Gadgety News

Remember that GD910 watch-phone-watch thingy from last week?

Well Dr Woo Paik has given it an official outing at CES and also ‘treated’ the gathered throng to a quick blast of Celine Dion to show the devices MP3 playing capabilities (I reckon he wanted to play some Lamb of God but wasn’t allowed).

The watch-phone (should we call it Wa-ne?) is constructed from a water resistant shell with tempered glass and is set for global release later this year.

I  guess that pricing and tariffs should come to light nearer the time.

WowWee just loves bots that can spy on folk.

Now there’s a new one and it goes by the unsneaky name of Spyball.

This spherical snooper is designed to roll around before popping out a webcam to beam live pictures over the web (MWAHAhahahahaahh!).

Like other offerings from WowWee the Spyball can be controlled from any web connected PC, and can also connect to any local PC, games console or even mobile phone.

It’s packed with Wi-Fi so once hooked up to your network it’s ready to snap stills or moving pictures.

As well as rolling around, it’ll manage 360-degree turns too - and it’s a stealthy little blighter as it moves around hardly making a sound.

So, whether you want to make sure that your partner has actually put the dinner on, spy on the kids or just wanna scare the cat when your bored at work I reckon Spyball will suit all occassions

You could have a normal wireless network with the router hidden away behind the tele (like me) or stuffed behind a desk or you can show it off proudly…..

Wha?

You see, if you happened to have a D-Link Xtreme N DIR-685 you get the 802.11n Wi-Fi router but it also doubles as a digi frame and networked attached storage (NAS).

The unit sits upright, showing off digital photos, streaming video and weather on its 3.2-inch LCD screen out front while there’s a bunch of ports round back for printer sharing and the likes - to be honest, anything with a USB probably.

Those interested in networked storage can squeeze in a 2.5″ hard drive for sharing files over the network or just downloading (legal) BitTorrenty goodness.

As per - there’s no release or pricing mentioned at the moment but………..I WANT!

Easy tiger!

Seems that Canon couldn’t wait and started before the ‘B’ in ‘Bang!’

They’ve only gone and unveiled a plethora of HD Cams ahead of the CES tomorrow.

The camera company has slipped out no less than five brand spanking new HD VIXIA ‘corders with specs and all.

They read pretty impressive too - upping megapixels and memory.

You can get all the nitty gritty via the link at the bottom.

Head Prefects are the HVS10 and S100 (pictured), who seem to be able to master all with full HD 8.59 megapixel CMOS sensors, face detection tech and 8MP still shots so you don’t have to drag your compact with you.

The difference between these two swots is that as the S10 packs 32GB of internal flash memory, the 100 comes sans storage, so you’ll have to shell out for an SD card of your own.

If you like your long distance wild-life shooting, or you’re a celeb stalker (same difference aint it?) then the HF20 and HF200 will be more up your ally.

They both come equipped with Canon’s 15x HD Video Lens.  

The HV40 HDV is ideal for film making purists as it shoots at a native 24 frames per second, just like those Hollywood movie-maker types use.

The only things that Canon hasn’t let out of the bag prematurely is the pricing but I’m guessing that and the availabilty will be left for the CES.

Canon Press Release

Soo Loos.

Wasn’t she the pig botherer on that ‘celebrity’ reality farm thingy?

Never mind.

This Sooloos is prepared to drag you away from your Sonos media hub.

After getting the details I have to admit I’m adding this system to my ‘If I Had The Cash I’d Buy One’ list.

Sooloos has matched a great server interface with ear-loving compression free audio. Yup, all of your music is stored at optimum-quality Flac for playback through your hi-fi.

You can tell the market that this aimed at when you discover that the system can be sent to 100 rooms (or you can give all your neighbours a treat in the highrise!).

Sooloos are a helpful bunch as they even offer to preload your system with the first 2500 CDs in your collection for free so once you’re hooked up you can play - to add to that the system will also make a 192kbps MP3 file of the same tunes for transferring to your iPod.

Nice

The Control:One control hub looks pretty clean and intuative and centres around the 17in touchpanel that displays all you need to drive the system. It is also the point that houses the CD drive for ripping discs.

You can also port the interface on to your iPod Touch or iPhone!

Control:One links via Ethernet to Source:One which is pretty much the preamp and hooks up to your hi-fi like a seperate CD player, etc.

Then there’s the bit where all of your tunes live. Store:One.

It looks like it is advised that you have 2 of these: One for the choonz and the other as a backup.

The storage seems to come in 1TB chunks which is able to hold 2500 albums in Flac.

Up to 3TB can be installed in each mirrored pair (7200 albums in total) and you can continue to add Store:Ones.

As you can imagine this is not budgety basement stuff and in this current crunchy climate the price may send most of you running shrieking the anthem of “HOW MUCH!!!???!!” but, as I’ve already said, if I had the money………..£11,2700 worth I’d probably be ordering one right now.

It’s all well and good that tele’s are getting thinner and larger but there’s only so much that your wall can take but JVC are taking this into account.

Their yet-to-be named lightweight goggle-box should be gracing the up-and-coming CES as the company attempts to sell the idea of ceiling-mounted TVs.

And when a 32-inch TV weighs just 5kg, you can see the company’s point, especially when you use “almost-invisible” cabling for support.

I can hear many a modernist apartment dweller sighing with anticipation.

And just because it’s light doesn’t mean it has lightweight specs.  It can quite happily display 1080p resolution from that 7mm thin screen and with an increase in LED backlighting, less mercury is used, boosting your green credentials.

Which is nice.

More when it appears at CES and perhaps at that point we’ll get to know when/if it will appear in the UK shops and what kinda price we’ll be looking at.

Engadget

Remember when R2-D2 was taken by Jabba and converted into R2-D-Tray with a drinks holder so that the little droid could serve the guests on the barge? (see pic)

Well, if Jabba had seen this beauty then R2-D2 could’ve stayed unmodified and Jabba’s party would have gone according to plan as I doubt that this robot has hidden weapons.

The BaR2D2 is a radio-controlled bar-bot, with a “motorized beer elevator, motorized ice/mixer drawer, six-bottle shot dispenser, and sound activated neon lighted” and took 5 months to complete.

According to its creator:

The concept for BaR2D2 was born when a friend showed up to an event with a radio-controlled cooler. We joked about taking the idea to the next level and in the Spring of 2008, construction began.

All you’d need is a set of robot pole dancers and a robot DJ and then the droid party is go!

Check out the vid showing Bar2D2 at a party!

Instructables

Most of the Mac users that I know like the clean lines and style of the Apple products.

If they are unsatisfied with their built-in webcam they would most likely prefer to replace it with something that will not clutter their workspace.

So, Ecamm Network has come to their rescue and have just announced what it’s claiming to be the world’s first Bluetooth webcam.

Word is that it will give you 640×480 H.264 video out with 48 kHz AAC stereo audio.

You also will get 4 hours chat time before you have to do that loathsome thing of whipping out that USB cable to recharge it.

I hope that Mac users are also flush with cash as the BT-1 Cam requires $150 of your hard-earned when it is released sometime in Spring.

If you’re a Windows user there may be a version out soon after.

If you’ve been less than impressed by the current downloads available on your Google G1 you may be relieved to hear that there’s a second wave a-coming.

Thing is, you’ll need to dip into your pocket to get them.
That’s right my Google Phone loving friends - paid apps are heading to Android and the UK and US are down as first countries to to get that app lovin.

According to Google’s Eric Chu, the Android market ‘will support priced applications starting early Q1 2009′ - so, anytime now then?

In theory the apps should kick up a level and mobile gamers should see some worthy things to buy as the likes of Gameloft and EA Mobile are said to be getting their wares ready for you to purchase.

Google is also bringing ‘localisation’ to the market, which in effect means country-specific apps.

I’m not overly sure what that means apart from perhaps weather reports, tube status and where the nearest Sausage & Mash shop is.

Pocket Gamer

At the moment it seems that Nintendo’s Wii can do no wrong.

What could possibly be the next step for it?

Well, if you remember, Japanese Wii owners are already getting the food delivery service - but they also seem to be getting a full-blown television channel, delivered to the Wii via the interweb in Spring.

Called Wiinoma, The Times reports that Nintendo is planning to use the on-demand channel to deliver mostly free and original programming, produced exclusively for the service.

Brain-training quizzes, original cartoons, educational shows, even cookery and lifestyle programming, are all reported to be on the agenda.

It’s definitely a step up from the current on-demand content such as game info, weather and news.

The new channel would offer full shows and not just clips and trailers, adding to the other content available to the Wii from BBC’s iPlayer service.

The stumbling block could be the lack of hard-drive.

The likes of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 both have internal hard disks to store downloaded content and the Wii doesn’t.

This means that the content would have to be streamed to the console unless the Wii hard drive becomes more than a rumour this time around.

As this service is only being released in Japan at the moment I’m guessing that if it takes off it would be spread throughout the globe - possibly hitting these shores late in the year.

But with that comes a number of other issues.

All that content would have to be remade in English and other languages and also the regional channels would have to get advertisers in that area.

Personally I vote for dubbed Japanese content!  I very much doubt that UK made content would be so crazy and entertaining

Crave

Those of you that don’t wanna rock the Les Paul, SG or Schectery shaped guitars when jamming to Guitar Hero now have a more glam choice.

How about this pink heart shaped axe?

Looking like something inspired by Daisy Rock Guitars it’s fully functional and could you get more glam?

The guitar has an ultra-sensitive strum and whammy bars and precision neck buttons, so you’ll be able to rock out with the best of them but retain your style.

It costs $49.99 from PDP.

Yay or nay?

ShinyShiny

I was pretty interested when I read the news of the HP Firebird 803 release.

A small form gaming desktop with Voodoo innards.

But now that I know that it will cost the not so small form $1,799  for the entry-level Firebird 802 I’m a little less interested.

Granted, I shouldn’t have been so surprised as the Blackbird 002 cost around the $3 grand mark.

I think that the price is a little cheeky as it’s not really that upgradable and the spec isn’t that awe-inspiring to be honest.

But if you’re still after a gaming machine that doesn’t take up most of your room - well pencil in the date of January 9th, or you can wait for the boxes to hit unnamed retail outlets in February.

Ah, Mr blurry cam strikes again!!

But as this seems to be the only set actually showing the Android OS running on OpenMoko hardware I can’t afford to be picky.

OpenMoko is set to announce the worldwide launch and pricing on the second ever Android-powered handset.

These pictures are of the Neo FreeRunner device running the Android Platform out in the wild - you’re just gonna have to take my word for that.

A little fuzzy, but it’s very likely that Neo FreeRunner will be the second Android Phone!

The phone features a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen display, 400MHz Samsung 2442 processor, GSM, and GPRS connectivity as before, plus the usual built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AGPS, among other standard fare.

On the memory front, it supports both microSD, SDHC as an expansion option for up to 16 GB of space.

Check out the blurry shots for yourselves below.

If and when I get better pics I’ll be sure to post them up

BoyGeniusReport

I use my laptop (well, clamshell desktop as I call it) for gaming and enjoy the fact that I can easily drag it around for LAN parties, etc. but there are those occasions when watching someone game with multiple screens.

But, this lappy may level the playing ground.

The Prime Gaming Laptop is designed by Kyle Cherry and is a case of - “This Must Be Produced” as far as I’m concerned.

It features three collapsible screens that offer a wide viewing panel and when unfurrled has a 32:10 aspect for better in game visibility.

It closes to the size of a 13″ notebook and opens to a super wide aspect 26″ notebook.

The main screen is a 10″ concealed OLED screen with 16:10 aspect. Both the left and the right screens are Aux OLED screens with 8:10 aspect.

The Prime laptop boasts an alluminium body which we all know provides strength whilst keeping it portable and also will help with cooling.

If there is any justice in this world of ours, this lappy will be produced and I will be asked to review (and keep) one when it is released

Designlaunches

Can’t wait to try out Windows 7?

Well, the Windows 7 Beta 1 that was to appear all public-like next month has been unleashed in a leaked stylee via BitTorrent.

The beta expires July 1, 2009, and from what I gather from various sources on the interweblogosphere, it’s a bit more stable than the versions people have been playing with over the last few months.

Don’t believe me?

ZDNet has had a blast with the beta over here, and remark:

This beta is of excellent quality. This is the kind of code that you could roll out and live with. Even the pre-betas were solid, but finally this beta feels like it’s “done.” This beta exceeds the quality of any other Microsoft OS beta that I’ve handled.

Head over to the links below to get a copy but remember you’re not actually supposed to have it yet!

My Digital Life via BlogsDNA via Technovedad via Download Squad

ZDNet

Ok fashionistas and trendy ladies!

You may or may not be familiar with the Coach brand and their range of stylish bags.

Well, there’ll soon be the possibility of matching your mobile to your cargo!

The aptly named Coach Mobile phone is likely to be released with a selection of designer accessories (charms, leather cases, etc) and will be sold by the Japanese KDDI network in the new year.

It sounds like this will be a limited edition deal.

Geek Sugar via ShinyShiny

If you’re a Metal Gear Solid fan you’ve probably seen the teaser campaign.

If you’re an XBox 360 owner, however, you may be confused when you see that the next MGS fix is coming out on the iPhone (I’m guessing that the iPod Touch will also be able to rock this as well).

It has been pencilled for release in Spring, 2009.

Metal Gear Solid Touch is an original game, not a port-over, that will feature the world and characters of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

It will start with eight stages and Konami promises that more will be made available later on (for download I assume).

There’ll also be freebies in the form of images and wallpapers which are gained by earning points from playing the game.

You’ve probably already worked out that the game will be controlled by touchscreen, which Konami claims will make it

“simple for anyone to move their alignment or switch to zoom mode.”

Konami also announced a number of other iPhone releases including Dance Dance Revolution S Lite, Silent Hill: The Escape and Frogger, which are all due for release shortly.

What strikes me is that with such big names designing for the iPhone is the time up for the likes of the DS and PSP? 

What do you reckon?

Konami via Kotaku

I have been sent a gloriously blue Nokia E63 from the lovelies over at WOMWorld - I’ve had to wrestle a Chelsea fan to get it back off him so that I could have it to review!

If you cast your mind back I had a tinker around with Nokia’s E71 and E66 and actually got to take the E71 home.

I enjoyed the E71 and once I got the hang of the QWERTY (I owned a N95 at that point) I found it quite a natty phone and very usable - so what about the E63 then?

The first things that I noticed was the downsizing of the camera from 3.2 to 2.0 mp and the lack of HSDPA.

I loved the metal and thinness of the E71 but the E63 does feel good to hold albeit a little plasticky and will be more noticeable in your jacket pocket.

Now I’ve had a fiddle around with it I’ve warmed to it a little.

That camera is no big deal, heck - I own an iPhone so how can I gripe about the E63’s snapper? It works as expected, there’s not really anything more I can say about it apart from did they really have to remove 1.2mp? I’m sure that noone is really going to notice the difference though.

Other than that I am very happy to say that Nok have kept that rather spanky keyboard that I loved on the E71 and the blower comes with that ever important 3.5mm jack for your choice of ear-pleasers. 

You also get to keep the long-lasting battery of the E71, a nice, clear, large screen and WiFi.

I’ve been told that there is a considerable price saving tween the E71 and E63 which, I reckon, will soften the blow of packing 3 more millimeters of thickness and 1.2 mp less of camera power.

My E63 has come prepacked with some extra apps as well:

If I was in the market for a QWERTY packing phone I’d definitely consider a Nokia - whether the E63 has enough toys for me I’m not sure. If I had the choice of which work-phone I could have I think I’d be more than pleased to be handed an E63 - I might even cheer!

If the Cowon O2 failed to cut the mustard then this most certainly will!

The most hyped Cowon media player thus far, the S9, is just filling out it’s citizenship forms and will be in the UK on Friday.

The much loved Advanced MP3 Players will be carrying the first units, and hope to be able to deliver S9s to homes across the country on Monday or Tuesday next week - In loads of time for crimbo!

Sorry, I seem to have gotten quite carried away there.

Why all the hullabaloo?  What is this thing of which I speak?

The S9 is the curvy, funky, and gorgeous music and video player from Cowon who are quite possibly in the top 3, if not the top, manufacturers of the best-sounding audio players on the market.

The S9 will come in 8GB and 16GB flavours priced at £169 and £199 respectively.

It features a 3.3-inch touch-sensitive AMOLED screen, and can rock out to MP3, WAV, WMV, FLAC, OGG and APE audio files and WMV video files (plus some others apparently).

Other points of interest is the stereo Bluetooth and 55 hours of claimed battery life.

The S9 is being introduced at parties as the best-sounding MP3 player in history!

No small claim that but apparently Cowon’s own CEO, Namkyu Park, has personally supervised the S9’s audio capabilities.

So if you disagree, you know who to call

Crave

The UK based Twit Or Fit has now launched!

Think a mash-up of Twitter and Hot Or Not.

Basically you rate the appearance of people displayed on a scale of 1-10.

Why has this happened?  Well, it could be something to do with HotOrNot being sold recently for a rumored $20 million!

TwitOrFit relies on Twitter members and therefore has little inherent intellectual property so it’s therefore doubtful that it will attract a similar buy-out.  But it is attracting a lot of users.

Go vote for me and increase my score please! Twit Or Fit