Archives for July 2007
iPhone accessories we could see soon
Jessica Dolcourt | Jul 04, 2007
Tech's latest bundle of joy, the Apple iPhone, has been brought into the gadget world with plenty of clip-on cases and headphone adapters that eager users can show off as soon as they rip the iPhone out of its sleek, black cardboard box.
However, there's still much to anticipate in the way of compatible third-party peripherals like those that have been bestowed upon the iPod, iPhone's suddenly-neglected cousin. Take the iPod shoulder bag and famous iCarta iPod toilet paper holder pictured on the left, for example. Yet it's only a matter of time until our favorite phone accessory manufacturers cook up products for the newest celebrity gadget. Here are some possibilities:
1. Branded iPhone cleaning kit
When spit and a t-shirt corner aren't enough.
2. Battery-operated stylus
Generates enough heat to activate the touch screen, improving typing efficiency for the square-fingered and long-nailed iPhoner users among us. Also relieves repetitive stress for marathon typers.
3. Beeping locater device
It's a US$600 phone; do you want to lose it?!
4. Battery for iPhone port
A slim, external battery that plugs into the iPhone's proprietary USB port would charge 'er up when other electrical outlets are scarce.
5. Bluetooth iPhone remote
For taking self-portraits, navigating through videos, and selecting songs without having to finger-trawl the interface.
Via CNET Crave
Samsung YP-E3: Made for China
Nate Lanxon, CNET.co.uk | Jul 04, 2007
This morning we're directing your viewing spheres towards some fresh digital meat all the way from the 21st century Orient. No, it's not an oriental rug with sewn-in speakers. That would be stupid. We're introducing you to Samsung's YP-E3. It's a USB stick-styled MP3 player with a dinky colour screen and good old-fashioned FM radio functionality.
So far we've got no confirmation that this is going to make it onto any shores other than China, so excuse us for potentially giving you the same experience as almost sneezing and then losing it. That out of the way, we think the E3 looks pretty tasty--it's roughly only 50mm in length. We're looking at 1GB of memory, four lines of text (in two colors, no less) and about 11 hours of battery life.
There's support for MP3 and WMA and it'll come in a range of colours. If you're a sucker for good-quality sounds you'll appreciate the inclusion of DNSe audio-enhancement technology. Oh, and it'll display lyrics, too. Marvelous if you fancy making everyone else in your train carriage embarrassed.
Frankly we're a touch underwhelmed by specs alone, but Samsung doesn't really have a player that fits into this category, so the E3 has potential for the company. We'll keep you posted as to availability but don't pause your next purchase in hope of this player being out anytime soon. It'll sell in China for around 419 yuan. Go on, Samsung, bring that over here for that price and kick some, er, buttock.
Larger image of the YP-E3:
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Next Palm OS not until 2008
Tom Krazit | Jul 04, 2007
Palm won't be able to put out its Linux-based version of the Palm OS until next year, the company said last week. This is a slip from earlier expectations that it would be out later this year, according to Brighthand. Palm announced in April that it was developing its own Linux-based version of the Palm OS despite a similar project from Access, the company formerly known as Palmsource.
Palm OS, which is actually now known as Garnet OS, has been looking older and older next to newer mobile operating systems such as Windows Mobile, as well as that iPhone thing you might have heard about. Palm wants to migrate Garnet OS to a Linux core while maintaining support for older Palm OS applications, but the project will apparently take longer than expected.
That means that Palm will continue to compete against the iPhone and other challengers with Garnet OS, which hasn't been updated in years, and Windows Mobile. Palm has freely admitted that it's worried about the iPhone, warning investors last week that it might post a loss next quarter because of the iPhone mania. The company recently cut an equity deal with Elevation Partners and is under fire to come up with its next big thing. I'm not too sure that will be the Foleo.
Via CNET News Blog
USB Tranquility Ball
Juniper Foo | Jul 04, 2007
Stressed? Well, there's now a solution which comes via USB (but of course) for the desktop masses. This USB-powered orb cycles through seven hues to achieve some sort of color therapy that supposedly lowers your blood pressure. And if it doesn't work, well, you can always hurl it at that co-worker who's pissing you off, which believe you us is far more satisfying for relieving all that tension. Ooomm...
Click for bigger image here
Via Ubergizmo
Price: US$9.99
Availability: Found retailing at Kleargear
Device: USB accessory
Specs: N.A.
Sony launches FZ series in Asia
Darius Chang | Jul 03, 2007
Descended from the FE series, the new VAIO FZ sports the same slim chassis as its predecessor. But is a refreshed chipset the only differentiating factor?
A cursory inspection will probably reveal that the Santa Rosa-based portable sports an HDMI connector for streaming high-definition video to an external display. However, one would have to look closely at the specification sheet to realize that the FZ series may be one of the first portables to incorporate an SDHC-compatible slot. The SD card format has a 2GB restriction, thus the newer SDHC standard was announced which allow capacities to exceed the previous limit. Unfortunately, SDHC is not backward-compatible. Hence, though you may use an SD card in the SDHC reader, you cannot read SDHC in older devices.
The FZ series comes in three flavors with different processor clock speeds justifying the respective prices. The VAIO VGN-FZ15G costs S$2,499 (US$1,837.50) and has a Core 2 Duo 1.8GHZ processor. The VGN-FZ17G goes for a 2GHz chip at an additional S$500 (US$367.65) premium, while the top-of-the-line 2.2GHz VGN-FZ18G model retails at S$4,699 (US$3,455.15). The latter is priced so much higher because it incorporates a Blu-ray optical drive under the hood. All models come with a 15.4-inch display with an Nvidia GeForce 8400M GT graphics processor driving them. The 15.4-inch FZ notebook may be rather light for its category. Unfortunately, the tradeoff is that it has only an ExpressCard/34 slot, while other similarly sized models use the larger ExpressCard/54 interface.
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