Mobile Devices

Posted Feb 13th 2008 8:36AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: cellphones
Tape up those mitts and put on your thinking caps kids, it’s time for an intellectual rumble. Today’s subject: the Senate’s overwhelming reauthorization of Gee Dubs domestic spying powers with a new measure giving phone companies retroactive immunity from lawsuits. Good thing too (for them) since our AT&T, VZW, and Sprint collaborators have racked up about 40 lawsuits accusing them of violating USitizen’s privacy rights. The bill now goes to the House. If they reject it or fail to pass the measure this week, then the temporary surveillance powers activated after 11 September, 2001 will expire on the House floor. So what’s it going to be, live free or die or give up some civil liberties in good faith to your government? Your state representatives would like to know.

P.S. For those following the election: McCain voted for telco immunity, Obama against, and Clinton didn’t vote at all even though she was in the area for Tuesday’s primaries.

Voter Roll-call (a “Yea” is a vote to strike the immunity provision)

Being on time is something more and more people take for granted these days, which is why it is always important to get your kids started off on the right footing. The Time Tracker is one interesting device that helps a child learn about time management without being chided by an adult. It features three seconds that can be programmed to light up after specific time intervals, with half a dozen sound effects to choose from when it comes to indicating just when is time running out. At least it makes lives easier for parents as kids who have not yet learnt numbers can’t defend themselves, claiming that they lost track of time for the umpteenth…er, time. Fancy dropping $38.95 on this?

Product Page via OhGizmo!

Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal takes a looks at Lenovo’s own ultrathin 13-inch notebook, the X300, and finds that it is to his liking. It’s not as attractive as the Air, but that IBM style has its own charm and in other respects its surprisingly similar: a full-size keyboard, a solid state drive and a 3-pound weigh-in.

However, it also has a lot the Air lacks, including an optical drive, ethernet networking, three USB ports and a built-in cellular modem. You pay for it all, mind you: this little cheese slicer will set you back a staggering $2,500 in its cheapest, most low-end incarnation.

Though I’ll readily admit I haven’t used the X300, so long as the damn thing actually works properly, its nature is clear enough. If you like the Air but want a computer rather than bling, this is probably what you’re really after.

I’d wait for the new MacBook Pros before making up your mind, though. Just sayin’.

Super-Slim ThinkPad Sneak Peek [WSJ]

Cycling is fun, but doing so at night is definitely more dangerous than during the day as visibility drops to extremely low levels. Hence, you ought to do everything in your power to make youself visible to other road users. This is where the Pedalite Pedals come in.

Pedalites are the latest cycling phenomenon and are, to put it bluntly, uber cool. These kinetic energy powered (no batteries, ever!) 360 degree light-up pedals simply replace your boring old pedals, and light your feet up like a Christmas tree. As well as standard reflectors, the pedals have three integral bright LEDs, one facing forwards, one backwards, and one sidewards - or rather sideways. As you pedal, kinetic energy powers up the LED’s which flash brightly away, and the great thing about these is that this energy is stored in the pedals, so even as you free wheel or stop at a crossing (of course you do…) the pedals continue to flash for up to five minutes!

I’d definitely feel safer having a pair of these on my bicycle. What’s £34.99 when it comes to preventing an accident?

Posted Feb 13th 2008 11:15AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Laptops
Well, would you look at that. The image we’re certain your eyes are fixated on above is indeed the first look at Lenovo’s forthcoming X300 ultraportable, and it’s being provided courtesy of Walt Mossberg. ‘Course, if we were betting souls, we’d guess that nifty office envelope won’t be bundled in, but hey, crazier things have happened. As if a photo wasn’t enough, Walt also clued us in on a few more specs, namely the inclusion of a removable battery, three USB ports, WiFi, an integrated Ethernet jack and optional GPS / WWAN to boot. Heck, users will even be able to order this 3.12-pound critter with Windows XP if they so choose. You getting all this, Apple?

Some good news to report for a change in regards to Facebook in the UK with news that they are going to enable Vodafone users to install a application on the phone that will allow them to receive newsfeeds, messages, status updates, ‘pokes’ and other features from the site.

Vodafone has been chosen to partner Facebook with this new offering, which will improve on the current mobile offering by removing the need to go to a browser first and type in the URL. Now users will be able to click on a widget on the phone and directly access Facebook. This isn’t a first for Vodafone who already have similar offerings with MySpace and Bebo. Currently no other providers have been announced, but Facebook is expected to partner with others on a similar offer.

Via [The Times]

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Ever gone on a faraway holiday trip with a whole lot of baggage to lug around? The RoboPorter will definitely lighten your load (literally) as it handles a maximum of 50kg of luggage per trip. It comes in the form of a flatbed trolley, complete with a screen that helps display a human face for that added homo sapien touch. All you need to do is inform it orally where to take the bags and he’ll get straight to it. Just in case your pronounciation isn’t too hot, a touch screen with a map of the facilities serve as an alternative. Unfortunately, its range of destinations are limited to just bus stops and taxi ranks at this point in time in order to prevent unnecessary confusion. Well, at least it doesn’t grumble or mutter curses underneath its breath when you don’t tip it.

Some might say it is a touch Kindle-like. We say well done to ARM for squeezing its Android Googlephone into a box the size of a phone rather than a sprawling mess of chips. Check the video, fresh from GSMA, to see a demo of Google Maps, video playback and recording, the music player and the menus. It actually looks pretty slick.

Posted Feb 13th 2008 3:40AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: cellphones, WirelessAs with RIM’s April 2007 outage, the latest downtime has been officially blamed on a flawed software upgrade. According to RIM, the millions left without email can lift their kinked neck and point a crippled digit at an “internal data routing system within the blackberry service infrastructure that had been recently upgraded.” This upgrade, like the one in 2007, was meant to boost capacity and speed message routing. Right, the same issue which RIM assured us had been resolved last April.

The iriver x20 is shaping up to be a nice competitor in the PMP market. While it may not be the coolest looking player it does have a nice set of specs. The x20 features a 2.2-inch display, 8GB internal memory, a microSD card slot for additional storage and up to 22 hours of battery life. Sadly the x20 is controlled using a click wheel and is not a touchscreen display. The iriver x20 retails for a reasonable $130, which should make up for any shortfalls with the display.

Via [SlashGear]

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