Gadgets Blog

Netscape first announced that they were ending support for the Netscape browser as of February 1, 2008. With that date almost upon us, it has been given a slight reprieve, the browser will live on for one more month. The official support will now remain until March 1, 2008 and Netscape has also plans to release an update for Navigator 9 that will help users with the switch over. In the meantime Netscape is also recommending the Flock browser in addition to Firefox. 

Read [CNET]

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Garmin’s Nuviphone promises to wed GPS and cellphone with finesse and flair. It’s the talk of town, a mid-week surprise: a company with a bankload of credibility in a nearby technological niche muscling in on the cellular game.

Well, perhaps not so surprising that we forget the last time such a thing happened.

"Has iPhone met its match?" asks ZDnet. "Garmin hits iPhone directly with Nuviphone," says Electronista. iPhone, iPhone, iPhone: Nothing demonstrates Apple’s impending dominance of the sector better than the fact that it’s already the journalist’s favorite metric for anything new that comes along.

The Nuvi will be a touchscreen slab-style handset with a 3.5" display and serious GPS-centered chops. Think of it as geolocation matured and properly integrated into the smartphone experience. A suite of software stocked with millions of interesting locations will be packaged with it, and WiFi, Bluetooth and a 3G modem (using the HSDPA standard) will keep the data flowing no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Expect the browser to be desktop-caliber, with solid productivity apps and capable media playback.

Despite the beastly specs that must be under the hood, Garmin’s keeping mum on the details. It won’t be released until the fall, so it’s not unreasonable to assume that development is still underway.

As shown, it lacks a few of the iPhone’s distinctive features, such as multitouch and good design.

There’ll be no SDK, which means third-party software will be either be corporate-approved or unlicensed hacks. But both phones have strikingly similar dimensions.

There’s no word of price or carriers, either, though HSDPA means AT&T (or, conceivably, T-Mobile). Garmin might sell them unlocked, but will certainly aim for subsidies to take the bite out of what’s going to be a chunky tag: it’s too brutal and utilitarian to be a Prada-like fashion item.

If nothing else, the Nuviphone marks part two of an emergent trend: new players from outside the clique bringing their own beer. Apple brought the mobile industry’s first pleasurable user interface and the genuine technological innovation that makes it work. Garmin hopes to bring GPS that’s more than a disabled afterthought.

Posted Jan 31st 2008 1:43PM by Steven Kim
Filed under: Digital Cameras

As the press release last week made clear, Olympus did a refresh across its lineup for PMA. We’ll hit up the entry-level, ultra-compact FE series here. Across the board, the FE-310, FE-340 and FE-350 get treated to an 8-megapixel sensor and LCDs ranging from 2.5 - 3-inches. The FE-350 trades off the 5x zoom for 4x, but you get a 28-mm wide angle perspective on the world, if that’s your sort of thing. And the “HyperCrystal” LCDs were certainly bright, we’ll give them that. One definite theme we’re seeing in digicams now is the inclusion of face detection, and the FE-series is in on the party there, too.

Gallery: Hands-on with Olympus’ new FE series point-and-shoots

Posted Jan 31st 2008 8:24AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation

We knew full well that a contactless payment trial would soon be underway in the city by the Bay, and now it’s finally ready for use by 230 guinea pigs. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of details on the Samsung handsets and the technology itself, but we do know that the program is being closely watched in hopes of it operating quite smoothly. If indeed that happens, it could be “expanded,” presumably allowing others in the area to have their bank account dinged with the swipe of a cell each time they need a lift. Furthermore, a video clip at CBS5 shows the pilot phone being used to snag some totally nourishing grub from Jack in the Box. Hungry for more? Hit up the read link to take a peek yourself.

[Thanks, Hans]

Posted Jan 31st 2008 8:34AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Portable Audio

Amazon just announced an agreement to acquire Audible Inc. The move, once approved by the Feds and shareholders, leaves Audible.com’s 80,000 strong library of audiobooks, radio programs, newspapers, and such in the hands of Amazon. Funny how a company built on a foundation of paper now finds itself knee deep in digital music, books, video and even devices. The $300 Million deal is expected to conclude by Q2, 2008.

Forget the Optimus Maximus, or even that pretender, the LG Chocolate. The Chocolate Keyboard is the mother of desktop peripherals. It’s also just a concept, by Michael Sholk at the Labatorium. Don’t fight over the spacebar.

Product page [Sholk via Gizmodo]

Today, Amazon announced that they have bought out the popular digital download site Audible.com. Audible is best known for their wide variety of digital content such as digital audio books, newspapers and magazines, television, radio programs and original programming. Audible boasts over 80,000 media files and is sure to help Amazon on their quest to stand atop the digital model.

“Audible.com offers the best customer experience, the widest content selection and the broadest device compatibility in the industry,” said Steve Kessel, Amazon.com’s senior vice president for worldwide digital media. “Working together, we can introduce more innovations and bring this format to an even wider audience.”

Also, Donald Katz founder and chief executive of Audible.com, had this to say:

“This deal brings together two pioneering companies that share a long history of ceaseless focus on improving the customer experience, we are very excited to be joining a company as innovative as Amazon.com.”

When all is said and done, this deal will be completed during Q2 of 2008 and will cost over $300 million. The decision to acquire Audible.com seems to be a great move on Amazon’s part.

Read [Amazon]

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Posted Jan 31st 2008 11:10AM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Just like expected, Acer has formally bought into Packard Bell, snapping up 75% of PB Holdings, Packard Bell’s parent company. Things got a bit hairy for a bit there when Packard Bell started speaking with Lenovo as well, since Acer fears losing its strength in Europe to the Chinese giant. Luckily for Acer, Gateway was the real clincher here, since Gateway started talks with Packard Bell before getting bought by Acer itself, and had nabbed the right to counter any offers Packard Bell might get from other companies. The deal officially went through on Wednesday for $45.8 million.

Sony would very much like you to know that it is now making those expensive digital picture frames. Sony’s are dark and minimalist, eschewing the "block of wood-colored plastic trash" aesthetic preferred by most manufacturers.

The nine-inch DPF-V900, and seven-inch V700 and D70 frames offer 800×480 resolution displays cut to a 15:9 aspect ratio. The D70 has 256MB of RAM, while the other models have 512MB. If you’re worried that’ll only be good for a couple of hundred shots, note that the frames can auto-resize anything coming in to its puny native screen dimensions, which should get that number into the thousands.

Models with a "V" in their names have Bluetooth in addition to standard multi-card readers (Memory Stick, SD, xD, CF and more), but they all support Bravia TV sets. File formats? Glad you asked, because if it’s not a JPEG or RAW image, you’re out of luck.

The V900 is $250, the V700 $190, and the V70 $140, and all are available now.