Best Gadgets World

Posted Mar 8th 2008 2:29AM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Pentax’s 31.6 megapixel medium-format 645 Digital has been announced for over a year now — we’ve even seen one in the flesh — but it’s never actually shipped, and now it looks like it never will. According to Impress, Pentax is killing off its digital medium format cameras to focus on K-series DSLRs, but the 645’s film versions will live on. Considering the ever-more-competitive field of excellent prosumer cams out there, we can’t say we fault the decision, but if there are any engineering samples lying around, we’ll be happy to take ‘em off Pentax’s hands.

The new 1400 series are part of Magellan’s fast growing GPS lineup. These new GPS units are very thin and designed to fit in the pocket and work as soon as you turn it on. Basically, these new GPS units all feature a 4.3-inch anti-glare touch screen, and a cool new interface called QuickSpell. This allows you to get the address you need without typing a whole lot. It also comes with SmartDetour, which does just what it says, it finds different routes in case there is a lot of traffic.

Overall, all of the GPS units in the 1400 series feature the following:

• 4.3-inch WQVGA full-colour, anti-glare touch-screen display.
• Centrality Atlas III GPS chipset.
• 2-D and 3-D map views with auto day/night mode switching.
• Trip computer and trip planner.
• QuickSpell, which intelligently searches and checks spelling when entering addresses.
• SmartDetour to route drivers around heavy or stationary traffic.
• Postcode search: 7-digit postcode searches in the United Kingdom and 6-digit postcode searches in the Netherlands.
• Pre-loaded speed-trap database providing known camera locations for each region.
• SD card slot for additional maps.
• USB port for PC connection and in-vehicle power.
• Worldwide reversible maps (where U.S. maps are compatible with EMEA products, and vice-versa).

More specifically, the basic unit which is just the RoadMate 1400, comes with NAVTEQ maps. The cool thing about this is that you can choose which maps you want to display so this will come in handy if you only need maps for a certain area. These areas are France, Italy/Austria/Switzerland, Sweden/Finland/Norway/Denmark, Great Britain/Ireland/Northern Ireland, Germany/Austria/Switzerland, Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg. Another cool feature is that it comes with a database of safety cameras, which would show cameras for each region. So far, it is retailing for 179 Euros (around $275 US).

Moving onto the next GPS, the RoadMate 1415, which is basically the same but it comes with text-to-speech functionality. It comes with NAVTEQ maps which feature maps of all of Europe, thousands of POI’s, and it is set to retail for 229 Euros (around $350 US).

Finally, we have the RoadMate 1425 which comes with live traffic updates, and a lifetime traffic subscription which updates in real-time. This will provide accidents along your chosen route, comes up with alternative routes, and changes the expected time the trip will take based on real-time traffic. It also comes with over a million POI’s, which is a lot more than the other 2 models. Expected retail price is 279 Euros (around $427 US).

“We are developing products at Magellan that are designed to exceed consumer expectations in price, content and connectivity. The RoadMate brand is an exceptional example of a value-priced line that delivers great GPS performance as well as unique and compelling features,” said Christian Bubenheim, vice president of product marketing, Magellan.

Lastly, all of the RoadMate 1400 models come with a windshield mount and a cradle, 12V car charger, and an adhesive disk for on-dash mounting.

Read [Magellan]

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In a move similar to Circuit City, but not quite as generous an offer, Canada’s Future Shop is helping those customers that were unfortunate enough to commit to the now dead HD DVD format.

The offer from Future Shop does have some nice points and some limitations. First off they are accepting standalone HD DVD players that were purchased anywhere. The offer gives customers $100 that they can use to purchase either an LG or Samsung Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player. This does mean that you have a pretty limited selection, but at least you can still play any HD DVD movies that you already purchased, plus any new Blu-ray titles that you pick up in the future.

If you are looking to trade-in your hd dvd player you may want to act quickly, the offer ends on April 3, 2008. The players that Future Shop receives from the trade-in program will all be donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada so they can be used in their after-school and evening programs.

Read [Future Shop] Via [Engadget]

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After a fourth straight year of projected losses reaching over $140 million dollars, electronics giant Pioneer has announced it will cease production of it’s own plasma HDTV design and will, instead, focus on HDTV plasma production using panels from another manufacturer, like Panasonic/Matsushita.

he loss comes as a stunning development as Pioneer expected to post a net gain of nearly 58.02 million U.S. dollars. So a loss of nearly three times that has prompted a sort of “come to Jesus” moment for Pioneer.

“This move will allow us to transform our business model for displays from vertically integrated, capital-intensive operations to a leaner business model geared to making value-added product proposals,” the company said in a statement.

The move, which came as a result of serious restructuring at Pioneer, was not only expected, but could also be beneficial as it will allow for expansion of the high end HDTV screens, particularly the Kuro line flat screen LCD displays that incorporate panels purchased from Sharp. Pulling back is no small task, as Pioneer had invested nearly a billion dollars building four plasma production facilities and acquiring two more. Now, Pioneer hopes that the shift to third party manufacture will cut back on its production costs and refocus more on marketing and design.

Hat tip: Digital Trends

Posted Mar 7th 2008 7:18PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Gaming
We can only assume that Blu-ray’s victory in the format war pushed this particular Briton over the edge and made him truly believe that the PS3 is in fact “the best console ever made” — his words, not ours. Quite frankly, we’re not sure exactly how much alcohol was involved in making this decision, but we’re going to assume that it’s just a matter of time before he gets three more to one-up this fellow. Catch the video of the entire process after the jump (if you’re a glutton for punishment, that is).

[Via PS3Fanboy]

Phone watches banned from Thai exams

I had my good share of ways to cheat on exams when needed to, but it didn’t include any kind of “top-notch” technology, like it happened in Thailand. According to someone on the Ministry of Education, a student was caught cheating during an exam by using his phone watch - can you blame him?

The cheating system while using this kind of gadgets is pretty simple: take a discrete photo of the exam questions, send it via MMS to a friend that has the knowledge or knows how to look for the answers, and wait for a SMS with all the goodies.

The only problem is being discrete, and in this case, the student was caught while receiving/reading the text messages that were displayed on the watch. Thanks to this student, all normal watches are banned from exams, and the next step is to take a look at wall clocks.

Facebook now in German version

Facebook, one of the most popular social networks of 2007 (and 2008) has added a new language to their site - German. All the work was done by 2,000 Facebook members, that went into volunteer work and got the job done (translating the whole site) in less than two weeks.

Since 60% of the Facebook population lives on the US, it isn’t hard to understand why it only had a n English version until February, at that time, the Spanish language was added thanks to more volunteers.

Source - Reuters

Guest post by Tiago of Gadgetizer

All the major players in the tech industry are starting to get really serious about touch screens, if they haven’t been already in the past year. One such company is Sony Ericsson, one of the leading mobile phone manufacturers in the world. A newly discovered patent application it’s filed back in 2006 reveals that it has plans of making a similar device to the Apple iPhone, blending the features of a cellphone, music player, mobile computer, and even that of a Sony playstation Portable (PSP) into one awesome handheld multimedia device.

With this recent discovery, rumors about an upcoming PSP syle phone become more imminent, and perhaps it will only be a matter of time until Sony Ericsson makes an official announcement about the said matter. But reading through the August 2006 patent application made by Sony Ericsson, one will find that this particular device is actually planned to be more than an update to today’s vanilla, button-filled Sony PSP.

With a full touchscreen facade, there is no room for any hardware buttons so the compromise would have to come from the innards of the machine and the software that it packs. Consider the Apple iPhone or ipod Touch with the addition of haptics feedback on top plus a touch-based Sony PSP and this is what you’ll get. The patent itself actually bears a lot of resemblance to the one filed by Apple for its own touch-based user interface (currently being used on iPhone and iPod Touch). But according to a report from Unwired View, Sony Ericsson did not violate any copyrights or copy from any of Apple’s concepts, taking into account the fact that Sony Ericsson’s patent was filed on August 30, 2006 - Several months before the iphone was introduced, and a week before the main iPhone patent application became public.

The first samples of devices borrowing features from this concept are the soon to be released Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and the still unconfirmed Sony Ericsson P5i.

Up to now, details about the final product specs and appearance are still sketchy, but according to the information in this patent application, these are the features to watch out for:

• Full touchscreen display
• Accelerometer
• Other orientation sensors (possibly an ambient light sensor and proximity sensors)
• Haptics feedback
• Internet connectivity
• Software that allows the user interface to change according to the feature being used (phone, camera, music player, and of course, PSP)

As of now, most of the things listed here are just possibilities, and in most cases should not be trusted because not all patents come to realize existence. But then again, we’re talking about Sony Ericsson here, who’s top dog when it comes to making the best cellphones that money can buy (OK, maybe not top dog, but one of the top dogs). Until the day the final product is released though, all we can do is wait. And OK, don’t worry. All you fan boys can still dream.

Via [Unwired View]

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Posted Mar 7th 2008 8:06PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: PeripheralsOkay, raise your hands if the first thing you thought when you heard about IOGEAR’s Germ Free Wireless Laser Mouse was “That probably uses an unregistered pesticide that warrants government involvement.” Yeah, that’s what we thought — but it appears some freak concerned citizen had your best interests in mind, because the EPA just fined IOGEAR $208,000 based on a tip that the company’s Germ Free keyboard and mice peripherals were violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. Apparently no one ever verified that the titanium dioxide and silver nanoparticle compound on the mice is actually effective at killing nasties, and even if it is, it’s illegal to sell pesticides without Uncle Sam’s blessing. IOGEAR’s stopped claiming that the products kill germs and forked over the cash, but it’s not clear if the products still have the coating on them. Either way, you should probably start washing your hands more, Mr. Filthy.

[Via Nanotech Project]

Posted Mar 7th 2008 9:37PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Peripherals
Given the fact that most (all?) 3G USB modems won’t even fit in the macbook air’s ultra-cramped USB port, it’s practically a foregone conclusion that some of that sex appeal is going to be forfeited when busting out a dongle to keep using your current wares. Enter the AirQueue, which is hailed as the first USB extender designed specifically to work with the MBA — whatever that means. Truth be told, we can’t figure out exactly what makes this any different than other extenders made for helping folks out in a squeeze, but at least it’s only $6, right? Oh, and if you’re aiming to make things extra unsightly, be sure and pick up the pictured $38 ExpressCard adapter — your coffee shop style quotient will be tanked in no time.

[Via MacsimumNews, thanks RD]

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1offers a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus, photo light, and video recording, as well as the following features:

* full arc-sliding QWERTY
* Windows Mobile 6 operating system
* 3-inch wide VGA (800 x 480) touchscreen display,
* A2DP Bluetooth
* GPS
* WiFi
* microSD
* 400MB
* quad-band GSM/EDGE
* 900/1700/1900/2100MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (or 850/1700/1900/2100MHz)
* 4-way key and optical joystick

Via Engadget.