Gadgets Future

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 11th 2008 at 1:29PM
While legend has it that the Alexander possesses a beauty that only a mother could see, Motorola’s Atila looks pretty sharp from here. The codenamed handset is said to be Alexander’s non-QWERTY counterpart, boasting quad-band GSM / GPRS / EDGE, tri-band UMTS / HSDPA / HSUPA, a 2.8-inch QVGA (320 x 240) display, 802.11b/g WiFi, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and a Qualcomm 7201A chipset. Mum’s the word on a price or release date, but we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop.

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 38 Comments

Filed under: cellphones

Opening up the iphone and ipod Touch seems to have been a good idea for Apple, according to a Wall Street Journal article. The Apple App Store is generating an average of US$1 million dollars a day in revenue according to an interview with Steve Jobs. As the article states, this could mean US$360 million a year in new revenue for Apple if the current trend is maintained.

What’s amazing to think is that many applications on the Apple App Store are free, yet it is still averaging US$1 million a day in sales. Don’t assume Apple is going to pocket all the profits though. The way the App Store works is that 30% of the price of software will be maintained by Apple while 70% is given back to developers.

Creating a store by which software developers could make some green is definitely one way to get developers to create applications for your device. Other mobile operating systems being developed may want to take a page from Apple’s book when it comes to generating developer interest in writing programs. Perhaps Google’s Android should have a similar App Store when it is finally released?

Read more from the Wall Street Journal article.

Folks who want to maintain their personal space can always look forward to the Orbitsound T3 speaker. While it isn’t as private as a pair of headphones, it won’t cause hearing damage either if used properly, unlike a pair of headphones.

The T3 uses amazing airSOUND® single-point-stereo technology to power its personal stereo aura. The Orbitsound T3 also doubles as a great portable stereo speaker system on the move for use with laptops, music and video players. Great in the office or a hotel room: sit the T3 on any flat surface for great airSOUND spatial stereo sound. Measuring just 102 x 60 x 20mm (22mm at maximum) and weighing 115g, the T3 is powered by a lithium rechargeable battery, providing up to 10 hours playing time on a single charge.

You can pick one up for approximately $170, but make sure this is not used in a library or place of worship unless getting shown to the door is your thing.

Product Page via OhGizmo!

• Email to a friend

As popular as Google is and considering its ever increasing stock price it probably shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that search engine use is on the rise. According to a report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, daily search engine use is up from one-third of all users in 2002 to just under 49%. In comparison, 60% of Internet users use email.

Search engine use rose an incredible 69% from January 2002 to May 2008. Using email as a comparison once again, it saw a growth rate of just 15% over the same time period. Based on growth alone, it is safe to say that search engine use is well on its way to match, if not surpass email use on the Internet.

Internet users check online news as the third greatest daily activity at 39% followed by checking weather at 30%. Though social networks like Facebook and MySpace are all the rage these days, visiting these sites doesn’t seem to be a daily activity for the majority of Internet users. In fact, only about 13% of users reported visiting a social networking site every day.

Read more at the Pew Internet & American Life Project Report (PDF).

Brian’s Opinion
These statistics emphasize the reason why Microsoft made a play for Yahoo! and why Google continues its impressive growth. Quite frankly, search engines are a hot commodity right now. Considering the number of websites that come online each day, it’s no wonder why people have to use a search engine to find anything.

Of course, it helps that search engines are being designed for listing more than just websites these days. They are truly being engineered as a “one stop” location to look for websites, music, movies, books, directions and other bits of information. That’s probably why their use is ever increasing.

It’s not good enough for a search engine to simply list websites anymore. It really has to be an online library of information. Google has been very successful at adding functionality around its search engine very early on; and it is for this reason it is king of the search companies right now.

The iPhone and iPod touch are now able to hold digital versions of Frommer’s Travel Guides, enabling travelers (no matter if they’re novices or seasoned folk) to help get through their journeys in relative ease and comfort. Of course, it would be advisable to check up on the type of power points used in your destination country, lest you end up there without being able to fire up your iPhone/iPod touch.

The 2008 editions of Frommer’s New York, San Francisco, London and Paris are available for purchase and download on Apple.com via the new Apple App Store and on iTunes for $9.99. Additional Frommer’s guides are scheduled for release by Modality in late 2008. The fresh and innovative digital editions of the trusted print books will be locally stored on iPhones and the ipod Touch, allowing users to quickly browse ad-free content without an internet connection. Frommer’s for iphone features local travel tips, restaurant and hotel reviews, and bonus features such as location-based services, interactive maps, and web and phone links, all instantly accessible with the flick of a finger using the unique touchscreen interface.

Al, can you get one of these travel guides of Vegas as you and the team head there for CES next year?

Press Release

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment

If you are using an Eee PC with an SSD you are probably getting pretty low on storage at this point. The original models came with just 2, 4, or 8GB of storage and the newer ones are bigger, but still far behind hard drive territory. For many people the Eee PC and other netbooks are secondary computer (or even secondary mobile systems) so it’s not worth it to invest in a larger primary drive, but you shouldn’t have to scrimp on how much music or how many movies you bring with you.

A-Data thinks they have the answer to the Eee PC’s storage problems. Flash memory isn’t exactly an unexpected approach, but with two different 8GB solutions it will certainly get the job done. A-Data has come out with products designed to match the Eee PC’s white color and design, while being quite small and ideal for use with the subnotebook.

The first of the offerings is an 8GB SDHC card. This is the most ideally suited for the Eee PC–not because it’s white–but because the subnotebook has an SDHC-compatible card slot where the card can be tucked away. Here it will give fast access to 8GB of data, which means a considerable amount of information no matter what you need to have with you. A-Data is billing this as a second hard drive for your Eee PC and while this is not entirely accurate it gets the point across.

The other Eee-inspired storage option is a snazzy little USB flash drive. This model features a metal body with a grippy diamond pattern in the middle and a USB connector that slides out. The design is well thought out as the connector remains protects and there is no cap to lose. Also the connector will only slide out if downward pressure is put on the tab, so simply pushing it outward is not enough. This USB 2.0 flash drive will work with any computer and it also holds 8GB of data in its tiny (38×20.5×8mm, 11g) body.

While these products are supposedly designed to work with the Eee PC 701 in this case that just means that they are white like the Eee PC and fit the available slots.. They are also small (by design with the memory stick and by default with the SD card) which is in keeping with the Eee PC’s design, but past that they are just standard storage devices. They worked well and it’s great to see these things reaching 8GB, but don’t expect any surprises. Of course, as A-Data realized an 8GB (or larger) SD card is the perfect companion to the Eee PC because it can be hidden inside the card reader and forgotten.

Today, the U.S. Army introduced its newest weapon in the fight against…well, just about anything. The weapon comes in the form of a kit with five different uses, all non-lethal. It’s called the Brigade Non-Lethal Capability Sets (NLCS) and it’s pretty cool. Encased in specific, weather-proof compartments and broken into four separate modules are different items for use in a variety of situations. Those include:

• checkpoint module
• crowd control
• detainee ops module
• convoy module
• dismounted module

The dismounted module’s non-lethal items include bomb sniffing spray, tasers, and Phraselators (whatever those are), while the checkpoint module includes items such as tire spikes, mirrors, lights, and traffic cones. The crowd control module includes face shields, batons and restraint devices.

Basically this kit is a one-stop shop for any active Army brigade, anywhere in the world. The divisions that receive one of these kits will also get a bit of training to go along with it, as is the custom with any new weapon.

NLCS is going into deployment immediately, starting with members of the 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Ga.

Read more at Defense Daily (account required), found via Wired

If you’re a top marathoner (or even just a weekend sole warrior), you probably already swallow a truckload of vitamin supplements to get you through the race.

But if a recent over-heating prevention study is any indication, you’re going to have to add another item to that list: an RFID-enabled pill.

Dutch researchers at Radboud University recently teamed with U.S.-based Progress Software to create an RFID pill that monitors the temperature of runners in order to prevent a cardiac arrest. Because running a marathon is a strenuous physical challenge known to lead to dangerous overheating and dehydration, this could be a way to improve performance and help out people in danger. 

RFID chips wirelessly transmit personal tracking data and have been recently used for everything from tracking tickets (and their users) at the Olympic games to U.S. Passports.

Using Progress Software’s real-time analysis of RFID sensor data, the University asked volunteer runners of a local race to swallow a pill that included an RFID tag and a thermometer. The researchers were able to monitor the runners’ temperatures, through wireless updates every ten seconds.

When a volunteer showed a hot reading, the researchers were able to alert him to a needed hydration break through a different receiving device in the volunteer’s backpacks. Presumably, this device produced an auditory alarm that was easy to distinguish quickly.

In case a runner showed a potentially dangerous reading, nearby medical teams were given access to the data so they could reach the runner, stop him, and treat him immediately.

A couple of years ago, Pfizer promised to tag large bottles of Viagra with RFID chips in an attempt to stop counterfeiters, and everybody got up in arms over the security issues. But since the personal temperature readings from these RFID tags should only be limited to last through a day (or just the race), the security issue shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Photos: infomatique/Flickr, stan/Flickr

See also:

• Problems at The Gates? RFID-enabled Tix to Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies to Include Passport Data
   
• Viagra Tag Could Be a Bitter Pill

Fashion and solar panels don’t exactly blend well.  A solar panel is of course important to keep your gadgets charged in an eco-friendly way.  However, most of the time you’re going to have to sacrifice your fashion sense to have a solar-powered bag.  There are a few good brands out there that do make an effort to keep their bags stylish, yet this is the first that features a smaller design that I’ve seen.  Most solar bags are larger totes or book bags.  Which those are nice for someone that is on the go so much that they have to carry around a lot of stuff.  Yet, something smaller like this would probably appeal to a great deal of women.

Not everyone wants a large bulky bag, although that is what I tend to prefer.  Sometimes, it’s still nice to keep things minimal.  Which means carrying a solar purse that only carries a couple items.  This purse was actually designed a full three years ago by Joe Hynek.  Don’t worry this isn’t old news just yet though, since the bag will actually be finally making its debut by the end of this year.  The purse takes two hours to charge and once it’s charged, it can stay that way for up to a month.  As of now the price is projected to be set at $285, there is always the chance that could fluctuate though.

Source: EcoGeek

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment

Hopefully you caught our entry on the Lego Donkey Kong. It appears that this classic Nintendo game is today’s theme with the release of Donkey Kong Jenga.

This version of Jenga comes with 54 black hardwood blocks made up to look like the classic Donkey Kong girders. This Donkey Kong Jenga looks like it has different rules than the traditional one of “you take a block from the bottom, and you put it on top”, as it comes with a spinner and some multi-colored playing pieces. Now you can help Mario save Pauline, or…the whole thing comes crashing down, I guess.

I suppose that it is just a matter of time before Jenga got into the franchise tie-in market. As for me, I was more than happy with 54 blocks made of plain wood. I suppose that Jenga is taking a page from the Monopoly playbook. Not that Jenga needs to alter its rules to be more like Monopoly (or any other game for that matter), but I’ve seen Monopoly versions that range from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, to individual universities.

This Donkey Kong themed Jenga is available at Amazon.com for about $24.95. That, or you can wait until it comes to Wal-Mart.

Source

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment