Tech Gadgets Reviews

The image above may look like a meaningless block of jumbled up pixels to you, but it’s actually a multimedia science fiction novel.

The novel’s called Manga Man, and you’d access it by snapping a photo of the black-and-white block with your camera phone and a piece of software. Then, the software will direct your mobile browser to the novel.

Smartphone owners in Asia are more likely familiar with the technology being used, called Quick Response (QR) Codes. The squares are actually 2D barcodes containing URL information; many Asian companies are beginning to print QR codes on advertisements to direct smartphone users to product or company web sites. The tool is especially popular in Japan, where most phones ship with QR Code reading software pre-installed.

Manga Man, made by Alexander Besher, is a pretty interesting example: He wears a t-shirt with the QR Code linking to his book printed on it. Unfortunately, this marketing method has yet to take off in the United States, since not many smartphone owners use QR Code reading software. Until then, Besher is probably better off wearing this shirt and walking around Japan.   

Have an iphone? Why not reader Besher’s book? Download the free app NeoReader [iTunes], tap the "Scan" button and snap a photo of the code at the top of the page.

A mobile phone novel read via a T-shirt [NewScientist via BBG]

With times getting harder, it is no surprise to see people take up at least two jobs to make ends meet. This sort of multi-tasking is also seen in gadgets like the Memoir digital photo frame from Skyla, for instance. Not only does it show off your favorite photos in its 800 x 600 resolution LCD display, you can also scan your favorite old photos (as long as they’re no larger than 4″ x 6″). 1GB of internal memory ought to be adequate to store up to 200 or so photos at 600dpi. Other features include USB connectivity, MP3 playback and image file support. The Skyla Memoir will be out later this December for $219.99.

Source: OhGizmo!

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LG is working on rolling out its W2442PA-BF lcd monitor that features the following drool-worthy specifcations :-

• 24″ LCD display
• 300cd/m2 brightness
• 1,000:1 contrast ratio
• Dynamic contraste feature
• 2ms response time
• 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios supported
• 160 to 170 degrees viewing angle
• 1W speakers
• HDMI and DVI-D ports
• VGA port

The new four-finger trackpad gestures found on the new MacBook and MacBook Pro could be coming to older Mac notebooks, too. A curious (and jealous) member of Mac Rumors – michaelb – was so envious of the four-finger gestures his girlfriend was enjoying on her new MacBook that he stole the installation disk and popped it into his first-gen macbook air.

Because the installer discs that Apple ships with its computers are ror restoration purposes only, you can’t use it for a fresh install on other machines. However, there are ways and means, and michealb ended up with the new system on his old machine.

But it didn’t work. Michael had to do some rummaging deep in the system to make it recognise his trackpad, and then up popped the new options right there in the System Preferences. Michael now enjoys the same four-fingered fun as his girlfriend.

Now, reinstalling the entire system to grab a new feature is a little extreme, but this proves that the older trackpads are capable of the new multi touch goodness — this should also work for MacBook Pros. We have our hopes that Apple will bake this into the next OS X software update (10.5.6). I took a new unibody MacBook for a test run in the store last wek and the four finger gestures, which invoke Show Desktop and Exposé behaviour, are great.

Old MBP. Do we get the 4 finger swipe as well??? [MacRumors Forum]

by Thomas Ricker, posted Nov 17th 2008 at 5:08AM

What’s black and white and now red in Japan? Why Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 of course — who reads newspapers? Starting tomorrow, Dell’s little netbook will finally be available in red to match the initial teaser shots that had the entire laptop world looking Dell’s way back in May. Pink too, to offset the decidedly more staid, obsidian black and alpine white versions available elsewhere. Japan also nabbed an Inspiron Mini 9 Platinum Package that features a relative biggie 32GB SSD for a tax inclusive price of ¥54,980 or about $565. No word on a rest of world release date for these Mini 9 updates but we expect them go Stateside in time for Cindy-Lou Who. Mini 9 in pink after the break.

[Via Impress]

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Filed under: Laptops

This is the Escape Clock, from Argentine designer Santiago Cantera. Details about this concept alarm clock are so sparse that some other writers have simply started making up features. We’re fully aware of the irony of inventing extras for a non-real product, but mistaking the bottom view of the clock (top left in picture) for a set of wireless speakers (and “dock”) is, well, escapism.

What we can infer from the picture, though, is that a quick whack on the top will put this clock into snooze mode, and that the LED display is big. Also, the clock looks like a giant escape key.

Product page [Santiago Cantera via Design Launches ]

by Thomas Ricker, posted Nov 17th 2008 at 3:35AM

You know the drill: for $399 you buy one OLPC XO laptop and a second is sent to a child somewhere in the developing world. Same deal as last year only now with the help of Amazon’s powerful retail reach. Devices begin shipping in about 30 days — a bit longer outside the US. Naturally you can also just gift the $199 laptop direct to a kid of OLPC’s choosing. About the quickest way to become a donor short of meeting a hotel stranger in possession of roofies and a bathtub full of ice.

[Via PC World]

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Read — UK site for rest of world (limbo)

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Filed under: Laptops

Trying to be a hermit in the 21st century can be pretty hard, unless you move to a town which the only notable activity is the annual Paint Drying contest. Well, with the My Room II, this isolated room offers improved creature comforts compared to its predecessor, including touch screen controls, air conditioner mounts and an 1-hour construction time at most. Perfect for gamers who want to coop themselves up inside all day long, uninterrupted save for toilet breaks.

FROM GAMERTELL - Dance Dance Revolution: The Musical is promised to be a “futuristic dance spectacular” that “fuses unmerciful Japanese rave music with deeply regrettable sophomoric comedy.” No, really…
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MobileTechReview has a review of the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic and writes, “Nokia has done a wonderful job at producing and improving their 5 megapixel and 3 megapixel camera phones, and anyone who’s used a Nokia N95 or a Nokia N78 will attest to that statement. The same thing cannot be said about their 2 megapixel camera phones. That’s not to say they are bad, just they are not stellar like the N95 or the N78 that lead in their own class of camera phones. The 2 megapixel camera on the Nokia 5310 takes good photos with proper color balance and good brightness. The images don’t have a huge amount of detail and there’s some noise in both indoor and outdoor shots. There’s a tendency to white-out bright objects which isn’t unusual in this class of camera phone. You can take still images at 7 resolutions: 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 1024, 1280 x 960, 800 x 600, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 and 160 x 120. The camera software can rotate the display to landscape mode.”

Read more about the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic.