Archive for January 17th, 2008 You can now access your business email on your iPod touch thanks to Intermedia who will be hosting Exchange customers, enabling them to access their business email via secure IMAP. Just make sure your iPod touch is up-to-date in the first place. Guess business executives now have another excuse to badger their bosses to purchase a bunch of iPod touch (or is it iPod touches?) for them to stay updated on the road at all times. Permalink | Comment | Uberbargain | Uberphones  Adesso has just rolled out its CyberPad A4 that comes bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 which is compatible with both Windows as well as Mac OS X. This device allows you to transfer handwritten notes as well as drawings on paper onto a computer for a convenient digital storage solution. This A4-sized device comes with 32MB of internal memory, offering 26 directories (A to Z) with 99 pages available in each. Should you find that to be inadequate, there is always an SD memory card slot. This $230 device also doubles up as a functional PC tablet for aspiring digital artists. Strangely enough, the specifications look exactly the same as the standard CyberPad. Permalink | Comment | Uberbargain | Uberphones  Hardcore Star Wars fans will definitely fall in love with these lightsaber lighting fixtures that would look great in any teen’s bedroom (or an adult who is going through his/her second childhood, that is). Powered by AAA batteries, these faux lightsabers emanate a subtle LED glow. You can choose from green or red variants, depending on which side of the Force you prefer to support. Each of these lightsaber lighting features measure a wee bit less than 16″ tall and are powered by AAA batteries. They cost $23 a pop from NCSX. Permalink | Comment | Uberbargain | Uberphones  Vuzix, once known as Icuiti, is back with a modified video eyewear design for gamers which they claim is a world’s first. The AV902-C starts with their AV902 headset’s twin 640 x 480 LCDs. They then add the ability to segment multi-player displays so that the person wearing the AV902-C only sees their half (2-player) or quadrant (in 4-player) of the screen presented as a 62-inch virtual display. Up to four of the AV902-C’s can be daisy chained together for distraction-free (and cheat-free) gaming. Available February for an undisclosed price. [Via Gizmag]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Filed under: Cell Phones, iPhone
Do you have $20,000 burning a hole in your pocket? If so, we have about 20,000 other things for you to spend it on — but if you want number 19,999, pay attention. Case-mate’s ingeniously named “Diamond Case” is made with 42 nuggets of bling, totaling 3.5 carats, and is embedded in 18k gold. Apparently, they gave one away at Macworld. Think of it as the iPhone case for the rest of us. From CNET Related links:
Filed under: Computers
A Hungarian scientist has developed computer software that interprets the barks of a certain breed of Hungarian dog. This is exciting news, especially for so many dog owners who are convinced their pets are saying intricate and purposeful things whenever they bark. Turns out, they may be right. The software analyzes distinct barks that indicate the emotional state of the Hungarian Mudi herding breed (pictured above) in six situations: when the dog is alone, when it sees a ball, when it fights, when it plays, when it encounters a stranger or when it goes for a walk. Not quite a full range vocabulary but it’s a start. Down the road, he and colleagues expect the software to be applicable in consumer products to allow easy human-dog dialog. For now, though, the software was only three percent better than humans at correctly determining which of the six scenarios was in play while one of the dogs barked, so it may be a while before you can find out specifically what your canine pal really thinks of the new chew toy you got him. But wait. We seem to remember a little toy from a few years ago called the Bow-lingual. A little digging confirms this device from Japan’s Takara company, which was clearly marketed as a toy, claimed to interpret dog barks and relay statements like, “I’m feeling great!” or “Come on, play with me!” Interestingly enough, the toy maker also determined there were six distinct vocal patterns do be identified within dogs’ barks and took into account the differences between the barks of 50 breeds. Impressive. To our disappointment, the official Bow-lingual Web site is no longer active. (But back in 2003, the folks at ExtremeTech took a close look at the toy.) And cat lovers, don’t feel left out — there was also a Meow-lingual. As for the Hungarian scientist, he says there is work to be done and improvements to be made to his software. The first thing we want him to do is develop a program that automatically helps us understand his Hungarian accent so we can figure out what else he’s been saying. From Reuters. Related links:
Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, Video Games, Interviews, Celebrities, iPod, iPhone, Switched Video, Cell Phones, Laptops, Handheld Devices, Cellphone, CES 2008 Last week in Las Vegas, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was forced to share the stage with another major exhibition of consumer products, bigwigs and dealmakers. At the Sands Expo convention center, the annual Adult Video News (AVN) Adult Entertainment Expo — a trade show in its tenth year showcasing adult talent and exhibitors — was also in full swing. Since the event attracts over 30,000 international buyers and fans of adult entertainment, it seemed like the perfect place for at least some of the Switched team to interview the top female stars in adult entertainment about — what else — the role of gadgets, gizmos and technology in their busy off-set lives. We had seven different stars answer our Switched Questionnaire and you’ll want to know what they had to say. We also sent out a separate videographer to film gadget-related interviews with 22 other adult stars, the results of which are highlighted in the above exclusive Switched video. To find out more, watch the video. Then, for even more saucy gadget talk, take a look at the interviews we’ve got lined up in the following pages. And if words or video simply aren’t doing the trick, we’ve also got a stunning gallery waiting for you at the end. (Video and posts are safe for work, but some content may not be appropriate for younger viewers.)
Filed under: Computers, Laptops  Macworld 2008 is well underway. The biggest news, about Apple’s super-slim new MacBook Air notebook and iTunes movie rentals, has come and gone, but not this post about some fanboys who waited in line to see Steve Jobs make his announcements. Five “excited” looking dudes had their undies in an uproar since 12 noon on Monday, first in the general admission line for yesterday’s Stevenote. For those without calculators in their front pockets, that’s a full 21 hours before the keynote began. And for those without superegos, that’s a really long time to wait for a product intro. Related Links:
Filed under: Audio/Video, Columns, TV, CES 2008 Now that everyone has declared BluRay the winner in the high-def war, what with Warner’s announcement and Sony finally allowing adult films to be published on the format, I think it’s important to take a look at HD-DVD’s long walk back to the locker room after a game well-played. It would be a mistake to say that HD-DVD will cease to exist tomorrow. In fact, expect to see just the opposite of that. HD-DVD continue on as an underground favorite format, much like Betamax did in the 70s and laser discs did in the 90s. Remember laser discs, the giant optical discs that came before DVD, the stuff of early home theater buffs who could tell you a thing or two about digital mastering way before half of Hollywood was even Bar Mitzvah’d? No? How about beta, the superior tape format that Sony wanted you to buy instead of VHS? I originally thought HD-DVD was completely done for before the Consumer Electronics Show. Warner’s Blu-Ray-exclusive announcement and the HD-DVD group’s decision to back out of their keynote made it sound like they would go away with a whimper. On the final day of the conference, however, I took one last walk by the HD-DVD booth just to see what was up. After all, I’m a sucker for a good heartbreak story. “So I looked on bestbuy.com this morning,” began the booth attendant, speaking to three half-asleep attendees who, by my estimation, were there more for the chair rest than the presentation. “You can now buy an HD-DVD drive for $179. That also comes with ten free discs. Ten free discs! That easily makes HD-DVD the best deal in high definition.” The guy had a point. Think about it — for $179, you can get a high-end HD-DVD player that will also upscale your regular DVDs to high-definition resolution. It will also play your Super-Audio CDs. You also get ten free HD-DVD discs. Go try to buy ten new regular-definition DVDs for $179 — I dare you. That evening I was ordering an HD-DVD drive from bestbuy.com. Call me a vulture if you will, but I’ll be enjoying this winter in high-def heaven. Heck - I might even cancel my Netflix account for a few months and save another $50 or so. That closing value on the HD-DVD format really is hard to beat. Even if another HD-DVD title never comes out, the closing cost of the format — along with its hardware — is easily worth the cost to anyone with a high-definition television. Is it an investment for the far future? Not so much, but most of us who already have home theaters and high-definition televisions aren’t exactly known for our electronics long-term investment acumen — we’ll all have new TVs, receivers, and speakers in a few years anyway. Anyway, with Apple’s new iTunes Movie Rentals and NetFlix opening up the “View It Now” service to unlimited views, disc-based movies’ days are numbered. Enjoy the fire sale. I know I will. Related Links:
Bollywood actors are spending most of their money on taxes. It is because of them that so much of money is going into our treasury and that is really good for us. But wonder if the government is making good use of it. |
