Gadgets Future

Britain has the time to vote on its favorite toy, and apparently it’s LEGO.

Retailer Argos issued the toy poll, in which 56 percent of respondents chose the colorful plastic bricks from their childhoods as their favorite. It comes as no surprise: With LEGOs being used in modern media like YouTube videos and Flickr galleries, it’s no doubt that there’s a widespread, die-hard fanaticism for the toy.

If the United States held a similar "favorite toy" poll, the LEGO would probably come out the winner, too — but that probably wouldn’t work out since most of us are too lazy to even vote in our national election. Then again, we get a lot of voters for American Idol…And there are already Dark Knight LEGOs…Maybe if, uh, Christian Bale ran for president and we held a joint presidential/toy election?

Lego named Britain’s favorite toy (Telegraph)

(Photo credit: minifig/Flickr )

As you walk into your house, you press a button on your phone to turn on the living room lights. You aim your handset at your stereo system and play some Broken Social Scene. While sitting on your couch, you remember you need to bake a pot roast. No problem — you aim your phone at the oven and set it to 400 degrees.

In the coming years we’ll be able to do this with femtocells, predicts David Nowicki, vice president of femtocell developer Airvana. The technology is currently being used to amplify cell-phone reception and Wi-Fi signals, but Nowicki said the next logical step for femtocells is to get your household devices to interact with one another.

"Your phone will be the coordinator of all your home devices," Nowicki said. "We call this concept Home 2.0."

A femtocell hub, such as the recently released Sprint Airave, acts as a miniature cell phone tower in your home. To put it simply, the femtocell hub provides an internet gateway to enter a cell-phone network, thereby reducing the amount of power and distance your handset would need to communicate with a remote tower.

In doing so, femtocell hubs such as the Sprint Airave expand and improve your cell-phone reception. Airvana’s HubBub CDMA, set for release in late 2008 or early 2009, is already taking femtocells another step further by boosting your Wi-Fi data signal as well. Other competitors are working on similar products set for release around the same time frame. And with competition we can expect to see further innovation of this seemingly malleable technology.

Since a femtocell hub is primarily used in a home — and utilizing an internet bridge — it makes sense to eventually use it with other home appliances as well. Of course, Nowicki is thinking far ahead into the future, at which point virtually all devices will have an IP address.

The potential of femtocells will doubtlessly raise some concerns among users — the number-one worry being security. It would be a hacker’s dream come true to be able to transcend cyber-space sabotage by controlling a victim’s physical appliances. Unhappy with your best friend for sleeping with your girlfriend? Hack into his phone and turn on the gas stove. The imagined possibilities of femtocells are as frightening as they are exciting. But new technology always introduces new fears, and if this foretelling becomes a reality, we’ll likely have adequate security measures in place by then.

Controlling all your electronics with one device sounds convenient, but doesn’t it remind you of the grim future of immobile, obese humans depicted in WALL-E ? Let’s be careful what we wish for.

(Photo credit: RC Rivera)

(Photo illustration credit: Heather Kelly) (Thanks, RC and Heather!)

Toshiba has just announced three of their new portable hard drives. They come in three capacities, which are 160GB, 250GB and 320GB, and their colors are Gecko Green, Hot Rod Red and Carbon Grey respectively. These drives are plug and play, just like most portable hard disks out there, and feature an internal shock sensor to prevent damage from bumps and knocks. The casing also features a rubberized underside, which should do a good job of keeping the hard disk on the table, as most users probably don’t want to test how shock proof the drive really is. There currently isn’t any pricing available on these items.

FAK3 is pronounced “FAKE” under geek speak, and this home design project sees a central, multifunctional area that brings together a range of activities including dining, study, and entertainment, helping you save space at the same time. Of course, trying to read a book on one side with your partner watching the TV at full blast on the other side isn’t going to help much, but at least you don’t have to worry about living in a cramped studio apartment now, citing the sorry lack of space, do you? The FAK3 elliptical cabinet can rotate 360 degrees, and that is made possible by a single push of a button. Of course, it will take quite some time before this idea becomes viable for most homes, so it looks as though this will remain in the concept realm for quite some time to come.

Dell has let slip a new lcd monitor in the form of the 24″ S2409W, switching from the 16:10 aspect ratio to a wider 16:9. While this results in a lower resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, it makes it perfect for folks who want to catch movies on the Blu-ray format using their PC (which is obviously equipped with a Blu-ray drive). An HDMI input also makes this a mouth watering proposition to hook up your Xbox 360 or PS3 directly, letting you enjoy High Definition graphics without forking out the dough for a new TV. Other features include DVI and VGA connectivity, a contrast ratio of 1,000:1 and a 5ms response time. The Dell S2409W will retail for an extremely affordable $379.

iriver’s Korean site has started showing off the company’s latest portable media player, which was originally previewed during CES 2008, the iriver Spinn. This 3.3-inch player sports and AMOLED touchscreen display and haptic feedback feature. It supports various music formats including MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC and ASF as well as video formats including MPEG4, WM9 and WMA. In addition, this player also features DMB for mobile TV viewing.

Other features of the iriver Spinn include a radio, flash, Bluetooth, a new analog SPINN Wheel, and either 8GB or 4GB of flash-based storage. It now boasts of 24-hour audio lifespan and comes in a metal and plastic casing that is just 0.42-inches thick.

The iriver Spinn is now available for pre-order in Korea with an suggested retail of around $259 for the 4GB model and $299 for the 8GB model. No word yet as to when the Spinn will be released internationally, although rumor has it that it will hit the UK market around August.

Via [Akihabara News] Product [iriver]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

Just like how the men in black cut up alien bodies in Area 51, so do the folks at the FCC dissect whatever new electronics that come their way, with the Asus R50A being the latest to fall victim. Check out the rather exhaustive list of specifications below :-

• Intel Silverthorne Z520 1.33GHz processor
• Windows Vista Ultimate OS
• 1GB DDR2 RAM
• 5.6″ TFT display at 1,024 x 600 resolution
• 2 megapixel camera with auto focus
• microSD memory card slot
• 8GB/16GB/32GB SSD options
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
• GPS navigation capability

With so many functions inside, hopefully the battery life is up to par.

For nearly HP users have had to deal with a defect in the NVidia Graphic processors installed in eleven of HPs most popular laptop models. Now, finally, HP is fessing up to it and offering warranty solutions to fix the problems.

The defect, which occurs in the NVidia G84/G86 series graphics chipsets, was initially denied by the Graphics manufacturer as being so widespread. But after Dell announced measures to deal with the issue, the writing was on the wall and HP was forced to take similar action since the defect hits models ranging from HP’s Pavilion dv2000, dv6000, and dv9000 series laptops, as well as the Compaq Presario V3000 and V6000.

“HP has taken appropriate actions for any HP notebook products that use the known affected Nvidia chips. We initiated a customer program to address this issue in November 2007, and have notified registered customers who have notebook PC models that are included in this HP program.”

The defect causes such notable problems as black screens, power issues, inoperative status lights, and booting problems. HP is offering users a BIOS firmware update to address the defect as well as numerous diagnostic tools to determine if a user’s laptop will suffer from the malady sooner or later.

Hat Tip – Electronista

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment

I remember the Japanese Pokeman characters from an addictive cartoon show which featured the just-too-cute-for-words yellow Pikachu, but as my daughter became older, he lived primarily on her DS. She should have entered the Pokeman Video Game showdown; she’s been playing it long enough.

Over the past two weeks, more than 1,000 Pokemon fans swarmed Los Angeles and New York, for the chance to become the ultimate Pokemon Video Game Champion. From as young as 6 to 43, contestants vied across the nation for their title, with the decision to be made in Florida.

Competing on Pokemon Diamond or Pokemon Pearls Nintendo DS ( who wouldn’t want one of those?), the Japanese finalists will take on the American winners August 16th at Orlando’s Disney World.

Winners receive: A trip for four to Tokyo, New York, or Oahu (Hawaii); a custom Nintendo DS game system, and a Pokémon prize pack. Valued at $10,000.

My cuddly 5′ tall Pikachu doll would have enjoyed the trip.

If you haven’t had enough of the novelty ipod speakers just yet, here’s another one for you.  This one comes in the shape of a shell.  Which just seems a bit bizarre and almost awkward.  Pig speakers, those were totally logical and cool.  This is just pointless, obviously.  Pig speakers are cooler, due to their pigish nature.  This, it’s just a shell.  Alright, so this may be cool to those with a love for the beach.  Especially in the middle of winter when you’re going out of you mind waiting on summer to come back.

I just gave myself chills, thinking about a time when it’s back to freezing all of the time.  Luckily we still have a bit of summer left.  The little speaker being a novelty speaker isn’t going to be exactly high powered.  It is however, cute.  Especially considering not only does it come in the silver color but a pretty green as well.  This USB speaker is being sold on Gadget4all for $12.50.

Source: pocketlint

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment