Gadgets Base

So what happens when you combine a Japanese ISP Founder, the idea of an iPhone, and the idea of WiMAX together in a room? You get a fun-filled day of iPhone/WiMAX bashing! Sachio Semmoto, the founder of eAccess (a broadband provider as well as a wireless company) said that the iPhone is a “total failure” in the US compared to the number of phones sold by others (think RAZR). While he liked the functions, he doesn’t like it on AT&T (who doesn’t?).

“If I have a chance to talk to Steve, I’d like to tell him face to face: You made a wrong choice.”

In between shots at the iphone, Semmoto also mentioned that WiMAX will lose the 4G mobile battle versus LTE (no mention of UMB?) and CDMA (the technology Verizon and Sprint uses) will fail on the way to LTE.

So… How many iPhones have been sold in one year? Such a miserable failure. And CDMA will die because LTE is not CDMA-based, it’s roots are in GSM. Ahh… Thank you, Mr. Semmoto.

Read [NZ Herald]

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Ever wondered how Cyclops aka Scott Summers viewed the world from his ruby quartz visor? Sure, he isn’t as manly as Wolverine, but he will definitely be a person whom mom would approve of you bringing home. Get a glimpse into his world with the Cyclops Visor replica.

This Cyclops Visor replica is authentically duplicated from the actual 20th Century Fox filming prop. Ruby quartz being a little too expensive to use, this replica has red iridium polarized sunglass lens (which means they function as regular shades, too). The Cyclops Visor Replica folds to a convenient size and can be stored in the included full metal display box. The box is a piece of art too - embossed with the X-Men logo as it is. Inside is also a visor blueprint. With this replica, you can pretend to be Cyclops and lead the X-Men into battle (even if that battle is just against your evil Office Manager).

Each $74.99 purchase comes with a certificate of authenticity just in case your mates get jealous of your affluent nerdiness and start to heckle you about it being a fraud.

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by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted May 24th 2008 at 3:29AM
Remember when the Wrightspeed X1 electric car beat both a Ferrari 360 Spyder and Porsche Carerra GT off the line? Well, ex-Cisco and DEC engineer Ian Wright is back with his SR-71 that he says will do 0-60 in a brain-numbing 2.5 seconds. The new electric speed dart should show up in about 18 months and could even get a street-legal version in 36 months. That’s a long time to wait, sure, but a faster-than-Bugatti EV at a fraction of the cost could just be worth it.

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Filed under: Transportation

by Nilay Patel, posted May 24th 2008 at 2:06AMWe hadn’t heard from struggling content-delivery service Akimbo in over a year, so it’s not really surprising that the latest news isn’t exactly cheerful: the company is shutting down, leaving only a “skeleton crew” behind to find a buyer for its remaining assets. Akimbo seemed like it was searching for a viable business model from the start (eventually leading the company to drop its hardware offerings entirely), and like other would-be set-top box vendors, it looks like the economics of content delivery were simply too skewed to wrestle into profitability. Any bets on who’s next?

[Via GigaOM]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

by Darren Murph, posted May 23rd 2008 at 8:28PM
We’ll go ahead and get this out of the way: the fantastic product you’re about to hear more on has “no plans” to go commercial. Now that we’ve thoroughly killed your buzz, let us introduce to you the LaserTouch. Said device is a prototype that recently emerged from Microsoft Research’s labs, which essentially allows people to retrofit any display (monitor, projector, etc.) so that they can use their own hands to control the on-screen action. According to Andy Wilson, who played a vital role in the unit’s creation, an infrared camera is used to track how a person touches the screen, while software that he developed handles the majority of the magic. Too bad this could totally undercut Surface sales, right?

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Filed under: Displays

Cheaper and simpler may be the name of the game, as another Eee competitor came out –- the Bestlink Alpha 400.

Displaying a 7-inch true color display at 800 x 480 resolution, the Linux PC packs a 32-bit XBurst 400Mhz processor and a measly 128MB RAM and 1-2GB of internal flash storage.  The Alpha 400 offers nothing jaw-dropping, except perhaps its $250 price tag.

The device also offers an SD memory card slot, USB connectivity, and optional WiFi capability.  The Alpha 400 measures a diminutive 8.3” x 5.6” x 1.3” and weighs a mere 1.5 pounds.  If you can find another 99 who would want it, the price drops to $180 per unit (they offer a curious bulk deal at 100 machines).  A pretty good deal since $18,000 could easily be the cost of one high-specs computer.

Read [GIZMODO]

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Brando, e-tailer of products that you didn’t even know existed—and some that probably shouldn’t—just launched a lightweight 2.4Ghz wireless mouse which weighs only 32g.

Known for its gimmicky products such as a wireless USB missile launcher and Bluetooth PDA stylus headset, Brando now introduces its latest mouse, which it boldly proclaims as “probably the world’s smallest 2.4GHz wireless mouse.”

The device features:

• Mouse speed: 400 / 800 / 1600 dpi, 3200fps
• After recharge, the mouse can be used for 21 days (3 hours utilization per day). In the case of continuous usage, the power can last for 70 hours
• Compact and light design, ideal for traveling
• Transmission rang: 7 meters
• Support Window ME/2000/XP/Vista, Mac OSX 10.2 or above (support USB port only)
• 2 Colors availables - Black and Siliver
• Dimension: 68 x 38 x 28mm (approx.) (Mouse)
• Weight: 32g

Package Contents:

• Tiny 2.4Ghz Wireless Mouse
• USB Receiver
• USB Charging Cable
• User’s manual

Just $29!

Via [Engadget]

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Official word from Samsung is the Instinct—touted as the best positioned competitor of the iPhone—will hit the shelves at Sprint’s retail stores on June 20th.

Instinct’s series of ads feature a head to head combat of the iPhone and Instinct on various popular features—such as internet access, live TV, GPS, video shooting, music downloads, etc.—with the Instinct as the clear winner. 

Touted as an “amazing touch screen phone with a Network to back it up,” the Instinct is ready to go head to head with everyone’s favorite phone from Apple.  Samsung’s biggest concern should be that it is taking aim at a moving target. Apple is soon to announce the iphone v2 -– and not only do we believe it will feature vast improvements in its current specs, but also include entirely new enticements -GPS anyone?.

Read [Mobilecrunch]

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by Darren Murph, posted May 23rd 2008 at 11:14PM
Engineering souls have been hacking up the Apple TV for a good while now, but those too scared of completely ruining their box have had to sit patiently on the sidelines waiting for someone else to do their dirty work. Enter aTV Flash, a USB flash drive which enables your Apple TV (Take 2 included) to do all sorts of fancy new tricks without any fuss. Those with the drive simply plug it in and watch as new file formats become supported, UPnP media streaming opens up and Safari-based web browsing becomes a reality (among other things). Granted, the convenience will cost you $59.95, but that’s the price you pay for making your life easier (and your Apple TV a little more useful).

[Via TUAW]

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted May 23rd 2008 at 2:05PM
GameStop will no longer stock or sell the Zune, citing weak sales and a poor fit with its “product mix”. Despite recent positive sales numbers and only weeks short of Microsoft’s launch of games for Zune, Microsoft’s player will no longer be found at the gaming retail giant. The decision came about a month ago, and sales will continue at Gamestop.com until stock is depleted. Adam Sohn, director of Zune marketing, confirmed the announcement this afternoon by not denying it:

“We have a set of great retail partnerships that give Zune a strong presence at retail including Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and others. We will continue to invest in deep retail partnerships, and have seen good momentum online and at retail over the last few months including a great response to our recent Spring Update. We’re looking forward to a continued strong presence at retail with our partners.”

We can’t help but thinking better Xbox integration could’ve gone a long way, but perhaps it was just never meant to be.

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Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio