Gadgets Base

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jul 5th 2008 at 10:20AM
When their moms told them that they needed hobbies, collecting Nintendo Game & Watch machines was probably not what they had in mind. We’re not about to judge Andy Cole or Michael Panayiotakis, two collectors who have all 60 Game & Watch handhelds ever produced. New in box. Untouched by human hands. So why did they do it? Because they could, we suppose. In an interview by DS Fanboy, the two Game & Watch collectors are deconstructed and investigated, revealing such nuggets as once spending $1,200 on a boxed Super Mario Bros. Special Edition, keeping their products out of the sun and air, and some advice on starting a collection of your own. Hit the read link to see the collectors in action.

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Filed under: Gaming

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 5th 2008 at 4:06PM
Don’t deny it — you totally blew the original Duct Tape Server off as some one-off project created after a hard night of truth or dare, but the DTS team is out to prove that this here is no fad. Just this week the DTS II (that’s Duct Tape Server II for those who prefer things broken down) was introduced shortly after DTS I came unglued. Reportedly, this unit will be on server row at MillionManLan and will pack a 2.2GHz Pentium 4, 1GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive and a few fans to keep things breezy. Hit up the read link for a slew of build shots, and click on through for a quick video.

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Filed under: Desktops

Filed in archive Tip by jim on July 05, 2008

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Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Mark Goddard

Taking baby pictures is something I haven't done very often and, in fact, the last time I did it was with a film camera.

So it's time to check out what others are doing with their digital cameras and babies.

The article I found has quite a few very innovative ideas in it including the use of "macro" for baby pictures.

Now I know that babies are tiny, but I never would have thought of using the macro setting for people pictures, but this digital photographer has some great ideas for using macro.

Check out this article about digital baby pictures and then find, or make a baby, and try these techniques.

It should be fun.

Take a camera with you whenever possible, and look around, you'll find a picture somewhere.

Another newly leaked Sony Ericsson handset, this time it is the successor to the W580, which is dubbed the W595 and comes with a codename of Linda has just surfaced courtesy of Le Journal du Geek.

The W595 is a slider style Walkman handset and will feature an FM radio, the Walkman 3 player and will be running the A2 software platform. Similar to some other recent Sony Ericsson handsets the W595 will include Google Maps pre-installed and also have a 3-dimensional accelerometer.

While SE has been quite on the release date for the W595, it is rumored to be announced during July. Aside from the model pictured, it is also expected that it will be available in a red and white colored model.

Read [Le Journal du Geek] Via [se-nse]

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Asus has officially unveiled their latest netbook in the Eee PC lineup, the Eee PC 904, however although it is expected to be available soon, they have not announced a specific date.

The 904, seems at least to me, just another small notebook to wear the Eee brand. The specs are pretty much what we have been seeing before and nothing really stands out all that much. The Eee PC 904 will feature an 8.9-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, 900MHz Celeron M processor, 1GB of RAM, 80GB hard drive and running Windows XP.

There is one nicer feature on the 904, and that is the keyboard, which is the slightly larger layout that is taken from the Eee PC 1000.

The Eee PC 904 will retail for £269 (around $535 US) and will be available in mid-July.

Via [TechRadar]

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The retro styled 8-bit graphic watch could perhaps be a watch only for the true geek, well that is if they are not already wearing something with a calculator on their wrist.

The retro watch is dubbed the Icon Watch, and was originally designed back in 2005 by a Japanese design firm, however it just recently became available for purchase. The Icon Watch has a polyurethane band, ABS and stainless steel body and is available in black or white.

While exact time would be a difficult thing to offer from this watch it does have a certain appeal to it. I was actually considering a purchase, and then I saw that it was retailing for $75. Not to mention, thanks to always carrying a cellphone with the time on it, I have not worn a watch regularly for a few years now.

Product [MoMA] Via [Oh! Gizmo]

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For many people just getting into digital photography, the world of photo editing can seem a tad overwhelming. Hewlett Packard offers some help in the foray through the forest of editing your precious snapshots and helping you turn them into all they can be, even if it didn’t happen exactly the way you wanted right from the camera.

The Adobe Photoshop program, a perennial favorite among many photographers is rather tried and true. It’s used by everyone from magazine layout staff and professionals to the Joe Schmoe who captured his son playing flag football at the weekend game. However, if you are first wading into the waters of photo editing…granted, the program may seem a little daunting, especially for those not familiar with any kind of editing or publishing software.

The capabilities of Photoshop are amazingly wide-ranged. You can do the simple crop/adjust color/brightness/contrast etc, all the way to applying different photo filters to your pictures after you shoot them. Layer photos, create collages, Photoshop even offers something called “PS Actions” which is just full of nifty little photo tricks. And the best thing about taking the free online course is that you don’t have to figure out all the buttons on your own. You have an instructor walking you through it showing you how to use the program’s features.

Right now, HP is offering a totally free class on Adobe Photoshop.  Enrollment runs from July 4 through July 31, and the class ends August 8, 2008. Previous students ranked the course 4 out of 5 stars. You can sign up for the course by going to the HP website.

Read [HP]

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Android first sprung up on the Nokia N810 internet tablet a few months back, however the install process was a little more challenging. Well as technology goes, things generally have a way of becoming easier with some time and that certainly applies to completing the Android installation process on the N810.

Now its as simple as three easy steps.

1. Download “android.img.bz2” to the memory card in your tablet. That file can be found here or here.

2. Download and install the “android-installer.deb” file. That can be found here or here.

3. Reboot your N810.

Once the reboot is complete, you will have the ability to run and check out Android. The start up for Android can be found in the extra’s menu.

Almost makes me wish I had an N810 to check it out. That said, we have not tested this personally, so I would recommend any important files be backed up first, just in case.

Via [Mobile Computer]

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by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 5th 2008 at 5:02AM
There’s certainly no shortage of researchers working on printable electronics these days, but a group from the EU-funded CONTACT project is now boasting of a “major step” towards being able to print electronics on everyday materials. At the moment, they seem to be focused primarily on printing organic TFT displays directly onto glass plates, which apparently required the use of some aggressive solvents that “attack” the organic materials between the TFT and liquid crystal layers. Their current Labratester 1 printer (pictured above) apparently still has some problems precisely lining up each layer, however, but they say that’ll be fixed with the addition of some optical cameras in the Labratester 2 machine they’re now working on. Eventually, they say the system could be used to easily and cheaply print displays directly on watch faces or glasses, or even print other electronics onto paper or other fabrics.

[Via Protein Feed, image courtesy of NSMZ]

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

If you’re in the market for a smartphone that you can extend with potentially unlimited applications, are intrigued by the iphone, really want an Android phone, but can’t wait, then take a look at the Neo FreeRunner which hits the (virtual e-commerce) street this weekend.

The Neo is arguably the first open mobile computing platform that is based on Linux. The 6.5oz phone itself boasts GSM (805/900MHz) network connectivity, a 480×640 VGA touchscreen, 802.11b/g WiFi, GPRS 2.5, Bluetooth 2.0, 128MB RAM and 256MB Flash, along with a microSD slot.

Openmoko expects to launch a full suite of applications next month that will go along with the dialing & SMS capabilities that the phone will initially ship with.

Gimme!

More info from the manufacturer

Price: $399.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Posted in GPS, Gizmo of the Day, Phones, Portable