Gadgets Technologies

The iphone has been out the better part of a year now and a number of them are starting to show their age. On whole I have heard very few complaints from owners, but the daily operation of any mobile device inevitably leads to all sorts of abuse and operation degrades over time, especially for first generation products. My iPhone (4GB reburb, bought in August) hasn’t been pampered, but was still holding up well, at least until a week or so ago. Then it started having a strange problem–during a call the sound would cut out and the person on the other end of the line would just get static from me. During this time the reception would stay constant (five bars with EDGE) but the call would not work. (Read the full post about ‘An unlikely iPhone fix’…)

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by Paul Miller, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 11:52AM
Hey, we hate lawsuits just as much as the next guy, but we’re finding it hard to fault Verizon for this one. Verizon and Time Warner Cable arrived in court on Wednesday to settle a tiff over some ads that Verizon claims offer up misleading info about Verizon’s FiOS service. Listed among the complaints include supposed false implications by TWC that FiOS requires a satellite dish, doesn’t include phone, broadband and video, and that Time Warner’s network is better. Time Warner Cable is naturally calling the lawsuit “without merit.” Verizon wants TWC to stop running the ads and issue a retraction, as well as compensate them for lost revenue. (Read the full post about ‘Verizon sues Time Warner Cable over some dumb ads’…)

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Users can use the Slacker Portable Radio player to tune in internet radio stations. When not connected, it’s also possible to download radio programs or create your own station, based on the kind of music that you like. By basing the downloads on a genre, it will also download songs from new artists and therefore expose you to new music that you are likely to appreciate. It’s not perfect: with a 4” display, it seems like a huge “pcket” device – especially as it doesn’t play video! (Read the full post about ‘Slacker Portable Radio Exposes You to New Music’…)

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The moment I saw the Micro SD Card Projector, my skepticism alarm went off. After all, portable projectors often generate images that are not as clear as their non-portable predecessors. My skepticism lessened when I saw images of its projections from the product page. They looked like the projected images you would see from any other projector. Of course, it’s really hard to tell how good a projector is from a picture of its projection. It looks like my skepticism is now increasing. Especially when I saw this product being sold on a site called Drinkstuff.com. It’s almost like their company slogan would be “we sell stuff that drunk people should use”. (Read the full post about ‘Micro SD Card Projector’…)

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A new device in development will be able to wirelessly let others know how well you are doing, both physically and mentally. The Exmocare BT2 is a device worn about the wrist which monitors biophysical measurements such as like heart rate, skin temperature, skin conductance and movement. The BT2 takes these measurements and then wirelessly transfers the data to monitoring software using Bluetooth technology. The software then takes these readings and can evaluate your overall well-being and can send the data to employers and caregivers in case you are getting too stressed out or are in serious physical distress. Exmocare believes the data the BT2 provides can help wearers know when and how they are feeling their best and worst. (Read the full post about ‘Exmocare BT2 can let employers and caregivers monitor your well being’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 8:31AM If you’ve been courting the idea of picking up a mini PC resembling an overstuffed history book with a glossy black finish, ASUS’ got just the thing. Housing an Intel processor, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, slot-loading DVD / Blu-ray (optional) drive, up to 1TB of hard drive space, a 256MB GeForce 8600M and 7.1-channel audio out, this thing is an ATSC tuner away from being a pretty potent little HTPC. You’ll also find gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, an integrated IR receiver, FireWire, 10-in-1 multicard reader, HDMI / VGA out (DVI via bundled adapter) and a multimedia keyboard / mouse combo to go along with that MCE remote. (Read the full post about ‘ASUS’ BD-equipped Essentio CS5110 mini PC gets official’…)

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I think we all know people who are way too “into their game”. These are the people who have a near-unhealthy obsession with board games like chess, backgammon, or even Scrabble.

For that last example, the hard-core Scrabble player might want to check out the Franklin SCR-226 Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (3rd edition). This device can definitely come in handy when players dispute if a word is valid, as it can resolve over 100,000 different words.

It can also help a Scrabble player when making his or her next move. All a player has to do is enter in the seven letters that he or she has on the scrabble tile keypad, and the Players Dictionary will come up with several words for his or her turn.

(Read the full post about ‘Franklin Official Electronic Scrabble Players Dictionary’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 10:51AM We already knew what Marshall was capable of when we caught wind of his masterfully assembled portable Nintendo 64, but the modder extraordinaire has really outdone himself this time. As the name implies, The Multari is a portable Atari 2600 with 32 games built right in. The chassis itself was crafted from vacuum-formed styrene plastic, and aside from the colorful buttons and iconic D-pad, there’s also a 5-inch display and what appears to be a set of speakers. Mmm, retro never looked so good. (Read the full post about ‘The Multari: Atari 2600 gets elegantly shoved in a handheld’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 9:08AM We can’t say we’d follow in this guy’s footsteps for any amount of money, but boy, does it make for fantastic drama. Shortly after the famed Zune Guy (you know, that cat with a trio of Zune-inspired tattoos?) decided to legally change his name to “Microsoft Zune,” the plan was put on hiatus after hearing that it cost a whopping $500 to get a name swap. After getting curious, investigating and discovering that he only needed $150 to have it done, he put the mission squarely back on the front burner. Unfortunately, there still stands a chance of the aforesaid name being denied, so he’s posted up a poll in order to let the general public give him a list of backups. (Read the full post about ‘Zune Guy’s name change endeavor is back on’…)

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Virginia was first with a law requiring public schools to teach classes on Internet safety. Hear, hear. Texas and Illinois have both followed suit. I totally agree. The Internet is something that has taken hold in the general public in the blink of an eye, relatively speaking. Its uptake has been rapid as compared to say, television or radio.

As an IT person who understands a fair amount of computers, technology and the Internet, I still maintain that computers are complicated beasts, and it is downright scary how little people know and understand. This doesn’t stop them from trawling the Internet, happily clicking away at things they don’t understand.

(Read the full post about ‘Virginia, Illinois and Texas say kids need to learn Internet safety’…)

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