Gadgety News

I’ve only just got back into regular reading again this year.  Shameful I know. Even more shameful is that since moving to London in February 2004 I’ve yet to join a local library!

Well, a new multimedia venture has just been launched that will bring together the content from more than 1000 cultural organisations across Europe in a free online resource.

The British Library is amongst the institutions that have signed up to the new European online library called Europeana.

The European Commission and the Louvre Museum are also to add content.

This is sounding fantastic!

The ambition is for internet users to be able to access more than two million books, maps, recordings, photographs, archive documents, paintings and films.

More lazy students……..I didn’t think that was possible!

The project was created by the European Commission and is run by the European Digital Library Foundation, and will launch in 2010.

BBC News

Happy birthday to this gadget blog. Happy birthday to this tech blog. Happy birthday dear Jay’s Gadget News.  Happy birthday to yooooooooooooooooou!

Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog! Blog!

Well, what started off as a test to see if there was room for another gadget and tech blog site a year ago has slowly gained enough of you lovely readers for me to carry on writing about things that have caught my eye and that you (hopefully) find interesting.

My first posts (ie not ones dragged over from my temporary test site) were posted this very day 12 months ago - I know, how Goth to choose Samhain/Halloween to start a blog

I would like to take this moment and space to thank all of you for coming here and making this place feel loved - whether you were here from the very start or have only just found this place.

If there are anythings that you would rather see more/less of now is your chance. Either email me or just leave a comment here and I’ll do my best to please - the new look was prompted by a comment a lo, it was done.

So, thanks once more and here’s hopefully to another year of gadget grooviness and tech tremendousness

Much gadgety love

Jay

Hello folks!

My Top 10 Halloween themed gadgets has been posted on the lovely Newslite.tv site.

Pop along there and witness bookmarks, pumpkin carving kits and little Devils and Angels that get shoved in your ears!

Whether you’re a fan of Anne Rice, Poppy Z. Bright or more into Mr King or Mr Herbert - you’ll need a bookmark worthy of keeping your page this all hallow’s eve.

Make the statement, “where’s my bloody bookmark?” take on a whole new meaning.

The handmade set also comes in “mercury” (grey) and “milk” (white) versions.

The set of three costs $29.

Designboom via Boing Boing Gadgets

Well Amazon has tried to quiet the next gen Kindle rumours but GBR has something that will be more difficult to refute.

As you are probably aware there has been lots of talk about a pair of totally new Kindles.

Not so much as totally new but more along revised this device appears to address the initial complaints over the original’s look by rounding the corners and ditching the odd (I thought cool) angles; the scroll wheel has been replaced with a joystick, the SD slot is gone (don’t worry, there’s at least a gig and a half on-board), and around back, we have grills that seem to suggest integrated stereo speakers.

The display is basically the same size and still isn’t colour.

So, if the sharp edges on the first-gen were a turn-off then there may be light at the end of the Kindle-shaped tunnel.

If you’re looking for an upgrade - I’d hold on to your cash.

Thing is, was ditching the scroll wheel and that funky mirrored bar for a joystick really the right way to go?

BoyGeniusReport

iRex Technologies have now officially launched the iRex 1000 series Digital Reader.

iRex currently offers the iLiad and iLiad Book Edition for regular folks but this new bad-boy is aimed at “business professionals”.

The iRex 1000 series is said to offer “superior functionality” and a 10.2-inch screen size for easy reading and referencing of documents from A4 Powerpoint presentations to PDF files and from HTML to TXT and JPEG.

Weighing less than 570 grams and 1.2cm deep the 1000 series is an open system which is said to synchronise easily with a PC via mini USB.

The display has 16 grey tones storage capacity is delivered via a changeable 1GB SD card while the built-in battery is claimed to have sufficient power to last for several days.

Three models will launch, the DR1000 base version, the DR1000 S equipped with a stylus and the DR1000 SW with stylus, plus Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity due at a later stage.

Go and have a gawp at their site

iRex is currently running a teaser on its interwebsite for a new product that’s on 22 September (tomorrow) with the promise “seeing is believing”.

According to Forbes, the company is to launch an “evolved” e-book reader dubbed the iRex Reader 1000.

Aimed at business users it will have a 10.2-inch E-Ink display with a touchscreen plus stylus version available as an upgrade.

Bragging 80 hours battery life, wide document format support and some models will get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity.

Pricing for a basic non-touch model is said to be $650.

More news to come………………………

Yup - me reviewing a book!

I was as amazed as the rest of you when Liz from publishers Dorling Kindersley sent me this particular tome to read and review for this site!

But once I got it in my hands all became clear.

Cool Stuff Exploded sounds a tad dangerous and pretty much bad news for the likes of the iPhone, top end Swiss Watches and Free Play radios - but it’s all ok my fellow gadget lovers!

This colourful tech book “explodes” everyday objects in the same way as those Haynes manuals do but through fantastically photographed spreads.

The pics show a piece-by-piece breakdown of Robots, mobile phones, computers, digital pens and gives details about how each part works and how they all fit together.

Even though I get the feeling it’s aimed at a younger market I found it great to flick through and also learned a few things which is never a bad thing - and if the you feel that the pics are a tad flat then the CD-ROM that it comes with will please you as it contains animations of the “exploded” views featured in the book.

A cool book for all ages I reckon

The cover price is £19.99 and is available now.