Computer Gadgets New

If you live in Boston (or anywhere else for that matter) you may want to pause from IMing and texting your friends every now and then to make sure you aren’t about to be robbed! Bostonist is reporting that Sidekick users who are distracted by typing are a target for phone thieves. WBZ TV reports that 23 Sidekicks have been snatched in the last two months from users riding the T (Boston’s subway system).
“Basically they have their heads down,” said Transit Police Sgt Michael Rutledge. “They’re not paying attention to their surroundings and people are taking advantage of that opportunity. When the train doors or bus doors open they’ll snatch the cell phone or Sidekick and run off with it.”

So keep an eye out next time you get sucked into an AIM conversation with the hottie you met last night at the club. Before you know it you may have lost her screenname AND your phone.

If you’ve ever wondered why people like fishing, Sega Bass Fishing will answer your question. It brings the best parts of fishing–the excitement of the chase with the fish–and excises the long, boring stretches.

With four modes, it will be hard to get bored with this game. The first, arcade, is timed, 2 minutes fishing in four areas in one of three courses of play. The SBFA Amateur Tournament tests the player against other characters in a chosen area in a certain amount of time. If the player weighs in as one of the top 10, then he can continue playing the tournament. The last couple, nature trip and practice, are virtually indistinguishable but pack a large number (396) of scenarios. The player has to pick 1 of each of 11 areas, 4 seasons, 3 times of day, and 3 types of weather; any of which could change the behavior of the fish and how easy it is to reel.

The gameplay is fantastic, with the Wii remote as the rod and the nunchuk as the reel. First, the player picks a bait and then chooses a spot to cast towards. Through a matter of shaking and twisting the Wii remote to pretend the bait is real, the fish will usually bite. This is where the fun begins, as the player fights and twists and reels to get the bass back to the boat. One of the best parts of this game was that, if the player isn’t sure how to lessen the tension, it will say it, but if the player is doing fine, it will be silent.

The scenery is pretty basic, and the character on screen doesn’t do much other than comment on the size of the bass caught. As to the music, it’s relaxing without being sleep-inducing.

My only problem with this game is that there isn’t a multi-player so that friends could compete head to head.

As an enthusiastic fisher myself, this game is a great substitute for when I can’t just “go fish.” Even if you’re not a fishing fan, you might just love it!

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As Gordon Ramsay would say, “Shut it down!”.  That is just what German officials did to the Meiuzu booth at CeBIT today after complaints from Sisvel of Mp3 infringement.  The officials were seen removing product and literature from the booth advising the booth was temporarily out of commission. 

If these reports are true, (and when has Engadget ever been wrong?) it seems to be over Sisvel’s claim of licensing payment due to them.  The licensing of the codec seems like an awfully tangled mess to get my simpleton head around, suffice to say Sisvel had a similar shutdown and confiscation run in with Sandisk at IFA last year.

More as it breaks.

Read: ]Engadget] via [thegadgetsite]

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While no where near confirmed, this image is floating around the tubes looking like what we hope is the W990.  A full touchscreen phone running Windows Mobile, this image shows Sony Ericsson could have a good looking contender in the touchscreen phone game if this is real.  That is a big *if* unfortunately.

The sites discussing it say there is a hint of brown casing.  I don’t see it, but I am partly color blind.  Do you?  Not that it confirms or rebuke the image anyhow.You have to admit, the use of the iphone hand model suggests this is real.  Ha.

Here’s to hoping this one is makes it to retail.  Not to be confused with the W890, Robert told us about last month.

Read [IntoMobile]

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Olivia Munn, the foxy geek hostess from Attack of the Show (G4 TV) and Playboy Magazine (Feb 2007), is in a new viral YouTube video for Dell Computer called “IT Through The Decades.”

The clip helps promote Dell’s servers by poking fun at all the poor IT related decisions companies have made the past few decades (1978-2008). In the clip, Mike the IT guy suggests “new” technologies like databases and bar codes and gets made fun of by his colleagues.

Olivia doesn’t have a ton of lines but she definitely adds some sex appeal to the YouTube clip. Warning: It’s a little long (especially for a “viral” clip). Olivia fans will also probably get a kick out of seeing her dressed up in retro 70’s and 80’s outfits. You can save this clip off YouTube by following these instructions.

If you’re looking for more Olivia Munn, just Google search her name. YouTube is full of clips of her doing things like riding a Hawaii Chair, seductively eating hotdogs and recovering from a baby oil slip. Too bad she’s dating that turd biscuit Bryan Greenberg from One Tree Hill.

methodshop

Posted Mar 5th 2008 9:53AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: cellphones

Remember how the folks at the Meizu booth swore up and down that the M8 Mini One wasn’t that similar to the iphone? Well apparently the Hanover police think otherwise. According to a report, the booth (shown above in its vacated state) was shut down by cops for piracy during CeBIT and passersby were told that, “The venue is closed until further notice.” It appears that after stopping down the M8 show, cops proceeded to confiscate equipment and literature associated with the painfully obvious knock-off, and will be making a more detailed statement on Thursday in regards to the action. Meizu, it might be time to get yourself a makeover… and a good attorney.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in; Image courtesy Heise Online]

There is nothing more painful than losing data on a laptop, especially when you’re traveling. All you have to do is experience one failed hard drive to know how much your files may mean to you. Some files may mean the difference between winning new business and keeping your job. Of course, backup solutions can be complex to set up, which has been an obstacle to many who want to keep an ongoing backup of their data.

SanDisk has now offered its solution to this problem. The company has introduced the SanDisk FlashBack Adapter. The adapter makes use of an SD flash memory card to backup data which uses an ExpressCard slot in a laptop. Once the user sets up what files they want to backup, the adapter will continuously back up data, taking note of any changes. That means no backups to schedule and an immediate file copy of any changes. The adapter will also give you access to individual file restores in case you accidentally delete a file.

If you want even more protection, the adapter will include an option to have data backed up online for an additional fee from BeInSync, Inc. The SanDisk FlashBack Adapter will retail for US$29.99 when it launches in the second quarter. The memory card for the adapter will be sold separately.

Read more from the SanDisk press release.

Brian’s Opinion

What a great move by SanDisk to offer this product. When people think of backup solutions, they always tend to think of solutions that use a hard drive. SanDisk is making the case that flash memory is also a viable solution with this product.

The thing I like the most about this product is the idea of a continuous backup. If you are going to lose data, then it usually will be right before your scheduled backup runs, which means you might be out a day or a week’s worth of work. That won’t be the case with the SanDisk FlashBack Adapter. If you make a change, then it’ll back it up right there. That’s great if you run into a situation where your hard drive takes a dive right before an important presentation.

$29.99 is not a bad price to pay for a little bit of insurance. Of course, depending upon how much memory you need, the memory card could outprice the adapter. Still, even being able to back up 1GB of critical files would be pretty useful. Considering how much 1GB of flash memory has dropped, this total backup solution by SanDisk would run somewhere around $50 or less. That’s not bad at all.

If you’re looking for a comfortable, wireless headset that integrates seamlessly with just about any office phone, then the Plantronics CS70N might be just what you’re looking for. The CS70N labels itself as a Wireless Office Headset System and comes with a headset, base, and an assortment of eartips that easily snap into the headset for customizing the fit of the headset to the user.

Setup of the device couldn’t be easier. You unplug your traditional handset from the phone and plug that into the base of the CS70N. Then you plug the cord from the base into the jack that normally takes your handset on your phone. You then plug the base adapter into an electrical outlet and place the headset into the docking portion of the base for charging.

Once setup is complete, you make a call by taking your traditional handset off of the base and then pressing the call control button on the headset.

The call quality is superb, and so is the range, thanks to it operating at a radio frequency of 1.9GHz DECT. For my tests, I used it in my relatively quiet office and then walked around my house (the handset has a range of 300 feet) and into a room where a vacuum was running. The caller on the other end could still hear me, but it was more difficult the closer I got to the vacuum. The CS70N features a noise-canceling microphone, so you can get pretty close to any noise. I can only imagine how well it would work in a noisy office environment.

The biggest selling point of the CS70N, however, is in its optional Handset Lifter. Once installed on a traditional phone, pressing the call control button will raise the handset to begin or answer a call. Pressing the call control button a second time will end the call. This way you don’t have to be near the phone in order to pick up a call.

In my tests, the Handset Lifter worked as expected. The only issues I had with it were the ringer microphone and the positioning of the lifter. If the telephone speaker isn’t directly under the handset, then you can use a ringer microphone, which you can place on the telephone’s speaker. I positioned mine and took the paper off the adhesive only to find that I hadn’t placed it in the right place. When I tried to remove it, I removed the cover completely off of the ringer microphone. Thankfully, the Handset Lifter still worked without issue, even without the ringer microphone attached. As for the lifter, because of the style of my phone, sometimes when the Lifter lowers the handset, it misses putting the handset completely back in the cradle. It doesn’t happen often enough for me to not use the lifter, though; not to mention, it’s really designed for office phones, and I’m using it on some junky phone I had lying around.

The CS70N also features a number of other additions, including volume control and mute on the headset, and an overall volume adjustment on the base itself, in case the headset isn’t loud enough even at its max level. There are also a variety of status lights, which let you know when the headset is engaged.

Speaking of the headset, Plantronics designed it to be worn all day, and I have to say that in my tests that claims holds true. After a while, I forgot I was wearing it.

The only drawbacks I found to the CS70N are its price and the fact that the Handset Lifter is optional. You can find a combo of both the CS70N and the Handset Lifter online for as low as US$245, which is more palatable, but the MSRP of the CS70N alone is $329.95. If Plantronics lowered the MSRP, then this headset combo could appeal to the home office worker, too.

Read more about the Plantronics CS70N at Plantronics.com.

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Sierra Wireless has announced the Compass 597 USB modem, which according to them “is smaller than any EV-DO Rev A USB modem in the market today.” Which I suppose as with anything mobile, a smaller size should be greatly appreciated. Less bulk to carry around and when it comes to a modem, its also less to protrude from your laptop and possibly get caught and damaged.

The Sierra Wireless Compass 597 USB modem may be small in size, but still has a full range of solid specs. The Compass 597 will offer speeds up to 3.1 Mbps down and 1.8 Mbps up, has a built-in microSD card slot for additional storage and features TRU-install automatic software which should make installation and use very simple. The Compass 597 also features Data Antenna, A-GPS, Data Traffic and PowerSave which offers power management. The Compass 597 will be available beginning in Q2 2008, no word yet on pricing.

Read [Sierra Wireless]

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Sony has announced that it would release Cradle for the new slim and light PSP (PSP-2000) in Japan. A set of Cradle & D Terminal AV Cable will also be resleased. The Cradle will allow users to enjoy movies and videos and it comes with a remote control to make things easy. The Cradle & D Terminal AV cable is for those who wish to enjoy PSP’s high quality entertainment content on TVs at home.
[Source]