Gadgets Blog News

The new Microsoft shopping cart promises turn your next mundane shopping trip into an adventure! Four years in the making, collaborating with Texas-based MediaCart Holdings Inc, Bill Gates has launched a grocery cart-mounted console that does everything but remove money from wallets to pay for items! It helps shoppers find products, then scan and pay for them without having to wait in line at the checkout counter (a blessing in itself). But Bill Gates is not completely altruistic. (Indeed, no mogul ever really is.) Microsoft’s acquisition of Quantive, an online advertising company, last year for $6 billion increased the company’s capacity to serve video ads onto these grocery cart screens. (Read the full post about ‘Grocery carts and video screens: Reading the minds of shoppers’…)

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AT&T currently has a special $99 promotion on the red LG Shine, BlackJack II and the BlackBerry Curve 8310. The promotion is valid through Valentines Day, which for those that may need a reminder is February 14 and they all require a 2-year agreement with purchase. “Chocolates and flowers are standby gifts for Valentine’s Day, but this year we’re spicing things up by offering terrific deals for those who want to go with something different,” said Andy Wilson, vice president of National Marketing for AT&T’s wireless unit. A nice offer for those looking to make a switch to AT&T, all three phones (personally I would prefer the Curve) would make a great primary phone, especially for only $99. (Read the full post about ‘AT&T offering $99 Valentine Day specials’…)

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Posted Jan 19th 2008 3:37PM by Darren MurphFiled under: Peripherals, Portable Audio Yeah, the whole igloo comparison loses some steam once you peek this thing from the side, but when glancing it head-on, we can’t help but be overcome with imagery of our childhood days spent in the plains of Greenland. Unfortunately, this thing’s ability to conjure up said memories is probably its standout feature — well, aside from the RF remote that enables users to browse iPod content right on its screen (shown after the break). Outside of that, you’ll find a totally average speaker setup consisting of twin one-inch tweeters and three-inch woofers along with a set of touch-sensitive controls atop the device itself. (Read the full post about ‘DLO’s iBoom JukeBox mildly resembles an igloo’…)

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Posted Jan 19th 2008 11:13AM by Darren MurphFiled under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs Our eyes may still be slightly out of focus from the complete lack of sleep obtained while at CES, but the two Inventec UMPCs purportedly going by 7-A / 5-D sure look a heck of a lot different than the model we peeked in Vegas. As you can glean from the image above, the UMPC 7-A sports a nifty slider design that supposedly places the QWERTY keyboard at a “more natural angle” for the user. As for the so-called UMPC 5-D (shown after the jump), it ditches the aforementioned design and takes a more modular approach to satisfy those who just adore buying a new dock for every handheld they own. (Read the full post about ‘Inventec’s UMPC 7-A and 5-D get pictured’…)

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Verizon has recently begun selling the Venture Mini, a wireless FM transmitter with A2DP Bluetooth support. This means when the Venture Mini is in use, you will be able to be listen to music from your phone and have the music silence automatically when a call comes in. The unit features a built-in noise-reducing microphone along with call end/receive buttons, play/pause buttons along with music and cell phone buttons. There is also a scroll wheel in the center, but its unclear as to what that will control, possibly the volume. The Venture Mini plugs directly into the 12v outlet in your car which depending on the placement could make it difficult to use. The Venture Mini is currently available and retailing for $129.99. (Read the full post about ‘Venture Mini hands-free calling/FM Transmitter now available at Verizon’…)

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Posted Jan 19th 2008 9:06AM by Darren MurphFiled under: Laptops, Tablet PCs Fujitsu’s marvelously light LOOX U50XN — better known as the U810 here in the States — just keeps getting better. Apparently, to-be owners in Japan can now snag one with an oh-so-coveted 64GB SSD, though all the other specs look to remain identical to what we’ve already seen. ‘Course, adding such a fine piece of hardware won’t come cheap — as a matter of fact, you’ll be forced to cough up an extra ¥95,000 ($887) for the privilege. (Read the full post about ‘Fujitsu’s LOOX U50XN now configurable with 64GB SSD’…)

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We all do embarrassing things when we are young, but at least for my generation they tended to stay in the past and away from the eyes of prospective employers, but for todays social networking generation I wonder how much of what seems like a good idea now may come back to haunt them in the future as more and more employers turn to social networking sites to find out more about potential employees. But as ever with the Internet a new business trend is emerging to resolve this problem. Companies like ReuptationDefender will charge £20 to provide a monthly report about every piece of information about you on the Internet. (Read the full post about ‘Tidy up your Online Profile’…)

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Roberts Radio Company has just presented their newest digital radio named MP-Sound41. It can be considered an unusual device, due to the unusual features. The feature list isn’t the only detail standing out, because the design is the other one - good silver color, nice handle, and an awesome (blue) display screen. As for the special functions, the Electronic Programming Guide technology lets the owners set 12 different recording sessions, with 7 days in advance. Another option for the EPG technology, is to simply record the radio content into a (SD) memory card - in this case the limit is 8 hours. You can also use the radio as an alarm clock, and by doing so there are 3 different alarm sounds: normal buzzer, radio, and a specific track on a SD card. (Read the full post about ‘Roberts MP-Sound 41 – Not a normal radio’…)

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A few months ago, we highlighted the coolness that is the Gisteq Photo Trackr, a pocket pocket sized GPSs device that allowed photographers to geo tag their pictures and plot them on any google map or flickr mashup. And although this device is awesome for hard core shutterbugs travelling the world on $40 dollars a day, users still had to synch the pictures up with software on a PC. The next step is here with the ATP Electronics GPS Photo Finder that bypasses all that. A one stop shop for geo tagging, the Photo Finder is still pocket sized, but has software built on board to automatically synch and write GPS location data into saved photo files directly. No lugging around the laptop, not third party software. (Read the full post about ‘New Geo Tagger makes picture taking alot easier’…)

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Ever find yourself in the position where your favorite TV show comes on in two minutes and you can’t find the remote? I hate that. Now sure, with the advent of digital video players (DVRs) most people are setting their boxes and forgetting it. But you still have to find that damn remote. Then again, if it’s on your wrist you don’t have very far to look, do you? The Multimedia Remote Watch has 19 decent size buttons, which help to control not only your TV, but it will also work as a universal remote for your VCR, DVD, and even your satellite box. The buttons operate the typical Volume, channel switching and power ON/ OFF functions, in addition to an 8 digit calculator, calendar, stop watch with split functions down to 1/100 of a second, and alarm signals. (Read the full post about ‘Remote control tells time … or is it a watch change channels?’…)

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