Best Gadgets World

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 22nd 2008 at 1:49AMSometime shortly after Philips introduced it first digital photo frame — let’s call it CES, January 2006 — something happened to the industry: it went to crap. Instead of focusing on quality displays vendors started tossing in gimmicks to sell their goods. This might change now that 7.6-inch OLEDs are going mass production.

Already, Kodak is rumored to have placed an order for the medium-sized panels set to roll off the lines in September at CMO’s Chi Mei EL (CMEL) factory. That should mean incredibly vibrant, thin, high-contrast frames with 16.7 million colors spread across 800 x 480 pixels just in time for the holidays. While dropping these pricey displays into low-cost netbooks would be a stretch, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a few of those 7-inch UMPCs make the move to OLED as well.

[Via OLED-info]

Read — Kodak rumor
Read — CMEL 7.6-inch specs

• Permalink
• Email this
• 9 Comments

Filed under: Displays

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 22nd 2008 at 9:43AM
Man, talk about quick reflexes. Not even a fortnight after Radiopaq announced its WiFi radio-enabled Rp5, along comes Pure Digital to keep things competitive. The stylish-in-its-own-way EVOKE Flow not only taps into the intarwebz for streaming music, but it also includes FM / DAB tuners and support for DAB+. Expect it to hit British tables next month for £150 ($279).

[Thanks, Joe]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 9 Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Anyone remember the Newton’s Cradle? I seem to recall this contraption on every businessman’s desk in the seventies and eighties. It was usually made up of five marbles, strung up on two strings each. Lift one marble up and let it go, and it strikes a row of them. Then a marble will move on the other side. I believe it is supposed to demonstrate how every action equals an equal and opposite reaction.

I can’t think of any better application of Newton’s cradle than putting it in a USB Hub form. Boynq has done precisely that, and put on 4 Hubs. This is odd, because most Newton’s Cradles traditionally have five hanging marbles. At least the ones that I remember, anyway.

In addition to it’s nerd-tastic aesthetic, the Swing Hub has a DC power jack and surge protection. Of course, here is the real question: does it actually work? It doesn’t look like I could swing back a USB Hub and expect another one to come out on the other side. This would especially be the case if there was USB Cables plugged into the USB ports.

Well, feel free to try this out at about $24 at the Buy.com site and see how well it performs.

Source

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment

Based on previous leaked images we are likely to believe this is the real deal, because after all, isn’t it a rule that these always be blurry and slightly hard to look at. Of course we cannot confirm if these are truly the real deal, but deep down we hope they are.

Based on these images, this model seems a little nicer than the last leaked images, for one it does not seem nearly as shiny and prone to show every little flaw. However the keyboard does seem to be missing a few things, notably the function keys. Keep reading to check out another image of the Inspiron 910, along with another image of the configuration screen…

Via [Engadget]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

You have to love the stream of information coming from the FCC, at times they remind me of that friend who knows a little to much, but does not know when to keep their mouth closed. Well the latest bit of information to come is in the form of the Nokia 2680 slide that was recently pictured with a nice clear AT&T logo.

Overall the Nokia 2680 is not much to get excited about, its a pretty low-end slider-style handset that features a camera, music player and FM radio. However what is interesting about this comes from the original Nokia announcement for the 2680 which announced this as a handset for emerging markets, well it looks like AT&T now has an emerging market. I wonder how they would feel after hearing that.

The Nokia 2680 slide was originally priced at €75 (about $115 US), so it seems that is may be heading towards becoming a GoPhone. As standard with FCC leaks that pricing has not been confirmed, and as of now no mention of just when the 2680 will be available.

Read [FCC] Via [EngadgetMobile]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

With Android hitting later this year, you’d think Google would be content with it’s place in the cellular phone market.  Apparently they aren’t satisfied with just an OS.  A Reuters report shows that Google is in talks with Verizon to use Google as the default search engine for Verizon cell phones.

This probably seems like a small move at first.  But, the plan as of now apparently means adding a Google search bar to the homepage of Verizon phones.  It’s not clear what that could mean, but if it is the main screen on the phone, it could make for quite a few extra dollars for Verizon when people with data plans accidentally use it.  The plan would also have Google and Verizon sharing revenue from search ads when it is used on a Verizon phone.

The only small thing that could be bad with the deal so far is Google want to save the information from cell phone charges.  Google wouldn’t use that information against us, though.  Will it?

Read [Reuters]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

With Android hitting later this year, you’d think Google would be content with it’s place in the cellular phone market.  Apparently they aren’t satisfied with just an OS.  A Reuters report shows that Google is in talks with Verizon to use Google as the default search engine for Verizon cell phones.

This probably seems like a small move at first.  But, the plan as of now apparently means adding a Google search bar to the homepage of Verizon phones.  It’s not clear what that could mean, but if it is the main screen on the phone, it could make for quite a few extra dollars for Verizon when people with data plans accidentally use it.  The plan would also have Google and Verizon sharing revenue from search ads when it is used on a Verizon phone.

The only small thing that could be bad with the deal so far is Google want to save the information from cell phone charges.  Google wouldn’t use that information against us, though.  Will it?

Read [Reuters]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

Running between the vegetable counters and self-service scales while trying to print out the correct price label for your groceries may soon be a thing of the past. Provided the smart weighing scale graces your local supermarket.

For now, this common shopping irritant of having to remember the number tag for your groceries at the supermarket is out of the lives of some lucky folks in Europe. And that’s attributed to the smart self-service weighing scale, which promises to give these shoppers a unique “weighing experience.”

Developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing IITB in Karlsruhe, this device can automatically recognize the fruit or vegetable that is placed on it and brings up the most appropriate icons on its touch screen interface for you to print out the price label. How so? The weighing scale is equipped with a supremely intelligent built-in camera that can recognize not only the difference between an apple and a tomato, but say, even different types of tomatoes. Or any other fruit or veggie - even if it is within a cloudy plastic bag! Pretty impressive. The smart scale is currently being tested in supermarkets around Europe.

This is how super-satisfied shoppers are made. And retained.

Via Slashdot.

Running between the vegetable counters and self-service scales while trying to print out the correct price label for your groceries may soon be a thing of the past. Provided the smart weighing scale graces your local supermarket.

For now, this common shopping irritant of having to remember the number tag for your groceries at the supermarket is out of the lives of some lucky folks in Europe. And that’s attributed to the smart self-service weighing scale, which promises to give these shoppers a unique “weighing experience.”

Developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing IITB in Karlsruhe, this device can automatically recognize the fruit or vegetable that is placed on it and brings up the most appropriate icons on its touch screen interface for you to print out the price label. How so? The weighing scale is equipped with a supremely intelligent built-in camera that can recognize not only the difference between an apple and a tomato, but say, even different types of tomatoes. Or any other fruit or veggie - even if it is within a cloudy plastic bag! Pretty impressive. The smart scale is currently being tested in supermarkets around Europe.

This is how super-satisfied shoppers are made. And retained.

Via Slashdot.

When I’m taking a trip (which looking at my latest credit card bill, might be a rhetorical statement for quite some time), I admit the main factor I consider when picking flights is cost (quickly followed by time of day - no way can I get to an airport before 5AM).

My mom, on the other hand, wants to know everything: how many seats does the plane have, what’s the legroom like in coach, will there be a cafe at the airport that’s open before 5AM (hey, things don’t always go my way…).

Travel obsessives now have all their prayers answered thanks to a new site called Inside Trip, which allows users to compare flights by factors ranging from lost bag rank to seat comfort, giving each trip an overall trip quality rating.

I like to live life on the edge, and find out when I get there (you can’t possibly account for every variable, after all), but for frequent travelers or anyone like my mom who just has to know, this could be a real boon.

Via Geeksugar.