Best Gadgets World

Now according to the product description, the 3-D IQ Sphere is supposed to train both your IQ and EQ, although I’m not too sure how the latter part is going to be trained. Will arranging a rounded Rubik’s Cube actually improve my EQ? At $9 a pop, I’d rather throw in an additional $10 to pick up Brain Age on my DS which offers me way more interactivity, and to be able to share the joys of Brain Age with friends and family will definitely increase my EQ no two ways about it

Samsung adds another 5-megapixel wonder to their lineup of camera phones, and calls it the Samsung Anycall G808. Other than its 5-megapixel CMOS camera sensor and built-in Xenon flash, it also features auto-focus, face recognition and 3x optical zoom. This shows us how serious Samsung is in the mobile camera phone game, and will surely attract even more digital camera aficionados to have a second look at their offerings.

The Samsung Anycall G808 is an able mobile phone, capable of downloading at 3G or HSDPA speeds, currently referred to as mobile broadband. It supports Bluetooth 2.0 and USB connectivity for data transfer, and its internal memory of 130MB can be further supplemented with MicroSD cards up to 4GB. Other expected features are also present, such as FM Radio with RDS, music player, Offline Mode and average battery life. But really the highlights of the Samsung Anycall G808 lies in its camera phone functionalities.

As is popular with camera phones nowadays, the Samsung Anycall G808 comes with a built-in image and video editor to enhance captured photos on the phone’s 2.4-inch QVGA display. It has red-eye reduction technology and supports multiple shooting modes such as macro, multi shot, mosaic shot, frame shot, and panorama shot. Currently, the Samsung Anycall G808 is only available in silver, and will retail for approximately $500 USD.

Via [Just Another mobile phone Blog]

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We have all become too comfortable with the idea of performing searches by entering a query in our favorite search engine, but Yahoo! is about to introduce a paradigm shift to the world by enabling users to use voice commands to search the web instead. Boerries, executive vice president of Yahoo’s Connected Life unit mentioned that “This is really a sea change. This is not about simple Web links any more.” Guess with more and more people surfing on their cell phones, it makes perfect sense to increase accessibility to web links on these handsets. Yahoo!’s latest oneSearch service will be the latest thrust from the Microsoft target in order to further gain market share that have eroded sharply since the emergence of Google. The idea of using voice commands to perform search is certainly novel, as it enables publishers to provide highly categorized information which enables them to have a greater say in what they want users to see, including greater control on its presentation.

In addition, Yahoo! also will enable oneSearch consumers to use voice commands for search services which currently are beyond existing mobile voice recognition systems or 411-based services. OneSearch aims to bring about a revolution, featuring “wide open” searches that encompass flight listings, locations, Web site names, restaurants, news or game times among others. Users will also be able to revert to type searches any time they like, and vice versa for greater flexibility. Not only that, the OneSeach service also offers alternative suggestions for similar sounding words.

Voice searches take around five seconds to process, where one to two seconds are used to recognize the search while the remaining seconds will return the relevant search results to the handset. The speed greatly depends on your network, so some slower networks might take up to 20 seconds for a search result to appear.

Source: Reuters

Although the original announcement named T-Mobile, among others, as the first company to have a Microsoft Surface in their offices, today it seems that the deal was not to be. And word on the Interwebs is that AT&T will be the first to install Surface tables in four of their branches across the US. AT&T will purportedly be placing the Surface in the New York, San Francisco, Atlanta and San Antonio store branches, in which customers will then be able to perform certain actions using Microsoft’s high-tech piece of furniture, such as browsing the available handsets, and purchasing digital content like ringtones, wallpapers, and videos for their own phones. April 17 is the date to watch out for, so if you live near any of the previously mentioned branches, mark your calendars for a chance to see the surface in action.

Via [Tech Digest]

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Posted Apr 3rd 2008 4:26AM by Thomas Ricker
var Just a few hours after we brought you the exclusive hands-on video with the DevTeam’s PwnageTool… it’s out! Mac only for now, Windows on the way shortly.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 1:26AM by Ryan Block
Filed under: cellphonesAt AT&T’s press feast today, the focus was unquestionably the trial deployment of Microsoft’s Surface kiosks to stores later this month — the presence of Microsoft’s own Robbie Bach was testament to that fact. But there was more to the action by the time the show was over. Deployment of 3G and 4G services was a hot topic both during CEO Ralph de la Vega’s presentation and in the post-conference Q&A (one member of the press lamented the fact that AT&T’s BlackBerrys still lack HSDPA), and at one point he mentioned that all of the carrier’s smartphones would be 3G within a matter of mere “months.”

We figure that instantly thrusts several devices onto (and off of) AT&T’s roadmap in the very near future, including a 3G iphone and the blackberry 9000 we recently saw strutting its stuff. Of course, that would also preclude the just-introduced Palm Centro from hanging around for very long, since it tops out with EDGE speeds; last time we checked Garnet had a hard time handling HSDPA, so something’s got to give. We’re not writing the obit just yet — CEOs’ statements are often a mere shadow of reality, after all — but it’s certainly food for thought.

Amazon unveils shopping via SMS

The big e-commerce company of the US, also known as Amazon, has recently presented a new service that offers a new way to shop around the huge store. The service is related to text-messages, and its codename is TextBuyIt.

As you can imagine by now, we’re talking about cellphones and sending SMS to the Amazon service. The procedure to get it working is pretty simple: just send a text message to 262966, with the description of the product you’re interested in buying. Afterwards, you receive a text message with two results related to your search, which you can instantly buy, or if you’re looking for something else, ask for more search results.

Everything is automatic in this new Amazon service, even the registration that includes providing an email and zip code, listening to an automated voice system, and receiving the confirmation via e-mail and SMS.

Radiohead lets fans remix a song

In case you don’t remember, Radiohead already made some innovative actions on the internet, one of them was releasing the latest album “In Rainbows” on their website, and allowing users to download it for a price that seems fair. This means the album could be downloaded for free, and I bet many people did just that, but on the other hand, the true fans must have spent some money on the album, which is very good by the way…

Anyhow, right now Radiohead wants fans to remix the single named “Nude”. To achieve that task, users only need to buy 5 tracks of the song at iTunes Plus, more specifically the bass, voice, guitar, drums, and effects. The next step is to receive the access code, use GarageBand or Logic software to remix the single, and finally upload it to Radioheadremix.com.

Voting of each remix occurs until the 1st of May.

Source: Reuters

Guest post by Tiago of Gadgetizer

CNET reviews the LG CU720 Shine (AT&T) and writes, “The LG Shine CU720 comes armed with the same Schneider Kreuznach lens and autofocus 2.0-megapixel camera as the KE970, which we loved. It is definitely a fabulous camera, with great photo quality. Camera options include a range of resolutions, from 1,600×1,200 to 320×240 pixels. Other camera settings include a self-timer, three quality modes, four color effects, white balance settings, shutter sounds, and a multishot mode. There’s also an included camcorder that shoots videos in two resolutions (128×96 and 176×144). The camcorder’s editing options are similar to the still camera; plus you can use the zoom. Multimedia message video clips are limited to eight seconds, but otherwise you can shoot as much as available memory permits. Video quality wasn’t great, but photo quality was fantastic, with sharp images, crisp detail, and rich colors.”

Read more about the LG Shine.

Honestly, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this phone was “Wow.” I never even thought BenQ was still around and making mobile phones, but apparently, it’s trying to tell us to not yet write them off with their latest offering, the super slim BenQ T60.

At only 8.9mm thin, it’s obvious that the BenQ T60 is targeted at the more stylish consumers. And while the 2.2-inch QVGA display and 3.2-megapixel camera further establish this point, I can’t get over the fact that they included a non-standard keypad on the thing. Other features include Bluetooth A2DP music streaming, stereo FM radio with schedule recording, USB connectivity, a MicroSD card slot, 24MB of internal memory and a manufacturer-rated 200 hour standby time. We hear you loud and clear BenQ. OK, we won’t write you off just yet.

Via [Mobile Whack]

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Parrot at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas presented the first of its wireless Bluetooth products which feature Near Field Communications (NFC) technology,making pairing of Bluetooth devices a snap. Some of these products include a digital photo frame and a trio of stereo speaker systems as well. First of all, what is NFC technology? Well, read on after the jump for further details.

NFC is an extremely short-range (4.0 in. or 10 cm) wireless communication technology that dramatically simplifies the pairing of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices. Essentially, it enables devices to automatically recognize and pair with each other when they are in close proximity. This eliminates the typical multi-step manual pairing process between Bluetooth devices that can take consumers one to two minutes or longer to conclude, especially on their first attempt.

According to David Wenning, senior vice president, marketing and sales of Parrot Inc., “The value of NFC is that it’s fast and easy to use, while greatly simplifying the pairing process. It makes the full range of Bluetooth devices — from digital photo frames to stereo speakers to car kits - much easier to use and enjoy. Parrot welcomes any industry initiative such as NFC that helps improve the customer experience with technology.”

NFC operates at 13.56 MHz while achieving a data transfer rate of up to 424 Kbits/second, offering itself as an intuitive, simple, and safe communication between electronic devices. Since NFC is both a “read” and “write” technology, you will be able to get two-way communication without much hassle whatsoever. I suppose NFC connectivity is perfect for older folks who might find initial pairing up of Bluetooth gizmos to be a real hassle. Still, it is great to see technology moving forward while making it a whole lot easier to use for everyone, regardless of their (techno) background.

Press Release