so if you are interested in the Eee PC or low-cost notebooks give it a read. If you are tired of hearing about the Eee PC drop a comment. The low-cost laptop race is very interesting, but it’s generating tons of news and even more speculation.

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