Gadgets Blog

If your nana is like mine, then she is adamant about not jumping into the 21st century and is convinced that computers are too complicated for her to bother with. And if you are scratching your head wondering just what would please her this Christmas, you might want to hear about this:

A new computer called SimplicITy helps people over the age of 60 who have never before used PCs or the Internet experience the simple pleasures of chatting, social networking, online gaming, online shopping, online dating perhaps if she is single.

The simplified desktop opens to a bare bone screen called Square One that is designed not to overwhelm. It displays just six clickable buttons that will direct users to basic tasks such as e-mail, chat, browse the web, store photos and write short documents. Each machine is pre-loaded with 17 video tutorials from television presenter Valerie Singleton. Grandma will never have to worry her pretty head about login screening or drop down menus. If she has a problem she can just go ‘back to Square One’ and start all over again. Moreover she can make new friends as all SimplicITy users with an eldy.org address will be able to chat to each other via the “chat” button.

Each machine is built on a Linux operating system. Users can replace the SimplicITy desktop with a standard Linux desktop if they feel confident enough to move on.

The made-to-order computer can be ordered by mail and takes two weeks from request to delivery. You can order the PC from SimplicITy website, using your PayPal account.

Source: BBCNews

A futuristic digital technology the likes of which we’ve seen in several Sci-Fi movies over the years has now become a reality. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab are working on a revolutionary prototype called “Sixth Sense” which is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information.

The SixthSense prototype comprises a pocket projector, mirror and camera worn in a pendant-like mobile device. Both the projector and the camera are connected to a mobile computing device in the user’s pocket. The system projects information onto the surfaces and physical objects around us, making any surface into a digital interface; the camera recognizes and tracks both the user’s hand gestures and physical objects using computer-vision-based techniques. SixthSense uses simple computer-vision techniques to process the video-stream data captured by the camera and follows the locations of colored markers on the user’s fingertips In addition, the software interprets the data into gestures to use for interacting with the projected application interfaces. SixthSense also supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction.

In layman’s terms, with the Sixth sense in hand, you can walk around like Tom Cruise in Minority Report, and get all the info you could possibly need about anything you are looking at with a full display report projected onto the object itself. The object in question could even be a person and you would be able to get information on him or her at first sight. By merely using hand gestures you could get mundane things done like a magician without going through the actual process. For example, You could draw a watch dial on your hand using your fingertip and the time will be digitally displayed instantaneously. You could make a picture frame in the air, and a photo would be immediately taken of the view in front of you. Similarly, you just have to look at the books in a library or the items displayed in your grocery store to get all the info you would need to make an informed decision about the product. By looking at a flight ticket, you would be informed of any delays or changes in flight plans. And what’s more, you will be able to build this dream “machine” all by yourself!

“I am trying to make this tech available to people, and I will provide all the open source software for SixthSense starting next month,” The Economic Times quoted Pranab Mistry, the the MIT grad student behind Sixth Sense as saying. “I notice that it’s hard to for these kind of things to market in some sense. . . because I don’t want this to comply with some of kind of corporate policy. People will be able to make their own hardware. I will give them instructions how to make it. And also provide them key software… give them basic key software layers… they will be able to build their own applications. They will be able to modify base level and do anything.”

The current prototype system costs approximate $350 to build. For a video on how the Sixth sense works , watch below.

YouTube - Watch 

Source: SiliconIndia.com

Taiwanese laptop manufacturer, ASUS’s N51V notebook computer has become the world’s first notebook to receive both Environmental Product Declaration and carbon footprint certificates.

Asus claims that it made it possible by reducing its operational carbon emissions in materials, manufacturing, using, transportation, and disposal. Moreover the ASUS N51V is an EPEAT Gold registered product for its innovative energy-saving technology that Asus calls Super Hybrid Engine which not only improves energy performance by 53.75% as compared to merely following the Energy Star standard, but also extends the battery life from 35% to 53%. The reuse, recycle and recovery rate of the N51V is at least 90%, and the recycled content in the packaging achieves at least 80%. Asus says that the laptop comes with an Air Ioniser that promotes a fresher environment for the user by helping to clean the air of allergens and germs.

The trim looking notebook is shiny black, sports a silver Asus logo in the middle and has a standard 15.6-inch, 1366×768 screen. It comes with all the features that you would expect from a medium sized laptop including three USB ports, VGA and HDMI outputs, Express Card 54, SD card reader, microphone and headphone jacks. The N51V is stacked with Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit, 2GB RAM, 802.11n, Bluetooth and gigabit Ethernet. A single button next to the power button is used to load Asus Express Gate the Splash-top based quick loading OS when you don’t need Windows in full blast.

All in all, Asus N51V is a pretty decent buy for the price and if environmental considerations figure high in your list of priorities while making a purchase, I think you will be a happy customer.

To keep up with the times, I always heard the rule of thumb is an upgrade ever 1.5-2 years. Unless you’re King Kong, that’s not really enough time for you to truly exhaust your gadgets, so what do you do with that old iPod nano that sits in your drawer now that you have an iPhone? Or the Verizon cell phone, that was unceremoniously throne into the work table in the garage, again, once the iPhone was in your hands. These technologies still work and could function, but are no longer used because they have been outbid in our lives by bigger, better technologies. But maybe you want to clear out the garage and get rid of your personal cell phone museum or iPod mausoleum. Plenty of local hardware places will buy your phones off you for parts, or maybe you can donate them to a local charity. The latest in these recycle-oriented technology swaps in the Electronic Trade-in feature at Walmart.com.

Here’s how it works:

1. Find your item listed in the Walmart.com Electronic Trade-In database and see how much it traditionally is bought back for, depending on usage, functionality and wear and tear.

When you click on your type of electronic, a website questionnaire like this will pop up:

Then, once you answer the questions, you will get a bid on your item:

2. Ship your item to Walmart.com. Unfortunately you will have to pay shipping, so make sure you will be paid more than the shipping costs!

3. Get a Walmart prepaid VISA card for the amount of your electronic, to be used anywhere VISA is accepted. You just earned some cash off your old electronics! Good for you!

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electronics has launched Samsung Blue Earth, an eco-friendly mobile phone with full touch display and sophisticated multimedia appeal. It promises all the state of the art features while working hard to reduce the carbon footprint and saving the Earth. All this while sporting a good-looking face! Sounds like an ideal Miss World contestant, doesn’t it? The pretty, pebble shaped beauty is sure to make a green lover’s heart sing. It functions on very low power and is made of post consumer material extracted from water bottles, which helps lower fuel consumption and carbon emissions. It is devoid of harmful substances like Brominated Flame Retardants, Polyvinylchloride and Phthalate usually found in other gadgets. The Blue Earth has a fully functional solar panel on its back, which can be used to generate power for the phone to operate. It comes with a 5 star energy efficient charger to boot. A responsible “Eco mode” leaves you with the option of setting screen brightness, backlight duration and Bluetooth to an energy-efficient mode with just a single, slick click. That’s not all! An “Eco Walk” function calculates the precise carbon dioxide reduction that you made happen by taking a walk instead of driving. It will even tell you how many trees you saved by walking. No kidding! If that’s not an incentive for your morning walk, I don’t know what is!

Now that they’ve managed to do all that, It is a given that it will come packaged to you in recycled paper and printed with soy ink.

Other features include:

• Display: 16M WQVGA TFT LCD (3.0”)Capacitive Touch Screen
• Camera: 3.2 Megapixel CMOS, Face Detection / Smile Shot / Photo EditorAudio: Audio Format Support (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA) /WMDRM, OMA DRM
• Find Music (Music Recognition) / Music Equalizer; Stereo FM Radio with RDS; Bluetooth Stereo Headset (A2DP)Video: Video Format Support (H.263, WMV, MPEG4)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth®v 2.1 / USB 2.0 HS / Wi-FiMemory: Internal Memory : 130MBExternal Memory : microSDHC™ (up to 16GB)Dimension: 108 x 53.6 x 14.2 mmWeight: 119 g
• Battery: 1080 mAh

This environmentally conscious device will be on sale in Europe this October. I can’t wait for it to hit the stores in United States. This definitely sounds like my kind of phone!

Newest hip gadget or soup-up for your iPhone, is the FloTV offered through Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Offering television at the click of a button for your car (for the kids, not you in the front seat!) or your phone, FloTV offers 24/7 total television coverage as well as special features such as the option of parental controls.

Dedicated to a nationwide network and stable wireless connection, you know that FloTV will have you back when you need to see the news (during all those slow, grid-locked commutes) or have your kids catch up on their favorite shows. I wonder at the legal issues surrounding this device for cars, for example, but as long as your cautious I think the FloTV is the perfect accent to the minivan or mobile phone.

Get hooked up through your AT&T or Verizon Wireless provider.

Services can be paid for monthly through your AT&T or Verizon Wireless bill. Two plans are offered, the FloTV plus for $30/month and the FloTV basic for $15/month. The biggest difference in the plan is the channels–on FloTV plus you can unlimited channels, whereas FloTV basic has 15 pre-selected channels, including CBS Mobile, CNBC, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, FOX News, MSNBC, MTV, NBC2Go, Nickelodeon, CNN Mobile and Pix.

For all of you who have been eying this beauty for quite sometime, now might be the time to finally take the plunge. Kindle 2 has gone down further by $40! What’s the big deal, you say? Considering that it debuted at $400 a couple of years ago, i say “Yay!” It also now comes in an international version that will be available and can be used in over 100 countries using a built-in AT&T SIM card for $279. So you can download a book in US and read it in other parts of the world. The new model can be pre-ordered now at Amazon.com and it will get shipped on October 19. However the original Sprint Kindle is available immediately on sale at $259.

If you need a little rekindling of what Kindle is all about, let’s jog your memory: Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazinesLightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperbackWireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots.

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required. Wirelessly send, receive and read personal documents in a variety of formats such as Microsoft Word and PDF.

Paper-Like Display: The screen works using real ink and doesn’t use a backlight. Reads like real paper with no glare, even in bright sunlight.

Choose Text Size: Kindle lets readers customize their reading preference by providing six different text sizes.

Long Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging. Kindle’s electronic ink display sips battery power so users can read for over two weeks with wireless turned off and up to four days on a single charge with wireless on.

Carry Your Library: Holds over 1,500 books in its tiny frame.Read-to-Me: With the new text-to-speech feature, Kindle can read every newspaper, magazine, blog, and book out loud to you, unless the book’s rights holder made the feature unavailable.Free Book Samples: Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.

Large Selection: Over 350,000 books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs available. This includes new Releases and 104 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers. If you are a committed traveler, you would be happy to know that Lonely Planet travel guides have been recently added to the vast collection .Travelers can now pack as many Lonely Planet guides as they want into Kindle and download new guides wirelessly elsewhere in the world.

Low Book Prices: Most downloads will set you back $9.99, unless marked otherwise

Dictionary Lookup: Kindle comes with the New Oxford American Dictionary and over 250,000 definitions that appear instantly at the bottom of the page.

I don’t own a kindle yet. But I must admit I’m tempted!

There will be two new offerings in the overflowing smartphone market this holiday season to confuse us further in arriving at a decision. While Motorola introduces its first touchscreen Cliq smartphone in Google’s mobile platform, Android; Palm will be launching its second phone in its own webOS mobile platform called the Pixi.

Cliq boasts of a social facilitator that Motorola calls “Motoblur” that lets your friends, pics, emails, messages and Facebook, MySpace and Twitter happenings, get all synchronized in one place with continuous updates and back-ups. Motorola promises that there will be no need for logins or apps to open even though complete data security is assured. More Motoblur capabilities include:

• The ability to see a caller’s name, number, status and profile picture Syncs personal and work contacts and connected social networks photo sharing with MySpace, Photobucket, Picasa, Facebook

• Customizable home screen (status, messaging, RSS widgets) Facebook, MySpace and Twitter direct messaging

The phone will offer 3G/HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, a full HTML Web browser, 6 hours of active battery use, POP3/IMAP and Microsoft Exchange support.

Find more details on Cliq here.

 photo courtesy: engadget.com

Pixi on the other hand is a teeny tiny version of the original Palm phone the Pre, coming at just 0.43″ thin. It still manages to have a full keyboard, a capacitive touchscreen, GPS, a 2-megapixel camera and accelerometer, though it sheds a wifi and thankfully a whole lot of lot of weight. You will still be able to download applications & music and indulge in extensive messaging and social networking. This time around Palm has included LinkedIn and Yahoo to the synergy contacts, Yahoo to the messaging application, and an official Facebook application. For all those relentless fashionistas out there, Palm presents what it calls “Artist Series“, which consists of limited edition back covers in fashion colors and designs that you can find here. Read more about the Pixi here on Palm’s site.

Both phones will go on sale during the holiday season, Cliq on T-Mobile and Pixi from Sprint . While the exact price point is unknown for both at this point of time, there is wild speculation that Pixi would even go for as low as $99 as the Palm Pre itself has fallen to $149.99 in with contract.

Have you and your friends ever had that universal conversation - What super power would you choose if you could?

Well for you voyeur seeking maniacs who wish they could see through walls, with the Prism 200 - your wish is granted!

“The Prism 200 lets you see through walls. You can only see things that are moving, but it’s sensitive enough to pick up breathing, hearts beating…

Prism 200 is a handheld through-wall radar, which has been designed to be used by police, special forces or the emergency services.

It provides quick and covert intelligence on the movement and location of people in a room or building - without the need for invasive sensors. prism 200 has been designed for situations where a high degree of insight is essential for success.” (Source: Gizmodo Gadget Blog)

I think this is  cool and very very 007. Is it wrong that I would use it for the forces of evil rather than the powers of good? Seems like an awfully handy tool to have for let’s say listening in on peoples conversations and disclosure of confidential information.

I may just buy one and station it permanently outside of my bosses office.  “Preparation instead of Perspiration” ..hahahaha!

Happy Snooping! 

For more traditional Discount Radars - Click here!

Knock of even more savings off your purchase when you shop at the Philips Direct Store.

By using the coupon code HOLIDAYDIRECT, you can instantly take 10% off any item in the store. From HDTVs to MP3 players and home theater systems, everything is eligible for the discount.

But this offer doesn’t last much longer, so hurry. The coupon expires December 6th.

Click here to go to the Philips Direct Store.