Nokia made a rather large deal last night of the launch of two new “fashion phones”. The Nokia 8800 Arte ($1799) and Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte ($2099) are the latest iterations of the 8800 line designed for people with too much money to spend on their mobile phones. They were launched in Europe in November, but have finally reached our shores. You can find more images and info below the fold.
Now, a beer launching fridge I can understand, but a tennis ball cannon? I find it amusing when someone spends a tremendous amount of time and effort building something that can automate basic functions—like throwing a tennis ball to a wiener dog. But the results speak for themselves. It is an inspiration for lazy people everywhere. [BoingBoing Gadgets]
You may not be able to get your hands on Android just yet, but if you could, it would be possible to run a web server on your mobile phone using iJetty. The Java application can run as either a standalone server or in combination with an HTTP server like Apache (which might be a good idea considering wireless data and processing limitations). It will even allow users to remotely access data on their handset via their laptop or desktop—which is pretty damn cool. So, if you just can’t wait for Android to be released, a stable release of iJetty is already available for download. [ijetty via Linux Devices via PhoneMag via intomobile]
There’s a report in The Australian IT section today that has the managing director of BigPond saying that Telstra is the company best placed to implement the $4.7 billion FTTN network being financed by the federal govenment. Of course, he would say this, with BigPond being owned by Telstra and all.
“I can’t see how anybody other than Telstra can build a big, scaled and reliable broadband service for Australia because it is such a hard thing to do. It’s a huge project … it relies on a whole bunch of existing infrastructure and clearly Telstra is the right firm to do that job,” he told the Australian.
Actually, there’s a certain logic to what he’s saying — Telstra is the certainly the company with most experience implementing a broadband network in Australia. What has struck me, however, is how strange it would be for Telstra to win the tender, given it’s a large part of the problem the government is trying to fix.
Remember those glass blocks you would see in homes way back in the day? That crap was pretty tacky, but you still see designers utilising them from time to time even today. A new design for these bricks has emerged among the winners of the recent Red Dot Design Awards that uses LEDs to give the impression of changing light patterns stretching into an infinite space. Not much information exists beyond that, but I’m sure you can imagine how cool a room would look decked out in these. Then again, it could be tacker than the originals—just in a 21st century kind of way. [Red Dot Awards via DVICE]
TV2ART’s Kabé cabinet combines Japanese-style furnishing with Japanese-style shame, but in this case, it’s shame for the fact that you own a flat panel TV. The cabinet has two modes. The first mode makes it look like you’ve got a Rowboat scene going on next to a vase. The second mode, which is what you’ll have it in most of the time, makes the rowboat slide to the right and reveals the TV. You’ll be able to pick one of several styles, all of which illustrate that you aren’t really proud of your purchase. Incidentally, does anyone know the name of the song that they use on their site? [TV2ART]
Wired on Apple: “Pray” to “Evil Genius” in 11 Years
How things have changed.
Rumor: Windows Vista SP 1 Coming Tuesday?
It’s about time.
Apple iPhone 2.0 Patent Shows Dual-Touchscreen Flipphone
A glimpse at what the next iPhone may look like.
Swarovski Crystal Engagement Ring (With USB)
Is there nothing you can’t add USB capbilities to?
Citizen has taken the futristic route with the ITX21-5014 watch from their Independent line. Behind the machine-like watch hands is a green LCD, turned 90 degrees to the left, that displays the digital date, time, alarms, chronographs and timers. The watch is finished off by a checkered band and engraving along the sidewalls of the watch. While not quite the controlled chaos that best describes the average Tokyoflash watch, it’s pretty cool and out there for Citizen, who typically make more boring timepieces. The ITX21-5014 is currently selling for ¥22,900 in Japan. [Tokyoflash via Geek Alerts]
Safretti’s latest in their line of wall-mounted fireplaces for urban living spaces without proper wood burning ventilation looks a lot like a mouth. A mouth much like the mouths Seth MacFarlane likes to draw on inanimate objects on Family Guy, which is why we picture this thing spewing obscenities, as well as 7.1kW of heat from its alcohol-fueld fire hole. The bad news? That 7.1kW doesn’t really measure up against a real fireplace, so this is more for a mouth motif decoration than practical heating. [Safretti via Tuvie via MocoLoco via DVice]
The guys at Maximum PC have put together a hack using Skype that will allow you to make all of the phones in your office ring simultaneously—and the best part is that you will be able to keep your job when all is said and done. All you need to do in order to pull off this prank is $10 sitting in your Skype account and the time necessary to gather up phone numbers and set up a conference call. Then just start the call and watch the chaos ensue.
