Best Gadgets World

Posted Feb 7th 2008 1:55PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: cellphones
We got a preemptive taste of what something like this might feel like with that banged up impostor-phone, the “Nokia” N94i — but now things are getting real… ish. According to Microsoft’s mobile communications business international marketing director (phew) John Starkweather, Redmond is in talks with the folks from Finland about getting Windows Mobile onto Nokia handsets. “They obviously have significant investments in Symbian but there are a lot of places where we have significant synergies and we would love to see the day where those synergies would extend completely with Windows Mobile,” said Starkweather, though he couldn’t say when or if any agreement will be met. “We work closely with Nokia and we would love to have them go all the way,” Starkweather said. “It’s something we talk about all the time.” Hold up John, we think before you go all the way, Nokia’s gonna want a ring on that finger… do we hear wedding bells?

[Via IntoMobile]

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In case you are unaware, the penny-farthing is a classic bicycle that dates back to the 1800s. They are instantly identified by their overly large front wheels. For whatever reason, bicycle manufacturers at the time thought a huge front wheel was the way to go (actually there were no chain drive systems at the time, so they ran by direct drive, thus the rider needed to be directly over the center of the front wheel).

If you look at the bikeboard, it has the same aesthetic value but no valid excuses. A large bicycle front wheel and then a couple of skateboard rear reals; like a Penny-farthing tricycle. The only difference is that the bikeboard does not have any pedals, so you are going to have to go Flintstones style on this thing. Maybe I am just a jaded cynic as I rapidly approach middle-age, but this really just does seem to be an unrepentant waste of resources. I won’t be buying a bikeboard, who’s with me?

Price: $240

Red Ferret

The Cloudbook was supposed to launch back on January 25, but thanks to a very last minute delay the launch was pushed back to February 15. Hopefully this date will hold true, but till then we are not going to get our hopes up. It does appear that the Cloudbook is picking up some traction and possibly gaining a following. Aside from Wal-Mart, who was not taking any pre-orders the ultra-portable Eee PC competitor is also being sold through ZaReason, who up until recently were taking pre-orders. We say picking up traction because ZaReason is reporting they have sold out of their initial order, now any would be purchasers will have to wait till February 15 and either check Wal-Mart of hopefully ZaReason will get some more on-hand.

To be fair we have no idea how many were in the “initial batch”, we also don’t expect to much of a hassle in ordering one from Wal-Mart. Sure it may not arrive on the first day of availability, but we can be patient.

Read [zareason] Via [Cloudbooker Forums]

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T-Mobile has a new update available for their Shadow. This update comes as a nice surprise as it adds some new features and enhancements instead of just being a security update. New items will include:

• Support for audio postcards.
• Free music and album wallpaper from the Dave Matthews Band and Avril Lavigne.
• Free Ringtones from movies to include Top Gun, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and School Of Rock.
• Free wallpaper selection made just for the Shadow’s display.
• Enhanced myFaves and menu graphics.
• Improved text entry experience.

While the free music and wallpaper selection may not be for everyones individual tastes, the myFaves and text entry improvements should make it a worthwhile download.

Read [Shadow Update]

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Posted Feb 7th 2008 10:26AM by Paul Miller
Filed under: GamingIBM might be lagging slightly behind the likes of Intel and Microsoft in the 45nm department, but rest assured that a 45nm version of Cell is in the works and most certainly headed for the PS3. Microsoft told us that 45nm for Xbox was in the works last year, and Intel is obviously churning out Penryn chips as we speak, but IBM has finally solidified its own 45nm plans for Cell, and will change over production “soon.” The chip will use about 40 percent less power and will be 34 percent smaller than the 65nm version. That means less heat and more reliability, which of course means cost savings for Sony which will (theoretically) be passed on to consumers before too terribly long.

Posted Feb 7th 2008 11:10AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Adding injury to insult, then pouring salt in the wound, and finally kicking mud in Microsoft’s eye, NEC has launched an official Vista downgrade product, FlexLoad. The company debuted a two-DVD package on Tuesday priced at an affordable £7, which is meant to help (mainly business) customers create an XP partition that they can use to boot from. Says David Newbould, NEC UK’s product marketing manager, “We do have some customers who are very happy with XP and see [no need] to move to Vista at the moment.” Of course, we’re pretty sure that when he said “some” he actually meant “lots.” Another nasty burn for the folks in Redmond — though those 100 million units sold can probably buy a lot of kleenex.

[Via FSJ]

While we can all appreciate someone (Toshiba) trying to break the norm, there are some things that just don’t make any sense.  The phone in question is the Toshiba G450 due to arrive in the UK next month for a whopping $300.  Even a four year old could tell you dialing on this thing is going to be dicey.

Two round number pads to get all 10 numbers seems a bit far fetched.  The tiny screen, though it is sweet OLED, is only 96×39.  Those small features add up to only 57 grams.

The phone, to its credit, can be used as an USB modem, storage device (160MB), mp3 player and if you can figure out the number pad system: a phone.  Genius!

Maybe in the UK, a modem that is also a phone is appealing?  Any UK readers care to help out a yankee to make some sense of this?  Or perhaps, this is more fall out from Toshiba downward spiral (see: HD-DVD)

Press release: [Toshiba] via [OhGizmo!]

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Posted Feb 7th 2008 10:49AM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Displays
We’ve already seen plenty of oio iterations from Explay, but apparently this here “oio companion” is the real deal, and it’ll be shown off at Mobile World Congress next week. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean we’re getting any solid price or release details just yet, pretty much this new render is all. The mobile nanoprojector uses hybrid laser and LED light sources, and features an “always in focus” capability, low power consumption and an “affordable price.” According to Explay, customers and carriers are currently being polled for input on the commercial rollout, so be sure to let Explay know in the comments how excellent of a pricepoint $5 would be. You can thank us later, Explay.

Philips have announced their second generation blu-ray player called the Philips BDP7200. The BDP7200 fully supports 1080p Full HD resolution output along with 24p (24 frames per second, film rate) and Deep Color (HDMI 1.3) for over 1 billion color and eliminates color banding. The Philips BDP7200 blu-ray player is Profile 1.1 (new generation BonusView) and supports picture in picture and BD-Java for more interactive features, and allows users to interact with the movie via pop up menus, graphics and commentary while still viewing the movie.

The BDP7200 can also upscale your old DVDs to full 1080p resolution and control other connective devices via the EasyLink HDMI (CEC) protocol. Expect to see the impressive looking Philips BDP7200 in April 2008 for a recommended price of $349.

Posted Feb 7th 2008 5:42AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
There was a time not too long ago when Microsoft and Toshina seemed poised to make the Gigabeat a household name. That all changed when Microsoft killed PMC and then blazed a manufacturing trail of its own with the second generation Zune. Nevertheless, Toshiba trudges on with enhancements to their Gigabeat U-, V-, and T-series of audio and video players. The ¥34,800 V81 doubles the flash to 8GB while tweaking the 1Seg recording capabilities. The ¥15,800 U407 and U408 are just 4GB updates to their 1GB/2GB sibs while sporting an enhanced GUI. The ¥29,800 T802 (pictured) then, is just a T401 with double the flash (8GB) and new deal to make the wildly popular (in Japan) GyaO video service available for download from NTT hotspots around Japan. Right, the Japanese rough-equivalent of the domestic iPod, Starbucks, T-Mobile, and iTunes mashup. Well, at least you’ve got your hd dvd business to fall back on Toshiba. Oh… right.

[Via Akihabara News]

Read — T802
Read — V81
Read — U407/U408