Gadgets Future

Posted Mar 26th 2008 5:12AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Laptops
The fallout of the March 3rd fire at LG Chem, the second biggest S. Korean manufacturer of laptop batteries, is now clear. There’s a global shortage of batteries which won’t be relieved until LG Chem can restart the assembly lines in another 2 to 3 months. Dell claims that the shortage has already caused an increase in price for secondary or replacement batteries. ASUS says it could affect up to 40% of ASUS’ laptop shipments including the Eee PC. Bad news for us, good news for Samsung SDI and Sony in Japan as laptop OEMs look elsewhere for inventory.

Z-Launcher - Water Balloon Launcher

Great fun for hot summer days (or cold ones if you just want to soak somebody!). These zoosher water balloon launchers propel the water balloon upto 100 feet.They ar a bit like a catapult and they are very accurate once you get the hang of it so target you victim and fire! They come with a supply of balloons & special reuseable Z clips to seal the balloon without the need to tie it. Good idea is to get one then have a water battle!

Technorati Tags: Toys 4 Boys

Asus has unveiled plans to include touchscreens in the next generation of the Eee PC. These will be included in the Eee PC 900 which will feature the 8.9-inch display, and is sound like these updates will make most current Eee PC owners just a little jealous.

According to Kevin Lin, who is the vice president of Asustek’s sales department the new Eee PC’s will feature touchscreen panels and possibly include GPS support. In addition to the touchscreen and GPS, the new lineup will also see a boost in both memory and storage. The standard RAM will be 1GB as opposed to the current 512MB and the storage will go up from the current 4-8GB to 8-12GB’s.

The new Eee PC’s are expected to begin shipping in May or June and retail for around $500. Asus also has plans to ship their previously announced E-DT desktop model around the same May or June timeframe, which is expected to retail for $199.

Via [DigiTimes]

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With all these names, it seems that Intel’s latest offering is similar to the Everex Cloudbook, which has had multiple variations (and names) depending on where in the world it was being released. The latest info on the Intel ultra-portable is that it is being called the Smartbook. Of course this comes just a short while after we saw those official looking press style pics and spec sheet for the 2go PC, which was a nice follow up to those cell phone style images that we saw of the Netbook (aka: Eco PC) a few weeks back.

So are we talking about one notebook here, with one name, or a lineup? The latest information is claiming that the Smartbook has been released by FTEC in Malaysia and is aimed at the less-than-familiar computer user, meaning kids and older adults. There are two models available for the Smartbook; the cheaper of the two will feature a 7-inch display, Celeron processor, 512MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and water-resistant keyboard and will retail for around $377. The more expensive model will include a 9-inch display, built-in webcam and have a much smaller, but more sturdy 2GB SSD instead of the standard 40GB hard drive and will retail for around $409. Both models will come pre-installed with Linux, but also offers an option for Windows XP, which is just an extra $31.

So it looks like we do indeed have the Netbook, the Eco PC, the 2go PC and the Smartbook, but what its called seems to be based on where you live as they all seem to be essentially the same notebooks.

Via [Eee Site]

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Wisair, the folks who are responsible for wireless USB solutions has just released a brand new SDIO Wireless USB solution which features the Wisair WSR601 low-power single chip within, enabling users to enjoy the benefits of wireless USB connectivity in portable devices that accept SD memory cards such as digital cameras, cell phones, and camcorders among others. The only problem now would be to find a wireless USB hub of sorts to go along with this SDIO wireless USB solution.

Press Release

Laptop battery supplies have dropped by as much as 40% due to a single fire at a Korean factory earlier this month. The factory, operated in Ochang by LG Chem, provided batteries for Dell, Asus and HP, all of whom are now kvetching about supply chains and price hikes.

This story is almost dripping with irony. After all the exploding battery stories we’ve heard in the last year, the idea of a battery factory going up in flames is almost too much. The only thing that could make it better would be the involvement of Sony.

Factory fire blamed for laptop battery shortage [Sydney Morning Herald]

Laptop vendors burned in battery plant blaze [The Register]

Merium Home Theater PC creator Christoffer Nøkleby has boldly and proudly proclaimed that his creation comes with a “sky high wife approval factor.” I won’t take him at his word, since looking good isn’t the only criteria for the de facto home minister - one will still need to tiptoe around potential landmines like its cost and usefulness at time of purchase. This Windows Home Premium-powered PC is bundled with the following for every $1,561 purchase.

• White front and top cover
• Remote controller
• Remote receiver
• Wireless keyboard
• USB dongle for keyboard
• USB extension cable for keyboard
• DVI extension cable
• DVI to HDMI converter
• DVI to VGA converter
• Audio cable
• WLAN antenna
• S/PDIF converter
• Power supply

Streaming music from Last.fm, the popular social music platform, can now be done using Vista Media Center. This one is just an upgrade to the previous Windows Media Center 2005 plugin that allows music streaming from the website.

Developed by Damian Meher, the new plugin lets the user stream audio tracks from Last.fm by simply typing the song title or artist’s name, and even display songs similar to your request from the Web and the PC itself.

The plugin is called the MceFM. Not much creativity on the name but I hope this one will be a better upgrade to the previous version. Damian disclosed in his blog that he “dynamically added tags to the stream, which means that Media Center will shown all that information correctly”.

The MceFM is currently in beta so people like you and me can still give our suggestions. As Damien Meher puts it, “let’s see if anyone cares”.

Read [Channel 10]

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Take a look at the curtain above. You are probably thinking - on a perfectly sunny day, perhaps the tree behind cast its shadow over the curtain, giving it the beautiful breezy look, right? Wrong. Take a look at the picture below.

The image in the curtain is actually made out of plain old ASCII characters! Designed by a dutch artist genius Nieke Sybrandy, they are unfortunately not yet available for sale.

Via Engadget.

The Luminous Stylus Handy Strap makes it easier for you to find it even if you’re in the most disorganized of bedrooms - all you need to do is leave the light on for a while, turn it off and hope that it glows bright enough for you to locate it. Otherwise, it makes for a suitable companion in the cinema (make sure it absorbs some light before you go in), enabling you to go about your stylus-enabled tasks without any hassle. The Luminous Stylus Handy Strap will set you back by $5.