Gadgets Control

Fans of James Bond, rejoice! Here’s a multimedia bed designed by Nicolas Mélan. Dubbed “From Bed with Love”, you will be able to find the following with each purchase :- DVD player Built-in plasma display 5.1 surround sound THX system Silent alarm clock (huh? aren’t alarm clocks supposed to be noisy…)Apparently, the silent alarm clock operates on the sound canon system so that your partner won’t be disturbed as you wake up on your side. Tags: hdtv, gear, games, toys (Read the full post about ‘From Bed With Love’…)

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Now iTunes users and ipod owners can take away episodes of the Sopranos and Sex and the City thanks to a new deal Apple has inked with HBO. Another bunch of shows on iTunes is not such a big deal, but there is a big change under the hood. Apple has moved away from its fixed pricing model and offers the HBO titles at $1.99 and $2.99 per episode. Rome, The Sopranos and Deadwood come in at the higher price, while The Wire, Sex and the City and Flight of the Conchords are all at the old standard $1.99 price point. Given that Apple’s lack of flexibility on pricing was the reason for NBC ditching iTunes (plus the fact that NBC is jumping into bed with just about everybody else), this could mean that Battlestar Galactica might be coming back to the iTunes Store. (Read the full post about ‘HBO Comes To ITunes With Variable Pricing’…)

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One thing that I tend to find strangely relaxing is upgrading my computer. I love putting my PC up on the workbench and installing new components. I’ll even rearrange the cabling to be more efficient if I can, because I love to keep things neat and tidy in there. Of course there are many people that think I’m crazy and would rather buy a new computer than crack their case. This new Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 from Creative allows you to upgade your sound output without the need to install a PCI card. Some of you might think no one would buy a new computer to avoid installing a new sound card, however, I knew someone that did exactly that. (Read the full post about ‘Upgrade your sound without cracking your case’…)

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Creative of Singapore has rolled out the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1, the world’s first USB 2.0 audio solution in the world which offers a speedy upgrade option for either the PC or notebook. Definitely beats all those on-board audio found in most machines these days, so make sure you have a decent pair of speakers or headphones to go along with it. X-Fi technology boasts full cinematic surround sound, while hardcore gamers will definitely be able to enjoy Creative’s own EAX ADVANCED HD effects for a higher degree of realism. As for me, while sound is important in a game, I prefer the most basic sounds in favor of a higher frame rate. (Read the full post about ‘Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1′…)

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I don’t know anyone who couldn’t use this mini battery pack from Kensington. Not only does it power and charge your iphone or ipod, it’s small enough to slip in your purse so you’ll always have it with you. It extends play time up to 30 hours of music (nano 3rd generation only), 6 hours of video, or 3 hours of talk. The rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery pack comes with a retractable USB charging cable for recharging the battery pack, and the LED battery meter displays the remaining power level . If you let the battery pack run out you’re on your own. $49.99 at Kensington or Amazon. Tags: toys, gear, cool gear, video game (Read the full post about ‘Keep on Talking — Mini Battery Pack and Charger’…)

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Helio’s latest promotion has their Ocean for just $99. Of course there is a small catch to get that price, the phone is actually going for $199, and you will get the $100 difference back in the form of a mail-in-rebate. Which would make this a good offer only for those that are good at making sure the take care of the paperwork. Aside from the mail-in-rebate, the offer requires a new activation which means a two year agreement, and you have to sign up for a plan that retails for $60 or more per month. Of course when you consider Helio has a 500 minute plan for $65, a 1000 minute plan for $85 and an unlimited plan for $99 that should not be an issue. (Read the full post about ‘Helio offering the Ocean for just $99′…)

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Stefan over at IntoMobile has a very interesting post on what is ahead for phones/carriers as new phones begin casting nets into the net and begin to pull in more and more content from the net.  His view seems to be at odds with what I see: this is an amazing time to be alive and into tech. His view Stefan sees the manufactures of devices calling the shots, picking platforms, picking the spec and building the phone to it.  The problem here is the manufacturers are usually not the ones figuring out how to charge for it all.  Carriers have trained consumers to expect it for free - a very hard habit to break.  Their “unlimited” plans, Stefan would contend, are short-sighted and will make it tough to add on features that otherwise customers would want to pay for. (Read the full post about ‘Getting paid: iPhone model vs. Blackberry vs. everyone else’…)

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Talk about bringing immersion in video games to the next level - the jDome concept, patented by John Nilsson, comes in the form of a semi-transparent dome which requires a projector to project an image on it. This will provide you with 180-degrees of gaming action, but the $125 to $150 price tag is not the final story since you’ll need a projector for it to work first, not to mention fooling around with the game’s field of view setting so that you won’t end up suffering from a fake morning sickness after a couple of minutes’ of gaming. The prototype itself retails for $6,000, saving you a whole lot of trouble at the cost of a huge wad of dough. (Read the full post about ‘jDome Gaming Concept’…)

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An Apple Store employee whose apartment she was sharing with two roommates was recently victimized by burglars, however they had a happy ending thanks to the help of her stolen Mac’s screen sharing feature and built-in webcam. After the house was burglarized by thieves, the Apple Store employee received a call from a friend asking if she was online, since it appears that she is online on her friend’s computer. The victim immediately logged on to the Internet and used the Back-to-My-Mac program and found out that her Mac was indeed connected to the Internet. Not wasting any time, the victim quickly activated her Mac’s built-in webcam and the screen sharing feature in order to take a snapshot of the thief who was currently using her notebook. (Read the full post about ‘Stolen Mac’s screen sharing application helps owner track down thieves’…)

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Sony Ericsson recently had not one, but two new handsets hit the FCC’s approval list. The lucky phones are the R300 Radio and the C902 Cyber-shot. The R300 Radio is the less exciting of the two, and is aimed more at developing nations. This handset will be more on the basic side with a 1.8-inch color display, VGA camera, as well as a built-in AM and FM radio. The R300 will also feature Sony Ericsson’s TrackID application so users will be able to record small portions of music and be able to get the details such as artist, track and album names. The C902 is a little more on the exciting side, its still a basic looking candybar style phone, however it will offer a 5-megapixel camera that has facial recognition and auto-focus. (Read the full post about ‘Sony Ericsson’s R300, C902 achieve FCC approval’…)

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