Tech Gadgets Reviews

The buzz on Wall Street is speculating that Sprint-Nextel may be on its way for a turnaround. Executives from Verizon Wireless and AT&T are saying they see fewer Sprint subscribers are moving to their own networks.

As unsupported as this rumor stands, the speculation boosted Sprint’s stock price to a 13% growth last week and another 5.84% jump last Monday. 

Several things, at least, is happening with Sprint.  An aggressive marketing campaign starring its CEO Dan Hesse is on the way.  New products, such as Samsung’s Instinct smartphone, have been released.  The company also announced it will begin to rollout its WiMax assets.  And there have been rumors that Hesse wants to let go of the Nextel business, which has been its weaker leg.

The Wall Street Journal, however, warns investors not to expect a quick turnaround for the company.  The coming of the iphone 3G and Verizon’s blackberry Thunder could only mean more problems for the struggling Sprint.

Read [CNET]

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by Darren Murph, posted Jul 1st 2008 at 12:56PM

Just days after going on sale in Europe for €399, the Wind-esque Akoya mini laptop has been acquired and unboxed for all to see. As it stands, we’re still not certain if this thing will ever head to US soil, but judging by the remarkable similarities to a few other low-cost lappies, we reckon we’ll survive if it decides to stay put. Head on to the read link for a look at the shots.

[Via SlashGear]

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Filed under: Laptops

If the imaging group at Olympus has its way, we might soon start to take pictures with omni-directional cameras. This will either lead to panoramic, life-altering photo perspectives, or it just might make pictures unnecessarily complicated and so dizzying as to be useless.

Yesterday, Olympus’ Future Creation Lab announced a new 360 CCD sensor/lens combo prototype that will allow photographers to take pictures of 360-degree views. These types of sensors have a curved symmetrical axis, and are about 1.18 inches in diameter.

The way they work is that as light passes through the curved lens when taking a picture, the internal reflection is captured in a wide-angle 360-degree limited view, allowing for a ‘full’ perspective of a single image. It’s assumed that the sensor in development will be able change the magnification and size of the viewfinder’s perspective. In a way, this is just a different approach to adjusting the depth of field.

The omni-directional system is also defined as axisymmetrical, but the sci-fi inclined will inevitably call it something else: Pictures that look like HAL-9000.

360-degree cameras and camcorders have been available before (CycloVision’s ParaShot digicam attachment comes to mind), but only until recently have they started to become widely used. For example, companies like Immersive Media are using their geodesic-shaped cameras to take 360-degree video for clients such as Google’s Street View and Red Bull. In addition, security and monitoring firms have understandably expressed interest: Raytheon’s Eagle-300 long-range 360-degree sensor is one of the leading new panoramic video products out there.

With the advent of new, high-resolution displays (like Alienware’s wrap-around gaming monitor) we might be looking at the mainstream of picture-taking a few years in advance. 

But what do I really want to see with this technology? An omni-directional version of Daft Punk’s ‘Around the World.’ On a continual loop.

See also:

• Immersive Media’s Geodesic-shaped Camera Rides the Wave, Captures 360-degree Action Video

Gadget Lab 2.0: Jose Fermoso’s Twitter feed; Gadget Lab on Facebook.

The open-source community is booming these days. Hardware manufacturers have seen the potential for growth and profit in releasing products that can be tweaked by the coders among us, and they seem to be committed to releasing more and more as time goes on.

While the idea will never become the norm for consumers, ingenious programmers have yet another piece of hardware to play with as NETGEAR has announced their new WGR614L model router. Why buy a router without functions and create them yourself when you can buy one that has all of those features built-in? The honest answer is that you’re a geek. The answer those geeks would give you is that they can do it better than NETGEAR can.

The router does have a good base to work with, including

a 240 MHz MIPS32® CPU core with 16 KB of instruction cache, 16 KB of data cache, 1 KB of pre-fetch cache, and incorporates 4 MB of flash memory and 16 MB of RAM. In addition to an external 2 dBi antenna, the WGR614L integrates a second internal diversity antenna to provide enhanced performance and range. The router supports free open source Linux®-based Tomato and DD-WRT firmware and will soon support OpenWRT.

It’s nothing spectacular without the open-source respect, but then again, it doesn’t need to be. The router also has support from www.myopenrouter.com, which is a site dedicated to providing help to would-be programmers on how to use their new, open router. They even have downloadable firmware already available. So get at it, geeks.

Read more at Crunchgear

If you’re an addict for reading at night and have a tendency to bother your significant other, this little light might be the better way to go.  It looks a bit easier to point in different directions away from anyone else that happens to be sharing your bed.  Due to the fact it can rotate up to 270 degrees.  The other cool perk is that you can fasten it to the headboard or railing on your bed frame.  At first glance I thought it was just a square box you set down.  However, it’s actually a bit like a clamp that you can remove and move someplace else if needed.

I am actually a really big dork when it comes to reading.  I get sucked in easily and will on occasion spend the whole night reading.  I was even worse about it as a kid, and this probably would have worked way better than the flashlight I kept hidden under the bed.  Which I of course as an adult have grown out of, into a mini flashlight.   I have tried book lights but actually find them to be a little inconvenient.  The tiny area the bulb illuminates isn’t enough.  This lamp looks like it would actually cover both pages.  Sadly this is a product only sold in Japan thus far and for about $84.

Source: newlaunches

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Tesla Motors made a big splash last year, with the introduction of their Roadster model. The car is 100% electric and can go from 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. That’s a big deal. Throw in the fact that the Roadster is also an attractive convertible, and you can see why Tesla’s stock just keeps rising and rising. Unfortunately, the starting price is US$109,000 with a lot of add-on costs for the less humble among us.

The Roadster is manufactured in California, so it seemed only natural that when announcing their plans for a new model, they would invite Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to make the announcement for them. The new model, code-named the Model S, will be a, “multi-use sport sedan” that will cost less than US$60,000. There aren’t too many other details yet except for the reported ability of the car to get 225 miles on a single charge.

The Governator was also extremely pleased with Tesla’s decision to build a new factory in California to produce the new model, a decision which they admit was up in the air. While it would have always been a U.S. based company, they were thinking about heading east to New Mexico to build the new plant.

With the plant still not built, don’t expect the new model any time soon, but that’s ok. You can start saving now.

Read more at Tesla Motors, found via Autoblog

Alltel has just added another improvement to their MyCircle calling plans. Now, in addition to voice minutes, they will have the option to include text, video or picture messaging. Current MyCircle customers will be able to send or receive unlimited messages to anyone in their Circle as well as other Alltel customers with the addition of a “My Circle message pack” which starts as low as $7.99 a month.

In addition, for those looking to send messages to friends outside of their circle or to non-Alltel customers the new messaging options include either 400 or 1000 messages and are priced at $7.99 and $12.99 a month respectively. Users looking for an unlimited messaging plan will still have the option to get the All Access Pass which costs $19.99 and allows for unlimited messaging to anyone.

Keep reading to check out the full press release.

Read [Alltel]

Alltel Wireless introduces texting to “My Circle”
Addition of text messaging makes it easier than ever for “My Circle” customers to stay connected with those that matter most
 
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – As text messaging is becoming a popular communication method for millions of Americans, Alltel Wireless, America’s largest network, today announced the addition of “texting” to its exclusive “My Circle” offer. Starting today, “My Circle” customers with a “My Circle” message pack starting at $7.99 can send and receive unlimited text/video/picture messages to anyone in their “Circle,” as well as other Alltel Wireless customers.
 
Customers can choose from several message packs including plans for $7.99 or $12.99 which provides users 400 or 1,000 additional text/video/picture messages, respectively, to communicate with consumers outside of their “Circle” or that are not Alltel customers.   For customers seeking unlimited messaging, Alltel Wireless still offers the $19.99 All Access Pass that includes unlimited messaging and mobile web.  “My Circle” message packs can be added to any “My Circle” five, 10 or 20 calling plan. 
 
“Alltel’s ‘My Circle’ provides customers the ultimate in choice and value by giving them the ability to call or text any five, 10 or 20 numbers,” said Frank O’Mara, chief marketing officer of Alltel Wireless. “Whether talking or texting, our new “My Circle” message packs provide customers the most cost-effective plans for staying in touch with friends, families and business associates.”
 
In addition to the “My Circle” message packs, Alltel is also introducing new “My Circle” Family Choice Plus plans.  For $84.99 per month, customers will receive two lines with 1,000 shared minutes and the ability to call any 10 numbers on any network.  Also, customers can receive two lines with 2,000 shared minutes and unlimited calling within their “Circle” of 20 numbers for $114.99.  In addition to the unlimited calling within their “Circle,” Family Choice plan customers will receive unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls and unlimited nights and weekends. Customers will also have the ability to choose either free evening calls starting at 7PM or 1,000 text/picture/video messages the plans include unlimited texting to their “Circle of Friends” and other Alltel customers.
 
“My Circle” customers receive unlimited free calls to and from any combination of home phone, office or wireless numbers located anywhere in the U.S., regardless of local phone company or wireless carrier.  Alltel Wireless makes it easy for customers to change their numbers anytime for free, by simply visiting http://www.alltel.com/myaccount.  Free calls to “My Circle” numbers are in addition to anytime minutes, unlimited night / weekend minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes included in customers’ calling plans. 
Alltel Wireless was the first carrier to offer Anytime Plan Changes, giving customers the flexibility to change their calling plans at any time, without extending their current contract. 
 
Alltel is owner and operator of the nation’s largest wireless network and has more than 13 million customers.  For more information about Alltel, please visit http://www.alltel.com.

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OCZ has a new Core Series SSD which not only aims to bring as much storage space to you as possible, it also hopes to make it affordable across the masses. The 2.5″ SATA II flash drives will be available in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities, retailing for $169, $259 and $479 respectively. DIY folks who want to upgrade their notebook in terms of power savings and speed will do well to consider OCZ’s offering - after all, OCZ touts a ten times faster access rate compared to a standard hard drive while consuming half the power.

In honor of Independence Day, here is a 3D image of the flag raising at Iwo Jima. We all know the famous photograph from World War II, but the filmographer who DIDN’T win a Pulitzer Prize, Bill Genaust, was standing right next to Joe Rosenthal. Using a frame from Genaust’s filming, we have documentation of a single historical moment in time from two different perspectives. You can use the two images to create a 3D image.

Read more here:

• TBO: Dimensions Of Valor

By juxtaposing Rosenthal’s photograph with the matching frame from Genaust’s film, it is possible to produce an authentic 3-D image of the Iwo Jima flag-raising.

For the first time, we can see one of the most iconic moments in U.S. military history with a real sense of depth and spatial relationships.

The 3-D effects are not the result of digital manipulation or computer trickery. They are based on the same photographic techniques that have been used to produce stereoscopic imagery for more than a century.

A 3-D photograph allows the viewer to see a single image from two slightly different viewpoints, mimicking the natural separation of human eyes.

If you were good at those Magic Eye stereograms back in the Nineties, then you’ll be able to view the image without 3D glasses here:

My whole life, I have seen the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima over and over so many times that it seems fake to me now. There is a whole debate about whether this flag raising was staged by the reporters so they could get a good shot of it. It has been proven that it this icon was the SECOND flag raising on the island.

The first flag raising was photographed by a Sgt. Louis R. Lowry.

Wikipedia has some great information on this controversy:

• Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

However, the photo was not without controversy. Following the second flag raising, Rosenthal had the Marines of Easy Company pose for a group shot, the “gung-ho” shot. This was also documented by Bill Genaust.[24] A few days after the picture was taken, back on Guam, Rosenthal was asked if he had posed the photo. Thinking the questioner was referring to the ‘gung-ho’ picture, he replied “Sure.” After that, Robert Sherrod, a Time-Life correspondent, told his editors in New York that Rosenthal had staged the flag-raising photo. TIME’s radio show, ‘Time Views the News’, broadcast a report, charging that “Rosenthal climbed Suribachi after the flag had already been planted… Like most photographers [he] could not resist reposing his characters in historic fashion.”

As a result of this report, Rosenthal was repeatedly accused of staging the picture, or covering up the first flag raising. One New York Times book reviewer even went so far as to suggest revoking his Pulitzer Prize. For the decades that have followed, Rosenthal repeatedly and vociferously refuted claims that the flag raising was staged. “I don’t think it is in me to do much more of this sort of thing… I don’t know how to get across to anybody what 50 years of constant repetition means.” Genaust’s film also shows the claim that the flag-raising was staged to be erroneous.

There are some that use the film and the photograph to prove that they hadn’t been staged, but I have never understood the argument there. I don’t believe that a member of the press can be independent and just document what is happening in a war or any other event. Just being there changes things whether you photograph, film or write about them. It’s like quantum mechanics. Anything observed is changed by the observation.

Did Rosenthal stage that photograph? I don’t care. It’s impossible to merely document history without becoming part of it. Staged or not, Joe Rosenthal documented a moment in history and deserved the Pulitzer Prize he won for it.

Via: Iwo Jima flag-raising in 3-D on Flickr by BlogjamComic

It all started on June 29, 2007. Well, technically it started months before that since that’s when the iPhone was first unveiled. What compelled me to wait in line from 11am to 6p (and palmsolo to camp out overnight) just to get my hands on the iPhone? Was it the tease of the iphone or my need to always be among the first to have cool gadgets? Regardless, I waited, wrote up my impressions, and have had a love/hate relationship with the iPhone ever since.

Now I sit with it as my primary device one year later, after swearing that it wouldn’t be. Don’t get me wrong, there have been many phones that have tried to be my primary, including the Mogul, the blackberry Curve, the BlackJack II, and the HTC Touch Diamond, just to name a few.

So, why have they not succeeded in ripping the iPhone from my hands? Below is a quick list of what the iPhone does really well. To be fair, I’ve also included all of the things that I wish would be fixed, and marked them accordingly, if the new version of the iPhone’s hardware and/or software will finally fix them. By the way, even though my iPhone is jailbroken, that still doesn’t influence why it’s still my primary device more than a year later–I guess the iPhone just works for me.

What I like about the iPhone

Reading- I tend to use the iPhone for late night and early morning reading. Be it mobile-friendly webpages, Google Reader, or full-blown websites, I’m always ready to browse.

Watching movies and videos- I watch a fair amount of video on it, including YouTube, and Break.com. I also have an ipod Touch but nothing beats an integrated speaker.

E-mailing- I use Gmail as my primary and thankfully Google has continued to improve the Gmail interface for iPhone. I can also access Gmail through IMAP on the iPhone if I don’t want to work with the web-based interface.

Picture taking- I snap a bunch of pics with the iPhone, more so than any other camera phone. It just works effortlessly and very rarely blurs a shot. I also easily e-mail it off to someone listed in my Contacts or sync it up to my Mac at the end of the day.

Visual voicemail- I thought it was a gimmick when I first started using it but it’s a really great feature. I don’t skip over certain messages in favor of others, but I do use it for archiving messages for an extended period of time and it’s nice to be able to jump right to the archived message, without having to wade through the newer messages.

Weather- It sports a really nice weather application. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have extended forecast, but I’ll leave that to the “against iPhone” section.

iTunes on the phone- I find myself buying a few tracks a month on the iPhone directly. Most of the time I’m sitting around and I hear a song on the radio or on TV. I then pick up the iPhone, perform a quick search and seconds later I’m clicking the preview and then purchasing the track. I had forgotten that I used to enjoy buying 45’s and singles, and the ability to easily buy a track at a time is fantastic.

Google Maps- Even though it doesn’t offer integrated GPS (the iPhone 3G will), the integration of the maps with Contacts on the iPhone is perfect. Also, there are plenty of times where instead of calling information I’ve used Google Maps to find the information. You can’t beat that!

What I don’t like about the iPhone

No cut and paste- I still can’t believe that after a year this hasn’t been addressed. Even 2.0 doesn’t have it.

Can’t forward a text message- Same as above. At least if I could cut and paste I wouldn’t care as much about not being able to forward a text message.

Playing games- it doesn’t ship with ANY! What an oversight, in my opinion. Even a simple solitaire or something would have been great. I first Jailbroke my iPhone just to get games. This will be fixed with the App Store though.

Battery life- I’ve been using it for a year and I’m lucky if it can hold a charge for the full day. The new version is supposed to have improved battery life, but with 3G, it’s going to suck it dry, I’m sure.

Lack of 3G- The original version is slow on EDGE. It’s great on WiFi and thankfully the iPhone bounces between the two seamlessly, so most of the time you don’t even know when you’re moving from one to the other. As mentioned above, the new one will have 3G.

Signal- I’ve got a lot of phones and the iPhone seems to have the worst reception. I’ve tried holding it in a variety of different ways and it still doesn’t get the signal it should.

No Todo list- I guess Apple doesn’t think we need to keep track of our ToDos. We’ve had a bunch of software updates and even 2.0 won’t carry ToDos. Hopefully a developer will have added this functionality and made it available for free through the App Store.

No over-the-air sync- I’m so used to syncing with Hosted Exchange over-the-air. I’ve definitely missed this most, having to always remember to tether the iPhone. The iPhone 2.0 offers over-the-air ActiveSync and also MobileMe integration. Unfortunately, we’ll still have to tether to get our photos synced up.

Notes doesn’t sync- I’m using Missing Sync which backs up my Notes onto my Mac, but why not include that as part of the package by now?

Weather has to go online for extended forecast - Even the forecasters can’t get it right by the hour anymore, so seeing what the high is going to be is just not enough. You can go online for more but I don’t always want to go online. The App Store will no doubt fix this.

No RSS feed reader- Pretty self explanatory though I use Google Reader now and I’m sure they’ll have an offline component soon enough.

Calendar too basic- It’s not the most fluid interface for jotting down appointments on the fly. Again, I’m sure developers will add their own flare to this one.

As you can see above, the majority of my complaints should be fixed by hardware and/or software. Either Apple will fix with an update of the firmware or a developer will offer an application for free or for a price that will address my concerns. Regardless, it should only be a couple of months before the iPhone answers all of my needs. Here’s hoping, anyway.

As for who should buy the new iPhone, there are two different camps. If you already have the iPhone and it’s working for you, don’t buy the new one. 3G and integrated GPS isn’t worth the upgrade price, considering you’ll have to pay more for your mobile plan. The new software update comes without a price, so that will bring you all of the new functionality that you are hoping for. However, if you have yet to buy an iPhone, the new iPhone, with its starting price of $199, is definitely a compelling offering and one worth taking a solid look at.