Best Gadgets World

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted May 27th 2008 at 11:47AM
When it comes to subsidy rumors for Apple’s 3G iphone, some are more believable than others. In this case, we’ll leave the likelihood judgments up to you. Readers of French tech site PCInpact say that they are getting calls from Orange with offers of an upgrade to the upcoming Apple wonderphone. For only 50€, readers say they have been told they can swap out their current-gen iPhone for the new one. Or, say the French, the upgrade will be offered at a “generous” discount. With Orange’s recent 3G iPhone distro deal in the books, we had to give this rumor some airtime. Either way, this could mean everything — or absolutely nothing — for those of you residing stateside and looking to bump your iPhone this summer.

[Via AppleInsider]

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Filed under: cellphones

Wired reviews the Paml Centro and writes, “The Palm Centro is like the friend you call when you need to be bailed out of jail: Reliable, smart and capable of getting the job done. But its dependable nature also means it’s not exactly the handset you want to party with…No WiFi or integrated GPS (a Bluetooth GPS receiver is optional). Short three-hour battery life. The 1.3-megapixel camera captured crap-quality photos. Plastic housing feels like it could be busted by a strong wind.”

Read more about the Palm Centro.

by Donald Melanson, posted May 27th 2008 at 1:48PM Geotagging devices are cropping up at a pretty steady pace these days, and it looks like you can now add one more company to the bandwagon, with Sellgino now showing off its GS-200 GPS Photo Tour device. Like other similar options out there, this one relies on your photo’s EXIF data to match ‘em up with the locations logged by the GPS receiver (a SiRF Star III, in this case), with some software provided to merge all that data together and plot out your travels on Google Maps. Somewhat more uniquely, this one will also double as a USB handset for VoIP calls (hence the design), and it can apparently be used as an external USB drive, though it’s not clear how much storage space it packs. No word on a price or release date either, unfortunately.

[Via Slash Gear]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, GPS

Borders’ seven-year online marriage to Amazon is back in the trial separation phase. For the first time since 2001, you can actually order books, DVD’s and music from the company itself on your computer, even as Borders admits it is pursuing a possible sale of the company. Its CEO tells the Associated Press that a sale won’t matter; a web presence will be necessary for the bookseller’s business model no matter who owns Borders.

Most analysts say Borders still has a fight on its hands with Amazon for the hearts and minds of booklovers everywhere. Jeff Bezos’ company remains the 800-pound gorilla in cyberspace and with new ventures like the Kindle e-reader and Amazon Web Services for developers, it’s aiming at new levels of influence within the overall technology industry.

Borders’ new, easy-to-navigate website with a “magic shelf” for staff-chosen recommendations is a good first step, but if the company hopes to make an online strategy succeed - while hanging on to most bricks-and-mortar locations - it will have to get its software engineers working on innovative mobile applications. Borders’ existing incentive programs, like rewards and coupons, need to find a destination on cell phones and other handheld devices and the company should find a way to allow immediate redemption as consumers check their email via phone as they walk by a store. The company wouldn’t even have to use Bluetooth for redemption; clerks could just record the redemption code off the consumers’ cell phone screen. We know that new wireless and software technologies will soon allow retailers to beam coupons directly to cell phones when they get within range of a store. All this will obviously require more money and R&D investment, perhaps provided by deep-pocketed new owners, whoever they may be.

Read [Associated Press] Visit [Borders.com]

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Gadgetnutz reviews the HTC Touch and writes, “The biggest “black mark” against this phone is not the fault of HTC or Sprint - it is Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile is in need of an upgrade, it generally takes two to three times as many clicks to perform simple tasks and it can be “clunky.” While the HTC Touch Flo is essentially a “shell” that functions on top of Windows Mobile, you won’t be able to escape the Windows Mobile screens…The other thing this phone needs is a full keyboard in order to be a full functioning messaging and email device. HTC has already announced a version of the Touch with a slide out Keyboard - that could be a killer device and compete nicely with the LG Voyager and other phones.”

Read more about the HTC Touch.

All coasters are just the same, right? I love those that feature my favorite lager, but this Solar Powered Drinks Coaster will probably usurp that preference .

Placing your drinks glass or bottle onto the solar drinks coasters sets off a mesmerizing sequence of hypnotic colors, which illuminate your glass and drinks bottle and will look fantastic in your garden this summer. Eye-catching colors include red, orange, blue, green, yellow and purple, making these solar color-changing coasters a guaranteed talking point! An integral solar panel that charges up during the day is used to power your solar coasters and an energy efficient color-changing LED produces the vibrant multi-colored effects for up to 6 hours.

It isn’t too cheap though at £14.95 each, which means equipping your whole bar will cost you a small fortune.

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OK, so we realize that Steampunk gadgetry might be so last month, but we couldn’t resist sharing this excellent USB flash drive. The second our gaze met the vision of this Russian-made peripheral, we knew that many other cheap USB thingamabobs just wouldn’t measure up any longer.

We haven’t quite gotten past our Steampunk phase. So sue us (please don’t.) There’s something about the metallic hand-polished brass and copper that makes us feel like we’re living in a cyber punk sci-fi novel, and what geek hasn’t wished for that once or thrice.

To check out some close-ups of the gorgeous flash drive, hop over to the Modding.ru forum (which we have lovingly linked below, fully translated in English), as well as a chance to witness the creation of a wooden case for the device which truly adds a Steam piece of flair.

Of course, the Steampunk USB drive, much like all Steampunk products, would look even cooler when partnered up with other Steampunk gadgets, such as the Steampunk Webcam and Steampunk Laptop.

Forum Page via Pocket-Lint

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Instant messaging programs have launched the creation of a whole new language. Yes, IM speak. Where every word is abbreviated and every emotion can be expressed with three symbols. Our new language really speeds things up.

Though with as much emoting has been done via IM over the last decade, relatively little has been done to aid our emoticon habit. Sure, most IM applications now come stock with a click menu for the commonly used smiley faces, but most of us still like to use our hands for speed purposes. The look@me keyboard is made especially for emoticons.

Featuring all of the commonly used (and even the not so commonly used) symbols which compose our online emotions, the look@me keyboard reminds us of the old accounting number pads. No calculations here. This is about pure and simple emoting fun.

If you already have your heart set at picking up one of these look@me keyboards, you might be out of luck. It seems for now that it is no more than a pipe dream in the designers mind. We’re not quite sure how an emoticon keyboard would sell anyway, since everyone is already so use to the older way of doing things.

Designboom

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Here’s something to make us envy our mobile phone savvy friends in Japan yet again. The Sharp Willcom 03 smartphone was announced in Japan, and boasts an innovative interface heralded by a split touchscreen feature, wherein the lower part can switch between a key and a media button layout. This is in addition to the standard slide out QWERTY keyboard. Like we said, the Sharp Willcom 03 is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 and as such, although not explicitly mentioned by Sharp and Willcom, it might come with pre-installed mobile office applications.

In addition, this phone offers a 3-inch touch screen display, powered by Marvell PXA270 processor at 520 MHz, USB, IrSS, Bluetooth and microSD card slot for storage expansion. The Sharp Willcom 03 will come in Pink, Gold or Lime and will be priced at around $611 once it hits the Japanese streets, which is expected sometime soon.

Product [Sharp Willcom] Via [I4U News]

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While the latest round of details to surface for the Paris are not exactly as flattering as the rest, this should still prove to be a worthy handset. The new details that have come to light reveal a solid offering coming from SE. The P5 is a slider style phone with a QWERTY keyboard and will be UIQ based.

The handset also offers a touch sensitive display with one-touch screen rotation, the ability to browse or view bookmarks without sliding the handset open and one-touch zoom in/out navigation.

The Samsung based camera with auto-focus comes in at a nice 5-megapixels, and we can also expect to find Wi-Fi, an FM radio and standard Walkman player. The included GPS will default to Google Maps, however WayFinder 7 will also be installed as a trial option. Finally there will be support for Microsoft Office documents.

We also now know that the Paris is expected to retail for 400 Euros and is rumored to include UIQ 3.3 and Opera 9.5 at the time it ships. As of now it is expected to be available in early September.

Via [Mobile-Review] Image [My Symbian Forums]

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