Taking pictures of products for our reviews is a big part of what we do here on The Gadgeteer. I’m pretty picky when it comes to my review images and am always looking for tips, tricks and of course gadgets, to make my job easier. The LightRight Professional Reflector System is a handy kit that makes tabletop product photography a heck of a lot easier. Let me show you. … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Photography

LightRight Professional Reflector System Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 9, 2010 at 11:31 am.

The developers at Enhanced Press are seeking beta testers for new apps that they are creating. If you interested, get the details after the jump. … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: News, iPhone, iPad, iPod related

Tagged: iPhone

Beta Testing Opportunity for iPhone or iPod Touch Owners originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 9, 2010 at 11:14 am.

Section: Computers, Netbooks

Another netbook coming courtesy of MSI is now available, this time its the Wind U160 and it can be found with Amazon and Newegg as well as many other online retailers.

First things first, spec wise the MSI Wind U160 features a 10.1-inch (1024 x 600 resolution) glossy display, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and is running Window 7 Starter. Other features include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, a built-in card reader, a built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam and a 6-cell battery that is said to offer up to 15 hours of battery life.

Moving on, in terms of price Newegg is selling the U160 netbook for $379.99 with an extra $4.99 for standard shipping. As far as Amazon, they also have it priced at $379.99, however it is still being listed as a pre-order at the moment.

Product [Amazon] and [Newegg] Via [netbooked]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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We all need someone to lean on, and when that someone’s not there, why not try this clever pillow pillow instead? One side is white with bold black lettering, and the other is reversed in black with white lettering. A perfect gift for someone who might need a little extra support these days. $19.95 @ CB2

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, VoIP, Mobile

What the heck is a “weblication?”  The answer is in Riverturn’s new Google Voice web application that looks more like a native app, in fact, it fooled everyone I showed it to.  The new app brings the Google Voice experience to your iPhone, allowing you to place calls, send and recieve SMS, and even browse recent calls.  Even better, Riverturn did it by working around the App Store and its oft illogical approval process.  Take that Apple.

In fact, the whole effort is very impressive.  The app is actually running in Safari, but most users won’t realize it (I had to keep reminding myself).  Voice Central, Riverturns name for the service, has the look of a great app but, according to Riverturn, runs faster thanks to the data running through their servers.  Finger swiping delete calls, little icons on the bottom provide good-looking navigation, to contact details with the stock wallpaper background, Riverturn managed to make the Google Voice web app look like child’s play next to Voice Central Black Swan.

User simply navigate to the Riverturn website and the weblication loads in and users add the link to the home screen.

There are some limits to a weblication.  For starters, Safari (which is running Voice Central) can’t access your contacts.  Instead, Voice Central suggests syncing your data with Google Voice’s contacts to get around this inconvenience.  Apple prevents this so websites don’t have access to your contacts.  Another limit is a confirmation box pops up when you initialize calls, again set up by Apple to protect users from websites initiating calls without users consent.  And finally, voice mails are played through the speaker, not the earphone.  Little issues but something to be aware of.

Users can now download the program and register for free.  A premium version is available that brings contact images through, allows a setting change for Do Not Disturb, unlimited history, inbox searches and product support (free version is supported via forums only).  Premium is a whopping $6/year, on sale from $10/year.

Product page: [Riverturn]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Web, Web Apps, Google

Gmail has long had the ability to add (and check) other POP3 email accounts, which is nice because it allows you to check/send/receive email from multiple accounts in one place. Of course, with that convenience, the ability to check other POP3 email accounts is not perfect. One of the reasons why is due to the lack of ability to pre-configure a interval to check those accounts. Simply put, they run on Google’s schedule and if you wanted to manually update an account you had to go to Settings, Accounts and Import and then hit the Check mail now link. It was there, but it took a few steps. Now thanks to a new feature in Labs, you can check all of your added POP3 email accounts with a single click. The new Labs feature is called “Refresh POP accounts” and can be enabled by going to Settings -> Labs and then clicking Enable next to the Refresh POP accounts feature. And after that is done, dont forget to hit the Save Changes button at the bottom. Once that is done, just head back to your Inbox and you will now have a “Refresh” link next to your More actions button. Now if we could just get a Labs feature that would just allow us to set time intervals to check those added POP3 accounts.

Read [The Official Gmail Blog]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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What happens when you copy code off the internet and supply it to randomise your results? Non-random results, that's what (updated)

Microsoft has shuffled the algorithm which produced the browser choice ballot screen, because it wasn't random.

If you can't remember why it's running a browser ballot screen, here's your reminder - including a pointer to the fact that the code to "randomise" the browsers at browserchoice.eu, which was supplied by Microsoft, wasn't random. (IBM's Rob Weir analysed it.)

Two questions: why wasn't that noticed, and where did Microsoft get the flawed code from in the first place?

To which the answer for both seems to be: someone searched for the code to do the randomisation - after all, why reinvent the wheel? Someone must have written code to do a random sort with Javascript - and got code with a flaw in it.

To be fair, the code actually disadvantaged Microsoft: it put Internet Explorer into fifth position in the list of available browsers about twice as often as it should have, and put Chrome ahead too often. (See Weir's illustration here.)

As Tim Anderson points out, if you do a search for "Javascript random sort" on Google, you get a list which includes a link to a Javascript library which has the exact same flaw as the Microsoft code.

But hold your horses - if you do that search on (Microsoft's) Bing, you get the same top result. So don't assume that Microsoft's people were being unfaithful.

However as Anderson points out,

"I am sure I am not the only person to turn to Google when confronted with some programming task that requires some research. In general, it is a great resource; and Google's own algorithms help a little with filtering the results so that sites with better reputation or more inbound links come higher in the results.

"Still, what this case illustrates – though accepting again that we do not know how the error occurred in this instance – is that pasting code from a Google search into your project without fully understanding and testing it does not always work. Subtle bugs like this one, which may go unnoticed for a long time, can have severe consequences. Randomisation is used in security code, for example."

Now that's scary. Got any copied/pasted Javascript in your security code? Fess up.

Update: Weir's conclusion on his second post, where he finds that the new shuffle algorithm works much closer to expectation, is instructive:

In the end I don't think it is reasonable to expect every programmer to be memorize the Fisher-Yates algorithm. These things belong in our standard libraries. But what I would expect every programmer to know is:

That the problem here is one that requires a "random shuffle". If you don't know what it is called, then it will be difficult to look up the known approaches. So this is partially a vocabulary problem. We, as programmers, have a shared vocabulary which we use to describe data structures and algorithms; binary searches, priority heaps, tries, and dozens of other concepts. I don't blame anyone for not memorizing
algorithms, but I would expect a programmer to know what types of algorithms apply to their work.

How to research which algorithm to use in a specific context, including where to find reliable information, how to evaluate the classic trade-offs of time and space, etc. There is almost always more
than one way to solve a problem.

That where randomized outputs are needed,  the outputs should be statistically tested. I would not expect the average programmer to know how to do a chi-square test, or even to know what one is. But I would expect a mature programmer to know either find this out or seek help.

Supply your own jokes about programmers needing to seek help, of course.

Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones

AT&T has made their first foray into the Android smartphone market, and it looks to be rather depressing.  The first phone is the Motorola Backflip, which itself is nothing special aside from the different design.  However, from the looks of it as of now, AT&T doesn’t seem understand the full draw of Android to some users.

Part of the draw to Android is the fact that apps can easily be installed outside of the Market, unlike the iPhone which only allows apps from the App Store. This allows users to install apps that may not appear in the Market for a variety of reasons.  The AT&T Backflip, however, seems to lack this functionality.  This means there’s no chance of Backflip owners trying the beta of Swype right now, among other apps. 

This might not make a huge difference to some users, surely not everyone with an Android smartphone is going to care about installing apps from anyplace but the Market.  It does mean, however that there are some who would just as easily pass on AT&T Android phones if it continues.  Surely this could be fixed with a firmware upgrade, so it might not be a huge issue after a while, but until it is fixed it gives users let another reason to not use AT&T.  It if does continue, it makes the rumors of the HTC Desire going to AT&T even more depressing.

Read [Gizmodo]

Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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With HTC Desire, Legend and Mini announced at the MWC in February, one phone which was missing from the list was the HTC Supersonic. However, a new video has appeared which shows this Android smartphone in action.

It is expected to tout a 4.3-inch screen for optimum viewing, similar to the HTC HD2, and is believed to run on WiMax, which will ensure faster speeds for web surfing than any other 3G phone on the market.

Unfortunately, the video doesn’t show a clear view of the mobile phone and only lasts approx 42 seconds but there is also a shot of the camera and speaker grill.  However, judging by the fact that there was no commentary and the person disguised their identity it does make it seem that a little bit more reliable than usual.

At the time of writing it would appear that the video has been removed by the user from YouTube but the folks over at Engadget managed to embed and capture the video again so check it out here before it goes again!

• Get paid for your old phones – Top 5 mobile recycling sites compared
• Free phone calls to exclusive discounts at restaurants from phone networks – Free Sim cards from various networks and there benefits.

Android Phone, HTC Supersonic’s Leaked Video is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

FROM GAMERTELL - Activision is teaming up with Anchor Bay Entertainment to create 10 Minute Solution for the Wii, a fitness game based on Anchor Bay’s line of 10 Minute Solution DVDs.
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Ever imagined what a frameless laptop could look like? Well there is no need to put your imagination to the test as Digitimes has reported that Acer could be building its very own super thin frameless laptop.

So how will Acer be expected to create a usable and fully functional frameless display frame? Only in its concept stage, the plan is to use toughened glass (also known as Gorilla Glass) from Corning to prevent the display from breaking. Consequently you will get a thinner and lighter laptop, as the plastic frame which add weight and bulkiness to most laptops will disappear.

This idea certainly seems to be catching on the Far East as we’ve seen similar concepts from Fujitsu, with their Frame Zero Concept and Asus, with their Dual Display Laptop Prototype so expect to see more of this in the future, especially if a laptop manufacturer is able to produce a tactile laptop which can survive the bumps and grazes of daily life.

Via Engadget

• Get paid for your old phones – Top 5 mobile recycling sites compared
• Free phone calls to exclusive discounts at restaurants from phone networks – Free Sim cards from various networks and there benefits.

Asus Frameless Laptop Concept Rumoured is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Eye-tracking shows that tweets added into search results don't get much attention. Too soon to be useful, or never going to be useful?

Users ignore "real time" results in searches. That's the conclusion of some eye-tracking studies carried out on people doing usability studies with Google results, and it might not be good news for Twitter - which has done deals with Google and Bing to let them index its content and serve it up in the results for searches. Google is reckoned to be paying $15m, and Bing $10m - though the length of the deal isn't known.

The study is unequivocal: tweets are the gorillas in the passing game of search results.

Come again?

"It was right in front of you. Why didn't you see it? That's what a group of researchers investigated over a decade ago when they asked their study subjects to watch a video of a group of people passing a ball around. For the study, the participants were asked to count the number of passes completed. The participants were surprisingly accurate in their counts. And what about the gorilla? (Well, not a real gorilla, but a woman wearing a gorilla suit). In one group, less than 10% of the participants reported seeing a gorilla pass through. It is precisely what the study participants didn't see – a woman in a gorilla suit – that interested the researchers."

The news will bring a quiet smile to Nick Carr, the author and blogger who has been compiling his sardonic Realtime Chronicles (like the Martian Chronicles, but more terrestrial) about the faint whiff of idiocy that attaches to attempts to orient the web, and particularly search, around the leavings of folk on Twitter.

But why don't we care about real-time results? Over at Scripting News, ur-blogger Dave Winer suggests that it's because

"It's impossible to convey much information in 140 characters. So when a search hits a tweet you get at most a soundbite, telling you something you probably already knew. When you search you're looking for information you don't have but want."

He adds:

"I have a collection of Google Alerts that report once a day or immediately, via email, telling me about occurrences of my name, products I've made, other topics I'm interested in. These used to be pretty useful until they started including tweets in the body of stuff they search. Now the alerts are mostly useless. So in this case, adding real-time stuff actually subtracts value. "

(Though I've also heard separately from other people that Google Alerts are becoming useless to them because of the prevalence of SEO efforts which push useless results into the alerts. Now the interesting point: I heard it on my Twitter stream, without searching it out.)

To which Josh Young's comment, also linked by Winer, makes sense: "Yes, real-time results in search suck because the feed is what's important, not the individual tweet."

The intriguing thing is that Google's senior vice-president of search products and user experience, Marissa Mayer, sounded absolutely certain when I interviewed her in the middle of last year (before the deal with Twitter was signed) that real-time search would be really useful, and was something that Google absolutely should include. Here's the relevant quote, in response to the question:

"We think the real-time search is incredibly important, and the real-time data that's coming online can be super-useful in terms of finding out whether – something like, is this conference today any good? Is it warmer in San Francisco than it is in Silicon Valley? You can actually look at tweets and see those types of patterns emerge, so there's a lot of useful information about real-time interactions that we think ultimately will really affect search."

But it's already looking as though stuffing Twitter results high into the search results isn't quite the way to do that "useful information". Possibly Google - and Bing - will need to have a rethink about how results are presented: should "real-time" results (stop sniggering, Carr) be roped off in their own space, as sponsored results and text ads already are? But in that case, where? How does that gel with Google's aim of having plain, simple pages that load fast and also lead you to the information that you really want?

There's an associated question: are real-time search results any use? When you're trying to find out about breaking news that affects you, they'll definitely look damn useful - for instance, if you've heard about a natural or other disaster at a location where you know a relative is living or visiting, you'll want to search and find out what's happening. (Assuming the telephone system isn't working.) Possibly if you could see a flow of tweets from that region, it would go some way to helping.

For the other situations, though... harder to make out. Over to you: can you frame a use for real-time search results from services like Twitter (and perhaps even, who knows, Facebook), and can you solve Google's presentation problem?

Phones have become an indispensable part of our lives; the iPhone in particular with the amount of third party applications has taken telephone usability to an all new level. With Apple filing a patent for the iKey app for the iPhone, the device could replace the need of house and car keys and wallet, making lives all the more limited to the phone itself.

Relying on the new Near Field Communication (NFC) — short-range high frequency wireless communication technology — the iKey requires the iPhone user to enter a PIN code on the onscreen rotating combination lock, which waves over to an electronic pad located on the other side of the house and car door.

The NFC devices are compatible with existing contactless infrastructure, a reason the NFC-equipped iPhone, with the app, could also be used as a digital wallet. There are rumors that the iPhone 4G will contain iKey capabilities, but that doesn’t actually seem to viable to me at this stage. But we’ll have to keep a close watch on the development.

Via: Telegraph/Gizmag

John Gruber of Daring Fireball has an interesting story about the absence of certain iPhone apps – Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather, Voice Memos – on the iPad. It seems that these apps, when scaled up to iPad’s bigger screen, simply didn’t look good enough to Steve Jobs, so he decided to scrap them. Writes Gruber: “Ends up that just blowing up iPhone apps to fill the iPad screen looks and feels weird, even if you use higher-resolution graphics so that nothing looks pixelated. So they were scrapped by you-know-who

Read more:
Do iPhone Apps Really Look Good on iPad’s Screen?

A transformer robot built out of recycled steel is something literally out of this world for us, but it isn’t all that intricate for these lads at RoboSteel. A reason, they’ve built this amazing life-size transformer robot sculpture to perfection - - still how I wish this could transform into a car. Made in about 5,000 unique parts of recycled steel, which range from a car parts to television parts, the sculpture’s been weld together and expertly polished to stand firm at over 2.5 meters. Strong layers of lacquer have been used on the sculpture to protect it from weathering. In case you’ve liked the transformer robot, RoboSteel can arrange for one to reach you, but that’ll come for € 5,500 (about $7,500).

Via: RoboSteel

The CVFR-S09 Solar Vest is now your ordinary vest since it comes with built-in solar cells that you can use to charge your gadgets. The cells recharge a huge capacity 8.8Ah battery pack stored in the left hand pocket that can output 5V, 6V, 9V and 12-20V. There are 8 power adapter tips and 7 connectors (Nokia 2/3.5mm, SonyEricsson large/small, Samsung, micro and mini USB). $126 is all you need to bring home the CVFR-S09 Solar Vest. [Product Page]

Active Media has rolled out a new series of SSDs called the SaberTooth ZT. Coming in 32GB and 64GB storage capacities, these 1.8-inch drives are equipped with MLC NAND Flash memory chips, a PATA ZIF interface and deliver read and write speeds of up to 100MB/s and 85MB/s, respectively. The SaberTooth ZT SSDs are now available for purchase via Amazon for $169.95 (32GB) and $299.95 (64GB), respectively. [Softpedia]

Foursquare is battling for your SXSW check-ins with a musical scavenger hunt . Rival Gowalla is going to go after them with free gadgets – specifically free Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus devices as part of a promotion the location-based social networking service is unveiling in conjunction with their just-launched app for webOS.

Go here to see the original:
Gowalla Launches on webOS and Vies for Your Checkins with Free Stuff

Physicists have come up with a way to process information faster than the speed of light. But what could they do with such a hypercomputer?

The speed of light represents one of the fundamental limits of the laws of physics. Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, right?

Genomics pioneer Leroy Hood says a coming revolution in medicine will bring enormous new opportunities.

Leroy Hood has been at the center of a number of paradigm shifts in biology. He helped to invent the first automated DNA sequencing machine in the 1980s, along with several other technologies that have changed the face of molecular biology. And in 2000, he founded the Institute for Systems Biology, a multidisciplinary institute in Seattle dedicated to examining the interactions between biological information at many different levels, and to moving forward a new perspective for studying biology. The next revolution he plans to help shape is in medicine, using new technologies and new knowledge in biology and informatics to make its practice more predictive, preventative and personal.

Analyzing the connections between sites could help spot Web attacks.

Over the past couple of years, cybercriminals have increasingly focused on finding ways to inject malicious code into legitimate websites. Typically they've done this by embedding code in an editable part of a page and using this code to serve up harmful content from another part of the Web. But this activity can be difficult to spot because websites also increasingly pull in legitimate content, such as ads, videos, or snippets of code, from outside sites.

Chemical process can recycle PET bottles at lower temperatures.

A plastic bottle tossed in the recycling bin may end up being shredded and reused to make a sweater or a carpet, but it won't be turned into another water bottle. At least not so far. Catalysts being developed by researchers at IBM and Stanford could make it cost-effective to break down polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, plastics into their constituent chemicals for reuse as bottles. The company is working to test its PET-recycling catalyst at a large scale to eventually develop it for industrial use.

Dozens of smartphone models have come along in recent months attempting to take a stab at Apple's dominance with features such as touchscreen capability, big library of apps, music playing, and zippy performance but electronics giant Sony has come up with a slightly different approach. Sony Ericsson has confirmed that it is indeed developing a new smartphone capable of downloading and playing PlayStation games to counter the popularity of Apple's iPhone and curtail the rival's push into the portable-gaming market. The company said its ...

FROM APPLETELL - A few months ago, the fine people at Saddleback Leather provided us with a medium laptop case for review. Now they’re extending that generosity to you by allowing us to give it away to one of our readers.
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Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Broadband Cards, Mobile, Computers, Wireless, Reviews, Features

I have been playing with the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus for a little while now and I have to say that one of my favorite features is the Mobile Hotspot app. This app comes pre-installed on both the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus and allows the user to create a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five other devices so you can connect your notebook, netbook or other Wi-Fi enabled device to the Internet. I should also point out that the use of this app requires an additional add-on service that will cost $40 per month. So in the end you are paying for the calling plan, any message plan you choose and also the regular $29.99 a month smartphone access. So yes, you are paying a bit more money, however for someone like myself who has used and liked having a MiFi this $40 add on may be a better option. This Mobile Hotspot app is also the reason that I will likely pick up a Palm Pre Plus of my own after this review period is over.

For me it comes down to the fact that the MiFi requires a two year commitment and costs $59.99 a month. The Mobile Hotspot add-on for the Palm Pre Plus costs $40 a month and comes as a service without a contract. In other words you can add it and remove it as needed. I would say that is a big plus for someone who likes the MiFi but does not need it all the time. That alone can be a money saver. But at least for me the decision came down to this, I already have a Verizon Wireless family account, so adding the Palm Pre Plus was an extra $9.99 a month for minutes and messages, then the regular data and Mobile Hotspot data. Bottom line, I would have paid $59.99 a month for a MiFi, and now I will pay $79.99 a month for the Pre Plus with the Mobile Hotspot. And yes, I realize that $79.99 is more than $59.99. Its $20 more to be specific, but that $20 more a month gives me a complete other phone to use as well as the mobile data. Its also cheaper than having another 3G data phone and a separate MiFi. Plus I can always add or remove that Mobile Hotspot add-on as needed and save a few extra bucks here and there as opposed to always paying $59.99 a month. Because remember those months when I drop the Mobile Hotspot service my price (minus tax) goes down to $39.99 a month.

And to add one other little bit of info, once you have the Mobile Hotspot app active and in use, any data that is sent or received by any connected devices as well as your Palm Pre Plus will be counted towards the 5GB limit that you have with your Mobile Hotspot service. That means if you are playing Slacker on your Palm Pre Plus and activate the Mobile Hotspot any data you use will count towards the 5GB limit on the Mobile Hotspot and not the 5GB limit for the phones data plan. So this kind-of sort-of means that you are increasing your monthly limit to 10GB.

Anyway, I think you can tell from this post that I like the Palm Pre Plus and its Mobile Hotspot service. And with that, here is a video demonstrating just how easy it is to set up a Mobile Hotspot network with the Palm Pre Plus.

Finally, the service without speed would be worthless. So here is a speed test that I did using the Chrome browser on my Eee PC 1000H netbook running Jolicloud.

More information [Verizon Wireless]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Wondering if your HD2 can run Windows Phone 7? Some rumors are saying that the HD2 WILL get updated, but ZDNet received a statement from a Microsoft mobile spokesperson:

“For Windows Phone 7 Series we are enforcing a strict set of hardware requirements to ensure a consistently great experience for end-users and developers. While we cannot confirm that WM6.X phones that satisfy those requirements will be upgradeable, every Windows Phone 7 Series device will be upgradeable with improvements and features we deliver with subsequent Windows Phone 7 Series releases. We currently do not have plans to update the HTC HD2 to Windows Phone 7 Series.”

So there you go. No official Windows Phone 7 upgrade for HTC HD2 users. Although I’m pretty sure someone will create a “unofficial” Windows Phone 7 ROM for the HD2…

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Related Articles at Mobility Site:

• Microsoft Blogger Accidentally Leaks Office Mobile Upgrade
• Upgrade your HP iPAQ hx2000 and hx4700 series Pocket PC with WM 5
• Windows Mobile to become Windows Phone?
• And let the upgrades begin ….
• New Microsoft Windows Mobile Version Coming?

If you like what you are reading, please consider clicking one of the social networking icons to share the link love. Try a RT by clicking the Twitter icon above. Thanks for reading Mobilitysite!

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© Dan H. at Mobility Site, 2010. | Permalink

FROM APPLETELL - Are you used to doing everything by voice? Making phone calls or selecting songs on your iPod? You can now carry that simplicity over to setting your alarm at night and waking up in the morning.
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Section: Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Transportation, Features, How To

As warmer weather starts to creep back in to the northern reaches of the US, it’s time to start thinking about getting back on the roads and trails with your bicycle.  If you’re like me, the bike has sat idle while skiis and snowboards got their fill.  Here are some easy things you can do to get back in riding form.

Tires

For the past few months, state and town works have been dumping sand, salt and God knows what else on the streets to keep the slipper conditions at bay.  All that stuff coagulates at the roads side, right where you have to ride through.  This can lead to difficult, if not unsafe bicycle handling conditions.  The solution?  New tires.

Tires, like these beauties from Fyxation, are just the thing.  Looking sharp in their dual compound, the new Fyxation tires have wall to wall knobs for added traction, just like the old 20” BMX tires I used to ride.  Big groves in the tire provide good grip while the dual compound puts a durable section of rubber where you need it most, while still looking sharp.  At 120 TPI, the tire has the stuff to keep flats at bay.

Designed as tires for hip fixies (fixed gear bicycles), these tires were intended for urban assault riding.  Perfect for the urban landscape, these tires were made to handle skidding (to an extent), track stands and all the rough love of the urban world.  That also makes them great for dealing with the springtime slosh of deep sand, road junk and even slush coagulating on the roads shoulder.

I’ve been riding these for a few weeks and have been duly impressed.  They hold tight while moving through big piles of sand and even pointed off road, they did pretty well.  Their wider 700x28 size will fit many frames and their color options just look fantastic.  New tires, like these Fyxations, are the #1 was to improve performance on your bike.  $49.95, Fyxation

Chain

Chances are good your chain needs love.  I cringe when I hear a dry chain just squeeking for some live pedal by.  But lubing the chain is only half of it; the other half of the story is chain stretch and it can eat your chain rings and rear cogs (the gears).

As a former shop owner, I’ve seen (and profited from) neglected chains eat away at chain rings and rear cogs, a costly replacement.  The solution for most of us is simply replace the chain each year.  As the chain stretches, it begins to reshape the teeth it engages.  Once this sets in, a new chain will no longer solve it, in fact, a new chain will skip around for no apparent reason.  To avoid this, change your chain a regular intervals.  Bike shops have a chain gauge that can measure the stretch so you can avert trouble.

Chains are an easy replacement.  Simply use a chain tool to drive a pin out (or find the quick link and remove it) and use the old chain to size the new one.

Cables

Water, salt from the road and even sweat can corrode cables that control your brake and shifting cables.  Corroded cables can cause shifting problems as well as delayed braking action.  Keeping these lubed can go a long way to keeping things sliding freely.  Simply create some slack in the cable and pull and push it through the housing (the plastic bits that cover the cables at bends).  If it moves freely, drop in some lube and you are good to go; if not, time to replace cable and housing.

Cable sizing requires a good pair of cable cutters and more housing then you need or take the old housing to a bike shop to be matched with new.  If you don’t have a set of cutters, or just want to leave the rest of the tuning to a pro, visit your local bike shop.

Find a bicycle shop near you: [NBDA bike shop finder]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Computers, Netbooks, Software / Applications, Web, Google

Many know, and many are waiting for Google to release Chrome OS, which is expected to be available towards the end of the year. But now it seems as if that version of Google’s Chrome OS is not the only one in the pipeline. According to Will Drewry, who is a Google software security engineer they are planning to also release a business version sometime in 2011 that will feature “more management muscle.” Sadly though, aside from the brief mention little else is known about this second version of Chrome OS. Of course, I am sure that just like everything else Google, the rumor mill will eventually churn up and details will come to light.

Read [Network World] Via [Chromium Netbooks] and [Engadget]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Broadband Cards, Mobile

CTIA is coming up later this month, March 23-25 and is the US wireless biggest event that focuses on mobile carriers and devices.  If you were a smartphone maker looking to make an impact in the US, you’d look to CTIA to do so.  That appears what Palm may be doing.

According to PreCentral, an AT&T employee posted that the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus had finished testing at the company and now testing had begun on a device named Elan.  Could Elan be the touchscreen-only webOS device we’ve been hoping for?  Can we expect to see a big splash at CTIA announcing the first soft-keyboard only webOS device?

Maybe.  It seems the Elan name was used before and identified the Pixi device.  There are two sites up that currently name the Pixi Elan and list accessories for them with an image of the Pixi.  Some suggest AT&T changes the name of the device for their network, like most of HTC’s devices.  The Palm Centro however, made it onto AT&T with no name change.

The supposed AT&T employee also said the device will launch in Europe first, which would be a new route for Palm’s webOS devices.  Of interest, Elan was the name of a company that sued Apple and means “tree” in Hebrew.

Rumors don’t get any more iffy than this.

Read: [Pre Central]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

Wirefly is currently offering a pretty nice deal on AT&T phones—they are all free. Of course, there does seem to be one exception to that statement, the iPhone. Otherwise, any AT&T phone that Wirefly carries is now free on-contract until midnight tonight (for reference, today is Monday March 8, 2010).

Bottom line, visit Wirefly, find the phone you want to get and sign up for free. Of course, you do have that two-year agreement, but those are pretty standard.

Some phones such as the Samsung Mythic, LG Arena and LG Xenon even give you a $40 bill credit. Plus you also get free shipping via Fed-Ex.

You can even get the recently released Motorola Backflip, which would set you back $99.99 (after mail-in-rebate) with AT&T directly.

But remember this offer ends tonight at midnight.

Read [Wirefly] Via [PhoneNews]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Computers, Software / Applications

Earlier this month we saw Microsoft post and then quickly remove details on a “buy Office 2007 get Office 2010 free” offer. Thankfully though it seems that those details were accurate at the time, albeit made available for the publics eyes a little earlier than planned.

Anyway, it seems that those who are planning to pick up a copy of Office 2007 can go ahead and do so safely knowing that they will be able to get upgraded to Office 2010 for free when it comes available in June.

The details of the offer are simple, buy a “qualifying” copy of Office 2007 sometime between March 5, 2010 and September 20, 2010 and get a free upgrade to Office 2010.

Its nice knowing you can buy an expensive software program and be confident that it will not be outdated by a new release in just a few months.

Read [Microsoft] and [Digital Inspiration] Via [Lifehacker]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops

So LG has this super skinny, super nice looking netbook, its the X300 and it is going to be available beginning later this month. Unfortunately this is one of those times that we here in the US are going to be a little disappointed because the LG X300 netbook is not headed here, at least not at first. Instead LG has chosen to release it in Asia and then the Middle East and South America.

Feature wise, to begin with the skinny part comes in regards to the 0.69-inch thickness. Otherwise the LG X300 netbook comes sporting an 11.6-inch display, 2.0GHz Intel Menlow processor, a 1.3-megapixel webcam and is running Windows 7 Home Premium. Other perks of the LG X300 include built-in 3G connectivity and that it can handle up to 2GB of RAM, up to a 128GB SSD and ships with a spare 2-cell battery. Yes, spare 2-cell battery. Finally, it weighs in at 2.14-pounds and will be available in either shiny white or light brown.

No word yet on pricing, of course March is not all that far away to wait, assuming you live in one of the areas that LG is planning to make the X300 available.

Read [LG] Via [Gizmodo]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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FROM APPLETELL - What’s worse than seeing your MacBook’s battery dip below 10%? Seeing it hit zero? If this happens to you often, you need a solution. HyperMac has an entire line of batteries just for this purpose.
MORE »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Computers, Security, Features

A new wave of scareware hitting the net has nearly taken over the field. On February 8th and 9th the attack pumped out enough malware to end up accounting for over half the total malware distributed for the entire month. In other words, it’s huge.

The malware is called Security Tool and is distributed via spam and through poisoned search results and Black Hat SEO techniques. Unlike the fake anti-virus programs that have been glutting the net, Security Tool has a very nasty twist. It takes over the computer and locks down the apps and all data. The only way the user can get their access restored is to pay via the one app that’s not locked down-Internet Explorer. This goes beyond scareware and into the realm of ransomware.

The botnet responsible for this new malware wave is Cutwail/Pushdo, one of the largest botnets around. Cutwail is also responsible for the recent DDoS attacks on Twitter, Paypal, the CIA and the FBI.

How do you protect yourself? It is crucial that you keep your anti-virus software up to date at all times. Don’t click on links or open attachments in emails that come from people you don’t know or that come from people you do know but seem suspicious (emails with no subject and a message body with a link and nothing else are a huge red flag, especially if the link looks like gibberish.) When using search engines, stick to results that come from familiar, reputable sites. Don’t click on banner ads or pop ups, and
think twice about downloading from Bittorrent sites which are often infested with malware. Limewire is one of the worst!

Read [PCWorld]

Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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FROM GAMERTELL - A couple from Germany found a great idea for their wedding invitation, a video game. You must complete the game to get to the invitation.
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Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Companies are working to add value to geospatial information.

Thanks to smart phones and other mobile devices, the number of applications that make use of geolocation data is exploding. But developers and device makers face new challenges that include determining physical location accurately, turning coordinates into meaningful information, and protecting users' privacy.

A novel fuel-injection system achieves 64 miles per gallon.

Transonic Combustion, a startup based in Camarillo, CA, has developed a fuel-injection system it says can improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by more than 50 percent. A test vehicle equipped with the technology gets 64 miles per gallon in highway driving, which is far better than more costly gas-electric hybrids, such as the Prius, which gets 48 miles per gallon on the highway.

A startup promises a painless way to move existing software.

It's one thing to design and build software to live in the cloud from scratch. It's something else to move existing applications over to cloud-computing platforms, which many companies need to do. This often means completely rewriting parts of the code to make it compatible with a particular provider's infrastructure. CloudSwitch, a startup based in Burlington, MA, has designed software that could make the transition almost as simple as dragging and dropping a file from one folder to another.

The ADHD drug improves attention by enhancing neural plasticity.

New research in animals sheds light on how Ritalin, the stimulant drug prescribed to millions of children each year in the United States for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), sheds light on how the drug works. The molecule appears to boost both attention and enhance the speed of learning by increasing the activity of the chemical messenger dopamine, according to new research in Nature Neuroscience.

Mike Rocke explains how his company, Transonic Combustion, improves the efficiency of gasoline engines by 50 to 75 percent.

When you need an exchange hosting solution, who can argue with the experience of having an entire staff of experts working for you-serving as an extension of your IT department and allowing your in-house team to focus on the other critical aspects of your infrastructure? Rackspace Hosting understands your needs! They allow users the ability to send and receive email from any POP or IMAP connection with your mobile phone. Upgrade to Advanced Mobile options, featuring push email technology, to instantly sync all of ...

Grow your own fresh portobello mushrooms at home with this Portobello Mushroom Growing Kit. Easy to grow indoors, right in their shipping container, these mushrooms can then be used in a variety of recipes. Must be grown within 45 days of receiving the kit for best results. $50 @ Red Envelope

I have now used the Nokia n900 as my primary device for about six weeks.  I figured it’s about time for me to post what I’ve been doing with it.  I will not attempt an exhaustive review for MobilitySite.com as "Chris H" has already done a Nokia N900- Hands-On and is doing the official review for MobilitySite.com.

I’ve decided to take a different approach. Forget about the specs, software, first impressions, etc.  Rather, I will focus on what I’ve done with the n900.  I will report what works well and what doesn’t as well, all from the perspective of a committed Windows Mobile user for much of the last decade.  Since I’m also a T-Mobile customer, I’ll share my experiences with the device on a 3G network.

As has been written elsewhere, I absolutely agree that:

• the n900 has the absolute best browser ever available on any handheld device.  Yes, it is that good!
• the n900 is not for everyone.  It is a device for “tweakers” and has enormous potential.

The phone is not an iPhone competitor.  As stated in the Brighthand.com review, “…it’s just not a device for mainstream or prosumer smartphone/mobile computer users. This isn’t a knock on Nokia, they announced the device not targeted to these types of users. The N900 is meant to be pushed, tweaked, and built on.”  By way of example, there have been two over-the-air (OTA) updates in the short time that I’ve had the device.  The first of these updates was a major update and the second was a minor update.  For what it is worth, I’ve never experienced an over-the-air update for Windows Mobile.

As an old UNIX hack and since Maemo, the OS of the device under the hood of the Nokia n900, is a version of LINUX, I’ve been right at home doing my share of tweaking.   The list of apps available for Maemo and the n900 is compelling and growing.  I started using the device by first trying to see if I could replicate everything that I liked best about Windows Mobile.  As you might guess, not everything is yet there.  However, what surprised me is much, if not most, is there.

What works comparably to Windows Mobile

• Connecting to a Microsoft Exchange Server – e-mail, contacts, calendar and tasks sync out-of-the-box.  Notes do not sync.  While tasks and calendar entries do sync, they are blended together rather than being fully separated.  Push e-mail does not work, but the n900 can be configured to sync in as little as every 15 minutes.
• Virtually everything that you can do with your browser on a PC can be done on the n900 browser that is included with the device.  In addition, FireFox Mobile v1.0.0 has recently become available for the n900.
• Tethering (connecting to and using the T-Mobile internet access on a laptop) – after installing Nokia’s PC Suite, tethering over a USB connection works.  However, I prefer Bluetooth wireless tethering and and that too works after installing an app called “Bluetooth Dial-Up Networking” v1.1-1
• Remote Desktop control of a Windows PC (RDP) works with the installation of the “rdesktop” v1.6.3-maemo3 application.
• Over the years I’ve learned to rely upon Windows Mobile apps (like MyMobiler) to control my Windows Mobile devices from a Windows PC and to be able to take mobile device screen captures and immediately and directly store them on the controlling and connected Windows PC.  Such remote control functionality is also available on the n900 by installing, using and starting “x11vnc” v0.9.3-maemo7 on the n900.  Then, connecting via WiFi to the n900 IP address from a VNC viewer on the Windows PC.  I found that lengthening the n900 screen timeout helps when used in this manner.  In addition, I found that using “Personal IP Address” v0.3-6 helpful to show my IP address on my desktop, allowing me to easily know the IP address to enter into my VNC viewer on my Windows PC.
• WithUNIX tools that have been ported to Windows and are freely available, the n900 can browse files on networked PCs and vice versa.
• I also learned that the device can perform its own screen captures directly by pressing [Cntl][Shift]P. Screen capture images are stored in the “~/Images/Screenshots” directory each time this key combination is pressed.
• MSN chat – to get this working, go to Maemo.org and search for the “Maemo Extras” or “Maemo Extras Devel” repository settings.  Once you add these catalogs, look for “MSN (pecan) protocol plug-in” to add MSN.

What’s missing compared to Windows Mobile

• I’m a big user of a subset of the functionality in Microsoft’s Voice Messenger for Windows Mobile.  Specifically, I like to enable the automatic text-to-voice of high priority messages so that they are read aloud to me.  Unfortunately, I could not find similar functionality in Maemo for the n900.  I did find an app, “eSpeak Speech Synthesizer” v1.43 that does simple text-to-voice, proving that the n900 device has the capability.  Unfortunately, is does not yet integrate with other apps.
• I also use Microsoft’s Live Mesh (beta) regularly and have become quite dependent on it.   There is no Live Mesh app for the n900.  I thought that I might be able to do what I needed from within the n900 browser but was unsuccessful.
• The Live search (now called Bing search) application with the included ability of voice recognition is similarly not available.

What’s included that’s not in Windows Mobile

If you’re not familiar with DLNA, you should be.  According to Wikipedia, the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) “…is a standard used by manufacturers of consumer electronics to allow entertainment devices within the home to share their content with each other across a home network.”  When I first connected the Nokia n900 wirelessly via WiFi to my home network, I got my first real world experience with DLNA.  Without doing anything else at all, my entire library of music, video and pictures was accessible from the Nokia n900.  Needless to say, I was very impressed.  DLNA simply and easily allowed me to listen to my music and watch my videos that had been previously stored on my Windows 7 computers.

3G on T-Mobile

While I’ve been a long-time T-Mobile customer, this was the first device that I’ve used with T-Mobile’s 3G data services (3G in Northern Colorado just got turned-on a couple of months ago).  Not only was I able to use the 3G service with my existing Total Internet plan with T-mobile on my post-paid account, I was pleasantly surprised to also be able to use it with a T-Mobile prepaid SIM as long as I changed from a regular prepaid account to a SideKick prepaid account.  Such capabilities should give lots of people lots of options! 

Downloads are quick with 3G, but they are even quicker with WiFi.  One of the nice features of the n900 is to configure WiFi networks with a higher priority than 3G.  When you’re able to connect to a remembered WiFi access point, WiFi is used rather than 3G.  When no remembered WiFi access point is available, a 3G connection is used.

The Cameras

The 5MP camera with the Carl Zeiss lens and dual LED flash takes pictures that to my eyes are simply gorgeous.  I take long walks every day around a lake adjoining a state park with my dog and have always enjoyed the convenience of a cell phone camera to take pictures of the wildlife that I see.  The camera on the n900 has made that habit even more pleasurable.   To see a sample of some pictures taken with the n900, click here.

Other apps and capabilities

I’ve been using these apps regularly:

• OVI maps with the GPS radio – I‘ve found that also installing GPSJinni makes OVI maps work more robustly.
• Bluetooth dialup networking
• The FM radio player
• ForecaWeather
• Freoffice to view Office documents
• the Firefox browser
• StockThis – for monitoring the stock markets
• listen to music with the included wired headset
• listen to music with a Bluetooth A2DP Headphones
• watch a videos and movies
• talk on the phone using a Bluetooth headset
• make & receive calls over the Bluetooth “hands free” function in my Honda Accord
• use the ussd-widget for determining my cell phone usage

I’ve used these occasionally:

• fbReader for e-book reading
• MGutenberg for e-book reading
• Skype
• Google Talk with DialCentral
• video out to TV
• JoikuSpot – turns the device into a mobile WiFi hotspot
• Integrated FM transmitter and listen to my music collection through my car radio
• Vim – the UNIX visual editor
• eSpeak – the speech synthesizer I mentioned above

I noted and need to try these:

• QIK: uploads video to Youtube
• Maemo Wordp & MaStory for blogging
• iNES – a NES emulator

If you are interested in adding any of these or other such application, you will need to learn how to use Maemo repositories.  This site has the directions clearly laid out for adding new catalogs to find such apps.

Some tips and tricks

There are few ways to zoom in and out with the browser:

• Circular gestures for zooming in and/or out
• double clicking in an area  zooms to the column width of that area
• the volume control button can also be used

The Nokia n900 does not come with a case.  You should be aware that cases with magnet latches awaken the device.  My work-around for this issue has been to place the device in “secure” mode with an unlock code.

Mugen Power Batteries has announced a bigger battery for the N900 that should give more hours of use when it is released next month.  The details on the battery can be found here.

A couple of problems

I’ve not had perfect success with everything.  In fact, I’ve experienced two challenges that I’m still working to resolve:

• I occasionally like using a Bluetooth keyboard (specifically an iGo StowAway) with phones when I need to do a lot of typing.  I’ve been able to pair my keyboard with the n900 but have not yet successfully gotten it to work.  Others seem to be having similar problems and there is a discussion here that I’ll be trying.
• I’ve also had some problems with the GPS, but I think it’s been my fault.  The difficulty began after I tried to move the maps from internal memory to my 16GB microSDHC card.  I may need to re-flash to get things working again.

Conclusion

As I stated at the opening, the Nokia n900 is not for everyone.  But since I am a tweaker and comfortable with Linux, this is a phone for me.  Even though it may be missing a few of my favorite capabilities of Windows Mobile 6.5, I plan to use the n900 as my everyday device for the foreseeable future.

Finally, the n900 has just had an official list price decrease.  It had been $649 but is now $569.  In the last couple of weeks I’ve seen it for as low as $429 at Dell.com.  If you decide to get one, I hope that you’ll enjoy it as much as I do!

©2010 Richard A. Bilancia – All Rights Reserved

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Related Articles at Mobility Site:

• Maemo update for n900
• Ovi Store now open from the Nokia n900
• Nokia N900: Hands-On
• Nokia Demonstrates How to Kill Buzz
• Is this the successor? I hope not!

If you like what you are reading, please consider clicking one of the social networking icons to share the link love. Try a RT by clicking the Twitter icon above. Thanks for reading Mobilitysite!

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© rabilancia at Mobility Site, 2010. | Permalink

Section: Video, Content, DVD/DVR/Blu-ray, Portable Video, Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Features, Originals

If your one of the many that have been induced into a package that offers one low price for broadband, phone and television, the Comcast Mobile App is a fantastic tool to control many of the broad features of these products.  Comcast recently upgraded it’s already decent mobile app for the iPhone to version 2.0.1.  The new version features enhancements for DVR owners while continuing to improve on delivering quality digital voice controls in a very intuitive program.  I’ve been using the app now since it came out and Comcast really has done an outstanding job with this app.

The biggest news in 2.0.1 is (in some markets, rolling out now) the ability to remotely control your DVR.  The new service, called rDVR, lets customers decide to record programs while on the go.  It looks pretty slick and although I do have Comcast service, my TiVo with CableCard prevents access to Comcast’s On-Demand services, so I was unable to test this new feature out.

The other features the app services continue to improve.  The 2.0 app update brought push notifications to the app along with sounds to alert users to missed calls.  The guide to TV listings is surprisingly fast and localized.  Comcast email, address book and a really handy phone log are all done extremely well.  To me, the Digital Voice part of the app is where this app really shines.

In the Digital Voice section of the app, users can see all calls, both incoming and outgoing.  Tabs provide filters of the bulk data, one for just Outgoing calls, one for missed calls and one just for voice mail.  Voice messages can be played through the speaker.  From a simple button in the lower right corner, I can forward my Comcast Digital Voice number to any number I plug in, right from this app.  Absolutely fantastic.

I am a big fan of this app as it makes the services I already use so much more friendly and honestly has changed how I view Comcast.  Other phone service providers should be taking their cues from Comcast and this app.  The app is free and available in the Apple App store now.

Product page: [Comcast]  iTunes link: [iTunes]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Quantum cryptography only works if Alice and Bob share their relative positions in advance. Now physicists have worked out how to do it without this information.

The world of cryptography is currently undergoing a quantum revolution. The weird laws of quantum mechanics allow cryptographers to create codes that guarantee perfect secrecy. Until recently, the best cryptographers could aim for was just pretty good secrecy with codes that were always compromised in some way or another. Quantum cryptography, on the other hand, is perfect: theoretically and practically secure.

FROM APPLETELL - Many iPhone users are disappointed by and frustrated with AT&T’s 3G network. So why are they providing the service for the iPad? It’s an issue of network technology.
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Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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FROM GAMERTELL - Haven’t caught all of the Gamertell news this week?  Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles!
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Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Business News, Communications, Cellphones, Mobile

Yahoo! might want to temper its excitement over beating Google to become the default search engine on the Motorola Backflip. Though Yahoo! should be happy to secure their space on AT&T’s first Android phone, they’ve lost a similar deal with T-Mobile. Making matters worse, the loss is suffered to their chief rival, Google.

T-Mobile has ended its deal with Yahoo! to be the exclusive supplier of search results on its phones. Though Android phones used Google search, Yahoo! provided search results on feature phones with web capabilities, Sidekicks, and Blackberry devices. Yahoo will continue to provide some content services like mail, messenger, and news on certain phones, but the company confirmed to MocoNews that they are no longer providing search results to T-Mobile USA phones.

Google already had a deal in place to provide search results via their default status on all of T-Mobile’s line of Android phones. However, AT&T raised eyebrows this week when it opted to replace the built-in Google search functions in Android in favor of Yahoo! search. The very premise of Android is that it should increase Google’s position among the mobile search market. However, Android’s open-source nature means that companies are not obligated to make Google the default search engine on Android phones. 

It’s unclear how profitable mobile search deals can be for search engines, but they are very enticing for carriers. How enticing? Well, Microsoft paid Verizon $500 million for the privilege of making Bing the default search engine on Verizon-branded devices. That’s big money for a small device.

Read [MocoNews]

Full Story » | Written by Andrew Kameka for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section:

No need to scour the interwebs for hot gaming news, Gamertell‘s already done that for you!  Here’s a look at this week’s top stories…

• Get your very own God of War III Blade of Chaos
• The Crazies invade theaters, games and comic books
• Sony warns against using PS3 (Update: It’s Fixed!)
• PlayStation Network experiences global meltdown, many PS3s effected
• Valve updates Portal’s ending

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section:

We may not cover Apple 24x7… but we know someone who does!  Here’s a few of this week’s hottest from Appletell to get you started…

• The iPad: To 3G or not 3G?
• Appletell reviews the Beats by Dr. Dre Lady Gaga Heartbeats from Monster
• Appletell reviews the Dexim P-Flip Foldable Power Dock
• Appletell reviews Stinger Table Hockey for iPhone, iPod touch
• Appletell reviews Bento 3 for Mac OS X

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

For good or bad, or more accurately for good and bad the Palm Pre Plus has been continuing on its path toward being a free phone. And judging from how fast that price seems to be sliding free may be here within a month. Of course, that is nothing more than a guess on my part. But in the meantime, here are the latest offers in terms of the Palm Pre Plus.

First up, Verizon Wireless has ditched the mail-in-rebates and interested customers can now pick up a Pre Plus for $149.99 out-the-door with Verizon handling any rebates on their end.

But getting a little better, Amazon is now offering the Pre Plus for $49.99.

And still a little better is that you can grab the Pre Plus at Wirefly for $39.99.

I should also point out that any of these offers require the standard two-year agreement with Verizon.

Finally, keep in mind that as of February 25, just a short while ago the Pre Plus was $69.99 with Wirefly, $149.99 with Amazon and still required a mail-in-rebate with Verizon Wireless. In other words it may be worth your while to wait a little longer. I know that is what I am doing.

Product [Amazon] and [Wirefly] Via [PreCentral]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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FROM GAMERTELL - Walmart is going to be carrying a limited, $199 Wii bundle that includes a Wii, a remote and nunchuk, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort and a MotionPlus, starting today. It’ll be online starting March 7, 2010.
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Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Web, Web Browsers, Google

Mobile browsers are increasingly adopting location awareness as one of their main features such as Firefox Mobile and the mobile version of Safari. Google Chrome recently added geolocation support to the latest developers’ version of Chrome. It works by approximating your location based on WiFi signals around you. It is obviously not as accurate as locking onto your GPS signal, but the approximation is more accurate than detecting your location based on your IP address.

The addition of geolocation was probably intended for use in the upcoming Chrome OS. This feature is still at a very early stage; the UI is incomplete and it doesn’t remember settings you save. You can activate geolocation by running the latest developers’ version browser with “—enable-geolocation.”

Via [ReadWriteWeb]

Full Story » | Written by Cheng Hung for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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FROM APPLETELL - Wow, there were a ton of free apps this week new to the App Store. Lots of camera utilities. Thankfully, there’s more.
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Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Gadgets / Other, ebooks

The Entourage Edge is one intriguing little hybrid between an eReader and a tablet. It opens up like a book with 2 screens facing the user. There is a 1200 x 825 pixel 9.7-inch eInk screen on one side, and a 1024 x 600 pixel 10.1-inch color LCD on the other. It measures twice as thick as the Apple iPad, but it has 2 screens so that seems fair. It weighs in at 3 pounds, which is kind of heavy for a device that you are supposed to carry around like a book all day. The hinge has a 180° range of motion, which allows you to open it up and lay it flat on the table.

The eReader portion of this device boasts a Wacom enabled screen, where you can scribble annotations and notes on your ebooks. Page turns are at a miserable 3-5 seconds per turn, but that’s normal for an eReader. Battery life when using only the eReader is just over 16 hours.

The tablet runs on Android 1.6 (Donut) which has a Marvell Armada PXA168 processor (1.2 GHz but capped at 800 MHz by the software) and 512 MB of RAM with a resistive touchscreen. Several apps are included in the tablet, but you won’t have access to the Android Market for more apps. Entourage mentioned that they will implement their own marketplace in the future. One interesting app that is included in the tablet is DocumentsToGo, which allows you to view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. It can even read PDF files, but you probably want to stick with the eReader for PDFs, unless you really need to see colors in your document. Battery life when using only the tablet is only at 6 hours.

Other specs include 2 USB ports, 1 mini USB port, a headphone and mic slot, WiFi 802.11 b/g, 4GB internal flash memory, an SD card slot and a SIM card slot. It doesn’t have 3G connectivity. It’s priced at $499, which is pretty cheap considering that it is both an eReader as well as a tablet.

Read [LaptopMag]

Full Story » | Written by Cheng Hung for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks

By now we all know that the iPad is being released on April 3, with pre-orders coming on March 12.  Now seems like a perfect time for a study to come out saying people want to buy the iPad.  This study comes from ChangeWave, and largely deals with those who own or plan on buying ebook readers.

According to ChangeWave’s study, 27 percent of current ebook reader owners regret not waiting for the iPad, with only 45 percent of current owners still choosing their current ebook readers over the iPad.  Among the surveyed, 40 percent of those planning to buy an ebook reader in the next three months expect to buy an iPad.  The Kindle came in second with 28 percent, with the Nook and Sony Reader following at 6 and 1 percent, respectively.  It is worth noting, however, that only 34 percent of those surveyed cited reading ebooks as the top reason for buying an iPad, with 68 percent saying Internet browsing is the main feature.

The results here really aren’t entirely surprising.  The iPad isn’t a dedicated ebook reader, and there are still those who prefer dedicated devices for some uses.  What might be surprising is that watching video was the top feature of the iPad for only 24 percent of those surveyed.  More people (28 percent) were most interested in reading magazines and periodicals on the device.

Speaking as a happy Nook owner, I can say I am not regretting that choice.  The iPad is a nice looking device, and I’ll surely get one eventually, but having the e-ink screen is very nice for reading.  What will be most interesting is seeing how these numbers hold up after the iPad release, when the rest of us can compare it to other devices.

Read [Electronista]

Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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FROM GAMERTELL - Act fast on this one (and click through to get the discount codes you’ll need)...
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FROM GAMERTELL - Read Gamertell’s review to find out why older anime fans and very young viewers will find reason to watch Ponyo on home video…
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Section: Computers, Netbooks, Software / Applications, Web, Web Apps

Some may be sitting back and waiting for Google Chrome OS, but that is not to say we do not currently have a nice alternative already available with Jolicloud. Now, thanks to a recent post over on the official Jolicloud Blog that good alternative is about to get even better. As for the announcement, the final version of the “Robby” release will become available later this month.

In terms of what we can expect to see in this final release version,

• Switching web app platform from Prism to Google Chrome
• Keeping our commitment to Firefox
• A new desktop mode: use Jolicloud with your nettop and a larger screen (seen above)
• An improved Jolicloud Express
• Now compatible with 100% of Intel based netbooks

And for those that may not be as familiar with Jolicloud, what I can say is that it is a nice alternative operating system for netbooks. Jolicloud is both fast and easy to use and I can say that I have been a happy user for a while now. In fact Jolicloud is currently the main and only operating system that I have installed on my Eee PC. Bottom line, if you are looking for something speedy, quick and easy for your netbook you may want to check this one out. As with most Linux distros you can choose to install it to your hard drive or give it a test run using a live CD or USB flash drive.

Read [Jolicloud Blog]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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