Mobile Devices

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted May 13th 2008 at 6:23PM
Dreamcast fans are doing what they can to keep the final Sega console alive in handheld fashion. This latest one certainly isn’t the most elegant mod in the world — in fact, it’s a boxy Frankenstein that looks pretty uncomfortable and crampy after a long game session. That said, the clean, straight lines and generous 5-inch screen are an impressive step up from some rough versions we’ve seen elsewhere. Taking an entire Dreamcast’s guts, adding an LCD screen, forging a portable power supply, and fitting it all in one portable box is no easy task — so we salute you, modders. And we confess, we totally dig the brass hinges. Video after the break.

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Filed under: Gaming

Disney is to open a new facility in Austin, Texas with a focus on the testing of different advertising techniques on willing subjects. The aim is to find the most effective forms of advertising for use on Disney-owned stations such as ABC and ESPN.

The tests will be carried out in a laboratory created to look like a normal living room. Built into the room are a number of biometric tests that will monitor a range of rates and reactions of the subjects taking part. Those sitting in the room can have their heart rate monitored, their skin conductivity tested, and their gaze tracked.

Fluctuations in heart rate and skin conductivity are clear indicators of an emotional response to stimulus. Adding gaze tracking to that equation should help researchers identify which advertising prompts the best reactions. If Disney finds that certain advertising does create better responses from viewers, regardless of whether that is on TV, the Internet or mobile devices, it can then charge more for those types of advertisement.

Duane Varan, executive director of the Interactive Television Research Institute at Murdoch University in Australia will be in charge of the lab. He commented:

TV is not a rational medium, it’s an emotional medium … We can get to a deeper layer of what’s motivating people by seeing how they behave, observing them in experimental settings and seeing how their body reacts.

The new lab will not be ready to use until the end of this year, at which point up to 4,000 test subjects will be used in the research.

Read more at the Associated Press article

Matthew’s Opinion

It used to be much simpler for advertisers and broadcasters. The only mediums they had to deal with were television and radio, but now the viewing space has exploded to include the Internet and a plethora of mobile devices.

The Internet alone offers a host of different mediums including typical websites, television channels, music download services and the list goes on. Advertisers now can’t just limit themselves to thinking how to engage someone and get them to remember/want their product through a single channel. They need to cater for every channel be that TV, radio, mobile or Internet and make them gel together. The same ad shown on TV is not going to work on a website, but an advert still needs to be formulated for a website that reinforces the TV ad and vice-versa.

Setting up test environments for advertising is not a new phenomenon, it just seems like Disney are taking it to the next level by integrating a number of monitoring techniques into a single setting. It used to be researchers behind a mirror scribbling notes and the subjects answering questions on what they had watched.

by Nilay Patel, posted May 13th 2008 at 7:35PMCanon’s been known to leak an upcoming model or five in website descriptions, UPC codes, certification lists, and driver downloads, so pardon us if we’re not too shocked that references to a “Rebel XS / 1000D” have popped up in the latest version of the company’s RAW conversion utility. Of course, there aren’t any specs or pictures, but based on Canon’s naming scheme, we’d hazard that it’ll be a lower-end version of the Rebel XSi, replacing the now somewhat-outdated Rebel XT. Of course, that’s purely conjecture, but based on Canon’s track record with these leaks, we’ll know for sure soon enough.

[Via 1000 Noisy Cameras]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Leatherman Kick! Multifunctional Tool
The Leatherman tradition for exquisitely made pocket tools has received another significant boost with the arrival of the Kick!, a slimline 10cm device crammed with an array of handy implements that even the Swiss Army couldn’t do without.

So we’ve seen the Bold, seen that it will be in the same AT&T stable as the iPhone and at roughly the same price.  Brian Caulfield, over at Forbes wrote a post today on “why Apple can’t kill the blackberry.” In his post, Brian goes over the reason RIM is still in the fight is its back-end support.  His argument is the corporate folks need the infrastructure.  Brian misses it too.

What they miss is the internet.  More and more as corporations rely on global data, what goes on in Myanmar (you might remember it as Burma) affects us all today.  From stock prices to weather reports to even data the exists only on the web; businesses are becoming web addicted.  That is the killer app in the iphone: the internet.

Surely, Apple isn’t the first to bring this to consumers.  But they did it in the first way that is actually tolerable, if not fun.  Surfing the web on my ipod touch is fun.  The big screen and intelligent zooming is above all else usable.

The web on Blackberries, Palm, and the slew of WinMo devices doesn’t even come close and largely it has to do with screen real estate.  Maybe I’ve missed it but for me, the killer app is the internet and integrating maps, movies, music and all that great Apple Kool-Aid seems to be not just where Apple is headed, but where the industry needs to focus.

Maybe all we need is a good flip phone…nah.  Anyone seen the Thunder?  Perhaps they’ve got an idea on what is missing?

Read [Forbes]

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Yet another ultra-portable to be coming to the market, the MSI Wind is expected to become available here in the US on June 3, 2008 and similar to other notebooks in its class it will be offered with a choice of either Linux Novell or Windows XP Home as the operating system.

Aside from the difference in OS, there are only a few other small details that vary between models. Both will offer a 10-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, an Intel 945 GMS chipset, a 2.5-inch 80GB SATA hard drive, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, a 4-in-1 card reader, 3 USB ports and a built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam.

The Linux version will ship with a 3-cell battery and come with 512MB of RAM, while the Windows version will offer a larger 6-cell battery and have 1GB of RAM installed, it will also be Bluetooth equipped.

The dimensions are also just about the same with both models measuring in at 10.23 x 7.08 x 0.75-inches, and thanks to the smaller battery the Linux version will weigh in at a slightly lower 2.3-pounds as compared to the 2.6-pounds of the Windows version.

The price, at least according to MSI will be at “an affordable sub $500 price point.”

Product [MSI Mobile]

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In 2006, Dell acquired the high-end gaming PC brand Alienware to complement its own premium-gaming line of XPS computers. With a market worth around $12 billion, Dell’s investment in the gaming PC market by purchasing Alienware was a logical move. The company allowed Alienware to operate independently, but by doing so it created a problem in that they now had two competing gaming PC lines. Dell has admitted its XPS line has eaten into Alienware’s market share. As a result, the company plans to phase out four gaming XPS models from its lineup, streamlining their offerings and relieving their Alienware subsidiary of competition. Their plan is to essentially create two complementing brands, rather than two competing brands.

The reason why Dell took two years to realize the change was because the company originally thought the Alienware brand was hardcore enough that it would differentiate itself from their “family sedan” XPS line. Apparently, that wasn’t the case. Over time, Dell began to market the XPS as a high-end gaming machine, inadvertently creating competition within itself. In fact, some XPS systems in the past contained the same features and components offered in Alienware rigs.

It should be noted that not all XPS systems will be scraped. In June, Dell will be pushing all gaming-centric PCs to Alienware, while the XPS will morph into a more mainstream brand.

[Update] Dell has since released a statement on their Direct2Dell Blog in response to the phasing out of the XPS line. It turns out that the phasing out of the XPS lineup was a bit of an exaggeration. The XPS line will be continued, however Dell plans to expand their focus on Alienware.

“Dell XPS and Alienware are both great brands…and both will live on,” spokeswoman Anne Camden said in a blog. “But we are going to expand our focus on Alienware. We are going to invest like crazy in product development, design, and engineering to propel Alienware as the premier gaming brand in the future.”

Read [Tech News World] Update Via [CNET]

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Google Search is big, everyone knows that.  But what we may not have know is how big.  According to estimates, Google Search is on track to overtake Microsoft Windows business by this time next year.  But will that be all the Redmond giant loses?

The answer is unclear.  MS Office has dominated for years and as we turn to info in the clouds (Google Apps) the answer isn’t as clear as it used to be.  Googles answer to Office is at least handy, a downright bargain at best.  Google is fighting hard to get its apps into business and some are starting to swing to Google.

Henry Blodget, over at alleyinsider cites 3 main reasons for Googles success in comparing it to that of MS Windows:

• Both products are natural monopolies. Google’s share of the search market should continue to approach Microsoft’s share of the operating system market (90%+).
• Both products are wildly, fantastically profitable. Microsoft’s Windows business has operating margins of 75%-plus. So does Google’s search business (once you factor out the billions Google is spending on products that produce zero revenue).
• Google natural monopoly is growing a lot faster than Microsoft’s.

The battle over Yahoo was just the beginning folks.

Read [FT] via [alleyinsider]

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What’s the difference between a blackberry and an iPhone? A keyboard. Once Apple ships the iphone 2.0 software, with proper Exchange support and push email, the only real difference between the the handsets is the BlackBerry’s physical input. But it looks like RIM will be ditching it’s one advantage in a rumored new handset, the BlackBerry Thunder.

According to the Boy Genius Report, the new handset will be RIM’s first true touchscreen phone, with just four physical buttons. Available sometime in Q3, it will be an exclusive to Verizon (in the US) and Vodafone (Europe). The eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted that this requires support for both GSM HSPA and CDMA radios, which means this thing will work pretty much anywhere in the world. The picture above is not a leaked shot but a fantastical conjuring from the depths of Photoshop.

We doubt that this is the end for a real QWERTY on the CrackBerry. Instead, it shows that BlackBerry is feeling the heat from the iPhone and possibly releasing a copycat device. Let’s just hope there’s a decent web browser and an ipod in there too.

BlackBerry Thunder, the touchscreen BlackBerry we’ve all been waiting for [Boy Genius Report]

Bring back the smiles again on the faces of your friends by sending them some cool online SMS today. If you need to send a lot of text you can not opt for online sms for instance. This is the best alternative possible if you are looking for under 160 characters or you can even send more but it would mean fitting in more SMS messages.

The good news is that technology did advance and now we are dealing with a completely safe environment for sending online SMS if we do it right.

It is very, very easy to send sms using web technologies. Sending online sms the right way basically moves around one thing: choosing the right web sites to do so. You will need to follow some rules in our research for online SMS web sites:

• look for people which are users of this type of servieces and ask recommandations; forums and groups are a great way for that.
• the site must offer free trial of webSMS
• the site must have 100% uptime guarantee
• it also must offer a money back guarantee
• must have account manager
• look for no minimum contract, no prepaid credits.

Online SMS for companies

Online Short Message Service can give you fast access to the local mobile market and a global market of millions. Online SMS provides the power to get instant information direct to individually targeted customers, suppliers and employees via their mobile GSM handsets and mobile devices direct from your PC.