Gadgets Base

Posted Mar 18th 2008 12:57PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Desktops
Clearly not wanting to lose its status as the most reliable purveyor of nasty gaming rigs, Alienware has re-upped its infamous Area-51 desktops with NVIDIA’s latest graphics champ (the GeForce 9800 GX2) and the company’s burning hot nForce 790i mobo. Or so we’re told in a thrilling press release. The bottom line is this, you can now drop major bank on a seriously up-to-date system that will have friends and foes alike drooling, plotting your murder, or (at the very least) asking to get their game on. Truck over to the site to see the myriad configurations available… but you might want to hide your credit cards first.

Nothing says “I love you” more than the USB engagement ring. Actually, nothing says “I’m too cheap to afford a real diamond ring, but I put a creative twist on this tradition” more than the USB engagement ring.

I always did find it odd that tradition that girls wear an engagement ring that may or may not have this really expensive rock that the groom has to take out a muy expensivo loan for. Why not invest a small amount of money in something a lot more practical?

With a USB engagement ring, you can download some cool stuff onto the drive. I suppose you can download a picture of the groom on one knee proposing, and then show it to anyone with a laptop. Personally, I think there is a lot of reasons to store valuable data on your ring. After all, I won’t easily lose my wedding ring, as I would a thumb drive.

Unfortunately, the USB engagement ring is not available now, and exists as concept only. I have heard that part of the concept is to convert the ring into a necklace after it is done. I’m even told there is one for the males that can be joined together, making the union official. Man, that is just geeky.

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Electronic reading devices are becoming more and more popular, and with popularity, the also achieve more and more nice and interesting features. With the e-ink technology, it became possible to reduce the energy drain and greatly improve reading experience, which boosted their popularity at once. From specialized devices for reading they slowly transformed into powerful gadgets with many interesting features. In this review we will present two new models from Netronix, that are more like Mini PCs, than simple readers.

Netronix Company announced two new reading devices, which are not as simple as they seem. The Netronix EB-300 maybe will be the most perfect e-book reading device on the market, with such capabilities it is surely a leader in this domain! It has a huge 9.7 inch 1200 x 825 resolution display (170 dpi), that is made with help of e-ink technology, and can display up to 4 gradations of gray. If you are not impressed by its screen, it will amaze you with other technical details - it has a 64MB SDRAM and 4 GB of built-in NAND memory, and if it is not enough it can be expanded with an SD card. The RAM memory is used by Windows CE 5.0, on which this device is running. It even has the wireless features, with Bluetooth and WiFi support it will be easy enough to navigate the internet or transfer files wirelessly. You will probably expect this thing to be bulky but it is only 14 mm thick, so it is quite thin.

Other newly announced model was simpler than previous, but also quite interesting. It is named EB-100 and is working under Linux instead of Windows. It has an 800 x 600 e-ink technology display, and does not have any wireless modules.

The prices for these interesting gadgets are yet to be announced, but let us hope they will be interesting enough.

Eight is the new five. In terms of megapixels, that is. As you are well aware, Samsung holds the record for the world’s thinnest cellphones, be it in the clamshell, slider, or candy bar form factor category. How do they do it? Why, by packing the world’s thinnest cellphone parts in their phones, of course. The latest announcement from Samsung brings yet another record-breaking (or is it record setting?) item, an 8.5mm CMOS digital camera module that they will use for their next-generation mobile phones. This will upgrade their current generation 5-megapixel phones to 8-megapixel ones, and as if that wasn’t enough, the camera module also features anti-shake, 1-cm macro mode, face-tracking technology and a smile shutter feature. Expect cellphones to be released with this camera module during the second half of 2008.

Read [Samsung Korea] Via [Engadget]

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Kidnappings are pretty common these days, so parents tend to over-worry when it comes to their kids’ whereabouts, which indirectly translates to a more strained relationship as the children themselves feel under pressure and “cornered”, whenever the adults start repeating all the same questions over and over again. Smart Target aims to relieve the pressure cooker environment on both parties with its wireless proximity alarm system that helps boost child safety, assisting parents in locating wayward younglings quickly, while keeping them within a pre-set “virtual fence”. This works great only with tiny tots and small ones, as those who are older will probably feel ashamed of being “caged” by such a system, so do exercise some care and discretion when you plan on using Smart Target’s solution known as the Kiddo Kidkeeper system.

The Kiddo Kidkeeper system comprises of a transmitter which is hooked up to the child, while the receiver itself is carried by the adult. The adults has the power to set just how far the child is allowed to move out of the “virtual fence” before a warning sound blares on the receiver itself. Guess the range shouldn’t be set too far, lest the adult perform a whole lot of running around, especially in public places like crowded shopping complexes and the like. Setting the distance requires some form of exercise though, as both the adult and child are required to walk the perimeter of the area. Once set, the Kiddo transmitter will begin blinking in green, while a color change in the LED is an indication that the batteries will need a replacement, pronto.

The transmitter itself can be attached with a snap hook, and parents should take the responsibility to secure it firmly to the child’s clothing. The transmitter utilizes a low frequency, ensuring there is no risk of it interfering with various electronic devices. The Kiddo Kidkeeper system can monitor up to four children at once, and has a maximum detection radius of 8 meters before the alarm goes off.

Source: Gizmag

Ever had that strand of hair coming out from your nose, but your fingernails can’t quite seem to get enough grip to pluck it out? Here’s the LED tweezers that makes life a whole lot easier.

LED Tweezers is the new fashionable design of stainless steel. It consists of bright LED, tweezers and mirror in a lip stick size which is storable and portable. Let you make up your eyebrow easily and conveniently at night.

Priced at $10 a pop, they make a perfect gift for that constantly preening geek.

You have to admit that this is kind of cute in a middle school “do you like me? check yes or no” sort of way. It’s a heart-shaped mp3 player broken in two so you can wear one around your neck and your sweetie can wear the other around his/her neck. And everyone at recess will be, like, so jealous that each half features touch controls and can hold 1GB of music that says everything you ever thought and felt about each other.

The United States is no longer the nation with the largest number of internet users. China overtook the US last month in users for the first time, according to the state-run China Internet Network Information Center.

Researcher BDA China Ltd. estimates there are now over 220 million internet users in China, compared with 217.1 million in the U.S. Online ad revenue continues to lag in China, however, totaling $1.3 billion in 2007 compared to e-Marketer estimates of $21.4 billion in America.

Maybe it’s time for me to start promoting the Chinesse translation of my blog.

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TouchPad Pro is an app built for the iPhone which allows you to take control of your PC or Mac. Your iPhone needs to be Jailbroken for the application to work, and once installed it allows full control of your mouse as well as allowing you to use the multi-touch screen for zooming, scrolling and general keyboard entry. The iphone TouchPad Pro app works differently on different apps. If you use a PDF document you can scroll up and down the page by placing 2 fingers on the screen and sliding them up and down. To zoom in to the document you move a finger and thumb apart to move closer to the page. I have to admit that it is one rather good looking application and just another reason for me to look in to buying an iPhone.

Video after the jump.

Product Page Source - GeekyGadgets

Guest Post by Matthew of Gadget Venue.

The latest notebook that is rumored to be to hitting the ultra-mobile, or Eee PC competitor market looks like it could be the Intel Netbook. A few pictures have turned up of the new device courtesy of a “buddy that works for a US Based OEM.” The Netbook is said to feature a 9-inch display, 900MHz Celeron processor, 512MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and will be running Windows XP. The Netbook also weighs less than three-pounds and has a carrying handle built-in. Rumor has it that the Netbook will be landing in the US around June and be in the ballpark of $400.

Of course with all leaked pics, we are left to wonder just how accurate or real they are, based on these blurry, but somewhat nice camera-phone style pics the Netbook does have a nice appearance. As usual, time will tell. Keep reading for a few more of the leaked images…

Read [Tech Cornerstone] Via [Gizmodo]

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