Tuesday, August 14, 2007
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Walt Disney Calls BS on “Baby Einstein Melts Your Baby’s Mind” Study
11:46PM Seamus Byrne | Reporting scientific research in the mainstream media is generally difficult—results have to summarized and simplified for non-scientist folk, and more often than not, wind up sensationalized to make for better headlines. Walt Disney’s claiming that’s exactly what happened with the widely reported (and mocked) results of the Baby Einstein study. I’m not a scientist, so I’ll leave it to their respective lawyers to decide who’s right and who’s wrong. Press release after the jump. More »
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iPhone 100% Unlocked Using Turbo SIM Card
11:45PM Seamus Byrne | According to the usual suspects, now you can 100%-unlock the iPhone using a Turbo SIM card, without depending on the version of your current carrier card. Testers say it will give you full calling, SMS and GPRS data capabilities with any network and no extra hardware needed, since it only requires you to modify the $80 blank SIM using your own iPhone. More »
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Fujitsu Ships LifeBook T2010, Lighter Than Ever
11:35PM Seamus Byrne | Fujitsu just began shipping the LifeBook T2010, one of the lightest widescreen convertible laptop tablets yet, weighing just 3.52 pounds. It’s put together in that same kooky form factor as its brandmate, the P1610 with the screen that swivels around every which way so you can use it as either a stylus-driven tablet or a conventional laptop. There’s nine hours of battery life, a spill-resistant keyboard and slots for most varieties of flash memory, plus a PC card, slot, too. Take the page jump for some purdy pictures and pricing. galleryPost('fujitsu2010', 4, 'LifeBook 2010'); This LifeBook’s 3.5-pound weight makes it a whole lot more appealing, and its 12.1-inch 1280×800 screen is probably just about the optimum size for such a form factor. If you really want to extend that battery power, you can opt for that same 32GB hard drive introduced with the other Fujitsu LifeBooks last March. The LifeBook T2010’s pricing starts at $1599, available today. [Fujitsu] More »
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Logic3 First Out with iPhone-Dedicated Speaker System
11:06PM Seamus Byrne | Logic3 has beaten everyone else to the punch with its i-Station Traveller for iPhone. Just 6.7 inches across, the system can go lengthways as well as widthways. Four-watt output, 35 mm neodymium drivers, and compatible with other media players, the i-Station Traveller costs £29.99 ($60). Another pic and press release after the jump. More »
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Hands On With Fujitsu’s $999 LifeBook U810 UMPC
11:00PM Seamus Byrne | We told you they’d been promising it, but the specs have been shuffled a bit. Here’s the final product, the LifeBook U810. Now that it’s shipping on Sept. 18, it’s sporting a new lower price and some nice new features… galleryPost('FujitsuLifeBookU810', 8, 'Fujitsu LifeBook U810'); For $999, the 1.5 lb. handheld tablet comes preconfigured with 1GB RAM and 40GB HDD. The system delivers 5.5 hours of battery life and it’s got a 5.6″ LCD screen. There’s an SD slot and separate slot for CF, and there’s a convenient thumbstick at the top right for cursoring around the screen. Some little features did come as a surprise, especially for the price, such as a fingerprint scanner, the integrated Bluetooth and the VGA camera, as well as an included dongle for monitor and Ethernet. There’s just one USB port, and the U810 supports all wireless except N. Speaking of wireless, during the first quarter of next year, a step-up edition will go on sale with HSDPA wireless for AT&T customers. Oh, and although the demo model they showed off had a matte white exterior, it will only be available in black finish in the US. More »
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Samsung F310/B&O Serenata Details Leaked
10:08PM Seamus Byrne | Back in May there was a sighting of an interesting new phone on the FCC website. Now, a Russian cellphone retailer has passed on some more details of the Samsung F310, also called the B&O Serenata. More »
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Bluetooth Vibrator Converts SMS to Tingles
9:29PM Seamus Byrne | The Toy is a Bluetooth-enabled vibrator that converts texts from a loved one into a sequence of different vibrations. There’s 45 different patterns that correspond to letters and numbers, and each text is converted into a string of these patterns – that gives you 7,200 variations to play with. It only responds to tagged messages, so there’s no danger of a text from your mom scarring you for life. More »
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Ultra-Sleek Samsung Yepp YP-P2 Has Touchscreen, Bluetooth, Video Playback
9:09PM Seamus Byrne | Yes, we got new impressive models from Samsung. And the YP-P2 —the flash-based multimedia player these sexy cyborg ninja killers are carrying— is not bad either: glossy thin design, beautiful interface running on a big touch-screen, iPhone-style home button, music. video, radio, pictures and even Bluetooth, as you will see in the video demostration after the jump. galleryPost('samsungypp2', 4, 'Samsung Yepp P2 Player'); More »
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46 Million Nokia Phone Batteries May Overheat, Cook Your Genitals, Buttocks
9:02PM Seamus Byrne | Nokia has announced today that 46 million of their batteries are at risk of overheating, offering to replace them free of charge. There is a chance that a short circuit could occur during charging, and apparently 100 cases have already been reported. The batteries in question were all made by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006, and are all of model number BL-5C. [Reuters] More »
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