Tech Gadgets Reviews

If a plain ordinary iPhone is just too pedestrian for you, there’s always the option to get one in a 24 carat gold casing from UK company Goldstriker. The 24ct full gold 16GB iPhone goes for a mere 899GBP (about $1780 USD), but if you’re one of those cost-conscious rich people, you can go for the partly gold version (which looks the same to my uncultured eyes) for just 599GBP (about $1190 USD).

Or how about this one in 24ct and leather (to be released in a limited edition of just 250 units next month)? Makes my iphone, customized only with Sanrio stickers, look cheap, which I suppose is the point.

Via textually.org.

This ball point pen not only allows you to get your John Hancock signed all over the place, it also features a flashlight function just in case you’re the last one in the office, working late yet again much to the chagrin on the missus. In addition, the laser pointer comes in handy when you have a presentation to make, and couple that with the fact that this ball point pen comes with a USB 2.0 connector and 8GB of internal memory makes this the perfect office tool. It will retail for $68 or so, but might be a wee bit more expensive if you’re importing one in.

Source: AVing

I must say out of all the Windows operating systems that I have used thus far (starting from 3.1…I was too young to use 1.0 when it was released), Windows XP was the one that held my attention the most. Even the notebook that I purchased last year runs on Windows XP, as I politely declined the Windows Vista option after hearing horror stories about it. Microsoft has clearly seen the stranglehold Windows XP has on the world, and they have finally relented to let Windows XP Home Edition hang around for another two years, which is a welcome reprieve considering the fact that Microsoft planned to pull it away from shelves in less than three months from now. Windows XP Home shall be made available to OEMs at least until June 2010, where Microsoft might pull the plug then. The main reason behind this turnabout is due to “incredibly strong demand” on various devices such as the Asus Eee PC, Intel Classmate PC, and the OLPC. This has also caused Microsoft to post design guidelines for manufacturers looking to build low-cost laptops which are powered by the Windows XP platform.

This piece of news has made me extremely happy, as I know that support for my beloved XP will still be around for quite some time more. After all, Windows XP is the operating system with the largest installed base in the world, and I really wouldn’t mind using it indefinitely - well, at least for another five years more.

How would you react to such news? Will you whoop with joy, or do you think a ‘forced’ upgrade like Vista should be imposed upon computer users? True, good things must come to and end, but then again, why bother reinventing the wheel? I certainly hope the plug on XP won’t be pulled too soon.

Source: ArsTechnica

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 12:18PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Laptops

Intel’s just gotten official about its new Netbook platform (a.k.a. Classmate 2), and CTL has now followed suit with official word on the first Netbook that’ll actually be available: the 2go PC. While there’s no surprises with the specs, CTL did drop word that the education-minded laptop will be available for sale to the general public from Amazon (though not just yet) with prices ranging from $300 to $500 (as opposed to the firm $400 price tag we heard earlier). Coinciding with the official launch, the folks at Laptop Magazine have also let loose both a brief hands-on and a full review of the device, both of which find the laptop to be an improvement over the original Classmate PC, with its rugged design, long battery life and lightweight chassis in particular earning it high marks. The keyboard, however, is apparently even more cramped than the one on the Eee PC, so anyone outside of the intended kid market will likely want to look elsewhere. Be sure to hit up the appropriate link below for a video of the laptop as well.

Read - CTL Press Release (PDF link)
Read - Laptop Magazine, “Hands-on with CTL’s 2go PC”

[Via Eee Site, thanks David]

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 4:52PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

We puzzled over Microsoft’s cryptic statements at CeBIT that the Eee’s “other requirements” would lead to an adjustment of the Windows 7 timeline, and it looks like our first guess was spot-on: Microsoft will be making Windows XP available for Eee-class ultraportables until 2010, and possibly later. Demand for XP on devices like the Eee and Intel’s Classmate machines has prompted MS to reconsider axing XP entirely this June: the company will now sell XP Home through at least June 2010, and for one year after the release of Windows 7 — which means sales of XP could stretch into 2012. There’s no word on if the build of XP Home targeted at the ultraportable laptop set will be different from regular XP builds, but we doubt there’ll be many changes — it’ll be awfully sad if people are still clamoring for XP more than a decade after its initial release, though.

[Thanks, JP]

Now available for pre-order, ClarityLife mobile phones would be perfect for kids from one to ninety-two. It’s a simple, dumbed down version of a cellphone that only offers a few buttons and a large, highly-readable display. It also comes with a one touch emergency response button, that can be pre-programmed to call or text message up to five numbers in case of, er, emergency. It’s going to be available this summer, in case you’d like to buy one. I’m trying to picture myself using this thing when I grow older, and I… can’t… never mind. Maybe I’m turned off by the monochrome display. I mean, I’m all for affordability, but a color screen will beat a monochrome any day on readability. I know you mean good, ClarityLife, but my grandma’s not that cheap!

Via [SlashGear]

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Now according to the product description, the 3-D IQ Sphere is supposed to train both your IQ and EQ, although I’m not too sure how the latter part is going to be trained. Will arranging a rounded Rubik’s Cube actually improve my EQ? At $9 a pop, I’d rather throw in an additional $10 to pick up Brain Age on my DS which offers me way more interactivity, and to be able to share the joys of Brain Age with friends and family will definitely increase my EQ no two ways about it

By and large, almost all the latest cellphones carry a touchscreen display and some kind of ho-hum touch-based UI with them these days. Don’t these trying-hard companies see that they are only strengthening the brand they are attacking with their half-baked jabs at innovation? Or is it imitation? It seems like everybody’s trying their best to make an iPhone killer, and miserably fails, each and every time. But ‘ole Samsung’s latest offering begs for a second look, a chance to impress. Samsung introduced a new phone, called the Samsung Instinct, to be made available for a still undisclosed price.

As you can see, the Samsung Instinct has a large, touch-sensitive display and it runs on a custom UI made by Samsung from the ground up taking data convergence into focus. It will also offer local haptic feedback, built-in GPS and Sprint TV. This is Samsung’s first direct strike at Apple’s iphone, as well as against a lot of other touchscreen-based devices that have been popping up lately. I’m sure Samsung hopes that the Instinct won’t stink but will it have what it takes to be a real iPhone killer when it’s finally released? We will see.

Via [I4U News] Via [Crunchgear]

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How Smart Is your Dog IQ test

You can have this for ?4.99

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 1:26AM by Ryan Block
Filed under: cellphones

At AT&T’s press feast today, the focus was unquestionably the trial deployment of Microsoft’s Surface kiosks to stores later this month — the presence of Microsoft’s own Robbie Bach was testament to that fact. But there was more to the action by the time the show was over. Deployment of 3G and 4G services was a hot topic both during CEO Ralph de la Vega’s presentation and in the post-conference Q&A (one member of the press lamented the fact that AT&T’s BlackBerrys still lack HSDPA), and at one point he mentioned that all of the carrier’s smartphones would be 3G within a matter of mere “months.”

We figure that instantly thrusts several devices onto (and off of) AT&T’s roadmap in the very near future, including a 3G iphone and the blackberry 9000 we recently saw strutting its stuff. Of course, that would also preclude the just-introduced Palm Centro from hanging around for very long, since it tops out with EDGE speeds; last time we checked Garnet had a hard time handling HSDPA, so something’s got to give. We’re not writing the obit just yet — CEOs’ statements are often a mere shadow of reality, after all — but it’s certainly food for thought.