Its Electronica

Popular Mechanics recently ran a piece about the 10 gadgets the world should have, but doesn’t. Among them are a life simulator, sonic showers and insect force fields.

While many of the concepts are amusing and irreverent, the post got me thinking, what do we need invented straight away? It’s a difficult question of priority. There are no shortage of advancements that humanity could benefit from, but if you had to pick, say, three what would they be?

I’ll start it off with these:

1. Cold Fusion
2. The everything vaccine
3. Fans that don’t go from low to high in settings, not high to low, like every fan in existence

Samsung’s leaked M620 comes coated in stark silver with black highlights, featuring a sliding form factor and has the following features :-

• 262k color LCD display
• VGA camera (bah!)
• Bluetooth A2DP connectivity
• Integrated music player
• Built-in FM tuner

No idea on when it will be released nor how much will it cost though.

Mobile Burn reviews the LG CU720 Shine (AT&T) and writes, “The LG Shine sports a 2 megapixel camera, located on the back, with a flash and self-portrait mirror. There are plenty of options in the camera application, including the ability to record video. The camera viewer requires that you hold the Shine in landscape mode, which allows for comfortable picture taking. The handset is also able to stand on its side, making self-timer shots a breeze. I found the photo quality to be very good, and the flash did not completely wash out the subject. I would easily recommend the LG Shine’s camera as great for capturing moments to send via MMS, or even to use on a personal blog. However, the photographs would probably not look very good when printed.”

Read more about the LG Shine.

How many times do you place your documents in a ring file, only to have them tear away after some time due to the lower paper quality these days? (Come to think about it, virtually everything you buy these days tend not to last as well as our grandpappy’s time) The AutO-Ring helps prevent loose leaves from falling out, ensuring your life is kept in an orderly manner.

Keep pages from a scrapbook, cookbook, portfolio or photo album from getting lost or torn with the AutO-Ring! It quickly and easily applies reinforcement adhesives to strengthen or repair punch holes so pages stay put. Makes a great gift for students.

Parents can get this for their kids, while bosses ought to pick one up for their secretaries as a $7.95 gift.

The Walk - Dont Walk chair is built from authentic New York City signs. What is ultra cool is that the signs still work via a remote control. The remote control is included which allows you to switch on and off the signs when needed. Maybe they should read, Sit - Dont Sit. Power is provided by a standard 115V wall outlet. Bulbs are standard too making them easy to replace when needed. The legs of the seat are made from steel street sign brackets and are galvanized and fitted with self levelling feet.

The Walk - Dont Walk chairs are each built by hand and still contain all the scuffs and stains of living in New York for a number of years. If the old beat up signs do not take your fancy then you can opt to go for a squeaky clean look which will see the chair completely resprayed. The seating surfaces are made from one inch thick polished resin glass which sits on a felt suspension.

Shipping is the killer here as it will take around 14 - 16 weeks for delivery although a price tag of $3700 might be considered more of a killer.

Product Page Source

Guest Post by Matthew of Gadget Venue.

The TouchBrowser from Makayama is a simple, full-page rendering Web browser for Windows Mobile users that surprise, surprise - offers the iphone-like ability of moving around a Web page simply by dragging the tip of your finger. A simple touch of a button results in a switch between desktop and mobile page layouts, while an enlarged keypad allows you to type freely without a stylus. Some notable drawbacks would be missing tabs as well as Java functionality, but those are minor niggles that could be fixed in a future update (if any). Makayama’s TouchBrowser will retail for €11.95 when available. Will this help keep Windows Mobile users loyal, or will they drift towards the iPhone?

Sky (Pantech & Curitel sub brand) will be dropping the Duke Phone (model number: IM-S330 or IM-S330K) in Korea. Set to be available just for Korean users, the Duke sports sliding form factor, mp3 player, bluetooth connectivity, electronic dictionary, metro card, and integrated 1.3 megapixel camera module. No word on pricing or when this will drop in Korea.
[ Source ]

Sega’s Super Monkey Ball was one fun game when it was first released, and it has apparently been ported over to the iphone. According to producer Ethan Einhorn, this port is a casual title that supports the “pick up and play” gaming culture which is so prevalent today (thanks in no small part to the Nintendo DS’ phenomenal success), and boasts an interface innovation that somewhat resembles that of the Wii along with comparable gaming performance like the PSP and DS Lite. Guess the iPhone ain’t too bad as a casual gaming platform, eh?

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 15th 2008 at 3:54AM

See those people? As much as NEC would like to think so, that’s not you. If it were you’d be ass-deep in nag about your inattentive dismissal of “quality time” while suffering dire warnings about barefoot-borne diseases. Or maybe that’s just us. Regardless, NEC hopes that the launch of its 4-component Lui (Life with Ubiquitous Integration) system — ¥379,890/$3,705 Blu-ray packing PC server (Lui SX), ¥89,880/$877 10.6-inch laptop (Lui RN), ¥49,980/$487 4.1-inch handheld (Lui RP), and ¥300,000/$2,926 Desktop (Valuestar R Lui) — will somehow create harmony in your household. Besides the marketing hype, we’re really just talking about Windows Home Premium SP1 here and a bunch of DTCP-IP DRM and DLNA compliant devices. In fact, the so called “laptop” and handheld units lack any traditional OS at all — they can only be used to receive streaming content off your home server. Even then, some streaming is restricted inside and outside the home thanks to the DRM lockdown. Do we really need one or even two more devices in the home just for media?

Gallery: Say Hellui to NEC’s Lui family of media streamers

Update: Regardless of what you may have read elsewhere, there is no WiMAX here. That’s not even a standard available in Japan.
[Via Impress]

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Filed under: Desktops, Handhelds, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Laptops

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 14th 2008 at 3:43PM

First the console, now a Bluetooth headset — what’s next, Metal Gear Solid 4-branded bed linens? All kidding aside, the MGS4 headset that had been making the rounds of late is apparently very real. Slated to arrive on June 12th alongside the highly-anticipated title itself, the $59.99 unit will offer up 8-hours of talk time (160-hours in standby) and will function just fine with any other PS3 games that support online voice communication. Yeah, you can also pair this with your cellphone and use it in public, but we can’t say we’d recommend all that.

[Via PS3Fanboy]

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Filed under: Gaming, Wireless