Mobile Devices

by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 5:10PM
Frighteningly enough, this isn’t the first (or second) time that we’ve seen scientists pat themselves on the back for creating a mind-reading machine, but a dedicated team from Carnegie Mellon has just announced a computer that “has been trained to read people’s minds by looking at scans of their brains as they thought about specific words.” In a completely unsurprising move, gurus familiar with the development are suggesting that the breakthrough could be used to better understand how the brain organizes knowledge, and eventually, treat language disorders and learning disabilities more effectively. That’s all gravy from here, but when this stuff starts passing as evidence in court, you’ll know it’s time to seriously investigate a relocation to Mars.

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

Do you have more room for another one of ‘em budget handycams? Adding to our choices of small and compact budget cams are not not just one but three models from RCA’s Small Wonder video camera product line. All three RCA handycams are not only packed with good features but more importantly they come in affordable prices as well, with two of them retailing for under a $100.

First up we have the EZ210 or the Small Wonder Traveler. This splash resistant handy cam boast of a 2.4-inch color LCD screen with high-visibility even when on a well-lighted environment at 320×240 resolution. It’s got a 2GB SD card which is good enough for one hour of near-DVD quality video recording. If 2GB is not enough for your needs, you can always upgrade up to 8GB SD card.

Next we have the EZ205 or the Small Wonder Summer with a 1.5-inch flip-out LCD screen for self-recording. This baby is loaded with a 1GB microSD card for a good 30 minutes of recording time if you prefer near-DVD quality or two hours if your recording with the intention of uploading your videos to YouTube and other web-sharing sites. You can also expand this capacity with up to 8GB of microSD card.

And finally we have the EZ200 otherwise known as the Small Wonder MyLife with basically the same features as the EZ205. The only difference is that it only lets you record videos in HQ mode rather than in near-DVD quality.

The RCA EZ210, EZ205 and EZ200 retail for $149.99, $99.99 and $89.99 respectively. All handycams will be available at Amazon just in time for summer.

Read [News.com]

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by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 3:11PM
Hah, did you really have the nerve to doubt CraigIX? The iphone gamepad add-on that we heard about just last week is already inching closer to reality, and there’s a video to prove it. In the somewhat unexciting clip posted up after the jump, you’ll see a PCB mockup of the device doing its thang, though it’s quite inelegant in its current form. If you just needed one more something to boost your interest / confidence that this critter was real, you know where to head.

[Via zodttd]

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Filed under: cellphones

Yahoo’s Messenger software has been around the block a few times, and the new beta version (version 9) of the software adds some new social features.  While the overall look and feel of the app remains very much the same, users can now invite contacts on AOL, Gmail, Orkut, Hotmail, Myspace, and others to connect through to the Yahoo service.  The new beta version will also sport slightly larger emotions, so you can “express yourself with more oomph.” Also present are the ability to play games with your contacts, right inside Yahoo Messenger.  The status bar is split into two sections: one for availability, one for a place to share a link or thought.

The full version for Windows is due out in Q3 of this year, with a Mac version coming later into the year.

Read [Yahoo] via [WebWare]

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Nope that’s not a portable GPS unit. In fact, its the latest portable media player offering from iRiver, dubbed the P.ple P10. First introduced at CES 2008, the P10 was expected to release Q1 2008, but iRiver was a little late in their delivery. Regardless, the company has now officially launched their ipod Touch rival in two forms: The iRiver P10 Standard ($328) and Pro ($398). Spec-wise, both models sport a 600MHz processor running a stripped down version of Windows CE, 4-inch TFT touch screen, 800×480 pixel resolution, e-book reader, and a 33GB hard drive. Both models also support PDF, Word and Excel files, and can playback Flash, MPEG, WMA, XivD, MP3, and WAV file formats. However, the P10 Pro adds an electronic dictionary (in English, Chinese, and Japanese) and a DMB digital TV tuner that’s only usable in Korea (so, I doubt this will make it Stateside).

Interestingly, the device has no physical buttons beyond the power and volume controls. It also utilizes a flash based UI that allows users to rearrange and organize the menu as they desire. But in all honestly, the top horizontal menu sure bares a strong resemblance to the iPod’s own, but being able to customize the main menu screen will surely be a welcomed feature. Now, if we can only get rid of that stylus…

Product [iRiver P10] Read [AVING]

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by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 10:14AM
Look out, naysayers — projectiondesign is giving this whole “3D revolution” thing some serious street cred with the F10 AS3D. Slated to debut at InfoComm 2008 in Las Vegas, the unit marks the company’s first active 3D stereoscopic projector. Notably, this isn’t the firm’s first foray into the third-dimension, as eight of its F20 sx+ PJs are currently being used in a 3D visualization system at Munich University. Moving on, we’ll also find its brand new three-chip DLP F80, which features a WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) resolution, ACOP (Advanced Color Optical Processing) technology and a stratospheric price tag (we’re guessing on that last one). We’ll be holding out for pricing / release information, but we don’t suspect it’ll be too long before those critical points get divulged.

[Via AboutProjectors]

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 31st 2008 at 12:24PM
A retailer taking pre-orders for phones that haven’t even been announced is considered business as usual, but there’s something just a little out of the ordinary with Horizon Wireless’ listing for the alleged touchscreen superphone outta Waterloo, the BlackBerry 9500 “Thunder” — it’s accompanied by a somewhat believable picture of the thing. Extreme blur always adds a healthy dose of credibility (we kid), but more importantly, the picture shows no telltale signs of being a render and looks essentially like what everyone’s expecting it to look like. blackberry addicts who’ve been desperately fighting the urge to go to the dark side, consider this your shot of willpower for the day.

[Thanks, Yasim M.]

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Filed under: cellphones, Handhelds

The Nokia N96, is now expected to ship in July of this year.  Announced earlier this year, the N96 once again pushes the upper limit of the Finnish phone manufacturer’s N Series.  The quad band N96 has Wi-Fi, GPS, and support for DVB-H mobile tv—all built in.  The phone sports a stellar 5 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and auto-focus.  A neat hardware feature of the N96 is a little kickstand for the device, enabling you to prop it up to watch videos.

Play.com has listed the phone for 599.99 GBP, which converts to 1,200 USD.  However, the Nokia MSRP is currently listed at a slightly more reasonable $800.  Either way, Play.com says the N96 will be shipping on July 31st.

Keep your wallets padded Nokia fanatics, because come July, they’ll be taking a heavy hit.

Read [Symbian Guru]

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FROM APPLETELL - With all the WDDC rumors flying around Worldwide Developers Conference 2008, it has become tough to keep track of them all.  Here is a list of recent rumors, and details on their credibility. 1.  3G iphone - Is the Pope Catholic?  I think that it is safe to say that… MORE »

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BlackBerry Smart Card Reader is the product that can be trusted by all the security-conscious organizations for ensuring high level of security and convenience in their smartphone communications. Designed to work perfectly with all the BlackBerry and Bluetooth-enabled devices, this smart card reader is capable of meeting the IT industry requirements.

Features

• All Bluetooth-enabled Blackberry devices.
• BlackBerry Enterprise Server Software v 3.6 and higher.
• All ISO 7816 compliant smart cards.
• Third parties able to implement support for any card using the published BlackBerry Smart Card APIs.

blackberry Smart Card Reader also gives out of the box support for common access cards (CACs) and DataKey/ Safenet 330 cards, 3V and 5V smart cards. BlackBerry Smart Card Reader is highly compatible with BlackBerry 7100 series, 7130 series, 8100 series, 8700 series and 8707 series.

Price and Availability

BlackBerry Smart Card Reader is available at a price of $ 199.99.

Source: Blackberry

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