Archive for June, 2009

TomTom navigation coming to iPhone

Posted in Apple by Darrin Olson on June 9th, 2009

TomTom teaming with Apple for iPhone navigation appTomTom announced on Tuesday that it would be making it’s navigation software and some hardware pieces available specifically for use with Apple’s iPhone sometime in the not too distant future. TomTom will be offering the navigation software through the iTunes App Store and will also provide some type of charging dock and speakers for use on the go.

The navigation company did say the software would be available for the iPhone 3G but did not specify if it would be available for the newly announced iPhone 3G S version, however logic tells us it will.

Nokia N97 Available Tomorrow – In Some Places

Posted in Mobile Phones by Darrin Olson on June 8th, 2009

Nokia N97 mobile smartphone in blackThe N97 that Nokia unveiled way last December is hitting stores tomorrow afternoon. Well, at least hitting the Nokia flagship stores in New York and Chicago. If you’re not already in line at one of these two places you might have some luck online as Amazon appears to have some in stock and we would imagine (or at least hope for the sake of all you that pre-ordered) that they will start shipping today or tomorrow as well.

This release from Nokia comes right on the heals of the new and improved iPhone 3Gs announcement and adds some healthy competition to Apple’s reigning smartphone champion. The N97 sports not only a wide touchscreen display but also has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to add some ease and speed to your mobile …

Averatec announces 25.5-inch all-in-one for $999

Posted in PCs by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

Averatec announces 25.5-inch all-in-one for $999Averatec just announced a gigantic all-in-one PC for $999. It’s a sweet deal. The D1200 series features a 25.5-inch LCD monitor with an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5GHz CPU, 320GB hard drive, and 4GB of RAM. You also get a built-in ATSC/NTSC TV tuner for 1080p video and TV playback, 8X super-multi DVD burner, 2-megapixel webcam, 802.11N wireless, and gigabit Ethernet.

It also comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse, along with a Media Center remote and Vista Home Premium. It’s shipping now at Averatec’s website for $999 and it will be available at Best Buy and Tiger Direct very soon.

NEC unveils new 24-inch LCDs for U.S. market

Posted in NEC by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

NEC unveils new 24-inch LCDs for U.S. marketNEC has a pair of spiffy new LCD displays available in the U.S. today to match a recent release of similar models in Japan. The LCD2490WUXi2 and the LCD2490W2 both feature 24-inch screens and IPS panels. These displays offer a much better image quality than TV or PVA screens and allows them to show 96.7% of the sRGB color space.

Professional graphics editors and photographers are going to love these models. Some other features include auto-brightness, 12-bit color lookup tables, ambient light sensors a 320cd/m2 brightness, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, VGA and DVI inputs.

JVC UX-LP5 Hi-Fi now available with iPod dock

Posted in JVC by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

JVC UX-LP5 Hi-Fi now available with iPod dockJVC just revealed their UX-LP5 today. This sound system is a Hi-Fi that features an iPod dock that can flip down whenever you need it. The device has a video output, so you can watch videos stored on your iPod on a nearby connected television. There’s also an audio input on the front for easy connectivity.

Some other features include a total power output of 70 watts, AM/FM tuner, CD player, a USB port, MP3 and WMA compatibility. And it’s pretty sleek looking too. So, if you’re in the market for a Hi-Fi that can play your MP3s, you can get the JVC UX-LP5 now for $149.95.

Jointech JE100 ebook reader with 7-inch touchscreen

Posted in ebooks by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

Jointech JE100 ebook reader with 7-inch touchscreenJointech has announced their new JE100 ebook reader, a 7-inch device that uses an LCD touchscreen instead of an e-ink display. Based on Windows CE 5.0, the Jointech JE100 will not only boast Mobipocket Reader, MSReader and eReader support, but also likely play back video and audio files together with viewing and editing Microsoft Office documents.

Inside it features a 400MHz CPU, 128MB of flash memory and 64MB of RAM. Transflash cards up to 4GB in capacity can be used to boost storage, and it rocks two USB ports: one a host, for plugging in external peripherals and the other a slave, for hooking up the JE100 to a computer where it presumably mounts as an external drive.

Remote-controlled 100 foot water cannon

Posted in Outdoors by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

Remote-controlled 100 foot water cannonIn water warfare, he who has the most serious weaponry will rule. And this water cannon is serious. Unlike a water gun, you don’t even have to be anywhere near your enemy. That’s because this water cannon can hit a target from 100 feet away and works by being attached to a garden hose.

It even has a remote that works from up to 30′ away. The cannon features three different interchangeable nozzles. One for stream, mist or spray. Mist would be good for watering the lawn or cooling off on a hot day.

Leatherman Freestyle Tool looks deadly, is useful

Posted in Tools by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

Leatherman Freestyle Tool looks deadly, is usefulYou can never have too many tools and what’s great about Leatherman multi-tools is that it puts all of the important ones on your belt. The Leatherman Freestyle ups the design and gives it a more deadly and dangerous look.

You never know when you’re going to need to make like MacGuyver and cut some wires, turn some screws and stab a bad guy. This tool include pliers/wirecutter, a combo Philips/flathead screwdriver, straight blade and a bottle opener/carabineer. The Leatherman Freestyle Tool is pretty light too, so it’s no problem to have it with you at all times.

Electrolux’s Laser Oven concept cooks food fast

Posted in Concepts by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

Electrolux’s Laser Oven concept cooks food fastThe Laser Oven concept by Electrolux may be the future of cooking. It will cook your food in no time at all by using three laser beams that pew pew pew your dinner. The Electrolux Laser Oven has a sleek, compact design that makes it look futuristic too.

A single laser can’t cook anything, but crossing the lasers can cook the food easily. In Ghostbusters crossing the streams are bad, here it’s a good thing. It will allow you to choose the desired texture of your food, and even scans it before cooking. Forget timers and thermometers, the Laser Oven stops cooking when the food has reached the texture that you want.

iPhone 3GS announced: $199 16GB, $299 32GB, June 19

Posted in iPhone by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

iPhone 3GS announced: $199 16GB, $299 32GB, June 19As we all knew, Apple’s unveiled a new iPhone today at WWDC, the iPhone 3G S. The “s” stands for speed. Clever. Although it looks almost exactly like the 3G, it’s…Well, faster. Some tasks are almost four times faster. Data speeds have been upped to 7.2Mbps HSDPA, and the camera is now a 3 megapixel unit with tap-to-autofocus and auto white balance. It now supports 30fps VGA video recording with editing features.

You’re also getting a built-in compass, Nike+ support, and a new battery that offers 5 hours of 3G talk time and 9 hours of WiFi internet use. That’s not all. Holding down the home button now enables a new voice control interface that lets you make calls or even control iTunes.

iPhone OS 3.0 available on June 17th

Posted in Apple by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

iPhone OS 3.0 available on June 17thThe iPhone 3.0 software will be available worldwide on June 17th, while developers can get it today. It will be free for iPhone owners and cost $9.95 for the Touch. It sports some new features of course.

MMS will be available from 29 carriers at launch, but it won’t be coming to AT&T until “later this summer” (Which frankly is lame), tethering is official for 22 carriers (no AT&T at launch), Safari handles JavaScript 3x faster along with HTTP streaming audio & video, auto-fill, and HTML 5 support. There are also a total of 30 languages available in 3.0, including Hebrew, Arabic, Thai, Greek, and Korean.

New 15-Inch MacBook Pro features 7-Hour Battery Life, SD card slot

Posted in Apple by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

New 15-Inch MacBook Pro features 7-Hour Battery Life, SD card slotToday Apple announced new MacBook Pro models with the same upgraded, 7-hour battery life as the 17-inch MacBook Pro, more memory, a processor upgrade, and storage, as well as an SD-card slot. They are shipping today.

According to Apple, the battery will last 5 years or 1,000 recharges since it’s non-removable. The base model features a 3.06 GHz Dual Core Intel processor, 4GB of memory, a 250GB 5400rpm HDD, and an upgraded display at $1,699. That’s $300 less than the current model. If you want to upgrade to a 2.66GHz processor with a 320GB hard drive, that’ll cost you $1,999, while the 2.8GHz model with a 500GB hard drive will hit at $2,299.

Cardboard gadgets make everything disposable

Posted in News by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

Cardboard gadgets make everything disposableWhen you really start to think about the sheer number of gadgets in the world, it’s amazing they aren’t littering the streets and roadways like cold tech corpses. After all, we keep buying them and them throwing them out to buy another.

But we aren’t here to preach. We’re just impressed by this beautiful reminder of our consumerism in the form of sculpted cardboard gadgets. These are works of art really. They are from British designer Kyle Bean and they are really nicely detailed.

Sony working on an Android Walkman?

Posted in Android by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

Sony working on an Android Walkman?Word on the street is that Sony has a possible Android-powered Sony Walkman coming soon. It sounds weird, but it’s very possible and it makes sense. Android doesn’t cost a penny and it’s highly customizable, with built-in media playback capabilities, and works great on touchscreen devices.

It’s a great way to spruce up some of their product lines and get some renewed interest. Did we mention that Android doesn’t cost anything? Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. But we’ll have to wait and see how it all turns out.

Gears of War Xbox case mod

Posted in Xbox 360 by Conner Flynn on June 8th, 2009

Gears of War Xbox case modGears of War fans are sure to love this Xbox case mod. Maybe. It’s the work of one Tallerkamino, who designed and modded the Xbox case in honor of the game. How he did it is not clear.(Looks like he used mousepads and attached them to the console).

Then he obviously glued action figures onto the base. It’s a cool mod I guess, but I prefer the console to be entirely covered. It’s more of a diorama. But if you love Gears of War, I’m sure it will make you smile and brighten you day.