Gadgets Base

Canon is releasing the PowerShot SD890 IS, PowerShot SD790 IS, and the PowerShot SD770 IS, due in stores early April, end of March and mid-April, respectively. The three cameras share Canon’s DIGIC III imaging processor, which they claim is responsible for the cameras’ high performance levels, in addition to each utilizing Canon’s face detection technology, intelligent anti-blur technology and in-camera image enhancement, which allows for automatic red eye correction.

What is different about the three cameras is body style, LCD size, and zoom level. The SD 890 has a 5x optical zoom with a 2.5-inch LCD screen. The 5x zoom is equivalent to a 185mm lens. With a 3x zoom, equivalent to a 105mm lens, the SD790 contains a 3-inch LCD screen. Rounding off the bunch is the SD 770 with a 2.5-inch LCD and a 3x optical zoom.

The PowerShot SD890 IS, PowerShot SD790 IS, and the PowerShot SD770 IS are set to hit shelves with an estimated retail price of $399.99, $349.99 and $299.99 respectively.

Read [Canon]

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Posted Mar 14th 2008 1:13PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: cellphones, Handhelds It’s not the first time Nokia’s teased us with a research effort it’s working on, but unlike some other recent examples, the company’s so-called noBounds project likely isn’t decades away from becoming a reality, although that’s not to say it’s not impressive. As you can see in the video after the break, the project aims to let you pair a cellphone or handheld up with virtually any type of display, and deliver full HD video at 30 frames per second over USB or WLAN. That’s apparently also done with “very low power consumption,” and would work either with displays with a built-in USB or WLAN connection, or any other display with the addition of a dongle. Needless to say, there’s no indication as to when we might see such a system let loose, but you can be sure we’ll be keeping our eye out for any further developments.

I’m fortunate enough not to work in a large office. Generally speaking, large offices usually mean boring cubicles and annoying phone systems. The only phone lines that I worry about are my cell phone and my fax line. However, if you have an office phone, here’s a device that might make things a little easier for you.

The Xlink Cellular Gateway will let you “use your cellular phone as your home phone” and “use your home phone as your cell phone.” Essentially what it does is take your existing office phone (or home phone, doesn’t really matter what you call it) and integrate it with up to three Bluetooth mobile phones. This allows you to answer landline calls from your cell phone, and cell phone calls on your landline (when the phones are in range).

If I had a larger house or office I might consider something like this. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to run upstairs to grab my cell phone when it would be just as easy to grab one of the cordless phones downstairs. You can pick one up for $169.99.

Source: RedFerret

Posted Mar 14th 2008 12:10PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Storage
Looking for that perfect weapon of mass destruction to pair with The Button? This USB Bomb designed by Joel Escalona should fit the bill nicely. Unfortunately, it’s just a concept at the moment, but we’re sure with a little bit of Styrofoam and a whole bunch of black crayons you could get yourself on the FBI watch list in no time.

[Via technabob]

Posted Mar 14th 2008 1:47PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Misc. gadgets
Sure, it’s fun to say that one billion RFID cards are now at risk due to the Mifare Classic’s broken encryption, but it’s another thing to comprehend how widespread the fallout could potentially be — the London Underground’s Oyster Card is based on the chip, for example. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: a new report says that the system can be broken in minutes using a typical PC — check the video after the break for a demonstration. We’ve also listed all the other now-potentially-vulnerable Mifare RFID implementations we could find, but there’s got to be more — put ‘em in comments!

Cities / countries using the Mifare Classic for access control and / or mass transit ticketing:

• London (Oyster Card)
• Boston
• Netherlands (OV-Chipkaart)
• Minneapolis / St. Paul
• South Korea (Upass, T-money, Mybi)
• Hong Kong
• Beijing
• Milan
• Madrid (Sube-T)
• Australia (Smartrider)
• Sao Paulo (Bilhete Unico)
• Rio de Janeiro (RioCard)
• Bangkok
• New Delhi

There’s no excuse anymore to stick with those crummy default speakers that came with your desktop, not when Creative has the “Inspire T10″ speakers for a mere fifty bucks.

I know, you’re thinking “How good can they be for $50?” Pretty damned good, actually. Thanks to the dedicated tweeters, the listener can pick up high frequency instruments such as strings and cymbals, and like their more expensive models, the T10 features the unique BasXPort technology which delivers dynamic bass effects (like a great drum solo).

The built-in headphone jack and AUX In connector makes it easy to plug in your headphones for private listening, or to play music from your mp3 player or any other audio device.

At 13.7cm x 9cm x 19.4cm, they’re compact enough to fit on your desk, and they come in a glossy black finish augmented by an acoustically slanted front, making them good-looking as well.

Posted Mar 14th 2008 7:04AM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Robots
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute believe they’ve built an AI smart enough to pass an avatar version of the Turing test — convince a human that it is human while conversing in a virtual environment like Second Life. The bot is named “Rascals,” which stands for Rensselaer Advanced Synthetic Architecture for Living Systems. Naturally, this first-ever achievement requires some world-class juice, and the team will using IBM’s Blue Gene, the world’s fastest supercomputer, to run the AI in real time. The AI’s thoughts about itself and others is based on a grad student guinea pig, and it can even formulate thoughts about the beliefs of others and their beliefs about the beliefs of others. Trippy, no? Rascals will be put to the test in October 2008.

[Via Slashdot]

When traveling on the road, the last thing you want to do is toss a bunch of gadgets and accessories into your laptop bag. The more you have in there, the more bothersome it is to sort through it all and get out what you need. One gadget that you almost always want to have is a mouse, but unfortunately those can take up a bit of room, unless of course you store it inside your laptop.

While this MoGo Mouse BT isn’t going to be the most comfortable mouse to use for long periods of time, it will no doubt be better than using your trackpad. What makes this mouse really worthwhile is the fact that it slips into the PC Card slot of your laptop where it hides (and recharges) when you’re not using it.

The mouse communicates with your laptop via Bluetooth, so it’s slightly less convenient for those without built-in Bluetooth. The best part is that you can find these for as little as $30.

Source: Crave

Posted Mar 14th 2008 5:38AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: cellphones
Poor, poor client number 9, Eliot Spitzer. Having suffered a humiliating week in the US press, corporate Canada is now taking its shot at the disgraced New York governor. That’s the actual print ad which Virgin Mobile will run in Toronto newspapers this week with the following subtext:

“At Virgin Mobile, you’re more than just a number. When you call us we’ll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you’re #9 or #900, you’ll get hooked up with somebody who’ll finally treat you just how you want to be treated.”

Let’s just see if Spitzer swallows the jab, or comes out fighting this unauthorized use of his image. Full text blow-up after the break.

[Via Textually]

Every once in a while, a clock comes out that is so cool, you can’t help but wonder why you haven’t see it before. This is certainly the case with the D/A clock. I’m not certain what the D/A stands for, but it has one of the most unique, yet obvious, looks for a clock.

I’m not certain whether you can see this from the photo, but this clock has special sections that physically rise up to show the digital time. This clock is made of wood as well as Dupont Corian, which is used on countertops.

The clock is the product of designer Alvin Aronson, who is a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, and he is destined to be at the top of his class. If Mr. Aronson can produce designs like these as a student, the he has a bright future ahead of him outside of college.

The D/A Clock certainly has a lot of applications, as it could go into a countertop, or even a shower. I guess that would have to be water-proofed. I certainly see this as a clock for the blind, assuming it can take the tactile interface.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a version of this as an analog clock, but that could be difficult. Maybe you could use the pin-pression technology that were used to make quick facial impressions back in the eighties.

Source