Dell has decided to take on companies like Panasonic in the rugged laptop market with the announcement of a new Latitude machine. The Latitude XFR D630 has been designed with the extreme in mind and meets the Department of Defense MIL-STD 810F standards. These standards are a number of tests done on equipment that determine whether they are military grade and cover Drop, Shock, Vibration, Enclosure, and Temperature categories. (Read the full post about ‘Dell gets rugged with new laptop’…)
Apple today held a press conference announcing several important updates to iPhone. From a consumer perspective, the next major firmware update will be available in June. This iPhone 2.0 patch will be distributed free of charge and will support a number of new features.
The most notable updates will arrive on the business side — essentially the iPhone 2.0 firmware makes the device more business friendly. Apple will be expanding the enterprise functionality to support capabilities like blackberry-esque push email, calendars and contacts.
(Read the full post about ‘Apple announces iPhone 2.0 software, beta SDK availability’…)
You may have noticed by now that Steve-o ain’t saying a thing about 3G support for the iPhone. Because that would require a whole new handset. Which several financial analysts insist is closer than you might think Citigroup’s Rich Garder’s says a 3G iphone will be ready by the end of July, maybe sooner, based on his gleanings from industry folk. Shelby Seyrafi from Caris & Co.is a bit less definitive, insisting Apple wants to move at least 10 million units of the original handset before making any major revisions. The 3G iPhone - In The Next Four Months! [BindApple] Tags: MP3, speaker, lcd, toys (Read the full post about ‘3G iPhone By Summer?’…)
If you are interested in PC accessories, you probably know Thermaltake, but did you know that they also make LED light bulbs? Yes, that’s right, but not only fancy lights, of course. They all come with high finish, and some are even remote-controlled. Each light is capable of reproducing 16 color-tones. I wonder if Thermaltake will use the term “high-performance” with line of products… Tags: Ogg, mobile phone, mobiles, equipment (Read the full post about ‘Thermaltake Branded LED Lights – Wait… What?’…)
The point of terrorism is, of course, terror. Terror which is used to put the population in a constant state of fear. By this metric, London’s Metropolitan Police are helping the cause with a new poster campaign which urges paranoia about cameras, cellphones and houses. The ads instruct citizens to snitch on anyone they see with more than one cellphone, and photographers snapping near CCTV cameras or just making notes. This appalling scaremongering not only breeds suspicion between innocent people but seeks to erode freedom. In the UK, a photograph can be taken of anything public. People, buildings and objects are all fair game if they are outside. (Read the full post about ‘Metropolitan Police Declares War On Gadgets’…)
Lenovo has announced a “green” computer that sounded like it’s ultra-small, until you see the photo. “Lenovo today announced the ThinkCentre M57/M57P “Eco” ultra small desktop PC, the first desktop PC from any manufacturer to receive GREENGUARD certification” Unless the monitor in the picture is a 7” one, I really do not see where “ultra-small” comes from. Of course, it might just be an inconsistency, another page shows a smaller computer, but it’s still not “ultra small”. Who at Lenovo let the marketing guys loose again? (Read the full post about ‘Lenovo M57 May Be Green, but Super-Small? Huh?’…)
Bring some joy into the world not by having a baby, but with the Joyrider. This device will create illuminated smiley faces along the spokes of rotating bicycle wheels, thanks to a couple of electronic devices which clip onto the wheel spokes. They will first size up the rotation speed, where the LED lights will then go to work in order to create an illusion of a stationary smiley face. No idea on how much these cost though, but they recently went for £2000 at a charity auction. Hopefully future iterations will see more designs other than smileys? Tags: video game, TV, ipod, DVD (Read the full post about ‘Joyrider Smileys FTW!’…)
Posted Mar 6th 2008 6:55AM by Thomas RickerFiled under: DisplaysWhile we’ve yet to see the rollout of Microsoft’s Surface, rumor has it that other versions have at least made it to the prototype stage. According to ZDNET’s sources, Microsoft has a “spherical Surface prototype” bouncing around the Redmond campus. What’s intriguing is how they managed to stuff a rear projection unit and IR cameras into a ball. Presumably, we’re talking about a different touch-sensitive technology to that used in the table-top surface. You know, assuming the rumor is true.Tags: electronic toys, equipment, wi-fi, MP3 (Read the full post about ‘Microsoft Surface going spherical?’…)
Boost Mobile has launched Motorola’s KRZR K1m this week, and while its freshness leaves something to be desired, the glossy black flip is instantly propelled to the very top rung of Boost’s non-iDEN food chain above the w385 and c290, both of which also hail from Moto. The scrappy, youth-oriented Sprint division is using the K1m’s launch to highlight Unlimited by Boost, its regional calling plan that is currently available in 13 states — including the lovely islands of Hawaii. The Boost-ified MOTOKRZR is available now for $249.99, so get in on the circa-2006 action while the getting’s good; heck, if you’re really clever about it, you might even be able to use it as an excuse to move to Oahu. (Read the full post about ‘Boost boosts the Motorola KRZR’…)
The ipod generation will probably suffer from tinnitus a few years down the road after having those signature white earbuds stuck inside for many a year now, but fret not - Neuromonics claims to have discovered a method that treats tinnitus by fighting music with…music. It uses a simple audio player that changes the way it plays music and accompanying sounds over time, where the ringing in your ears will slowly diminish over time. For the first two months, the music mix includes a noise, which some describe as water in a shower, to cover the tinnitus. In the third month, the shower sound is removed and patients are instructed to turn up the music just loud enough so the tinnitus is audible only during the quiet parts. (Read the full post about ‘Neuromonics Treats Tinnitus’…)
