Gadgets Blog

by Nilay Patel, posted May 3rd 2008 at 8:23PM

There’s been a rash of defections at OLPC lately, with NickNeg himself looking to leave soon, so it’s nice to hear that the charitable endeavor is filling in the vacancies. Only it’s not, really. Although Negroponte has said that’s he looking for someone “similar to Kofi Annan” to lead the project, it looks like he’s just shuffling people around, instead promoting part-time CFO Charles Kane to President and COO. Negroponte is going to focus on fund-raising and promotion, while Kane will handle the day-to-day matters of actually manufacturing and distributing the laptops. That’s certainly a good first step — and perhaps Charles Kane is really Kofi Annan’s long-lost twin — but with developers suddenly miffed over Negroponte’s overtures to Microsoft and talent leaving from the top, it seems like OLPC would do well to bring in some fresh vision and leadership, no?

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Filed under: Laptops

Online reseller JR.com is listing a new mystery-cam from Creative, called the Vado, which promises to be very similar to the super successful Flip. The specifications read like they have been lifted from the Flip itself: VGA cam, one-button recording, good low-light performance, two hour recording on a 2GB, direct upload to YouTube or Photobucket, 2x zoom, rechargeable AA batteries and a built-in flexible USB connector.

The only differences seems to be that the Vado has a 2″ LCD against the Flip’s 1.5″, and that it will be available in both silver and pink. Even the price is the same, at $100.

It’s a surprise that nobody has done this before. The modest little Flip commands a huge 13% of the entire market, proving the demand for a cheap and cheerful camcorder. We expect that Vado won’t be the first attempt to cut a slice of this cake.

The picture above is a Photoshop job: There is no product shot as yet. You can see a screengrab of the errant page below, just in case the original goes offline (and we suspect it might). We’ll be keeping a close eye on this. As they say in Streetfighter II: “Round One: Fight!”

Premature Product page Product page [JR]

Transcend has yet another digital audio player that will hit the market soon - the T.sonic 840 mp3 player. It looks extremely simple and minimalist in design, coming in a candybar form factor while featuring a burgundy red housing that holds the following :-

• 1.8″ color TFT LCD display
• Supports JPG, BMP, MTV, MP3, WMA, DRM10, and WAV formats
• Up to 30 hours of non-stop audio playback
• Digital voice recording capability
• Integrated FM radio
• FM recorder
• World Clock
• 13-language user interface

You will be able to choose from 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities that will come in white, black and burgundy colors. No idea on how much it costs though.

Source: Digitimes

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There is insufficient training. Our officers are not properly trained in this legislation and that is probably leading to misunderstandings shall we say […] I can find no evidence of any training on this part of the legislation.

This is what the chairman of the Metropolitan police, Peter Smyth, told an interviewer on BBC Radio 4’s iPM program. Speaking about the recent rash of clashes between photographers and the British police, he admitted that many new laws are passed without adequate training being give to the officers on the ground. The cops are therefore misinterpreting the laws and persecuting innocent people carrying out innocent activities.

The problem is magnified by the amount of community support officers in the force. These police assistants are granted less powers than the regular force, but, as with any security guard who lacks real power, they tend to be a little over zealous in order to prove their worth.

It is good to see that all of our public complaining is having some effect on the top brass at the Met; that’s what democracy is about after all, and one of the reasons I bang on about these issues here on Gadget Lab. But it also shows that the British police have their priorities out of whack: Instead of spending money on better trained cops, investment finds its way into the easy options, like blanket CCTV coverage, which doesn’t work anyway.

What to do until this is sorted out and carrying an SLR is no longer an act of terrorism? Smyth suggests that photographers

Simply explain that they are going about their normal, daily, piece of their business – it’s their hobby or their business […] If the officer has serious concerns that the photographs… are of some sort of terrorist nature then I think he [the officer] should be asked to explain what sort of terrorist nature he thinks they are about. And if in any doubt to call a supervisor.

Terror Act: Police Attack Government Over Photography In Public [Amateur Photographer]

Photo [unusualimage/Flickr]

When the story first broke of 9x’s Media Monitor System, the pictures we saw were of an amazing fifteen monitor setup that could be used for gaming, simulators or just about any other application that requires a huge amount of video real estate. Well, as fast as you can say “Photoshop” the 9x Media system has grown to hold thirty monitors for sick amount of space. And it still makes you want it.

Coming with the choice either 19 inch or a stunning 32″ monitor size, the 9x Media rig can be configurable ready to go for any amount of monitor space the client needs from 2-30 lcd screens. And even though they are custom made and ready to go, the 9x system is expandable, meaning that as needs (let’s face it, we’re talking wants here) warrant, the real estate go up or down. The screens can also be rotated from landscape to portrait position. In addition, the 9x system includes customized Multi-screen servers, screensavers, and optional upgrades and software.

Hat Tip: Born Rich (where else?)

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SAN MATEO, California — A seventeen-foot robotic giraffe with webcams in his eyes and special touch-sensitive sensors is proving a crowd pleaser today at Maker Faire.

"Hello, my name is Russell," the electric giraffe, aka Rave Raffe, said to a crowd of children.

Russell rewarded kids tickling his sensors by saying, "He. He. He. That tickles," and "That feels nice." It’s a little less disturbing than it sounds, as you can see in the video.

The whimsical giraffe is the creation of Russell Pinnington, after whom the robot was named, and Lindz Lawlor, who provides the base for its voice. You might have caught earlier versions of the beast at Burning Man over the last couple of years.

New for Maker Faire, you can see through Russell the Giraffe’s eyes via this webpage, which is streaming his vision of the world.

Lifetimer

The Lifetimer clock lets you keep track of the important things in life in a wonderfully novel way. The clock face is surrounded by a collection of buttons relating to different aspects of your life, such as your next holiday, your next tea break, your birthday, the time you knock off from work, even the last time you had rumpy pumpy. Simply pressing any of these buttons will give you the number of hours, minutes and seconds you’ve got left (or that have passed in the case of some) till the event happens. Press, and it’s only seven minutes and twenty seconds to your coffee break; press, and you’ve been in your current relationship for two years, three months, six days, ten hours, four minutes and twelve seconds, etc etc. It’s a brilliant idea and great fun - in fact it’s amazing quite how much time you can waste simply pressing the buttons to see how much time you’re wasting. Watch the seconds left till you can go home from work tick away (backwards of course), or the days since you last made like a rabbit add depressingly up.

I have seen the iphone, and all the blackberry’s and other smart phones. Then I have heard the cold, dead polyphonic ringtone of my phone with its barely audible Casio keyboard cover of “Superstar”, mocking me. I bought my phone a mere eight months ago, just after the dawn of the iPhone, choosing it for its sleek size, and a consumer review which noted its superior battery life and technical bells and whistles. My phone is an excellent phone, and I could care less.

I want a phone that does everything else, maybe even magic. A phone that takes crystal clear pictures, develops them, and prints them in a matte finish. I want a phone that plays music-actual music, an instrument perhaps the oboe. A phone that plays videos of Bigfoot, The Lock Ness Monster, and proof of Alien life. The “Magic Super Amazing Phone” surfs the web utilizing a touch screen that touches back (delightfully tickling you, nothing else…dirty mind). This phone will not only let me access my email, but automatically interpret what I wish to write back in response and also access my regular mail always blocking junk mail and junk credit card offers. And it is not only compatible with Bluetooth, but Blue Fairy. A tiny blue fairy that whispers in your ear, and grants wishes.

My phone should basically be able to thoroughly thrash your phone. Grinding it to bits and pieces and recycling them. My phone is very green conscious. Now I know that no such phone presently exists, but I am issuing a call to all inventors, create this “Magic Super Amazing Phone” and buyers will come, oh yes they will come. Until that point though I will have to suffer, at least for the length of a very iron clad two year contract.

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Remember the Hitachi 1.5 UltraThin LCD HDTVs you saw at CES earlier this year? Well the 1.5 Ultra thin series has now been released in the US in two separate model ranges. First up is the Hitachi Directors series X, and the Hitachi Ultra Vision V series. We will be talking about the X series / directors series here.

The 1.5 ultra thin sets had a huge amount of attention at CES and rightly so, they are just 1.5-inches thick or thin. The Director’s Series Models will be avaliable in four sizes, from 32-inches to 47-inches. On the larger end, we have the 47-inch Hitachi UT47X902, 42-inch UT42X902, and 37-inch UT37X902, all with a 1920×1080 pixel full 1080p HD resolution, 120Hz Reel120 technology and two year warranty.

On the smaller end of the Hitachi X series, we have the 32-inch UT32X812, and UT32X802. The former features the 120Hz Reel120 technology, while the latter does not. Both have a 1366×768 resolution and 2 year warranty. The unrivaled thinness also comes with a great 360 degrees design that is appealing all around. All come with an optional audio video center.

Prices and release dates are as below.

• UT47X902 | $4,699, September
• UT42X902 | $3,699, May
• UT37X902 | $2,999, April
• UT32X812 | $2,299, August
• UT32X802 | $1,999, March