Best Gadgets World

After 5 days now with the new iPhone 3G my feeling is, “well done, Apple”. Well done on the hype, the expectations, the ability to get people to line up day after day for fear that iPhones will soon become extinct, even though more and more get “unexpectedly shipped” each day. Do I sound bitter? Actually, I did very little waiting in line, although I gawked a lot, because it was a hot, hot weekend and I saw people looking near death as they waited for hours in the sun.

The lines were spectacular, and all made possible by the in-store activation that was required for each iPhone sold, a procedure made interminable by the overload on the iTunes servers. Last year, when the iphone came out, I decided to wait until the fanatics all had theirs and there was no wait, and that turned out to be about 2 hours after they went on sale. Well this year, there are lots of people still pining for an iPhone, and many red “sold-out” notices on the iPhone availability site. If you’re planning on stopping by the Apple store for your iPhone, thinking the craze has died down, I’d strongly advise you check the site to make sure your store has stock first. The list is only live while the store is closed so you have to check the night before.

On to the phone itself…

Sony has just introduced the new VAIO Z Series notebooks that brings a sleek and powerful machine in a lightweight package. It tips the scales at slightly over 3 pounds, featuring a vivid 13.1″ widescreen display backed by Sony’s own XBRITE-DuraView LCD technology that offers scratch-resistant durability and 100% color saturation. Depending on the model chosen, you will be able to get a maximum high resolution 1,600 x 900 widescreen display, offering a wider workspace compared to a standard display despite sharing the same footprint. The keyboard panel is covered by a seamless sheet of brushed aluminum, framing its individual keys. Spaces between keys have been precisely engineered to create a comfortable typing experience so that mistakes can be avoided, but it is always better to get off on the right footing beforehand.

The unit is housed in a durable carbon-fiber casing to help endure the knocks, bumps and accidents common to frequent travel. It also incorporates G-Sensor Shock Protection technology to counteract sudden movements helping to prevent damage and data loss. It is powered by new Intel Centrino 2 technology, the chipset designed for sizzling performance, unbelievable system responsiveness, and energy efficiency. Road warriors will love its built-in 802.11n wireless LAN capabilities making it faster and easier to connect to compatible wireless networks with greater performance and range than ever before. For blazing-fast wireless access beyond networks and hotspots, the unit features optional built-in wireless Sprint Mobile Broadband, the nation’s largest wireless broadband network.

In addition, you will be able to choose the optional Blu-ray Disc optical drive if you want to enjoy high definition movies on the go, although the screen doesn’t exactly do the images justice. You’d best use the included HDMI output though, so make sure there is a full HD-ready TV or projector at home to maximize this feature. Other features include a biometric fingerprint sensor, a Trusted Platform Module compliant chip and proprietary hard disk drive password protection software that prevents protected data from unauthorized access. Prices start from $1,800 upwards, while an SSD model will begin at $2,300.

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Yogurt Ice Blended from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is cold, refreshing, NON-FAT, contains 4 active cultures, and is packed with protein. Like the Coffee Bean’s brew, it’s not too sweet. It has a tangy bite and comes in 3 tasty flavors - Strawberry, Mango and Original (my personal favorite). My grilfriend - and guinea pig - prefers the mango for the citrus boost.

A relatively guilt-free treat, it’s made with non-fat yogurt with four very lively cultures, with 25% to 50% of the total recommended daily calcium intake and between 9 to 18 grams of protein per serving.

But don’t take our word for it. We’ll be giving away free coupons to Popgadget Drop email subscribers. Sign up here for our free emails.

The Dell E mini-laptop has been previously rumored to be coming this August, and while an announcement still has not come officially from Dell that does not seem to be stopping anyone.

DigiTimes has become the latest to add some ‘proof’ to this launch timeframe, claiming that “according to the market sources” this has been confirmed. The Dell E, will enter what has become an overflowing market, however even with their fairly standard offering they should prove to do better than some of the competition just because of the name factor.

The Dell E is expected to be powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor and be running Linux. The Dell E will feature an 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 resolution display, 512MB of RAM, a built-in 0.3-megapixel webcam, Wi-Fi 802.11g and a 4GB SSD.

While the specs are not anything that we have not seen before, the price is expected to be nice, coming in at $299.

Via [DigiTimes]

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Sony has announced several new models of its famous VAIO notebook series. One of these is the VAIO BZ series notebooks geared for the business and IT professional. This lightweight notebook PC features a 15.4-inch LCD widescreen display with an option to have an anti-glare screen using Sony’s XBRITE-ECO LCD technology. The VAIO BZ series notebooks are also said to be made of a durable magnesium alloy casing and include a G-Sensor Shock Protection technology that would protect the machine from bumps, knocks and accidents usually encountered by users who bring their notebook PCs while traveling.

Now for its technical specs, the Sony Vaio BZ notebooks feature Intel Centrino 2 processors, Wi-Fi 802.11, biometric fingerprint sensors, a Trusted Platform Module compliant chip, hard disk drive password protection software for data security, Windows Vista OS with an option to downgrade to XP and other hardware configurations that would depend on users needs. In addition, the Sony Vaio BZ notebook series are Energy Star 4.0 and EPEAT compliant and are said to incorporate some environment-friendly features including mercury-free LED backlit LCD. And finally, like we said the VAIO BZ notebook series is a lightweight piece of hardware weighing less than 6 pounds.

The Sony VAIO BZ notebooks will be available later this month and retail starting at around $1000.

Read [Sony Press Room]

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If you’ve never tried screaming to your lungs’ full capacity, you really don’t know what you’re missing. But what if you don’t live in the woods, away from all other humans? What if you have neighbors who aren’t supportive of your efforts to rid your body of primal pain. Screaming into a pillow just doesn’t cut it when you really want to scream from the depths of your soul.

Japan Trend Shop sells this shouting vase for $79. It’s a plastic thingy that goes over your mouth and converts your explosive, pained, angry, gut-wrenching cries into little whispers that come out at the other end. Hmm, I don’t know. How much of the release you feel after screaming comes from merely letting it out? Without hearing your screams pierce through your brain, do you get the full therapeutic value? Will this vase merely mock your pain by turning your torrents into insignificant droplets?

Via Random Good Stuff.

Some developers are getting fed up.  Just a few months ago, they were the hope for higher level of happiness with our phone.  Now, they’ve become teenagers: depressed, full of angst, holding ill will toward “the man”.  In the developer forum, a petition has been presented that is gaining some steam with a reasonable list of demands: let us know WTF is going on.” I am paraphrasing here.

With this past weekends news of 10 million iPhone apps (and I am personally addicted to sifting through the App Store in my free time - damn Apple), you’ve got to wonder how strong a temptation it is just to give up on Android’s promises and move on.  Surely Google is feeling some of this:

In my personal opinion it is not the right choice to keep developers in the dark. We, the developers, are the absolute base of success to the whole Android platform. The presentation with GoogleIO was a goodfirst step but for me it was nto enough.

I am not keen to find out I’ve painted myself into a corner over the summer when an SDK update finally comes out. I guess I’ll hang out at the beach more. Summer of no code…

i lost patience long ago. will keep coding/waiting untill the end of july. then ill eigther switch to the iphone (if sells are good) or windows mobile. i see absolutely no use in working with a barely finished SDK on an emulator without a piece of hardware in my hand. mobile phone development is no fun if you cant test it MOBILE.

Then we have a supposed quote from Google that says they are considering a branded mobile phone: the Gphone lives!!!  Doubt it.

Petition: [Google Forum] Related article [the register]

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The LG LX400 offers a 1.3 magapixel camera with digital zoom as well as the following features:

* support for Nextel’s Direct Connect push-to-talk network
* mobile e-mail
* GPS
* Bluetooth
* picture messaging.
* camcorder

Via MobileWhack.

The Nokia 3608 is a clamshell phone offering a 1.3 megapixel camera as well as the following features:

* dual color displays
* 2.0″ 262k color TFT, 176×220 pixel resolution main display
* 65k color TFT, 128×128 pixel resolution sub-display
* GPS support
* external touch sensitive music keys
* FM radio
* 15MB internal memory
* support for microSD memory cards as large as 4GB in size
* Bluetooth v2.0+EDR support
* speaker independent voice dialing application
* CDMA 800/1900MHz

Via MobileBurn.

Dell has just announced that it will start offering a free software update for Latitude XT owners that will bring them multi-touch capabilities on their XT machines. By upgrading their XT’s firmware users will be able to maximize the full real estate of their XT’s screen.

Once the XT’s firmware is upgraded, users can start using their XT’s screen to scroll through web browsers and productivity application as well as zoom in and out various contents just by placing two fingers on the screen and moving them together horizontally or vertically. Users can also program a double-tap gesture on the screen to to launch an application or to turn the machine off. This feature is somewhat similar to the multi-touch capability of the macbook air’s touchpad..

The firmware upgrade is available at http://support.dell.com. If you want to find out how this multi-touch capability works, keep on reading to watch the video demo.

Read [Dell]

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