Gadgets Base

After their last snafu with secretly installing rootkits as a DRM measure, Sony is getting smart(er). The smart part is in listening to consumers, but they did start off again by doing something dumb. In this case, it was a $50 fee to eliminate excess non-essential applications (aka crapware) from their default Vaio laptop installations. The blogosphere went berserk, but Sony listened and promptly dropped the fee. Good for them (and us).

And in more dumb company moves, Apple has been shipping Safari for Windows along with iTunes updates. Now while you can deselect Safari from being downloaded and installed, let’s face it - users tend to click OK before reading anything! Downloading a new 22MB installer when you’re really just expecting to update your existing apps is a bit sneaky and probably unwanted. A better idea may have been a more in-your-face dialog box asking your permission. As someone who didn’t care much for iTunes and then lost his ipod Nano and replaced it with a Sandisk Sansa, I haven’t noticed this, but I can understand the backlash.

Korean mobile phone manufacturer Pantech recently organized a contest in which students from Korean Universities were asked to create design concepts for cellphones that can be made available by 2010. And in its conclusion, five dazzling mobile phone concept designs were released. Pictured here is the Cell Dot cellphone design, featuring a very minimalist overall look and feel, plus it’s seriously slim. Other designs include the Tower Lily, Wavy Stream, Waterfall Fish, and Simplice Section.

With the way things are working right now, it’s a little hard to believe that phones just like this one will be available in just two short years. Well, although I’m certainly up for something like this, at this point in time I just don’t see where a device like this would be coming from. But then again, I could be wrong. Any student who took part in Pantech’s design contest could stand up and bring his/her concepts to life. You never know.

Continue reading for the rest of the designs from Pantech’s recently concluded mobile phone design for 2010 contest…

Via [akihabara news] Via [I4U News]

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LG has announced the world’s first “skin phone,” the SH240, aimed at the Korean market. This 3G HSDPA phone has a 2-megapixel camera, video-calling, a media player, Bluetooth and a microSD slot. It also has a dictionary and a subway map (the utility of which escapes me). But the major selling point of the SH240 will definitely be its keypad, which, according to AVING has an almost skin-like feel to it. The keypad is manufactured using a combination of metal and silicon, giving it texture and elasticity similar to skin. I am not sure if people would want to feel like they are poking someone’s skin every time they dial a number. The SH240 is going to retail for around $400.

Via [AVING USA]

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If a mac mini is already considered a small computer, the ZPC-GX31 is almost microscopic. In case you didn’t get the message, there is a computer inside this keyboard.

The specifications aren’t very bad taking in consideration its small size, there are a couple of options for the processor, with the top one being an Intel Core 2 Quad. Moving along, the RAM memory can go up to 4GB, while the graphics card is also an Intel GMA 3100.

In terms of connections, the ZPC keyboard has ethernet, 4 USB ports, a PS/2 mouse port, DVI output, and more. An optical drive to read/write DVDs is a good extra, as well as the hot keys for internet (browser) and email.

Priced at 350.

Product Page

PS - it only weighs 7.4 lbs (3.4kg).

via

Cannondale unleashed two new models for the 2008 season: the Moto and the Rise.  Both models show Cannondale’s direction of bringing lighter weight bikes back to the forefront.  And both bikes work to define the all-mountain category which seems to be to be getting fuzzier and fuzzier.

The Moto offers up 160mm of floating travel in the rear end using their new Hatchet Drive designed to break free of stiction faster and make the travel more usable.  The pro build on the top of the line weighs in at a respectable 30lbs.  The Moto will be found from $3899 and $6499. 

The new Rise will tip the scales at 24lbs for the priciest model.  This design features 130mm of travel and offers the worlds first integrated seat tube, main pivot and bottom bracket.  The forged part eliminates all the welding and added stress points and aims to save weight.  The Rise can be had in various models, typical of Cannondale from $1799-$5499.

The rise will be offered with a new Lefty version as well.  Having ridden extensively on a Lefty, I can say if you can get past looking down and freaking out about there only being one support (the fork is single sided) you’ll love it.

As the line blurs between cross country bikes and downhill bikes, it is great to see weight of the rig being brought back into restraint.  Cannondale will be building both bikes in the USA from a range of carbon, aluminum and other sexy materials.  For those of us that like pedaling uphills (or at least have the option to) it is a welcome change.

Company site [Cannondale]

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Despite advances made in search technology on the Web, and websites guiding users through the morass of information on specialized topics like medicine, information available on the Web about legal topics is still fairly hard to find for most people outside of the legal profession. Lawyers know that, in addition to costy databases such as LexisNexis and Westlaw, there are numerous free information sources online, but there’s no obvious starting point for non-lawyers looking for basic information about a given legal topic, such as the requirements to set up a business in a particular state or how to draft a will.

Nolo, a company that publishes legal guidebooks and software packages for non-lawyers (as well as for lawyers venturing into areas where they’re not experienced), offers a fairly comprehensive list of topics in their catalog, along with some useful broad summaries of subjects like trademarks and copyrights, but it’s not a portal to other resources on the Web.

Once upon a time we wrote a really popular article comparing the differences between the 2 satellite radio services, XM and Sirius. That article will now go the way of the dinosaurs as the Justice Department has approved the purchase of XM Satellite by Sirius Satellite Radio.

What consumers may end up with is a bunch of a la carte service options. The next set of reviews will probably revolve around that unless a newcomer to the industry pops up.