June 30th, 2005
By GadgetManiac
Sling Media’s Slingbox product has been in the works for some time now — indeed, its been almost a year since we last made note of it. Well, it was finally launched today, and it seems to have been worth the wait. 
Slingbox is a device that uses streaming video to redirect images from (e.g.) your home TV, to an internet-connected computer. The device accepts feeds from either a TV, Personal Video Recorder or satellite. For now, the only device that can ’see’ the resulting video stream is an XP computer running Windows Media Player. Sling Media is working on support for PDAs, smart phones and MACs also. Walter Mossberg has already reviewed the device and gives it a thumbs up, saying : “I really like the Slingbox and can heartily recommend it “. Sling Media website Device Lets You Watch Shows on a Home TV, TiVo From Elsewhere - review by Walter Mossberg June 30, 2005
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June 29th, 2005
By GadgetManiac
Elecom has launched a new spreadsheet-oriented mouse called the M-DWUR. The mouse has a 2nd scroll wheel, this one for the thumb, intended to facilitate navigation around large spreadsheets, and the like. 800dpi. Elecom M-DWUR - product page
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June 28th, 2005
By GadgetManiac
Today’s New York Times has an article on the nature and enigma of that thing called time. The piece presents a kind of rambling retrospective of past and current thinkers on the subject of time, touches on string theory, delves into that morass called time travel and the grandfather paradox, and ends by saying that time travel just might be possible … or maybe not. In an attempt to better acquaint us with the subject at hand, the author quotes the great Einstein as saying that “The separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one”. Indeed many theorists agree, saying that both space and time are most likely a sort of illusion or an approximation. Others go on to suggest that time is a merely a byproduct of space itself, or that the geometries of space and time arise spontaneously in the presence of matter/energy. The article makes for a good read. It includes a joke about the possibility of still attending (its now the end of June) the The Time Traveler Convention held at MIT on May 7, 2005. They throw in the following graphic, which portrays space-time as a kind of loaf of bread whose slices are not necessarily parallel to each other … 
Remembrance of Things Future: The Mystery of Time - NYT June 28, 2005
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June 26th, 2005
By GadgetManiac
Pocket PC Dubai has some information about the rumored / unannounced / leaked Motorola RAZRberry. The Franklin, as its also called, is a quad-band mobile phone running GSM/GPRS and EDGE, has Bluetooth, and uses the new Windows Mobile 5 operating system. Memory-wise, the RAZRberry has 128MB of flash, 64MB of RAM, and a miniSD card slot. The device has a QWERTY keyboard, a QVGA screen, and a 1.3 Megapixel camera with flash. Its thinner and lighter than the Blackberry devices with which it competes. Exclusive: Motorola RAZR Running WM05 - Pocket PC Dubai Saturday June 25, 2005
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June 24th, 2005
By GadgetManiac
Well, its not actually a shower phone … its a way to use your phone in the shower. The product is basically a plastic zip-lock bag for cell phones … objective being to use the phone in a wet environment (without damaging the phone). The Aqua Talk Flex Plastype, as the product is called, is made by Ishizaki Materials. The material is only 95 microns thick, thus allowing the transmission of sound and the pressing of buttons with relatively little obstruction. Price is about 399 yen or $3.50 USD.
Ishizaki Materials- a manufacturer of plastic packaging
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June 23rd, 2005
By GadgetManiac
As the product name suggests, Logitech’s new “Logitech Wireless Headphones for iPod” sends digital music from an iPod to a set of headphones and does so without wires. Its based on a Bluetooth 1.2 adapter that plugs into almost any iPod. Playback is controlled via buttons on the side of the headphones. 
The product just came out, and already there are 2 opposing reviews on it :- CNet loves it. They gave it 8 out of 10, and an excellect rating, and declared the headphones to be “surprisingly comfortable and light”. And then there’s the review from the inveterate Walter Mossberg … While he liked the quality of the music (”sounded just like it would on wired headphones”), he found the headphones themselves to be heavy and uncomfortable and only wearable for 45 minutes or so. Maybe Walt got the ones made of lead instead of neodymium. No Strings Attached: Logitech Introduces Wireless Headphones for iPod - product announcement from Logitech June 22, 2005 Logitech Wireless Headphones for iPod - Cnet review dated June 22, 2005 Cutting the Cord From Your iPod - by Walter S. Mossberg June 22, 2005
Posted in Music Players ~ 2 Comments
June 23rd, 2005
By GadgetManiac
In the long-term, somebody, somewhere, will develop a Theory of Everything. TOE will provide a complete description of how our universe works, and hopefully, result in a boatload of some really funky gadgets … I’m thinking parallel universes, anti-grav, disentropy machines, quantum entanglement in time and superluminal communication. …but hey, what do I know?
In the short-term, however, we’ll have to make do with some “almost, but not-quite-here-yet” items.
In a recent article, Forbes made note of 10 new-ish gadgets & technologies, most of which are just around the corner, or perhaps two corners, at the most. Some of the items are real yawners, such as higher-capacity camcorders, cheaper tablets and longer-battery-life laptops. Others items are more interesting … examples being satellite radio for cell phones, the new game consoles from Sony and Microsoft, Motorola’s Liquid Media and the recently announced Slingbox. Arguably, the most interesting of the gadgets noted by Forbes is the three-dimensional printer. They’re here already, and we’ve made note of them in the past. 3D printers are currently used to make plastic models of things like cell phones amd lawn spinklers. Eventually, you’ll be able to print the real thing [i.e. a working cell phone] at home. In fact, if Behrokh Khoshnevis has his way, you’ll be able to print the home as well.
Coolest Technologies Of Tomorrow 2005 - Forbes Magazine 2005/06/22
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June 22nd, 2005
By GadgetManiac
Samsung has just released the SPH-V7800, which is a 5 megapixel camera phone. The V7800 includes many features found mostly in higher-end digital cameras, such as : a 3x optical zoom, auto focus and flash, manual ISO setting, automatic exposure bracketing, manual white balance, filtering and 16:9 widescreen . It also plays music on dual speakers, reads business cards, views Office files and seems to be as nearly fully featured as it can be without being a smartphone. My guess is that in the absence of buttons dedicated to the playing of music and the taking of pictures, the user interface for managing all of that functionality will be somewhat dodgy. 
Samsung in Bid to Emancipate Camera Phones - Chosun Ilbo Jun 12,2005
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June 22nd, 2005
By GadgetManiac
KT, the South Korea telecom company, will soon launch a family / security / helper robot dubbed the “Nespot Ru”. 
Basically, the unit rolls around the house under remote control, keeping an eye on things. It can monitor alarms and transmit video of seniors or the handicapped over Wi-Fi. I’m wondering if stairs and locked doors would present a mobility problem for this device. KT Corp website KT News Release - 2005-06-23 WLAN Meets Intelligent Robot - TelecomsKorea article Wednesday, 22 June 2005
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June 22nd, 2005
By GadgetManiac
X-bit Labs has an article comparing 2 office notes : Sony VAIO VGN-FS115ZR and HP Compaq nx8220. So what is their conclusion after 13 pages of charts & graphs and detailed feature-by-feature comparisons? … these two notebooks seem to be fairly equally matched. Their bottom line recommendation is that if design, aesthetics and ergonomics are important, go for the Sony. On the other hand, if graphics performance is paramount, then choose the Compaq with its ATI Mobility Radeon X600 board. 
Sony VAIO and HP Compaq: Two Office Notebooks in Our Lab - X-bit Labs review 06/17/2005
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