Gadgets Blog News

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 16th 2008 at 8:06PM Sure, there’s plenty of far fetched concept devices from big players like Nokia, but it’s nice to see that folks without millions of dollars in research funding can also come up with equally unrealistic devices, as evidenced by this so-called “Scroll” contraption created by 13 Tech Design. What’s more, this one doesn’t get by on looks alone, with it packing a touchscreen-based cellphone, a 10 megapixel camera and 1080p camcorder, various media-playing features, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, and a full-fledged computer that runs on Vista or XP. That’s right, it seems that even fantasyland gadgets need to fall back on XP. (Read the full post about ‘“Scroll” concept device packs everything but a sense of reality’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 16th 2008 at 3:29PM
Surely those rumored shots of TAG Heuer’s luxurious first handset from last week are still stuck in your head, right? Go on and purge those puppies right on out, as we’ve got the very first press shots (more in the read link) of the now-official Meridiist to focus our attention on. Reportedly, the handset was indeed developed in partnership with Modelabs, and beyond the all-metal casing, you can also expect a sapphire crystal screen, 2-megapixel camera, multimedia player, 1.9-inch QVGA display, Bluetooth and a battery good for 7-hours of yappin’ aimlessly about how pricey your new mobile is. (Read the full post about ‘TAG Heuer’s €3,400 Meridiist handset gets official’…)

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No, it’s not an android-like robot, but rather a big automated machine that sits next to a wall with its 13 cylindrical bins of roasted and raw beans. Six bins hold beans just before roasting.

The tubes are hooked up via a pneumatic mechanism. When someone orders a cup of joe, the Javabot kicks into action sucking enough beans over to the roaster, then the grinder and then into the brewing machine.

You can get a look at (and some coffee from) the Javabot at the Roasting Plant coffee store in New York City.

via everywhere.

Posted in Miscellaneous

Tags: wi-fi, cable, Hi-fi, gear

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by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 16th 2008 at 7:00PM It may not offer real-time translation, but Nomenta Industries’s new Trinvo talking translator looks like it should get the job done nonetheless, with it boasting cross-translation of no less than twelve languages (no word as to which ones). You’ll also get a 2,500 word dictionary, 750 commonly used sentences, sightseeing information, and some handy features like metric conversions and a likely not-entirely-up-date currency converter, not to mention some unspecified games. No word on a price or release, but we’re guessing it’s got to be quite a bit cheaper than some of the other suped-up translators we’ve seen. ReadPermalinkEmail this16 CommentsFiled under: Misc. (Read the full post about ‘Nomenta Industries intros Trinvo talking translator’…)

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by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 16th 2008 at 5:26AM
It was a long time coming, but we finally have a full review of Sony’s PFR-V1 “personal field speakers.” C|net’s intrepid review team took the headphones for a spin and unsurprisingly found them to be “expensive and impractical” and almost entirely lacking in bass. Goofy looks aside, they did move the music from inside your skull to in front of your face as promised. Of course, that little novelty comes with excessive sound leak to the annoyance of those around you. As such, the headphones are limited to at-home or closed-door office use unless you relish the scorn of others. (Read the full post about ‘Sony’s PFR-V1 headset rated “very good” despite impracticability’…)

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cellphones that can support 2 SIM cards at the same time are becoming more popular, and if you don’t want buy a top-notch LG/Nokia with that special feature, check out the simple DuoSim 228.

The lightweight phone comes with a touchscreen that measures 2.6-inches and works with T-Flash memory cards with a maximum capacity of 2GB.

(Read the full post about ‘DuoSim 228: Two SIM cards in one cellphone’…)

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Nomenta Industries has rolled out a portable talking translator known as Trinvo which is capable of cross-translating up to a dozen languages, virtually ensuring you don’t have to make desperate and even rude gestures the next time you have a nasty stomach ache in a foreign land. It comes with a 2,500-word dictionary and features sightseeing spots information, 750 commonly used sentences, the ability to save and recall sentences, a currency and metric converter and an adjustable screen contrast among many others. No idea on how much the Trinvo will cost, but it should come pretty handy if you’re a frequent traveler. (Read the full post about ‘Trinvo talking translator’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 16th 2008 at 2:34AM
Ah, Japan — it just gets all the dope controllers, doesn’t it? Just days after hearing that a Wii-white GameCube controller was headed there soon, a lucky, lucky member of Club Nintendo has unboxed his limited edition Wii Super Famicom Classic Controller. Yep, this token of nostalgia that we heard about way back in November of last year has finally arrived in the Land of the Rising Sun. Really, we can’t believe you — being the diehard Nintendo fanatic that you shamelessly are — haven’t already made it to the read link to check out the gallery of shots, but we won’t ask you to test your patience any longer. (Read the full post about ‘Limited edition Wii Super Famicom Classic Controller gets unboxed’…)

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Noise-canceling headphones be gone! Who needs inferior products such as those when you can comfortably sit back with two calls simultaneously with the Jabra M5390 dual Bluetooth headset? Talk about trying to tell everyone around you that you are busy, and can’t be disturbed no matter what. This mind-boggling device, in my honest opinion, is so dumb that it’s brilliant! With the Jabra M5390 dual Bluetooth headset, you can take calls from two different devices, like say a GSM handset and a Skype phone, at the very same time. It offers DSP noise canceling technology itself, although I’m not sure how well that would really work when you’re trying to listen to two different sounds at a time. (Read the full post about ‘Jabra M5390 dual BT headset has “leave me alone” written all over it’…)

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Dell announced two new models for its Vostro line-up, the 13.3-inch Vostro 1310 and 15.4-inch Vostro 1510. Both the Vostro 1310 and 1510 will have a thinner and lighter slot load optical drive than their earlier versions. The notebooks will have no trialware installed and will come with 10GB of free Dell DataSafe Online Backup and a free year of Dell’s PC Tune up service. Customers will be given the option to have either Windows XP or Vista installed. For their technical goodies, both 1310 and 1510 come with Intel Core 2 Duo processors, up to 4GB memory, finger print readers and other standard Vostro notebook goodies. Both the 1310 and 1510 are now available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with retail prices of $749 and $599 respectively. (Read the full post about ‘Dell intro’s new 15.4-inch 1510, 13.3-inch 1310 Vostro notebooks’…)

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