We learned about the Eternity, or A867 as it’s also known only last week, and now over at BGR they’ve got hold of more leaked info. It’s a slender full-touchscreen 3G mobile phone, with GPS, AT&T mobile TV support. But it’s got just a 3-megapixel camera instead of the rumoured 5-megapixel. It uses the Touchwiz UI, which lets you send SMSs in landscape mode, and it looks like it’ll be just $US99 after a $US50 mail-in rebate, competing it nicely with the iPhone—though it’s not quite so capable. It’s also due in stores very “soon,” although it’s passed an earlier-rumoured November 4th launch date. [BGR]
When Bang & Olufsen, maker of very expensive things that use electricity, let slip a photo of their upcoming BeoSound 5 home media controller, I saw a lot of potential. The interface looked nice, the hardware classy, and the screen crisp — in other words, if this thing connected with network music shares and played nice with a variety of home A/V equipment, it could be a winner. Well, we’ve got our hands on the official announcement, and it looks like we might have been a little optimistic.
The Moshi IVR clock is one of those rare, heartwarming products that serves two marginalised demographics: the blind and the chronically rude. For blind folks the benefit is obvious, as all of the clock’s major functions are controlled with simple verbal commands. This includes alarm deactivation, but not necessarily how you’d expect. “Gggugugughghghhhhh” or “SHUT UP” won’t do the trick — you’ve got to greet Moshi to initiate voice commands, then politely ask it— uhh, her — to turn off the alarm. Sort of like if you’re talking to a human, if that human hovers by your bed and played a plastic recorder into your ear every morning at 7:30am.
Nokia’s just dropped the E63 onto the scene, based on the E71, and aimed at bringing “the QWERTY keyboard form factor to a broader audience at a great price” according to Nokia itself. The skinny BlackBerry-alike candybar is also designed to meet the needs of a business phone and personal phone in one device, switching between corporate email/calendar mode and personal email/websites/photo mode. It also comes with 1GB of cloud file storage on Ovi so users will always have access to some of their files, and has Wi-Fi connectivity. We also know it has a camera, 3.5-mm audio jack and is in blue or red but Nokia’s not revealed much else about its innards. Debuting in Europe for around $US250. [Nokia]
One of the most hilarious things I’ve seen in China is the number of small mobile phone companies churning out perhaps less-than-genuine iPhones. Though originally nothing more than crappy shells with barely a sliver of the original’s functions, now many of them boast specs that’ll actually cause you to give them a second look–including, if you’re lucky, touchscreen goodness! Today we look at the Sciphone V188.
I’m a big fan of (Product)RED. I think Bono’s idea to get international companies to donate a portion of their profits on certain red-coloured products, no matter how small, to fight AIDS in Africa is brilliant. But that’s the thing – the products are all red. But now that Dell has gone and released some (Product)RED laptops with special designs on them that aren’t red, well it feels just like the Large Hadron Collider exploded and we’re living in an alternate dimension to reality…
There are three new designs from artists Joseph Amedokpo, Siobhan Gunning and Bruce Mau under the (Product)RED banner that you can choose when you purchase either a Studio 15 or Studio 17 notebook from Dell. With each sale of one of these laptops, Dell will be donating $20 to fight AIDS in Africa.
The other two designs are below. If you were considering picking up a Dell lappy, then you should definitely consider getting a (Product)RED model – not only do they look good (even if they aren’t in red), but you will be making a difference, and that’s the fashionable thing to do these days, isn’t it?
If there’s one thing you can’t overstate, it’s how much the Chinese people loooooved the Olympics. So it was kind of expected that Chinese fireworks makers would capitalise on the magic of the Opening Ceremonies by selling similar DIY pyrotechnics. This Chinese New Year, watch for the Bird’s Nest series of fireworks going off all over the country, including smiley faces and footprints, blossoming peony flowers and “silver and red waterfalls.” Gizmodo-readers in Beijing can grab their share of explodey things at over 200 locations across the city come Nov. 15th. [The Beijinger]
One of the main reasons I won’t go near prepaid mobile internet options is because I hate not getting what I pay for. I mean, if I buy 1GB worth of data, I should be able to use that 1GB whenever I want, not just within the next 30 days. And although that’s unlikely to change with any of the networks in the near future, 3 has just slightly improved the situation by offering pre-paid mobile internet that has a 365 day expiration period.
For $149, you get 12GB of data that you can use any time you wish over the next 12 months. Of course, you’ll also have to pick yourself up an internet key ($129) to use the service, but that’s not too bad. And if you, unlike me, reckon you could fly through your mobile data within 30 days, there are also a heap of other options for you, which are detailed below the fold…
For those of you who like to listen to music from your MP3 player with your friends, but only remember to carry around one pair of headphones, S1 Audio’s BudBud earbuds come with an extra pair of buds that are already built-in. You can select when you want to use both pairs of earbuds using a switch on the wire, and when you are finished sharing your music, just snap the extra pair back into the back of the original buds. [Sync1 via DVice]
The Gadget: Monster’s Turbine “In-Ear Speakers”, their first ear buds and followup to the Beats By Dre cans, they claim audiophile quality for a reasonable price.
