Gadgets 2008

Pixlr, a program from Sweden that some compare to Photoshop Express, is a web-based photo editing software that really holds it’s weight.  When you click on the Pixlr.com link, you will immediately be brought to the site and invited to “jump right in” and begin using the software. Flash based, it is actually really rather simple to use for anyone even vaguely familiar with photo editing.

It has some of the same options that you’ve probably seen if you have worked in PE, though I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to put them in the same class. The windows can be moved anywhere in the open space that you like, and you also have the option of moving the toolbars wherever you are comfortable positioning them (same as Photoshop). Speed was decent in my opinion. It took 4 seconds for the program to upload a 1200×800 photo from my computer for me to edit. You obviously don’t have all the editing selections you have in Express, but for someone looking for the basics, and ahem, a free program, this could definitely work just fine. It offers editing options like Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, the obvious ability to crop and layer photos, it even offers what it calls “Old Photo” (which is kind of a cross between sepia and black and white).

When you are finished editing, you simply click on “Save” image, and you are able to save your edited image to your computer. For a free web-based photo-editing program, it isn’t bad.

Via [drollthings]

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Posture is one things that most of us have at least one older relative that loves harping on us about.  Even if you don’t have that crazy aunt who thinks you should stand up straight as a board, eventually doctors start grumbling about it too.  There is also the chance that you may end up getting injured and have to work on your posture.  I have that last issue and now have the joy of attempting to correct the way I stand, sit, walk, all of it.  Which is a tedious task at times, the iposture is meant to help with that.

After a while you will likely get tired and at that point your posture starts to slack quite a bit.  At least that’s my issue, well the little disk that clips to either a chain, your clothing or your skin will begin to vibrate when it senses this issue.  I’m not sure exactly how it senses that you’ve been slouching but it does.  You can also set it to your ideal posture, which means you won’t have to stand up stick straight if you think it makes you look a bit pompous.  The device is being sold for $99.95.

Source: likecool

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Ricoh may not be the most successful digital camera brand but it still manages to come out with camera models that have enough features to spark some interest among digital photography enthusiasts. Take the case of its newly launched digital camera called the Ricoh R10. This ultra-compact point-and-shoot not only touts of a 10.1-megapixel CCD sensor but a 28mm lens with 7x optical zoom as well.

Aside from these the Ricoh R10 also features the Smooth Image Engine III processing technology, an above average ISO sensitivity of 80-1600, a 3-inch HVGA LCD screen, 54MB internal memory plus an SD/SDHC slot for storage expansion. In addition to capturing good quality still images, the R10 can also capture 640×480 pixel video at 30fps.

The Ricoh R10 seems to be a good successor to the previously released R8 digital camera. There will be three color variants of the R10 digital camera which will all be available in Japan on Sept 5, 2008 and it will have a retail price of around $439.

Via [Akihabara News]

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Ricoh may not be the most successful digital camera brand but it still manages to come out with camera models that have enough features to spark some interest among digital photography enthusiasts. Take the case of its newly launched digital camera called the Ricoh R10. This ultra-compact point-and-shoot not only touts of a 10.1-megapixel CCD sensor but a 28mm lens with 7x optical zoom as well.

Aside from these the Ricoh R10 also features the Smooth Image Engine III processing technology, an above average ISO sensitivity of 80-1600, a 3-inch HVGA LCD screen, 54MB internal memory plus an SD/SDHC slot for storage expansion. In addition to capturing good quality still images, the R10 can also capture 640×480 pixel video at 30fps.

The Ricoh R10 seems to be a good successor to the previously released R8 digital camera. There will be three color variants of the R10 digital camera which will all be available in Japan on Sept 5, 2008 and it will have a retail price of around $439.

Via [Akihabara News]

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Here we have the latest item to make its debut via the FCC, a set of Jay-Z branded Motorola headphones. And they have come in a typical FCC fashion, meaning the leak offers a nice decent picture but comes with few details to go along with it.

What we can tell you so far is that these headphones are Motorola made, and are in partnership with Jay-Z. We also know that they are A2DP stereo Bluetooth headphones and feature an external mic.

Of course we are still not sure how much they will retail for, nor do we have any idea of an expected release date. The one bit of good news is that we can be pretty certain that Motorola will not be quite when they officially announce these.

Read [FCC] Via [IntoMobile]

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Google seems to be advocating a lot of things recently, with the latest being their “Free The Airwaves” campaign.  Free The Airwaves is about asking the FCC to free allow anyone to use unused airwaves that currently carry analog TV signals.  About 3/4 of these waves are currently unused, and Google wants to leverage these waves for the good of everyone.  Its idea is to use it for cheap and easy wireless internet access, of course.

FCC engineers will be testing the airwaves that could carry Wi-Fi, with the ban on using the “white space” airwaves possibly coming by the end of the year.  This would be great news for just about everyone.  There are still places in the United States that don’t have access to broadband (shocking to realize sometimes, I know), and these waves should already be there anyway.  It should just be a matter of buying a device that can connect to the airwaves.

While this all sounds well and good, there is still one drawback; there would be no more reason for those who need the internet for work or other such reasons to go camping, or travel to other areas where broadband access may not be available as of right now.

Read [Free The Airwaves] Via [ZDNet]

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Sanyo’s Katana line has been upgraded yet again with the appearance of the Eclipse, and this time round, the handset retains the same clamshell format that has served the Katana so well in the past. As with any other new handset, it will eclipse, pardon the pun, its predecessor by featuring assignable illumination effects that enable the owner to tell who can tell (or at least the caller group) at a glance thanks to the color and lighting pattern that is displayed. You can also tell the difference between a text, an email message and an ordinary alert. With more than forty effects and seven LED colors to choose from, socialites who love compartmentalizing their friends into different colors will have a field day with the Eclipse.

If I’m not mistaken, there was a Motorola clamshell handset circa 1999/2000 that had a somewhat similar feature, where it uses different LED colors to denote which caller group is buzzing you, but I guess it took another 8 years or so for this technology to advance to the next level by including additional effects. These visual markings make it possible to know who’s calling even in noisy environments such as a nightclub, but then again that’s what Caller ID is for - making this feature cool but definitely non-essential. Some of the other features and specifications found on the Sanyo Katana Eclipse include :-

• microSDHC memory card slot (max. of 8GB)
• Sprint TV support
• Sprint Music Store offering over-the-air downloads of full-length songs for just 99 cents each
• Sprint Radio with more than 150 channels
• Sprint Navigation with GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings
• Live Search for Sprint
• Sprint Mobile Email for POP3 accounts including AOL, Gmail, Yahoo! as well as corporate email
• Stereo Bluetooth connectivity
• Speakerphone
• 1.3 megapixel camera with 12x zoom and video recording capability
• Wireless Backup
• Restrict and Lock to restrict calls and limit access to data services

You will be able to pick up the Sanyo Katana Eclipse from Sprint for just $99.99 albeit after a 2-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate.

Press Release

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Some of you might remember two weeks ago when we said that we would keep you posted on the Lenovo IdeaPad U8. 

Well, it has been officially launched at the Olympics!  I guess there is no better place to launch Chinese technology than in Beijing right now, right? 

Here are the golden specs.  It has a 6GB SSD, up to 2GB of RAM, plus a 800MHz Intel Atom Z500 processor.  Other exciting features include dual cameras, support for mobile television, as well as 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and EDGE connectivity.  As for the battery life, it has about 5 hours, and the entire unit weights 10 grams. 

Unfortunately, this unit will only be available in China, and the company has said it will be at a price “equivalent” to smartphones.  As far as the release date, we have heard “sometime in September”. 

Via [Pocketables]

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Some of you might remember two weeks ago when we said that we would keep you posted on the Lenovo IdeaPad U8. 

Well, it has been officially launched at the Olympics!  I guess there is no better place to launch Chinese technology than in Beijing right now, right? 

Here are the golden specs.  It has a 6GB SSD, up to 2GB of RAM, plus a 800MHz Intel Atom Z500 processor.  Other exciting features include dual cameras, support for mobile television, as well as 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and EDGE connectivity.  As for the battery life, it has about 5 hours, and the entire unit weights 10 grams. 

Unfortunately, this unit will only be available in China, and the company has said it will be at a price “equivalent” to smartphones.  As far as the release date, we have heard “sometime in September”. 

Via [Pocketables]

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This latest FCC showing comes not as not much of a surprise, but seems to almost be a formality, a right of passage so to speak. We have already seen the IdeaPad S9 and S10 a few times, but at least this listing makes them a little more official.

An interesting item to note that has come from this particular listing is that it covers both the S9 and S10 IdeaPad, and it also has just one User Guide, which just goes to show how little difference there will be between the two models. The main difference of course would be the display size. The S9 has an 8.9-inch display while the S10 has the slightly larger 10-inch display.

Otherwise things seem pretty standard here although there is a nice “hard drive/RAM panel” on the bottom of the notebooks, which would lead one to believe that both of those items will be easily serviced by the end-user.

Read [FCC] Via [SlashGear]

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