Gadgets Blog News

After the recent end of the cell phone ban in Cuba, locals have been lining up to get their very first mobile phones. Monday morning, Cuban locals were eager to get their mobile phones from state-owned phone offices after many decades of being deprived of hi-tech gadgets.

Reforms in Cuba brought about by its new President Raul Castro have allowed Cubans to get cell phones as well as DVD players and computers with Internet access even if restricted. All these electronic goods come with a high price tag though.

For years, a number of Cubans have been fortunate to own their cellphones, however, illegally, through foreigners who were the only ones authorized to own phones in the country.

(Read the full post about ‘Cubans get a hold of their first mobile phones’…)

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Samsung is set to launch an update of its Aura series laptops with new models that will be offered at even more affordable prices than its predecessor. For starters, Samsung will be releasing the R410, which is a direct update of the original R20 laptop.

The Samsung R410 will sport a 14.1-inch display and will weigh 5.29-pounds. It will have a glossy black finish to maintain Samsung’s tradition of bringing sleek and stylish computing machines. The Samsung R410 will come packed with Intel’s 45nm Penryn processor, an ATI Radeon Xpress 1250M graphics chipset, an integrated DVD writer, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and Super G Wi-Fi.

(Read the full post about ‘Samsung updates Aura Series laptops, unveils Penryn-powered R410 model’…)

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The famous GPS maker - Parrot - has presented a new speaker system, the PARTY Black Edition. It will become available on the summertime and cost 79. Besides the normal bluetooth connection to stream content from other devices like cellphones, MP3 players, and others, the system also features Near Field Communication - read the wiki for more info. Since the PARTY speaker is very light - 650 grams - it becomes portable, so you can enjoy the 6W of sound power almost everywhere. Audio effects: - Virtual SuperBass - improves the bass frequency. - Stereo Widening - enables a faux surround sound effect. (Read the full post about ‘Speaker System: PARTY Black Edition’…)

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Good on Cory Doctorow. His ISP, Virgin Media, has just announced that they are pretty much ignoring Net Neutrality and will give 2nd-class priority (or worse) to traffic from websites and services that don’t pay them a premium.

Doctorow says that as far as he’s concerned, they’ve just announced that they’re violating the agreement, and he’s canceling his service. We agree. No doubt this is not the last we’ve heard about this or on the subject of Net Neutrality.

Posted in Networking & Internet

Tags: AAC, games, cool gear, consumer electronics

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I used to have a friend who refused to listen to my rationale about why something like a PSP or Nintendo DS Lite was more cost-effective (not to mention better looking and more versatile) than her basket of those dedicated handheld games she’d get from supermarkets and drug stores. Unable to break through her steel wall of stubbornness, I eventually gave in and started buying her games to add to her collection. When I gave her some “big screen” version of Tetris a few years ago, she nearly keeled over from excitement. Never mind that the graphics looked like something from the original Game Boy (aka “the spinach-green era”); she couldn’t get over how “big” the screen was. (Read the full post about ‘Handheld Tetris game with color’…)

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Nintendo’s long awaited Wii Fit is finally set to be released on May 19th. Not surprisingly, demand is expected to be high, and orders are limited to 3 per household. You can pre-order now for $89.99 at Amazon. More on Nintendo Wii: Adjustable tv stand for Wii fanatics Nintendo Wii Gum Chocolate Mii for you and Wii Virtual chefs compete in a Wii cooking game Show off your Mii Tags: video, DVD, speaker, technology (Read the full post about ‘Wii Fit to be released May 19th’…)

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Consumers no longer have to break the bank to receive top-rate features in the increasingly popular GPS market. NAVIGON, the fastest growing GPS brand, today announced the retail availability of the NAVIGON 2100 max and NAVIGON 2120 max personal navigation devices (PNDs) in the United States and Canada. These devices provide exceptional and affordable value with top-of-the-line features, such as NAVIGON’s new DirectHelp(TM), a feature that pinpoints a user’s location and provides instant links to nearby services such as hospitals, pharmacies and roadside assistance. The devices also include a 4.3 inch widescreen and spoken driving directions via text-to-speech. (Read the full post about ‘NAVIGON 2100 max and 2120 max PND high-end devices with Reality View navigation’…)

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Tired o searching for your knives in kitchen? Then bring in the new Voodoo Knife Block, the perfect kitchen knife stand. This kitchen accessory has been designed by Raffaele Iannello. Voodoo Knife Block sports a manly figure and offers you to strangle it with five different kitchen knives.Available in red, black and chrome colors, Voodoo Knife Block is made up of ABS plastic. As mentioned before, Voodoo Knife Block comes with a five knife slots.

(Read the full post about ‘Voodoo Knife Block’…)

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Digital Trends reviews the LG CU720 Shine (AT&T) and writes, “The LG Shine for AT&T has a 2.0 megapixel camera with fixed focus lens and a flash. It takes great pictures by 2 megapixel camera phone standards. The still images have sharp detail and natural colors; they’re not overly sharpened or color saturated. In most outdoor shots, the contrast is very good. In some outdoor shots, there is a slight purple tint. The noise level in indoor shots is low by camera phone standards, and the light and color balance look good. The LG can take photos in 5 resolutions ranging from 1600 x 1200 to 160 x 120 photo caller ID. It also has a multi-shot mode and self-timer.

(Read the full post about ‘LG CU720 Shine (AT&T) Review - Digital Trends’…)

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This artsy Russian design studio Art Lebedev creation add an incredibly nice form to function as the Sonicum Iconic Speaker Set both looks sharp and sounds great. The speakers were designed to mimic the standard audio volume icons on your computer but even with the unusual shape the speaker set delivers crisp highs. The frequency range of the sub is 50-250Hz with the output power of 15 watts and the speakers range from 200 Hz up to 18 kHz with an output power of 5 watts. If you have a slick setup at home or work but your speakers don’t make the same statement, it’s time to upgrade to an Art Lebedev. Gimmie! (Read the full post about ‘Sonicum Iconic Speaker Set’…)

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