Gadgets Blog

Sprint might have been a little late to the party, but the company last week finally launched a US$99.99 unlimited plan to answer similar US$99 unlimited plans launched by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. Sprint is calling their US$99.99 plan the “Simply Everything” Plan. That’s a good name, because it really does include simply everything.

The Sprint “Simply Everything” Plan includes unlimited voice, data, text, e-mail, web, Sprint TV, Sprint Music, GPS Navigation, Direct Connect and Group Connect and is available to new and existing customers. Sprint will also offer an incentive plan for families. For every additional line that subscribes to the US$99.99 plan, Sprint will discount that line US$5. So the first additional line would be US$94.99 while the second would be US$89.99 and so on.

Clearly, this new “Simply Everything” Plan is an aggressive move by Sprint to retain and attract new customers. It will be interesting to see if any of the other carriers adjust their plans now to address the new Sprint plan.

You’ve got to love competition. Customers always truly benefit. It’s just surprising that none of the wireless companies haven’t been more aggressive on calling plans previously.

Read more from the Sprint press release.

Let it be stated for the record that Josh Bomb tienen cojones. The courageous Zune owner took a perfectly good Belkin protective case for the gadget and modded it to make its Zune-ness (Zune-ocity?) more prominent. Unavoidable, even.

This is in contrast to weasels like me who rely on protective cases for a certain bit of anonymity.

Zune case mod, for really insane Zune fans [CrunchGear]

There comes a time in every cube-dweller’s life, when he or she has to take the law into his or her hands. Maybe it’s finding out that stooge from marketing has stolen your last pencil…again! Or perhaps you’re tired of having your office moved repeatedly. Well, it’s time to draw a line in the low pile carpet. “No more,” you’ll cry as you stand your ground. With a Nerf Maverick by your side, you will prevail.

Gimmie!

Suggested Price: $9.99

I don’t know much about fashion (that sound you just heard was my wife choking back a huge laugh), but even I can tell that the new ipod/iPhone case from design duo Working Class Heroes is the kind of understated form-plus-function goodie that would dignify many an urban ensemble.

Their case/sleeve is made from wool felt and leather and includes a credit card sleeve and earbud retainer. They’re $50 or so.

Finding a new soft spot for your iphone [Refinery29]

If the concept design for the paper weighing scale designed by Duck Image Studio sees the light of day, then I will no longer have to worry if someone else is looking down at the embarassingly high figures on my scale while I am standing on it.

Ask how? Because the paper weighing scale is different from other weighing scales – it is inconspicuous, almost like paper, and can be placed anywhere in the house as it is ultra-thin and flexible. The figures are depicted via large numerals flashed on an e-paper display – easy enough to let you steal a sly glance as you are walking down the hallway, for example. And you can leave the paper scale out on the floor through the day since it is waterproof and easy to clean. The flexibility aspect ensures that you can even roll it away for storage if you are not comfortable being reminded of your weight so many times in a day. Methinks this is a great design for something as simple as a scale.

Via Yanko Design.

Everyone knows that computer motherboards tend to generate a whole lot of heat, so why not harness all the heat generated to push coolers which will then keep the system cool for better performance? This sounds like a novel idea, where MSI has come up with the ECOlution motherboard in order to harness the power of heat, transforming it into kinetic energy that will then power the chipset’s cooler. I guess this is a pretty automatic solution, because when the motherboard is cooled down enough, the cooler won’t have any more kinetic energy from heat and stop functioning until it is hot enough inside again. Hopefully the accessory on the motherboard won’t generate too much noise.

Toast has to be one of the most simplistic pieces of food to make that actually requires preparation. Just pull out the bread, pop it in the toaster, pull down the lever and it does the rest. The toaster itself is rather simple, you have metal brackets that hold down the toast and wires along the sides that heat up your bread. However, that just seems too simple for Philips, who has created a more modern toaster.

The new 1200W HD2618 just sounds complicated. It features a digital countdown timer, so you know exactly when your crunchy bread is going to pop up, selections for one or two-sided toasting and power of up to 1200 watts. Seriously, my old clunky toaster does just fine, and I’ll bet that the toast comes out exactly the same from mine as this $120 piece of equipment.

Source: Dvice

Posted Feb 29th 2008 9:11AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Robots

Not that we’re experts on the matter or anything, but if barrister and engineer Chris Elliot knows a thing or two about legal issues, a kind of “military Turing test” could be the key to legally deploying autonomous systems in battle. As it stands, “weapons intrinsically incapable of distinguishing between civilian and military targets are illegal” — at least according to Mr. Elliot — but by testing an intelligent war machine’s ability to hone in on legitimate targets and brush off friendlies, all that could change. Of course, actually administering the test still remains a mystery, but considering that remotely controlled armed bots are currently being used in Iraq, we reckon someone’s already figuring out a solution to said dilemma.

Denon ASD3N Denon ipod Dock

The Denon ASD3N is the perfect way to simplify your media collection. Rather than having some of you music on your computer, some of your music on your iPod, some of your music on CDs, and some of your music in your home theater system, keep it all connected. The ASD3N connects to a computer via an ethernet cable to transmit music from your computer to your home audio set-up, or can charge Apple iPods while playing media from them. The ASD3N is the perfect to get your music (and even photos and videos) organized.

Technorati Tags: Denon

Looks like Samsung’s air conditioners that include the company’s proprietary Micro Plasma Ion (MPI) technology will finally arrive in Asia (Singapore, to be exact) after making its debut in US and Europe last year. The two models are the Vivace Shadow Mirror and Neo-Forte, packing more than enough firepower to rid the air of up to 78% of fungus and 58% of bacteria within half an hour in an enclosed environment. The MPI system will function hand in hand with a carbon deodorizer that removes odors and bacteria. It also boasts a Silver Nano evaporator and a Catechin filter developed from a green tea extract. Guess Asians can now breathe healthier now too, eh?