Gadgets Base

Dynamic people on the go should also have the chance to enjoy their shiny stuff.

While the love for gadgets only continue to grow over time, people start to ask for what was considere impossible a mere 50 years ago, one of which is waterproof electronics. Sure, there are already gadgets which are water-proof, but for those who can’t just afford to throw their older stuff away, the overboard waterproof case protects electronics 100 percent. It features transparent front and rear so you can have access to your gadget’s controls. And, since it has air-injected pockets, it’ll float to the surface just in case you accidentally let it go while diving to the bottom of a body of water that’s up to 19 feet in depth. The overboard waterproof case comes with a water-proof headset and is priced at 14.95.

by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 9th 2008 at 6:09PM
We’ve been waiting to get our hands on the SlingCatcher ever since it was announced at CES in 2007 (and re-announced at this past CES) but it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer — Gregg Wilkes, Sling’s VP of sales, has said the product won’t be released this quarter as scheduled, but rather sometime later this year. Sling hasn’t made this announcement publicly, though: Gregg simply emailed a would-be customer his apologies, saying Sling was committed to providing a “compelling and enjoyable user experience and value proposition,” and that the SlingCatcher is still being refined. He also mentioned that Sling’s recent acquisition by EchoStar has gummed up the works a bit, but that “all indications point” to a SlingCatcher release in 2008. So reassuring considering the product is already a year late. We talked to our friends at Sling and while they wouldn’t comment directly on the contents of the email, they did say the SlingCatcher will only be released when the company “is confident it’s designed to our high standards.” Yep, that’s a delay. Full email exchange after the break.

[Thanks, Christopher]

—————–

As an owner of a Slingbox Solo looking to put the feed onto a big screen without the use of a laptop, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the SlingCatcher. It was announced at the 2007 CES and set to be released the middle of 2007, then pushed back to the fall, then announced again at the 2008 CES (despite having already passed FCC testing late near the end of 2007). The only word on a release date is ’sometime in 2Q08.’

Now, I understand that being bought by EchoStar can mean delays and changes to business plans, but this is getting absurd. We’re a week into 2Q08 and there no SlingCatcher for sale, no release date announced…heck, there isn’t even a date of when they’ll announce a release date for the SlingCatcher. As I said, I understand delays, but it’s a very poor business model to completely leave your consumers in the dark. The only thing you’re doing is driving the consumers to competitor products like HAVA.

As want to eliminate connecting my laptop to my TV to display the Slingbox feed on a larger display, the SlingProjector and Clip+Sling have very little appeal to me right now. You’ve driven me to the point of contemplating the complete opposite. I’m tempted to drop hundreds of dollars and build a top notch HTPC to place into my setup instead of your product that’s ‘coming soon.’

Bottom line, you need to inform your consumers, otherwise you’re simply going to lose them. So, I ask, when can we expect an update on the SlingCatcher? When can we expect the SlingCatcher in stores? More delays (after showing working models at the 2008 CES) are not acceptable.

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I understand you frustration and I apologize for that. You are correct, after being purchased in Q4 of ‘07, you can certainly understand that product roadmaps and strategies don’t happen quickly…certainly not over a quarter.

It is not our intention to frustrate our customer base but to provide the most compelling and enjoyable user experience and value proposition possible.

Will the catcher ship in Q2? No. We are upgrading the user experience and making enhancements to the feature set. These may or may not all ship at the same time.

Will the Catcher ship in ‘08? All indications point to this happening in 2008.

When we do ship the Catcher, where will it be available? At most of our current retail and online reseller partners as well as Sling Media.com.

I hope this helps…more to come.

Gregg Wilkes
VP Sales
Sling Media, Inc.

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 9th 2008 at 9:04PMAlright, so we’ve harshed a little bit on FireWire recently, but we’ve got to stop and give the venerable interconnect some love: the 1394 Trade Association says that there are now over a billion FireWire ports out there. That’s quite an accomplishment, even if we’re not so sure that the group’s claim that “every 1394-equipped device sold now has 1 billion opportunities to connect” is the most accurate or useful way of measuring the success of the technology. Even still, growth is always a good thing, and with an estimated 15 percent expansion rate in existing markets and some new applications like in-car networking showing potential, it looks like FireWire is set to hold its own against USB and eSATA for a while longer.

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Filed under: Peripherals, Storage

Posted Apr 9th 2008 8:44AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: StorageNot even a month after we heard that Iomega was warming to a revised takeover bid from EMC, the two lovebirds have finally let their true feelings be known. Announced today, EMC is acquiring the famed Zip Drive manufacturer for $213 million. The final figure is nearly $7 million higher than the one proposed in March, and the all-cash agreement worked out to $3.85-per share — 5.8-percent higher than Iomega’s Tuesday closing price of $3.64. Also of note, Iomega will be picking up the tab on a $7.5 million termination fee to the shareholders for a canceled deal involving China’s ExcelStor Group, and EMC stated that it didn’t expect the acquisition to “have any material impact on its full-year earnings.”

[Thanks, Khattab]

Posted Apr 9th 2008 11:07AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: cellphones, Features
Remember that sweet little magnifying glass from the iPhone SDK demo? Well apparently we all weren’t having a shared hallucination — it’s in the enterprise version of firmware 2.0. Thanks to a tipster, we’ve now got shots of the search bar clearly hanging out at the top of the contacts list. While we’re unraveling mysteries, you’ll be happy to know that the little drawer button — which did nothing in the regular old firmware we had — is actually a meeting invitations folder, which displays the number of requests just like the SMS and mail icons. Other changes? Enterprise users don’t get the app store or iTunes store icons. Boo. Check out the gallery below to see just exactly what we’re talking about. Now, on to finding JFK’s real killer!

Gallery: iphone contacts search and meeting invite revealed

Posted Apr 8th 2008 7:55PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: cellphones
The folks at ZiPhone spotted some code in the brand new 2.0 beta iPhone firmware that could point to the chip to be used in the upcoming 3G iPhone. The code makes mention of “SGOLD3,” which could very well refer to Infineon’s followup chip to the S-GOLD2 which powers the current iphone. Infineon’s less fancy name for the S-GOLD3H chip is the PMB8878, a 7.2Mbps HSDPA chip with all the video acceleration and media playback features iPhone users have come to expect. Advantages over its predecessor include higher resolution camera support (5 megapixels instead of 2), a 2x speed MMC / SD interface and DVB-H module support, but that doesn’t necessarily mean any of those specs will end up in the ensuing iPhone 3G — S-GOLD2 has plenty of features the current iPhone doesn’t take advantage of. The processor speed, however, remains the same.

[Via ZiPhone; thanks Adam B.]

[Warning: PDF link]

Digital Trends reviews the Samsung Juke and writes, “The camera is easy to use, but requires the phone be fully extended – imaging taking a picture with a long, tall camera. The vertical design of the actual display makes for odd pictures. There is no flash…The camera is surprisingly supple. Press the camera button, push the first bar up and turn the phone on its side. Now using the vertical screen as a viewfinder and the horizontal touchscreen as a button, the Venus actually feels like a real camera. The pictures are solid, too, especially considering we’re getting the now-standard 2 Megapixel resolution and no flash.”

Read more about the Samsung Juke.

HP has just formally announced the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC and we are already seeing quite a few hands on reviews coming in. Judging from what is being written the Mini-Note is going to be a solid force in the UMPC market. As we mentioned earlier today, the Mini-Note PC will be priced (starting) at $499 and be available later in the month.

Lets get on with the reviews…

Notebooks.com:
Aside from a few minor issues the review was overall very positive. The few cons that were noted were in regards to the heat and fan noise, and that the display did not tilt back far enough. As someone considering the Mini-Note as a replacement for an upgrade to the Eee or Cloudbook that may be an issue depending on your style of use, for those who want an ultra-portable to sit back on the couch and surf, the display could become an issue, or more accurately a pain in the neck.

“The HP 2133 blew away my expectations and I’d be comfortable relying on the HP 2133 while on short business trips or on vacation.”

“The HP 2133 Mini-Note is not the cheapest compact notebook you can buy, but it is the best value hands down. While other notebooks in this category look and feel like they should be sold at Toys R Us, the 2133 comes across as a serious business computer at a price that’s unbelievable.”

jkOnTheRun:
Once again it seems to be an overall positive review, something to note is that they mentioned Vista Business ran well without any performance issues but pointed out they had a notebook with 2GB of RAM and would not feel as confident with only 1GB. Otherwise the keyboard had “good travel depth” while the keyboard and trackpad were “delightful.”

“I think HP has a real winner on their hands with the Mini.  I find it to be a capable notebook computer that is highly portable and the build quality is outstanding.  I also find it impressive that the total price swing from entry level (with Linux) to fully loaded is only $250 and there is no question in my mind that the Mini is the best built UMPC at this price level.”

PCMag.com:
In what seems to be a pattern forming, PC Mag also gave the Mini-Note and overall positive review, giving it a 4-out-of-5 or Very Good rating. They pointed out the HP 2133 offers an “Apple-like design” which comes (at least in my oninion) as a compliment. They also had similar comments as the other reviews, noting that the keyboard was comfortable and that the 7,200 RPM hard drive was very hot. They concluded with a unique take as their Bottom Line:

“The HP Mini-Note is not quite an Eee PC killer, but it’s a super-sleek ultra-mobile PC that will sell out as quickly as the Eee PC did.”

NotebookReview.com:
In keeping with the patterns we have seen so far NotebookReview had some similar likes and dislikes about the Mini-Note PC. They noted the keyboard quality, build quality, multiple configuration options and mentioned that it was the “most attractive 8.9-inch notebook we’ve ever seen.” Their cons once again focused on the Via processor and the fact that Vista may require a little too much power, however they also disliked the placement of the touchpad buttons and felt the screen was a little too reflective.

“The HP 2133 Mini-Note is one of the most impressive subnotebooks we’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, the amazing design and solid range of features are diminished by a sub-par processor and a price tag that places this notebook dangerously close to far superior 12-inch notebooks such as the HP tx2000.

HP managed to create the single most impressive ultraportable notebook on the market … and then decided to put a lackluster processor inside.

Despite the poor processor performance, the HP 2133 Mini-Note is a remarkably solid machine that could be a perfect fit for students, teachers, or mobile business professionals. If HP decides to replace the VIA processors with the new Intel Atom processors or alternative processors from Intel, the Mini-Note would become the undisputed champion of the subnotebook market.”

And finally a nice video walkthrough, and possibly what convinced my to seriously consider picking up a Mini-Note of my own, courtesy of Notebooks.com:

Product [HP]

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