Gadgets Base

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 4:04PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. gadgets, Storage
Here’s a novel idea: rather than stressing over the choice between solar or hydroelectric power sources to keep that green data center running, just build the thing near a community pool. Apparently that’s exactly what’s happening in Uitikon, Switzerland, as an IBM-built center erected for GIB-Services AG is using its excess heat to warm a local swimming pool. Put simply, the warmth emitted by the computers will be piped through a heat exchanger to boost the temperature of water used in the neighboring pool, and while the town had to cover some of the equipment costs to make it come together, it’ll reap the oh-so-steamy benefits for free.

[Via FashionFunky, thanks Yash]

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 4:52PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
We puzzled over Microsoft’s cryptic statements at CeBIT that the Eee’s “other requirements” would lead to an adjustment of the Windows 7 timeline, and it looks like our first guess was spot-on: Microsoft will be making Windows XP available for Eee-class ultraportables until 2010, and possibly later. Demand for XP on devices like the Eee and Intel’s Classmate machines has prompted MS to reconsider axing XP entirely this June: the company will now sell XP Home through at least June 2010, and for one year after the release of Windows 7 — which means sales of XP could stretch into 2012. There’s no word on if the build of XP Home targeted at the ultraportable laptop set will be different from regular XP builds, but we doubt there’ll be many changes — it’ll be awfully sad if people are still clamoring for XP more than a decade after its initial release, though.

[Thanks, JP]

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 11:49AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Storage
You know what they say: you can never have enough ports, right? Apparently Buffalo Technology is nodding its head in agreement, as its DriveStation Combo4 features no fewer than four different interfaces and five total connection ports. Though it can’t be connected to multiple machines simultaneously, you can hook things up one at a time with USB 2.0, eSATA, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 (x2). The drive, which comes in 320GB (HD-HS320Q), 500GB (HD-HS500Q) and 1TB (HD-HS1.0TQ) flavors, comes bundled with the PC / Mac-compatible Memeo AutoBackup software and a two-year warranty to boot. For the port lovers who just can’t resist, all three are available now for £79 ($156), £93 ($184) and £161 ($319) from least capacious to most.

I always check online store prices before heading out to a local retail store to buy that shiny new gadget I’ve been eyeing. Sometimes, things are just cheaper online. Thankfully, Amazon is making my shopping a little easier with its new text-messaging shopping service, called TextBuyIt. The new mobile service enables consumers to shop for products on Amazon by sending a text message through their cell phone. The service works in three simple steps:

1. Send a text message to 262966 (AMAZON) with the name of the desired product, ISBN, UPC number, or a search keyword.
2. Amazon will then reply to your text message with two search results including prices. You then reply back with your order choice—a ‘1’ or a ‘2’. If more results are desired, texting the letter “M” will return another pair of search results. Unfortunately, there are no images accompanying the search results (this is not MMS); however, you can view each item’s details by sending “1d” or “2d”, to see more information regarding the first or second listed item respectively.
3. Once the order is placed, Amazon will call to confirm or cancel the order. One approved, Amazon processes and ships the order.

The only restriction is that all users must have a registered Amazon account prior to ordering through the new service. It looks like Amazon was paying close attention to Verizon’s 20 billion text messaging announcement, trying to take advantage of the ever growing SMS market. Regardless, the service is supported by AT&T, Alltel, Boost, Midwest Wireless, Nextel Communications, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Virgin Mobile.

Product [Amazon]

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Now according to the product description, the 3-D IQ Sphere is supposed to train both your IQ and EQ, although I’m not too sure how the latter part is going to be trained. Will arranging a rounded Rubik’s Cube actually improve my EQ? At $9 a pop, I’d rather throw in an additional $10 to pick up Brain Age on my DS which offers me way more interactivity, and to be able to share the joys of Brain Age with friends and family will definitely increase my EQ no two ways about it

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 4:26AM by Thomas Ricker
var Just a few hours after we brought you the exclusive hands-on video with the DevTeam’s PwnageTool… it’s out! Mac only for now, Windows on the way shortly.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

A cell phone is but a communications device at heart, capable of doing a little bit extra such as surfing the Internet, running IM programs, checking your mail, capturing your favorite memories in a digital photo and playing video and audio files when you’re bored, right? Well props to online shopping pioneer Amazon.com who clearly aims to pile on the pressure (and potentially, misery) upon its brick-and-mortar rivals by offering a new online shopping service known as TextBuyIt, letting Amazon account holders to just about search virtually all products on Amazon’s website with the option to purchase whatever captures their fancy.

According to Howard Gefen, director of Amazon Mobile Payments, “With today’s launch of TextBuyIt, any Amazon.com customer can now use any mobile device to shop and buy from Amazon.com, at anytime, anywhere they are. With TextBuyIt, if you’re walking out of a concert and want to buy a CD from the artist you just saw, or if you’re at dinner and a friend tells you about a great book you should read, all you have to do is get out your mobile device, send a text message to Amazon, reply to the response, confirm your order, and your item will be on its way.”

Amazon claims that it takes less than a minute for you to find a product you want, followed by a simple purchase procedure. Sounds pretty neat, especially if you already know what you want, but if you’re someone who loves window shopping (whether virtual or otherwise), I’d strongly suggest sitting down in front of a computer and take your time to browse through Amazon’s millions of items. After all, TextBuyIt is relatively lightweight in terms of text, which means plenty of contextual information apart from items and prices could lead to a potentially wrong purchase if you don’t know what you want. Do you think this service will take off in a big way?

Source: Information Week

Although the original announcement named T-Mobile, among others, as the first company to have a Microsoft Surface in their offices, today it seems that the deal was not to be. And word on the Interwebs is that AT&T will be the first to install Surface tables in four of their branches across the US. AT&T will purportedly be placing the Surface in the New York, San Francisco, Atlanta and San Antonio store branches, in which customers will then be able to perform certain actions using Microsoft’s high-tech piece of furniture, such as browsing the available handsets, and purchasing digital content like ringtones, wallpapers, and videos for their own phones. April 17 is the date to watch out for, so if you live near any of the previously mentioned branches, mark your calendars for a chance to see the surface in action.

Via [Tech Digest]

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Posted Apr 3rd 2008 12:01AM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: cellphones, Features
Although the iPhone Dev Team totally punked us on April Fool’s Day, they were still nice enough to give us an early hands-on (in person!) with a pre-release version of their new Pwnage tool. Pwnage lets you load in any firmware you want, including patched firmwares not signed by Apple — which could lead to everything from custom software distributions to totally new OSs ported over (like, say, Android or Linux). We did what most people are probably going to do, however: we took a brand new 8GB iphone, unlocked it, and upgraded to the 2.0 firmware, while keeping it active on T-Mobile. It’s not exactly a one-click process, but it’s not all that hard either — although we kind of cheated and had Dev Team members talking us through it. Peep the vid after the break, and check the read links in few hours to get your hands on Windows and Mac versions of the tool.

P.S. -Apologies for the blurry video for the first couple minutes, we didn’t notice that our camera had gotten knocked out of macro mode. You’re not missing much, trust us. Oh, and the only cuts are during loading bars and when we accidentally flashed a phone number and the iPhone’s serial number — we figured you didn’t really want 20 minutes of listening to people sniffle during progress bars.

Read - iphone-dev.org (Pwnage tool creators)
Read - The iPhone Project (hosting the Pwnage tool)

A few more images have popped up online showing off the newly announced Cloudbook Max from Everex. Overall it looks like it has a nice design, although it seems to be a little “puffy.” A few things to note based on the images (as compared to the current model):

• The empty space below the display has been filled-in by the larger screen.
• The speaker appears to be one long section, instead of the current two smaller sections.
• The trackpad has been switched to the more familiar style.
• The internal webcam has been centered, as opposed to being off to the right of the display.
• The addition of the external 2.0-megapixel webcam.
• The indicator lights (power, Wi-Fi, ect) are now on the outer edge of the notebook, as opposed to the current models which are under the lid and hard to see unless you open it up.

Keep reading to check out the rest of the images…

Read [BrownKnows!] Via [UMPC Portal]

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