Best Gadgets World

by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 4:38PM It’s not all that often we see a video card get dissected, but it’s also not very often that we see a card with as much hardware as NVIDIA’s new top-end GeForce GTX 280, which proved to be enough to get the folks at Custom PC to crack one open for a looksee. As you can see above, after removing more than a few screws, they were able to take a peak at the card’s lone, massive GPU, which not surprisingly produces enough heat to require the huge cooler and heat sink that conceals it. Of course, they also put the card through its paces and, while they did find that it’s bar-none the fast single GPU card out there, the performance compared to a GeForce 9800 GX2 makes the situation a bit murkier, especially given the GTX 280’s hefty price tag and lofty system requirements. That apparently wasn’t enough to keep it from getting their seal of approval, however, with it earning a more than respectable 84% rating.

Read - Custom PC, “Taking apart the GeForce GTX 280″
Read - Custom PC, GeForce GTX 280 Review

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 8:04PM
Remember that Gaze prototype we showed you, oh, not even a week ago? Turns out, a similar setup has received a healthy amount of funding from the EU, and unlike sluggish systems of the past, this one may enable people with severe motor disabilities to engage in 3D gaming. Communication by Gaze Interaction (COGAIN) is designed to speed up the eye-computer interfacing by recognizing when users look off screen; in doing so, the system can switch between modes or perform any number of tasks not easily accomplished by simply peering in a different direction. Reportedly, Stephen Vickers (the creator of this fantastic stuff) is hoping to begin software trials within the next dozen months, though future implementation still remains somewhat fuzzy at the moment.

[Thanks, Iddo]

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Filed under: Displays, Misc. gadgets, Gaming

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 7:01PM
Alienware was making some noise earlier today about being first out the gate with NVIDIA’s new GeForce GTX 280 cards, but HP’s gaming division isn’t about get shown up: it’s launching the HP Blackbird 002 Exhilaration Edition which features two GTX 280 cards in SLI today, and it says it’ll be shipping almost a month sooner than Alienware for $6,600 — just over a thousand dollars less than a similar Area-51 setup. That’s fightin’ talk, people — hopefully these two will get their prices down to something actually reasonable by the time this is all over.

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 6:41PMApologies for the onslaught of acronyms up there, but here’s the skinny: Adder has just loosed its AdderLink X-DVI, which claims to be the “world’s first extender to send both USB and DVI signals over the same CAT6 cable.” Reportedly, the KVM supports the extension of USB keyboards / mice and high-definition video over distances up to 165-feet, and just in case any updates make their way down in the future, the unit is “fully flash upgradeable.” There’s nary a mention of price, but it should be available through various worldwide distribution partners this fall.

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Filed under: Peripherals

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 3:29PM
NVIDIA just launched its new GeForce GTX 280 graphics cards earlier today, but you know the crazy kids over at Alienware don’t like to wait for the latest and greatest — Dell’s gaming division has already announced Area-51 configurations that include the new cards. The Area-51 7500 will support one GTX 280-based card, while the top-of-the-line Area-51 ALX will offer a three-way SLI option that’s sure to render an image of your empty wallet in no time — it’s a $1,700 option. No word on when these are scheduled to ship, but seeing as the cards are out tomorrow, we’d guess it’ll be soon.

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

If you were underwhelmed with Mr. Jobs iPhone GPS demo like me, take heart.  While the demo was fun, it wasn’t too practical a tool, I mean if you’ve got GPS then you want turn by turn navigation.  Something big is around the corner and I believe it has Google’s fingerprints all over it.  The iPhone SDK forbids developers to produce a real-time navigation application so we know there are protecting someone.

Some rumors have said Tom Tom was that someone.  But it looks to me like they built their app on a jailbroken iphone, so that puts them at risk.  I don’t think that is going to happen.

The Google map application has been on the phone since day one.  Google Maps is a great resource in its own right and the point by point directions are great.  But what is Google waiting for to jump into the navigation market?  They’ve built phone apps, they’ve got a POI database, they want to serve advertisements to us that are locally significant (one thing all competitors can’t do yet).  This would be a coup for them to jump on.

I believe we’ll see Google complete it’s mapping circle with navigation.  Anyone care to guess why Google or Apple didn’t want to announce this last week?  Let us know in the comments.

Read [Engadget]

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Wish to clean up your house without disturbing others? Then try out the new Electrolux Harmony Vacuum Cleaner. Fitted with soft wheels, this new vacuum cleaner from Electrolux lets you clean up your whole house quietly with low-noise floor nozzle. Incorporating a sound-insulated motor for quiet performance, Electrolux Harmony Vacuum Cleaner offers one of the easiest ways to clean up almost any kind of a mess in your house.

Features

• Cleans all surfaces with ease.
• Lightweight design and ergonomic handles.
• Effortless storage.
• Prevents air escape.

Electrolux Harmony Vacuum Cleaner features a dust bad indicator that tells you when the bag is full. Use Electrolux Harmony Vacuum Cleaner for cleaning, furniture, drapes, floors and cupboards with ease. The box content of Electrolux Harmony Vacuum Cleaner comprises of a 1 s Bag Classic, 1 HEPA H12 Filter, Instruction Manual and Harmony Vacuum Cleaner.

Price and Availability

Electrolux Harmony Vacuum Cleaner is available at a price range of $ 200 to $ 300.

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Considered as one of the most unique lighting products, the Laserpod is actually a techno appeal gadget. Having a desktop size, the laserpod can split three electronic lasers and ultraviolet LEDs into a hand-cut faceted crystal creating some memorable mood lighting. Experience the best of lighting effects with its subtler colors and organic rays.

Features

• Changing patterns, colors and textures.
• Splits three electronic lasers.
• Three high-intensity blue and ultraviolet LEDs.
• Innovative lighting product.

Laserpod is an easily portable device that can work up to 8 hours on three Alkaline AA batteries or from an AC adaptor. The box content of Laserpod comprises of an aluminium laserpod projector lamp unit, electroplated tall domed diffuser, electroplated small domes diffuser, crystal, ridget glass refractor lens, DC adaptor, battery compartment, laserpod book of light and instruction leaflet.

Price and Availability

Laserpod is available at a price of $ 69.99.

Source : Thinkgeek

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FROM GAMERTELL - Alienware’s Area 51 m15x notebook is not as steeply priced as other Alienware products yet steeped with the brands trademark technological brilliance.
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While the official announcement of the Tony Hawk branded Sidekick LX showed us a neat new limited edition model, it also gave up some details on just what every other current Sidekick LX users had to look forward to, most notably the soon-to-come video capture support.

Well the good news is that the update will begin to roll out in a little over a week from now. Coming in the form of an over-the-air update it is scheduled to begin on June 25 and will be rolling out, as opposed to hitting everyone at the same time. Which means that in the past it has taken upwards of 4 weeks to reach everyone, so while the update is well worth the wait, try and be patient if yours does not arrive on the first day.

Aside from the video capture support, there is a whole slew of other features which include the ability to send or receive photos, videos, or music via Bluetooth, QuickFind, and no more restarting after a download.

• Capture videos using the new video mode
• Playback from the SD card or email attachments using the media player
• Share videos via email, Picture messaging, and Bluetooth
• Listen to songs or videos using a stereo Bluetooth device
• Send and receive photos, videos, or music via Bluetooth
• 3 IM clients & enhancements to AIM® and Yahoo!® Messenger
• Create and join group chats
• See who is logged into IM from the address book or email and instantly start a conversation
• Set a custom status message then keep chatting
• Search for friends in a buddy list
• Got more buddies than you can keep track of? See who’s online right from the address book or email, and search for friends in your buddy lists
• Select how Web pages are displayed based on preference
• PC-like, full-size layout to pan & scan while reading o Standard Sidekick screen-size layout to simply scroll down the page to read · Mini Page to zoom out on an overview of an entire Web page
• Save images from Web pages to the SD card Personalize the way you want to surf
• Device does not restart after a download. Just install an item, and it’s ready to use
• Capture videos and share them directly from the Camera app
• Video integration for playback, send, and save to gallery
• QuickFind: search for keywords across applications to find messages or information
• Spell Checker

Via [BGR]

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