Gadgets 2008

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 16th 2008 at 4:08PM
Oh sure, you’re pretty 1337 if you can say you’ve got an SSD within your laptop, but if you’ve a need to store more than, say, 8GB of files, a bit more room may be desired. tnkgrl’s Aspire One mods began earlier this week with the addition of Bluetooth and extra RAM, and today she’s showing the world how to swap the built-in SSD with a 1.8-inch 60GB PATA drive. As expected, this one’s remarkably easy to complete once you’ve torn the thing open, but she also explains how to best put it all back together once you’re done. But you’re not, because she’ll be producing a how-to for adding internal 3G in the coming days / weeks.

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Filed under: Laptops, Storage

Never mind if you don’t have a computer or notebook at the moment and yet want to share tunes on your iPod with a friend. The iPod, not being a Zune and hence does not have wireless capability to transfer tunes to another iPod, has this tool to help it out.

It automatically recognizes when you plug in iPods (either Mac or PC formatting) on either end, and it can transfer a three-minute song in five seconds and a 30-minute video in three minutes. The device can also transfer any files when the iPods are set to “disk drive” mode. Its rechargeable battery provides up to 1 1/2 hours of operation during transfers, and includes an AC adapter that recharges the device in four hours; iPods are recharged while connected. Songs transferred with digital rights management (DRM) formatting require appropriate iTunes password and authorization.

Hammacher is carrying this for $99.95.

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Clothing which integrates solar power isn’t exactly breaking news. It has been done before and it’ll be done again. But frankly, we were yet to have seen such a cool integration of form and function such as with this Solar Powered Necktie.

Designed by researchers at Iowa State University, whom have been working on inventing an effective use of photovoltaic textiles, sort of stumbled across this tie creation as they were figuring out ways to apply thier new founded solar fabrics. The really cool thing about this Solar Tie is that the pattern used for the solar shells sort of looks like a cool pattern that would be used on a tie anyway, so it’s really not too obtrusive into everyday life.

The Solar Powered Necktie even contains a hidden pouch for stashing your cellphone away while the tie charges it up, using only the power of the sun. So you don’t have to walk around thinking that everyone will be glancing your direction to look at your inconspicuous clothing. The Solar Tie is a way to be green without looking like you’re trying too hard.

While there certainly doesn’t seem like any immediate plans for mass marketing of a similar tie gadget, it seems like a truly great way for office workers to keep their devices up and charged while they type away and file their TPS reports. I might even consider wearing a tie to work. Which is sort of sad, since I work from home.

Source via The Raw Feed

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FROM APPLETELL - A Japanese company has developed a stylus that mimics capacitive touch technology, making it very usable with the iPhone.
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by Darren Murph, posted Aug 16th 2008 at 11:13AM
Not a lot here that you can’t already make out for yourself, but we’ll give ya the down low, anyway. The Crystal USB Desktop Speakers are powered via USB 2.0 and only pack 1-watt per channel, yet somehow, they’re touted as “audiophile” grade. The product description rambles on in embarrassing fashion about just how amazing these things will sound, but seriously, we’d just be happy with the decently cool looks (yes, we’re being generous here) and relatively low $39.99 price tag.

[Via Random Good Stuff]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

by Paul Miller, posted Aug 16th 2008 at 1:54PM
The dam has been breached, and now there seems to be no stopping the internet at large as every little nook and cranny of the Treo Pro is exposed and explored. TreoCentral member scottymomo has fleshed out a few more details on the device, and dug up that Comm Manager shot up above. Details include:

• HTC task manager.
• Comm Manager’s Airplane Mode and other assorted easily switched options.
• MicroSD (up to 32GB supported) isn’t under the battery, but you do have to take off the battery cover to access.
• 1500mh battery.
• Other stuff.

It’s all very exciting, we assure you, but you can explore the shots for yourself if you’re really feeling hard up for Treo Pro infos. Oh, while we’re thinking about it: sexiest Treo yet, or disastrous usage of phone face real estate? Both?

[Via Palm Infocenter]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Every once in a while, some new idea comes around that revolutionizes technology as we know it.  Think about the USB, the touchscreen, and other advancements that are now standard features. 

Perhaps the next big thing are laptops that split their keyboards open.  Why you anyone want to do that?  Maybe if you keep a secondary screen down there, perhaps.  Maybe even a touch sensitive screen?  The keyboard can function normally when split in two, and who knows, you might even get used to it. 

Right now, this project is still in the building stage, and it currently has the name of the Ergonomic Dual Screen Split Keyboard Notebook Portable Personal Computer Executives. 

This split-keyboard laptop with the extremely long name is available for OEMs sometime this year. You may be able to purchase the patents for it too.  So, anyone want one? 

Read [ComputerWorld Blogs]

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I’m not certain who is coming up with ideas for cell phones designs at Alcatel, but they’ve clearly been looking to animals.  As you can see, the V212 takes its inspiration from one of the most graceful of animals to start with the letter Z. 

Don’t expect too much out of this guy, as it cannot surf the web or other fancy bells and whistles.  Who would have thought that someone would actually make a cellular phone that just takes phone calls and does text messaging?

Well, what do you expect for a phone that costs around $28?  There is definitely not much there for that price, so you might want to go along with the pay-as-go plan, because that is all they offer. 

I have no idea if this is the least inexpensive phone out there, but I suppose this is the sign of a new era of cheap cell phone technology.  Hopefully, the word “cheap” does not mean “of low quality”. 

Via [Shiny Shiny]

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by Donald Melanson, posted Aug 15th 2008 at 3:51PM
If the increasing number of posts on the MSIWind.net forums are any indication, it looks like at least some MSI Winds are now shipping out with Sentilic touchpads in place of the more-functional Synaptic ones that have been standard issue until now. Among other things, the Sentilic touchpads don’t allow for horizontal and vertical side scrolling (instead offering just corner clicking), and they apparently don’t let you turn off the tap-to-click feature, which seems to have caused plenty of frustation among those that have received a Wind from this latest batch. For its part, MSI only seems to be offering an updated driver to anyone that contacts them complaining of problems which, not surprisingly, apparently doesn’t do much to improve things.

[Thanks, Stephen P]

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Filed under: Laptops

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 15th 2008 at 1:47PMMost folks up in Madison are readying their face paint and stocking up on tailgating supplies, but the geeks among us (bless ‘em!) are focusing their attention on something much more relevant to your future RAID array. A team from UW-Madison (along with partners from Hitachi) is getting set to publish a report that details a patterning technology that could offer performance gains over current methods while reducing time and cost of manufacturing. The process builds on existing approaches by “combining the lithography techniques traditionally used to pattern microelectronics with novel self-assembling materials called block copolymers.” So, what does all this technobabble mean for you? Huge gains in density on patterned media, or if that’s still not straightforward enough, ginormous HDDs in the near future.

[Via Protein OS]

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Filed under: Storage