Gadgets Mobile

I just got back from Chicago yesterday afternoon after fulfilling my duties as a Sidekick Roadie. Those duties included meeting the artists, hanging out with the VIP winners, and having too much fun. Colbie Caillat, Cat Power, and John Legend put on a great show and it looks like everyone had fun. I’m sure T-Mobile will have all sorts of pictures and video up on www.sidekick.com shortly. If you want to read about the trip, head over to the Tour blog where I’m posting about my experience going on tour with T-Mobile. If you’re in New York, we’ll be heading into town next week so look out!

MXI Security has unveiled a new 8GB capacity usb drive in its Stealth MXP product family that makes it possible to carry an entire Operating System and work environment as a portable desktop on a small-size portable security device. The Stealth MXP and Stealth MXP Passport is equipped with a new Liquid Metal case as well as a robust plastic casing. Both casings feature a unique sliding mechanism and ergonomic design, protecting the USB connector and biometric reader; the plastic casing provides organizations options to create custom colors and personalized printing.
[ Source ]

Panic Button

Arrrrrr F***, S*** or what ever foul language comes out of your mouth when things wrong at your desk!!! Be it an Important call you missed, that once in a life time deal that?s just gone belly up. The PANIC button is the ideal gift to you or your work colleagues. Though not just for computers, the PANIC Button is a essential addition to everyone’s desk. It doesn’t do anything of course, but you feel a lot better having a button to stab at when everything goes to pot. Stick it on your keyboard, your dashboard, possibly even your ironing board, and get instant relief from life’s little emergencies.Comes with a self-adhesive pad on the base Size: ~1.5cm x 1.5cm x 1cm

Technorati Tags: Tech Toys

Hot Bear
OK, it's not a cutting edge gadget, but this bear is simply irresistible.

You can have this for ?9.95

Microsoft will not be killing off Windows XP this June as expected, instead it has been given an extension of life, sadly it was not due to the Save Windows XP Campaign that we saw, but instead because of the recent surge in low-cost computers such as the Eee PC, Cloudbook and recently announced 2go PC.

Microsoft has announced that Windows XP Home will be available until at least June 2010 and for one year after Windows 7 is released, which could mean we will see availability through 2011 and possibly into 2012.

Read [AP Google News]

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Here is another offering from the CTIA Wireless 2008. The Alcatel Playboy-branded handset OT-V770A is available in Pink, Gold, or Silver metallic trim. Alcatel’s latest handset supports 1.3 megapixel camera, 10MB onboard memory and media player. Delivering full-screen video playback the cell phone has microSD card slot for extendable memory. Sporting Playboy logo, the headset comes with metallic rear-panel.
[ Source ]

I am doing a bit of head scratching this morning.  CTIA has come and gone, as has CeBit and 3G.  In this post, I’ll go over the 3 phones that are hot on the tail of the iPhone.  But can any of them compare?

First, I think it is essential to boil down the obvious: the iPhone hype is about 3 things.
1. OS.  Fun.  Simple.  Easy.  We like pushing things around with our fingers.
2. Internet.  We do so much online, it is natural to do that everywhere.  The big screen is a huge plus.
3. Sexy.  What makes sexy?  Not sure but Apple has it right now.

Knowing I am but a tech blogger and thus an idiot, let’s see how the phone makers have assessed the competition and how they plan to beat it.

Sony Xperia. Our Editor and all-round good guy, Robert Nelson had this to quip,

Sony Ericsson has launched the XPERIA brand with the XPERIA X1 handset. The X1 has an impressive set of features. Just to start it’s running Windows Mobile 6 with a full slide-out arc-sliding QWERTY keyboard with 4-way key and optical joystick. The X1 along with the XPERIA lineup will be focusing on the growing need for mobile web communication and multimedia entertainment. The X1 features has a metal-finish body with a 3-inch wide VGA 800 x 480 touchscreen display, GPS, Wi-Fi, A2DP Bluetooth, a 3.2-megapixel camera with a microSD card slot for additional storage.

Samsung has been somewhat slow to get something to the US market.  Perhaps the Instinct will be the new standard bearer for Samsung.  Our David Gonzales has this report:

As you can see, the Samsung Instinct has a large, touch-sensitive display and it runs on a custom UI made by Samsung from the ground up taking data convergence into focus. It will also offer local haptic feedback, built-in GPS and Sprint TV. This is Samsung’s first direct strike at Apple’s iPhone, as well as against a lot of other touchscreen-based devices that have been popping up lately. I’m sure Samsung hopes that the Instinct won’t stink but will it have what it takes to be a real iPhone killer when it’s finally released? We will see.

LG Vu
We’ve seen the Prada phone for over a year now and still nothing especially impressive on the US mainland from LG.  Can the Vu be it?  Our Robert Nelson has this to spec out for us:

The official specs for the LG Vu are in and it seems the recent speculation about two versions was correct. The Vu will be available as the CU920 with TV support and the CU915 without TV support. Both models will, of course, feature the large 3-inch WQVGA 262K color touchscreen.

Other features that are shared between both models is 3G support, a 2-megapixel camera and HTML web browser. The Vu has just 120MB of internal memory, but also has a microSD slot with support for up to 4GB of additional storage. The Vu measures in at 4.25 x 2.16 x 0.51-inches and weighs just 3.16-ounces. The included 1000mAh battery is stated to give up to 3-hours of talk time.

What amazes me a bit is the folks that got hands on with any of these units describe them as “wonky” “not ready” and “beta”.  Can anyone imagine Apple showing their phone in a less than pristine manner?  Maybe I am missing something, but putting the phone out there in a less than controlled manner just to get an impression seems risky.

So, let’s look at my criteria.  Up first OS:
Xperia:Windows 6.1.  ZZZ.  At least they had the sense to jazz it up a bit.  Perhaps they have found a way, like HTC to put a well thought out UI on the beast.
Instinct: I’ve seen this somewhere before…a copy of the iPhone OS.  It looks fast and the GPS is hot.  Customizable and 3 buttons to play with.  Interesting for sure.
Vu: Voyager OS.  Looks a bit cumbersome and I’ve not been super impressed with the Voyager.

Up next Internet:
Xperia: The new Internet Explorer is supposed to be much better, allowing iphone-like panning and zooming at will.  Perhaps this will help the dinosaur.
Instinct: The web looks crowded in the hands on I’ve seen.  Perhaps you can customize these buttons that line both sides of the screen off.
Vu: :looks crowded again, two rows of buttons at the bottom.  The zoom function looks awkward at best.

And finally sex appeal:
Xperia: the slide out keypad will be the shiznit for some.
Instinct: good looking, still not iconic though
Vu: I am on the fence.  It really doesn’t look sexy to me, but I am not a Verizon man.

So, any of these want to make you stand outside in a line this summer to buy?  Let us know in the comments.

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CTIA Wireless ain’t just about the hardware. Sooner or later, you know a new application was bound to be revealed. And although Yahoo!’s latest development might not be something entirely new, it still ushers in a few cool features that are worthy of mention. I’m talking about Yahoo!’s improved oneSearch app, now called oneSearch 2.0, with new features that are already available for a few select Blackberry devices.

With oneSearch 2.0, users can now search instantly from the standby screen of their mobile devices, and this is further helped by Yahoo! Mobile Search Assist, which works in the same way as Yahoo!’s very own search suggest feature from their homepage on the Internet. This means that the most common search results will begin popping up even if you’re only three letters into typing your search term, plus it will also work to refine your search from more general terms. Let’s say for example that you’re searching for Ketchup, the intelligent Search Assist feature will then bring refined search terms according to your query, like Tomato Ketchup, Banana Ketchup, etc. Certainly makes searching for groceries much easier, eh?

A partnership with vlingo, a leading speech-recognition company, has also made Yahoo! oneSearch voice-enabled. And according to Yahoo! users need only “speak whatever they are looking for and have access to instant answers.” Right. So now the only thing left for you to do is to convince yourself that it’s OK to talk at an inanimate object (your mobile device). The complete set of new features will be fully available in Q2 2008, but you can try the voice-enabled feature by going to http://m.yahoo.com/voice, and as previously mentioned, select blackberry devices already have a few of the other features as well.

Read [Business Wire]

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Sprint Nextel has announced the planned roll-out of their Xohm WiMAX will be delayed. According to a company spokesperson we can now expect it “later in the year” but rumor has it that it will come sometime this summer. Sprint was also quick to make it clear that the delay was not due to anything technical, claiming that:

“We want to make sure the launch meets our expectation,”

This delay can not be good news for the recently announced Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition. As far as the Cloudbook Max announcement, we were initially put off by their availability which came as it was “expected to be available in a year,” it now seems that is no longer an issue. Of course those in Chicago, D.C., and Baltimore will still be able to enjoy the service while everyone else waits, thanks to the soft launches that Sprint had in those areas.

Via [cellular-news]

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According to the All About Microsoft blog, Microsoft has officially confirmed that you will no longer be able to purchase a copy of Windows XP after June 30th.

This was the original date set in the Windows Life-Cycle Policy, and the only exceptions are shipping in Ultra Low-Cost PCs, like the Asus Eee, or shipping preloaded on new machines. The ULPCs exception ends on June 30, 2010, or one year after the next version of Windows is available, whichever comes first. As for pre-installed machines, their time is up on January 31, 2009.

We previously reported on a petition to save XP, and it looks like Microsoft has decided to go with its original plan, despite more than 100,000 people asking Microsoft to not stop OEM and shrink-wrapped sales of XP.

If you love XP go buy some copies now because after June 30th, you’re stuck with Vista.

Read more at All About Microsoft.