Mobile Devices

I suppose it is widely documented that hardcore drinkers often come with a beer belly, evidence of years of boozing. Eventually, this group will evolve into a couch potato, gaining weight on a steady diet of TV programs, pizza and beer. This makes walking over to the fridge to bust open a new six-pack sound as challenging as climbing Mount Everest, which is why the Remote Control Drinks Cooler is heaven sent. Not that the celestial powers up there would want to see you in such a sorry state though, but at least you don’t have to move unless you really have to. The remote control has a working range of 30 feet, and the Drinks Cooler itself can hold up to a dozen beer bottles or 10 cans. It will cost £39.95, making it perfect for Father’s Day next month.

Verizon Wireless has just announced a new member to their mobile lineup, the MOTO Q 9c. The phone will be available in the company’s online store on May 9.

The MOTO Q 9c is the perfect smartphone for business professionals and offers powerful capabilities, including access to more than 14 million points of interest with Verizon Wireless’ popular VZ Navigator(SM) service.

MOTO Q 9c will be available for $249.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a new two-year customer agreement.
[ Source ]

A concerned half-sibling’s letter…

To my dear sibling Miuro,

Hi, how’ve you been doing? I heard you’re still up to your old tricks, rolling around to the tune of the music you’re playing, and displaying emoticons on your screen-face. Anyway, the reason I wrote is that I wanted to ask if you’re still mad that our dad, ZMP,got with my mum, Sega Toys, and had me? I promise I’m not so bad, Miuro, I have an emoticon-displaying screen-face too, and people tell me I look just like you! I mean, I don’t have your camera or your wireless LAN, but at a tenth of your 500 price, we have totally different markets! We’re not rivals, my dear sibling, so please come back home soon. We can roll around together to the music our docked iPods play. It’ll be fun, I promise.

From your younger sibling,

Music Robot ODO

via

Klipsch is a name synonymous with great sounding audio, and the Palladium P-39F doesn’t only offer superb audio but it does so with a clear conscience. I say so because it comes clad in a “Linia” veneer, which is available in three different finishes and proves to be a very close match to rare zebrawood. After all, it was carefully hand-selected and made from real trees in government-sanctioned controlled harvests - sounds more like a jam advertisement, hand-picked berries and all that jazz. The only drawback is the price - you would have to be loaded in order to afford the £7,685 asking price.

I suppose if you’re an angsty teen who frequents gadget websites such as CG, then chances are you also fall into the demographic where video and computer games play a very big role in your entertainment life, much to the chagrin of your parents I presume. After all, if you have passion for something and spend plenty hours on it, why not turn it into a career? Apparently this is what Brad Johnson has done. His chosen cash cow? Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. His first product, Warcraft Millionaire: The Blueprint to One Million Gold, is a self-proclaimed “complete gold making solution for the world’s most popular MMORPG”. With millions of World of Warcraft (WoW) players from all over the globe providing feedback in recent months on how to turn WoW into a money making enterprise, Brad Johnson seized upon this opportunity to compile what can be considered the world’s most complete WoW gold guide, specially designed to integrate the top gold making techniques from multiple strategies into a thorough package of tips, strategies, and resources.

Brad Johnson has the credentials to prove that he’s no fluke - he is actually the first World of Warcraft first millionaire, and in this guide he offers a comprehensive outlook on how the game’s economy operates. He starts off by introducing us to a general overview of in-game economics and real world principles, and will delve further into numerous strategies to make gold, selected grinding locations in Azeroth and Outland, gold making strategies no matter what level you are at, as well as the most recent updates to the game. Compiling it all into a book is nice, but as we all know the folks at Blizzard could just pick up the book, seize upon the points he touched on and change the game mechanics at their whim and fancy to render the entire guide useless. I suppose that is the risk current tech-related books take when they go to print, unlike the dynamics of an online presence.

Each purchase consists of a 1-60 Azeroth Gold Guide as well as a 60-70 Outland Gold Guide, in addition to an Auction House Guide which outlines the specific methods used in the Auction House to monopolize and take control of market conditions and maximize profits.

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In a rather bizarre effort to protect sensitive company data, T-Mobile has announced that its Sarnia, Ontario call center employees will no longer be allowed to use pens, pencils, or note pads in the open. If they must used them, they are required to keep them in their locked desks between uses. Taking the new policy even further, they’ve also required that all photos and papers on cubicle walls be laminated so they can not be used to write on.

While it’s easy to understand a company wanting to protect its data, this new policy is just a bit ridiculous. If the company is that paranoid it’s a good thing the employees don’t have access to any kind of small, easily concealable electronic device that can easily accept data and transfer it quickly over the net or any way to discreetly copy data directly from their computers, Wouldn’t that be awful? I’m sure T-Mobile execs are sleeping well tonight with that knowledge.

Read [The Consumerist]

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Verizon Wireless seems to be on a warpath here, having recently released the blackberry Curve 8330 earlier this week, only to follow up that move by announcing the availability of the Moto Q9c on its online store as well as all Verizon Wireless business sales channels from today (May 9) onwards. For those who have been lusting after this smartphone, you can pick it up from any Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, including those in Circuit City, within the coming weeks as shipments start to arrive. This smartphone targets business professionals and boasts some pretty powerful capabilities, including access to over 14 million points of interest thanks to Verizon Wireless’ very own popular VZ Navigator service. Other specifications can be found after the jump.

• Windows Mobile 6 Standard - access to POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail accounts
• Documents To Go - read, edit and create Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents
• Full QWERTY keyboard with dedicated “hot keys” for shortcuts to popular applications
• 2.4″ color screen with innovative adaptive technology to adjust for optimized brightness for indoor and outdoor lighting to maximize battery power
• 1.3 megapixel camera with flash and fixed focus, plus video capture and playback
• 128 MB of on-board memory and optional removable memory future-proofed up to 32 GB (sold separately)
• Voice-activated dialing
• Smart contacts dialing
• Speakerphone
• Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology supporting both Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP profiles

I must say that I am pretty disappointed with the 1.3 megapixel camera. Granted, this is not meant to be a performance handset of any sorts, and for a business phone to have a camera, it can be considered a bonus, but surely Motorola could do better than a mere 1.3 megapixels, right? Isn’t 2 the norm these days, not to mention 3.2 megapixels slowly but surely being the mainstay soon? If you’re interested in picking up the Moto Q9c, it will cost you $249.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a new two-year customer agreement.

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Looks like Psystar has some competition — or at least did. Earlier on Tuesday, an eBay seller by the name of “chris555″ started offering two “Non Apple Mac OS X” clone systems for $549 a piece. The listing has since been removed and it’s unclear whether the seller managed to find a buyer(s) or simply got cold feet. A brief seller’s history reveals that Chris555 has also dabbled in selling items like Hollister SoCal 2.5 oz Men’s Cologne (new in box), some Pioneer car speakers and a mirror for a Pontiac Grand AM. In other words, he’s not exactly a seasoned computer vendor.

Much like Psystar’s clones, which started arriving on people’s doorsteps last week, both of Chris’ systems came pre-loaded with what he described as “genuine Mac OS X 10.5,” and featured strikingly similar hardware specs, including a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and three USB ports.

Here’s a snippet from the original listing:

Run the award winning Mac OS 10.5 on this custom-built desktop computer for hundreds less than a computer direct from Apple. This desktop comes preloaded with Mac OS X Leopard with all the latest features. Finally, the power of Mac OS X at a fraction of the price.

Could this signal the beginning of the Mac clone wars? Doubtful. As the Giz noted last week, Apple’s Software Update won’t even recognize the virtual Leopard OS on Psystar’s machines, making updating and patching impossible. In the end, that’s probably done for a very good reason. As we reported before, Apple may simply choose to brick such clones (if and when the company ever decides these things are a threat) with its routine firmware updates.

Check out the original screen grab of the listing, compliments of AppleInsider, after the jump.

[AppleInsider]