Gadgets Control

Hoping to turn around its unprofitable TV business, Japanese auto and consumer electronics manufacturer Pioneer has decided to halt the production of its 42-inch plasma panels and other smaller sizes effective March 2009. According to the Asahi newspaper, it will purchase these smaller panels from other established players like Hitachi and Panasonic maker Matsushi ta Electric Industrial. On other hand, 50 inches or larger plasma panels will still be manufactured at other plants. It is undeniable that Pioneer is no match against its bigger players such as Matsushi ta and LG Electronics in this segment. This year, the company’s sales target is 480,000 units of plasma TVs or a mere 10% of Matsushi ta’s 5 million annual target. (Read the full post about ‘Pioneer to drop 42-inch plasma panels’…)

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Deutsche Messe (CeBIT 2008 organizers) in cooperation with Casio, will staging the first-ever CeBIT Photo Competition for photographers and photojournalists. The winner of the Best Pic of CeBIT 2008 will receive the new Casio EXILIM EX-F1 digital camera and a trip to India on a photo-reportage tour lasting several days in December 2008. Any accredited journalist who attends CeBIT 2008 is entitled to take part. The photos must be taken in connection with CeBIT 2008 (e.g. photos taken during stand assembly, at the opening ceremony or during the show itself), can be in black and white or colour, and can be professional photos or simply photos which have been taken more or less by chance. (Read the full post about ‘CeBIT 2008 Photo Contest’…)

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One of my favorite hobbies is to play pool. Unfortunately the town where I live doesn’t seem to care for pool halls, and the only tables to be found are in seedy bars. Needless to say, I haven’t played much lately. There have been many times over the years that I’ve wanted to purchase my very own table so I could play whenever I wanted. The main issue that always arises is space. I don’t generally have a lot of spare room, and my wife refuses to entertain the idea of getting rid of our dining room table. However, I just might be able to talk her into a FusionTable. The idea of a pool table that converts to a dinner table has crossed my mind on a number of occasions, only they are rather difficult to find. (Read the full post about ‘Dine on your pool table’…)

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Posted Feb 25th 2008 12:55PM by Donald MelansonFiled under: Misc. gadgets, Handhelds We’ve already seen plenty of prototypes of Menlow-based handhelds (or MIDs), but it looks like Germany’s Lippert Embedded Computers is among the first to put together a finalized version of the core component of said devices, with it now showing off its CoreExpress-Menlow module. Aimed at everything from automotive to medical to point-of-service devices (in addition to more consumer-minded handhelds), this board measures just 2.6 x 2.3-inches and packs the expected Silverthorne processor, along with some soldered on RAM, built-in WiFi and GPS, and support for a number of different storage options, among other shrunk-down features. (Read the full post about ‘Lippert intros CoreExpress-Menlow module for handheld devices’…)

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Posted Feb 25th 2008 10:29AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Portable Audio, Wearables Oakley’s Split Thump mp3 player sunglasses’ fashion offenses are too numerous to mention, and we’re not sure this is helping matters. According to the folks over at Tech Digest, the wrap-around music players will be getting a very special 500-piece, 1GB Jamiroquai edition, replete with purple and white camouflage design and two new remixes from the disco-aping singer’s 1993 album Emergency on Planet Earth. (Read the full post about ‘Oakley’s Split Thumps: Jamiroquai style’…)

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T-Mobile has decided to enter the VoIP landline phone service market in Seattle and Dallas in order to compete with AT&T. The new service offered by T-Mobile would allow current T-Mobile subscribers to add a VoIP-based landline phone service for as little as US$10 a month. This is a little different than the HotSpot@Home service, which allows unlimited home-based calling through a compatible T-Mobile wireless phone.

Bloomberg is reporting that the new service would allow customers to hook up any home phone to a router in order to use the service. This is the same type of connectivity offered by traditional VoIP service providers like Vonage.

(Read the full post about ‘T-Mobile to offer landline VoIP service for $10 a month’…)

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Who doesn’t want to dry themselves with a nice, warm towel? The Private Resort Towel Warming Shelf does the trick, although you have to cough up $119.95 for one of these in your bathroom. This compact heated shelf keeps towels comfortably warm, dry, and within easy reach while saving valuable floor space. Heat from the rails rises up through stacked towels and accumulates for maximum thermal retention and dispersion throughout the whole towel, so bath linens are pleasant to the touch whenever you use them. The efficient 65 watt dry heating element draws as little power as a standard light bulb so it can be left on continuously and can’t leak like oil-filled or hydronic towel warmers. (Read the full post about ‘Private Resort Towel Warming Shelf’…)

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I’ve become quite cynical about online project management tools. With each new brand that comes out, I’m either underwhelmed (because there aren’t enough features) or overwhelmed (because there are too many features - but most of them I’ll never use - and the system is too complicated for my project partners to bother with). Yet, I remain persistent in my search for the perfect application that will free me from having to use four diffrent methods for communicating with people on a given project. I just became aware of MyQuire, a web application with standard fare project management features: calendar, projects & task assignments, file and photo upload, notifications, and online chat. (Read the full post about ‘MyQuire.com: online project management and networking’…)

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Remember the Meccano Spykee that was seen at CES last year? Well, it still hasn’t been perfected just yet, but a micro version is already ready to rock and roll. The RC unit controls his forward and spin motion, as well as firing off his three sound effect features, and lighting up his head and base (which looks well cool at night of course). He’s basically your very own pet mini robot and driving him about is curiously addictive. The great thing about his tracks is that his movement is highly effective on any surface, whether it’s a slippery desktop, or a deep pile carpet, he’s really not fussed. (Read the full post about ‘Meccano Spykee Micro’…)

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BodyGuardz makes clear, scratch-proof covers to protect your expensive and delicate investments. Gadget Lab’s David Becker described the iphone iteration as a “condom”. The newest sheath is for the macbook air, and brings to mind not so much a prophylactic as the plastic covers your grandmother uses to protect the sofa and carpets from stains and soil. Watching the installation video, though, raises some concerns, especially the following line from the voiceover: Once you’ve squeegeed out all the bubbles you’ll want to take your microfiber cleaning cloth and remove the excess water from your keypad.” (Emphasis added)Sure, your MacBook might now be scratch-proof, but spraying it with water to get there? (Read the full post about ‘BodyGuardz Scratch Protective Film for MacBook Air’…)

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