Gadgets Control

I never really thought I’d ever see the day when a passable cellphone watch was rolled out to market. But apparently, I was wrong, and with Van Der Led’s new WM2 cellphone watch, I’m eating my words, and reconsidering my attitude towards such gadgets.

It’s not exactly packing high-technology, with a 1.3-inch touchscreen display that shows 260k colors. Stereo Bluetooth isn’t a new thing, and neither is 1GB of internal memory and support for MP3 or MP4 files. But what’s special about this cellphone watch isn’t what’s inside, but how it looks like. For the first time in modern technology history, cellphone watch fans just might spring into existence.

(Read the full post about ‘Van Der Led’s WM2 cellphone watch is better than yours’…)

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Toshiba has started shipping its new 14.1-inch Satellite M300 laptop. With a retail price starting at $949.99, users can choose between the M300-S4822 or the M300-S4826. With the slew of new laptops recently launched by Toshiba, I’m beginning to believe that it is the company’s way of introducing its Fusion finish that is bonded directly into the chassis of the laptops. Like the previous models recently released by Toshiba, the Satellite M300 also features the Sleep-and-Charge USB ports and the LED-illuminated “Feather Touch” multimedia command keys. In addition, the Satellite M300 series laptops also feature Harman Kardon speakers and makes use of Dolby Sound Room technology, built-in webcam with facial recognition software, and DVD/Super Multi drive. (Read the full post about ‘Toshiba begins shipping new 14.1-inch Satellite M300 series laptops’…)

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Wal-Mart has the largest repository of recorded video on the planet. It just so happens that not all of it is in the retail giant’s control. In particular, one production company is sitting on a vast treasure trove of Wal-Mart footage and has decided to start using these video archives to make a little cash on the side. Flagler Productions, who recorded countless hours of internal Wal-Mart meetings from the 1970s through 2006, was fired two years ago. While that move effectively cut off most of the company’s revenue stream, Flagler discovered there are actually plenty of people out there interested in viewing such material — especially if it involves managers prancing about in drag at an executive meeting. (Read the full post about ‘Company Sells Access to Behind-the-Scenes Wal-Mart Footage’…)

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Wind Bag It was as inevitable as rubber vomit that someone would think to integrate sound and motion sensors into these truly naff seventies joke-shop staples. Ah, technology… You can have this for ?2.95 Tags: gadgets, DAB, high definition TV, Gadget (Read the full post about ‘Wind Bag’…)

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by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 3:13PMAs expected, the FCC today approved plans to roll out a nationwide SMS-based alert system, which is now all but certain to be adopted by all four national carries, and no doubt most regional carriers as well. As CNN reports, under the new plan, the FCC will appoint a federal agency tasked with creating the messages, which will in turn be passed on to participating carriers (which will have ten months to comply with the system once the agency is named). Those messages will be limited to one of three categories of emergencies, including disasters like a terrorist attack, ongoing threats like hurricanes or earthquakes, or child abductions or amber alerts. (Read the full post about ‘FCC gives national SMS alert system stamp of approval’…)

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The crafty folks at TiVo have admitted they can predict the future…kind of. Using the company’s audience measurement tools, TiVo execs say they have accurately predicted the outcomes of the past four American Idol competitions. In essence, the company is looking at TiVo user’s fast-forwarding and rewinding habits. Those performers who are most frequently fast-forwarded though also happen to be the ones who receive the fewest votes. Conversely, performers who are rewound and re-watched get the highest votes. Not rocket science, but apparently it’s accurate enough. In case you’re interested in tonight’s outcome (or want to make a friendly wager), the company is predicting that Syesha Mercado will be getting the boot. (Read the full post about ‘TiVo Execs Hack American Idol Results’…)

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Imitating the looks of a F1 Ferrari, this red blushing beauty is a car phone with a difference. Like the phone that masqueraded as a cigarette box, this one’s got a Ferrari hangover. It F1 features a 2.2″ LCD touchscreen, MP3, 3GP, and MP4 file support, it can be expanded via a transflash card and it weighs 82 grams. Besides these specs and really hot looks, there’s little else going for the phone. Spending ₤96.54 ($191) on this seems a tad too ambitious. (Read the full post about ‘F1 Car Phone has a Ferrari hangover’…)

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Adobe has released Lightroom 1.4.1, which fixes some serious blunders introduced in the mid-March release of v1.4 and introduces RAW support for a few new cameras (full list below). The 1.4 update could erroneously alter the EXIF metadata of imported images on Mac OS X and Windows, specifically the time and date fields,as well as incorrectly diplaying JPEG files from Olympus cameras. The Windows version had an even worse bug, and could render DNG files unreadable. These issues have been fixed, although right now the download page on the Adobe site is down for “scheduled maintenance”, so you’ll have to wait a little while longer. (Read the full post about ‘Adobe Updates Lightroom, And Properly This Time’…)

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No idea what the main idea for the Car Glitter Lamp is exactly, but it sure as heck would look tacky if you’re driving something that’s worth more than a house. After all, glitter flakes swimming with glowing colors seem to appeal more to younger kids (especially girls), so the $22 you fork out for this is rather questionable. It hooks up to your vehicle’s cigarette lighter outlet, measuring 130mm x 15mm x 15mm. Tags: cool gear, design, lcd, high definition TV (Read the full post about ‘Car Glitter Lamp’…)

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Sennheiser is offering a trade-in program of sorts for your old headphones. Whether “new, old, broken or used” all you have to do is choose the style of headphones that you want to purchase, fill out their form, gather up your old headphones and mail them in. The trade-in value depends not on the style of headphones that you are sending in, but on the style that you are getting from Sennheiser. The value will range from $5 for Street Earbuds up to $25 for Noise Canceling models. So if you were thinking about replacing those nasty or broken headphones, Sennheiser may be worth checking out. The trade-in offer is valid from April 1 through July 31. (Read the full post about ‘Sennheiser offering cash for your old, broken headphones’…)

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