Best Gadgets World

In the last year, I’ve become increasingly obsessed with watches, especially huge chunky watches which provide a contrast with my oddly small wrists and hands (hey, it’s the only part of my body which is oddly small, I’m flaunting it…)

So when I heard new watch news, in the form of a new addition to Casio’s much-loved Baby G range, I was excited. And rightly so! Look how pretty they are:

These new watches are part of the The BG-2000/2001 series, and are designed to be easy to use, fashionable and funky. But I suspect that means they don’t have as many specs as previous G series. I’m on my third Baby G at the moment, an eighties-style silver and pink squared-off design which, in customary Casio style, can tell me the time in two countries, time my every movement, wake me up in the morning and could probably bake me a cake if it really put its mind to it. I’m not sure I want to give all that up just so my wrist will look prettier… but I’m certainly willing to consider it.

by Steven Kim, posted May 12th 2008 at 4:58PMEvery bean-counter knows that falling prices and shrinking margins add up to one thing - cost-cutting pressure. Now we get word that JVC and Kenwood are merging underneath a single holding company, aptly named JVC Kenwood Holdings. Hopes are high for the new company, with plans to quadruple profit in three short years by focusing on car and home audio. Expect to see more of this kind of merger/acquisition activity, especially among small- to medium-sized companies as more competition — especially from South Korea and China — ramps up. Every JVC share will be exchanged for two shares in the new company, while Kenwood stock will get a 1-for-1 rate. JVC definitely got the better end of the deal, with JVC’s president continuing on in that role with the new company. It will be interesting to watch how this might affect Kenwood/Bain Capital bidding for D&M Holdings.

EDIT: the new company will be called JVC Kenwood Holdings, not JVC Holdings. - Thanks, dcny!

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

Photographers on the go are probably familiar with Eye-Fi, which incorporates wireless connectivity into its flash-based SD memory cards. The 2GB cards turn just about any sd capable digital camera or other electronic into a wireless hub for transmitting data wirelessly. Well, not being willing to settle just for that, Eye-Fi is expanding its card roles into Geo Tagging and giving users the capability of automatically uploading photos from more than 10,000 hotspots while away from home or from their home wireless network.

In partnership with Skyhook Wireless, the Eye-Fi Explore uses embedded software that allows allow users to map where their photos were captured with automatic geotagging. Then, the Eye-Fi uses built-in wireless technology to locate nearby Wi-Fi access points when pictures are captured within the Skyhook coverage area. The Eye-Fi service uses this information to encode each photo with geographic locations, and the images arrive on the user’s computer and online sharing account automatically tagged.

“Geotagging makes it easier to manage and search for your photos on your computer, and it also makes them more fun and relevant to share on the Web. Tagging has exploded on sites like Picasa Web Albums and Flickr, where users can share with each other where a picture was taken,” said Ted Morgan, founder and CEO of Skyhook Wireless. “We’re thrilled to work with Eye-Fi to make it easier for users to map where an image was taken.”

The 2GB Eye-Fi Explore includes unlimited Web uploads, unlimited geotagging and one year of hotspot access at Wayport locations. The Eye-Fi Explore (MSRP $129.00) will be available at major online retailers beginning June 6, 2008.

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It’s a mirror. It’s an mp3 player. It’s a video player. And it shows you where you’re at and where you’ve been so you can’t get lost. That is some rearview mirror.

The Multifunction GPS Bluetooth Rearview Mirror System provides complete 12 satellite GPS navigation, with voice prompting for directions and also has a reverse sensor to monitor backing up. It incorporates an SD card expansion slot and can play both mp3s as well as video formats for Windows Media Player and Quicktime MPEG4 with built in speakers giving the viewer a stereo experience. The mirror also reads JPEG pictures which turns the mirror into a photo album and you can even read eBooks through it!

And as if that wasn’t enough, the Multifunction GPS Bluetooth Rearview Mirror System also has five built in games and a stylus to navigate the interactive menu screens. It’s 3.5 inch touchscreen LCD is battery powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.
Now if they’d also toss in a subscription to OnStar, DirecTV and provide hands free cell communication, it’s be the perfect package. But for $145 US, this Rearview Mirror may be an ideal add-on to bring any classic into the twenty first century.

Hat Tip: The Red Ferret http://www.redferret.net/?p=10423

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AT&T has officially announced they will be the “exclusive carrier for the Bold in the US.” While the details are still coming in, this bit of exciting information almost seemed like just a brief mention in what was an article covering the recent increase for RIM’s stock. Of course between the 3G support in the blackberry Bold and the 3G coverage that AT&T has to offer I suppose we should not be all that surprised. Still unknown is an exact release date, however according to RIM’s earlier press release it will be available “beginning this summer.” We also cannot help to wonder just how much the Bold will set you back in terms of dollars.

Read [MSN Money] Via [Engadget]

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by Donald Melanson, posted May 12th 2008 at 12:48PM It’s not often we see laptop manufacturers boast of a one-hour battery life, but in the case of Eurocom’s new D901C PHANTOM-X “mobile server,” that spec is certainly hard-earned enough to warrant notice. The battery drain begins with a 2.8GHz Quad Core XEON X3360 processor, which gets paired with 1.5 terabytes of storage in the form of three SATA-300 hard drives (complete with various RAID options), 8GB of DDR2-800 memory, a Blu-ray burner, and a comparatively modest 17-inch display, to name but a few specs. All that, not surprisingly, takes just as big a toll on your back as it does on battery life, with the PHANTOM-X weighing in at a lugabble 12-pounds. No word on a price just yet, but Eurocom’s non-Xeon-based server laptops already easily push past the $3,000 mark, so you can probably take a pretty good stab at assessing the damage to your budget.

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Filed under: Laptops

2030 to me seems too far away, but I’ll take it. The report itself was over 200 pages, which indicates to me that they spent a ‘government’ god-awful amount of money to produce it. Ok, fine, but let’s see if they now spend the important money to make this a reality.

According to the report, it would $6/person/year to implement this. The Wired article wasn’t clear on whether this was every year or just for 1 year, but who cares? At that amount, I will gladly take a line-item tax on my 1040. Persons making less than $40k or so can get that waived.

Other stats - wind power could account for 300Gigawatts of power, reduce carbon emissions from coal and natural gas plants by 25%, drop water consumption by 4 trillion gallons per year. Yes, yes, this will all take some doing including infrastructure overhauls, but do we have a choice? BTW, a town in MO has already shown the way.

Posted in Miscellaneous

This is an awesome addition to any kitchen especially for people who are cooking out of many different pots at one time. Mothers who are always burning one pot or the other will greatly appreciate this new product. A timer you can place on each individual pot with a potholder is a great idea. Most people only have one timer or if you are like me I use the timer on my microwave then use the watch on my wrist. I always lose track of the time because it can not warn me that the time is up so I usually burn at least one thing.

I cook three meals a day. With that many, I usually end up nearly burning something because not only do I have the dinner to deal with but I have two children who are screaming “is it done yet?!” By the time you deal with them you forget what pot you started first and how much time is left. This new gizmo will definitely eliminate that problem.
Gimme!

More info from the manufacturer

Price: $9.00
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Posted in Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation, Miscellaneous

Portable media players with 250GB of internal storage are hard to come by, for one many people don’t really need anywhere close to that amount of storage. However, Newman has recently introduced a player that comes in a few different models with storage options ranging from 80GB up to 250GB.

The M8000 comes loaded with many nice features including 4-inch TFT screen, built-in camera, TV-Out, gaming support, a PVR and other multimedia support. It is also an HD quality portable media player and the video clarity should be really good, especially with the big 4-inch screen. The only drawback to having a portable media player with a lot of storage is that sometimes it will take a long time to turn on and to find the video you want. Hopefully that is not the case with the M8000.

The base model comes with a storage of 80GB, then goes up to 120GB, 160GB, and finally the 250GB model. Also, if and when you decide to purchase one of these, you can get customizable features as well. So far, the base price is $299, and goes up from there.

Via [PMP Today]

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by Ryan Block, posted May 12th 2008 at 2:36AMSingapore Telecommunications (aka SingTel) announced that it’s secured agreements to distribute the iphone in Singapore (on SingTel Mobile) and its partly-owned subsidiaries in Australia (on Optus), India (on Bharti Group), and the Philippines (on Globe Telecom). Vodafone’s also distributing the iPhone in India and Australia though, so we’ll have to wait until later this year to find out who gets to shoot first.

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Filed under: cellphones