Mobile Devices

Posted Feb 12th 2008 10:52AM by Evan Blass
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment Out of the many jobs in today’s multi-billion dollar consumer electronics industry, the one we’d probably want least right now is writer of press releases for the HD DVD Promotional Group. After each major defection, these poor folks have to whip up a positive-sounding response to what everyone knows is very bad news — but after yesterday’s one-two punches by Netflix and Best Buy, even these paid cheerleaders are having trouble finding the right spin. Here’s what they had to say, as reported by CNET:

“We have long held the belief that HD DVD is the best format for consumers based on quality and value, and with more than 1 million HD DVD players on the market, it’s unfortunate to see Netflix make the decision to only stock Blu-ray titles going forward. While the Best Buy announcement says they will recommend Blu-ray, at least they will continue to carry HD DVD and offer consumers a choice at retail.”

Doesn’t sound like there’s too much fight left there, does it? If the best you can do to support your dying format is to rehash the same canned argument and celebrate your remaining shelf space, well, there would seem to be a bigger problem than you’re willing to admit. At this point, we’re just curious to see how it will all end: after investing so much time, energy, money, and vitriol on this bitter format war, how does Toshiba move forward in a world almost completely dominated by its rival in blue?

[Via High-Def Digest]

ARM recently released its Google phone prototype that runs on the unfinished Android platform at MWC ‘08, which means the actual Google phone’s release date is pretty near the horizon. The ARM handset sports a QWERTY keypad just like Palm devices, and I would like to see a larger display in the finished product. Still, as long as the final design has not been confirmed, one can only hope that it will be much more streamlined and aesthetically pleasing. Do you think the Google phone will make a bigger splash than how the iPhone did?

It seems like just a matter of time now before this format war will officially be over and a winner is declared. Most people had presumed HD DVD’s death back just before CES 2008, but things have seemed to only get worse for them, no special thanks to their attempted Super Bowl promotion and the recent announcement from Netflix.

The latest bad news coming from Best Buy, they have announced their plans to promote the Blu-ray format over HD DVD. While HD DVD will not be pushed out of the store, the Blu-ray players will have “preferred” placement in the stores, which also means that employees will tend to “recommend” it more often. I would also imagine it being kind of out-of-site and out-of-mind as far as the customers go.

This news does make some light on the recent Best Buy promotion announcement, where they will be offering a free HD DVD player with the purchase of an $899 Yamaha/Klipsch audio package, maybe this is just a way to clear the HD DVD inventory. Chalk this up as another round that goes to Blu-ray, I think its time to commit and make that purchase, anyone have any Blu-ray player recommendations?

Via [electronista]

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We all have some goofy uncoordinated friend that we can’t quite trust with an exposed blade or freshly cooked pie. For such people, we now have Pizza Scissors and I must say, it is about time. As the name implies, Pizza Scissors are scissors for pizzas; presumably they can also work their magic on similarly tricky foods. What differentiates these from regular scissors is that when they are closed, they give you a nice little built-in spatula to pick the pizza up with.

Available from Fresh Finds for $9.95

Source: Book of Joe

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My last blackout was a long, long time ago; so long ago that I cannot remember when it happened. Do I need a backup lighting system? I probably don’t but I have a little brother who still bears the scar of an encounter with a mosquito net bracket that he had when he was three years old. I now live in an earthquake prone country, so it is probably a good idea to get prepared, so that I can have some lights come on around me when my apartment falls to pieces around me. The Energizer Light on Demand system looks like it will do a pretty good job in the next big one. You plug the light sticks into your wall sockets. In the event of a power failure, the internal battery activates and you get up to twenty hours of light. I can’t imagine myself needing longer than twenty hours, but just in case you do, you can plug in regular batteries once the internal battery expires.

They will be available in Target this month, until then there is no word on pricing.

Source: Oh Gizmo! Energizer Press Release

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The week is still young, but I think it is a fair bet that the USB Aroma Radio is going to be the stupidest thing that I come across. Where shall I begin, it is a radio with a USB power source. I get some kickass radio over the Internet, I don’t need a radio that is only going to play me the latest J-Pop sensations. The stupidity does not stop there. It is, unfortunately, just getting started, because the USB Aroma Radio is a mashup of stupid technologies (of which the USB Radio is about the smartest part). Take a USB radio, bundle it with a USB oil burner and throw in some USB powered mood lighting and you have a USB powered disgrace. Oh and if you don’t want to power it via USB, you can plug in not one, not two, but three AAA batteries.

Available from where else but USB Brando of Hong Kong, for the grand price of $30.00.

3G reviews the Sony Ericsson W960i and writes, “We’re glad that the main camera on the W960i is 3.2 megapixels (the W910i only offers two) and it’s a pretty decent all-round shotmaker that’s activated and operated with a dedicated shutter key and digital zoom controls on the side of the phone. It’s not a Cybershot quality camera and the phone suffers from a short shutter lag when shooting indoors, but the auto focus worked well and the W960 generally produces decent results which can be tweaked, enhanced and defaced using the phone’s Photo Editor application. Meanwhile, a second camera sits on the front of the phone to enable video calling.”

Read more about the Sony Ericsson W960i.

While we had posted the news yesterday, it was still a little unclear as the Press Release from Microsoft was up on their website and then taken down for a short while. While terms of the sale were still not disclosed the announcement was officially made during a press conference at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Courtesy of PhoneMag.com we have two short videos of the announcement, the first is the actual announcement and the second is part of the Q&A from the conference. Sadly the details about what will happen once the sale is completed will have to wait, they did not give out that much. They did sound optimistic and mentioned that this would enable both companies to further succeed. Personally I hope Danger will be left to continue to grow their business separate from Windows Mobile, but time will have to tell.

Keep reading for the videos…

Via [Phone Mag]

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The Mustek PF-D240 is not your average digiframe, because this little frame also functions as an alarm clock, FM radio, built-in MP3 player and a thermometer and comes equipped with a MMC / SD expansion slot for loading photos, a USB 2.0 connector and a pair one-watt speakers. No word on pricing or availability on this cool frame just yet.
[Source]

Posted Feb 12th 2008 7:58AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Hey, remember that hot looking Sigma DP1 we’ve been yapping about for ages? Well if you can’t another second to put your buyin’ hat on, the handsome 10-megapixel shooter is available for pre-ordering on Amazon right this second. For just $799.99 ($200 less than the list price), you can finally achieve the satisfied sleep of a Sigma DP1 almost-owner. Sure, you’ll still have to wait till March 25th for the goods to drop, but you can probably entertain yourself by pre-ordering a bunch of accessories and booking all the models you’re going to shoot when the camera arrives.

[Via Wired]