Gadgets Blog News

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 30th 2008 at 1:37PM Netgear looks to be doing its part to bring every last home network into the Wireless-N fold, with the company now rolling out its appropriately-named Wireless-N Upgrade Kit, which includes a 5GHz Wireless-N HD Access Point (WNHDE111) and that RangeMax Dual-Band Wireless-N USB adapter (WNDA3100) that made an appearance at the FCC earlier this year. Like most such kits, the included Access Point can function either as a standalone bridge (including with a game console or media receiver) or as a full-fledged 5GHz Wireless-N access point when it’s connected to an existing router or gateway. (Read the full post about ‘Netgear rolls out Wireless-N Upgrade Kit’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Jul 30th 2008 at 10:23AMMSI told us that a 6-cell version of its briskly-moving Wind was on the way. What it failed to mention, however, was the $50 premium that would be tacked on. The units including a 6-cell battery have been popping up in a few e-tailers here recently, with prices ranging from $559 to $599. According to an MSI representative, however, the official MSRP for the 6-cell units is $549.99 (versus $499.99 for the 3-cell edition). As you can tell, it seems that some places are taking the liberty of bundling in a little profit while demand is high. Worse still, users who managed to get their orders in at Buy.com for a $499.99 6-cell unit are now receiving cancellation notices. (Read the full post about ‘MSI Wind with 6-cell battery to sell for $50 more’…)

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As we mentioned last week, Palm was getting ready to send out the update that would enable Bluetooth voice dialing for the Treo 800w, and that update has since been released. Current Treo 800w users can head on over to the Palm website and grab the needed update, and take your pick of installation method. The voice dialing update can be applied from a desktop download, an over-the-air download or even using a microSD card. In order to apply this update you need to be running software version TREO800w-1.03-SPNT, you can check your current version by going to Start -> Settings -> About -> Phone Tab. (Read the full post about ‘Palm enables Bluetooth voice dialing for the Treo 800w’…)

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So, we saw the hands-on review come in for RIM’s first venture into the clamshell market and things continue to seem to be pretty promising, that is assuming the price is close to the rumored $49. Now to add a little more tease, the team over at CrackBerry have released a nice (and thorough) 9-minute video of the Kickstart 8220 in action. Of course caught in the action is the heart of the handset, the OS 4.6, but they also demonstrate some other goodies to include the web browsing, trackball, display, and the large SureType keyboard. Initially, I was not all that excited to see RIM venture into the clameshell style market, but after seeing this in action and shown next to the Pearl, all I can say is that the Pearl had better watch out, because the Kickstart looks very nice. (Read the full post about ‘BlackBerry Kickstart 8220 shows itself on video’…)

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For those of you who like to keep up with the latest in mobile electronic devices, you might want to look into Sky Link, as they have two new devices released simultaneously.  The first is the Ubiquam U800 a mobile phone that has a blackberry look to it, and definitely targeted for the businessman.  The second is a handset known as the AnyDATA ASP-505 cell-phone, a PocketPC powered device.  The Ubiquam U800 has EV-DO capability, as well as GPS navigation.  The display is 240 x 320 resolution display, and a full QWERTY keyboard.  It also has MP3 playback, Bluetooth connectivity, as well as a microSD memory card slot.  As for the AnyDATA ASP-505, it supports CDMA and EV-DO.  It has a 2.8-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth 2.0 capability, Wi-Fi 802.11, and USB connectivity.  There is a built-in microphone and speaker, as well as a 2-megapixel camera.  It also has Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, and a microSD memory card slot.  Unfortunately, there is no word when these two devices will be available, so we also don’t have a price.  Via [ubergizmo] Via [ubergizmo] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! (Read the full post about ‘Sky Link’s New Mobile Devices’…)

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In a statement released with Garmins earnings report, the Nuvifone has been pushed back from its original estimate of Q4 of this year to the “first half of 2009”.  Surely, it is not the navigation part of the convergence device that is slowing the team down, or is it? Perhaps Garmin is holding off to see what kind of impact, if any, the iphone makes on their sales and how they respond to it.  Presumably, any sales of the Nuvifone would cannibalize sales of their stand alone navigation units.  Could it be they are just trying to prolong that cannibalization until they have to jump in the phone game?  If so, Garmin isn’t admitting it: “The nuvifone will not be available in fourth quarter as previously announced. (Read the full post about ‘Garmin waiting to see what iPhone does on Navigation?’…)

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Sanyo has announced its latest Xacti camcorder, the 8-megapixel touting DMX-HD800 which is sort of an upgrade from the previously released Xacti HD700. Aside from its 8-megapixel high-speed CMOS sensor with 5x optical zoom, the HD800 features video recording with a maximum of 720p (1280 x 720) high-definition resolution and a 2.7-inch TFT display. We are also looking at an Xacti model with face detection and an anti-shake feature, it has support SDHC cards up to 32GB in capacity, high ISO with up to 1800 sensitivity, comes bundled with Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0 and an optional AV kit that lets you connect the HD800 onto your TV sets via HDMI. (Read the full post about ‘Sanyo’s announces the 8MP, 720p Xacti DMX-HD800 camcorder’…)

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These days, digital cameras are a dime a dozen. Okay, they aren’t that cheap just yet, but they are a lot less expensive than they were a few years ago. Pentax announced the release of the Optio E60 digital camera, which could be the cheapest digital camera for a 10.1 Megapixel model with 3x optical zoom lens. Of course, just because it is cheap, doesn’t mean that it is “cheap”. In other words, the Optio E60 has a lot of cool features for something of its price. The Optio E60 has a 2.4 inch LCD, and 6.3 MB of internal memory (with the option of SD/SDHC memory cards). It also has a shutter speeds of 1/2000 to 1/4 of a second. As for sensitivity, it is at 100 to 6400, which can be fixed at specific or auto mode settings. (Read the full post about ‘Optio E60 one of the cheapest digital cameras?’…)

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iSkin has released several different cases to keep iPods of all different sizes well protected.  Well now they have created a sporty armband to keep your Nano safe.  This is quite obviously for the newer Nano, as you can see from the picture.  I always like the armbands for the Nano a bit better than the Touch.  It just seems like the ipod Touch would move around too much and get obnoxious when trying to do any physical activities. (Read the full post about ‘iSkin Duoband armband for the iPod Nano’…)

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If you enjoy toying with certain effects to add to the sound of your music you have stored away on your ipod, you might give these speakers a try.  They are SoundPads that stick to any surface, which means the wall, a poster, box, bookshelf, etc.  Each item you attach it to will give a slightly different sound.  It would also make for an easy solution to put music in places that would otherwise be difficult.

This is being sold through ThinkGeek and they warn that once stuck it’s not going anywhere.  Which means you might want to test it out before you go pealing off the sticky backing.  Luckily, these are also cheaper than usual too.  They were being sold for $24.99 but are now set at $17.99.  Which is cheap enough that you’d be able to buy a few for different spots throughout your home.  You can never have too many rooms with the option of music.

Source: Technabob

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Tags: Hi-fi, amps, gadgetry, gaming

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