New touch screen phone introduced by LG

LG Electronics Co. of South Korea in collaboration with Italian fashion brand Prada Group has come up with a button less touch screen. This new launch termed as Prada Phone or technically as KE850 resembles the iPhone launched by Apple last week. Like the iPhone, KE850 has a camera of two mega pixel. As regards size, the KE850 is 12 millimeters thick, which means in comparison to iPhone of Apple it is just 0.4 millimeters thick.

This slim metallic black phone will come with a leather case. In the iPhone of Apple, there is no option of expanding the memory but in case of Prada Phone, it is possible to insert cards and thereby expand its memory. As regards the display screen, LG’s KE850 has a 3-inch 400 x 240 screen whereas; the screen of Apple’s iPhone is 3.5-inch 320 x 480 screen.
This new fashion brand of LG will be available in the market from the month of February and could be found in the stores of mobile dealers and Prada stores. The Prada phone has been priced at €600/$778.

Carphone Warehouse bling your phone

I had to top-up my mobile phone credit yesterday and visited a local Carphone Warehouse in London. Sadly mobile phone shops in the UK seem to cater mainly towards 14-year old girls instead of gadget loving geeks or at least business people and their range of high-end mobile phones and smartphones was limited to a SonyEricsson P990 and a XDA mini. But, they do now offer to “bling” your phone - for the “little” amount of 100GBP. Once again, like with the Swarovski laptop, I have to ask myself: why? It does not look good, they aren’t even real diamonds or anything of value.

Toshiba’s first HD DVD-R laptop

Thats it: the first HD DVD-R Laptop, announced by Toshiba. The laptop will sadly just be available in Japan to begin with. Apart from the HD DVD burner the other specs of the laptop, which will cost around $4,000 when it comes out in Europe, are also nice: 17″ display, 160GB HDD and so on. But sadly it is also quite ugly in my opinion.

Netgear Wireless HD

I mentioned this morning in our DIY feature how many cables I have lying around and my distaste of this fact. I remember trying to setup a Linux media center PC a few years back to centrally archive my music, films and other media in one central place. I did not actually get round to getting it work, but imagine how much cabling it would have taken to wire the house to be able to actually receive the media from anywhere.

Netgear have announced a new product to stream your audio and video throughout your house: the Netgear Digital Entertainer HD. Tech Digest report that the number of supported formats is “pretty exhaustive” and that the menu design is nice and easy to use. Best of all: it’s wireless and HD. If it will support full 1080p or stop short at 1080i. Especially nice is the YouTube streaming support and Tech Digest is quite impressed by the WMV 9 HD support, but personally I do not like the WMV format.The Netgear Digital Entertainer HD is to be released in the US in a couple of months

Four new 7.2 mega pixel Cyber Shot Digital Cameras released by Sony

Sony has added wings in its arena of Cyber Shot Digital Camera. It has unveiled four new 7.2 mega pixel cameras with 3x optical zoom capability in this range.

The four new models are an addition in their W and S series. These are DSC-W55, DSC-W35, DSC-S700, and DSC-S650. The positive aspect about these new inclusions is that the cameras are enabled with internal memory, which means pictures can be clicked without any memory card. Sony is also optimistic about the longevity of the batteries and claims that the batteries will be able to take around 380-460 pictures.
Sony claims the new models as a revolution in the world of digital photography. Except DSC-W55, the rest three will be available in silver bodies. DSC-W55’s storage capacity can be enhanced with an 8GB memory stick duo card. This facility of increasing the storage capacity is also available in the other 3 models. W55 model will be available in Caribbean blue, pale pink, black and silver color with 2.5″ LCD screen. This model will be available in the market on February and will be priced around $200.
DSC-W35 will also have 2.5″ LCD screen and comes with a function guide and resolution guide. It will also be available in February at the cost of about $180. W series costs a bit higher than the S series.
DSC-S700 and DSC-S650’s storage capacity can be enhanced with a 4GB memory stick duo card. These two models will also be available in the month of February. S700 will cost about $180 and S650 around $150.

Daily DIY Gadget #2: Chargerbox

It is near to impossible to ever see my desk tidy, which is mainly due to the amount of cables that are clogging it: power cord for the notebook, LAN cable, iPod USB cable, digital camera USB cable, audio cables (about 5), 3 telephone cables, webcam cable, headset cable, … and chargers. I have a charger for my camera, iPod, computer and telephone. Power and charger cables must be the worst thing ever to get organized on a desk and I am sure many gadget lovers have the same problem.
Lisa, from two loose teeth, has come up with a simple DIY solution to this problem: a simple box containing all your chargers and a powerstrip. This should be able to be done within an hour or two and should be on the to-do list for every true gadget fanatic with too many adapters!

TV-B-Gone: One function universal TV remote

When I visited Germany recently and got together with two of my gadget loving friends, I got shown a cool little universal TV remote called TV-B-Gone. Universal TV remotes can be bought anywhere and everywhere nowadays and I would not normally really class them as gadgets, except maybe the touchscreen versions. But this little remote has a twist: it only has one function: off. In 63 seconds it sends all well known TV brands off signal and therefor can switch off virtually any TV anywhere within reach. What is the purpose? Well for one just pure entertainment! If you hate soccer, imagine going to a packed sports bar and just switching off their TV’s. Or: Imagine being able to switch off your grandmothers/sisters/mothers/girlfriends TV when they are watching any given annoying program (Big Brother, several soaps and talkshows pop to my mind).
TV-B-Gone can be bought directly from the manufactures website in two different versions (European and North American/Asian) for roughly $20, as well as many other gadget online shops - just google it.

Samsung Q1 video

Being a big fan of Samsung myself, owning a Samsung R40 notebook as well as a now redundant Samsung TFT, I really love there Q1 ultramobile PC. Hugo of Uber Tablet own one, for which I am sure many people envy him, and has created some nice videos which you should see to learn about the Samsungs Q1 features.

It’s the New Smell-phone

You have a phone where you need anything. A call, a video, an MP3 player, browse the internet. But what if it gives a sweet smell? The idea sounds cool where you are almost using your mobile phone the whole day.
Japan’s top wireless operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. intoduced new models of their mobile phones and one of these are what they call the “aroma” phone. The mobile phone gives off a relaxing scent.
Sony Ericsson is the one which made the new “aroma” handset for DoCoMo, the “SO703i,” which comes with scented sheets designed to relax the users while making calls. The phone offers nine aroma choices for the consumers, each coupled with a different panel design.
It is the latest added feature to one of the company’s mobile phones. It can be for everybody most appropriate to those who are exhausted with work, who works for industries, factories and people who visit the field and jobsites.
The new phone is intended to relax the user. Imagine using a phone with the fresh scent of lemon or the fruity strawberry or the smell of a cinnamon bread!

Do You Have the Car Gadget You Need?

Carmakers and technology companies are catching on to this growing trend and offering more choices of cars gadgets such as car navigation systems, mobile MP3s, DVD systems and Bluetooth wireless communication.

With GPS on your dashboard, drivers can give turn-by-turn voice prompts. Factory-installed in-dash navigation systems feature monitors that ranges from 6.5 - 7 inches. For the commitment-wary, plug-and-play navigation systems that can mount onto the windshield or dash are available. They often come equipped with built-in speakers and antennas.
This car navigation system comes in two models, the plug-and-play and the in-dash. The plug-and-play type are cost-effective, usually portable, and some systems offer map updates via internet. On the other hand, the in-dash model is more accurate in determining speed/mileage, better-looking, and includes DVD playback.
Because many music lovers also drive, there’s a lot of interest in the plug-in and drive off. This has not escaped automakers, who are quickly expanding MP3-compatibility options, allowing them to play through the car’s radio and syncing the stereo’s audio controls to the MP3 player. They even provide a place for the player to rest — often inside the glove box. Several devices will attach to your MP3 player and transmit a radio signal to the car’s radio. Some of these options also charge the MP3 player. Another common option connects the MP3 player to a tape-deck adapter. Anyone who had a portable CD player and a tape deck back in the day should find the setup familiar.
As stated in Cars.com, factory-installed DVD systems first gained a foothold in the minivan segment — a natural connection, since they often carry the most kids. Since then, DVD options have expanded to both the front and rear of cars. They can be factory-installed to double as a navigation system or dealer-installed to feature customized options, such as satellite TV. A DVD system with multi-zone capability allows more inputs and outputs so that other devices, such as video game players, can also be used and multiple sound sources can play simultaneously.
Bluetooth allows drivers to make and receive phone calls via their cell phones but through in-car systems. Steering-wheel-mounted controls in some cars, allow drivers to more safely answer calls while driving. bluetooth simply changes the device on which your calls are received; the phone number is the same, and charges appear normally on your cell phone bill. No hard-wired connections or docking stations are necessary, and drivers can operate their cell phones either through the car’s controls or via hands-free voice activation. Some systems even automatically mute your car’s audio when a call is answered. Imagine how safe it is driving around the city or bringing your family to long distance trips.

Enjoying Movies and TV Shows More at Home

A large and good flat screen television needs a sound to match. Planning to put up a home theater completes it. Video plays a big role in creating the home theater illusion of “being” in the movie but the real job of surrounding yourself in the scene falls to your multi-channel surround sound audio system. An audio or home theater system generally includes the center channel speaker, the left and right front speakers, the surround channel speakers, and the subwoofer.
The purpose of the center speaker is to provide highly localized speaker information which is coming from the center of the screen. There’s a high correlation between what you see on the screen and where the sound comes from. The left and right speakers are to provide more lateral, but still highly localized and directed, sound. Together, the three represent the frontal face of your home theater sound experience. When there is a specific sound - the clash of swords, the shout of the main character, the click of a trigger being pulled back - the sound comes predominantly from these speakers.
Imagine that you see on the screen the soon-to-be victims of a firing squad, and from behind you, you hear the clicks of the rifles as they chamber a round. Your rear channel-driven surround sound system brings you that sensation.
Compare your old two-channel sound to the new multi-channel surround sound. Most of us are used to the old stereo sound that gives us a left and a right speaker effect. Multi-channel surround sound builds on this presentation by adding a front center speaker between the front left and right speakers and adding two surround speakers. Some versions of surround sound add two more rear speakers and side surround speakers to really enhance your surround-sound field.
As Stated in Home Theaters for Dummies, bass management is how your home theater manages the low frequency sounds. Better A/V receivers and other controller devices have several options for how you want to handle the bass sounds in your system. If you have nice tall speakers that have a very effective bass range of their own which are called full range speakers, you may decide to pass all bass frequencies to them. If you want smaller speakers that can sit on a shelf, then the bass frequencies might fall to the subwoofer, a speaker designed to play low-frequency sounds.
So it is better to understand the importance of your speakers, how digital surround differs, or how each speaker driver works. These will give better sound to watching horror movies and sci-fi flicks.

Seagate unveiled world’s fastest hard drive

The ‘worlds fastest hard drive’ as Seagate claimed was unveiled by the company on January 16. The 15,000 RPM SAS hard drive is ideal for the small systems as it takes much smaller space. Seagate has already carved a niche for itself in manufacturing and marketing hi-tech hard disc drives. The drives which are expected to come to the markets very soon also consume 30% less power than other such drive with less RPM.

The server market mainly uses 3.5 inch hard drives whereas this new innovation by Seagate will be much faster and will be of 2.5 inch in size. This fastest hard drive has been named as Savvio 15K. Gamers especially will derive much benefit from it as it is claimed to be super fast in its performance. HP is the first Company who will equip its systems with 15k drives.
Sherman Black, senior vice president and general manager of Seagate claimed that their new Savvio 15K drives are ideal for new age storing systems. With its wide arena of enterprise applications, this small giant is seen by insiders as a real revolution wherein it is possible to put in a full array of RAID6.

Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales to launch Wikiasari search engine early 2007

Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, is planning a search engine to rival Google. The search engine, which is backed by Amazon, should be operational by early 2007. Amazon is the first corporate investor in Wikia, the commercial arm of Wikipedia.
The search engine will be called Wikiasari from ‘wiki’, the Hawaiian word for ‘quick’ and ‘asari’, from the Japanese word for ‘rummaging search’. Wikipedia also recently announced free hosting for community groups that do not charge for services.
Wikiasari will be based on a human judgement rather than computer algorithms. Wales claims that human judgement is better and that computer algorithm-based searches can be manipulated.
According to Wales, conventional search engine ranking algorithms lack the efficacy of human intervention. “Essentially, if you consider one of the basic tasks of a search engine, it is to make a decision: ‘this page is good, this page sucks’,”says Wales, “Computers are notoriously bad at making such judgments, so algorithmic search has to go about it in a roundabout way.” Wales also complains about poor results from mainstream search engines, commenting: “Google is very good at many types of search, but in many instances it produces nothing but spam and useless crap.”
A user-driven search engine service has a lot of potential if it is done correctly. Despite all of its problems, Wikipedia is still an extremely valuable resource and a site that I personally visit an average of three to five times a day. To compete with Google, Wikia will have to keep the advertising simple and focus on making Wikipedia’s neutral-point-of-view policy work for search rankings. If that happens, Google might have some real competition on its hands.

Coming soon, a machine to laser away your fat

Most of us often wish that some of our extra pounds could just melt away, and now it seems scientists have a solution, an X-ray machine that melts away fat is on the anvil. Although it sounds too good to be true, doctors are predicting that one day weight loss could be achieved with the wave of a laser wand.
You simply walk through an airport-style X-ray scanner which would “fry” excess fatty tissue. Three days later and five pounds would have melted away through the body’s normal purging processes.
Repeat the procedure every two weeks until you’ve reached your target weight - no dieting required. The only downside will be resizing your wardrobe, according to a review of emerging technologies published today in the British Medical Journal.
It is just one of the forecasts made by Professor Donald Combs of the Eastern Virginia Medical School, USA, that are set to transform medicine.
Among the others are “smart” nappies that can detect common childhood infections and miniature telescopes to restore vision.
He says the “startling” advances on the horizon include tiny implants that will monitor the medication needs of patients with chronic diseases. Eventually they will be linked with smart pumps implanted in the body that, when signalled, instantly deliver the correct medication.
These innovations are the inevitable outcome of technologies currently under development, he says. Devices that can sense and transmit heart and breathing rates already exist, for example the LifeShirt which is a non-invasive, continuous monitoring system woven into a shirt that collects data on lung, cardiac and other vital signs.
Prof Combs said the five key technologies for future advances are molecular medicine and biometrics, nanotechnology, wave technology, fabricators - such as biological bandages - and robotics.
He said “These technologies already have had individual and collective effects on some aspects of medicine and their influence is increasing.”
Recent discoveries on wave technology have shown that laser pulses of certain types of light wave destroy fat but do not harm other types of cells, he said.
It is also becoming possible to analyse data on a single drop of blood, urine or faeces to detect harmful bugs ranging from anthrax to influenza.
“The spread of infectious diseases would be dramatically reduced if people could be diagnosed, isolated and treated before becoming symptomatic. “For example, imagine the impact on the incidence of disease in a group of sailors if they were tested the day before their deployment on a ship’ said Prof Combs. A more visible daily application would be a smart nappy programmed to change colour when common childhood bugs are detected in urine or faeces, he added.
Another prediction is the use of miniature telescopes that restore vision for patients with degenerative eye disease. The telescopes are powered by sunlight passing through the pupils to microscopic solar battery panels attached to the retinas.
After several years the telescopes and batteries are removed and replaced with a genetic patch that turns off the overproduction of blood vessels causing the problem, and restores her normal vision.
In another scenario, Prof Combs predicts that Jane, who has high blood pressure and diabetes, has a barely visible radio frequency chip implanted just below the skin on her upper arm.
This chip simultaneously monitors and transmits data on her heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and concentrations of blood sugar.
The data is transmitted to her GP’s surgery and to an implanted pump linked to her circulatory system and to an external reservoir of drugs that can be tapped into when necessary.
Tailor-made robotic parts could be manufactured for patients needing knee and hip replacements, for example, which are then implanted into the body.
Prof Combs says the predictions come from “30 years in health care and academic medicine” with all having the potential to “change medicine in startling ways.

E-mail can be possible health hazard

e-mail can be bad for your health. Edward Hallowell, a Boston psychiatrist, has identified a condition that he calls “attention deficit trait” (or ADT for short). Others have called it “online compulsive disorder.” Its main symptoms, says Dr. Hallowell, are “distractability, inner frenzy and impatience.”
It is caused by the sort of information overload that today’s workers are increasingly being subjected to — thanks to mobile phones, personal digital assistants and wireless e-mail gadgets such as the BlackBerry.
One study of a group of workers in California found that they could manage, on average, to concentrate on a project for only 11 minutes at a time before being distracted by an e-mail, a phone call or a colleague popping in.
However hard it is to be rude to colleagues, e-mail seems to be granted an equal level of respect: 55 per cent of another group of workers said they answer their e-mail messages almost immediately, regardless of how busy they are.
While many of us know not to open letters from bank managers or ex-wives’ lawyers when we arrive home tired on a dark evening, we don’t apply the same principle to e-mail. When planes land nowadays, nervy passengers switch on their BlackBerrys and mobiles almost as fast as they used to light up a cigarette.
Much of the superficial appeal of e-mail lies in the fact that it is impersonal, quick and brief. There is no need for the awkward eye-contact and prolonged introductions necessary in face-to- face encounters, and there is no need for the formal style and grammatical correctness demanded of a letter (although many a minute has been whiled away pondering whether to start an e-mail “Dear Fred,” “Fred” or merely “Hi,” and whether to end it with “Regards,” “Best wishes,” or simply “Tom”).
We think we can open an e-mail, deal with it promptly and move on.
We delude ourselves that the OHIO rule (Only Handle It Once) applies particularly to e-mail messages. But they have a nasty habit of coming back to haunt the sender. Like the response you didn’t want to hear: “I thought I’d copy Anne, Bill, Charley, Dick and Zachary in on this one.”
Or the time- consumer: “If you can’t make the 17th, how about any time between the 18th and the 30th?” Both are the kind of comebacks that the quick response was designed to avoid.
Recent evidence suggests that we should think more carefully about the occasions when it is suitable to use e-mail.
For one thing, e-mail messages are on the record, digitally imprinted for any future litigant to drag unshredded out of the virtual trash. Most face-to-face conversations thankfully remain off the record.
But e-mail messages differ even more fundamentally from face-to-face meetings or phone calls in that they are asynchronous — that is to say, they do not demand an immediate answer.
Asynchronous channels of communication are less efficient at sales or marketing. Companies have a far higher success rate selling by phone — be it, as is now so often the case, from Bangalore and at a supremely inconvenient moment — than they do by e- mail or by traditional asynchronous mail.
More importantly, the outcome of complicated negotiations, whether commercial or political, has been shown to be materially affected by the communications channels that are used.
Don’t (literally) sell the company down the tubes. Dr. Hallowell says that people who work in physical isolation are more likely to suffer from ADT than those who share a lively office.
He recommends that we walk away from the computer screen “every four to six hours for a human moment, a face-to-face exchange with a person you like.”

Electronic Arts unveiled Laptop-friendly Sims Life Stories

It’s really great news for the Laptop users who love to play games. The Laptop friendly video games were uncovered on Tuesday by Electronic Arts Inc. unlike many PC games; it does not require using upgraded graphics cards to play these games. ‘The Sims Life Stories’, first of these games announced by Electronic Arts (EA) is likely to be released in the first week of February.
While playing, the Laptop friendly games will enable its users to stay connected through their own email and IM.

The users also get the opportunity of creating their own Sims’ stories. Simple short-cuts and auto pause system are a few out of its many new features. ‘The Sims Life Stories’ will be followed by the release of other games by EA entitled, “The Sims Pet Stories” and “The Sims Castaway Stories”. However, it will take some more time for unveiling the last two games.

VP Head of Studio for The Sims Division, Rod Humble, was quite optimistic about the success of their newly launched game spoke high about the way it has been designed. The games he said will be a source of real entertainment for both the beginners and veteran players.

However the games will run on Laptops with Windows XP with 1.8 GHz or faster CPU and 142 or more RAM. As regards audio and video, it should be compatible to DirectX 9.0c. Pack of surprises and romance are stuffed to allure the young players. With these features in the system, its time now for ‘The Sims Life Stories’ players to jet…set….go….

Voip telephone in a mouse

I got this by e-mail from a Chinese company advertising it as “the worlds first VoIP telephone mouse”, which of course is not true.
The only problem I see with both is: what if I want to use the mouse while telephoning?
At the moment we can only really let the picture speak for itself, as nobody seems to have had one yet. I should be receiving a sample in the next few weeks and then will follow up with a review of this gadget that will do one thing for sure: make your coworkers a little bit confused and maybe even amused.

LG’s BH 100 might not support HD DVD’s iHD

It was at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), last week that LG brought forth the first player which could play Blu ray and HD DVD discs. “Total Hi Def” dual-format discs were also announced to be launched by mid-2007. The Unit capable of playing only DVD’s and not CD’s is named Super Multi Blue Player, popularly named BH 100. Expected to be priced at $1,199, BH 100 might me available around February 2005, much ahead than the date declared in the press conference at CES by LG. BH 100 is also capable of reading and writing DVDs and CDs.
LG also has plans up its sleeves to bring out a computer drive priced $1,999, which would be able to play both HD DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. At the same time it can also record Blu-Ray discs. The model named GGW-H10N will be available in the market almost around the same time when BH 100 will be available.
However, LG’s hybrid high-def player lacks support for HD DVD’s iHD. This could signal for LG because if this turns out to be a fact, then the DVD forum will in most probable cases sue LG for using the HD DVD logo falsely and claiming to perform a technology, which their devices does not support. If BH 100 is really incapable of playing HD DVD’s iHD, then access to HD DVDs interactive menus will not be possible. In that case, the movies can only be viewed straight through.

In the final go, it can be gauged that unless and until, LG comes out with some last moment innovation, then probably it would be a great blow to their credibility and the techno-savy consumers will have to remain content with the old DVD players.

Imitation of its iPhone screen irks Apple

Apple since long is characterized by defending its intellectual property right to the ultimate point. The company’s CEO Steve Jobs last week announced its much hyped product, the iPhone at CES. However, it will take a few months more fore this gadget to go on sale. This wait has probably taken on the nerves of many, who have imitated its new iPhone screen. Treo, Windows Mobile or other smart phones have got almost the same features as that of Apple’s iPhone, and some of its users have borrowed the icons demonstrated by Apple in their sets.
However, many others in the technological industry have accused Apple of being ‘notoriously litigious’. It’s no doubt a wrong move to steal Apple’s copyright icons. Being irritated by these acts, Apple sent its legal team to crack severely on those involved - including bloggers and journalists. The grievance of many in this issue originated from the fact that Apple is also applying its legal sledgehammer against those people who are reporting such cases of sheer imitation.

This act on the part of the lawyers representing Apple has irritated the media all over, for such kind of whimsical actions reads like no pictures of its iPhone could either be published in the newspapers or web without the prior permission of the Company. Insiders aired the view that such an irrational move on the part of Apple might create an obstacle on the path of the publicity of their new gadget. All those who praised Apple’s iPhone just last week at the annual Las-Vegas based The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), were really at doldrums at this move by the company.

White Blackberry launched in the US

Research in Motion (RIM) and T-Mobile have launched a new version of the Blackberry - in stylish white - called Blackberry Pearl. The new white Blackberry offers the same features as the original, most notably of course the push e-mail service offering access to up to 10 accounts, the popular IM clients for MSN, ICQ, Yahoo! and AOL Messenger as well as a HTML browser for accessing normal websites while on the move.
Not only does the Blackberry come equipped with the standard mentioned on the move business features, but also multimedia features including being able to play MP3 and ACC music files and MPEG4 and H.263 video files which can be viewed on the 240 x 260 pixel display.
Connectivity including worldwide roamingis provided by Quad GSM / GPRS as well as EDGE, as well as Bluetooth for close range connections to other devices or computers.
One of the new features included is Blackberry Maps, which enables the user to use mapping and local area functions and also interacts with other applications, making it for example possible to define maps for contacts and sending of maps via e-mail. Sadly the Blackberry Pearl does not have built-in GPS, which would turn it into a mobile office and navigation system.