Gadgets Base

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 2:51PM
Hello MobileMe, goodbye .Mac (and good riddance). Apple’s synchronization and web application solution for your Macs, PCs, ipod touch or iphone is now live. Push eMail, push contacts, and push calendar and a new suite of web applications are now yours for the taking. You know, after you hand over $99 for the first year or $149 for a one-year family subscription.

P.S. Things are loading slowly at the moment as the service comes up.

Update: As noted in the comments, the site is now down for most people.

Update 2: It’s coming up again but it’s still flaky as hell. We’ve managed to get to our calendar, contacts, and settings but Mail is still a no, no.

Update 3: And… it’s down again. Nice going.

[Thanks, Tim]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 120 Comments

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 10:13AM
It’s that time again. With the first retail sale of any hotly anticipated device comes the ritualistic tear down. iFixit is with us in New Zealand for the honors on the iphone 3G. Squeemish fanboys might want to look away. Haters, lean in and watch the carnage, the action is live and apparently, a little dirty.

Update: Nekkid, with chips exposed after the break.

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 115 Comments

With a lot of the hype currently surrounding the impending release of the iphone 3G its almost easy to forget that there are other nice touchscreen phones already on the market. One of which is the Samsung Instinct, that was recently released with Sprint.

This latest press announcement may serve more a reminder to everyone that the Instinct is available, but I suppose it does also deserve some recognition. Best Buy has just announced that the Instinct has become their best selling phone for the past two years. According to Best Buy;

“The sleek, highly touted Sprint multimedia phone produced record sales in its first two weeks at Best Buy, which has seen its sales of higher-end, multimedia phone increase 10x in the past year since Best Buy Mobile began its national roll out.”

The Instinct, which retails for $129.99 with a two-year agreement originally went on sale on June 19. Best Buy is also Sprint’s exclusive retail partner for the Instinct through August 28.

Read [Best Buy]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 9:53AM
Belkin isn’t just touting its new FlyWire gear today, it’s also taking the opportunity to introduce the new F5D8235-4 N+ Wireless Router, which brings with it a new design language for all of the company’s networking gear. The vertically-oriented unit features four Gigabit Ethernet port, a USB port to attach storage devices, push-button WPS security, and front-panel icons that turn from blue to amber if there’s a problem on the network. Not bad for $120, but we’ll save our love for the 5GHz gear. (There’s also an N unit without Gigabit ports and a pair of G routers, but really, who cares?) In addition, there’s a matching $99 USB WiFi adapter that shares the glossy black finish, and while we’re at it, let’s throw in three Powerline kits: a $179 three-port 200Mbps adapter,, a $149 200Mbps adapter two-oack, and a $99 85Mbps two-pack. Photos of the stick and Powerline gear after the break.

Read - Belkin N+ Wireless Router and USB stick
Read - The other three routers
Read - Powerline adapters

• Permalink
• Email this
• 10 Comments

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 9:57AM
Finally, the 14 people who have been waiting patiently can now get their hands on HP’s iPAQ 910 Windows Mobile-based phone. There’s not much to say you haven’t already read — the HSDPA, WiFi, and GPS equipped device can be purchased unlocked from HP’s online store for the tidy sum of $499.99. They’re shipping now… so what are you waiting for?

[Thanks, James]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 47 Comments

Filed under: cellphones

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 9:17AM That’s right. If you’ve been dying for a round of Super Monkey Ball, now’s your chance. The firmware is available only through a direct link, not iTunes, so if you want it, follow the read link to sweet, succulent 2.0 paradise. We’re loading it up as we speak, so we’ll let you know what’s good ASAP. If you want to update, just download the file, then hold option when checking for an update in iTunes — find the file and let the party begin.

Update: Okay, all systems are go! Updating with pics after the break. We’re installing AIM and some other apps on to test — we’ll have photos in just a moment.

Update 2: Looks like our upload of Super Monkey Ball caused iTunes to crash out! We’ve got the wheel, folks.

Update 3: Alright, we’ve got it syncing again — but it’s taking forever. Hard to tell if this is due to apps uploading or not. It’s like watching paint dry.

Update 4: Our bad — music was syncing. Applications are up and running smoothly — take a look at the new batch of pics in the gallery below. Also, the update has been tested on both a jailbroken and non-jailbroken phone and it’s working as it should.

We’ve got more specific info on apps and changes after the break, so take a peak.

Gallery: iphone firmware 2.0 is live (plus hands-on)

[Via MacRumors]

So right now, it looks like AIM is working when the phone is sleeping, though it doesn’t seem to alert you to new messages until you’ve woken the device up and checked AIM. Then they come at you rapid fire, which is a little unusual. Thus far, we have discovered no way to turn off the sounds in AIM. If you know the sounds, you know how annoying that is.

Push email is kind of working, though it doesn’t appear to push changes from webmail to the phone (we can’t check MobileMe yet since it isn’t live), but Yahoo! Mail works just as badly as it did before.

Google Maps now has 3D buildings, which is a nice change, though little else seems to have been altered.

Most of the applications remain largely unchanged. Take a look at our App Store roundup post to see some more of the interesting downloads available.

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 285 Comments

Filed under: cellphones

by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 10:19AM
Belkin’s not letting a little thing like the launch of the iphone 3G slow it down this morning — in addition to all that wireless gear, it’s even got the stones to throw down an iPod accessory, which is a little funny. The GoStudio recorder is a full-featured recording dock for the ipod 5G, classic, and 2G and 3G nanos, which allows you to record 16-bit 44.1kHz audio directly from two built-in stereo mics or quarter-inch, XLR, and minijack inputs, and dump it all into iTunes when you’re done. The $119 box isn’t the sexiest thing we’ve ever seen, but if you’re a dedicated podcaster or just suffer from delusions of being the next Martin Hannett, it’s probably worth a look.

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 28 Comments

Filed under: Portable Audio

Net giant Google just revealed their plans to release their version of living in a virtual world with the online 3D social arena “Lively.” Unlike the program “Second Life”, Lively allows users to enter “their world” via IE or Firefox after the initial download and installation of the program. You can make use of integrating the Internet in several ways, bring in your photos or videos that you have hosted online, email your friends inviting them to join, or use the special pre-written widgets to embed your Lively area on your blog. Currently it doesn’t work with MySpace, they are still working on that one.

“It’s integrated with the Internet. It’s not an alternate destination,” said Niniane Wang, Google’s engineering manager for the project. “Our intention is to add to your existing life.”

The whole thing reminds me of a cross between Second Life, the Sims, and this game dress up computer game I’ve seen kids play, to tell the truth. It has the whole standard “build your space”… you know… rooms, outdoor areas like fields and parks and islands. You get to dress up your little avatar and make him/her move around. Although they are shooting for a social integration that offers more than the standard email/chat mode in the way of online interaction, I don’t know if I really feel it by cruising through a virtual playground. And one that looks kind of done before at that.

It should be noted however, that Lively does have the difference from Second Life in that it has a drag and drop interface, so that is a bit more user-friendly. A few things “missing” though would be cash, and the fact that it is non-programmable, so you are limited to Google’s catalog of items in regard to your items such as clothing, furniture, hairstyles, etc. Google does say that both these things are items they are seriously thinking about adding though. But first, adding a Mac OS X client is on their priority list since it currently only works for Windows users.

Go Go Google Gadget. Wonder what’s next up the giant’s sleeve?

Read [CNet]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

Still looking at some possible delays for the US AT&T release, the blackberry Bold has just gotten its FCC seal of approval. Not much new information coming from the FCC listing, but it does confirm that it will be the GSM with UMTS 850/1900 version, which is what would be needed for an AT&T release.

Hopefully now that the FCC approval is out of the way, RIM and AT&T can get all the issues causing the delay sorted out, as of the last report it looks like it was delayed until August. Of course, Rogers is ready to set it wild on July 25.

Read [FCC] Via [phoneArena]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

Kodak has announced their new point-and-shoot EasyShare Z1015 IS digital camera. Geared for the aspiring photographer who prefers to have both automatic and manual control, this camera boasts of a 10-megapixel resolution, a Schneider-Kreuznach lens with 15x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle lens, 3-inch LCD screen and high ISO mode from 60 to 3200.

In addition, the Kodak Z1015 IS captures still images in high-definition quality at 16:9 aspect ratio and 720p videos at 30fps. Other features of this digital camera include optical image stabilization, face detection, perfect touch technology, text and sound tagging, and multimedia slideshow feature the runs on your camera’s LCD.

The Kodak EasyShare Z1015 IS will be available in US retail outlets sometime in September and is expected to retail for $349.95

Product [Kodak]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →