Best Gadgets World

This is exactly the type of product that you may have once seen at an EPCOT exhibit or a future-looking tech documentary, but the difference is this is real. NetLinc is an INSTEON Central Controller that allows you to schedule and control your INSTEON home automation network from the Internet, via a browser on a PC, your Web-accessible smartphone or PDA.

The main NetLinc controller simply plugs into your existing INSTEON network, and from there, you can configure it with your computer network to grant you control from outside your home via your broadband Internet connection. NetLinc even support IP-based cameras so you can view those cameras in real-time from wherever.

This is super-cool application for your iphone or ipod Touch. If you want to see NetLinc in action, take a look at this video.

Gimme!

Price: $119.99
(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 Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation, Phones

by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 24th 2008 at 12:16AM
Sure, it was already possible (if complicated) to jailbreak a first-gen iphone running the 2.0 software under Windows, but this is the one-click tool all you crazy cats with those extra G’s need if you don’t have a Mac — too bad no one’s come up with a better name than “pwn” yet. Please, people. Let’s do better.

PS.- As usual, you run the risk of totally destroying your phone mucking around with this stuff, so don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Update: winpwn.com is down already, mirrors in the comments!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: cellphones

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 8:04PMOne of the longest-running — and certainly most fascinating — soap operas in the entire wireless world, the seemingly endless patent drama between Nokia and Qualcomm, has finally drawn to an amicable (dare we say anti-climactic) close. After just a single day of arbitration, the two firms have basically agreed to a patent swap, allowing Nokia to use all of Qualcomm’s patents and vice versa. Furthermore, Nokia is just stone-cold handing over a bunch of patents it holds related to GSM, WCDMA, and OFDMA, which presumably means companies that are currently licensing those patents can get ready to start writing those checks to Qualcomm. What’s more, Espoo’s dropping its anti-competition claims against Qualcomm in Europe — but beyond that, specific terms (read: cash money) weren’t disclosed beyond the typical PR pleasantries that both sides are happy with the outcome. If this means we finally have to retire our Nokia-Qualcomm starburst graphic, we’re going to pout like little children, so we can only hope these two lovebirds find something else to squabble over in the not-too-distant future.

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Filed under: cellphones

Filed in archive Tip by jim on July 24, 2008

<!– –>

One of the best ways to improve your digital photographic skills is to engage in an exchange with other digital photographers.

I can't tell you how much help I was able to get with film camera restoration and panoramic and stereo photography from various photographic forums, and more recently for my Kodak P880 digital camera, from various forums.

It hasn't all been take either; I've also helped a fair number of fellow photo buffs with their problems.

You'll meet all sorts of interesting people on these forums from rank amateurs to seasoned pros who are more than happy to share their years of experience and knowledge.

Here's an excellent general photography website with some helpful digital camera and photography forums.

Take a camera with you whenever possible, and look around, you'll find a picture somewhere.

Source:www.jimippolito.com

by Ryan Block, posted Jul 24th 2008 at 2:11AM
Creative’s got yet another on the way: the Zen Mosaic, which will have a 1.8-inch display, 2, 4, or 8GB capacities, FM tuner, speakers, MP3 / WMA / WAV / Audible codec support, and 32 hours of battery life. They’re apparently starting in Singapore and working their way over, but they shouldn’t top $200 when they’re eventually announced for the US.

[Thanks, Rube]

Read - Announced details on the player [Via EpiZenter]
Read - First hands-on

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 6:46PM
We’ve been keeping an eye on Aldebaran’s NAO robot since before it even took its first steps, and it now looks like the little guy is finally set to try to make it on its own in the wild world of the commercial market. That word comes courtesy of an exhaustive white paper posted by Aldebaran on the arXiv website, which also includes the helpful little detail that the bot will cost interested laboratories about €10,000 (or roughly $15,600). Unfortunately, there’s no indication as to exactly when the bot will be available, but those in the market for one can at least tide themselves a bit over by pouring over the details available in the PDF at the link below.

[Via Slashdot]

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Filed under: Robots

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 6:46PM
We’ve been keeping an eye on Aldebaran’s NAO robot since before it even took its first steps, and it now looks like the little guy is finally set to try to make it on its own in the wild world of the commercial market. That word comes courtesy of an exhaustive white paper posted by Aldebaran on the arXiv website, which also includes the helpful little detail that the bot will cost interested laboratories about €10,000 (or roughly $15,600). Unfortunately, there’s no indication as to exactly when the bot will be available, but those in the market for one can at least tide themselves a bit over by pouring over the details available in the PDF at the link below.

[Via Slashdot]

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Filed under: Robots

Well, isn’t this pretty nifty?! You can complain all you want about elevated gas prices, but the facts remain. You can whine until the cows come home, but none of your woes will change the price of fuel. It’s time to stop complaining and start taking action. Driving less and walking more is a way to not only save some money, but a fine way to save the environment and get some exercise as well.

And wouldn’t you know it? Google has added a cool new feature onto their direction mapping service. Just like when you get directions by car, you enter your place of origin and your destination, but once you hit submit and get the automobile results, you’ll see a “Walking” option on the upper left pane, next to the “For car” option.

Now as Google usually does with new services, the Walking directions option is still in beta, but while taking it for a test-run, the infrastructure and delivery seemed pretty tight. The service lists the itinerary pretty much like its car companion, though cutting out the unsafe walking roads. We don’t want to be walking through any freeways.

All in all, Google has made a pretty cool addition to their family of tools and services. The walking directions will surely inspire some people to let the car sit for awhile as they go for their new found walking treks. If you want to give the service a test run for yourself, just head over to Google Maps.

Google Maps Walking Directions via Treehugger

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by Paul Miller, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 11:10AM
Freshfaced AMD CEO Dirk Meyer hyped the firm’s upcoming Atom-challenging processor the other day, calling it “Bobcat,” and promising a November reveal. We’d think he’d be the guy to know, but now we’re hearing seemingly conflicting words from AMD’s Chief Marketing Officer, Nigel Dessau. Dessau says AMD is “watching… rather than playing” to see what becomes of the netbook segment. As Ars Technica points out, Dirk Meyer was only promising to announce a chip in November, not release one, so perhaps both of these statements are in step with each other, or maybe they’re just thinking of different processor applications altogether, but for a company that’s lacked a clear focus and a true Intel killer for the past couple of years, this sort of potential doublethink isn’t helping anything.

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Filed under: Laptops