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

This neat little Cellrun shares a bit of DNA with the old ‘lamp style’ iMac, a bit of notebook, a bit low-cost desktop Eee PC.

But with that it looks like it’s carving its own niche as a low-power cool designed desktop genre.

The specs include an 18.4-inch widescreen LCD, built-in stereo speakers and microphone and an Intel Atom graftings away inside.

The Lluon A1 is intended to be a multimedia PC since it’s got an IPTV function which requires it to be dual boot (Linux for the IPTV and Windows for regular PC functions).

I’m very inerested to see it in action and in the plastic.

Up til now there’s no pricing info but, what I do know is,  it’ll be hitting the shops mid-September in Korea, Europe and North America.

Saw this and though WTF!

I know kids are rocking iPods and mobiles as soon as they’ve stopped bottle-feeding but c’mon!

Teachers have a hard enough time keeping the pupils focused and, while it scares me, stab-proof hoodies and kevlar school-bags serve a purpose but Marks and Spencer have gone and released a new line of school uniforms which have iPod/MP3 compatibility!

The new line of interactive clothing features blazers and winter coats with five function keypad controllers sewn into the inside the lapels.

This gives the school-goer complete remote access to their iPods without really drawing attention to themselves(!) or should I say pulling the unit out to fiddle with and have it confiscated by teachers during exams and other important studious pass-times!

They’ve missed the chance of supplying the little darlings with wireless earphones so they can be totally covert!

The jackets are made of 100% polyester, made from recycled materials, and come with both water and stain protection.

“Marks and Spencer’s 2008 Back to School collection is optimized for wear comfort as well as for the use of an iPod on the go: a strategically placed iPod pocket which doesn’t bulge, an iPod connector with a hidden circuit, concealed controls for operating the settings, lapel loops concealing the earphone wires.”

The blazers come in black only and will retail for about £25-£30 and coats range from £35-£40 from good ol’ Marks and Spencer.

There’s a You Tube vid going around the interweb that is said to be showing 2 new Sony Ericsson mobiles.

Noone seems to be entirely certain which models these are, or whether they’re just prototypes.  Saying that though, there does seem to be a disctinct whiff of X1 or could it be the PSP Phone?

The theme for Sony does seem to be convergence on their new blowers.  They do point out plenty of multimedia, data sharing, and chat apps.

Check out the vid here:  You Tube SE 

via Engadget

Possibly Whirlpools’ attempt to get men to spend more time in the kitchen, or perhaps just another step in the evolution of a totally digital home - you decide.

This is the ‘Whirlpool Centralpark Connection’ installed fridge.  Not only is it a damn nice looking fridge but it has a clever attachment in the door (the Centralpark thingy) that enables you to be able to connect and charge up a load of gadgets from Jabil and others.  These will include the likes of a web tablet, radio, interactive message board and calendar (no more amusing fridge magnets??!!!??), a digital picture frame, DVD and CD players and a charging station for your current MP3 player - chances are that there’ll be a load more entering the range. 

Model: GD5VVAXTY = $1999US and you can get one (if you live in the states) from Whirlpool.com

Posted on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 10:23AM by Jay Garrett | Post a Comment

Google Phone - AGAIN!

I know that it’s been a lot of “will they?”, “wont they?” since last year with a bit of ‘leaked’ excitement usually closely followed by ‘official’ denial.  But The Wall Street Journal is reporting that “Google Inc. is close to unveiling its long-planned strategy to shake up the wireless market”.

“People familiar with the matter” are attributed to providing this insider knowledge that sees Google’s applications and services as accessible on mobiles are they are on the web on an “open” operating system.

The article says that Google wants to make it easier for “cellphone” customers to get a variety of extra services on their phones - from maps to social-networking features to video-sharing and says:

“Within the next two weeks, Google is expected to announce advanced software and services that would allow handset makers to bring Google-powered phones to market by the middle of next year”.

It’s known that Google has approached several handset manufacturers about the “gPhone” concept - strongly rumoured partners include HTC and LG.
I’m just waiting for the ‘official’ denial bit now - but who knows?  This time it might actually happen!