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FROM APPLETELL - Given the lack of excitement around any new Windows Mobile devices or versions, is a Microsoft buyout of RIM a cheaper alternative?
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I’m pretty sure some of you have come across colleagues who seem to be oblivious to their own body odor, but here is a device known as Zero Privacy that is able to keep tabs on nauseating smell from the armpits. The dock is able to sense when a deodorant stick is removed, keeping track of just how long it remains outside while transmitting that information onto the Internet for everyone to view. This data shows visitors the days and how long a deodorant has been applied. Pretty pointless, and it might not help you in your quest to snag dates if you keep on forgetting to apply deodorant either, but definitely something different in the face of new computers, netbooks and PMPs. Nothing like a little pressure to help you stay socially acceptable, eh?

by Nilay Patel, posted Oct 13th 2008 at 10:01AM

Most of the Windows Mobile / iPhone cross-breeding we’ve seen has either involved elaborate WinMo skinning or terrible iPhone KIRFs, but we suppose it was just a matter of time before Microsoft’s mobile OS was made to run on Apple’s hardware — or at least that’s what it looks like here. Pretty much everything about this video is suspect, from the shadiness of the MyPhone2008 conference it was shot at to the interviewer’s ridiculously inane questions (”You don’t have girlfriends in Norway?”), but damn if that isn’t WinMo happily booting on what appears to be an iphone 3G — we can’t tell, but it’s a good bet it’s jailbroken. The developer, Erik Kristiansen, says that mod is in beta right now but that he’s looking at a January release — we’ll see what more we can dig up before then. Video after the break.

Update: As several commenters have pointed out, this has the trappings of a bad viral for the crappy SonicEmotion app also on that page — all of the other videos are suspiciously fake / ridiculous, and the phone responds oddly to several touches. So much for that, we suppose.

[Via MacToday.nl; thanks Daniel]

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Play.com has the Asus Eee All-in-One Touch Screen desktop PC available for pre-order in the United Kingdom at a bit under $700.  The computer should be released on November 20th. 

The cool part about the PC is its 15.6-inch touch screen.  Any computer that adds another input option is all right in my book.

The desktop uses an Intel Atom processor which should mean this is a light duty machine that does not consume too much electricity.  This PC seems to be for casual computing as it only comes with 160GB of hard drive space and 1GB of RAM. 

This Asus is running Windows XP Home, has built-in speakers, Wi-Fi, and in a nice surprise, Gigabit Ethernet.  If you don’t care for Windows, Asus threw in the Express Gate OS, which boots up in only a few seconds. 

I know it is technically a desktop PC and isn’t really meant to be lugged around, but a battery would have been nice so you can move the device around easily.

Product [Play.com]

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Recently, Mio announced their new Moov 500 GPS series in Europe, within the 500 series are 8 nice GPSs.  Unfortunately, for the time being, these GPSs will only be available in Europe. 

Some common features in all of the 500 series are a 4.7-inch touch screen, TeleAtlas maps, and Bluetooth connectivity.  The 560 and 580 come with text-to-speech capabilities, live local search using Bluetooth.  The 500 and 510 have local search from desktop, the 510 and 580 come with real time traffic updates, and the 580 comes with an FM Transmitter.

Now, moving on to prices, as you can imagine, the GPSs with less features will cost less, so here we go.  The Moov 500 Regional sells for 179 Euros, while the Moov 500 Europe sells for 199 Euros.  The Moov 510 Regional costs 199 Euros, the Moov 510 Europe sells for 229 Euros.  The 560 Regional sells for 199 Euros and the 560 Europe sells for 229 Euros.  The 580 Europe sells for 249 Euros and the 580 Europe Plus sells for 279 Euros.

The only difference between the Moov 580 Europe Plus and the regular 580 Europe is that the Plus model comes with maps of 33 Western and Eastern European countries, as opposed to 22 Western countries by the preceding models.

Via [NaviGadget]

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Photo: Umpa/Flickr

Tomorrow sees the unveiling of Apple’s new notebooks. What can we expect?

The official invitation, sent out just last Thursday, doesn’t offer much. We get the slogan, “The spotlight turns to notebooks” and a picture of a notebook, probably metal, partially illuminated by – you guessed it – a spotlight.

Reading the hieroglyphs of Apple’s promo material doesn’t bring much. Could the “spotlight” reference have something to do with the Mac’s Spotlight search function? Probably not.

Apple’s famous lock-down on product information has become less secure of late. Almost the only part of the ipod “Let’s Rock” event that wasn’t leaked beforehand was the shake-to-shuffle feature on the new Nano. This launch is shaping up to be just the same: Several Chinese forums have posted pretty convincing pictures of the case designs,

Both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro will be aluminum. The aluminum MacBook has been rumored since forever, and if we take the leaked shots as real, Apple is finally going all-metal in its Mac lineup.

We can also be pretty certain that the MacBook Pro will gain the chiclet-style keyboard of the Air and the stock MacBook, most likely in backlit black. Ditto the magnetic latch which holds the MacBook Pro closed — that little button is so 2001. The other advantage the current MacBook has over the MBP is the easy-to-swap hard drive. Along with the RAM, the HDD is a simple five-minute slot-in replacement. Expect to see this in the Pro.

Internally we can expect some more changes. Mac Cultist Leander Kahney hopes for 4GB RAM as standard in the MBP, and two in the MacBook. He also lists integrated NVIDIA graphics in the MacBook, something that rumor site Apple Insider corroborates, claiming to have “confirmed” the inclusion of NVIDIA’s MCP79. While this still shares the system memory, it is apparently faster and – probably more important for Apple – smaller than the Intel GMA950 which is currently used.

Touch Screen

So far, so evolutionary. What about surprises? The big expectation is a touch screen. We say no. Touch screens are just too hard to use in a notebook, unless Apple has also invented some kind of iSling to support your arm. We’d like to be wrong on this, but we doubt it.

Tablet Mac

Nope. We want it, desperately, but we don’t hink Apple is going to give it to us.

Netbook

This is more likely, although it won’t look like any of the other netbooks we know. Apple customarily comes late to the game, sitting and watching and then releasing its own, usually better, take on the current offerings. If Apple went to a party, it would turn up last and leave with the hottest girl there.

I think that the problem with an Apple netbook is the Intel Atom chip. Apple will be waiting for the new dual-core version. It’s entirely possible that Intel has already made a version for Apple, just as it released a smaller chipset early for the MacBook Air.

Another problem is screen size: Many application windows are just too big for a 10” screen”, so Apple would need to either update OS X (which neatly brings us back to the “resolution independent display” rumor of old) or add some fancy new workaround to the netbook, similar to the Air Disk for the macbook air.

We’d also expect to see some kind of 3G internet connectivity. Given that Apple has iphone deals in place with telcos around that world, this should be pretty easy. And remember the musings from analysts about that $800 price point for a new MacBook? This could be achieved by a carier subsidy. A cheap Mac netbook with cheap, unlimited, always on data? Who wouldn’t buy that?

See Also:

New Leaked Shots of MacBooks and MacBook Pros

Photos: Is This the MacBook ‘Brick’?

More photos of tomorrow’s new Apple notebooks have found their way onto the net via MacX.cn, a Chinese Mac forum. The shots supposedly detail both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro, and they look pretty good, showing more detail and more angles than last week’s leaked pictures.

As you can see from the wealth of pics below, both the Pro and regular models are aluminum, and neither appear to have been cut from a brick of metal. The Pro, in the picture above, appears to have a macbook air-like keyboard, and both notebooks have big trackpads, most likely for multi-touch.

Another change is that that both have all their in/out ports on one side, the left, with the right being reserved for just the optical drive slot (and – on the Pro – the Kensington lock slot). They’re thin, too. Of all the shots, only the one above looks odd — the touchpad and keyboard have pretty clearly been photoshopped in (the ridge along the left side of the keyboard is not there in the plain case shot, not even on the right side of the same picture. The trackpad just looks weird). Google’s translation might be at fault here. I can’t tell if the original Chinese lists this as an example mockup or a real shot.

Only a day left until we find out for real. Until then, feel free to speculate over all those port-holes in the side.

Super-clear new Apple notebook MB MBP two-emergence of big plans [Macx.cn via MacRumors]

This is one of the odder Apple-related things we have seen on the eve of the new MacBooks. It’s a netbook which uses the iPhone as both its touchpad and (possibly) its brain.

First, it looks fake. The product site (Active Innovation Management) is so tied up in corporate crap-speak that it has to be a parody. The company behind this mock-up – which is “coming soon” – seems to be involved in giving vitamins to grown men in order to regress their brains to those of a five year old. There’s also a book about the future.

Still, the idea, while interesting, is pretty pointless. You drop the iPhone into the computer and it is used as a multi touch trackpad. Neat, right? But the picture appears top be showing regular old OS X on the screen (along with an iPhone application-style window). With a complete lack of details, we assume that one of two things is going on.

One, the iPhone is powering the whole shebang. Possible, but given that you could buy a separate netbook of the same size, and have more computing power, it seems pointless.

Two. This is a netbook, with a chip inside, and the trackpad hole is just a fancified dock for the iPhone. This one is better: you’d have access to all your music and presumably the iphone’s 3G connection. But how on earth is OLO, the supposed subsidiary of Active Innovation Management, hoping to sell a netbook that runs OS X? We’re calling this as a fake. An amusing and interesting fake, but still a fake.

Finally, take another look at the picture. It looks like a macbook air that has been painted white and shrunk. Just sayin’.

Product page [OLO via Laptop Mag]

FROM GAMERTELL - Best Buy is looking to bring gamers into the realm of HD by offering bundles that include Xbox 360 Arcade Consoles and HDTV’s made by Panasonic…
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We have home media equipment that plays DVDs, one that plays Blu-Ray discs, one for electronic files, and maybe you still even own one that plays VHS.  Today, you have the chance to add one more machine to your collection.  But, the SlingCatcher can do so much for you, you will probably want to make room for it in your life.

Unlike the Slingbox which allows you to view your TV remotely only on a computer, the highly anticipated SlingCatcher by Sling Media lets you view television, video, audio and electronic files from your home on any television—even from afar! 

You can take the SlingCatcher to your friends’ houses or on vacation with you and you will always have access to your library of movies, music and pictures.  Why lug around a ton of discs and media players when the SlingCatcher can do so much?  The thing that excites me the most?  No more small screen viewing! 

More SlingCatcher capabilities:

• Watch your cable or satellite television from another television
• Play media from any device attached to your home Slingbox
• Access files off any USB drive
• View your favorite audio and downloaded or streaming video from your PC

What do you need in order to get started? You’ll need a broadband Internet connection, a home network, and a television.  The SlingCatcher is available now for $300 just about anywhere electronics are sold or you can buy direct from Sling Media and get your SlingCatcher and any Slingboxes you want at one time.

It is important to note that you don’t NEED a Slingbox to use a SlingCatcher.  Many movies and TV shows are accessible on the Internet and a Slingbox is not needed in order to communicate with your computer.  USB drives connect directly to the SlingCatcher.  The only time a Slingbox is needed is to connect with your home television and media players.

Sling Media succeeds at providing superb customer service, which is evident on the posts at Sling Community and with their fast response customer requests (I was responded to within four business hours).  Proof that Sling Media cares about and listens to their customers: In 2006, a comment was written by a customer who had the idea for a device that would “catch” all the media from his Slingboxes. Two years later, we have the SlingCatcher! 

Already, the SlingCatcher has won an Innovations Award from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and a Best of CES from Laptop Magazine.

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