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Showing posts from September, 2007

Aptera Electric/Hybrid Car, Pre-order for $500

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If you’re in the market for an environmentally friendly car that looks like an anemic space fighter, the Aptera may be for you. Unlike most electric/hybrid cars with this sort of look, the Aptera is actually going to be produced, and if you reserve yours now for a fully refundable $500, you can expect to receive it in (only) about a year. It seats 2.5 with plenty of room for luggage, and can supposedly hit 60 mph in about 10 seconds with an electronically limited top speed of 95 mph. More pics, and specs on the superefficienttotallybadass engine options, after the jump. The design of the Aptera includes everything you might expect to find in a “normal” car, including airbags, a rear view camera, GPS navigation, and CD/MP3/DVD player with XM. It also includes a RFID key fob to start the car, and a solar assisted climate control system that keeps the car comfortable using energy from solar panels in the roof while you’re out doing whatever it is people who drive cars like this do. When

Global USB VoIP Offered by Tesco StickPhone

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Every time I go to the UK, I fall in love with Tesco all over again. All those tasty and cheap and sorta kinda healthy pre-made sandwiches… Mmm mmm good. But Tesco is good for more than sandwiches (and cheap wine); they’ve just launched the Tesco Internet Phone, which is a USB stick with a mic, earphone, and some VoIP software. You can use it to make phone calls from any broadband connected PC in the world, which I guess means that the software is all internal to the USB stick. The hardware is £19.97 (which includes 1gb of storage on the stick itself), and unlimited worldwide calling and voicemail is £8.50 a month. A UK phone number is required which could be a good thing if you’ve got annoying friends. Oh, and Tesco is set to open their first US stores in California and Arizona by the end of this year, hooray!

D-Link's Green Ethernet

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D-Link has released the NWA-556 and DWA-643, where the former enables you to hook up to a wireless network from your desktop via the PCIe slot while the DWA-643 targets laptop owners with a USB port to spare. Both devices are Draft N 2.0 compatible and boast a maximum theoretical performance of 300Mbps. Additional features include WPA/WPA2 security as well as WEP data encryption, while the 11 year warranty (what a weird number) will definitely keep either going long after 802.11 has moved beyond the 'N' suffix. What's more, D-Link has also launched a new line of Green Ethernet products that consist of energy saving desktop switches which cater to home users and small businesses, touting energy savings of up to 44% compared to what's available on the market today. The DWA-643 and DWA-556 will retail for £59.99 each and are available this month, but its Green Ethernet switches will be up for sale in Q4 with no pricing details in sight.

Armani Phone with Built-in Rape Alarm

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I find it interesting that the Armani phone comes with a built-in rape alarm that is definitely a plus point in my book. It can be triggered via jeans or heavy material, so no worries if you need to access it even when your fashionable handset is lying inside your LV leather bag. All you need to do is pre-program the number of your five closest relatives and trusted friends under a special contact group, and whenever you feel threatened, just press the volume button four times to kickstart the safety feature that will send out SOS text messages to those aforementioned numbers. Not only that, the integrated GPS tracking system will activate immediately so that you can be easily tracked down. Why not make this feature standard across all handsets?

iRobot ConnectR, Video Robot with WiFi and VoIP

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iRobot introduces its ConnectR robot, a "virtual communication and interaction" device designed for use for the whole family. ConnectR has a zooming and tilting video camera, a microphone, speaker and headlight. The robot uses your home WiFi connection to allow you to place video VoIP calls to other members of your family. iRobot is launching a limited pilot program which will make the device available for $199 before its initial release. At the time of consumer release, the price is expected to be somewhere under $500.

Portable GSM Phone Jammer

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Want to know why I don’t got to the movies anymore? Because consistently and without fail all the times I’ve gone in the past two years I’ve sat behind or in front of — always very near — people talking on the phone. Seriously. So in leiu of throwing Junior Mints at them, I suspect I’ll just get this portable phone jammer for $166 and cut them off at the source.

Visa Micro Tag Keychain and Payment Device

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I swear, I have to get one of these if it kills me. For months now I’ve been watching those Visa and MasterCard commercials that showcase the RFID technology that’s in PayPass. You know, the one where the dude is running late and buys a pack of gum and a banana or something just by waving his credit card at a machine. Well now if you want to take it one step further, you should get a Visa. The new Micro Tag is a small key chain with a Visa logo that acts just like PayPass. Although you can only use this device on purchases $25 or less, it’s still a lifesaver when you’re in a pinch for time. I could definitely see this being handy when grabbing a last-minute snack at the airport. “M&Ms and a rum and Coke, please.”

USB Powered Rechargeable Shaver from Connectland

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If you ever needed an example of a gadget that should never have been made, it is the USB powered rechargeable shaver from Connectland. The Connectland model looks like it would have a heart attack at the thought of attacking any serious amount of facial hair. The components look low-end and unlike some comparably priced cheap battery powered razors, it does not have a trimmer. Shaving in the office would not be considered kosher anywhere that I have ever worked, so one has to think that Connectland would have done better to go with a vehicle cigarette lighter powered shaver. At least that way you can keep your grooming in the car, or better still, just take a quality electric razor with you.

New4LR, Open Source Powered Robot

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A German University (Technische Universität Darmstadt) is working on an Aibo-like robot that will come with an open-source software development kit (SDK). It is currently aimed at researchers and enthusiasts, but it is possible that someone will turn it into a product down the line. It is powered by two AMD Geode 500Mhz processors and is called “New4LR” (they don’t say, but Old4LR seem to refer to the Aibo). Specs: * 40x30x25cm, 2.8kg * 15 programmable joints * 640x480 pixel head camera * Infra-red sensors in the head and chest * Speaker and microphone (optional) * WiFi and Ethernet * Compact Flash (CF) reader * 2 USB, 1 VGA connector * 30mn of battery life (yikes!)

Wheel of Eternity, Hi-Tech Card Game

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Looks like even the traditional collectible card gaming system has not escaped the scourge of technology - Square Enix and Taito have teamed up to create a new game known as The Wheel of Eternity. This card-based RPG uses "sensing" cards that are placed in the game area, and these cards will be smart enough to react to their status, movement, and arrangement. Will this be the next big thing? I seriously doubt it will surpass the popularity of Magic: The Gathering or even Pokemon as the entry cost alone sounds pretty high.

Huawei E800: Skype Compatible Cellphone

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Huawei'e E800 portable phone cleared the FCC tests and should be available in the market soon. One of the interesting features of the E800 is that it is compatible with Skype - including presence, Skype Talk and SkypeOut. So is MSN, for that matter. Other features include IP TV/IP radio and web cam streaming. VoIP features include 3-way conferencing, caller ID, call hold/resume, and speed dial. The phone features a 2.2" QVGA TFT LCD at 240x320 pixels resolution and 65k colors. Measuring 135mm x 45mm x 18mm, it weighs 120 grams - a bit on the heavy side. It comes with 32MB flash memory and 64MB SDRAM, and offers a mini-USB socket for charging. Supported protocols include SIP v2 and SDP. Powered by Windows CE, it supports a slew of network protocols including TCP/IP. You can configure WLANs that will be accessed to make calls. No word on the pricing yet.

Orb, Funky iPod Docking Station

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  Here's a rather funky iPod docking station for the masses simply known as the Orb for obvious reasons. It comes with a "Made for iPod" certification, acting as a desktop docking station/speaker system that pumps out decent sound with its dedicated subwoofer.  Each purchase comes with a 10-key remote for easy adjustment of bass and treble numbers. In addition, the Orb is capable of synching with iTunes and boasts 30 watts of power that ought to be enough to rock your little world.  Choose from blue, red, pink, green, silver, black and white colors. The Orb comes with a recommended retail price of $129.95 and has already picked up the "Best New Product" title from Retail Vision.  If your iPod is a little lonely at home, the Orb sounds like a pretty good companion.

8GB iRiver Clix 2 Arrive in US

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Finally, the iRiver Clix 2 8GB model has arrived in the US, long after other countries have received theirs (especially folks living across the Atlantic). Thankfully, none of the features are gimped, retaining the 2.2" AMOLED display, an integrated FM tuner, a built-in voice recorder, USB 2.0 connectivity, and a rather impressive battery life of 24 hours. The iRiver Clix 2 8GB can be yours today for $239.99. Would you pick this over the new 3G iPod nano?

SanDisk Announced Sansa View Video MP3 Player

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Sandisk has announced the Sansa View video and MP3 player. In addition to play your MP3, protected and unprotected WMA, and WAV audio files, it support MPEG4, WMV, and H.264 video, and play them at 30 fps. There's more. You can also view your family JPG photos; it's Audible-compatible, for audiobook listeners; and it plays digital FM radio, with 20 presets. The screen is powered by a 2.4-inch TFT with 320-by-240 resolution. It'll have a voice recorder too, and a MicroSD/SDHC slot. I like its thin shape 4.29 x 1.95 x 0.35 inches. It'll weight 2.9 ounces. Sandisk is planning on 2 storage capacities: 8GB for $149.99 and 16GB for $199.99. Another iPod nano killer?

Nokia N81 Multimedia Phone

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If you can handle a bulky pocket and don’t insist on a real keyboard (or multi-touch screen), there really is no better way of of converging everything you’d ever want to do in your pocket. Enter the N81. It hits in two versions: One’s got 8-gig of flash, the other relies on your microSD card. Both have got stereo speakers, killer music format support (MP3, AAC, WMA, etc…), suppot for N-Gage games (!), an FM reciever, a sweet “Navi Wheel”, and play video via RealPlayer. All in all: Very nice! No clue on price, but you can bet it won’t be cheap (especially since Nokia is a fan of selling non-contract GSM phones, which means no carrier subsidy.) The Nokia N81 will be released in Q4 this year.