Gadgets 2008

Android, the Google supported platform/OS for mobile devices, is starting to see the public light of day. The Android team has put together a bunch of live demos of the phone in action.

Having seen just a few of the many videos and images, I’m already looking forward to when I can have an Android-powered phone in my hands. You just need to take a look at this very quick video to see what I’m talking about.

Need more? You can see the whole lot of them over at the androidcommunity.com website.

Posted in Phones, Portable

Pictures of a new Motorola slider phone have surfaced.  The phone, reportedly named the ZN5, sports a monster Kodak-branded 5 megapixel camera.  However, in a forehead slapping moment, the camera does not have autofocus.

Other specs include the phone’s ability to run on quad-band, however the data speeds are limited to EDGE (again, come on Motorola!).  The ZN5 runs on the MOTOMAGX platform, which is Linux-based.  The phone also has Bluetooth built in, along with 100MB of internal space plus a MicroSD slot.  The touch wheel used for navigation also doubles as a 5-way directional pad.

Read [IntoMobile]

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

by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 4:01PM
First things first: considering the huge amount of press garnered by a recent position art scam, this here could indeed be just another spoof to get your hopes up. That being said, we’re pretty sure no one with any level of decency would do such a vile thing on Easter Sunday, which is precisely when the above bunny was purportedly created from waltzing about with a Magellan GPS and a digital camera. The artist himself admits that what you see above is a slightly cleaned-up version of the actual path, but we’re told that any edits that occurred had no huge bearing on the outcome of the piece. You be the judge.

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 13 Comments

Filed under: GPS

by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 5:10PM
Frighteningly enough, this isn’t the first (or second) time that we’ve seen scientists pat themselves on the back for creating a mind-reading machine, but a dedicated team from Carnegie Mellon has just announced a computer that “has been trained to read people’s minds by looking at scans of their brains as they thought about specific words.” In a completely unsurprising move, gurus familiar with the development are suggesting that the breakthrough could be used to better understand how the brain organizes knowledge, and eventually, treat language disorders and learning disabilities more effectively. That’s all gravy from here, but when this stuff starts passing as evidence in court, you’ll know it’s time to seriously investigate a relocation to Mars.

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 17 Comments

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 6:15PM
This day and age, there’s really no excuse to have too little room in your average pair of cargo shorts for all the gadgets needed in a day. Convergence and shrinking PCBs have left us with do-it-all handhelds that can fit in the rear pockets of size 2 jeans on a size 4 gal, so really, you have exactly zero reasons to actually buy that abomination pictured above. If you must know, the FreeHand is a wearable neoprene pocket that keeps your keys, flash drives, RSA token and chump change within easy reach, and if you’re lucky, you may be able to convince the boss it’s being worn to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. Folks who haven’t listened to a word we just said can ignite a Jackson right now — or spend $19.95 on this, same difference.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 6 Comments

Filed under: Wearables

Nope that’s not a portable GPS unit. In fact, its the latest portable media player offering from iRiver, dubbed the P.ple P10. First introduced at CES 2008, the P10 was expected to release Q1 2008, but iRiver was a little late in their delivery. Regardless, the company has now officially launched their iPod Touch rival in two forms: The iRiver P10 Standard ($328) and Pro ($398). Spec-wise, both models sport a 600MHz processor running a stripped down version of Windows CE, 4-inch TFT touch screen, 800×480 pixel resolution, e-book reader, and a 33GB hard drive. Both models also support PDF, Word and Excel files, and can playback Flash, MPEG, WMA, XivD, MP3, and WAV file formats. However, the P10 Pro adds an electronic dictionary (in English, Chinese, and Japanese) and a DMB digital TV tuner that’s only usable in Korea (so, I doubt this will make it Stateside).

Interestingly, the device has no physical buttons beyond the power and volume controls. It also utilizes a flash based UI that allows users to rearrange and organize the menu as they desire. But in all honestly, the top horizontal menu sure bares a strong resemblance to the iPod’s own, but being able to customize the main menu screen will surely be a welcomed feature. Now, if we can only get rid of that stylus…

Product [iRiver P10] Read [AVING]

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

FROM APPLETELL - With all the WDDC rumors flying around Worldwide Developers Conference 2008, it has become tough to keep track of them all.  Here is a list of recent rumors, and details on their credibility. 1.  3G iPhone - Is the Pope Catholic?  I think that it is safe to say that… MORE »

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

What good is your iPhone or iPod touch if you can’t get to it? WindowSeat gives your device the best seat in the car by mounting handily at eye level on your car’s windshield or dashboard, putting all of your street maps, directions etc. safely in view and easily within reach. Attaches with silicone suction pads and allows easy access to dock connector and headphone jack. When you leave the vehicle, there’s a convenient corner-release which lets you easily detach your device to take it with you, while leaving the mount safely in place. A nice touch is the swiveling ball-and-socket joint which makes it easy to adjust the angle.

Conveniently, it can be used in conjunction with Griffin Technology’s PowerJolt charger for iPhone and iPods.

Just out, you can pick it up for $29.99 at Griffin. Also available at Amazon.
……………………………………

See more of our picks from Amazon in the Popgadget Shop.

Polaroid has given their ZINK printer a price tag and release date - July 6th at Best Buy and July 20th through Target—both selling it for $149. The pocket-sized product will be marketed as the Poloraid PoGo, which is short for Polaroid-on-the-go. The Polaroid PoGo supports full color printing through cell phones and digital cameras via Bluetooth or USB (PictBridge compatible). The PoGo weighs a measly eight ounces, but don’t let the size fool you. It can print 2×3-inch borderless photos in less than 60 seconds. It’s a shame that Polaroid has quit the instant film market, but if you miss those old school Polaroid cameras, this is as close as you’ll get to sharing your photos instantly.

The Polaroid PoGo uses Zero Ink (ZINK) technology that is actually embedded into a photo paper, called ZINK Photo Paper. The special paper is durable and contains colorless cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals. So instead of using traditional ink cartridges to spray color onto the paper, the PoGo printer applies heat onto the ZINK Photo Paper to activate the colorless crystals—generating full colored photos to share instantly. The ZINK Photo Paper will retail for between 33 and 40 cents per print; $3.99 for a pack of 10, and $9.99 for a 30-pack.

Product [The New Instant] Read [Gadget Review]

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

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 31st 2008 at 12:24PM
A retailer taking pre-orders for phones that haven’t even been announced is considered business as usual, but there’s something just a little out of the ordinary with Horizon Wireless’ listing for the alleged touchscreen superphone outta Waterloo, the BlackBerry 9500 “Thunder” — it’s accompanied by a somewhat believable picture of the thing. Extreme blur always adds a healthy dose of credibility (we kid), but more importantly, the picture shows no telltale signs of being a render and looks essentially like what everyone’s expecting it to look like. BlackBerry addicts who’ve been desperately fighting the urge to go to the dark side, consider this your shot of willpower for the day.

[Thanks, Yasim M.]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 15 Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds