Tech Gadgets Reviews

Most diesel vehicles, particularly trucks, manufactured after Jan 1, 2010 in the US will need to have a urea scrubber built in that will ’scrub’ the nitrogen oxide (NOx) from the exhaust.

The urea-based scrubber will reduce the NOx emissions by as much as 90%, and that in turn can be reduced to near zero levels when used with another filter.

Europe is already ahead of us in this game with already about 500,000 trucks having this technology.

Of course, there is already pushback from trucking companies in particular, but let’s face it - there is going to be some pain as we migrate industries and products to more environmentally-friendly systems.

Posted in Miscellaneous

We all know that toddlers are a handful, especially when you go outdoors and want to perform your chores, only to be distracted by Junior as he prepares to do something mischievous just to attract your attention. Well, they too have a tendency to wander off without noticing you, leading to an extremely distressful situation. With the Wristlet concept, at least you are able to keep track of them as it enables parents to send messages, alarms and even graphic symbols to its solar-powered display - best use this with kids who can already read and are semi-independent. Hopefully pink isn’t the only color of choice as that’ll turn off plenty of boys.

Good thing there are third party accessory manufacturers who seem to put in more effort than Nintendo themselves when it comes to the Classic Controller, where the original version looked pretty much like a sophomore effort compared to the Nyko Wing you see here. It is able to provide up to 30 hours of continuous entertainment on two AAA batteries, and can even be charged via its mini USB cable. It might cost more compared to Nintendo’s Classic Controller at $30, but the price is well justified.

Mac users will finally be able to get their hands on the Logitech diNovo Edge keyboard, and this time round it will feature not only the dedicated Mac keys which Mac users absolutely adore, it also retains the same 0.87″ profile found in the original diNovo Edge. Of course, you will also find other hardware specifications such as the PerfectStroke key system, Plexiglas and the brushed aluminum palm rest retained to offer that extra bit of comfort and elegance on your desktop. According to Logitech, its battery is able to last up to three years of regular use, and it hooks up to your Mac computer via a wireless 2.4GHz connection. Better late than never, eh?

A cellphone designed for the elderly might sound patronizing, but there is certainly a need for something easier to use than your usual whizz-bang mobile — hell, even I have trouble getting these new-fangled telephones to work, and I play with them for my job.

The ClarityLife C900 is an unlocked GSM cellphone which costs $280 with no confusing contracts. The cut-down design gets almost everything right but, like your Aunt Flo trying to sneak the cooking sherry back into the pantry, stumbles at the last moment.

As you can see, there aren’t many buttons. Pick up and and hang up are joined by up and down arrows on the front, while the back features a big red emergency button (with the somewhat tasteless addition of a heart). This red switch will, if held steadily down by shaking, arthritic fingers for three seconds, send a text message to up to five numbers.

The phone is also built for the older body, with a double-volume speaker, extra-strong vibrator and a flashing light all signifying an incoming call. BoingBoing gadgets‘ John Brownlee, who knows a thing or two about operating gadgets while afflicted by double vision and shaking (in his case caused by an addiction to German beer and millet), points out the one big fault:

 

I suspect the only real problem with the design here is the lack of numeric buttons […] it’s almost definitely true that your average elderly person will be more comfortable typing in numbers on a pad.

He’s dead right. Oldsters are adept at using a regular pushbutton phone. I actually saw a pensioner on the bus a while back using a pretty modern cellphone, hacked to fit her needs: On the back was taped a hand-written list of numbers, which she then tapped in. Neat.

Product page [Clarity via BBG]

As many of you would guess, I own a HDTV. What you might not know, is that I watch most of my HD media on my HDTV via my Dell XPS 1530 laptop with an external USB blu-ray drive. The media center combination, along with blu-ray playback at 1080p / 24p via HDMI output is hard to beat for me.

I am currently looking into netbooks, and have found the very impressive 10-inch Asus N10J Netbook, which features HDMI output with 1080p support and audio pass through of AC3/DTS etc. Even though the Asus N10J “only” has a lower power Intel Atom CPU N270 running at 1.6GHz, it also features a NVIDIA GEFORCE 9300M GS (256MB) graphics card, which would normally only been found in a full size highend laptop.

With the help of Nvidea’s PureVideo HD support to provide hardware decoding of HD files (x264) through the graphics card, the tiny Asus N10J netbook is powerful enough to playback HD content. This to me is very appealing, the thought of such a small computer with the decoding power to handle full HD 1080p output.

There is even a youtube video of someone playing back a 1080P H264/x264 MKV file on the Asus N10J, where the video plays flawlessly with CPU load at less than 50%.  Very impressive indeed. To my knowledge, this is the first netbook I have seen with a HDMI output, and a powerful graphics card.

I’m also confident that the Asus N10J would be able to playback blu-ray movies via connecting an external USB Blu-ray drive.  A very tempting Christmas addition!

There is nothing like a pleasant scent to help lift your spirits, and why settle for expensive burners when you have one non-flammable USB Aroma Diffuser right smack in the middle of your desk? All you need to do is place a few drops of your favorite fragrant oil and you’re good to go - hopefully the rest of your cubicle mates don’t have a sinus problem with your choice of scent. Just in case there isn’t any USB port available, there is always the old standby of two AA batteries to help power this $25 device.

We first wrote up these webcams a little over a year ago.  At the time these were going for almost $80 a piece, sometimes for even more than that.  Now they are being sold in packs of two for far cheaper than that.  The great part is these little webcams are not only cheap, but they’re attractive and interesting to look at.  They are far better than the dull gray webcams.  These webcams come in six different colors, four of which are bright cheery colors.

The webcams also feature a very bendable neck that will make it easier to position it exactly where you want it.  You can also turn it upside down to give your friends a whole new view of you.  The cams work with either a PC or a Mac and can record not only video but audio as well.  Pick up a two pack and give the other one to your favorite long distance buddy.  You can pick the set up for $34.99 in white, black, red, pink, blue and green.

Source: Gearlog

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Epson brings high definition entertainment to your living room with its new PowerLite Home Cinema 700, offering the whole family a chance to watch movies in high definition (no full HD though as it maxes out at 720p resolution) without breaking the bank. Features of the PowerLite Home Cinema 700 include :-

• 720p resolution
• 3LCD technology
• Up to 2,000 lumens of brightness
• Component Video, S-Video, HDMI and USB connections
• SD memory card slot

For $799 a pop, this is pretty decent considering the other high definition projector options you have on the market.

AT&T does not want to miss out on the holiday season sales, hence releasing its AT&T Quickfire handset - the last of the four new quick messaging cell phones that were specially designed to cater for those who do plenty of text messaging, albeit allowing them to do so within a much shorter time and easier than ever before. Developed for AT&T by Personal Communications Devices LLC., the Quickfire boasts an interesting form factor, but once you take a look at the specifications, you will realize that this is not a high-end handset due to its feature set (or rather, the lack of it), so if you want a top-of-the-line phone, you’ll have to look out for other candidates.

The AT&T Quickfire comes in a slider form factor, and in addition to the full QWERTY keypad (an essential when it comes to any self-respecting messaging phone), you will also get an interactive touch screen display to help out in navigation of the user interface throughout various stages. The camera is not much to shout about - 1.3 megapixels ought to be enough to capture casual shots, but you can forget about it if you’re planning on using the Quickfire as a replacement for your dedicated digital camera. This 3G world phone allows you to read your messages in either portrait or landscape mode, and with a decent data plan, you are able to download music via AT&T’s 3G network using Napster Mobile and eMusic Mobile. Other features include AT&T Navigator that provides for turn-by-turn directions, although your use of it will be limited to a 30-day free trial, where you are required to fork out more money after that assuming you want to continue using this service.

You can choose from orange or lime and silver colors where the AT&T Quickfire is concerned. It will retail for $99.99 after signing up for a 2-year contract and a mail-in rebate.

Press Release

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