Gadzooki

Nokia Tube 5800 Express Music

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Well, it’s finally here.  Nokia’s take on a head to head fight with the Apple iPhone is the Nokia Tube 5800 Express music. Too bad it’s missing the Christmas gift rush, because if it will make it I’m sure it’s gonna be in a lot of people’s sock from Santa!

I’ve been a Nokia phone fan for like a decade already.  Tried switching to phones from Sony Ericson, Samsung, Apple, the generic ones… but something’s pulling me back to Nokia all the time.  It’s just too easy to use, at least for me.

The 5800 XpressMusic (aka Tube) is the first touchscreen Symbian S60 phone from Nokia.  I was surprised it wasn’t a continuation of the N or the E business phone series.  Instead it followed the Express Music phone model line.  Probably because it is aiming for a sweet slice of the iPod and Zen crowd.

A quick look at the features: 640×360 touchscreen with haptic response, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, 3G on the 850/1900 MHz band (works with AT&T here in the States), 3.2MP camera with Zeiss lens, and an 8GB microSD card for music in the box. – specs from Gizmodo

Media Port UP

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Nikon Corporation (Michio Kariya, President) announced the development of Media Port UP.  This groundbreaking device is a multimedia playback headset device that also supports Internet connection.

It sports a whole lot of features like  display, headphones, mobile A/V player, Wi-Fi capability, high-capacity memory, and power source in a single compact unit, it is the first of its type.

Through it’s lay of features you can quickly see how the Media Port UP is geared for.  Media fun whenever, wherever! 🙂

The first batch of these babies will only be available in Japan.  But those who’d like it in time for the holidays can try ordering one online (plus shipping charges) at http://www.upstore.jp/ .

Here’s a quick peek at it’s summary of functions from their website:

Major Functions

  • The single, compact unit allows for simple enjoyment of videos and music anyplace and anytime, while leaving the hands free to do other things.
  • Enjoy image and video viewing with a sensation equivalent to that of viewing of a 50-inch large screen from a distance of three meters.
  • An extremely compact and lightweight display that offers excellent image quality achieved with optics made possible through development and adoption of a new adhesion double-layer diffractive optical element (DOE) lens.
  • The high-performance UP300x is equipped with a built-in motion sensor that allows for hands free operation, including volume adjustment, by moving the head up or down, left or right., with which videos/music can be selected, played, paused, etc. (Revised on October 10, 2008)　
  • The UP300x is equipped with an 8 GB internal memory while the UP300 offers 4 GB of internal memory.
  • Designed with a high eyepoint and diopter adjustment so that even those who wear glasses will find the display easy to view.
  • In addition to Web browsing via Internet connection using the built-in Wi-Fi function, media contents can also be downloaded.
  • A service for UP users that allows for the distribution of video contents will be initiated. Users will be able to easily select desired contents and download media files to their UP for viewing and listening enjoyment.
  • As Windows Media Player (WMP) files are also supported, compatible media files saved to a computer can also be transferred to a UP for viewing and listening enjoyment.

Apple unveils their new babies! :)

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Apple finally unveiled their new MacBook and MacBook Pros this week.  I’ve got a 6-month old 13-inch MacBook, am I jumping for joy… nah.  If I had waited 6 months more, I’d have this new baby with me today. But anyway, I am happy with what I’ve got, and will most probably keep my eye on the Macbook developments until next year… when I finally can afford an upgrade!

If you’re just in time for an upgrade, lucky you.  The new MacBook and MacBook Pro line sports a very handsome finish.  It somehow shows me a hint of the the MacBook Air design.  Cool aluminum finish with backlit keyboards.  Under the hood are significant improvements in hard disk space, memory, processor speed and many more… read the complete feature list right here.  Or watch their product video right here.

I’m sure there’d be a lot of sales for Apple as it is nearly the holiday season.  What I’d really love to see is if they can bundle this for students.  I remember Apple bundled iPods and the iTouch for every Macbook purchase by a student.  I hope they do that with this new line soon.

The floppy USB

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Thomas O’Connor made me smile today.  Memories of my highschool days came flashing back when I saw his floppy disk. Sure I still see them trying to get sold at the local bookstore, but haven’t really seen one out of the box for say… hmmmm…. years!

This concept design revives the good ‘ol floppy disk, injected with gigabytes of flash memory against it’s usual 1.44MB of yesteryears.  I’d say, the laugh was worth it, but I wouldn’t be a big/huge fan of it at all. Sure memories were fond ones but for convenience sake, I’d say I’d rather take a stick flash mem than a wide wide design execution.

Anyway, probably as a novelty gift… nothing more.  

The only cool thing about this though… Thomas was quoted as saying “The design is simple. My intention was to recycle/reuse old, outdated and obsolete 1.44mb floppy discs and reuse the housings to create modern, USB hard drives.”.  So maybe it merits an applause nonetheless.  So there.

The Jupiter Mouse

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This has got to be one of the wierdest mouse… at least for me, made me look at it twice!  It’s from Japan, of course, made of wood.. yeah I know, if you’re a back-to-nature kind of guy you’d feel right at home with The Jupiter Mouse.  Made by Actbrise Electronics. 

Ok, Jim, if this is a mouse how does it work?  Well… the cursor moves in direction and velocity according to the tilt of the spherical mouse, which rests comfortably in the palm of your hand. Yes, it has an accelorometer.  The Jupiter mouse not only brings a refreshing natural element to your desk bit also offers an exciting new approach to navigating your computer screen.  

Jupiter Mouse features:

• Includes: mouse, stand
• Size: W60 x D60 x H55mm
• Weight: 92g (includes cable)
• Interface: USB2.0/1.1
• Cable length: 180cm
• Compatible OS: Windows98/98SE/Me/2000/XP/Vista/CE2.11
• Manual: Japanese

Available right here for about US$137.

[via Japan Trend Shop]

Schwinn Bicycles : The Tailwind Bike

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Schwinn Bicycles, America’s most recognized bicycle brand, today unveiled the Tailwind electric bike to bicycle dealers attending the annual Interbike International Bicycle Expo, the largest bicycle trade industry event in North America.

When I first saw the unveiling courtesy of CNet’s Loaded podcast (with Natalie del Conti) I must admit I raised an eyebrow.  Wouldn’t a battery in a bicycle defeat the purpose of an exercise? 🙂  Ah, but later I found out that in some countries, people commute to work, the market and anywhere else in bikes.  China, Amsterdam, Japan… as examples.  So in lieu of an exercise, pedal energy conservation was the prime motivation.  To bring people from point A to B with as less sweat work as possible.  It has an 8-speed gear control mechanism, and the battery itself is set to last for a full 30 miles max.

The battery was developed in partnership with Toshiba.  It promises to fully charge a pack in 30 minutes!

Dubbed as an EBike it will start selling in retail stores by the Q1 of 2009.  So, eh, it won’t make it to the holiday lists I guess.

8GB Flash Drive USB Lighters

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I’ve seen too many USB flash memory gadgets lately.  Sometimes I really like the designs, and sometimes they just make me yawn.  This one though made me curious to check out myself!  Thinkgeek.com is selling the USB 8GB Flash Drive Lighter for about US$60. 

• Refillable lighter with built-in USB flash drive

• 8GB capacity

• USB connector slides out of the lighter

• Metal case

• Adjustable flame

• Includes USB cable

• Dimensions: 1.5″ x 2.4″ x .5″ (3.8 x 6 x 1.3 cm)

Perfect for your friendly smoker, I think.  I’m not too sure about data safety though, even if the website promises they can co-exist.  Aren’t integrated circuits sensitive to heat?  But I’d sure do give it to the idea of having just one thing in your pocket.  Just don’t accidentally flip it to light your cigarette with your USB dongle.  That would be silly! 🙂

LG Dare

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The LG Dare by Verizon is CNet’s most popular gadget, number 1 baby!  The iPhone was set back to the number 2 position.  I tell you, when I heard this on CNet’s top 5 podcast, I couldn’t believe it.  But yes… good ‘ol iPhone has taken the #2 slot.  At least for this week.

The LG Dare has an intuitive touch-screen interface, an advanced 3.2-megapixel camera.  Now this is something the iPhone doesn’t have!  And I think this is why it has nudged it’s nose past the tape to win the favorites race.  It sports a full HTML browser, EV-DO Rev. A, and plenty of other powerful features. It also has excellent call quality.

Let me give you a few snippets of CNet’s review, and you can view the full review right here:

The appropriately named LG Dare presents a few tricks we haven’t seen before in the touch-screen phone genre. For example, you can drag and drop icons to make your own customized shortcuts on the home screen, or you can use a drawing pad to sketch ideas or draw a map, which can then be sent via MMS to a friend. The Dare also has one of the most advanced cameras we’ve seen on a touch-screen phone–its 3.2-megapixel camera has settings like face detection, noise reduction, panorama photo stitching, and a SmartPic technology designed for taking photos in low light. 

 

 

Kodak Debuts World’s First OLED Wireless Frame

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It’s the world’s first ever OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) wireless digital frame.  OLED technology has been known to be much thinner than its LED counterparts.  Eastman Kodak company has added an extra bonus too, this frame has wireless capability and 2GB of memory (that’s 10,000 photos, you’d never exhaust your photo library in it, 10,000 is a lot!).  You are now able to drag and drop picture files into it from wireless sources.  Yes, even the big cloud will be able to connect to this frame to draw some RSS photos of your favorite flickr RSS feeds.

At the heart of the new KODAK OLED Wireless Frame is an ultra-thin, 7.6-inch diagonal digital panel that produces stunning image detail regardless of viewing angle. The viewing experience is further enhanced by Kodak Perfect Touch Technology, which automatically processes images to improve exposure, brightness and color, and KODAK Image Science, which optimizes image quality for display on OLED panels.

The KODAK OLED Wireless Frame will retail for US $999 (MSRP) and will be available at kodak.com from November 2008, with additional online and retail distribution to be announced later in the year.

Check this page for more information.

20-watt Heineken Draught Keg Guitar Amplifier

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I must admit, I smiled from ear to ear (however weird that may look like) when I saw this pic.  Gizmodo says “Beer + music + electricity = Ultragoodness”, what a spot-on analysis. 🙂

Retails for US$119 and sold online right here.  

A perfect gift for the party host!  If you’ve got a friend who’s a guitar player, he’ll be grateful to you until kingdom come.  I haven’t found an online spec sheet yet, but it seems this is a project by a Chicago based do-it-yourselfer. 

It’s an actual Heineken keg by the way.  Not sure about the innards as there seems to be no buyer-feedback yet.