Tech Gadgets Reviews

Widely used in devices like the iphone, mini notebooks, digital cameras, Flash-based SSD hard disk drives and more, flash memory chips usually have a lifetime of about ten years. This is even being optimistic. When you are using applications that need a lot of repeat writing and rewriting however, this can cause the cells to wear out even faster, and you can find your flash device useless in only a couple of years. So, a flash memory chip that is purported to work for up to a century? Literally unheard of. But that is just what Japanese scientists say they have developed. Scientists from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and the University of Tokyo also claim that the new chips work at a lower voltage than conventional chips.

Another thing that causes the current standard flash chip to lose effectiveness in longterm usage is the trend to miniaturize chip size. Scientists claim that flash cells are unworkable at circuit sizes below 20 nanometers. However, the new ferroelectric Nand Flash memory cell recently developed doesn’t seem to have this problem.  It can be downsized to at least 10 nanometers, with the next generation of conventional flash cells using a 30 nanometer circuit density.

In addition, rewrites are also not a hardship for the ferroelectric Flash. This ferroelectric cell can be rewritten more than 100 million times; as opposed to the conventional cell’s 10,000. What assists in prolonging their life is a “wear-leveling” process, wherein all cells are used equally. The worn out cells are “retired” without the whole chip being disabled.  It also uses a rewriting voltage of less than six volts, compared to 20 volts used by the conventional chip.

So, 100 hours of usage? Break out those devices folks…looks like your chip will be around for your grandkids to play with.

Via [Slashdot]

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Just to let you know, this Dancing Fingers product has nothing to do with a fun finger Dance Dance Revolution game that was reported on two years ago.

The Dancing Fingers is designed for those people who have fat fingers. This has nothing to do with a person’s weight, but just the uneven distribution of fat cells on the digits. Some of those operations on the iphone, like the QWERTY keyboard, are quite small and it is difficult for someone with enlarged fingertips to make precise touches.

These Dancing Fingers are designed to fit snugly on the index and middle fingers, so now “fat-fingered” people can have some full touchscreen capability. No more of hitting the wrong letter anymore.

So far, the Dancing Fingers is just a concept device by China native Alfred Chu. I’m not certain why the Dancing Fingers have lights on them. Maybe that is for some sort of better interface, but I don’t see why longer and pointier fingernails couldn’t do the same thing as this product. I’m guessing that one girl from X2 with the long claws won’t need this product.

Actually, I have read on another site (my Source’s source) that the Dancing Fingers are supposed to turn your fingers into a computer’s mouse. Unfortunately, I don’t have any word on how that works.

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The battle of the press releases seems to be the theme behind the power for control of Yahoo! and a possible takeover in part or in whole by Microsoft. Earlier we reported that Yahoo! released a statement indicating that they received an offer from Carl Icahn and Microsoft to purchase Yahoo!’s search business on Friday. Yahoo! stated that the offer also included a demand that Icahn be able to seat his slate of directors and replace senior management immediately. Yahoo! also portrayed the offer by Microsoft and Icahn as a “take it or leave it offer” in their press release.

Microsoft retaliated on Monday by releasing their own press release accusing Yahoo! of inaccuracies when it came to their portrayal of the offer made on Friday. First, Microsoft stated that the proposal made to Yahoo! did not include any changes to governance. Second, Microsoft denied that the proposal made on Friday was a “take it or leave it” offer.

Microsoft stated that the only request they made of Yahoo! was to agree that the enhancements they had made in their new proposal to purchase the Yahoo! search business were sufficient to engage in negotiations over the weekend. Microsoft also made the point that the offer they made was not unsolicited. The new offer was actually submitted at the request of Yahoo! Chairman Roy Bostock.

Read more from the Microsoft press release.

Brian’s Opinion

This battle of the press releases is actually quite hilarious. It really gives an insider view of what goes on during negotiations for the control of a company or a proxy battle. Really it doesn’t sound any different then relationships and arguments you would have experienced in high school.

Unlike high school relationships, the battle between the two parties has a direct effect on the stock price of Yahoo!. Ultimately, the jabs are being made so that each party can characterize the other as deceitful to put them in a bad light with Yahoo! shareholders. Anything pretty much goes when it comes to the battle for the control of a company like Yahoo!.

If I was a Yahoo! shareholder I would put forth the idea of having the control of Yahoo! decided by putting Carl Icahn and current Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang in a wrestling ring. It would be pay per view and also available online for a fee. That way even if Yang won, Yahoo! shareholders would still get a a substantial windfall. Sounds like a win-win proposal to me.

Owners of the Dell Latitude XT Tablet laptop will be happy to know their machines now have a new feature, free of charge via a patch.

Rather than wait for Microsoft to get around to adding multi-touch support to Windows, Dell has decided to implement it on their own. Latitude owners can now download and install a firmware update from the Dell support site and start using the new iphone-style interface. Better yet, it works with Windows XP and Vista.

With the upgrade applied you get a number of additional navigation features including:

• Scroll - 2-finger scroll horizontally or vertically
• Zoom – 2-finger drag to zoom in and out
• Programmable double-tap – set the XT up to do something when you tap the screen with 2 fingers e.g. blank the screen or load an application

The multi-touch is also compatible with most applications without modification. This includes web browsers, Google Earth, Microsoft Office and Outlook.

Read more at Dell.com, found via PC Pro

Matthew’s Opinion
It’s surprising the difference such a feature can make to a touchscreen interface. I think the Zoom is probably me favorite new interaction from using an ipod Touch to surf the web. It’s invaluable on a small screen when you want to quickly view detailed info and I’m sure it’s just as useful on the XT.

XT owners will be happy because they are getting new functionality for free. Some of them will have been waiting patiently for this to be implemented by Microsoft, but happily Dell has clearly got tired of waiting and given customers what they want.

Everyone loves his or her cell phone and maybe this is the reason why so many companies have launched a number of accessories for the cell phones. Just like cars and computers, a number of accessories have been launched for the cell phones. The accessories are used either to enhance the performance of the phone or to incorporate new features.

Almost every well-known brand has entered the cell phone accessory market and all this has lead to development of some amazing accessories. Apple, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sanyo are some of the famous companies that are releasing new cell phone accessories regularly in the market.

Development of the sophisticated cell phones has resulted in the development of the cell phone accessories. Some of the popular accessories used for the cell phones are the covers. Covers are used to protect the body of the phone from any sort of damage that tends to distort the look of the phone. Chargers form the other category of the accessories that is also very popular as every cell phone user needs a charge to charge the cell phone. Bluetooth and headsets also comes under cell phone accessories that are very popular among cell phone users.

However before buying the cell phone accessories, an individual should always make sure that the accessory is compatible with the phone otherwise it won’t be of any use.

If you’re bored in the office (if you get a memo, don’t look at me!)  and you have nothing else to do, you can try to annoy your officemates and colleagues by sending them emails or instant messages using Flip Text!

Flip Text basically flips your text upside down, haha.

¡buısnɯɐ ʎɹǝʌ ʇnq ‘ʍouʞ ı ’ssǝ1ǝsn

Did you just flip yourself upside-down?

Hahaha.

[ Image source from IdentiFont ]

Tags: Flip Text

HP has announced the availability of a three new printers in their Photosmart series.

The first printer they announced, the A630, which comes with a record setting touch LCD screen, one that measures out at 4.8-inches. In addition, you have the option of making up to 300 edits to the picture, before printing it out. All this editing is done on the printer itself, no need for editing on the computer. In case you don’t need all these features, you can opt to get the simpler and more basic version, the A530. The A530 comes with a smaller screen, but it also is the most affordable printer that still can print 5 x 7 photos.

A cool feature that both these printers come with is Bluetooth capability, which means you can transfer pictures wirelessly through Bluetooth from a camera phone.

The last printer announced by HP is the D5460, which prints both photos and laser quality text documents. Another cool feature is that it prints labels directly onto CD’s and DVD’s.

The D5460 will be available today for $99. The A630 will sell for $149 and the A530 for $99 both will be available in August.

Via [electronista]

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If you live in a big city, then you probably know all about the perils of trying to park your car. It’s flat-out difficult.

San Francisco, being the tech-savvy city that it is, has come up with a potential solution. Beginning this fall, the city will begin testing a system that allows drivers to use their cell phones (as well as signs located near the spots) to locate an open spot.

Through a series of aptly named “bumps”, the system will be able to use pressure-sensing technology to discover if there is a car parked in a spot or not. All of the “bumps” will be networked and will send info in real-time to a website that can be accessed via a smartphone (while you’re driving around?).

The parties involved are doing this in an effort to get cars off the road as fast as possible. According to their statistics, between 28%-45% of traffic in some areas of New York City is created by people just driving around blocks looking for a place to park.

If the initial tests are successful, then San Francisco will implement the “bumps” all over the city, and hopefully, it will move into more markets soon. I know personally that Chicago could use it immediately.

Read more at The New York Times

The system of warning of allergic reactions from the Essential Sensix

Jul 16, 2008 This device will glad everyone, for whom the word “allergy” - not an empty sound. Sensix is a monitoring system for children susceptible to serious allergic reactions. It includes three monitors, physically and aesthetically appropriate for each age group.

When allergic reaction starts, the monitor immediately notify about that parents or guardians, while showing the location of the child and injects necessary medication. Automated epinephrine injection device is more compact and efficient solution than the existing analogues.

Of course, and provided warning that the time had come to replace an injector. Also Sensix system allows to make predictions on what foods may or may not take the patient; truth, this is done by scanning special characters on the packaging product. Conceived device received the “bronze” at the International Design Excellence Award.

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All you ten Zune owners, there’s a new speaker dock that features a built-in alarm clock to help you get out of bed, only to be reminded that it is time to settle for a ipod as you then have tons of accessories to choose from. Some of the features found on the iHome ZN9 stereo dock include :-

• Wake or sleep to Zune, AM/FM Radio or buzzer
• Auto-Set Clock sets itself
• Programmable Snooze
• High-fidelity stereo
• Gradual Wake and Gradual Sleep increase/decrease Alarm/Sleep volume
• Dual alarm with AM/FM presets
• 7-5-2 feature for separate weekday and weekend alarm times

It retails for a penny under a $100, and makes for a great gift for all Zune owners.