Best Gadgets World

It is like silky chocolate that is dipped in creamy peanut butter; that’s how I’d describe two companies I use and enjoy teaming up to bring their services together.  PhoneTag (formerly Simulscribe) the voicemail to text service that saves me from listening to voicemails and Grand Central, the service that allows me to filter out who can actually reach me, have cut a deal to allow the services to work hand in hand.  A happy day indeed.

According to the release,

“Now consumers can have all their numbers ring at the same time and, if the call goes unanswered, be able to read their voicemail through PhoneTag.”

While Grand Central is still a free service, PhoneTag is not.  Grand Central fronts you a new number allowing you to choose what phone rings for who.  For example, I have a group set up to ring only my office line while friends and family ring all my phones.  PhoneTag, as I’ve said before, is a fantastic service that saves me from listening to the ramblings of callers and makes me a happier person.

Read [PRNewswire] Via [IntoMobile]

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by Thomas Ricker, posted May 14th 2008 at 4:21AM
var Oh daddy, would you look at that. Forget jetpacks, we’ve got a deep ache in our G-Jetson-loin for this, Atair Aerospace’s EXO-Wing, the world’s smallest human-piloted jet. Smaller even, than the Gryphon parachute. It’s on display right now in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of its Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy collection. The only thing we know about the EXO-Wing is that the twin micro-turbine-powered contraption is light enough to be worn as a backpack. Hell, we don’t even know if it really works. Regardless, we’ve got our weekend booked… up, up and away!

P.S. The webbed creature below the EXO-Wing is sporting an Aerosuit for skydivers and Aquaman wannabes with a thing for Tom Jones.

Gallery: EXO-Wing is world’s smallest jet — worn like a backpack

Read — Atair’s EXO-Wing
Read — Super Heroes, Fashion and Fantasy exhibit

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Filed under: Transportation

Creative has just released its Vado Pocket Video Cam that brings casual video recording to the masses. This tiny and diminutive camcorder will be able to fit in easily in your pocket, purse or even comfortably in the palm of your hand. This will change the way video is captured, shared and stored, making it a snap to store your precious memories on the go. The Creative Vado retails for $99.99 and can be purchased from various vendors such as Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Buy.com, Creative.com, Fry’s Electronics, J&R, and Newegg.com.

Thinner and lighter than other pocket video cameras, the Vado will be available in silver or hot pink colors. I guess that is not much choice to choose from in the first place, and hopefully Creative will come out with other colors in the near future. According to Creative President and COO Craig McHugh, “When you’re having a really great time and are experiencing one of life’s special or funny moments you’d love to have a video of it, but you don’t have your video camera with you. Your camcorder is likely stored away somewhere in a camera bag, because it’s too expensive and you’re afraid of breaking it. You end up missing many video opportunities and use your camcorder only for planned video shoots. When you finally do get it out to shoot something you have to make sure you have a tape or disc and the batteries are charged before you set up your shot. Chances are you’re going to miss that awesome spontaneous moment while you get your camera ready. Once you’ve shot the video, how are you supposed to share it with anyone? It can be a time-consuming challenge trying to figure out how to get video from your camera or tape, so it remains stuck on the camera or put away somewhere in a box of tapes or discs, and you can’t share it with your family and friends.”

Some of the Creative Vado features include :-

• Slim, lightweight, pocket-sized design
• Built-in two-inch color LCD screen
• Removable rechargeable battery
• 640 x 480 VGA video resolution
• Built-in USB connector for PC
• Built-in software program for posting videos to YouTube or Photobucket
• Enable friends and family to download your videos from Box.net
• Available in silver or hot pink

Press Release

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We all know that the tiny Eee PC from Asus has been a runaway hit here in the US, however, what we don’t know is whether or not Asus can pull off the same feat with a similar desktop. They are willing to give it a shot, and here is what the new Eee Box should look like.

The specs on this machine are reasonable, featuring an Intel Atom CPU (Intel’s latest CPU aimed at mobile devices), 1GB of DDR2, 80GB of storage space and running Linux.

We’re not entirely sure of what price point they are trying to hit, but we will likely hear more when it is officially unveiled at Computex 2008.

Source: Slashgear

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There are people who tend to over water their plants, but more importantly most people do not give enough water. The Thirsty Light Blinks helps solve this dilemma by letting your “plants” speak with you. This unique detector is a digital moisture meter that uses a patented process that interpret readings it obtains from the soil, offering you a (claimed) more precise measurement of the potting medium’s dryness, unlike other detectors that are readily available in the market. You will know when it is time to bust out that dusty watering can by seeing whether it blinks or not. for those who do not have green thumbs and literally need a signal whenever their plants get thirsty.

Source: RGS

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I can’t wait until we find ourselves a new power source that will make us all less dependent on oil. I also can’t wait for battery and/or fuel cell technology to get better  so that we can have longer-lasting mobile devices. One product that would benefit from a better fuel cell is your vacuum.

Sure, that’s not the first thing that comes to my mind either, but if this concept were brought to life, it would make sweeping the carpet a much easier task. It always seems like they make the power cords way to short, which means you’re always running around trying to find the most efficient power outlets in house so you  need only plug it in a few times. This BakVac would certainly eliminate that particular issue.

Source: UberGizmo

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We recently published a story about the US town that switched over to run exclusively on wind power. Now we’re pleased to see this story of a Korean village that runs 100% on solar power. All of the homes and the school have solar panels on the rooftops. The island that the village is on also has a wind farm that will soon account for 20% of electricity needs. Looking forward to seeing more of these success stories!

via Meta Efficient.

Posted in Miscellaneous

by Donald Melanson, posted May 13th 2008 at 1:42PM JR.com may have let the cat of the bag, but Creative’s not letting that stop it from getting all official with its new Vado Pocket Video Cam, which is taking square aim at the likes of Pure Digital’s Flip Video cheapcorder. Like the Flip, Creative’s offering comes packing a lowly-but-YouTube-friendly 640 x 480 resolution, along with 2GB of built-in memory (with no expansion options), a 2-inch display, a flip-out USB connector, and a promised two hours of battery life on a charge. Not exactly the most feature-packed camera out there (even for a budget model), but the $100 price tag is certainly right, and you can get it in your choice of silver or hot pink.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

by Joshua Topolsky, posted May 13th 2008 at 11:04AM
Just in case you’ve been holding out, we want you to know that Dell’s budget-friendly 17-incher, the Vostro 1710, is now available for your purchasing pleasure. The widescreen laptop joins the 1310 and 1510, thus completing the holy trinity of black and boxy systems, and likely signaling the end of this breathtaking saga.

[Thanks, Mike]

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Filed under: Laptops

by Joshua Topolsky, posted May 13th 2008 at 12:42PM
The industrious Boy Genius has apparently unearthed more juicy tidbits about that rumored blackberry touchscreen device. Word from BG is that the new iphone-ish handset is now internally dubbed the “Thunder,” and will come to Verizon and Vodafone as an exclusive device. The phone will reportedly have four physical keys (send, end, menu, and back), sport a hybrid CDMA EV-DO Rev. C / GSM HSPA radio, and could come equipped with a 4G LTE component. Outside Waterloo’s labs, the device could be known as the BlackBerry 9500 — though it’s possible that designation could change. BGR has included a self-made mockup (above) of what the device may look like, but as of now, no one has laid eyes on this mythical creature.

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Filed under: cellphones