Best Gadgets World

by Ryan Block, posted May 25th 2008 at 4:35PM
Suit up, space nerds, because the Phoenix lander is mere hours away from touchdown on Mars, and NASA’s blowing this thing out. Not only will you get a live video feed from their site, but apparently Mission Control ops will be liveblogging the touchdown and ensuing alien encouners / totally boring rock digging. Festivities kick off at about 6:00pm ET, prepare to set faces to stunned.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - Phoenix mission page
Read - NASA live video feed
Read - NASA Mission Control liveblog

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Filed under: Robots

Vudu, while maybe not attracting quite as much attention as originally hoped, are proving they are still alive in the small but welcomed movie set-top-box market. The Vudu box was originally launched back in the Fall of 2007, but sales may have been slow because of the limited availability, up till now it could only be found directly with Vudu or with Amazon.com.

However customers can now purchase the Vudu box in one of 24 Best Buy outlets in California, which should help overall sales and awareness of the product. While the management from Vudu would not comment on the strategy behind the limited availability of Best Buy locations, its safe to assume that they are most likely looking to see just how well they will sell.

According to Patrick Cosson, VP of marketing at Vudu;

“Brand awareness is growing very quickly, as our Web site traffic is growing very quickly,” said Cosson. “And it’s growing all across the country—in all kinds of markets.”

Hopefully they move well and eventually move on to stores in other states as well. Currently Vudu offers around 5,500 movies, about 1,000 TV episodes and only 150 HD movie titles. The Vudu currently retails for $295.

Via [Video Business]

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by Darren Murph, posted May 25th 2008 at 10:41AM
Sure, you’ve seen a plethora of R500 shots already, but this ultrathin Portégé has somehow managed to keep its clothes on — until now. One curious owner just couldn’t resist the urge to operate, and after careful dissection, we’re left with a handful of snaps showing off the unit’s internals. Don’t be shy, check out the whole lot in the gallery below.

[Thanks, Jai]

Gallery: Toshiba’s Portege R500 gets cautiously torn apart

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Filed under: Laptops

Solar power looks like it is here to stay, and we have so far seen solar powered cars being the Holy Grail in the fight to be independent of black gold, or rather, oil. Hybrid cars aren’t exactly catching on as fast as environmentalists prefer, and solar powered cars have not made the impact they were supposed to mainly because the technology is not yet there for a powerful, conventionally shaped vehicle that runs entirely off the sun’s rays. Never mind modes of transportation on land - here we have a solar powered speedboat that will slice through water pretty much in the same way an ordinary speedboat does, save for the fact that this one relies on the sun to power its electric engine instead.

Dubbed the Czeers MK1 prototype solar speedboat, this is the first of its kind in the world, and is capable of hitting speeds of 30 knots in full stride. It will come in shades of carbon fiber, solar cell and lush orange leather that makes it look truly out of this world. I wonder whether there will be wind-assisted versions in the future, but who knows? The Czeers MK1 is but a prototype at point of publishing, and was developed by the Dutch-based Delft Technical University Solarboat Team. Its original platform was an entry in the 2006 Nuon Frisian Solar challenge, picking up first prize whilst attracting some serious investment power from Rabobank so that a full scale test boat could be constructed.

Constructed entirely from 100% carbon fiber inlaid with leather trim, the Czeers MK1 features photovoltaic cells on almost all horizontal surfaces and an LCD touch-screen control system that will definitely drive any geek wild. It measures 10 meters in length, cramming in 14 square meters of solar panels and an 80kw electric motor. Not a single drop of oil is used, making this penguin friendly. Since it relies on an electric motor, you can bet your bottom dollar that no fumes nor engine noise will be produced, making this one quiet puppy. The current build rate stands at 4 to 8 boats a year, so these ought to cost more than your firstborn.

Source: Gizmag

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by Darren Murph, posted May 25th 2008 at 1:30PMYou never really know what all will emerge from a simple interview, and thanks to a recent sit-down with Canonical chief executive Mark Shuttleworth, we now know that a build of Ubuntu tailored for ultraportables (or subnotes, as it were) is just around the bend. According to Mr. Shuttleworth, the aforesaid software will be announced “in the first week of June,” and it’ll be called the Netbook Remix. He also noted that the outfit is currently “working with Intel, which produces chips custom-made for this sector.” Sadly, it seems we’ll have to wait a week or so before finding out more, but those interested in reading the interview in full can certainly give the read link a visit.

[Image courtesy of TurboGadgets, thanks KC Kim]

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Filed under: Laptops

by Ryan Block, posted May 25th 2008 at 1:58PM
Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of ‘em, but Hop-On’s got a new $10 disposable cellphone that goes by the name of HOP1800. Dual-band on 850/1900 or 900/1800, featuring totally rad vibrating or polyphonic MIDI ringing, Hop-On’s billing this one as the “anti-iPhone”; we’re not exactly sure what makes this the anti-iphone other than the fact that it, um, doesn’t actually do anything (except make calls), but hey, sounds like an easy way to sell some throwaway handsets.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: cellphones

We have recently seen the images and those gave a nice look at what appears to be a cross between a slightly more grown up Treo and a Centro. Those images did also give us a nice side shot that showed what appeared to be an on/off switch for the Wi-Fi and these recently leaked specs are indeed highlighting Wi-Fi as a feature, something that has been long lacking with the Treo lineup. Of course as with any leaked specs, these are highly unconfirmed and come courtesy of a “good friend.”

With that said, the details are set to include the previously mentioned Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g along with GSM, EDGE and UMTS HSDPA 3.6 support, a 2-megapixel camera, assisted-GPS, a microSD card slot which sadly is located under the 1500 mAh battery, a micro-USB connector for both power and sync, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR + A2DP, 256MB NAND-Flash with about 175MB available for the user, 32MB SDRAM, a 320 x 320 touchscreen display and running Windows Mobile Professional 6.1.

The new Treo, which is the 850 is also codenamed the Skywriter. With a solid set of specs, this should make anyone looking for a new Treo happy, but aside from the addition of Wi-Fi it just may not be enough to convince current Treo users they need to upgrade. Still waiting on any information regarding pricing and availability.

Via [TamsPPC] Via [gadgets On The Go] Image [BGR]

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It could be the first 21st century plague. Or a class action lawsuit waiting to happen. In any event, a Santa Fe, New Mexico man is leading the charge to get wireless hotspots banned from public buildings in his city, claiming he and others are ultra-sensitive to Wi-Fi radio frequencies.

No medical or scientific groups have come out yet to substantiate claims like these, which have been making the media rounds for the last couple of years; a British woman who is trying to raise awareness about what some are calling electro-sensitivity received some press last year. Her story (and even the photo of her in protective headgear, which looks like a beekeeper’s helmet) may remind you of a Todd Haynes film from 1995, “Safe,” starring Julianne Moore as a woman who was having unhealthy reactions to toxins in air, water and food - “environmental pollution.” Are we now on the cusp of spectrum sickness?

I’m ultra-sensitive to screenplay opportunities and I smell a Charlie Kaufman film in this. That is, if Judd Apatow passes.

For the record, the World Health Organization has weighed in, saying there are no direct links yet between the symptoms and Wi-Fi. ES sufferers say Wi-Fi makes them dizzy, gives them headaches and indigestion. Of course the same thing can happen to those who watch too much political coverage on television, but no one’s asking the FCC to ban cable news. Yet.

Read [KOB.com] Read [Daily Mail] Read [World Health Organization]

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GooSync, a useful tool that lets you sync your Google appointments and tasks to your smarthphone, has just added support for synchronizing your Gmail contacts as well. What’s even better is the fact that GooSync works both ways. That is, whenever you add new contacts from your Gmail accounts, it automatically updates your mobile phone’s directory the next time you run the syncing process and vice versa.

But before you get too excited and go on a syncing frenzy, there’s one catch however. Gmail contacts to mobile phone synchronization only works if you have a GooSync Premium account. To upgrade to premium account, just log-in to your GooSync account and hit the “Upgrade” button. If you’re not yet using GooSync, head over GooSync’s website and find out what you’re missing for not using this cool application.

Via [IntoMobile]

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The term “computer desk” generally refers to a desk that was made for people using a computer, right? You’ll see things like a keyboard drawer, maybe a monitor riser and perhaps even some CD holders. However, the designer of this desk has taken the term in the literal sense, and created a desk that is also a computer.

While I couldn’t ever switch to something like this, I think it is an awesome concept for high-end offices. It removes all traces of the computer, save the monitor. When upgrades or repairs are needed, just simply open the lid (I’d keep it locked to prevent employees from just opening it up and poking around) and you have complete access to all of the vital components. The only thing that appears to be lacking is a feature found on almost every simple computer desk; a keyboard drawer. Perhaps you just can’t see if from this angle, but I would hope that they included one in their design.

Source: Dvice

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