Gadgets Future

How many devices in your home take AA or AAA batteries? I shudder at the thought of actually counting up the number in my house, but I can tell you it’s a lot. Most of the power-hungry gadgets have rechargeable batteries in them, while things like TV and DVD remotes have the less expensive throwaway kind. With this many batteries, I have three different chargers throughout the house. One thing I haven’t considered is keeping a battery charger in my laptop case.

I do carry a wireless mouse that uses AA batteries, so it would make sense to carry a charger. However, I really don’t like putting anything more in my bag than is absolutely necessary. I will say that this Freeloader Battery ChargerPop might just fit, seeing that it’s the “World’s Smallest USB Battery Charger.” Just $25 will make sure that you always have a fresh pair of AA or AAA batteries, no matter where your travels take you.

Source: GeekAlerts

A great treat to all the Sony Bravia fans out there, as the the official 2008 Sony Bravia release schedule for both America and the UK have been found. The Bravia release schedule/ roadmap answers all the questions regarding what and exactly when the HDTVs will be released, along with some very interesting specifications and features included in the new models.

US Bravia Release Schedule

The first to make it’s appearance will be the Sony KDL-32XBR6 32-inch model from the new Sony XBR6 range, in May. Followed shortly by the 37-inch Sony KDL-37XBR6 in mid July. U.S. roadmap below.

The next to come are the other XBR6’s, the XBR7 and the extremely impressive LED packing Sony XBR8. The 46-inch Sony KDL-46XBR8 will be avaliable in August, followed by the KDL-40XBR6, KDL-52XBR6 and KDL-55XBR8 in September. Finally the KDL-46XBR6, KDL-40XBR7 and the huge 70-inch Sony KDL-70XBR7 will be launched in October.

Not to forget also impressive and new Sony Z4100 range, the 40 and 46-inch KDL-40Z4100, and KDL-46Z4100 will be avaliable from June 08.

• Sony Z4100: KDL-40Z4100, KDL-46Z4100.
• Sony XBR6: KDL-32XBR6, KDL-37XBR6, KDL-32XBR6, KDL-40XBR6, KDL-46XBR6, KDL-52XBR6.
• Sony XBR7: KDL-40XBR7, KDL-70XBR7.
• Sony XBR8: KDL-46XBR8, KDL-55XBR8.

UK Bravia Release Schedule

Sony has not forgotten about the UK and we assume most of Europe, with it’s new 2008 Bravia models.

New to 2008 come the highly anticipated Sony W4000, E4000 models along with the V4000 / V4500 and U4000 series.

More and more, it seems that what comes up at the top in browser search results is determined by factors having little to do with what I’m really looking for. Google search results may be comprehensive, but what I’m looking for may be buried so deep that I’ll never find the one thing I’m looking for. I might accidentally come across just the right keyword to bring up some relevant results, but it’s often hit or miss. Human-powered search engines such as Mahalo and iRazoo aim to create and “curate” search results to get around this diving-in-a-garbage-can feel of the big search engines. But humans are flawed and prejudiced, so you’re not going to get objectivity with this method, nor will the results always be current (how do a few humans keep up with the volume of new content that comes on daily?).

I’ve been trying out Surf Canyon, a browser extension that works with Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. This browser add-on (which currently works with Internet Explorer and Firefox) gives you the option to narrow your search results by clicking a bull’s eye icon next to a relevant search result to get more link recommendations that you might otherwise not see until you’ve clicked many more pages into your search results (which, for me, is usally never, as I get impatient after 3 or 4 pages). Using “real time semantic personalization technology” (how’s that for a mouthful?) Surf Canyon “sits atop” your search engine to help you hone in on what you’re looking for.

If you want to teach your kids about saving money, there are a variety of ways to do that. While I won’t pretend to know a lot about banking and investments, but why not get them their own hi-tech safe to get them started?

This safe looks realistic enough that your kids will feel like they own a bank. They will be able to program in their own secret code which will open the door. It has a separate compartment which will catch change as it is inserted into the safe, while a larger compartment can store other valuables.

Sure, it probably won’t teach them the fundamentals of saving money, however, it’s better than a piggy bank. This safe will set you back $39.

Source: RedFerret

Google has joined forces with charities, conservationists and non-governmental organizations to help raise awareness of endangered species around the world.

The new initiative is part of the Google Earth Outreach program, which aims to help non-profit and public benefit organizations to get the word out about what they do and make the public more aware. In this instance, Google Earth will have a new layer added that will offer users written, video and audio information on endangered species in different parts of the world.

The new layer has been made possible through the use of information already available through the ARKive project. The not-for-profit organization Wildscreen started the ARKive initiative, which aims to bring together the scattered knowledge of our endangered species. Now the ARKive layer will be available through Google Earth and Maps, hopefully opening the information up to more people than ever before.

Sir David Attenborough, well-known British wildlife broadcaster for the BBC, attended the Google headquarters in London to launch the ARKive layer late last week. He said:

Google has come together with Wildscreen, who have this unique distillation of images of the natural world, so that any one of us can go to a particular area on the globe and see what lives there … Google can take you to parts of the world where you can actually see a flock of flamingos and know whether they are there, or whether they are on the way out. For me this is an extraordinary day, I’m thrilled to be here at this particular moment - when Google, Wildscreen, and its ARKive project, come together to put a weapon of unparalleled value into the hands of all of us who care about the natural world.

Read more at Telegraph.co.uk and the ARKive press release

Matthew’s Opinion

Google Earth is a great application that provides a wealth of information to viewers. That information pool keeps growing and helping everyone to understand the world a little better. When it first came out everyone just used it to look up where they lived and other places they knew of. Now you can use it like an encyclopaedia, looking up interesting destinations and being provided with detailed information on a range of topics.

Adding information on endangered species to Google Earth will hopefully make everyone more aware of just what is disappearing from the planet. It should also lead to more work being done, and more aid being made available to save what might otherwise be lost.

LG Electronics recently announced the global launch of the third LG Black Label Series handset.

The design heritage of the LG Black Label Series will continue on to the third handset boasting its smart technology with the latest and sophisticated features including the slimmest 5MP camera.

Similar to the previous LG Black Label Series handsets, the latest model also carries a product concept derived from today’s trend leaders. This new concept of ‘Style that Lasts’ reflects the timeless and elegant design of the phone enhanced by stylish materials such as carbon fiber and tempered glass.

The phone will be unveiled on April 24th starting from Europe and on to the rest of the world, and the product name of the third LG Black Label Series model will be revealed at the official launch.

In the “is this really necessary” department, you’ll find the Ziszor handheld paper shredder. Everything in this day and age gets miniaturized, huh? The perfect use of this gadget for those on-the-go execs who need to shred ATM receipts or perhaps those guys in the West Wing who only seem to get information via little pieces of paper which they promptly eat. Kidding. But if they had a Ziszor, no more indigestion.

The Ziszor is 10″ long and weighs less than 1.5lbs, nice and light. It also has an attachable plastic bag to catch all those little shreddings. Is that a word? Runs on 4 AA batteries which is probably where a lot of the weight lies. You can snag a Ziszor from their site currently on sale for $40.

Gimme!

More info from the manufacturer

Price: $39.95 (current offer)
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Posted in Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation, Miscellaneous

Humunga Tongue
Should you come face to face with a mean, snarling dog throw him the Humunga Tongue. As soon as he picks it up, he is transform into a canine that you simply cannot take seriously.

See price

Don’t like the standard Windows Mobile that ships with your HTC Touch Dual? Give this post over at Coolsmartphone a look. It features two videos of a Touch Dual running a ROM put out by XDA-Developers. It’s a bit buggy and crashes during the video a couple of times but you get an early taste of what the world will soon see. I love seeing operating systems running on machines that they weren’t designed for. I can only hope that Gears spends a bit more time playing around with it so that we can get a full-blown video of it running, instead of crashing.

Check out the videos at Coolsmartphone.com.

Toshiba has added a new notebook to its product catalog, the Portege R500-12Q. The new Toshiba notebook is being touted by the company as the world’s lightest notebook weighing just a mere 2.15-pounds (by standard notebook weight, which pretty much is light indeed). Toshiba is also brandishing the Portege R500-12Q as the only notebook with the slimmest optical drive at 7mm, the world’s first notebook with the transflective LED 12.1-inch widescreen display and one of the world’s thinnest notebooks at 0.76/1.0-inches in height.

Aside from being the first in so many notebook aspects, it will be important to note the Portege R500-12Q is packed with a whooping 128GB SSD. In simple terms, that’s tons of storage capacity for a notebook of this caliber. Other features of the Portege R500-12Q include; Core 2 Duo ULV U7700 processor, 2GB RAM, dual-layer DVD writer, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and pretty much other standard notebook fare.

The Toshiba Europe site did not specify pricing information yet for this new notebook baby. The “where to buy” link is not pointing to anywhere as well.

Product [Toshiba] Via [Engadget]

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