Mobile Devices

by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 4:38PM
We’ve seen a couple armed defense bots make the scene now — the US military even has a couple deployed in Iraq — but the promo video for the $600,000 Guardium bots recently commissioned by Israel isn’t exactly a fearsome demonstration of next-gen force. Not only do the rendered old-school CRT displays offer warnings like INTRUDER NONCOMPLIANT, all the bot seems to be able to do is sneeze out of a cloud of white smoke. Terrifying. Maybe these things play better at defense contractor conventions, but something tells us that an actual angry dog might be a little more effective. Check the whole video below.

[Via Danger Room]

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Filed under: Robots

Usually here on Geek.com I try to highlight those quirky and useful gadgets that make life a little easier, if not at least a little more interesting. Today, however, we’ll be looking across the Atlantic at a new survey in which people from the United Kingdom voted to say which, in their opinion, are the most useless gadgets ever created.

The survey was conducted among 4,500 British people and was sponsored by consumer review website Reevo. Now while I agree with most of the items in the list, I have to respectfully disagree with number twenty. If you are by yourself and have an itch you just can’t reach, a back scratcher comes in awful handy.

Here is the British list of the twenty worst gadgets ever with American translation added where needed.  

1. Electric nail files
2. Laser guided scissors
3. Electric candles
4. Soda stream (soft drink maker)
5. Foot spas
6. Fondue set
7. Hair crimpers
8. Egg boiler
9. Electric fluff remover (lint remover)
10. Electric carving knife
11. Trouser press (pant press)
12. Face steamers
13. Teas made (automatic tea maker)
14. Mini disk player
15. Facial tanners
16. Egg slicer
17. Electric tin openers (can opener)
18. Yogurt makers
19. Towel warmer
20. Back scratcher

Let’s hear from you readers to see if you agree with the Brit list and you can also post your list of worst gadgets of all time.

Read more at webitpr.

Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!

If you have an over-zealous Twitter pal or want to avoid a blast of tweets for a little while, Twitter snooze is a nice friendly solution.

Basically, it’s an addition to Twitter ettiquette, so that you don’t have follow and unfollow with the social implications of being a bit of an inconsistent jerk;)

When you “snooze” a pal, Twitter will send him/her an email alerting that person that you are now following them again (not unlike when you follow/unfollow). Hopefully, this will get improved over time. What’s so amazing to me, though, is that we’re developing a polite culture around our online behaviors - who knew that tweeting would require such trappings.

Grab your Twitter Snooze here.

Retro Webcam

Whether you pop it on your flash flat screen or sit it on its very own classic tripod, this delightfully Retro Webcam will Hollywood-up your desktop. It’s not of course guaranteed to make you look like Brad or Angie (actually it’s pretty well guaranteed that it won’t), but it will at least make you feel the part. Complete with a quality glass lens and a cleverly hidden microphone, it’ll capture still images and of course allow video conferencing, all in 24bit RGB true colour. Bring a bit of big screen glamour to your desktop.

As one of the mainstays in supercomputing, Cray has been cozying up to AMD in recent years and increasingly relying on the chipmaker’s Opteron server processors to power its latest supercomputers. But if a new partnership between Cray and AMD’s main rival is any indication, that chummy relationship may now be in jeopardy. Intel and Cray have announced a new multi-year agreement where the chipmaker will provide both chips and “silicon expertise” to Cray, which will in turn design a new line of supercomputers and servers based on the Intel’s Xeon chips.

Of course, Xeons already power a sizable chuck of the top the Top500 supercomputers, but other companies like IBM, Sun and Cray have been giving Intel a run for its money (at least in the supercomputing space) in recent years, producing units centered around the Opteron, Power and Cell chips.

Cray wouldn’t say how (or if) the new partnership with Intel would affect its relationship with AMD, but the latest Opteron chip hasn’t exactly replicated the success of the original. If you recall, the new quad-core chip was plagued by delays and bugs late last year. In fact, Cray said that delay was the primary reason it had to push back the release date of its revamped version of the XT4 supercomputer.

[Press Release]

Photo: The Cray-1, a supercomputer designed by Seymour Cray and installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1976.

Unlocking phones can be a pretty tricky affair, but with SIMable, the entire complicated business is simplified. This extremely thin chip, when attached to any SIM card, will fool the majority of cell phones into thinking that they have been unlocked within a matter of seconds. No idea how it works though, but you must take note that in most cases it will invalidate the handset’s warranty so if you’re the rough and tumble type, chances are you’re better off not using the SIMable just in case your spanking new 3G handset gives up the ghost due to one too many abuse by you. SIMable is available for £16.99 a pop and each purchase will be accompanied by a customized cutting press that does away with the need for messy SIM cutting with scissors.

Nokia is showing why it remains the top vendor in unit shipments. Simply put, the company continues to crank out new phones for consumers. Nokia this week added three new handsets to its product line. The handsets include the Nokia 6600 fold, Nokia 6600 slide and the Nokia 3600 slide.

The Nokia 6600 fold includes a nice 2.13″ OLED screen which offers up to 16 million colors. The phone features a high-gloss surface with an outer display which can “wake up” when the user taps it twice to receive time, incoming messages, missed calls and other information. Double tapping can also snooze alerts and silence incoming calls. A 2 megapixel camera is included with double LED flash. The camera also easily integrates with online services including Flickr or Yahoo! Go. The Nokia 6600 fold will retail for 275 EUR.

The Nokia 6600 slide features the double tap convenience of its fold cousin to snooze alerts and silence calls. Instead of a 2 megapixel camera a 3.2 megapixel camera is offered in addition to a larger 2.2″ QVGA display. Nokia Maps is integrated into the phone and is compatible with the optional Nokia Bluetooth GPS Module LD-4W. The Nokia 6600 slide will retail for 250 EUR.

Finally, the Nokia 3600 slide features a contemporary style making it look good while its features make it very functional. The phone comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera and a double LED flash. The phone also has a TV-out feature allowing photos and video to be displayed on television sets. The Nokia 3600 will also feature the Nokia Maps application. The thing that makes the phone stand out from other Nokia handsets is that it is the first to feature background noise cancellation. This technology is complimented nicely by the phone’s built-in music player and support for an optional 4GB microSD card. The Nokia 3600 slide will retail for 175 EUR.

Read more from the Nokia press release.

Brian’s Opinion

Why is Nokia on top? Just look at the diversity of features offered within these three phones alone. Motorola can learn a lot from the products Nokia offers and the diversity of features within them.

Nokia seems to have a phone for whatever the market seems to be demanding. Some phones feature powerful cameras while others feature built-in music players. Some phones fold while others slide. Certain models are stylish while others are more functional.

The company just seems to know what consumers want. That explains why they not only continue to be the top handset manufacturer, but they also continue to gain market share while companies like Motorola lose it. Honestly, mobile phones are a little like journalism. In journalism you are only as good as your last great story. Manufacturers are only as good as their last great phone. That explains why Motorola is rebuilding and why Nokia continues to be successful.

Freeview DVD Tablet

The Xoro HSD 7500 and 7510 Multi-region Portable DVD Players (rather a mouthful - though not literally please) are super-portable multimedia players. With high quality full colour 16:9 widescreens (7″ for the 7500 and 9″ for the 7510), the Xoros will play Multi-region DVDs, VCDs, SVCDs, MPEG-1, 2 and 4 Videos, standard audio and MP3 CDs, and display both JPEGs and Kodak Picture CDs. All that makes them movie players, photo players and music players in one. Not only that, but they also come with Freeview TV! The 7500 has a DVB-T receiver module which attaches to the side of the player, whilst the 7510 has an internal unit so you just stick the aerial into the top of the player. The TV has Auto Channel Scan, Electronic Programme Guide and Teletext, so you can watch T.V. anywhere.

Each unit has integrated card readers, USB ports that allow you to attach MP3 players and cameras to play through the units, as well as an in-car charger, power adaptor and carrying case, so you can strap them to the head-rest and keep back seat drivers entertained on long car journeys. Made form rather a sumptuous soft black rubber, both have remote controls built in stereo speakers and headphones included. Watch movies, show slide shows of your photos, listen to music, watch TV, it’s all possible with the Xoros, making them the slickest portable multimedia machines we’ve ever seen.

You can have this for £179.00 - approx USD $322.2 / €264.92

TomTom has added more GPS systems to its ONE and XL lines, featuring a fresh new look and a new mounting system. The TomTom ONE 130/ONE 130S and the TomTom XL 330/XL 330S feature a slimmer frame and is accompanied by the new EasyPort mount that can remain attached to the GPS - all you need to do is fold it down and fit into a pants pocket. All four of these new models will feature pre-loaded maps of North America and are compatible with the TomTom Home and TomTom Map Share services. The TomTom ONE 130 and ONE 130S are tipped to ship sometime next month for $199.95 and $249.95, respectively while the $299.95 TomTom XL 330S and $249.99 XL 330 are also being readied around the same time.

Neonode has recently made available its Neonode N2 touch screen phone in a new range of colors on the company’s very own web shop, bringing Lime, Azure and Roza into the mix this time round in order to better cope with some rather unorthodox tastes. To date, the Neonode N2 is available in the same color as all original Ford Model Ts came in - black. Do you think this new change in color will see other people pick up the Neonode N2 over any other smartphone?