Tech Gadgets Reviews

I know, I know, it isn’t April 1st yet and I shouldn’t be pulling off such pranks. Sad to say, the cloners are at it again, this time victimizing the Apple ipod Shuffle 2G by including a much needed LCD display as well as an integrated FM radio - something the actual Shuffle sorely needs with requests for either falling on deaf ears at Cupertino. It retails for less than $10 on eBay (before shipping), which is a far cry from the real deal in terms of price despite packing in 1GB of memory too.

Posted Mar 24th 2008 2:26PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Displays

We’re not sure why hooking up six displays has suddenly become the new USB multiple-monitor demo of choice, but LG isn’t one to let Samsung have all the glory — the company just announced the USB-capable 20.1-inch Flatron LX206WU, which outguns Sammy’s UbiSync 940UX by a single, triumphant inch. LG says you can feed up to six displays from a single USB port using a hub, but it’s not saying what the max video bitrate or resolution is. Just like the Samsung, it looks like USB video support is Windows-only for now, but Mac and Linux peeps can jack into the 5000:1 contrast ratio and 2ms response time through DVI and VGA, which are notably absent on Sammy’s unit. No word on Stateside availability, but if you’re headed to Korea we hear a smile and 390,000 won ($388) should do the trick.

At the cost of sounding ancient, Madonna is bringing in her 50th birthday in a very unique way. She plans on making seven tracks from her upcoming album, Hard Candy, available to Vodafone customers before its April 28 release. According to the Times Online, songs can be downloaded for 24 hours before being replaced by the next track.
[ Source ]

Are you runnin’ out of space for your all-important desktop PC? How about buying this one? No, it’s not (only) a keyboard with an integrated touchpad, it’s a powerful computer hidden inside a keyboard look case. Designed by a somehow obscure company (Cybernet), the All-In-One PC (codenamed ZPC-GX31 - Intel G31 Express Chipset) brings you the desk space after you’re screaming for all this time.

Plus, this one can be fully customized for your needs, for a price between 629 $ and 1099 $. The supported configuration looks like this:

CPU: Any Intel Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad @ 1066 MHz FSB or Celeron D processor;

RAM: Up to 4 GB of DDR 2 @ 667 Mhz (2 x 2 GB)

VIDEO: The good for office Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100. If you want some NOS then buy a PCI Express video card.

Networking: 1 x Gigabit Fast Ethernet Port

Audio: Realtek High Definition

Enough? No? Then see the complete specifications.

The All In One PC can be customized and ordered right on cybernetman.com.

If you’re like me, then you don’t leave the house without doing a quick inventory of the essential items you need on the road. I usually do a quick feel in my pockets for my keys, mobile phone, checkbook, and wallet.

Of course, if you are a lady, you have a purse, but I’ve seen how those purses can fill up, and you can’t tell what is in there and what’s not. Especially a woman uses her mobile telephone, and then it’s taken out from the purse and inconveniently forgotten when she leaves later on.

Fortunately, a team of Canadian students has come to our rescue with the Ladybag concept purse. Apparently, these Simon Fraser University students had a terrific idea of using RFID technology to detect if a woman has left her mobile, wallet, or keys outside of her handbag.

From there, the LED lights stored within flash a smiley-face if completely full, or a frowny face if none of the inventory is in there. It also appears this has a more simplified concept to actually show the item that is missing. However, you have to admit the face is a more personal touch.

It certainly is a worthwhile concept, but I have no idea how the handbag recognizes that you’re missing certain items. We will see.

Source

Posted Mar 24th 2008 12:33PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Household

It may not boast any fancy or slightly terrifying measures to haul you out of bed in the morning, or pack the DIY flavor of some clocks we seen, but if you just want to keep things simple and stylish you could certainly do a lot worse than one of these new LEXON jet clocks from designer Theo Williams. Available in wall/desk clock (pictured above), clock radio or travel alarm clock versions, the clocks each boast an electroluminescent backlit display, which lights up all your vital information (including the temperature) dot-matrix-style. You can also get the clocks in your choice of gold or brushed aluminum finishes, although it seems that only the wall clock model is available right now, with it setting you back €45 (or just under $70).

Another laptop bag to add to my wishlist.

I’m so definitely drooling right now on my keyboard. This gorgeous bag is made of croc leather and has a Swiss made zip. It has three compartments with extra padding.

Retails for the price of £375.00! Woohoo, for a bag that looks this good, I’m not surprised it’s mighty expensive

Source: Aspinal of London

Posted Mar 24th 2008 12:02PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Handhelds

ECTACO wants you to know something: it’s about to change the way you read… forever! That’s right, as we journey into the future, nothing will ever be the same about books, reading, or reading books. According to the company, its jetBook reader will allow you to, “Kiss your old-fashioned, dusty library goodbye,” and you can rest easy because, “Not a single tree was cut down to make it!” The “completely amazing” bright red device houses a 5-inch grayscale display, and features multi-language support, bookmarking ability, playback of MP3 files, and an SD slot. The game- and life-changing reader — which will crush and dismember your stupid, old, and ugly real books — is available now for just $349.95.

Lenmar ACUSB1 AC to USB power adapter

Charge your iPod almost anywhere! With Lenmars ACUSB1 you can charge your iPod or any other USB-charged device from your any standard power outlet. No computer required, you just need the USB cable your ipod came with, and an outlet, and youre ready to charge.

Technorati Tags: Lenmar

Guess copy protection is already a cat-and-mouse game, with every copy protection technique introduced to date being subsceptible to cracks in due time, as proven by the latest release of SlySoft AnyDVD which does away with Blu-ray’s vaunted BD+ copy protection on encrypted discs. Guess Sony and all other Blu-ray parties will be up in arms, telling their engineers to go back to the drawing board once again to come up with something better. If something is going to be cracked within a relatively short time, why bother wasting millions upon millions in research on copy protection when that amount of money could be used to educate people about the benefits of buying original without resorting to piracy? After all, applied knowledge is power.