Gadgets Mobile

It’s not just pollen that’s turning you into a sniffling, itchy, snot factory this spring. At least one doctor says our beloved gadgets may also play a role in our seasonal miseries.

Here’s the diagnosis from Todd Resengart, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Stony Brook University:

In addition to the typical pollen-producing allergies that are rampant during the months of spring, technophiles should take caution that some of their favorite gadgets may be the culprit of certain allergy symptoms.

Dr. Todd says that cell phones and iPods in particular can affect users who are sensitive to certain metals and minerals used in manufacturing. Nickel, which is prevalent in phone batteries, is one of the leading causes of skin allergies and can lead to “contact dermatitis,” he says. Furthermore, prolonged use of cell phones and iPods can also cause unsightly skin bumps or rashes to sensitive gadget addicts.

As someone who’s allergic to everything from grass to cats, I won’t deny there exists a miserable group of hyper-sensitive people who seem to break out in hives the minute they walk out the door. But at this point, I’m wondering if we really need more allergy FUD. Is some well-meaning non-profit, founded by a mother whose child is allergic to his ipod, going to start pushing for warning labels on gadgets? This phone may contain trace amounts of nickel, cobalt and chromate. On the bright side, I guess no one’s claiming your iphone will make you go into a anaphylactic shock — yet.

[Vitals via I4U News]

Photo: Flickr/mikelao26

Microsoft is trying to make headway with geeks and nerds like you and I in launching their next Virtual Launch Studio. Who says you need to be dressed to attend these events anyway?

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Geek-art obsoletes another standard everyday item… the clothes hanger. Instead of an old boring hanger, you can use this cursor-slash-pointer geek-art item that doubles as a coat hanger.

Your friends will either be amazed at what a stylish and interesting person you are for having such a cool conversation-starter mounted to your wall, or they’ll put you in a rubber room for talking to a pointer with a jacket on it.

Gimmie!

Suggested Price: $9.99

Posted in Gizmo of the Day, Miscellaneous

Patio Heater
Bring summer evenings back to your garden with this mega powerful patio heater.

You can have this for ?399.00

I find it pretty hard to believe that a company might actually want to piggyback on the success of other brands and even franchises. Case in point - the Matrix-NEO LCD monitor from Dao Korea. This glossy full HD LCD monitor will feature a ho-hum dynamic contrast ratio of 7,000 to 1, and will be released on May 1st. I wonder what the legal eagles from Warner Bros. have to say about this - will this Matrix-NEO lcd monitor actually stop time and “bullets” from your boss, just like how Neo managed to do so in the movies? I guess not, but at least you can choose from 17″, 19″, 20″, 22″ and 24″ varieties.

The upcoming 3G BlackBerry phone for AT&T from RIM has been delayed, moving the launch date to August from the originally planned June date. Not many reasons were given, but the main speculated one concerned AT&T’s thoughts about its call quality. Other folks prefer something more dramatic, claiming that AT&T is looking for a tech glitch as an excuse to make way for the Apple 3G iphone which will be released sometime this June, pretty much the same way blockbuster movies in the cinema are not released on the same week so that they don’t have to compete with the consumer for their dollars. Whatever it is, I just hope the 3G blackberry will boast some pretty noteworthy features.

The mother of all 3G iphone rumors has been smashed, ladies and gentlemen, by none other than an Apple fanboy who happened to pass by a mobile phone accessories store in Hong Kong.

While the rest of us here have been speculating (some even giggling) about the possibilities of a glossy black 3G iPhone coming in June, those in Hong Kong may already be aware that the photo of the alleged 3G iPhone on the Internet right now is absolutely and positively not a photo of the real thing. Because what the thing in the photo really was, according to the source of the image above, is none other than a glossy black custom iPhone back case, which you can purchase for yourself right now if you were in Hong Kong.

Oh well, the rumors were fun while it lasted. This means that an image of the 3G iPhone has not been leaked after all, although nothing would stop Apple from churning out something that closely resembles this thing anyway. I say good job to the makers of this plastic case, though.

Read [Winandmac] Via [Gizmodo]

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In most places across the world, at any given time of day, you can walk up to any random person and be sure that he/she owns a Nokia. Then when you ask that person why he/she owns a Nokia, you’ll be given an anecdote about its user-friendly interface, nice styling, satisfactory performance, etc. And it shouldn’t surprise you, because those are the reasons why Nokia skyrocketed in the mobile phone making game.

Another thing that’s not surprising is Nokia’s apparent low profile in the North American handset market, mainly because it just would not succumb to the carriers’s requests to modify their phones in order to match some “specific criteria.” This will soon change, however, as Nokia finally decides to change it’s tactics in order to recover their stronghold on the US market.

“We are literally repositioning our entire approach to the US,” says Mark Louison, the company’s North America chief. And they had better do it soon. Unless they want to keep seeing underdog Motorola beating them at their own game.

Read [Business Week]

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Stainless Steel Toothpicks By Wallet Essentials
In order that you can spare yourself the ignominy of all those facial contortions in a public place, these clever little toothpicks have been pioneered to spare your blushes - and keep your teeth as pearly white and sparkling as those of a Hollywood starlet.

See price