Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Phones
NEC N905i Sports 5MP Face-Detecting Camera, Everything Else We Love in Japanese Phones
9:00PM Matt Buchanan | As enthralled as I’m not with the Japanese mobile market, I’m kinda geek-jonesin’ for the smoking red and black flavor of the NEC 905i. The headline-grabber is its 5MP camera with face detection, which can lock onto three grills simultaneously for optimal vogueing—a feature usually reserved for bigger, badder shooters. The W-CDMA and GSM-packing clamshell is also loaded up with a crispy 3-inch, 480×854 resolution screen and H.264 video recording in VGA resolution, HSDPA, GPS, plus the usual support for a bunch of media formats, and a Yamaha sound engine for decent audio playback. Dropping in Japan only Nov. 26, but you can ogle the pretty pictures anyway. More »
Random Stuff
The Force is Concealed Within the Yoda Reversible Pillow
8:00PM Haroon Malik | Pillows are very useful, but when they are not offering support or cushioning, they may as well be plushie Star Wars characters. Think Geek’s reversible Yoda and Vader cushions are from that very same school of thought. For $29.99, you can procure a pillow that will ensure you do not suffer from any form of lumbar discomfort following a night’s rest, and on waking, you can then turn the glorified bedding inside out, revealing either Yoda or Vader. You choose. Hell, why not go nuts and get them both? You could even fashion them into friends/partners that care about you! Wow—a friend and an essential bedroom furnishing item, all wrapped up into one product. These truly are crazy times. [Product Page via Shiny Shiny] More »
Phones
System Fonts for Android Look Clean and Google-y
7:30PM Matt Buchanan | Font talk isn’t exactly stimulating (unless you’re scary weird), but it’s worth giving the fonts Ascender’s developed for Android’s system UI a close look since you’ll be looking closely at them in Android’s app menus, web browser and other texty situations. Overall, they seem pretty clean with a nice smoothness to them, and if they’re being accurately represented size-wise, definitely readable from a decent distance away. More specifics, and your thoughts, this way: More »
Screens
Dell’s New 30-Inch 3008WFP LCD Loaded With DisplayPort, Dual DVI and HDMI
6:30PM Matt Buchanan | Succeeding the 3007WFP, Dell’s latest 30-inch deskbuster LCD, the 3008WFP, packs the much-ballyhooed DisplayPort input with its visual-cortex-pleasing 2560×1600 resolution support and 10.8Gbps data rate. (Samsung was actually first out of the gate with its DisplayPort-sporting 30-incher back in July.) The 3008WFP’s more pedestrian inputs are a pair of DVI ports, HDMI, component vid, S-Video, composite, and VGA. No word on what other specs got bumped (contrast ratio, etc.) vs. its now lesser predecessor or a street date, but our eyes drip with anticipation while we look for enough stuff to plug into it. [The Inquirer Thanks, John!] More »
Vehicles
Venturi Mini Car Bluetooth Hub Brings It All Together
4:01PM Jennifer Hooker | The petite Venture Mini Bluetooth car hub is a combination FM transmitter, speakerphone, A2DP streamer and 12V charger. It can pair with up to four devices simultaneously and features in/out audio ports to connect your DAP. There’s also a standard USB port for charging. For an improved speakerphone experience, there’s a noise isolating mic. Its coolest trick is the ability to display incoming call info on your car’s radio display using RDBS technology. Look for it in December for $130. [Venturi] More »
Home
Sound Asleep Pillow: Because Nobody Wants to Listen to Your Crappy Music
12:40PM Sean Fallon | If you are the type that enjoys listening to some quiet music when drifting off to sleep, keep in mind that your partner may not share that characteristic. Perhaps it is time to stop being selfish and pick up one of these Sound Asleep Pillows. By hooking an iPod or other MP3 player into the jack, you can listen to soft music from a speaker buried deep within the pillow. In fact, the sound is so gentle, only you will be able to hear it. You will be happy and your partner will be happy —which could save you from an untimely death by smothering in the middle of the night. [iwoot via Random Good Stuff] More »
Phones
iPhone Getting Spotlight Search in 2008
12:36PM Brian Lam | Gene Munster predicts that the iPhone’s next major update will come in February 2008, and along with the long-awaited SDK the iPhone will get spotlight-like search functionality. That would make searching mail a lot better than it is now*. [AppleInsider] *can’t do it More »
Vehicles
Arantix Carbon Mesh Bike From Delta 7: Light, Sturdy, Shrapnel-Resistant? (Video)
12:31PM Wilson Rothman | Delta 7’s Arantix bike frame is see-through and weighs just 2.75lbs but is so strong there’s no rider weight limit. It’s made of Isotruss, a material consisting of carbon fiber strands bent into a wide mesh to emulate the sturdy geometry of steel truss structures. That tech ain’t cheap: Expect to pay $7,000 when it ships next spring (frame only—the other parts will run you $4K more). We are a little creeped out, though. If it’s all about sports, why this talk about how well it withstands shrapnel hits? When we asked about military applications, one of the Delta 7 dudes said, simply, “Rapid deployment.” Kinda alters the significance of “light artillery.”–Video by Richard Blakeley [
Networks
T-Mobile’s $18 Phone Upgrade Fee is Confusing, Stupid
12:20PM Sean Fallon | According to an email shared by a source with our friends at the Consumerist, starting today T-Mobile will begin charging existing customers an $18 fee when they buy a new phone. Apparently the new fee will help underwrite the cost of selling subsidized phones to new customers. Now here’s the confusing part — if an existing customer is upgrading their phone, but not extending their contract, the fee will not be assessed. Perhaps they feel that any potential anger resulting from this charge will subside after a fresh two-year contract expires. Hopefully we will learn more when we receive some confirmation on this issue. [Consumerist] More »
Peripherals
