Gadgets Blog

It’s an accepted fact by now that iPhone killers come and go, but so far none have quite managed to dethrone the crowned prince. But Droid managed to set the press on fire yesterday as news and reviews poured in for this Motorola-Verizon-Google Smartphone. Many gadget lovers believe that this might just be the one tenacious contender to finish the job that others failed to accomplish!

Let’s start with the basics. Said to be the slimmest phone on the market with a full, slide-out QWERTY keypad , it is poised for release on Nov. 6th for $199 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. It makes it at 4.6 by 2.4 by 0.5 inches, a negligible few hundredths of an inch thicker than the iPhone. If you are looking for a lightweight phone, you might be disappointed that it is on the heavier side at six ounces. But there are going to be some pay-offs for the physical keyboard and the big display which is lacking in the iPhone and sought after by many.

Droid’s 3.7-inch touch screen is about two-tenths of an inch bigger than the iPhone’s display and provides an advantage while web browsing. What’s got everyone’s curiosity piqued is the fact that it is the first phone to run on latest version 2.0 of Android, Google’s open source operating system. That comes with a few extra perks such as full-on push support for Microsoft Exchange and Google Gmail. If you are a Facebook addict, the phone will draw contact information from your Facebook pals into your address book via a widget. A click gets you right into their profiles and you never need to miss on any of their status updates when you are on the go. Other preloaded widgets include YouTube, a corporate calendar, and “Power Control” where you can turn on/off your wireless connections, adjust brightness etc. (The iphone does not support widgets.) A You Tube app lets you comment on clips, favorite them, or share videos via e-mail and Facebook.

Google Maps with new GPS-aided turn-by-turn navigation makes it’s debut with Android 2.0 and Droid. The navigation system provides free, voice-activated service with satellite view, traffic, ATMs, and restaurants, Google latitude, turn-by-turn directions etc. Thanks to Android’s voice-recognition technology, you can say where you want to be directed to if you find typing cumbersome.

The Droid’s 5-megapixel camera comes with a dual LED flash and auto-focus/image stabilization capabilities and the consensus is that the DVD-quality video recording is comparable to that of iPhone’s. You can then upload your shots directly to Facebook and Picasa with geotags. The iPhone is still king when it comes to cooler and more numerous apps for download, not to mention the popular access to movie rentals and iTunes store. (Droid does let you download songs via the Amazon MP3 store). But it is only a matter of time before Droid’s open android platform, more malleable to customization to get the development community going for a more creative apps palette.

Other features include Wi-Fi; USB mass storage; Bluetooth 2.0; a 3.5mm headphone jack; 440×854 pixels resolution, a vibrate mode, text ;multimedia messaging, a calculator, and an alarm clock .

Now the million dollar question is if Droid will manage to knock Apple off its pedestal. Judging by past record of wannabes, I wouldn’t hold my breadth on that one. But judging from all the excitement in the media, Droid promises a stiff fight ahead.

Google has thought of a new service called Social Search that produces search results rich with personalized social content from your friends. It was launched yesterday in an experimental mode. How it manages to do that is by using your contact lists on various sites like Google profile page, Google chat, blogs, Twitter, Friend Feed and customizing your results to the people you know.

YouTube - Watch Google Social Search

I can’t say I’m too thrilled with the idea. While we probably would find it handy when we are being snoops ourselves (and we all have been there sometime), I doubt most of us would be too happy to have our every online move put on a parade a la our own version of an intrusive reality show. I understand that when we put some info out there into the world, on some level we should be prepared for this invasion of privacy because you have created the content publicly. But are you ready for this kind of concentrated, targeted information so ready at hand for any casual acquaintance that you’ve forgotten to knock from your forward list? I’m not talking just your name, place of work etc. I’m talking your political views, religious beliefs and your online review about a local restaurant, the works.

But if you are determined to try this brand new feature, at least in part to find out what you are up against when it is used against you, visit Google’s Experimental Labs page and click the button to “join the experiment.” Then after you do any search, use the “Show Options” box just under the search box at the top of the search results page. Then select the “Social” link along the left-side of the page. Upon entry, you will be privy to social information at the bottom of your search result pages. While you’re there, click on the “Results from people in your social circle” link at the bottom of the page to target the results to just the social data. For example, if you make a search on a topic that catches your fancy , you would immediately be subjected to information such as what your friends or acquaintances have said about that particular topic on other sites. It will also provide info about people whom your friends are associated with like say on a Twitter site. If this is not reason enough to stop accepting social invites from strangers on the net, I don’t know what is!

But Google does give you a way out of this scary little feature, you can always remove any mention of other services you don’t want looked into from your Google profile. And presently Google cannot access your Facebook friends or content, if you have not made it available outside of the site. Since social search is still in early stages of development, Google will probably iron out some annoying bugs soon. I hope they make a way of adding or deleting people from this service depending on our comfort zone. After all of us have different layers of trust with people in our current social circles…As they say “all friends are not made equal”.

For more info, check out the official Google Social Search features page, now live on the Google support site.

Google describes the Wave as “how e-mail would look if it were invented today”, and claims it will transform how people communicate online. GoogleWave is an online communication and collaboration tool that combines e-mail, instant messaging and wiki-style editing. “It struck us that e-mail is still the main communication tool on the web, which seemed remarkable given that it is 20-year-old technology,” said Lars Rasmussen, who along with his brother was the developer of Google Maps as well. Wave seems to be a combination of Instant Messenger and Facebook like social media interactions. What it primarily does is allow users to share, ongoing, real-time conversations called Waves. All the participants in a wave can add more participants, but participants can also send private replies to each other. It differs from traditional instant messenger (IM) in that the conversation can continue even once everyone has logged out. Also those invited to a Wave conversation but not currently online, can then later read the message strand. There are some irritating functions like real-time typing so that fellow wavers can view a comment being written character by character. Thankfully they are working on it being an optional mode. Additionally there are wiki-style editing tools that allows for messages to be edited at any point by members of the conversation and a Playback facility so that people can see exactly who has edited what and at what time. There are also authoring tools like automatic spelling corrections, inline editing and change tracking. If you find it painful and time consuming to upload photos in other applications like Facebook, you will appreciate the fact that here photos can simply be dragged from the desktop onto the Wave platform . Also the tool incorporates popular social media games like as sudoku and chess. I’m sure there are more to come. The only problem that Google Wave faces is that it can run on almost all browsers with the exception of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer which is currently the most used browser. Users of IE will have to download a plug-in, known as Chrome Frame to use the application. It remains to be seen if Google can persuade IE users to go to the trouble of doing so. Since Wave was announced at a Google developers’ conference in May, one million people have registered on the site. Wave will have a full consumer launch early next year.

As of now Google is sending out 100,000 invites to test drive the Wave, each of whom can further nominate five people to “join the Wave”. Let us know if you enjoyed the ride if you happen to be on the party list.

Am I late to the game on this… everyone else has tried Bing, right? Well, as a convenient Google search user (it is my home page and there’s a toolbar at the top of the screen after all), I just hadn’t bothered to switch over and give it a try. However, finally having done so, I dare say I like it.

It seems to be more intuitive, giving me results more closely related to what I want given the same search words. At least so far.

And add to that the visual search Microsoft just employed. It might still be in beta test phase and limited to a few categories… er, galleries… but there’s undeniable potential here.

I can’t wait until someone comes up with a search engine that just reads my thoughts through a thumb scan on my keyboard and provides highly specified results accordingly, saving me the trouble of sifting through the rest of the links and images. Hmm… wait a tick, maybe a direct mind link isn’t a great idea. If unfiltered, it could produce some less-than-appropriate-for-the-workplace images, or countless icanhascheesburger images of fuzzy kittens with captions like “I iz hungry, u feed me now. Kthxbai.”

Sources: Computerworld, MediaPost, Telegraph.co.uk

This week in gadget blogs and news from around the Net:

• Area 51 secrets revealed - Gizmodo
• Apple orders 100 million 8GB flash chips - Engadget
• HTC Touch Diamond launches on Verizon Wireless - OhGizmo!
• Download the early version of Google Chrome - Technabob
• Breastlight helps you determine your health!…Odd - Shiny Shiny

And this week in the Smarter Gadgets Blog we talked about:

• Save at Accessory Geeks: Take $10 off Purchases of $40 
• Wireless Floating Speakers: Aqua Sounder
• HP Printer Deal: Save 30% off a HP Photosmart C4599
• Neuroscientists at SUNY Erase the Minds of Mice with ZIP

This week in gadget blogs and news from around the Net:

•  Why? Google now has a fighter jet - Gizmodo
• Bandai’s Tuttuki Bako game: Sticking your finger in a hole has never been so fun! - Technabob
• Bloodhound looking to hit 1000 mph - Machines that Go Bing
• Husqvarna’s solar powerered automower to hit the US - Engadget
• Logitech’s real Guitar Hero controller - OhGizmo!
• Introducing the Margarator - Ubergizmo

And this week in the Smarter Gadgets Blog we talked about:

•  iPhone Car Charger Deal: Save on a Griffin Charger
• Cool Light Lamp Will Make You Want to Hang Yourself
• Newegg Deals: Newegg Coupons Expiring Today
• Cool iPod Stuff: AeroSystem Speaker Dock

This week in gadget blogs and news from around the Net:

• Control Cell Phones with Your Brain Using NeuroSky Sensor - Gizmodo
• Cell Phones Can Turn Your Sperm Dumb - CNN
• iYo Uses Yo-YO to Power iPhone - Technabob
• Check out the Electrobike Pi - Machines the Go Bing
• XtremeMac Speaker Docks Support iPhones - Ubergizmo
• Magic MirrorHome Security System to scare the crap out of burglars - OhGizmo!

And this week in the Smarter Gadgets Blog we talked about:

• Save 20% Off CA Anti-Spyware 2008
• Coming Soon: Googling in Your BMW
• Discount Television Shopping: Save $100 at Second Act
• Cool Design, Scary Concept: China’s Mobile Super Star City
  

This week in gadget blogs and news from around the Net:

• Seinfeld and Gates make their commercial duo debut - Engadget
• Video game belt buckles - Technabob
• Check out the PC Nintendo Wii - Gizmodo
• Shower and surf the channels - Machines that Go Bing!
• Behold! The Calculator SpyCam! - OhGizmo!
• Microbes in dirt provide electricity for Africans - TreeHugger
  
• Take a look at the Pea Speaker System - Ubergizmo

And this week in the Smarter Gadgets Blog we talked about:

• Rocket Video: The Damage Caused by an Exploding Rocket
• Corel Coupon Code: Save 10% at Corel’s Online Store
• What Do You Think of the New Google Chrome Browser?

Google took another step towards its dominance of the Internet two days ago by launching their new browser, Google Chrome. If you’re clueless to what I’m talking about, then you can go download it here.

Anyways, I had a chance to download it and, I’m not gonna lie, so far I like it. Of course, I’m a sucker for good looks, so I’m an easy sell. The slick look of it alone is an eye catcher.

Since Chrome has only been out for a few days, Google hasn’t had a chance to create cool plugins such as the ones Firefox has, but I’m according to this article, that is to come soon. But it’s already taking momentum, as it has already gained 1% of the browser market in under 24 hours. I’m sure once everyone takes notice of this, it’ll catch like wildflower.

Anyhow, I suggest you download it and check it out for yourselves and tell us what you think about it.

Love it? Hate it? Sticking with your old browsers? What would you like to see happen with it? LET US KNOW!

Photo Source.

A quick recap of gadget blogs and news around the Net:

• The 3G iPhone Finally Goes on Sale! One Man’s Journey for the New Crave - Fortune
• iPhone 3G Review - Engadget
• Johnny Got his wish! He’s the first man in the WORLD to get the new iPhone - Gizmodo
• Can’t get enough of Google? Then how about some Google Blinds! -Ubergizmo
• A digital camera you can throw! - OhGizmo!
• NERD! Shower with this mouse-shaped soap - Technabob
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And this week in the Smarter Gadgets Blog we talked about:

• Buy Printer: HP Photosmarter C7280 All-in-One for $219.95
• Meet the Man to Get the First iPhone 3G in the World
• Buy Camcorder: Save $50 on Sony Handycam Camcorder
• Coffee Mug Thieves Beware! The Lock Cup is Here
• US(ushi)B Flash Drives: Eat Your Heart Out!