Best Gadgets World

Perhaps Sony Ericsson realized the pink version didn’t quite excite much of the male population of its users. So this time, it dishes out the awesome W580i Walkman phone in a new color. And they’ve decided to call it Jungle Green. Now you have 5 available colors to choose from, including Style White, Boulevard Black, Urban Grey, and Metro Pink. Same specs as the old one means it’s still a great music phone in a slick sliding form factor.

Via [SE Fanatics]

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

Posted Mar 13th 2008 9:10AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds
See that? You’re looking at a picture of the printed circuit board for Pandora. Ok, it’s hardly a completed product. In fact, it’s chipless. Still, it’s a measurable step away from product vapor and one step closer to the $320 (damn dollar!) $330 GP2X gaming computer we’re expecting to land in March or April.

[Thanks, Argor]

Do you remember back in the day when people were all walking around with boomboxes up on their shoulders? I actually never saw anyone do that near where I lived, but I guess it was popular in the big cities. Those days have all since passed, however, this Reppo II backpack seems to be trying to bring it back in a new way.

This backpack is just nuts. It is made of a hard outer shell which houses not only a pair of speakers, but an amplifier too. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want that thing buzzing up against my spine for any length of time.

This is currently only a concept idea, though at least one prototype has been created. I have to admit that this does look pretty cool, though it doesn’t seem very practical. I just want to get a picture of a Stormtrooper wearing one of these.

Source: Crave

InFocus has released its new InFocus IN83 projector that brings full HD (1080p) video right smack into the middle of your living room, along with its faithful companions DLP DarkChip4 technology and BrilliantColor from Texas Instruments.

The IN83 combines state-of-the-art technology with a sleek, low profile design. Featuring the latest DLP DarkChip4 technology, the Play Big IN83 offers a native 5,000:1 contrast ratio (with a maximum contrast of 15,000:1) that ensures true-to-life color accuracy. With video-optimized brightness of 1,600 max ANSI lumens, the IN83 is vibrant enough to deliver film-standard, D65K color accuracy, even in ambient light during a daytime movie or sporting event. Additionally, the IN83 utilizes the InFocus Color Gamut Calibrator with ISF Day and Night presets and comes with integrated Pixelworks DNX 10-bit video processing technology and the latest HDMI 1.3 with Deep Color support providing 1.07 billion colors, so every scene is vivid and crystal clear.

The InFocus Play Big IN83 ought to be available now, retailing for a whopping $5,999 per unit.

Press Release

I think that we all know it is cheaper and more practical to assemble and build our own computer, rather than getting a more expensive pre-packaged computer that may or may not have what we need. In fact, I don’t believe companies like Dell want you to know that this is most certainly the better route of PC purchase. However, most consumers don’t know a dang thing about building their own PC, and it might get costly as he or she pays to get someone else to do it.

Concepts like the DNA PC could come in handy for the average consumer. The DNA PC has a base where you can add hardware and peripherals easily. The base is like that green Lego baseplate that comes with Creator sets, and you can stick on keyboard, storage, RAM, and other components as easily as playing with building bricks.

I suppose this is an attempt to make computer construction easy, and one hopes that it will work. Unfortunately, from what I’ve read about this concept device on other gadget blogs, they are not very positive.

Apparently, it has something to do with trying to simplify something that really shouldn’t be simplified. Most people who are intelligent enough to assemble their own computers don’t need this Lego-brick simplicity. I think they are missing the point, which is that computer assembly needs to be dumbed-down for the average user.

Source

Posted Mar 13th 2008 5:08AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: cellphones
var We have no way to confirm the claim, nevertheless the LionKing800 boasts a remarkable 365 days standby or 3-5 days talk. The source of that power is a 16,800mAh lithium battery — that’s about 10x the juice of a standard cellphone battery. Take that Philips! As to the rest of the specs, the GSM900 / DCS1800 dual-SIM phone costs $145 and packs a 3.5-inch, 320 x 240 pixel display, 256MB of microSD memory, Bluetooth 2.0, and a pair of rear and front-facing cameras into a 120 x 65 x 20-mm shell. Picture of the battery after the break.

[Via Mobile Bulgaria, thanks Georgi]

The inaugural Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2008 is pretty interesting as it features some of the nation’s best players of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock who came together in New York City for a mesmerizing record-breaking jam session. Needless to say, competition was intense and ultimately youth over experience prevailed. Chris Chike, age 16 from Rochester, Minnesota, was the winner when the dust settled, gaining a place in the Guinness World Record for the “Highest Score for a Single Song on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock”, picking up a whopping 840,647 points (a 97% completion on Expert Level) for the song “Through the Fire and Flames” by DragonForce.

This news comes as no surprise considering Chike’s fast fingers and mad gamer skills have already garnered thousands of astounded people online, and it looks like whatever respect due to him has been recognized at long last, and to make the memorable event all the more sweet, he is nothing less than an official Guinness World Record holder. According to Guinness World Records judge Doug Parsons, “Chris’s accomplishments are nothing short of amazing. Guitar Hero is a one of the hottest games on the market and the speed and accuracy showed by Chris today truly cements his spot as gaming royalty.”

Kai Huang, co-founder of RedOctane, creators of the Guitar Hero franchise added, “The Guitar Hero franchise has created a phenomenon that has swept the world creating loyal and passionate fans of all ages. It is an honor to be a part of this exciting event and we congratulate Chris on a fantastic accomplishment that is worthy of a Guinness World Record.” If you think that you have the mad skills to be part of the videogame elite, then feel free to check out the official Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2008 website. You can also submit your scores there to see how you stack up with the rest of the world.

Press Release

While I’ll be the first to admit that a blanket of any sort can’t really be considered a gadget, unless perhaps it has built-in speakers or something. However, this Slanket was designed with gadget lovers in mind.

I try to keep my house on the cool side, which means from time to time I’ll find myself on the couch with a blanket trying to work. I enjoy doing this, except that it takes forever to get the blanket situated so that only my head and hands are uncovered. That’s where the Slanket comes in.

This giant 60” x 95” blanket has two rather large sleeves through which you can put your arms, leaving only your hands exposed. This makes it much easier to read, type or do whatever it is you do when you’re wrapped up in a blanket. It comes in 6 different colors and will set you back $49.99.

Source: Gearfuse

TVs certainly have gotten better looking — at CES we saw huge flat screens that transformed into paintings, ones with “invisible” bezels or highly decorative bezels, meant to compliment the decor. Not to mention the ones that sank into pieces of furniture and completly disappeared, my personal favorites.

This 20″ LCD HDTV from VIZIO caught my eye when it won the presigious RED DOT award for its elegant design. With a depth of 3.6“, the 20“ screen is ultra-slim and well suited for home offices, kitchens, bedrooms (dorms?), and smaller rooms. Since it’s High Definition with “integrated standard and high definition NTSC/ATSC/clear QAM digital tuner including 1080i and 720P you can enjoy the HD already offered by cable and satellite channels.”

Originally offered with a beautiful piano black bezel wrap-around, you now have the option to buy it in white.

Specs you need to know:

- Widescreen HD functionality featuring 1366×768 high definition resolution
- One HDMI input, RGB computer conection (great for use as a PC monitor), and 8ms response time.

Not bad for $399.

Finally! Someone’s become sober enough to realize that, “Hey, shouldn’t there be USB chargers for wall outlets by now?”, and that pride goes to a company named Belkin. Its new Mini Surge Protector includes three standard wall outlets as well as two built-in USB ports for charging any cellphone, smartphone, or mp3 player, and possibly any other gadget that charges via USB. Say thank you and hallelujah!

Product feature highlights include a “360-degree rotating plug with 4 locking positions, complete surge protection through all outlets, compact, lightweight, efficient design, and a mini-USB cable to charge virtually any USB device—including blackberry and Motorola RAZR phones”. There is but one caveat, though, that the product page honestly points out. And that is, “[the] USB outlets cannot be used as a USB hub and does not transmit data. The powered USB outlets on this unit are intended solely for charging devices that can be charged via a USB interface.” But that’s understandable. I mean, who would want to transfer data to a wall? The Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger will retail for $24.99 but is currently just listed as “coming soon.”

Product [Belkin] Via [Engadget]

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