Gadgets Future

If you’re proposing to someone of equal geeky stature as you, then perhaps something like the USB Flash Drive Swarovski Crystal Engagement Ring isn’t as strange to you as it is for me. The idea is that you’d carry your own collection of pics, music, or whatever in your drive, while your partner carries their own collection in their drive. When joined together, the two drives can exchange files. Not exactly my idea of romantic, but I reckon some might find it appealing. And if you want to download and upload files to your PC, you can use the necklace accompanying this USB drive, which is equipped with a mini USB port, two ‘sharing ports’, and a standard USB port.
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Warnings and reminders are on everything from coffee to lawnmowers. Are they necessary? Can anyone be protected from doing mindless, thoughtless acts?

Maybe not, but it is still important for companies to make an effort to make their products safe for the consumer. Verizon is steeping up to the plate. They are reminding California drivers about the dangers of driving while gabbing on cell phones. If the message resonates with their subscribers they will also save them some dollars. Instead of spending those dollars on traffic fines I would suggest investing in a Bluetooth headset with voice dialing capabilities.

July 1st, 2008 marks the day that all California drivers must use handsfree options to talk on their cell phones while driving. Under the new law (VC 23123) anyone over 18 years old could be fined at least $20 and as much as $50 for each violation if caught not following the rules. If you noticed I said anyone over 18 years old. Drivers under 18 are out of luck because under this new law (VC 23124) they will not be allowed to speak on their cell phones while driving – handsfree or not.

A few of the reminders include presetting voicemail, favorite music playlists, most dialed numbers and even adding the address into navigation service before you begin driving.

Another Verizon reminder that should be obvious - do not read or send text or multimedia messages while driving.

We can all be sure that the law may be in California today but tomorrow may be in our home state. Fortunately following this law is not difficult. Technologies such as Bluetooth make it very easy to talk on and to operate our cell phones without removing our hands from the wheel – hence the term handsfree.

Read [Business Wire]

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USA Land Gift Pack
Now you can not only own a slice of the States, but 50 very small slices - one for every state in the Union. And that’s no small undertaking for a limey Brit.

See price

Toshiba has just unveiled the Cosmic Shiner handset which is actually a standard FanFun 815T cell phone that comes studded with diamonds. There will only be a thousand of these available, which means they will be highly sought after. Models will only be issued through an invitation-only scheme, whereby owners will benefit from a Prestige Gold membership service. Each of these handsets will retail for $4,000, and chances are you will be able to fetch more during an auction.
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There is no need to explain the importance of a mouse as a controlling device for any PC user. It’s hard to imagine that there may be an alternative to this well-known device that we’ve got accustomed to. Yet, it’s not the fact that the traditional shape of the mouse is the most convenient and efficient one. Thus, some designers think that there is a possibility to change the way mouse looks.

The proposed gadget being a wireless mouse looks like a standard pen. Actually this unique device functions as a simple pen as well enabling you to put down everything you want, but when you detach the receiver and insert it into your USB port, the pen turns into a wireless mouse. So functionality and portability of the concept represents its key advantages in comparison with a usual mouse.

It has three buttons positioned on its side in the row. So the user can still have the three buttons to use. However, it does not have a scrolling wheel, which reduces its usability.

I have no doubts that this gadget is great for casual browsing; however, if you deal with graphics design or something like this, you will probably encounter some problems, at least at the first dash. No information is available about refillable cartridges, but I hope that the pen comes with them, because otherwise it would be a waste of money to purchase a new unit each time you need one. Nevertheless it is quite a decent idea that most likely will have its proponents.

Chicago-based electronic medical records provider Allscripts is merging with British company Misys PLC to create a firm that will manage data for a combined 150,000 practicing doctors in the U.S., around a third of the nation’s total. Last year, Allscripts and Dell Computers partnered to bring electronic prescribing to doctors for free. Now the new entity (which will keep the name Allscripts) plans to collaborate with Google, who are introducing their own service called Google Health, and with Microsoft.

Supporters of electronic medical record keeping, such as Allscripts’ customers, claim that it saves time and reduces mistakes. Now this is important because preventing mistakes can save lives. But detractors say that electronic medical record keeping is expensive and are worried about security. I agree that security is a concern, passwords can be cracked, and laptops and thumb drives can and do get lost or stolen. It wouldn’t be as easy for thieves to steal a whole file cabinet or bookshelf. So both sides have a point, and we’ll just have to wait and see if the Department of Health and Human Services can reach its goal of 50% of U.S. medical practices having electronic medical records by 2014 (right now it’s at 14%).

Read [Time]

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Electronic Arts Inc. and Starz Media announced today the development of an animated movie prequel to the sci-fi survival horror game Dead Space. The companies also have animation projects in development for two other EA franchises. The relationship kicks off with this Dead Space prelude that will deliver new details on the horrifying tale the game will unleash this Halloween.

The script for the Dead Space animated feature picks up the plot where the original comic book series ends and leads up to the beginning of the Dead Space game. The story focuses on the events aboard a futuristic mining spaceship, the USG Ishimura, after it pulls a mysterious artifact from a remote dig site. The artifact triggers the sudden invasion of a long-dormant alien presence, and the Ishimura’s crewmembers find themselves locked in a frantic struggle to survive. The animated feature is slated to premiere at the same time as the game is launched.

This project signals both companies’ belief that mass-appeal games provide opportunities for new and exciting programming in a variety of different media. This announcement comes at a time when the video game industry is valued at more than $30 billion worldwide for packaged goods, wireless and online games in calendar year 2007 and game-inspired entertainment is pervasive in movie theaters, on TV and across online media.

Starz Media is currently in discussions with broadcasters worldwide that have already expressed interest in airing Dead Space, which is scheduled to be released via broadcast TV and then on DVD. The company will launch international sales of the animated feature at the upcoming MIP-TV market in Cannes, France. Starz Media will also market the movie through its home entertainment company Anchor Bay Entertainment, as well as via online and wireless distributors.

The deal with Starz Media and its animation unit Film Roman reflects EA’s growing commitment to developing filmed entertainment projects based on the company’s games. For Film Roman, the venerable animation company behind “The Simpsons,” “King of the Hill” and the pre-school hit “Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!,” the booming video game business is fertile territory for developing new hit movies and series.

“Due to the richness and complexity of stories that have evolved for video games, they have become a type of entertainment that can span generations and provide fantastic inspiration for other forms of media; especially in the realm of animated features,” Film Roman President and COO Scott Greenberg said. “We’re particularly thrilled to be starting off with Dead Space.”

“We are really excited to be working with Film Roman to create an animated feature that will tell the portion of the Dead Space saga between the comic and game,” said Glen Schofield, Executive Producer for Dead Space. “With the video game, comic book and now animated movie, Dead Space has become a true multimedia brand. Each of these elements delivers the story to new audiences and tells it from different aspects and perspectives.”

Film Roman is producing “Dead Space” in alliance with Digital Tetra Inc., in Korea. The Gotham Group of Los Angeles, a leading animation representation company, helped put the production arrangement together.

Dead Space Trailer

Nowadays people try to use alternative energy sources wherever it’s possible. There are a lot of reasons for this, among which the lack of natural resources and will to protect the environment are the most important. One of the methods to produce power real-time consists in the idea of using human efforts and energy that seems to be promising enough. gadgets like crowd farm produce electricity when people walk on them, another good idea was to combine a revolving door with an electricity generator.

The Revolution Door from Fluxlab has a generator built in and whenever a person goes through the door he/she produces energy. Apparently the idea for creation of such a device can not be considered as an innovative one, yet before this time there were some problems with its implementation. However this gadget is much more detailed and was probably designed as a conceptual piece to get people thinking about the usefulness of such a structure.

To my mind in the near future people will start to use such devices because of their efficiency and ecological compatibility. Moreover I hope that more efforts will be made in this domain, i.e. to make the power be generated by our own efforts without making any additional efforts.

Whenever you buy a new desktop or laptop, don’t you find it frustrating when the manufacturer loads it with useless programs that you’re never gonna even use? I find it really frustrating how they just put whatever programs they feel like on it. Good news here is that Sony is now giving you an option to get a computer free of the junk. They will not put any those trial type programs on it in an effort to “free up valuable hard drive space and conserve memory and processing power while maximizing overall system performance right from the start.” So far, sounds good right? However, Sony had to throw in something to help them out.

This is not coming for free, Sony has decided that to have those programs not included is worth $50. So in addition to the cost of the computer, you can now pay a $50 ‘tax’ for them to install less on your computer. Way to go Sony. One last thing, this service is called “Fresh Start” and it simply removes (or does not install in the first place) some specific Vaio applications along with some trial software and games.

The “Fresh Start” option also requires the pre-selection of Windows Vista Business, which is also a $100 upgrade over the standard Vista Home Premium. Thanks a lot Sony, charge me $50 to remove junk and then make me also get a more expensive version of Vista.

Via [Oh Gizmo!]

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Imagine buying a phone, signing up for a data plan, and never having to walk near a wall charger again. With this generic new touchscreen phone from China, now you can. With a 3-inch touchscreen, a 1.3-megapixel camera, four built-in speakers, dual-SIM card support, and a whopping 2-year long manufacturer-rated battery life, this just might prove to be “the last mobile phone you’ll ever need.” It also has Bluetooth, an mp3 player, an e-book reader and handwriting recognition in both the English and Chinese language. I think it’s about time the big players in the handset market came around and tried to find out just how China men manage to churn out phones like these. Just what do they fuel these phones with? God?

Via [Just Another mobile phone Blog]

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