Gadgets Base

Posted Jan 14th 2008 9:39AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: CES, Portable Audio
It’s not like we haven’t seen MP3-playing headphones before — heck, we’ve even seen ‘em from SkullCandy itself — but the latest pair from the aforementioned firm simplifies things quite a bit. Quietly showcased at CES, the Double Agent cans sport a built-in SD slot and the typical assortment of controls on one earcup in order to take the external DAP / PMP out of the equation entirely. ‘Course, we wouldn’t recommend this to those who aren’t fond of just shuffling through their tracks, but if you’re aiming to consolidate, you can get one step closer to doing just that when this ships in March / April for a currently undisclosed price.

[Via Gadgetell]

Posted Jan 14th 2008 5:17AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Cellphones
Mmmm, the LG Prada (AKA, LG-KE850) was just turned out in silver. 18 European countries including the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy will see the new version of LG’s touchscreen later this month. Besides the color change the phone now features a proper on-screen QWERTY, not just T9 — thank you LG! Really, that’s all we could hope for.

Gallery: LG’s silver Prada gets a new on-screen QWERTY

[Via Akihabara News]

Posted Jan 14th 2008 3:36AM by Thomas RickerOh noes. An independent investigation launched last week into an alleged multi-million-dollar slush fund has raided the homes of Samsung chairman, Lee Kun-Hee, and six other Samsung execs. The chairman and the executives are already banned from leaving the country. The investigation saw some 50 investigators seize documents and a laptop from Lee’s Seoul villa after a search lasting several hours. Samsung, for its part, has denied the long whispered bribery claims, made formal by its former chief lawyer last year.

Posted Jan 14th 2008 2:56AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable VideoIt wouldn’t be the first time a company has used the press to bolster their negotiating position. Nevertheless, after saying the “iPhone model was not suitable for China” back in November, a spokesperson for China Mobile now says they’ve “terminated” discussions with Apple to bring the iPhone to China. China’s largest carrier gave no reasons for the decision though the fee sharing agreement is likely a contributing factor. Well Steve, there’s always China Unicom.

Posted Jan 14th 2008 6:03AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Transportation
Hybrids are the rage at this year’s Detroit Auto Show. Center stage then is the $100,000 $80,000 Fisker Automotive plug-in hybrid set for delivery in 2009. California-based Fisker is the namesake of Danish-born Henrik Fisker, CEO and former BMW and Aston Martin designer. The Fisker Karma (pictured), can go up to 50 miles before the gas engine kicks in to charge the lithium-ion batteries. It features a 150mph top speed capable of reaching 60mph from a standstill in 5.8 seconds. Sharing the stage with Fisker is AFS Trinity Power Corporation and their 150mpg plug-in hybrid XH-150 SUV — that “XH” stands for Extreme Hybrid. Unlike traditional hybrids, the XH-150’s powertrain uses ultra-capacitors, not gas, for “fast” acceleration. The XH-150 goes from 0 to 60 in 6.9 seconds with a top highway speed of just 87mph. Instead of bringing the XH-150 to market, however, AFS Trinity is more focused on licensing their ultra-capacitor technology. Good idea too, after checking the ho-hum XH-150 just beyond the break.

[Via c|net News]

Read — Fisker Karma
Read — AFT Trinity unveils 150 MG XH SUV

Posted Jan 14th 2008 4:11AM by Richard Lawler
Filed under: HDTV, Home EntertainmentHD DVD’s response to being unceremoniously jilted by Warner going into CES was … nothing. A canceled press conference, downtrodden Toshiba press conference and rumors of further losses left great doubt that red had anything left in 2008, but now HD DVD is firing back. Leveraging its “approximately 50% market share in 2007″ — we’re not sure where that number comes from either, we’ve contacted Toshiba for clarification — indisputable lead in the notebook market and 100% compatibility with internet-enabled HDi features, Toshiba has announced it is not laying down yet. Effective yesterday, the HD-A3 MSRP has dropped to $149.99, the 1080p-capable HD-A30 to $199.99, and the top of the line HD-A35 to $299.99. Combined with an extended “perfect offer” of 5 free HD DVDs with every purchase, Toshiba’s HD DVD Concierge service, and a sudden 50% off sale on Amazon, it seems this format will not go quietly into the dark. Fire sale to clear suddenly obsolete inventory or real chance to hang onto its remaining supporters? This could be the best — or worst — time to pick a side in the HD war.

Read - 50% off sale on Amazon (Thanks Jeremy)
Read - Toshiba press release

Posted Jan 14th 2008 1:47AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Ah — dead, eerily-prescient, 20th century authors… they just can’t stop proving you right, can they? In a decidedly Orwellian turn, British authorities are considering a proposal to implant “machine-readable” RFID tags under the skin of some prison inmates as part of a plan to free up space in the country’s overcrowded prisons. Just like the nightmare world described in your favorite cautionary tales, the chips would enable authorities to track the location of implantees using satellite and radio-wave technology. The program would build off of the current ankle-tagging currently in place, and according to a official from the Ministry of Justice who finds the plan double-plus good, “All the options are on the table, and this is one we would like to pursue.” Of course, the controversial concept does have its detractors, Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, says that, “If the Home Office doesn’t understand why implanting a chip in someone is worse than an ankle bracelet, they don’t need a human-rights lawyer; they need a common-sense bypass.” Shortly following this statement, however, Shami was taken to an interrogation room and outfitted with a rat-hood, and all record of her existence was erased from state records.

[Via Slashdot]

Finally… INSTEON, the DIYer Home Automation Technology, has released a Thermostat Adapter to work with Totaline and Venstar thermostats.

Turn the temperature up or down from anywhere in the house! INSTEON Thermostat Adapter allows you to adjust your thermostat from any INSTEON-compatible controller. Faster than grabbing a blanket, you can use your coffee table RemoteLinc to bring the room to that perfect temperature. When turning off your lights for the night from your bedside KeypadLinc, you can also save some energy and money by turning the thermostat down a few degrees. Because you can program any button on an INSTEON controller to any temperature on the thermostat, the possibilities are endless.

Gimmie!

Suggested Price: $99.99

Posted Jan 14th 2008 1:08AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Robots
We guess it was only matter a time until it happened. Still, we can’t help but feel a bit sad and creeped-out at seeing Pleo splayed in a Santilli-esque display of sideshow curio. Inside, the evil doctors over at ifixit reveal a single-piece, rubbery skin covering 14 motors, more than 100 gears, 15 circuit boards, 1 color camera, 2x microphones, 1 IR transmitter, 1 accelerometer, and 8 touch capacitance sensors. Plenty of high-res shots just beyond the read link. Man, aren’t there laws against this kind of thing?

At CES, the company SkullCandy unveiled a pretty cool new pair of headphones that have a unique feature. It comes with a SD slot so all you have to do is load in a SD card filled with music and you can listen to it without the need of an MP3 player.

It can even work with any type of SD cards, so if you own let’s say an 8GB or even a 16GB one, it will work and then you have access to loads of music. It will also come in 3 different colors, orange/brown, yellow/white, and black. Furthermore, it comes with a rechargeable battery, and all the controls on the side of the headphones. This pair of headphones look to be pretty cool and I’m not sure why SkullCandy kept it so low profile during CES.

Expect it to start shipping in March/April for an unspecified price.

Via [Ubergizmo]