Tech Gadgets Reviews

A fire on March 3 at the second biggest battery manufacturer in South Korea, called LG Chem, has resulted in there being a shortage of batteries available for use in laptop computers.

Both Dell and HP, two of the largest PC makers, have acknowledged the shortage and are doing everything they can to minimize the impact on customers. Dell’s batteries sold separately of laptops have already increased in price to reflect the shortages, but they would not comment on how–or if–it will affect laptop prices.

Jess Blackburn, spokesman for Dell, said:

The industry is experiencing battery supply constraints because of these problems … Therefore, pricing is being impacted by current availability. But we are working with our partners throughout our supply chain to reduce the impact on our customers.

Mike Hockey, spokesman for HP also commented in an e-mail, saying:

The full extent of the impact to HP and other OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) is still being determined … We are aggressively working within the battery cell industry to secure additional supply of battery cells.

LG Chem is expected to come back online within three months, according to the company. Until that time, manufacturers are looking to other suppliers, including Samsung SDI, Sony, and Panasonic parent company Matsushita to fill orders.

Read more at Reuters.

Matthew’s Opinion

The falling prices of DRAM may actually make this battery problem pass without significant price increases. Analysts believe DRAM is being stockpiled by manufacturers such as Dell to take advantage of the current low prices. In effect, Dell can keep the prices almost the same, taking the higher battery price hit on a lower profit margin from the RAM in a system.

It’s problems like this that show you how much manufacturers struggle to keep up with the demand for technology. This is just one battery plant shutting down, and it causes a major headache and shortages. Possibly more investment in battery manufacturing is needed to ensure closures can be dealt with easily.

Looking for a large, stylish, high quality and decently priced HDTV? I would highly recommend you checkout the Samsung LN-T5265F, from the Samsung 65F series. This large 52-inch HDTV has been selling so well, it has been on the top 10 list of many retailers for many months, and for good reason, this is a very good HDTV.

The 52-inch LCD screen has a 1920×1080 pixel resolution which is also know as 1080p or full HD. Full HD is the highest quality HD format, bringing you the very best quality. The design of the Samsung LN-T5265F is great, with a clean looking, stylish and modern finish which should suit all room types, and features a blue glowing light at the base (which can be turned off or programmed if desired). Looking beyond the appearance and size, the specifications of the LN-T5265F are impressive, with a very high contrast ratio of 15,000:1 which delivers very impressive colors and deep black levels. Motion blur is kept at bay buy a very fast 8ms response time.

After only six months of launching its online music store that sells only DRM-free music, Amazon may very well be on the way to becoming the web’s number one music store. But that is if Apple’s iTunes does not make some drastic moves to counter Amazon’s growing popularity and increasing sales transactions.

It looks like the popularity of Apple’s music store, rest not so much on the iTunes itself nor on its very successful ipod media players. Amazon doesn’t have an online store that automatically connects to media players for quick uploading but what Amazon gives to users is something that Apple doesn’t offer – DRM free music which users can play using any brand of portable media players. And for music lovers and tech gadget users that’s a big thing.

And so we see Amazon’s online music store gaining popularity. Backed by the four major music labels, we see 4 million music tracks available for anyone to purchase for a $.99. As compared to Apple’s 2 million DRM-free music tracks. And then the inevitable happened. Amazon got popular and is now the number 2 online music store, next to Apple which is hanging by a thread on its position.

Will Amazon’s online music store continue to make huge waves and eventually grab the number one spot from Apple? I am pretty sure Apple doesn’t want that to happen, and so it continues to make a promise of releasing more DRM-free music to iTunes. In the meantime online music consumers continue to flock into the Amazon online music store.

Read [USA Today] Via [Amazon]

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The students at Virginia Tech are a bright bunch, having developed a new system for automobile braking lights that will be able to show whether you are stopping or just slowing down, based on how quickly you jam the pedal with your foot. This concept is materialized by using an array of horizontally-arranged LED lights. Whenever you start to slow down, the center lights will glow orange and after a pre-programmed threshold, the side lights will turn red. Should you happen to perform an emergency brake, then all the lights will flash red in an instant.

What’s in a name? Would a hub by any other name not be just as plain and boring? You’ll have to part my paraphrasing Bill Shakespeare, however, I’m really curious how people come up with some of the crazy names for gadgets. Take this HDMI hub for example. Do you really think that this seems like something that would resemble a mythological creature such as Medusa?

Sure, if it had a whole bunch of cables coming out of each side it might resemble the snake-hair of Medusa. However, this is only going to have four cables coming out at the very most. Perhaps you’ll simply turn to stone if you stare at it while the cables are plugged in. That really doesn’t seem like much of a selling point to me though.

Aside from its unusual name and square shape, this is your average ordinary HDMI hub. Plug in one cable and you’ll have three ports available for use. No word on pricing or availability.

Source: CrunchGear

Not only does this handset look like the iphone, it even features a dual-SIM carriage so that you will be able to carry two numbers in a single handset. What are some of the goodies available in exchange for $199.67?

• 3.2″ touch screen LCD display with 16:9 aspect ratio
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• microSD memory card slot
• Dual SIM carriage

I’ve always found dual-SIM phones to be more of a hassle than convenience - after all, you can only hold conversations one at a time, so it would be better to just carry two handsets around since you can hang up on the less important call and talk to the more favored caller.

Nokia rolls out the 6300i that offers a fully integrated VoIP client in addition to its GSM cell phone capabilities, providing you with the best of both worlds. Hooking up to an available wireless network is a snap, and the fact that you can make VoIP calls with this clearly encourages you to save more on your minutes and rely on VoIP instead when communicating with your close and loved ones. The 6300i can store an astounding 2,000 VoIP, home and cell numbers - more friends than you can shake a stick at. These can be listed side-by-side, while dedicated WLAN and VoIP symbols ensure you know exactly what the connection status and type of phone call is being made at the moment. No idea on how much it costs though.

We’ve seen a number of iPod speakers with pass-through dock connectors, but we’ve never really understood the point — why would we listen to music on our ipod when we’re already sitting at the computer, which has better speakers? iHome’s latest rig, the iH69, tries to bring it all together, though, with an iPod dock integrated directly into a set of upright computer speakers. We’re not sold on the idea until we actually hear ‘em — or we get a sub in the deal — but those of you looking to save on some cable clutter should look for these bad boys to drop sometime in June.
[ Source ]

If you’re into glossy media players with a touchscreen, check out the Onda VX767. It looks like a beauty, at least in theory…

The outside aspect is very similar to an ipod touch, but I bet the price is much lower. On the other hand, it is made for the Asian market, so you’ll have to import it and expect language support.

The best part of this Onda player is the compatibility with a high number of different file formats, like RM, AVI, ASF, MP4, 3GP, FLAC, and much more. The battery provides 40 hours of non-stop music, or 10 hours of non-stop video, which I consider good enough for a PMP.

The technical specifications include a 400MHz processor, and a 4.3-inch screen with 480×272 resolution to watch all the videos.

There is a TV out port and you can stuff up to a 32GB microSD card inside the little bugger.

via

In my experience, those who’re too drunk would always say they’re not. Don’t trust them with steering wheel too hastily though…

Parading surreptitiously as a pen, this alcohol breath tester can tell whether you’re above legal limits and hence, can’t drive. Simply breathe onto the end, and when the light signals red, just admit that you’re drunk and let someone else take you home. Aside from its alcohol testing capability, this gadget could also measure UV ray intensity. I have no idea what’s that for, but I guess some people will find this gadget useful.

via