While everyone is drooling over just how beautiful the iPhone looks, designer Christina Tapp has unveiled her latest creation known as the Panasonic Concept phone. This brings sexy back to the ordinary house phone considering how everyone has already moved on to cellphones these days, boasting a front LCD panel with numbers listed from top to bottom in an ascending order. I presume touch sensitive technology is used here for easy dialing - too bad there is no space to display the caller ID. There are times when concept phones need to be materialized in the real world pronto, and this is definitely one of those times.
If you're looking for something a little different to spruce up your home, you can't go wrong with these egg-sized LED lights dubbed the "Feeling Egg". Being waterproof, you'll be able to take a bath by soaking with them for some soothing ambient light, or even place them strategically throughout the home for decorative purposes. The Feeling Egg comes in an egg carton package of 4, and each of them are colored separately for more variety (blue, green, orange, and red). The Feeling Egg carton retails for $59 and makes for a great housewarming gift. Each egg is powered by a trio of LR44 batteries, so make sure you have enough spares in your home.
V7 has a brand new GPS navigation system up its sleeves in the form of the NAV720, save for the addition of Bluetooth connectivity for hands free calling and support for Traffic Messaging Channel (TMC). The 4" touchscreen is really rockin', boasting a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels, making it great for watching MPEG 4 videos as well as browse through your latest holiday photos. The NAV720 is powered on the highly recommended SiRFStar III GPS chipset and the Samsung 2440 400MHz processor when generating directions. There is no word on pricing or availability.
I just love miniaturization, and with the fast pace of technology, it is no wonder that everything around us shrinks more and more by the day while offering the same or even superior performance to their predecessors. Case in point - this USB Bluetooth dongle that is just too tiny to be true, giving your computer Bluetooth connectivity without taking up too much space at the back. The connector on this microdongle slides out when needed, and slides back in for protection when not in use. I suppose its greatest strength is also its greatest nemesis - at a size that small, losing it is a very real possibility. Be honest now, how many microSD cards have you misplaced already? Be ready to cough up £19.99 for one of these.
Ever walked about in public when an all-too-familiar jingle enters your ears, but for the life of you, you just can't quite place your finger on the song title? The MusicMarker device helps you track down the deviant title, where pressing a button will record a snippet of the currently playing song. When you're within reach of a computer, just plug it in via USB and it will automatically identify the track for you after trawling through the massive web of knowledge known as the Internet. At $19.95 a pop, this is more of a novelty than anything else, and I wonder just how wide its reach is. Presumably only the more famous songs from the English speaking world would be included - how about lesser known territories and languages?
The Freedom Mini Duo Bluetooth keyboard is for those who tend to do a whole lot more than make and receive calls on their smartphones. It folds into half, being slightly larger than a credit card despite housing the full QWERTY keyboard in a standard layout. It hooks up to your smartphone or PDA via Bluetooth, but should it run out of battery, you can always obtain some power by hijacking your smartphone/PDA's battery via a miniUSB port. A full charge provide up to 9 hours of continuous typing at best. While you won't get a full-sized keyboard's comfort, at least it sure beats tapping out those messages on the on-screen keyboard. The Freedom Mini Duo Bluetooth keyboard retails for approximately $100 each.
If you're the impatient kind and just can't wait on seeing the Northern Lights in the sky at the right time, there is always a synthetic version in the form of the Aurora Palette from Japanese company Banpresto. This device will project different atmospheric light on your ceiling or wall, creating a soothing environment that helps you nod off better. A quartet of AA batteries provides up to 20 hours of light, and it has a timer that can be set in 30 minute intervals, up to 2 hours at a time. The Aurora Palette retails for $55 each. It would be neat if it plays back nature sounds like crickets or a brook to add to the atmosphere though.
With the proliferation of gadgets all over the world and an increasing world population that shows no sign of abating, it is no wonder our world is being starved of power every single day. A new room-size battery might change all that, storing energy in the form of a reservoir in a compact, enduring, and efficient manner. This is possible via wind power, but too bad wind always comes in sporadic bursts and its lack of steadiness could result in fluctuating power reserves. All that is required now would be a place that is windy all the time and a battery that is efficient in storing this wind-generated energy, and we won't have to crack our heads on thinking of the next spot to dispose of nuclear waste.
The almighty FCC has just stamped their seal of approval on the Vertu Ascent Ti cellphone. This quad-band GSM handset also works with 3G/UMTS networks, and will bring even more class to what is already a high end handset. I question the choice of a joystick for navigation purposes, but hopefully it is made of sterner stuff than cheap plastic. Features include a 3 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom, video capture capability, Bluetooth connectivity, MP3 and MIDI support, along with a host of useful applications such as a to-do list, a calendar, a stopwatch, a currency converter, and even real-time flight information. Pricing details are unknown, and it is probably going to be the antonym of cheap.
Looks like fingerprint authentication systems are so yesterday when placed alongside the Irikon USB flash drive. This device is the first of its kind in the world, implementing iris authentication that provides an even greater level of security. Since there are no passwords to remember, using the Irikon is dead easy and will definitely confound others who want to have a peek at its contents. The Irikon USB flash drive can store up to 20 iris templates with 256-bit iris template encryption as an added layer of security. Choose from 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB capacities. There is word of an Irikon hard drive in the near future.
With the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy wrapped up, there is some mileage left when it comes to merchandise of all things pirates as evident by this unique Pirate USB hub. The hub resembles a barrel, complete with a bearded and eye-patched pirate hiding within. Whenever you place the sword into the wrong slot, the pirate will pop out of the barrel. It is not all play though, as the back of this hub holds a quartet of USB ports for you to hook up all your other peripherals. Definitely fun, and would make a great office gift.
Fiat has a brand new 500 in the making, andit comes with a choice of 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 litre engines that can cough a maximum of 100bhp. While that's pretty ordinary, what makes the Fiat 500 stand out is the Microsoft logo in the cabin. Apparently, this vehicle will use a Windows Mobile-based media and navigation system known as "Blue & Me". Features include voice activation, steering wheel buttons, a dashboard screen, Bluetooth connectivity, and a USB socket. Thankfully, Microsoft's involvement doesn't include the engine so you won't have anything to worry about, whether it is the Blue Screen of Death or the Red Ring of Doom. The new Fiat 500 is tipped to be released Stateside in 2010.
Hong Kong researchers have successfully developed a new breed of display that consists of a mixture of metal nanoparticles and plastic. The best part about this screen is, it is actually activated thermally, changing color like a chameleon according to the display's current temperature. This new display boasts a much lower manufacturing cost that LCDs, and is also easier to make. Being paper thin and flexible, the range of applications for this new display is endless. Don't get too excited though, as this new display won't be making its way to replace your computer monitor anytime soon as it can currently display a pre-determined pattern only. Hopefully future advances will see that change with changeable thermal pixels.
Since its summer now, heading out can get pretty hot, which is why it is important to keep yourself hydrated all the time. The Insulated Evaporative Cooling Cap boasts a patented Hydroweave system that harnesses heat from the sun to cause evaporation while drawing heat away from your head. All you need to do is charge the hat by running it under cool water, wring out the excess liquid, and you're good to go. The inner lining ensures your head remains dry, while the Hydroweave system releases the rest of the water slowly through evaporation, keeping your head much cooler in order to think more clearly. One size fits all, so you can pick up the Insulated Evaporative Cooling Cap for $24.95 a pop.
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