Panasonic’s Headphones Packaging Trumps Even Apple’s [Design]

July 29, 2010 by Sid  
Filed under News, Phones

Must not buy these Panasonic RP-HJE 130 headphones for the packaging alone. Must...not...buy...headphones...[Coloribus via Scary Ideas via OhGizmo] More »


Where’s Your Magic Now, Magic Trackpad? [Apple]

July 29, 2010 by Sid  
Filed under News

The alien autopsseurs over at iFixit pried the Magic Trackpad apart like Arthur pulling the sword from the stone. The big surprise? ...there weren't any. It does use the same touchscreen controller chip as the iPhone, however. What's that mean? More »


Subscribe pillow adds some geekery to your home

July 29, 2010 by Sid  
Filed under News

It goes without saying that most people these days have at least one social networking account, and it is pretty interesting to see that having a “Like” button is associated with Facebook, while most sites have a “Subscribe” button for you to select. How about sprucing up your humble abode with something from the realm of computers? We’re talking about the Subscribe pillow you see here, where it is carefully hand-crafted to make sure that no two in the market are the same, and filled with polyester fibers while being made out of 100% fleece, you can be sure that this 13″ x 7″ will give tired heads a more than welcome respite at the end of the day. You can subscribe, er, purchase one of these for $29.


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[ Subscribe pillow adds some geekery to your home copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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Motorola manages $162 million Q2 profit, turns that frown upside down

July 29, 2010 by Sid  
Filed under News

Motorola manages $162 million Q2 profit, turns that frown upside downIt's a good day here, because rather than poor 'ol Sad Moto we get to bust out Happy Moto, as Motorola has released some good news in its Q2 financial report. Earnings were $162 million, up from $26 million this time last year. That sounds like a big jump, but compared to overall sales of $5.4 billion you can see things are still rather tight -- especially since those sales were down from $5.5 billion the year before and all-important mobile device sales figures dropped six percent to $1.7 billion. Also, these numbers were boosted by a "significant legal settlement" valued at $228 million. Maybe intellectual property wasn't the only thing Moto got from RIM?

Motorola manages $162 million Q2 profit, turns that frown upside down originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over 1m Android Users’ Details Were Compromised Thanks to a Malicious App [Android Apps]

July 29, 2010 by Sid  
Filed under News

Does "Jackeey Wallpaper" sound familiar to you? If you downloaded one of their Android apps, then there's a good chance your privacy was compromised. According to telecoms security company Lookout, the app was sending users' info to a Chinese website. More »


Japan says Apple iPod nano is a possible fire hazard

July 29, 2010 by Sid  
Filed under News

Japan says Apple iPod nano is a possible fire hazard

Japan's industry ministry has just ordered Apple to report on selected steps it will take concerning cases of its iPod nano portable media player overheating, bringing along the risk of having it catch fire in the process. So far, overheating cases concerning the 2005 iPod nano while charging has caused at least 27 incidents, where out of those half a dozen fires were recorded which required firefighters to be called - this was made known via an official from the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry. Apart from that, four different people suffered burns when they touched the device which overheated during charging. It seems that the ministry issued Apple Japan to take market measures numerous times, but nothing has been done to date. Do you think iPod nanos in other countries also suffer from the same fate? If that is the case, things aren’t too rosy for Apple considering it has the Death Grip issue to contend with that might cost the company at least $175 million to fix.


Permalink: Japan says Apple iPod nano is a possible fire hazard from Ubergizmo | Hot: iPhone 4 Review, iPad Review

Samsung Wave mobile phone | Gadget review

July 29, 2010 by Sid  
Filed under Mobile Phones, News, Technology

A crisp, bright screen makes this smartphone appealing – but Samsung's new in-house operating system doesn't

What is it? Samsung Wave GT-S8500 – the first device to run Samsung operating system Bada

Category: Hardware and software, given the newsworthy nature of operating systems these days..

You'd use it for... On the move, personal or business. It's not going to intrude on BlackBerry's ground as leading high-performance business mobile device, but the Wave sits happily as a phone suited to staying up to speed while on the move.

First impressions: what is it like to look at, to hold, to use? Perfectly good look and feel to the phone, a sturdy but slender shell encasing a fairly high-spec bit of mobile kit. It's when you activate the screen things start to go downhill.

The home screen – quite separate from the screen of apps – has six iterations as you swipe your finger right-to-left, inching across a background of some picturesque eastern European town square.

Each of these five modules is for housing a quick access single widget – but the access isn't so quick after four or five swipes of the finger. Navigating from the home screen to your downloaded apps directory takes another click. Granted, the software is snappy and quickly responsive, but these things all pile up in the "pointless" file.

And you can't swipe up to the URL bar in the browser, forcing you instead to press an on-screen button. Seems needless.

What does it really do well? Mobile internet has a well-suited clean font, made all the more appealing by the crisp super AMOLED screen. Put the Wave side-by-side with an iPhone 4 and a 3G – you'll see the difference. FYI: guardian.co.uk looks better on a Wave than a 3G.

Keyboard keys appear far too close together, but typing seems to work fine if not more usable than on the iPhone. When browsing the web, pinching zooms are clunky and not instantaneously responsive.

Video playback is impressive, on the eyes and the ears. Creating media is a good experience too, the 5MP camera shooting strong video and stills taking allowing nifty features like user-directed focus.

What's the cost? Around £300 sim-free; a 24-month contract, free handset, will set you back between £25-£45 per month.

What's it up against? A smartphone market with less wiggle room than the App Store. It's a relatively ruthless market out there for high-end devices, software increasing in consumer importance at a rate of knots.

With Bada, Samsung is late to the party and forgot to invite its marketing muscle. For this reason alone, Wave falls short of the majority of recently-released Android devices – Samsung have plenty of work to do before the release of Bada-powered Wave 2.

Blind us with the tech specs, then: Quite a few headline tech specs come with the Wave: the 5MP video/still camera will draw the punters - 5x zoom for stills and 720p video recording make the feature more than adequate; the Super AMOLED screen is a turn on, but likely only to the techies.

As light as any iPhone, the Wave is slimmer but only at a stitch. At 3.3 inch, the Wave screen limits its viability as a comfortable-to-use mobile internet device. With 2GB internal memory as standard, most users will require a MicroSD card (up to 32GB capacity).

What's it good for? Taking and sharing decent-quality stills. It would be good for accomplishing tasks quickly if there weren't so many naggingly bad points of user experience making pretty much any task an exertion.

What are its failings? One word: Bada. A few more words: the cramped feeling while using SMS, the uneconomic use of the 3.3 inch screen made worse by the majority of the screen having a black (or very dark) background even when running apps.

Will I have to read the manual? Does anyone still read manuals? If new to Samsung, you may need to Google "Help! I've accidentally locked my Samsung Wave – what now?"

How long is the battery life? With its 3G signal sensor turned off, the battery will last you over 24 hours from full – more than can be said for any iPhone before 4.

What's its USP? The Wave's USP would have to be the Super AMOLED screen which, on this score alone, puts it near top of the class for smartphones. That said, I don't know one single person who's been sold a phone on screen specifications – and it's not great marketing fodder either.

Rating out of 10: 6.5

Finally, is it worth it - yes or no? Not at the current price. There are countless devices (and countless yet to be released) doing a better job and with a better operating system. Don't hold out for the Wave 2.

Rating: 3/5


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NZXT Phantom proves there’s still life in chunky desktop towers

July 29, 2010 by Sid  
Filed under News

Did the recent reappearance of the Phantom console spark a tiny bit of nostalgia in you? If so, you'll be happy to hear that NZXT has picked up the moniker for its latest full tower chassis, and it's a fittingly futuristic-looking beast of burden. The angular steel enclosure provides tool-free access to five 5.25-inch drive bays plus the room to fit in 7 HDDs, 7 fans (up to a mammoth 230mm size), and a dual radiator within its walls. A top-mounted mesh window is accessorized with a slightly more useful array of USB, E-SATA and audio ports, while the innards are specifically designed to accommodate the bulkier graphics cards and CPU coolers out there. Sounds like a winner to us, and the $139.99 price seems about right for a flagship product that aims to tick all the boxes -- see the Phantom on video after the break and expect it to arrive, in all its glorious hues, this September.

Continue reading NZXT Phantom proves there's still life in chunky desktop towers

NZXT Phantom proves there's still life in chunky desktop towers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony details UK Move contents, pricing – Computerandvideogames.com

July 29, 2010 by Sid  
Filed under News


Spong

Sony details UK Move contents, pricing
Computerandvideogames.com
Sony's re-confirmed its UK pricing plan for the PlayStation Move, as well as detailing the contents of the controller's Starter Pack. The PlayStation Move Starter Pack will include the Move controller, a PlayStation Eye camera, starter disk with ...
PS3 Move Starter Pack Contents Priced & DetailedSpong
Sony details UK PlayStation Move pricingPlayStation Universe
Sony Confirms PlayStation Move Pricing For The UK, Is Very ReasonablePushSquare.com (blog)
Made2Game (blog) -Eurogamer.net -AdLand (blog)
all 7 news articles »

Sony details UK Move contents, pricing – Computerandvideogames.com

July 29, 2010 by Sid  
Filed under News


Spong

Sony details UK Move contents, pricing
Computerandvideogames.com
Sony's re-confirmed its UK pricing plan for the PlayStation Move, as well as detailing the contents of the controller's Starter Pack. The PlayStation Move Starter Pack will include the Move controller, a PlayStation Eye camera, starter disk with ...
PS3 Move Starter Pack Contents Priced & DetailedSpong
Sony details UK PlayStation Move pricingPlayStation Universe
Sony Confirms PlayStation Move Pricing For The UK, Is Very ReasonablePushSquare.com (blog)
Made2Game (blog) -Eurogamer.net -AdLand (blog)
all 7 news articles »

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