Gadgets Base

We’ve been waiting ages for Mozilla to take what it did for web browsing on PCs to mobile devices.  It seems we are getting darn close to seeing this come to fruition with the browser builder team moving focus from the near completed Firefox 3 to the mobile space with Fennec.

Ars Technica got some hands on time and had this to report:

Fennec isn’t intended for mainstream use at this stage because much of Firefox’s valuable underlying functionality still hasn’t been exposed through the user interface yet. Despite the early state of development, Fennec has some impressive features that reveal significant potential. The biggest win in Fennec’s feature set is support for inertial scrolling.

Like Firefox, the Mozilla team is hell-bent on making an amazing browser experience that is not limited by what device you are working on.  A lofty goal to be sure but one which echos in Mitchell Bakers keynote address at Web 2.0 Expo recently:

“Access to data, sites and applications on the internet shouldn’t be limited by the type of device being used, and Fennec will make that possible.”

Other highlights of Fennec seem to be a one-click favorte system for bookmarking and an “awsomebar”, an adaptive learning browser that throws up suggestions as you type.  Sweet.

Ok, back to waiting.

Read: [Wired] [Mozilla]

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Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!

If you have an over-zealous Twitter pal or want to avoid a blast of tweets for a little while, Twitter snooze is a nice friendly solution.

Basically, it’s an addition to Twitter ettiquette, so that you don’t have follow and unfollow with the social implications of being a bit of an inconsistent jerk;)

When you “snooze” a pal, Twitter will send him/her an email alerting that person that you are now following them again (not unlike when you follow/unfollow). Hopefully, this will get improved over time. What’s so amazing to me, though, is that we’re developing a polite culture around our online behaviors - who knew that tweeting would require such trappings.

Grab your Twitter Snooze here.

If you are in the hunt for a camcorder that is not so heavy on the pocket but still wallops some decent features, then the DXG-569v entry level camcorder which was recently released might be just what you are looking for. Retailing for only $170, this cheap camcorder offers 720p (1280×720) video quality aside from other powerful features that you’d think would not come in such an inexpensive camcorder.

These features include full speed video recording, direct video editing using various software and direct upload to YouTube without altering its native format. In addition to being a nifty camcorder, the DXG-569v also doubles up as a decent photo snapper able to capture still images at a 5-megapixel resolution. It can even record voice memos, which allows users to annotate their photos. The camcorder comes packed with 32MB of internal memory with support for expansion via an SDHC memory card slot that can accommodate up to 8GB of additional storage.

One lowdown of the DXG-569v though is the lack of optical zoom and in its place is a 2x digital zoom with LED flash for focus. But the lack of an optical zoom is understandable since DXG wanted to lower the retail price of the camcorder as much as it could.

Via [electronista]

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I wasn’t aware that there was such a mobile phone designed specifically for senior citizen users, until now, however, AHD has introduced the Emporia Life Plus mobile phone. If you’re wondering what the “Plus” is all about, that is to signify that this is already the second generation of the Emporia Life mobile phone.

For its second outtake on providing a mobile handset for the older generation of mobile phone users, AHD is giving them a simple-as-you-like handset that has all the basic features that would answer their mobile phone needs. These features include; a “super loud speaker”, oversized display and buttons, built-in flash light, hearing aid compatible ear piece and a quick ICE (In Case of Emergency) access key.

In addition, this mobile phone handset for our dear 50+ year old folks has a 250 hour standby time and weighs only 138g. Likewise, to make the Emporia Life Plus more appealing to our parents and possibly to our grandparents, AHD is releasing the handset with a retail price of around $287. It might not be that cheap, but hey, the Emporia Life Plus would be a useful device for staying in touch with our folks, right? The Emporia Life Plus will be available through PAYG sometime in May.

Via [ubergizmo] Via [Trusted Reviews]

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Suzuki has recently announced that they will be incorporating a free Garmin GPS in every 2009 SX4 as a standard option. Within the car will be a special compartment called “T.R.I.P”, in which the GPS will be housed. T.R.I.P stands for Travel, Real-time traffic, Information and Play, hey that’s clever, Suzuki. Otherwise, the GPS comes with Bluetooth functionality, for hands free calling, traffic updates, and MSN Direct, however, the MSN Direct feature is still unconfirmed as of now. Some speculation is that this Garmin GPS is a customized Nuvi 780. If you don’t want to purchase this car, and get another car, the same type of GPS will set you back $500 when purchased by itself. This sounds like a good plan to me to boost Suzuki car sales, however, I doubt people would be buying the car just for the GPS. Although, for customers on the fence about this car, throwing in the GPS might make people go for it. More important hopefully other car makers will see this as a good move and follow with similar offerings.

Via [NaviGadget]

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I know that I spend more on my electric bill every month than I probably should. But with as many computers as I have running in my house, it’s not really a surprise. I can easily pinpoint where the main power drains are coming from, however, some people prefer to know exactly how much power some of their larger equipment uses. Here’s a cool power strip that will tell you how much energy each individual device in an area uses.

The strip features a large LCD screen which will tell you in kilowatt-hours how much energy a device uses over an hour, day, week, month or year. You might be surprised at how much power some of your bigger gadgets used. Of course like all gadgets that help you save energy, it’ll cost you. This Cost Controller Power Strip is going to set you back a cool $100.

Source: GearFuse

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The third phone Nokia unveiled is the Nokia 3600 slide.

The Nokia 3600 slide is a slider phone with graded colours. The design focuses upon the combination of ceramic plaint and metal. The phone is a music-oriented phone which can accomodate up to 3,000 songs if you opt to get the optional 4GB memory card. The device is also equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera with 2 LED flash and autofocus. It even has a TV-out port so you can view its contents onscreen. The Nokia 3600 slide comes with a preinstalled Nokia Maps application and is the most affordable among the three new handsets at 140.

If you’re a tea snob, I mean ,connoisseur, as I am, you know it’s all about the process - steep it too long and it’s bitter; too short and it’s colored water.

TeaCubes takes the guessing out of the equation by placing the tea bag on a timed retractable spool so it pulls the teabag out of your mug in exactly three minutes.

Designed by Jieun Yang & Hanah Suh, it’s only in the concept stage at this point, but you can admire it at Yanko Design.

More on tea and tea gadgets:
Kenwood Response Kettle
Blends for friends
Full Bloom Tea - a visual experience
WIsdom Wands: Coffee and tea brewing wands
The Teastick

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 9:44AM
Those looking for another good reason to set up camp in Sweden have just found it. Okay, so maybe Manodo’s oh-so-informative display isn’t that astonishing, but it certainly gives a select few apartment residents in the country access to an enviable amount of information. Reportedly, the screen is being installed in several Swedish cities as part of a larger pilot project, and aside from dishing out details about the next available train, who exactly is standing outside their building and how much energy folks are currently consuming, it also serves up data on how many pounds of CO2 you’re responsible for releasing while kicking back in your pad. Unfortunately, we’re not sure if said solution is available en masse (or if it ever will be).

[Thanks, hl]

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Filed under: Household

by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 1:46AM
Sending electrical shocks into the brain via a “brain pacemaker” has already led to dramatic breakthroughs like the revival of a man trapped in a vegetative state for six years, but new research may mean that the technique is soon a common treatment for disorders like depression and OCD. Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Mass General, Harvard Medical School and Brown Medical School implanted the Medtronics brain pacemaker into 17 people suffering from depression and tracked them for a year, finding significant improvements in mood as well as social and occupational functioning, while 26 patients suffering from OCD were followed for three years and also showed “marked improvement.” Findings will be presented to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons this week in Chicago, and clinical trials are scheduled for later this year — in other news, sales of “The Terminal Man” to neurosurgeons recently skyrocketed for unknown reasons.

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets