Gadgets Blog News

Posted Mar 19th 2008 3:14PM by Donald MelansonFiled under: Robots It may look like something that emerged from a DIY enthusiast’s basement, but a post-graduate student at the University of Bath says the robot crab pictured above could one day change the way underwater exploration is conducted. As with so many other robots, that feat is done in no small part by mimicking the behavior of an animal, in this case a crab, which obviously lends itself particularly well to traveling both on land and underwater. (Read the full post about ‘Robot crab prototype boasts Technics today, terror tomorrow’…)

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It’s no secret that mobile web usage is steadily gaining popularity nowadays, especially as more and more companies are working together to bring users a better overall experience while accessing the Internet with their products. The Web’s biggest search company, Google, mentions that there has indeed been a rise in mobile Web use. In a report by Reuters, Google cites that their recently released mobile plug-in software, has largely helped in increasing mobile Web usage. I agree with what Google states, but I think this is really because of the collaborative effort of all companies involved in mobile Internet, including the software developers, as well as the product manufacturers themselves. (Read the full post about ‘Mobile Web usage at an all time high, says Google’…)

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If you’re one of the millions that didn’t heed our warnings about buying into the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray format war, and ended up making the wrong choice, you may be getting a little medication to help ease your pain. Those who purchased an HD-DVD Player or XBOX-360 add-on drive at Best Buy before February 23, 2008 will automatically receive a $50 gift card good towards anything in the store.

Some may look at the $50 gift cards as a token gesture, considering that HD-DVD playback devices sold between $180 and $500 until Toshiba pulled the plug back in February.

(Read the full post about ‘Best Buy Prescribes Millions in Gift Cards to Ease HD-DVD Buyers’ Pain’…)

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Are you an avid golfer who wants to fill up your head with everything golf, including golf course data from all over the US? If so, then the Never-Search for Golf software is perfect for someone like you. Never-Search for Golf is a golf course location guide, containing a complete and comprehensive array of golf course contact information, course data and location information… all mapped with unprecedented accuracy to verified coordinates. Designed to appeal to travelers desiring to locate and qualify a golf course in an unfamiliar area, and to golfers who want to expand their area of play. (Read the full post about ‘Never-Search for Golf’…)

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Most British readers will be familiar with entreprenuer Martha Lane Fox, or with her most famous invention at least: super successful holiday site LastMinute.com. Along with Lastminute business partner Brent Hoberman, Oxford-educated Lane Fox has launched a new interior design site called MyDeco (tagline: “Wipe your feet and come on in”) — and it looks like being just as big. The site is beautifully designed (I literally said “Ohhh!” when I saw it) and like many homeware sites, showcases an exciting array of furniture from the unique to the practical. But the site offers something different, too: the chance to make changes to your home from the comfort of your chair. (Read the full post about ‘Mydeco: decorate your home without moving your butt’…)

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Poor Americans! They have finally received the Nokia N95 8GB model while the rest of the world have long enjoyed the uber-capable smartphone’s release for quite some time now already. This means those living Stateside can finally rock on with this handset that features a wide range of portable entertainment functions and high-speed HSDPA connectivity on 850/1900 MHz networks in the Americas. Each purchase will come with half a dozen months’ worth of free navigation service which comes included with Nokia Maps. According to Bill Plummer, vice president, Nokia Americas, “We’re excited to now offer this all-in-one powerhouse of a multimedia computer in the United States. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia N95 8GB finally arrives Stateside’…)

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Posted Mar 19th 2008 9:35AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Misc. gadgets
Hate surprises? Like teaching kids about the Santa myth and the truth of their adoption? Good, this followup series of Dell scoops is for you. We’ll be back in a few with the first peek at Dell’s second generation Latitude XT tablet. And that’s just the beginning. Until then, why not guess what that mystery device is up top.

Hint: It’s not as innovative as it looks.

Tags: toys, cool gear, video, technology

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Polaroid had announced they were leaving the instant picture business and with that many people thought they would just quietly disappear. Well it seems that has been quite the opposite, just recently they had announced the ZINK printer and now they have announced the Freescape 4360 portable media player. The Freescape 4360 features a 4.3-inch 16:9 widescreen display, 60GB of internal storage, Wi-Fi, FM tuner and TV-out. With a rechargeable Li-ion battery it will offer up to 16 hours for audio playback and 4 hours for video playback. The Freescape 4360 has support for MPEG4, WMA, WMV, MP3 and JPEG formats, with some speculation that there will be a future plugin for DivX. (Read the full post about ‘Polaroid expanding again, intro’s the Freescape 4360 PMP’…)

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Rumor has it that Nvidia is currently in discussion with VIA Technologies and a possible acquisition is in question but VIA is said to be setting a very high price tag. According to DigiTimes, the possible Nvidia-VIA scenarios include acquisition of VIA’s processor division, a strategic alliance, or the acquisition of the whole company. Since VIA is slowly going down in terms of profits, it may as well rethink of opening up with a much lower price. No official word yet was given out by Nvidia because they said this is just a market rumor so a comment is unnecessary. Even VIA denies the speculations and says that an acquisition isn’t cooking up and is determined not to give up the x86 CPU division. (Read the full post about ‘Rumor: Nvidia to acquire VIA?’…)

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In a move to help those upset customers who purchased an HD DVD player, Best Buy has announced they will begin offering $50 gift cards for those who made their purchase before February 23, 2008. Considering the HD DVD players will still function and work fairly nice as an up-converting DVD player this $50 gift card offer sounds nice, but just in case you absolutely want it gone, there is also a trade-in program to consider. The $50 gift card offer requires the HD DVD player have been purchased at Best Buy, however, and this is where some good news comes in. The Trade-In Center Program will allow anyone to trade in their ‘old’ hd dvd player and also their HD DVD movies whether purchased at Best Buy or not. (Read the full post about ‘Best Buy offering gift cards, trade-in program for HD DVD player owners’…)

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