Gadgets Future

The Sony Bravia XBR6 replaces the ever popular and successful XBR4 series, and will be avaliable in a vast array of sizes. The Sony XBR6 models all feature the highest HD image format, Full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels), with Sony’s Motionflow 120Hz for smooth flowing images which retail their detail.

The Sony XBR6 will be avaliable in five different sizes ranging from the 32-inch Sony KDL-32XBR6 to the 52-inch KDL-52XBR6. The other models are the 37-inch Sony KDL-37XBR6, KDL-40XBR6, KDL-46XBR6 giving a very nice selection of sizes avaliable to choose from.

Other features on the Sony Bravia XBR6 include Live Color creation with WCG-CCFL backlight technology, x.v Color for impressive colors along with a 10-bit panel and processing. New features on the Sony XBR6 models are Sony’s Bravia Engine 2 processing for enhanced image quality, a DLNA compliant Ethernet input, TV Guide IPG, an enhanced XMB user interface with 3D graphics, and Bravia Sync capabilities.

The new design on the XBR6’s look great with it’s black gloss finish and optional speaker grilles with designer colors.

Sony Bravia XBR6:

• KDL-32XBR6 (KDL32XBR6) | 32-Inch, May 08
• KDL-37XBR6 (KDL37XBR6) | 37-Inch, July 08
• KDL-40XBR6 (KDL40XBR6) | 40-Inch, September 08
• KDL-46XBR6 (KDL46XBR6) | 46-Inch, October 08
• KDL-52XBR6 (KDL52XBR6) | 52-Inch, September 08

Yesterday, Stage II of Raul Castro’s Cuban tech expansion began. Cubans are now legally allowed to buy cellphones. Previously they had to rely on foreigners to sign up on their behalf.

As you’d expect, the service isn’t cheap: the average wage is around US$18 per month, the cheapest cellphone costs US$65 and a contract US$120. Add to that the fact that the money has to be paid in CUCs, a hard currency tied to the US$ and which is not universally available, and you can see that mobiles are still very much a luxury item, although the fact that you can now make international calls will make it worth it for some.

Oddly, the telcos will be using revenue for a somewhat backward infrastructure “improvement”. The money earned by Cuban telco ETECSA and minority partner Telecom Italia will be poured into landlines. Even Africa is skipping this step, concentrating instead on cheaper and faster to build cell networks.

Cubans line up for their first cellular phone lines [Reuters]

5 great gadgets you will be able to get soon (Part II)Apr 14, 2008 This article is the second part of the list of the gadgets that aren’t available for buying yet. But you still have a chance to schedule to obtain them very soon.

1. Sony VAIO G2 is a very thin laptop and is made of lightweight carbon-fiber. The 12-inch display and full keyboard were madefor your comfort not to squint in two-finger typing.

There are laptops with 100 GB or 64 GB hard drives for your choice. The laptop has no moving parts; that’s why it is faster and more powerful. The gadget also has a nice feature that is really handy for travelers.

If you spill any kind of liquid on the drip-proof keyboard, the device shuts down automatically before anything gets spoiled.

2. Fujitsu F705i is really something incredible. The gadget is the slimmest and the most perfected waterproof mobile phone. It means you can even wash it with water or try to receive the calls under the water.

But there are also some more interesting features of this device. For example, 8X zoom makes reading your e-mail easier, defying lighting conditions.

Then, the phone has a function called “super clear voice” that automatically adapts the volume of the incoming calls to the most optimal level, depending on noise.

3. Aigo USB Dongle was designed exclusively for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is a HDTV (High definition television).

All you have to do in order to receive TV broadcasts is to plug it in your laptop’s USB port.

The gadget features Legend Silicon’s LGS-8GL5 chip set that receives and decodes terrestrial signals from China’s mobile HDTV broadcast network.

This device is one of the portable gadgets that are being installed almost everywhere in China.

4. The idea of NEC LUI is rather simple and useful: you just have to save your digital media on gadget’s home server and then access it wirelessly via a nice handheld gadget or a thin 1.4-pound subnotebook.

The server has two high-def tuners and a built-in DVDR. So, this system connects via WiMax wireless. But it would be much better if there was created a minimized variant of the device.

5. The Face Bank lets you save your money there.

If you wave a coin in front of its eyes, it will open its mouth and swallow your coin.

Moreover, it looks really pleased like it has eaten something very tasty. I think it could be even prettier and more interesting if the Face Bank spoke something like ‘thank you’.

This pretty device costs and is available in eight different colors and textures. It is an interesting gadget for an economical businessman.

Jim'll Fix It Soap Badge

You can have this for ?7.49

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 15th 2008 at 10:30AM
The whispers are true, or so it seems. According to Stuff, O2 is getting set to one-up T-Mobile’s price cutting affair in Germany by hacking a full £100 from the 8GB iphone in the UK (bringing it down to £169). Better still, the discount will apply regardless of which contract selection you make, whereas T-Mobile forced users to sign the dotted line on a pricey Complete XL plan. Unfortunately, the lower sticker only applies to the 8GB version — the 16GB model will remain £329 — but anyone who sprung for one of the former iterations within the last month will receive an “Ultimate Price Promise” £100 refund voucher. Before you dash out to cash in, it should be noted that the deal is set to expire come June — and we certainly don’t have to remind you what that could mean.

[Via Mobile Today, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: cellphones

Top 5 gadgets in order to feel yourself artisticApr 14, 2008 Modern devices help to imagine yourself a painter or musician. But if you have enough creativity, there are five equipments to feel yourself a part of the world of art.
Thanks to the latest devices and technologies almost everyone can be called an artist.

Nowadays it is so easy and pleasant to realize your creative ideas. The following gadgets will help you with that, but, anyway, don’t forget that you need enough patience and talent.

1. If you like drawing but it is really annoying for you to buy all the necessary tools, like tones of paper, pens, pencils, paints, then Wacom’s graphic tablets will easily resolve the problems and guarantee you just pleasure while working with them.

Wacom tablets start from the budget-friendly Bamboo series (starting at ) to the most advanced Cintiq line (which tops out at 99).

Anyway, the principle of the work is the same: while drawing with a stylus on the tablet, it will display directly all the gestures on the screen. The gadget gives the possibility and provides the most natural way to draw on a computer.

With the help of the eraser on the end of the stylus you will be able to correct your picture very neatly. The stylus is a great tool; it can draw thicker or thinner lines according to the pressure. Moreover, it can even alter your pictures depending on your software.

2. Another kind of art that you may also study is stop-motion animation. As a result, you can make your own collection of the works of this interesting art of animating using real-world objects instead of drawings.
The technology is very simple: at first take a picture of an object, then move it a little and take one more picture, etc.

Then, if you play the still frames back, your object will become alive. If you are a fan of these works of art, then you should know that it is so hard to keep the same approach how you moved the object in the previous picture.

In such situation Nikon will help you. The majority of the company’s budget-friendly Coolpix digital cameras have stop-motion function.

You have to activate it just once, and the camera overlays dim versions of the previous pictures on the LCD preview. The feature gives you the possibility easily to line up the next snapshot. After your first work of art, the camera will automatically assemble the pictures into a QuickTime file.

3. If you have a desire to create your own action film on independent labels without spending much money, you can realize it. But you will definitely face the problem while choosing a camera.

Every extreme scene will need its own camera: one should be for scuba-diving scene, another one for fighting scenes, and so on.
So, you need all-in-one but not too expensive camera. Panasonic’s line of cameras based on SD Card has the water-resistant 9 SDR-S10P1 and the 9 SDR-SW20, which is waterproof, shockproof, and dustproof.

Both of them feature shooting wide-screen video. The cameras will help you to create your own extreme films.

4. The Percussion Tubes and the Keyboard Experience are the result of development of modern technologies of ToyQuest’s partnership with the Blue Man Group.

The Percussion Tubes are an order of eight motion-sensitive tubes you may play. They also feature inequable volume and tempo you can influence by waving your hands in the air above them.

Actually, you can use the included drumsticks, but isn’t the first variant more interesting? The Keyboard Experience has two tubes and includes a 37-key synthesizer.

Both devices have an input for an mp3 player, a recording mode and an audio-out jack.

5. If you are a DJ, then you should have a lot of devices, such as turntables, a microphone and an interesting collection of records. Scratches have always been the main problem.

That’s why MixMeister is one of the companies that make DJ software, but MixMeister Scratch might be the only truly portable scratching tool you’ll find.

It runs on the iphone or the ipod Touch. All you have to do is to play a song from your great collection, choose a scratch type, spin the song on the screen and enjoy your favorite music.

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• Top 5 the most queer gadgets!
• Top 5 gadgets for children
• Summer Collection - TOP of Summer Gadgets
• Top 5 of spy gadgets
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• 5 great gadgets you will be able to get soon

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 15th 2008 at 5:16AM
This is the day we’ve been waiting for. While the 3G Nokia 6212 classic doesn’t look like much, what it lacks in style is more than made up by the genius of Bluetooth-enabled Near Field Communication. If you remember the video we showed you way back in March of 2007, the combo makes device pairing and transferring content like photos, video, music, calendar data, contacts, etc. as easy a touching the phone to a NFC-enabled picture frame, cellphone, speaker, or headset like Nokia’s own NFC-variant of the BH-210. It will also work with NFC payment systems. According to Jeremy Belostock, the Head of Near Field Communications at Nokia, “NFC-capable handsets such as the Nokia 6212 classic are set to change the way mobile phone users interact with devices and services in their surroundings.” You said it Jeremy, you said it. Expected to start shipping in Europe and Asia in the Q3 for about €200.

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by Ryan Block, posted Apr 14th 2008 at 3:04PM
You nominated, everybody voted, and the results are in. The winners of the 2007 Engadget Awards are…

Gadget of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple iPhone

Worst Gadget of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Microsoft Vista*

Most Anticipated Gadget of 2008
Readers’ Choice: Apple iPhone (3G)

Cellphone of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Sony Ericsson K850

Smartphone of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple iPhone

Desktop of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple iMac

digital camera of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Nikon D3

Display of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Dell 3008WFP UltraSharp

Game Console of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite

Game Device of the Year
Readers’ Choice: NVIDIA 8800GT

GPS Device of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Garmin nuvi 770

Handheld of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Nokia N810

HDTV of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Sony XBR5 series LCDs

Home Entertainment Device of the Year
Readers’ Choice: TiVo HD

Laptop of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple MacBook Pro

Peripheral of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple thin aluminum keyboard

Portable Media Device of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Apple ipod touch

Robot of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Ugobe Pleo

Storage Device or Technology of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Eye-Fi WiFi SD card

tablet pc of the Year
Readers’ Choice: Lenovo X61T

Wearable Device of the Year
Readers’ Choice: WiFi detector t-shirt

Wireless Device or Technology of the Year
Readers’ Choice: 802.11n Draft 2.0

Gadget of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Apple iPhone

Worst Gadget of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Palm Foleo*

Most Anticipated Gadget of 2008
Editors’ Choice: Apple iPhone (3G)

Cellphone of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Sony Ericsson K850

smartphone of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Apple iphone

Desktop of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Apple iMac

Digital Camera of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Nikon D3

Display of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Dell 3008WFP UltraSharp

Game Console of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite

Game Device of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Harmonix Rock Band Ensemble

GPS Device of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Garmin nuvi 770

Handheld of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Amazon Kindle

HDTV of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Pioneer Kuro series plasmas

Home Entertainment Device of the Year
Editors’ Choice: TiVo HD

Laptop of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Dell XPS M1330

Peripheral of the Year
Editors’ Choice: ATI TV Wonder CableCARD tuner

Portable Media Device of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Apple iPod touch

Robot of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Ugobe Pleo

Storage Device or Technology of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Samsung 32 / 64GB SSDs

Tablet PC of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Dell Latitude XT

Wearable Device of the Year
Editors’ Choice: Phosphor E Ink watch

Wireless Device or Technology of the Year
Editors’ Choice: 802.11n Draft 2.0

Thanks again to everyone for nominating and voting in the Engadget Awards! We’ll see you in a while for 2008!

*As you may recall, while not really gadgets released in 2007, both Vista and the Foleo were included by popular demand as nominees for worst gadget of the year.

Companies wishing to place the award on their site or packaging should feel free to, but are asked to please contact us before doing so.

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Filed under: Announcements, Meta

The DoCoMo (Japan’s largest wireless carrier) Raku-Raku Phone Premium, also known as F884i becomes official today. It can convert voice-to-text when editing emails, which might come in handy, if it works, that said. While editing an email, users can press a “voice input” button and speak to have their voice translated to text. The voice is sent to a server that performs the recognition before sending it back to the phone as text.

The iMacmini sounds like an abomination, and the finished DIY product is nowhere near the polished masterpieces from Cupertino but it does offer a rather interesting angle where an old Windows-powered laptop experienced a renaissance after being stripped apart and rebuilt from ground up into an aluminum case, accompanied by side-mounted USB ports. While what you see above looks like OS X, it is actually Flyakite OSX, a free “transformation pack” which mimics the look of the Mac GUI. Truly, this is a labor of love.