Tech Gadgets Reviews

I’m sure most of you will hope that the Catbox 360, but we’ve eaten more than our fair share of salt to know that this is but an impossibility - after all, I don’t think an animal who has such a fascination for balls of yarn will be able to find something as complicated as video games interesting. Apparently, this automatic litter box will activate the game each time kitty steps inside, and should it leave a log during the game, it will earn a bonus multiplier mode for additional points. Needless to say, the Catbox 360 has no pricing nor availability date attached to it. Something smells fishy here, and it definitely ain’t cat food

This video from the Wall Street Journal talks about the second biggest problem with the One Laptop Per Child XO Laptop:

The biggest problem with the OLPC is discussed here:

• gadgets Page » One Laptop Per Child Review from the.Inevitable.Org/anism

It seems that the OLPC is neither useful for developing countries nor developed ones. I wanted this to be a good product that could be a computer alternative for children, but it appears that it is just a toy and not a very fun one.

Via: Kids Prefer Aging Desktop to OLPC XO Laptop | notebooks.com

Despite being a highly anticipated competitor to the Asus Eee, the Cloudbook ended up being a disappointment. The $400 sub-ultraportable notebook was widely panned by critics for its slow hard drive, overheating issues, and poorly designed cursor controls. Even though it largely followed in the footsteps of the Eee these issues, plus added in DVI and 30GB of storage, but lackluster overall performance and the gOS operating system quickly caused it to be tagged as a step down from the Eee PC.

Taking the problems with the Cloudbook into consideration and the fact that a new crop of Eee PCs are on the way Everex has announced the Cloudbook MAX. The MAX distinction refers to the notebook’s built-in Sprint Xohm WiMAX, but they also managed to improve on a number of other aspects including an 8.9″ display at 1024×600, a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M processor, 1-2GB of RAM, and VIA’s new VX800 chipset. Storage has increased to 80GB, but it still uses a 4200RPM, 1.8″ disk so this remains a potential bottleneck. Battery life is expected to come in at four hours and we should see the notebook some time in the second half of 2008. We don’t have word on the official weight but it should be pretty close to the 2.0lb mark, maybe a bit more.

There is one disappointment we have already observed–the DVI output has been replaced by VGA. On the upside the device looks extremely well designed (if a bit thick) and should mark a major improvement from the original Cloudbook. The Max looks great so far, but the price point is going to be a huge factor in its ultimate success considering that the HP 2133 should be available shortly (possibly next week if you listen to the rumors) and the new Eee PCs will be an extremely attractive option.

Engadget had some people on the ground and snagged a few images of the device and Everex has specs and more images available at their site.

Say you like taking photos, but don’t like carrying a large camera with you. Then the age of cameras built into cell-phones may have sounded promising to you, but if, like me, you have a cell with a less than stellar zoom. Perhaps you may be experiencing some disappointment, but worry no longer, as long as you don’t mind lugging some extras around.

Green-House has released a kit for such photography-aficionados, which contains the super-lens with up to an 8x zoom, universal handset clamp and tripod. The asking price is around $88, but remember it will improve your zoom, not necessarily your picture quality.

Product [Green-House] Via [phonemag]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

Gone have the days where any HDTV larger than 32-inches would be better as a plasma rather than a LCD screen. Now days LCD HDTVs such as the Philips 42PFL7432D have improved so much over the last year or so that they can easily compete head to head with plasmas.

42-inches is a very nice size for an HDTV and the 42PFL7432D looks nothing short of beautiful with it’s sleek glossy finish and rounded corners. One of the key features on this Philips 42PFL7432D is the unique “Ambilight” lighting technology which produces light around the edges and back of the HDTV. This “light show” for lack of a better description helps get you more involved in watching and also reduces eye strain. You can choose a colour yourself, let the HDTV intelligently select and blend different colours depending on what the set is showing, or disable it completely.

The main part of the HDTV is of course it’s LCD screen, on the 42PFL7432D it’s a full HD 1080p screen with a 1920×1080 pixel resolution for the highest HD format avaliable. A high dynamic contrast ratio of 8000:1 provides vivid and varied colours, and with Philip’s Perfect Pixel HD processing for improving image quality to a great result.

Connectivity is very impressive on the Philips 42PFL7432D with 3x HDMI 1.3 inputs on the rear, along with component, s-video and composite. The 42PFL7432D showed very good color accuracy with impressive black levels during dark scenes, with good shadow detailing. Skin tones are accurate and natural but also vivid enough to impress.

Solar Powered mobile phone Charger

It’s a scientifically proven fact of life that when you need a laser printer most, the machine will jam. When you need a fax it won’t send. When you need to have a shave before an important interview there’s no hot water. And when you need to place an urgent call in the middle of a ballyhoo, your mobile will be out of juice.

Features

• Compatible with most models of Nokia, Siemens, Motorola and Sony Ericsson
• Mobile power adapters included

Specification

• Dimensions: Height: 10.0cm Width: 6.0cm Depth: 2.0cm
• Weight: 0.3Kg

See price

The BrickEssential TV ammunition, The Brick is an astonishingly realistic looking house-brick made of foam. The box is nowadays so riddled with complete and utter tosh that it’s almost impossible to watch it for long without wanting to throw something at it. Well now you can lob a very satisfying brick at all those asinine creatures strutting about on your screen. Of course it’s also immense fun to chuck it at friends, family, work colleagues and the neighbour’s windows - just to watch their screaming reaction before the brick bounces harmlessly off them. Vent your frustrations and have a damn good laugh at the same time.
Features

• A scarily realistic-looking foam brick.
• Terracotta (for this we mean brick) coloured.
• Suitable for ages 8 years+.
• Size: 21 x 10 x 6cm

You can have this for £9.99 - Approx USD $17.98 / €14.79

I love Skull Candy’s earbuds and headphones, so when I saw their booth at CES this year, I was so excited. Their booth didn’t disappoint. There were plenty of interesting headphones and backpacks in a wide variety of colors. Their booth had many headphones on the rack so you could see how they feel on your head.

They were also showcasing their Skullcandy FMJ headsets for the iPhone and the blackberry Curve. In January, they weren’t available yet and the staff at the booth only had one to show us, but they let us test it with our iPhone. Here are the photos that we got.

They come in a round case like the Shure headsets.

The plug fits into the iphone and the silver color matches the frame perfectly.

Here is the microphone for the FMJ.

The only problem I had with the FMJ is the cord is made of a stiff plastic that holds its shape (as you can see in the photo). If you use your headset all the time, then the cord will hang straight down, but if you store your headset most of the time and use it every once and a while, then it will be a curly mess hanging out of your ear.

Other than that, they are perfect. Skullcandy is known for their incredible sound quality (nearly as good as Shure for half the price), so you can safely plunk down the eighty dollars for the FMJ and know that you’re getting a good headset. Fortunately, they are finally available and you can purchase them now (which wasn’t the case when I saw them in January).

It’s always nice to see a company that was doing well before continue in the same vein and create even more great products.

Nokia today unveiled its newest Nseries device, the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet - WiMAX Edition, Nokia’s first device engineered to take advantage of new wide-area high-speed mobile WiMAX networks. 

The Nokia N810 Internet Tablet - WiMAX Edition lets you enjoy an open Internet experience, allowing for access to the full Internet without barriers, while on the go.

WiMAX is a standards-based wireless broadband technology that delivers an open Internet experience similar to that of fixed broadband technologies with typical data download speeds of up to 2-4 Mbps per user with peak download speeds of up to 10 Mbps. Unlike current single point local area technologies like Wi-Fi which have a range of a few hundred feet, WiMAX networks consist of a number of interconnected base stations, each with a radius of up to 2-3 miles, that allow for handoffs from one base station to another as users move about a region or metro area. Additionally, WiMAX networks integrate technology designed to maximize the quality of service for each subscriber.
 
The Nokia N810 Internet Tablet comes with a full featured web browser, powered by Mozilla and large 4.13 inch touch screen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a built-in web cam for video calls.

You can also use Skype,Google Talk, Gizmo and a number of VOIP clints on the new Nokia N810

With built-in GPS, the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition easily transform itself into a fully featured personal navigation device, complete with real-time on-screen maps. An integrated media player and 2 GB of internal memory, expandable to a full 10 GB of memory with the addition of an optional microSD memory card, allows the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition to store and play back a large library of music and video content.

When not in range of a WiMAX network, the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition can also access the Internet over Wi-Fi or via conventional cellular data networks by pairing to a compatible mobile phone via Bluetooth technology.
 
The Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition is expected to be available in the United States during the summer of 2008 in areas where WiMAX connectivity is available.

Toshiba has redesigned and added additional features to the 13.3-inch U400, 14.1-inch M300, 15.4-inch A300 (pictured) and 17-inch P300 have been redesigned with a fusion finish, feather-touch multimedia keys, white LED accents and built-in Dolby Sound Room technology along with sleep-and-charge USB ports allowing users to charge up their portable gadgetry with USB even if the laptop is powered on / off or in Sleep mode. No word on how much and when these redesigns will be available, so I’m afraid you’ll have to hang in tight.
[ Source ]