Computer Gadgets New

This jacket is pretty interesting - it harnesses the power of your body warmth in order to recharge portable electronic devices, notably cell phones, handheld consoles and laptops. This process is known as “electroless etching”, featuring rough silicon nanowires synthesized with silver ions on a flat water surface. These wafers will then be woven into coats, where excess warmth from your body is turned into energy that could give you additional talktime on your cell phone. This is definitely an interesting development that I won’t mind seeing incorporated into the majority of my wardrobe.

Source: New Launches

Posted Mar 27th 2008 11:50AM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: cellphones

While it doesn’t exactly come as much of a surprise, it seems that Apple has plenty more goodies in mind for the iPhone (and, presumably, the iPod touch), with a recent batch of no less than six patent applications revealing some of its plans to turn the device into what it describes as a “lifestyle companion.” In this case, that rather vague term refers to what is effectively an upgrade to the Nike+ipod system, with the iphone’s accelerometer and other built-in capabilities also coming into play in addition to the usual external sensors. It doesn’t stop with workouts, however, with the patent applications also indicating plans for a diet coach of sorts, which could even make use of the iPhone’s camera to scan bar codes on products. Those components would also of course all work together, with the system able to suggest workouts based on your diet and physical condition and vice versa. Of course, these being patent applications, there’s no indication as to when we might actually see such a a system, but it sure seems a good deal more likely than some of Apple’s other ideas.

Logitech Squeezebox Duet

Logitech’s little black box liberates your music collection from the confines of your PC, streaming it via Wi-Fi to your Hi-Fi (or powered speakers). It also streams from Rhapsody, Pandora, Slacker, internet radio stations, local radio stations, and can even pull down podcasts and RSS feeds. A sweet iPod-style remote controls all the action. Sound like any other magic music box you know? Yep, the Squeezebox Duet challenges the much pricier Sonos Digital Music System for in-home streaming supremacy, and almost comes away the winner.

But not quite. Setup is about as fun as getting glass shards stuck in your eye — especially if you configure Logitech’s SqueezeCenter software to tap your iTunes library. We also had trouble connecting to our SqueezeNetwork account, which configures all the non-PC music sources. And sometimes the remote couldn’t detect the Squeezebox base station. (Note to Logitech: Enough with all the SqueezeNames. Damn, yo!) But eventually we got the kinks worked out and rocked out with The Kinks.

Alas, SqueezeCenter doesn’t do DRM, so forget about streaming any protected tracks you bought from, say, iTunes or Zune Marketplace. However, it does support every audio format known to geekdom, from AAC to WMA Lossless. And if you upload your collection to MP3tunes ($39.95 annually), the Duet can stream it even when your PC is off. Want music in multiple rooms? Additional base stations run $150 a pop.

The Squeezebox remote resembles an elongated ipod, complete with color screen, album art, scroll wheel, and fuss-free menus. Unfortunately, sometimes the menus seem endless: To play one a Slacker station, for instance, you have to drill through seven screens. The remote frequently lags behind button-presses, too, causing sporadic false lock-ups. (Note to Logitech #2: firmware fix, please.)

Those gripes aside, the Duet rocks hard. Between your personal collection and the collective libraries of Rhapsody, Shoutcast, and RadioTime (which tunes in actual radio stations from around the world), it feels like you’ve got an unlimited music repository in the palm of your hand. Tired of tunes? A nature-sounds plug-in turns your stereo into a babbling brook, crackling fire or, if you’re into it, a whinnying horse.

A few software fixes could turn this good music-streaming system into a great one. But even now, the Squeezebox Duet temporarily alleviates Sonos envy on the cheap.  —Rick Broida

WIRED Works with Windows, Mac, and even Linux systems. Slim, compact base station can connect to analog or digital gear. iPod-like remote delivers iPod-like simplicity. Streams from numerous internet sources. Supports custom radio stations, news feeds, and podcasts.

TIRED Setup may cause hair-pulling. SqueezeCenter won’t stream DRM-protected tracks. Remote often lags behind button presses. No option to browse your music library by song. Doesn’t support streaming from network drives. Apple TV costs less and does video, too.

$400, logitech.com

A fire on March 3 at the second biggest battery manufacturer in South Korea, called LG Chem, has resulted in there being a shortage of batteries available for use in laptop computers.

Both Dell and HP, two of the largest PC makers, have acknowledged the shortage and are doing everything they can to minimize the impact on customers. Dell’s batteries sold separately of laptops have already increased in price to reflect the shortages, but they would not comment on how–or if–it will affect laptop prices.

Jess Blackburn, spokesman for Dell, said:

The industry is experiencing battery supply constraints because of these problems … Therefore, pricing is being impacted by current availability. But we are working with our partners throughout our supply chain to reduce the impact on our customers.

Mike Hockey, spokesman for HP also commented in an e-mail, saying:

The full extent of the impact to HP and other OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) is still being determined … We are aggressively working within the battery cell industry to secure additional supply of battery cells.

LG Chem is expected to come back online within three months, according to the company. Until that time, manufacturers are looking to other suppliers, including Samsung SDI, Sony, and Panasonic parent company Matsushita to fill orders.

Read more at Reuters.

Matthew’s Opinion

The falling prices of DRAM may actually make this battery problem pass without significant price increases. Analysts believe DRAM is being stockpiled by manufacturers such as Dell to take advantage of the current low prices. In effect, Dell can keep the prices almost the same, taking the higher battery price hit on a lower profit margin from the RAM in a system.

It’s problems like this that show you how much manufacturers struggle to keep up with the demand for technology. This is just one battery plant shutting down, and it causes a major headache and shortages. Possibly more investment in battery manufacturing is needed to ensure closures can be dealt with easily.

The I Spy Fisheye Camera helps you add a little bit of artistic license to your images, so what you get for $75 is described below.

This Fisheye Camera is an entertaining and interesting way to bring life into the same old photos and encourage a little bit of artistry while you’re at it. This version of the classic Fisheye comes with a sleek black and chrome exterior, wrist strap, editorial book and manual. Get your graduates and gadget geeks something they can have more than their fair share of fun with, and something you won’t mind enjoying along with them!

We’re always talking about all kind of gadgets and gizmos, but sometimes we’re just too selfish and forget that even a pet has its wishes. In this case, I present you the stylish and entertaining Itch Scratch Pad for your lovely cat. The pads are made from pure bamboo and are environmental friendly. Available on squarecathabitat.com, for about 50 $. Don’t be a churl and make a gift for your cat’s birthday.

If you’ve got a website and have been trying to figure out how to incorporate some social features into it, then you’ll want to check out what the guys at Ringside Networks have just launched. The company announced the Beta release of its new Ringside Social Application Server. The application will allow you to integrate your website with social networks such as Facebook.

One of the greatest advantages of the Ringside Social Application Server will be for developers. They will now be able to design applications for Facebook, while still being able to deploy those same applications to other websites as well. They will also be able to access an extensive API and tag library to extend Facebook’s API and markup language in addition to being able to specifically define their own. The Ringside Social Application Server will be released under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), a free and Open Source license.

Website owners will be able to not only take advantage of applications designed for Facebook, but also they will gain social intelligence for their businesses through the ability to learn more about their visitors through the social interactions on the website. Future versions of the Ringside Social Application Server will be OpenSocial compatible, allowing for integration with other social networks, including MySpace, hi5, Bebo, and orkut.

If you’ve been looking to integrate some social features into your website–and considering how hot social apps have been why wouldn’t you–then this may be one way to enable that. The middleware solution opens a whole new market for developers who have designed Facebook application since they can now be incorporated into other websites. This also gives website owners the ability to put a little social flair into their sites.

Read more from the Ringside Networks press release.

Mobile phones have gone on to become an obsession with the 21st century folks. This inspires the engineers to devise newer technologies in mobile phone world. Going by the resources, Samsung launched their shiny new i458, a DAP Phone (Digital Audi Player).

Focusing a whole lot on music with a Bang & Olufsen ICEpower amplifier, microSDHC slot sustaining up to 4GB cards and built-in speaker, Samsung’s i458 definitely looks forward to present a good option to existing music phones. Supporting Symbian S60 v3.1 with 2.4-inch display and 3.5G HSDPA connectivity, the i458 stands a good chance of being a decent phone. The DAP is equipped with 25MB of internal memory, 3.5mm audio jack. The dual-slide is parallel to that on Nokia’s N95. Final word on measure and price; the i458 measures 101 x 52 x 17.8mm, weighs 110g and will be priced at 14,950 Taiwan dollars ($495 USD).
[ Source ]

The Slide faucet takes a non-traditional approach to turning on the tap, as you will have to move it backward to turn it on as well as regulate its temperature. This offers a clean cut design that will not be out of place at many a modern bathroom. This design was created by Alain Berteau and it will go on sale next month in Milan. Pricing has yet to be announced, but like most things in Milan, it won’t come cheap. I guess you have best not soap your hand before you turn the Slide faucet on, as you’d have a hell of a time trying to do exactly just that with slippery hands.

New Radio System Approved by the Pentagon

In the near future there will be a new radio system on the works, either developed by Boeing, or Lockheed Martin. The decision was announced today by the Pentagon, and the upcoming system will be used on aircrafs, ships, and ground stations.

One of the most important details of this deal, is the money. Can you imagine a high number that covers all the expenses, from start to finish, of the radio system?

$10 billion in a later stage of production mode, and close to $1 billion just for the system design and development.

It will provide secure Internet-like capabilities and networking for voice, text, audio and video.

Netflix (re)sarts shipping DVDs

In case you’re a Netflix user and got worried about not being able to order/receive DVDs on Monday, don’t worry because the system is up and running again. Netflix went down on Monday for 11 hours, but the problem was fixed and everything is suppose to be back to normal.

All the customers that got affected by the “no DVD drama” will eventually get a reward of some kind, most probably free credits.

Pentagon and Sun get together

To finish today’s tech news there is another Pentagon deal made with Sun Microsystems. Once again, the expenses are high, in this case a $44 million contract.

What is the project? Working with computer chips, and replacing wires for laser beams.

Source - Reuters

Guest post by Tiago of Gadgetizer