Gadgets Blog News

UrbanOutfitters.com knows that your appetite for food-shaped USB drives is absolutely insatiable. Don’t believe me? Then check out their 1GB pizza flash drive. What reason other than capitalizing on your foodie-drive hunger would the company have for charging $50 for portable storage that can often be had for less than $10? Via geeksugar. Tags: home theater, TV, design, dap (Read the full post about ‘Pizza USB flash drive costs a lot of dough’…)

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The FCC is taking a new look at the cell phone Consumer Empowerment Act. The act, passed in September of last year, is looking to implement a pro-rated early termination fee system. In such a system, the amount of the ETF would depend on how much of the customers contract has been completed at the time of cancellation. Until recently most providers have charged a flat $200 fee. Sprint and AT&T are already offering such a pro-rated fee structure, and T-Mobile has announced plans to do the same. The act is also asking the FCC to order cell phone providers to allow customers 30 days or 10 days after their first bill to cancel with no fee, however most carriers already offer this. (Read the full post about ‘FCC considers move to regulate early termination fees’…)

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Motorola has the honor of announcing its new smallest body-worn TETRA Covert Radio, known as the TCR1000, offering full featured TETRA radio functions for users who are involved in covert operations. This new radio is thin enough to be concealed in light clothing without ever raising so much as an eyebrow, offering secure communications with encryption features that is touted to improve operational effectiveness in the field. The TCR1000 is so small that it tips the scales at a featherweight 180 grams, making it light enough that you might even forget it is there in the first place. Being this light also makes it a snap for officers to conceal their equipment during dangerous covert operations, making them one with the crowd in order to ease the burden of their duties. (Read the full post about ‘Motorola unveils smallest TETRA Covert Radio’…)

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by Tim Stevens, posted May 26th 2008 at 1:07PM Last week Nokia promised an update was coming to the North American version its venerable N95, the N95-3. But, the company played coy and failed to mention any details other than availability in “early June.” We’re not even out of May yet but the 20.2.011 firmware update is ready and initial reports are good. Boot time has been reduced to 19-seconds from about 30, camera start-up is now a quite snappy two seconds, support for Flash video has been added, and there’s even a suite of new N-Gage game demos included in the deal. That’s the sort of update we can sink our teeth into — even if European N95-1 users have already been chewing it for months. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia N95-3 update released early, performance improved’…)

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by Donald Melanson, posted May 26th 2008 at 8:44AM There aren’t many sorts of vehicles that haven’t been solarized, but it looks like Dutch company Czeers has managed to find one, with it now showing off what it claims to be the world’s first solar powered speedboat. Dubbed the MK1, the solar panel-ensconced vessel can apparently reach a top speed of 30 knots (or roughly 35 miles per hour), all the while operating in relative silence. The company doesn’t seem to have overlooked the other parts of the boat either, with it also boasting touchscreen-based control system and a suitably luxurious leather interior. No word on a possible price or release date just yet, naturally, but you can catch a g (Read the full post about ‘Czeers shows off “world’s first” solar powered speedboat’…)

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by Thomas Ricker, posted May 26th 2008 at 8:16AM There you have it, Sonos’ reputed ZP120 zoneplayer mounting its chubby ZP100 Appalachian cuz. The new amplified zoneplayer adds 802.11n to the mix while ditching the analog outs. Also rumored is an un-amplified, 802.11n ZP90 to replace the ZP80. When? We have no idea but you’ll know when we do. Backside front after the break. (Read the full post about ‘Hot Sonos ZP120 on ZP100 action spied’…)

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Move over, 007 – the doors to spy craft just opened to the public. Sharp recently announced its new 5-megapixel CMOS camera (RJ63SC100), purportedly the world smallest. Measuring in at only 9.5 x 9.5 x 6.6mm, the device even offers auto focus for better image quality. The new camera will expected to be available for mass production in July. The camera’s diminutive size, surprising thinness, and high resolution would enable future devices (phones, etc.) to have ultra small cameras.  While it is easy to see its use in the race for smaller and sleeker phones, more inventive uses (shades cam? Camera in your shirt buttons?) are also possible.  Via [Hiptop3] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! (Read the full post about ‘Sharp unveils smallest 5-megapixel camera’…)

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by Thomas Ricker, posted May 26th 2008 at 6:47AM While we wait, and wait… and wait for manufactures to perfect long-lasting fuel cells, Apple and others are pursuing at least one other approach: solar augmentation. In a patent application dated April 24, 2008 and titled “Solar cells on portable devices” attributed to a number of Apple employees, Apple reveals possible plans to integrate solar cells into devices such as iPods and MacBooks. The application describes a scenario where, “Solar cells are typically stacked with other layers made of transparent or semi-transparent materials… (Read the full post about ‘Apple files patent for “solar cells on portable devices”’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted May 26th 2008 at 5:03AM Not to get all scientific on you or anything, but a team of Imperial physicists have just figured out a way to use plastics in laser diodes. For the uninitiated, scientists have been unable to make plastic semiconductor laser diodes because they had not yet found / developed “any plastics that could sustain a large enough current whilst also supporting the efficient light emission needed to produce a laser beam.” Now, however, that obstacle has reportedly been overcome by making minor tweaks to a given plastic’s chemical structure, and the resulting material will transport charges some 200 times better than before without impeding its ability to emit light. (Read the full post about ‘Physicists develop plastic semiconductors for laser diode use’…)

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by Thomas Ricker, posted May 26th 2008 at 3:52AM Remember when Samsung was pumping out cameraphones with increasingly ridiculous megapixel counts? At the moment, phones top-out at about 5 megapixels. Until this, the 8 megapixel C280 with 3x optical zoom and claimed 1600 ISO support (right) from the previously unheard of K-Touch. Ironically, it might very well be using a CMOS sensor from Samsung. (Read the full post about ‘K-Touch’s 8 megapixel C280 cameraphone flaunts Canon image processing’…)

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