Its Electronica

You remember that Sprint rolled out its Unlimited Access Pack on February 6th? Guess what? Verizon is going to the same thing and of course, that’s something that might be interesting to heavy users.

Verizon’s offering seems a little bit more expensive than Sprint’s and to be honest, the plans are a little more complex than they should be. Head to BGR for more details.

We saw the FCC approval came for the Samsung U940 back in late December and now we are seeing some of those wonderful FCC-style pictures. A release date and pricing information is still not know. The FCC also has a bit of possible bad news for anyone who was excited about getting the U940 as a web phone, the user manual is stating that the browser is WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and not HTML. That could be disappointing, especially considering the U940 was becoming a highly anticipated phone.

Keep reading for a few more pics of the Samsung U940…

Read [Phone Arena]

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I guess reindeer don’t quite make the cut for Santa any more as he is sick of flying second class.

Fly Santa right into your living room with this neat 2CH RC helicopter. It is made of a unique material that withstands crashes, and also it is very lightweight. It comes with auto stable and precision speed technology which makes it easier to fly. The Santa Mini RC Helicopter comes with an internal 3.7v 60mAh Li-Poly battery, the newest in RC battery technology. It comes with a full function super wide infrared controller which allows you to go up, down, left, and right. You can even fly with your friends with 3 different frequency bands. This Santa Mini RC Helicopter comes Ready-to-Fly right out of the box, all you need is 6 AA batteries.

The Santa Infrared Mini RC Helicopter can be an (extremely) early Christmas present for $29.95.

Posted Feb 18th 2008 12:35PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Don’t look now, but those delicious looking LCD TVs we saw grace the depths of the FCC’s database last week have apparently surfaced across the pond, and they’ve brought a line of PDPs with ‘em. ‘Course, we already got a whiff of these at CES, but it’s always reassuring to have a model number to cling to, no? The LG6000 LCD HDTV series consists of 32-, 37-, 42- and 47-inch iterations that boast a 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, “invisible” Mark Levinson speakers, automatic brightness and color optimization, four HDMI 1.3 inputs, a USB 2.0 port and TruMotion 100Hz technology on the largest two sets. As for the 42- and 50-inch PG6000 plasmas, you’ll notice a 30,000:1 contrast ratio, THX Display certification and most everything else previously mentioned on the LCD siblings. Regrettably, there’s no word on a price or release date, but we can’t envision such good looks coming sans a premium.

Do you know anyone in your circle of friends who does not yet own a cell phone? Probably not, as all and sundry have already picked up a handset regardless of age and economic background. After all, cell phone manufacturers have long catered their handsets to people from all walks of life, ranging from super cheap phones to high ends ones that seem to be able to do everything. The keyword for the latter group is ’seem’, as Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser thinks otherwise. The man says that everyone will eventually carry at least a couple of cell phones since there is no perfect handset that is capable of doing everything you want and provide everything you need.

According to Glaser, “his belief was fueled by differences in input methods, size, and functionality between devices.” He even goes on to say that “no single phone can do everything easily, which is why the public will be driven to carry multiple devices. Mobile penetration won’t stop at 100%. It will go to 200 percent because the notion of a single device that does it all isn’t the way (the market is) going to go.”

Do you agree with Glaser? After all, there are serious repercussions to think about should everyone start to carry double the handsets. We will have even more headache trying to dispose of these phones whenever we make an upgrade, our pockets will be way heavier, we will consume a larger amount of electricity trying to juice up dead batteries – the negative aspects are nearly endless. Not to forget, you have double the chance of somebody calling you in the cinema and disrupting everybody else’s enjoyment of the movie. Are you already carrying two handsets to begin with? Remember, those mobile carrier fees can surely add up if you’re not careful.

Source: ArsTechnica. Image courtesy of www.w3.org.

Wow - it looks as though video gaming is taking off in an entirely new direction, where being immersed or part of the game is no longer confined to having fancy graphics and an easy control scheme. Tiger Electronics aims to follow up on what the Nintendo Wii has done with the latter’s highly immersive playing experience thanks to its motion control system, by introducing the unique U-DANCE gaming system that places the player as the controller. You don’t have to be shacked by any dance mats unlike the Dance Dance Revolution titles of yore, and there are no wires to worry about. The motion sensing technology used enables players to have a full range of movement, where the body movement is used to control game play. You don’t have to worry about grooving to obscure songs though, as the U-DANCE boasts popular dance hits including Run It by Grammy-nominated pop artist Chris Brown.

According to Brian Goldner, chief operating officer, Hasbro, Inc., “U-DANCE is the perfect example of how Tiger has earned its amazing track record for identifying trends and marrying them with popular entertainment and new innovations. We’re thrilled to add this technology to our Hasbro portfolio and have great hopes for its integration into future product lines.” Chris Brown even chipped in his $0.02, “U-DANCE is the best dance game out there. If you like to dance like I do, you are going to love this game.” I don’t suppose the older generation will take to this new dancing game too warmly, since they’re better off with the tango and waltz.

You will be able to perform actual dance such as jumping, sliding, cross-overs and more. Hook up the console to the TV, attach wireless Motion Tags to your feet and dance away. You can play it as a standalone adventure or share the sweatin’ moments with your friend. U-DANCE will be available this fall for $74.99 a pop.

Press Release

Party Fountain Collection

You can have this for ?24.99

Posted Feb 18th 2008 1:54AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Desktops, Handhelds, Laptops

Think you’ve mastered Intel speak? Impressive, it’s no easy task keeping Intel’s brand names and in-house silicon language straight. Now rumor has it that Intel’s Montevina will carry a new Centrino 2 branding in hopes of clearing up any confusing amongst consumers. Probably a good idea what with Centrino providing the catch-all since the launch of those Carmel, Sonoma, Napa, and Santa Rosa platforms running Pentium M, Core Duo, Core 2 Duo branded Banisa, Donthan, Yonah/Merom and Merom/Penryn processors. If true, a Centrino 2 sticker would indicate 5th generation, Montevina-class Centrino with support for 45-nm, Core 2 Duo Penryn CPUs, a 1066MHz FSB, DDR3 memory, and mobile WiMax. Still not clear? No worries, try the handy table after break.

Posted Feb 17th 2008 10:09PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Desktops

You know, we’re normally not very into the whole case mod scene, but every once in a while some whack job with way too much free time and talen comes along and completely blows our minds. In this case it’s rendermandan’s Motorized Madness, a vaguely steampunk reinterpretation of the PC replete with the usual complement of colored lamps and fans, as well as a full outfit of unnecessary rotating, extending, and moving external displays, switches, and toggles. Oh, and that thing up top is a turbine water cooler. Videos after the break — you won’t be disappointed.

GRIFFIN iTalk Pro For IPod

iTalk Pro is perfect for capturing how the world around you really sounds. Whether you?re taking lecture notes, conducting an interview, or just want to bring the sounds of the great outdoors indoors, your only limitations are your iPod?s capacity, and your own imagination.iTalk?s twin built-in mics record directly to your iPod, and adjustable gain settings give you control over the volume. You can even use external microphones with iTalk Pro. Just plug your mic into the 3.5mm jack on the bottom of iTalk Pro.Please note that some microphones require their own, separate power source (sometimes referred to as ?phantom power?). To use such a mic with iTalk Pro, simply plug it into iTalk Pro through an appropriate pre-amp. COMPATIBLE WITH ALL DOCK CONNECTING IPODS

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