Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Phones
Is This the Palm Treo 800W?
11:58PM Mark Wilson | We’ve seen the first alleged specs, now here’s the first alleged picture of the long-awaited Palm Treo 800W. Let’s run through the leaked product test. Tiny image? Check. Pixelated? Check. Cellphone camera origin? Fail. But two out of three ain’t bad. And while we hate to get ahead of ourselves, we’re ready to celebrate that the Treo’s antenna is officially dead. If the picture is fake, we’re guessing it’s a pretty good mock-up since the button layout more closely resembles that of newer Palm models like the Centro. But at least in my book, the Treo needs an extreme makeover (phone edition) to capture my heart again. Screw functionality, I wanted sliding, clicking and some sort of gesture hologram smell control. [treocentral] More »
Phones
Ridiculously Stripped-Down Sanyo Phone Runs On 1 AA Battery
11:43PM Wilson Rothman | Designed to look like some kind of oversized battery, this crazy phone actually runs on just one small AA. There are some tradeoffs: it’s voice only, so no 3G or SMS; also, there’s no camera or MP3 player, or even a damn screen to look at. Just those weird little buttons. You get five hours of talktime, then you toss the battery—or charge it up. (We’re guessing this is a not-so-subtle attempt by Sanyo to promote its rechargeable NiMH Eneloop batteries.) Sorry all you budding ascetics out there, this sucker is Japan only. [Crave] More »
Gadgets
Origo Guide Pro Fishing Watch
11:31PM Mark Wilson | For those who like a little cheating with their fishing, the Origo Guide Pro fisherman watch may be a good fit. After measuring 30 hours worth of temperature and pressure, the watch will alert you to the best time to procure the species of the aquatic. Plus, it features some other handy measurements like an altimeter accurate within a foot and a digital compass that just might save your life. For those without either the patience of fishing or the $60-$100 to plop on this watch, don’t fret. We hear the mercury content will kill you anyway. [popsci via ohgizmo] More »
Gadgets
Breville BKC600XL Gourmet Single Cup Brewer Debuts in Shiny Stainless
11:25PM Charlie White | If you’re no longer content with the simple Senseo, now you can get the Breville BKC600XL Gourmet Single Cup Brewer, a single-cup coffee maker completely covered in stainless steel. Hey, it even has a backlit LCD screen that gives it that extra high tech goodness. At $299, it aims to please with a charcoal filter for the water tank and a reusable coffee filter, too. There’s also a storage bay up top that holds a few Keurig K Cups, those easy-cleanup single-serve coffee pods that are available in around 150 varieties of your favourite beverages including good old java, cocoa and tea. Coffee snobs need not apply, but this is the high-end of the “easy-bake oven” class of coffee making. [Breville, via Single Serve Coffee] galleryPost('brevillecoffee', 4, ''); More »
Entertainment
Blu-ray Outsells HD DVD Nearly 2-to-1 in US
11:04PM Wilson Rothman | Home Media Research reports that from January 1 through September 30, Blu-ray sold 2.6 million discs in the US, while only 1.4 million HD DVD discs were sold. Since it ended in September, the count doesn’t include Michael Bay’s reluctantly sold 190,000 Transformers HD DVDs, a figure which will probably continue to rise, adding to the HD DVD camp’s overall numbers. And the numbers may shift more favourably towards HD DVD as Paramount and Dreamworks maintain exclusivity for at least 17 more months. Nevertheless, it does suggest that, still without serious pushes from Fox and Disney, the Blu-ray posse is maintaining its lead, and even growing it: Since the advent of high-definition discs back in spring 2006, just over 3 million Blu-ray discs have been purchased stateside, while only around 2 million HD DVD discs have sold. [Reuters] More »
Networks
Microsoft Not Interested In 700 MHz
10:29PM Mark Wilson | Most of us have been expecting Microsoft to counter Google’s promise to bid on the illustrious 700 MHz spectrum this January with some cash of their own. But according to Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer, the company is opting to pass on the opportunity to capture a piece of the sweet, sweet radio spectrum. At CTIA he explained: What would it buy us to buy a piece of spectrum, one piece of spectrum in one country…It would do a lot to alienate the [entire] telecom industry. More »
Phones
Nokia’s Point&Find Technology Both Useful and Creepy
9:44PM Addy Dugdale | Nokia has used its The Way We Live Next show in Finland to reveal the company’s Point&Find system. In a nutshell, the cell phone company is developing the technology to allow you to point your phone at any object — restaurants, cinemas, even that cute girl you see on the bus to work each morning (er, are you sure about this? Ed) — and the information will immediately be downloaded to your phone. More »
Gadgets
AppleStore Erroneously Mentions 80GB, 160GB iPod Touch (The Teases)
7:40PM Haroon Malik | Firstly, calm yourselves. Secondly, if you follow the link you will notice an advertisement for an iPod touch sleeve. So, what’s interesting about that? Well, the features list includes this little nugget; “Custom fit for 80GB and 160GB iPod touch models.” It certainly seems feasible somewhere down the road, but we wouldn’t recommend getting too excited; it is most likely just a typo. Oh, Steve! Why must ye torment us thus —specially Frucci and Jesus? Check out the error after the jump. More »
Random Stuff
Betty Crocker LEGO Cake Recipe Makes Us Want to Build Giant Sweet Death Star
7:16PM Jesus Diaz | As I look now to my just-arrived Ultimate Collectors Millennium Falcon giant box with a mix of fear and excitement before my hands-on test, I came accross this recipe for perfect-looking yummylicious LEGO block cakes. And at last, right there, for a few seconds, my life was perfect and complete. Until I realised that licking the screen was getting me nowhere. [Betty Crocker via swissmiss] More »
Phones
