Filed under: Cellphones

The first Android devices were always scheduled to arrive later this year, and while we’ve already seen a couple prototypes and hacked ports floating around, it looks like T-Mobile is the first out of the gate to confirm that it’ll have phones based on Google’s mobile OS. Speaking at the Wireless Innovations 2008 conference, T-Mo’s VP of broadband and new business division Joe Sims said he’d played with an early version of T-Mobile’s first Android phone and that it would ship in the fourth quarter of this year. Sims said that although he was initially skeptical of Android, he’s now “impressed,” and that T-Mobile would eventually have “more than one” Android phone. Now, if someone would just let us know what this magical phone actually is, we’d be happy — HTC Dream, anyone?

[Via IntoMobile]

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Filed under: Cell Phones

If you find yourself squinting at your celly but can’t bear the thought of investing in a Jitterbug, LG has a phone that might catch your (bespectacled) eye. The new senior-friendly SV390/LV3900 Wine Phone features a larger screen inside (2.4-inches) and out (1.8-inches) for reading text “comfortably,” plus larger buttons for aging fingers to press more comfortably, too.

Beyond the up-sized screens your $400 gets you leather texture on the outside and a fancy digital camera, though not much else, much like LG’s slightly smaller (and equally featureless) SV300 from last year. It’s available now only in Korea, meaning those with bad eyes and big thumbs in the U.S. will either have to stick with their Jitterbugs or just keep squinting. We’d squint. [Source: Aving via SlashPhone]

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Pioneer unveiled the KURO KRF-9000FD full HD projector which features high reflectivity LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) technology in order to achieve a fantastic contrast ratio of 30,000:1. Other features on the KRF-9000FD include :-

• 2x motorized zoom/focus lens
• 80% vertical and +-34% horizontal lens shift
• 600lm brightness
• 2 HDMI ports
• 24db noise level
• 280W power consumption

It will be available at the end of this month, burning a $12,000 hole in your pockets.

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Last we saw the Uno electric unicycle it was looking very much like the prototype it was, but as you can see above, it seems that the teenage engineers behind it have been doing anything but slacking in the ensuing months. As Motorcycle Mojo reports, the third incarnation of the vehicle recently made its debut at the 2008 National Motorcycle Show in Toronto, with it sporting some custom-made wheels, a stylin’ new body, and a few changes under the hood as well. That latter bit apparently even included a trip to a robotics and gyro expert in California, who helped to fine tune the two gyros the Uno uses for turning and forward and backward motion (something you probably want to get right). There’s still no word as to when or if the vehicle might actually enter production, however, but you can at least now get a great look at it courtesy of the generous batch of pics Motorcycle Mojo has provided at the link below.

[Source Motorcycle Mojo via Digg, thanks Daniel]

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O2 and Carphone Warehouse seem to have run out of 8GB iPhones, and both of them won’t be getting any replenishments from Apple. What do you think this means? Most people would probably point out and say that the 3G iPhone is all but inevitable, which is why the 8GB version won’t be restocked. What’s your take on it? In all probability, it will be released sometime in the middle of the year, which means you don’t have that much longer to wait. I say take the waiting route - after all, patience is a virtue and you wouldn’t want to have your brand new cell phone get outdated so fast, hmm?

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Filed under: Cell Phones

Within the first ten days of the new, open cellular policy in Cuba, 7,400 cellphone accounts have been opened by regular Cuban citizens. The 7,400 contracts were opened for about $110 via Cuba’s only (and state-owned) wireless provider, ETECSA. Handsets cost around $75 — no cheap proposition when you consider that the average Cuban citizen’s annual state salary is around $240. Previously, contracts could only be opened by government officials or foreigners. 7,400 is a tiny slice of Cuba’s 11.4-million person population (.0006%), but it’s a start. [Via textually.org]

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Filed under: Cameras, Computers, Interviews, Switched Video, Reviews

Not content keeping your floor clean, your gutters empty and your Grandma happy on Mother’s Day, Roomba creator iRobot unveiled a 3-D camera for robots at this month’s RoboBusiness convention. The upshot: Robots can now gauge depth with unparalleled precision, which means they’ll have that much better aim when SkyNet eventually becomes conscious.

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Safety is a top priority in any motorsports, and the same applies to Toyota who is involved in F1. The Japanese auto manufacturer has developed a computer simulation which recreates high speed accidents and their effects on human physiology. Known as Total Human Model Safety (THUMS), the FIA Institute and Toyota have managed to look into various serious injuries sustained in accidents which are difficult to measure with conventional crash-test dummies. Results from this study will be released as soon as it is completed, and it is hoped that this technology will help study high speed rear impact crashes in the FIA Formula One World Championship and Indy Racing League (IRL). Good to see drivers these days get way more protection than their predecessors ever did.

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Filed under: TV

What we’re watching tonight:

• CBS (1080i) lines up ‘Ghost Whisperer‘ at 8 p.m., followed by the return of ‘Moonlight‘ and ‘Numb3rs‘
• Sci Fi (1080i) has ‘Battlestar Galactica‘ at 10 p.m.
• ESPN HD (720p) doubles up on NBA playoffs action with Hornets/Mavericks at 8 p.m. followed by Spurs/Suns
• ESPN2 HD (720p) has Pistons/76ers at 7 p.m. followed by Friday Night Fights at 9:30 p.m.
• Versus (1080i) brings the NHL Playoffs with Rangers/Penguins at 7 p.m. and Stars/Sharks at 10 p.m.
• CW (1080i) features ‘WWE Smackdown‘ at 8 p.m.
• History (1080i) has ‘Battle 360‘ at 10 p.m.
• Discover (1080i) presents ‘Surviving Alaska ‘at 9 p.m.

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Ping pong is a sport that requires great skill, but Mike has actually managed to condense the game into an audio version, and it sure looks (sounds) like fun!

When you put on the headphones, you hear a sound that is cycling through a sequence indicating its approach. The sound is somewhere on the left-right axis in the headphones. If the sound is to your left, you have to tilt your head to the left until the sound is centered. If you tilt your head (the paddle) to the right position in time, you hit the ball an continue, the ball’s approach speeding up each time. If you fail to hit the ball a buzzer and light go off to punish you and the game is over.

You’ll be the coolest headbanger on the block whenever you play Audio Ping Pong over a Bluetooth headset.

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