Mobile Devices

The Corsa C’Mon’s! - Blue 10 inch Talking Plush
Losing a stuffed toy can be a heartbreaking. An esteemed colleague here at gadgetshop HQ lost his treasured Monkey from the ITV Digital tv ads and practically couldn’t speak for a week. Now there is an alternative if this fate should befall you. Blue is the upfront, out-there lead singer (and therefore frontman) of the C’mons, the Barcelona ‘band’ that so epitomised the spirit and style of a certain small car that they were selected to appear in its recent set of TV ads.

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Despite the bland overall performance of consumer electronics last holiday season, research firm IDC reports that bargain deals helped boost digital camera shipments in the 4th quarter of 2007 and consequently lifted full year performance to exceed expectations.

Full-year shipments of digital point-and-shoot and SLR cameras in the US market last year reached 37.7 million units or 23% growth while 4th quarter of 2007 posted 16.6 million units or 31% growth compared to the same quarter in 2006.

Though this segment started slowly in 2007, it has found its footing by offering reasonably priced cameras loaded with features. Moreover, the introduction of different colors and sizes positioned digital cameras as fashion accessories.

In terms of competition, Cannon remains the dominant market leader since 2005 with its 23% market share, followed by Sony with 18% and Kodak’s 16% share.

Read [Reuters]

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Are you having a tough time wondering just which Ethernet patch cable in the office set up is acting up? With the PatchTest Ethernet Cable Tester, your task will be made all the easier.

The PatchTest Ethernet Cable Tester quickly tests Ethernet patch cables for continuity and common wiring standards such as Gigabit Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and fast Ethernet Crossover. Remote testing of longer cables whose ends are not co-located can be accomplished by using a Gigabit SuperLooper Loopback Jack to test for Gigabit and Fast Ethernet cables in either a straight through or crossover configuration. Through its LED lights the Patch Test will indicate a Gigabit Ethernet Straight Through, 10/100Mb Fast Ethernet Straight Through, 10/100Mb Fast Ethernet Crossover, and a bad or unidentified cable.

You no longer have to be in doubt with the PatchTest Ethernet Cable Tester, and best of all is, it comes with a price that doesn’t break the bank - $49.99 to be exact.

Its always fun to see what kind of ads will come from events that surround the tech community. The latest coming from Best Buy Canada and takes full advantage of the format war and states the winner in no uncertain terms.

The ad simply states “Format War Over: Blu-ray Wins!” and with that they are offering to help. Of course they can help you as long as you are not bothered by spending $399.99 for a new player.

While Blu-ray may be the clear winner, it will still take some time to become more common in households. Personally my current DVD player works well enough for me as compared to a nearly $400 price tag. I would venture a guess that I am not alone in that feeling.

Via [EngadgetHD]

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Sprint is making the case that Nextel Direct Connect subscribers can now use the service for more than just talking. Earlier this week, Sprint announced a number of “push-to-x” capabilities. The company listed a number of specific services with the promise that more “push-to-x” services would be launched later this year.

The new services will be launched on new Sprint Nextel phones. Services include Push-To-Email, which allows subscribers to record a voice message and send that recording to any e-mail address. The NextMail service will be available for US$7.50 a month. Push-to-Picture allows subscribers to send pictures to other phones even while on a call. The cost will be $0.25 per picture. Push-to-Send Contact allows subscribers to send contacts to compatible phones. The contact service is available at no cost to Nextel Direct Connect subscribers. Other services expected in the future include push-to-locate and push-to-information.

It’s about time that Sprint has taken advantage of its merger with Nextel to offer new and innovative services, especially when it comes to the enhancement of push-to-x features. It may be too little too late, though. At this point, the best Sprint can do is get into a price war with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless, especially now that these three wireless carriers are offering unlimited price plans. It’s the best way for Sprint to immediately attract and retain its subscribers, since it takes time for new technology to be implemented.

Read more from the Sprint press release.

This is a prototype toy from the NYC Toy Fair. According to Phil Torrone from Make, the engineers are hawking this amazing contraption for production.

It uses linear propulsion to propel the magnet “cars” around a solid state track. Like a MagLev train, the cars float in an electromagnetic field, pulses in which will cause forward motion. If my high-school physics is letting me down here, I’m sure you’ll pick me up in the comments. There is also a prototype fan. In fact, this frictionless propulsion could have any number of uses.

Amazing linear propulsion systems - no toy application (yet!) [Make Via BBGadgets]

Posted Feb 21st 2008 9:54AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
We don’t want to get too granular on these firmware updates, but it looks like another YP-P2 re-up has imbued the device with some interesting new features. Apparently, version 3.15 adds three new games to your device, the ability to record FM radio as an MP3, new repeat functions, control over the speed of music playback (which we think is totally boss), and EmoTure 1.5, which has a handful of improved features (or so we’re told). The whole shebang is available right now for your downloading pleasure… so go grab it.

[Thanks, Evan]

You can forget about your Do Not Call listing expiring, thanks to Public Law 110-187 and 110-188 we are now guaranteed to have a permanent listing and avoid those dreaded telemarketing calls.

On Friday, February 15, 2008, the President signed into law:

H.R. 3541, the “Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007,” which prohibits the automatic removal of telephone numbers registered on the Federal “do-not-call” registry; and

S. 781, the “Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007,” which extends permanently the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to charge fees to telemarketers required to access the Federal “do-not-call” registry and specifies the fees to be charged.

The new laws not only guarantee that your listing will not expire, but also provides regular funding to help support the list. Now would be a good time to make sure you have all your current numbers listed.

Read [Do Not Call] Via [Consumerist]

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USB isn’t up to the high bandwidth needed to throw game polygons around the screen, but for just about anything else, DisplayLink will do the job, letting you plug a monitor into a USB port.

The latest box to support this is the USB-RGB-D from I-O Data. The €95 ($140) add-on lets you hook up any DVI monitor up to 1680×1050. Using the newest iteration of DisplayLink, it will extend or mirror your main display, support multiple monitors (presumably limited only by number of USB ports and your PC’s power) and even manage Vista’s Aero Glass interface.

With USB 3.0 just around the corner, could this be the end of standard monitor connections?

A New USB to DVI Dongle with AERO Interface Support [Akihabara News]

Software details [DisplayLink]

Whirlpool brand has teamed up with family organizational software maker Cozi, to provide a free online service for family members to get in sync.

Cozi software provides the tools for busy families to share schedules, track shopping and to-do lists, organize household chores and stay in communication. A recent consumer survey about family management found more than 50 percent of consumers would like solutions to help create weekly shopping lists, a family calendar and a message center.

The Whirlpool brand edition of Cozi includes a full set of easy-to-use features:

The Cozi Whirlpool Edition is accessible from any computer with an Internet connection at home or work, or from any mobile phone, keeping the entire family up to speed. Families can activate their own account and download the software on multiple computers for free at www.whirlpool.com/cozi.