Gadgets Blog

In honor of the Big Day - of course, I’m referring to Mother’s Day this Sunday - Sony Electronics is offering a special package for all of you out there who are gift-challenged; the Sony DCR-SR45 Handycam camcorder with the DVDirect VRD-MC5. Tape those priceless family moments with the Sony Handycam camcorder and then transfer them to DVD with the DVDirect VRD-MC5 recorder. The VRD-MC5 recorder can transfer home videos to DVD without using a computer from virtually any camcorder, VCR or digital video recorder. Tthe Handycam camcorder has a built-in 30GB hard drive for storage and up to 20 hours of recording time (LP). A big 2.7″ touch panel lcd monitor keeps all the controls at your fingertips, while a 40x Optical/2000x digital zoom keeps all the action up close and personal.

As a nice little bonus: receive $180 in instant savings when purchasing them both together. Buy yourself a little something with the savings! We broke it down for you:

- HandyCam DCR-SR45: $499.99
- VRD-MC5: $229.99
- Total: $729.98

Instant savings: $180.00 when purchased on the same receipt. Available at Sony Style.

XRoad is getting ready to offer up a third version of their V7 series GPS, which comes after its phenomenal success in Korea. Boasting an array of features, the XRoad V7 is packed with media player playback capabilities, an FM radio, picture-in-picture capability, a DMB tuner, and a 7-inch display screen with an 800×480 resolution.

Sadly, only Korea will be lucky to receive the XRoad V7 so people here in the US, you may forget about owning one. After all, XRoad hasn’t been shared any of the previous V7 models. Other specs include: 4GB flash memory, 128MB memory, 4200mAh Li-Ion battery and it is powered by an AU 1250 600Mhz Alchemy processor.

Via [NaviGadget]

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Candybar phones are so last century. Flip-phones are in and so are slider phones. But when an egg-shaped phone enters the scene…well, I don’t know what to say except it looks cool. 

Freelance designer Roman Tubl certainly has an eye for all things creative. Still just a concept, the EGG mobile phone is one flashy mobile phone ideal for those who loves to flash their phones more than they actually use them.

The phone is functional with its soft rounded body. Since the touchscreen future is now, Tubl incorporated a touchscreen display on the phone’s surface. Standard phone features include USB, Bluetooth connectivity, a 3.2-megapixel camera and up to 4GB of storage.

I’m not sure with you but the EGG phone could very well be the Google phone. Maybe it’s just the colors that remind me of the search giant…

Via [YankoDesign]

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Did you know the average person spends about 47 seconds brushing their teeth, less than half the 2 minutes dentists recommend? Or that you can brush too hard, which can contribute to early gum recession? Scary stuff.

Now, this may not seem like a perfect gift for Mother’s Day but if you consider that the “mouth is the gateway to health” and that moms don’t spend money on themselves, it makes sense.

The new Oral-B features Smart Technology which enables the brushhead, handle and visual display to work together to give you visual cues that help you brush better. The brushhead and handle, which are embedded with microchips, communicate with the wireless display to signal when you are brushing too hard, when to move to the next quadrant of the mouth, when you have brushed for two minutes, and when it is time to replace the brushhead.

At first, I was discouraged by all the pieces (it comes with a unit to attach to a wall) and the instructions, but it’s actually an easy one-step process, and since the display unit is wireless, you can put that anywhere.

Oral-B Triumph with SmartGuide is available for $149 at Amazon.

Just throw in some Godiva chocolate and you’re golden.

Gear4 has presented their new audio product made for iPods, that combines a portable speaker and dock in one.

To sum it up: there is a satellite speaker that can be detached from the dock itself, so you can take it anywhere you want. Obviously, the portable speaker isn’t as good as the dock in terms of sound quality, because you’re missing a 20W subwoofer if you use the lonely speaker.

The Gear4 Duo ipod Speaker is priced at 150, and has a release date set for tomorrow, 8 May.

The front section on its own is 18W, and has a flip-out dock connector that makes the whole speaker section flat for easy transport.

via

by Donald Melanson, posted May 8th 2008 at 12:46PM

As we’ve seen, it doesn’t exactly take all that much to whip up a homemade multitouch system, but that doesn’t make Bridger Maxwell’s science fair project here any less impressive, which wraps everything into a fairly tidy, OS X-based package. Like other similar systems, this one relies on a slew of LEDs (28 of ‘em in this case), along with a webcam modded with an IR filter, and piece of acrylic and a spare LCD screen for the surface itself. To show it off to its fullest potential, Bridger whipped up an app of his own for OS X that lets users flip through XKCD comics with suitably fancy graphics thanks to OS X’s Core Animation. There doesn’t seem to be any video of the rig in action, unfortunately, but you can find plenty of pics of the entire build process at the link below.

[Via TG Daily]

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

Sony Ericsson hasn’t been saying much about its upcoming UIQ-based, candybar phone, codenamed BeiBei. However, the latest tidbit of information to grace the Internet is a photo depicting a red stick protruding from the side of the phone. What could that red stick be, you ask? Well, most likely a stylus. Unless the photo is a Photoshop creation, then it would appear that the BeiBei will be sporting a touch-sensitive LCD.

Highlights of the Sony Ericsson BeiBei include its Symbian OS-based UIQ 3.3 user interface, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, 5.0-megapixel camera, FM radio, and Walkman music player. Unfortunately, Sony Ericsson still has not announced pricing or availability details.

Via [SlashPhone] Via [SEMC]

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I have a box that moves with me to every apartment never getting smaller, it holds all my old print photos and a few albums. I get very romantic over this box, because so much of my past is tucked away inside. But, I find myself increasingly worried about losing even a single item or damaging a precious photograph. I also find myself taking photos of my photos to share with friends (as you can see here).

Hammacher Schlemmer’s Photograph To Digital Picture Converter efficiently converts photographs into digital images faster than a conventional scanner. I’m giving it the mom-safe seal, meaning that if my mom can use it so can anyone!

Photographs are placed into a tray that slides into the converter, you just press the button and the image is recorded. The entire image is captured with a 5MP CMOS sensor (just like in your own camera).

This device currently works soley with PCs, so I’m out of luck, but I like the concept and the functionality, so I’m keeping my eyes open for a similar Mac-friendly device.

Price: $149.95 at Hammacherschlemmer.com

by Nilay Patel, posted May 8th 2008 at 2:01AM

AMD may be busy sorting out issues with its quad-core Phenoms and hard at work on “completely different” chip architectures, but that isn’t stopping the company from aggressively updating its roadmap, announcing today plans for 6- and 12-core server-grade Opterons. Both the new 6-core chip, codenamed Sao Paulo, and the 12-core unit, codenamed Magny-Cours, are based on a brand-new platform called “Maranello,” and slotting in to replace the planned 8-core Barcelona chip, which appears to have been canceled. According to AMD, 12-core chips are easier to manufacture, so it’s going to skip over 8-core chips and go straight to the good stuff. That must be news to Intel, which is planning on shipping 8-core Nehalem chips later this year, and will probably then hold the coveted “number-of-cores” crown until AMD releases the 12-core chips in 2010. There’s no word on whether any of these chips can make these processor roadmaps comprehensible or even chronological, but we can dream, can’t we?

[Via TG Daily]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops