Best Gadgets World

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 21st 2008 at 7:57AM
If you’re an owner of the first generation iPhone then one of the (many) annoyances you’ve discovered with your new curvy and slightly chubbier 3G sib is the fact that it won’t fit your existing dock — be it the dock bundled with the iPhone or with the Bluetooth headset. To make matters worse, Apple chose not to bundle a compatible dock with the iphone 3G — you have to purchase that separately for $29… you know, assuming you can find it. Fortunately, that old dock can be made into a suitable charging base for your iPhone 3G with just a bit of simple Dremel action and elbow grease. Sounds like a bargain to us.

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Filed under: cellphones, Peripherals

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 21st 2008 at 4:25AM
Look, that USB-powered fish tank was fine during your teenage years of irresponsibility, but it’s really about time you started acting your age. Of course, we’re not suggesting you actually work harder — just smarter, is all. The DIY Automatic Fish Feeder is an exceptionally cheap, easy and almost life-changing creation that will never, ever forget to keep your fishes well fed and well lit. By attaching a makeshift pill bottle dispenser to a timer, Baha Tanju was able to create an automatic feeder that barely requires any attention. We know fish have a way of forgetting everything they ever knew every three seconds or so, but they’ll love you three seconds at a time for never leaving ‘em hungry.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

by Ryan Block, posted Jul 21st 2008 at 3:06AM
Not a ton’s changed with Creative’s ZEN X-Fi — which we all well know at this point — so for right now we’re just paying closer attention to its innards all broken out like a science fair project. Careful, the teardown link below contains graphic representations of disrobed consumer electronics.

[Thanks, Josh and Mindy]

Read - Zen X-Fi teardown
Read - Anything But ipod’s review
Read - Pocketables review

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 21st 2008 at 6:43AM
AOC did a stellar job of knocking off some rust and catching our eyes with the downright stylish 2230Fm, and the inclusion of a self-sustaining media player was also worthy of a closer look. Thankfully, the kind folks over at Gear Diary managed to get ahold of one such unit and put it through the paces, and in the end, it seems as if more positives were noticed than negatives. As an LCD, it was viewed as top notch; visuals were crystal clear, colors were sharp and accurate and ghosting was non-existent. The built-in audio and slideshow players were lackluster at best, but the integrated video player did a phenomenal job of handling a myriad formats and making things look right at home on the 22-inch panel. Granted, we still wonder who will actually use said media player if this gets connected to your home computer anyway, but for those who’ve conjured up a plan, hit the read link for the full review before buying blind.

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Filed in archive Opinion by jim on July 21, 2008

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Many people, especially Americans, think that bigger is better, and many times that's true, but not always.

Bigger is better for bank account balances but not necessarily for diamonds for example. A smaller stone with fewer or only tiny flaws looks better and is more valuable than a large one with visible flaws.

But many people are obsessed with numbers such as zoom lens ratios and these days the number of megapixels a digital camera's sensor has.

As I've said in past postings, there are other factors that determine the quality of a digital image besides the number of megapixels. Lens quality, the camera's onboard firmware, and the quality of the camera's digital sensor itself all contribute to the overall result.

Several years ago a friend had her wedding professionally photographed by a pro who used a ten state of the art Canon Rebel 6 mp DSLR.

The results were fabulous and looked as if the pictures were done with a mega bucks film camera such as a Leica or Hasselblad.

Now, we have digital cameras that boast sensors upwards of 13 mp. In fact even I have 8.3 and 9.3 megapixel cameras, modestly prices ones.

Does that mean that I would achieve better results than the pro did a few years ago? No, first off she's a pro and knows how to get the most out of a given camera, so that's a factor.

If you’re in the market for a serious business oriented smartphone that is also stylish and gives you some personal ‘toys’, then look no further than the 3G Sony Ericsson P1i. The P1i is a touchscreen smartphone with a slew of connectivity options like GSM and UMTS, Bluetooth, IR port, modem, and USB.

For productivity, you have on-the-go document editing, calendar and contacts application, task lists and notes, and even handwriting recognition among many others. The e-mail application supports syncing back to an Exchange and a standard POP3 e-mail client.

For your personal life, you’ve got a built-in photo and video camera, video viewing, a music player, RSS feeds, and numerous applications. The video camera also integrates with the phone for video calls on UMTS networks! With a talk-time of up to 10hrs on GSM, this is perfect for business folks who don’t always get back to their homes every night to recharge.

Gimme!

More info from the manufacturer

Price: $419.95
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Posted in Cameras and Photo, Phones, Portable

Man, I’d be pissed if I were an AT&T iPhone user, and I’m pretty sure you would be too, after reading all about your mobile carrier offering free Wi-Fi access to the precious iPhone, only to retract that statement shortly thereafter. I don’t mean to place the importance of having free Wi-Fi access alongside more important things in life, but to have a company offer the hope of such convenience only to pull back its statement a while later can be quite a killjoy. Worse still is the fact that this is not the first time as it has happened before, which pretty much reminds me of Aesop’s Fables and the boy who cried wolf. While any publicity (good or otherwise) is supposed to be good, one such as this leaving no goodwill whatsoever will be viewed with disdain by the majority.

This gaffe comes about within less than half a year as AT&T mistakenly published a notice on its Web site indicating that Apple iphone users would get free access to the wireless operator’s more than 17,000 Wi-Fi hot spots around the country. This news has been reported since Friday morning with claims that the notice has been live before 8:30 a.m. PDT, but it is presumed that AT&T folk managed to catch wind of it shortly thereafter, removing it by 9.30am. I wonder whether it was a blog-reading employee who traced down this error?

The notice published in error before it was removed is as follows: “AT&T knows Wi-Fi is hot, and free Wi-Fi even hotter, which is why we are proud to offer iPhone customers free access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi hot-spot network with more than 17,000 hot spots, including Starbucks. Now users can relax and access music, e-mail, and Web browsing services with their favorite blend in hand from the comfort of their favorite location.”

Source: CNET

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How do you make a Lego Mindstorms robotic kit solve puzzles independently, without the need of an aid computer? Just ask Hans Andersson, the designer behind the Tilted Twister, an autonomous robot which was made using nothing but pieces from the Lego Mindstorms NXT kit.

A set of ultrasonic sensors detect when you place the Rubik’s Cube on the Tilted Twister. The Lego bot can then calculate the moves needed for a solution and executes the proper movement. And the coolest thing about it all? It does this all on its lonesome.

The Tilted Twister flips the cube around to scan each side using a HiTechnic sensor color detection system. The real challenge was creating an algorithm that both complied with the NXT’s computing capabilities and didn’t take years to finish. Lucky for Andersson, he’s figured out a way for the whole process to be finished in an average of 60 moves.

The whole solving process takes about 6 minutes total. While it might not be a pure speed demon, it’s pretty impressive what some people can do with nothing more than a set of Legos. For a more in-depth look at the Titlted Twister and for your own building instructions, check out the official website.

Project Page via Hacked gadgets

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by Darren Murph, posted Jul 20th 2008 at 9:46PM
We’ve had our fair share of laughs from Zune Guy’s obsession with inking his body with permanent reminders of just how infatuated he is with Redmond’s PMP, but we must say, it’s a bit weirder to see someone coming ever closer to doing the same with our logo. Apparently one Egor Lavrov has established a tattoo contest in which he accepts donations as votes for logos, and after the polls close, he has agreed to give 25% of the money raised to charity and 25% to the person who submitted the winning tattoo idea. Oh, and he’s going to get the most highly ranked image inked on his arm. We’d be dubious about paying to cast a vote (read: we’d refrain entirely), but what’s up with our model being on steroids, anyway?

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Filed under: Wearables

We’re not really sure how the airplane became the vehicle of choice for parents to use as a meal incentive for children. You’d think an airplane flying towards a baby’s face would scare the living hell out of them. But nope, apparently pretending a fork is a flying vessel is an effective way of getting your kid to eat. It’s all about catching the young one’s interest.

But to me this is sort of deceptive. We spend two years or more telling kids that their fork is an airplane, and then another ten years telling them NOT to play with their food. Is this not a tad counterproductive? If you want to play mind games with your kids, at least do it with some realism and dignity. The Airfork One at least LOOKS like a plane.

Encased in food-grade, dishwasher-safe silicone, the 6.5-inch stainless steel Airfork One means that you take some of the guess work away from your kid. Sure, now when you tell them that their fork is an airplane, they no longer need to flex their imagination to not feel totally deceived, but something tells me that the Airfork is much more apt to catch a child’s eye than your baby voice and a standard utensil.

When it comes to feeding your kids, you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. We understand that some children are so stubborn that they would starve if it weren’t for a few mind games. Sure, why not, it’s an airplane. Just eat your food, for the love of God.

Product Page via Trend Hunter

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