Gadgety News

Softbank has just come up with this rather interesting mobile TV add-on for Japanese iPhone and iPod owners.

it’s a separate unit with tuner and aerial that retransmits the signal over Wi-fi to the phone.

The rechargeable device will give about three hours of TV eye-candy and connects to a special iPhone app that’ll be distributed free when the device hits the streets in mid December!

It’ll cost somewhere around the $100 mark but also doubles as an iPhone battery top-up when you link it via the dock connector.

Just gotta wait for it to be adapted and shipped over here.

AVWatch

The Sony Rolly has always been an enigma to me.

Ok, it’s cute - It’s probably one of the cutest small speakers around.

But.

It’s a portable, trundling, dancing speaker - but the sound isn’t great for £250.

It’s a music player able to stream via A2DP Bluetooth or play from its internal flash but there’s no place to shove your 3.5mm lead.

 Sony are now updating it - and it will be controlled by YOU!! MWAHAHAHAHH!!!

Ahem.  Next month, Japanese Rolly buyers will be able to get the new SEP-50BT version complete with Bluetooth controls thus allowing them to make Rolly dance and spin like a performing monkey-bot all directed via their mobile phones.

I can imagine the high jinks and thoroughly wicked japes to be had through controlling the egg-shaped dancing speaker under somones chair and then unleashing a choice cut from ‘Cannibal Corpse’ as the little mp3 player starts its own circle pit :) 

The new system will actually give you control of up to seven of the little blighters at the same time using a mobile phone or laptop.

I reckon it’s time for some synchronised dancing……….

Gizmodo

This is great!

I see the point of having a mobile signal on the tube, on planes and trains but there’s so many people that’s going to abuse this.

A commuter rail company here in the UK (C2C) will install cellphone signal-blocking film on train windows in order to keep the peace.

The film, which was developed in America, prevents cellphone signal from entering (and leaving) the train. With no signal getting through, people won’t be able to talk, loudly or otherwise, on their cellphones.

HURRAH!!!!

This film will only be installed on cars that are designated as quiet cars - you know, the ones that are there to stop the endless prattle of “I’m pulling out of the station now” or “so, what do you fancy for dinner..”.  The film will merely help ensure that the—no phones!—part of the quiet coach takes place.

Now, if only they could get a film that ensures hand-held games are muted when not used with headphones and that headphones do not have audio-leakage…………..

Read the full Daily Mail article - it’s priceless

Daily Mail via CrunchGear

pic credit

Another ‘Worlds First‘; this time The Exilim Keitai W63CA has bragging rights to rockin an 8.1 megapixel camera - in a phone!

The latest Japanese super-phone squeezes 480 x 800 pixels into a 3.1-inch OLED display.

It also finds room to shoe-horn in features such as a wide-angle lens, 9-point auto focus, face detection, anti-shake, and a YouTube video mode that records VGA video at 30fps to microSD.

All this in a flip-fone measuring a mere 110 x 50 x 17.4 ~ 22-mm!!!

It launches in early November but no news on whether it is going to be available anywhere other than Japan as yet.

Some more limited edition greatness in time for Halloween - this time in the form of some portable speakers.

The “Headphonies” iPod speakers range includes 5 figures created by several artists (including Frank Kozik), and 2 blank versions that you can decorate yourself.

I wouldn’t expect fantastic definition from these arty speakers but those who have heard it claim that the sound is “surprisingly good.”

Each viny toy speaker collectable will be sold in 500 to 1000 limited quantities starting on November 30th.

Unlike most collectables (I collect vintage Rado watches if you want to treat me ) these are a more than reasonable $30 apiece.

Headphonies via SpankyStokes via Ubergizmo

iPhone Firmware 2.2 - Cut and Paste, video and pics over MMS, typing emails and texts in landscape are all the things that aren’t going to appear!

What you will get, however, is Google Street View and walking directions - obviously more important than those I mentioned above.

There is something a little more interesting on the horizon though.  It sounds SDK is now supporting line-in audio devices - this could open up some potentially interesting apps.

If you are on of the few that’s been hankering over streetmap views check out iPhoneyap’s gallery.

Boy Genius Report

I am still lovin my 3Gesus iPhone.

But, it still aint quite the perfect machine - not yet.

Fullsix has launched a site dedicated to the more vociferous moaning-mini’s out there called “Please Fix the iPhone.”

The site gets owners to vote on the most pressing issues that’s ‘bugging’ them and their iPhones - hopefully Jobs and friends will get to work on them faster.

There’s even a version of the site specifically made for the Apple handest’s browser, so that you can complain about your iPhone via your iPhone.

Here’s the link: Please Fix the iPhone via Josh Spear via Gizmodo

At first glance I thought I was having flash-backs to when I owned a V80 then thought - surly that’s a V70!

But then I read the press blurb about the Aura and looked more closely.

Over 700 individual components, a stainless steel housing, a front plate that takes a fortnight to create.

HUH?

Motorola is hoping you give a damn about all these tiny facts that go into creating this flashy phone.

I can’t deny that it does look rather nice and it also has the world’s first 16-million colour circular display.

It boasts a Swiss-made main bearing, 62-carat sapphire crystal lens, a 2-megapixel camera (!?), stereo Bluetooth, microUSB port, quad-band GSM connectivity, a microSD card slot, multimedia player and up to 7.3-hours of talk time (400-hours in standby).

It weighs a tiny 4.97 ounces and is available exclusively from the MOTO STORE for $1,999.99 shipping out beginning December 4th.

Aura Site

I’ve tried to stop posting all the neato iPhone apps that keep cropping up but couldn’t resist this one.

All you folks ‘of an age’ will understand my excitement of discovering Pac-Man for the iPhone - and it being FREE!

This is the originally styled Pac-Man game and you can control the character through many ways, not just via the accelometer which is the case in some other games.

Click the pic for the full screen view and note the onscreen controller

Did I mention that it was free?

Now run my childern, run and get this app!!

Get get it at the App Store

There’s official word from my roots back in Canada.

RIM’s Canadian HQ have confirmed that their Storm touchscreen handset will be hitting the United Kingdom within the first 7 days of November.

No word on tariffs but I reckon it’s safe to say that they would be competitive with the likes of the iPhone and the G1 Android.

I’m thinking unlimited downloads and an 18-month contract - these seem to have become de rigueur in the clever phone world.

More news as I get it

There’s something quite militant about Apple users.

There can be something amazing but if it hasn’t be touched by Apple it just wont be good enough and will look odd with all the other iGadgets.

The designer, Mac Funamizu (no, really!), loves the look of the Nokia Aeon but gave it a bit of a tweak.

He’s added Apple’s standard livery and design ideology.

It would utilise a tactile feedback technology and the surface adapts to different purposes while the e-ink screen envelops the phone in graphics and information.

If this is what a Nokia and Apple partnership could birth I say get it on!!

Designer: Mac Funamizu via Yanko where you get more pics

You may be aware that there has been some rumours about new MacBooks.

No? Really?

Well Apple has given its range of MacBooks an external makeover and a serious power boost to boot!

Their graphics processors have enjoyed the biggest tune-up - each of the machines comes with an NVIDA GeForce 9400M GPU.  Allegedly five times more powerful than the previous MacBook offerings.

MacBook Pro users can choose to upgrade their chipset to the 9400M GT for a extra graphical boost.

The displays are new and nifty as well. The LED backlighting ensures brighter, more vibrant colours as well as requiring less power to operate.  How thoughtful.

That’s all very groovy but kinda par for the upgrading a laptop course really innit?

Hold onto your shorts!

The traditional trackpad has been binned in favour of a special new glass design.

Stevie J said that it took months for the designers to perfect, and it features multitouch gesture support capable of tracking four fingers at the same time.  Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!

Each model is hewn from a single piece of aluminium and the screen now has a black surround to match the keys.

Even I’m being tempted over to the fruity side! 

For all you stick-in-the-muds the plain old white MacBook is still going to be on offer at a lower price,

The MacBook Air has had a hike in storage - 120GB as standard - and there’s 2GB of RAM inside, with the option of 1.6 GHz or 1.86 GHz processors.

If you go for the big-boy they also throw in a 128GB SSD too for the exchange of an extra £500.

Prices start from £939 for the MacBook, £1,399 for the Pro and £1,299 for the Air.

Dear Santa…………………….

If you’re a fan of retro musical instruments or Rolf Harris - or perhaps you want to play a version of Telstar the Very Cool Software Company has recently announced its first iPhone application: The Dubreq iStylophone.

For those of you too young for the refereces made above; the Stylophone is an electronic musical instrument (kinda), originally invented by Brian Jarvis in 1968 and manufactured in the UK by Dubreq.

You’ll be able to replicate the instrument’s sound as well as other features by using the phone’s touchscreen.

But, is it worth the $5.95 (£3.49*) asking price?

We’ll see on the 1st December when it will becomes available.

I eagerly await the iWobbleboard for the full Rolf-tastic orchestra

* correction

It’s a shame.

But this here thing is destined to fail unfortunately.

At first it seems a good idea but when you do a James Brown and “break it down” you see there are many stumbling blocks.

The OLO Computer is reportedly thinking of bringing to market a netbook-styled device that seems to require users to plop their iPhone / iPhone 3G into the palm rest.

Now, I’m guessing all manner of sync’ing will ensue which is good but then is the iPhone then a trackpad?

It could be that the machine uses the iPhone as it’s ‘core’ but then it will only be able to run iPhone apps and the screen on the pic is showing MAC OS - which is the next point.

Apple aren’t reknowned for sharing their OS’s with anyone so we can surly cross that off the list.

Sad thing is - all the juicy info should be posted this week…….the week of a certain announcement from Apple………….

Liliputing

Official OLO Teaser Page

The average British household will work its way through more than 250 electrical devices over a period of 60 years, according to a new survey.

The poll of 3,000 households by Reevoo.com shows that electrical items rarely last longer than six years - and the kettle is the item Brits use and replace the most.

Over sixty years, each household will get through 20 kettles and spend approximately £1,000, which works out as a new kettle every three years.

The most expensive item is a home PC, replaced around 4 years at a cost of around £500 while the average oven costs more at £545, but lasts around 6 years.

In total, Reevoo.com reckons Brits will fork out £48,940 on electrical devices over their lifetime.

LG continue to negate the need to take out a compact camera with their KC780.

We all know that phones are getting bigger cameras but this one not only packs an 8MP sensor, it throws in a Schneider-Kreuznach lens, an ISO of 1600, face and smile detection, a spot-removing beauty mode, image stabilisation and ‘DVD-like’ video recording.

Why would you need to take your tiny camera to the pub?

If that wasn’t enough you can hook this up to your PC to use as a webcam.

You can also use it as a real mobile phone!

It’s got what you’d expect and it all can be viewed on the 2.4-inch screen.

You can find out more details and stuff from November, when the KC780 gets ever realer in Europe.

Wanting more colour options for your HTC Diamond?

Well time to dust of those phrase books out as France will get the bon chance to pick up the Diamond in one of seven colours: White, blue, brown, fuchsia, yellow, purple or rose.

I can see a few people nipping over La Manche as this is probably the only way you’ll get so many options.

Parlez-vous Francais?

The Tube 5800 is part of the XPRESS range of handsets from Nokia, joining the 5310.

There’s a 3.2-megapixel dual flash camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, and 8GB of storage for your music that Nokia hopes you’ll be picking up from the new Comes With Music service.

The other musical bonus is that it’s packing some pretty potent speakers too!

One of the best bits is that you’re able to store your four favourite contacts, complete with photos, on the home screen storing your entire history with that person.

That means you can keep up-do-date with your fave 4 with all their texts, emails and calls exchanged as well as Facebook status updates through the RSS feed. That is pretty cool

The 5800 Tube is hooked up with Flash so you can browse “the whole internet”. I think that was a little attack on the iPhone………………

You’ll be able to grab this phone now for just 279 Euros on pay-as-you-go - another attack aimed squarely at the 3Gesus iPhone which will hurt your pocket for twice that.

T3 actually got their paws on one for a preview - here’s their thoughts:

• Design

The Tube 5800 is slim in thickness and in width, much smaller than the N96 which we were expecting it to be most similar to. It’s a candybar design, coated in a glossy piano black finish, with a bright red metallic strip around the edge. The front fascia is also glossy black, however the edges are encased in what looks like a transparent burgundy plastic.

• Touchscreen

There’s a slide-button on the right side of the phone, about three quarters down, which activates the screen. The screen itself is big - 3-inches, we’d say, so a tiny bit smaller than the iPhone’s screen. The touchscreen is fantastic though, hugely responsive, and the closest thing to the iPhone we’ve seen so far. It certainly eclipses the usability of recent touchscreens, like the Samsung Omnia and LG Renoir.

However, the downside of the touchscreen is that it’s still prone to fingerprint smears, even more so than the iPhone. The top right hand section of the phone has a touch-sensitive ‘XPRESS MEDIA’ written on it, and when pressed, launches the music player.

• Comes With Music

As aforementioned, Nokia’s first official touchscreen mobile phone will be compatible with their Comes With Music service, allowing users to download millions of tracks over a 12 month period, playable on the Tube.

• User Interface

It uses the Symbian S60 operating system, however the homepage looks different to other handsets, with an almost iPhone-esque array of icons. Sadly we didn’t get a proper chance to look through the entire menu, but it’s standard Nokia fare - so easy to use, even your granny will be wanting one.

T3

A fully email ready phone that converts into an armed robot?

Oh yeah!!!!

Say OMG to the Blackberry Terminator and s’long Storm!

It’s got what you’d expect from the latest RIM model: Infra-red vision, dual low-caliber guns, video recording, 3.5G.

As awesome as it is it isn’t perfect.

Check out that keyboard - when the phone bot is in combat mode it’s not gonna be that easy to use!

It’s also locked into an AT&T tariff so I’m wondering if O2 would take this in the UK to run along with the iPhone or perhaps Orange, T-Mobile or Vodafone will grab it to kill off the 3Gesus phone!

Check out the original image and video found via CrunchGear

Great news for those awaiting the new touch-screen crackberry - bad news for those that are saying the Blackberry Storm isn’t coming to the UK!

Vodafone UK has launched a microsite giving readers the chance to win their own touchscreen BlackBerry. 

This sly site comes after several months of leaked photos and spy-shots showing up across the interweb.

Funny thing is that neither party has actually formally announced the touchscreen model, however Vodafone’s microsite is the closest I’ve seen that confirms it.

You can also register for news updates about the handset, however there’s no details on the site giving away further information such as pricing, availability or even hard specs.