Gadgets Future

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 9th 2008 at 10:19AM
While Panny’s Toughbook CF-U1 looks mighty novel, is it really worth the cost to have it added to your gadget collection? For those who’ve never quite been able to wrap their noodle around the whole UMPC concept, TrustedReviews bets that you’ll be able to overlook this one without losing any sleep. All in all, the CF-U1 seemed to make the best of an awkward situation by excelling at tasks that would likely take place in everyday field work, but the average joe / jane may want to see one in person before buying blind. Yeah, hot-swappable batteries, an Atom CPU and a full QWERTY keypad are lovely additions, but if you’ve never needed a UMPC before (let alone one built for extreme scenarios), you aren’t apt to gain a whole lot from owning this one. Hit the read link for the full spill.

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Filed under: Tablet PCs

Not everyone is able to pony up the cash for a Hummer, but if you insist on getting yourself one at all costs, there is always the 1:16 Scale 2008 Hummer HX Concept to satiate your appetite. For $40, you get a powerful electric motor, bevel differentials and an electric speed controller that allows you to enjoy speeds of up to 150mph - of course, that figure is scaled down accordingly so math wizards can do a mental conversion in their heads for the actual speed. Features include Custom Wheels and Dashboard Console Design Transmitter. Hopefully it doesn’t drain batteries dry as fast as it guzzles up fuel.

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jul 9th 2008 at 10:41AM
Just when we were finished telling you that the blackberry Thunder’s haptic touch screen keyboard was the greatest thing evar, it turns out that things may be a bit of a mess over in RIM development land. According to one of Boy Genius’ sources, the BlackBerry Thunder is lagging far behind on development time and is “in no way shape of form market-ready.” And that awesome keyboard? Not so awesome. Reports are that it’s annoying to type on and the screen ripples when the touchscreen is pressed. Meanwhile, UI response times are pretty bad, buttons don’t click right, and RIM’s new touch-and-drag method of selecting items isn’t up to snuff. In short, says BGR’s source, “Most of the people who have handled it thinks it’s a joke.” We haven’t seen the thing ourselves lately, but if this report is true, it looks like you’ll be waiting a while before you get your hands on a Thunder.

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Filed under: cellphones

Considering how much gas prices have been going up, it is no surprise that alternative energy cars are starting to make some serious headway in the international auto market.  Not only are the hybrid electric/gas cars becoming more and more common, but some designers are experimenting with solar panels on automobiles. 

A recent development by a Swiss company named Mindset AG has put solar panels on their prototype model, the Six50.  The designer, Mura Guntak, expects this car to run 62 miles per charge.  The car itself is a 2+2 seater, and is about 13 feet long.  Not only that, it can also go 0-60 in about 7 seconds. 

It seems obvious to put solar panels on a car, but I have heard that sticking solar panels on a car doesn’t improve the fuel efficiency all that much.  I have also heard that Prius has modified one of their with solar panels, but those are only to power the air conditioner. 

Perhaps Mindset AG will have greatly improved automotive solar power by then.  As for now, the company plans to build about ten thousand of the Six50 cars by the year 2009.  You should about able to purchase one for about $78,000. 

Via [DVICE]

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Folks in North Carolina sure love to text message according to a study commissioned by Verizon Wireless. The “Big City Wireless Use Study” found that text messaging in the state had exploded by more than 600 percent during a 24 month period beginning April 2006 and ending April 2008. The “textiest city” in the state was found to be Charlotte. Back in April 2006, the city was sending and receiving about 15 million text messages. Compare that to April 2008 in which the city sent 103 million text messages.

North Carolina is seeing some of the growth wireless carriers are seeing globally when it comes to text messaging. Text messaging increased from just 14.4. million in 2000 to 48.1 billion in 2007. This is according to CTIA, The International Wireless Association for the Wireless Telecommunication Industry.

I’ve personally experienced the growth of text messaging myself. In fact, I had to basically switch my wireless plan to one that included unlimited text messaging because I was beginning to send and receive so many. Text messages are just too easy to send and receive in comparison to calling someone up and actually having a conversation. Who knows? One day we may just all carry LED signs around our necks to speak with one another rather than relying on voice communication.

Read more from the Verizon Wireless press release.

Medical science has progressed to such extent that a handheld nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) scanner has been developed, capable of diagnosing diseases and identifying pathogens on-the-go. This scanner is highly portable, being numerous times smaller compared to standard NMR spectroscopy machines. This is made possible by lining up nuclei in a sample using a powerful magnetic field and then zapping them with radio waves that cause them to wobble, or precess. The prototype is sensitive enough to detect a mere 10 bacteria in samples, and can also double up as a gizmo to test for water purity as well as gaseous samples. The design patent has already been filed, and the final product will be marketed in the near future.

The company that released the Pleo robot dinosaur will be introducing a program that helps protect your beloved dino’s personality should he one day decide to give up the ghost due to unforseen circumstances. All you need to do is send your Pleo back to the team and the autopsy team will get right around it, doing their level best to extract the digital soul. All the quirks and wonders of its personality will then be transferred over to a new body, making you wish that the same could be applied to humans as well, virtually ensuring that we live forever if possible. Great for those who are extremely attached to their Pleos…

Apple don’t like visible screws on the gadgets they make. Although that may be great aesthetically, it does have a few side effects such as batteries not being accessible when they go wrong. That can lead to high replacement costs and frustrated users.

The iphone 3G could change all that, however, and see Apple relent on covering up all those screws. During the iPhone 3G. A Guided Tour. video a shot of the base of the new iPhone clearly shows 2 visible screws as you can see above.

That little gem of information has started speculation as to what those screws are actually for and why Apple would leave them uncovered. Could it be that Apple have decided to allow users access to the insides of the iPhone 3G? And to let us change our own batteries?

If you want to check out the screws in the video, just fast forward to 1 minute 50 seconds in and you’ll see them rotate into view for a few seconds.

Read more at TGDaily.com

Matthew’s Opinion
Those screws may have actually disappeared when the iPhone 3G is released. That’s one possibility.

If they remain, they could be there for a number of reasons. Easier access for the Apple staff to replace batteries, some way of adding extra storage, or possibly even allowing owners to replace parts themselves.

I don’t think Apple would put them in the video if they weren’t going to be a feature of the phone. Whatever they are for I’m sure a few images and an explanation will appear on the Internet within hours of the release.

FROM GAMERTELL - A big price drop is set for this Sunday on the Xbox 360
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LG Electronics recently unveiled two of its most durably-designed monitors to date. Protected with an extra-thick, hard-glass screen, the LG L42PP series has been designed specifically for usage in high traffic settings such as public libraries, schools, internet cafes and airports.

The LG L42PP monitors come with the tempered glass which covers the LCD panel has a 7H hardness rating whereas most monitors have an acrylic material with a hardness level of 2H or less.

The L1942PP and the L1742PP LCD Monitors have a 19″ and 17″ screen respectively and an aspect ratio of 5:4. In addition, the L42PP LCD Monitors range boasts the latest screen technology with an 8,000:1 Digital Fine Contrast ratio (DFC) and a 5ms grey-to-grey response time.

When set to “Movie Mode”, a pre-configured setting of the F-Engine, the contrast ratio is maxed to 8,000:1, creating some of the most life-like images experienced on a PC.

Key specifications of the L1942PP monitor:
- DFC: 8,000:1
- 4:3 aspect ratio
- 5ms grey-to-grey response time
- High resolution: 1280 x 1024
- Brightness: 300 nits
- Pivot stand - 30 degree tilt, 90 degree rotation
- 170 degree viewing angle and 16.7cd/m (L1954PP)
- 160 degree viewing angle and 16.2cd/m (L1754PP)