Gadgets Mobile

Many Apple investors who were already concerned about the health of Apple and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs got a little bit of a shock on Wednesday when Bloomberg accidentally sent out the obituary for Jobs as if he had died according to the Gawker blog. Bloomberg had published the obituary at 4:27pm on Wednesday, but quickly retracted it citing that it was not meant for publication. It is normal for news agencies to occasionally update the obituaries of well known public figures in the event of their untimely death.

It seems that was the case when the obituary for Steve Jobs was being updated. Funny enough the obituary had at the top of it in caps, “HOLD FOR RELASE - DO NO USE - HOLD FOR RELEASE - DO NOT USE”. It seems someone at Bloomberg can’t read or at the very least is very bad at reading English.

In fairness to Bloomberg this is not the first time I have heard of a news media outlet publishing someone’s obituary a little bit too soon. Of course, you would think at this point most news agencies would have safeguards in place which would prevent it from happening again. I guess Bloomberg did not or at the very least somebody wasn’t following them. I’m sure there was a head or two which rolled as a result of the mistake. Steve Jobs can’t be looking at Bloomberg updating his obituary as a good omen.

Read more from Gawker.

If you happen to be one of those people that belongs to the “less is more” crowd, then you don’t have very many options when it comes to electronics. Most technological gadgets today features lots of dials, buttons, and lights to help you figure out how they work so they don’t usual fit in with simple room designs. A designer from Australia, however, has answered the minimalist call and has come up with a concept radio that makes you wonder at first glance how to even turn it on.

It is called the Hidden Radio and what you certainly don’t have to contend with this device is complicated dials or buttons. Everything to control the radio you do by manipulating the white cap. To turn it on and raise the volume, you only need to life the white cap exposing the bass speaker chamber for greater sound. Tuning is also accomplished just as easy by turning the cap to select your desired radio station. Alas, you will still need to contend with one led light that tells you when you are getting maximum signal strength for your chosen station.

Read more at Hidden Radio via ElectricPig.

Samsung has unveiled a mini notebook that it boasts is "lighter than air" — and perhaps the company is referring to Apple’s MacBook Air.

Weighing 2.8 pounds, the X360 is just a tiny bit lighter than the 3-pound MacBook Air. However, the X360 is still thicker than the Air: The X360 measures 0.66 inches deep on one end and 1.2 inches on the other; the Air measures 0.16 to 0.76 inches thick.

The X360 features the Intel Centrino 2 platform, a 13.3-inch screen and support for up to 4GB of RAM and a 120GB solid state drive. Similar to the Air, the X360 unfortunately lacks an optical drive.

Those lucky folks at Engadget have already gotten their hands on an X360, and they’ve reported positive feedback. Samsung has slated the notebook for an international October release with a price range from about $2,200 to $2,900, according to a Register Hardware story. Thinner than the Air or not, the X360 looks pretty darn sexy. We’ll have to see if the company’s "lighter than air" slogan will hold truth after Apple upgrades the macbook air.

Samsung unwraps MacBook Air beater [Register Hardware]

FROM GAMERTELL - It appears that I’ve got a fetish for Dream Cheeky products this week.  Before it was the USB Metal Game Pad, now it is the USB Mini Controller.  I honestly don’t know how anyone could not be attracted to this new controller with its tiny detachable steering wheel.  I’m guessing… MORE »

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Many have gotten frustrated with the battery life of their beloved iPhone, making it necessary to look into a device to keep it going all day long.  Most people turn to a battery pack to attach to their iphone.  It’s convenient because it just snaps on and small enough to carry with you.  Well this iPower Portable Power Station has an extra perk besides a battery to keep your iPhone juiced.  It also has speakers built into it.  It will charge up your iPhone till the external battery is down to 5% then it will stop.

That 5% is meant to be used for the speaker itself and will keep the speakers going for about 7 hours.  The battery will fit both the iPhone 3G as well as the 2G version.  One nice extra is that the battery pack also comes in white, so it will look better with those sporting a white iPhone.  Likely the ipod Touch would also fit into the battery pack too, however, they don’t actually confirm that.  It is currently being sold for $44 on Brando.

Source: Gadget Lab

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Robotic vacuum cleaner Roomba and floor washer Scooba are Gadget Lab favorites. We also heart the woman behind them, Helen Greiner, chairman and one of the co-founders of iRobot.

In an interview with Reader’s Digest, Greiner isn’t ready to call herself a geek. But she has some powerhouse credentials. Greiner has a degree in mechanical engineering and computer science from MIT.

She says she fell in love with Robots when she was 11 and saw Star Wars and R2D2. Her personal Roomba is called "Arnie, after the Terminator."

Greiner says robots can help take care of "dull, dirty, dangerous jobs."  Among the ideas for new robots is the Warrior that can carry 150 pounds, climb stairs and do a four-minute mile. Also a robotic helper for Grandma and Grandpa.

Helen Greiner’s Robots Cleans Floors and Clears Land mines

Photo: Helen Greiner/iRobot

It’s been reported that NVIDIA will let a Quad-SLI configuration appear. That’s good news for fanatic gamers obviously. I feel like someone is going to have to get a new case, mobo and may be a power-supply too. Quad-SLI should work with different combinations of 16x PCIe and 8x PCIe, but the fastest configuration could involve two nForce 200 chips. In theory, NVIDIA could support N-GPUs and SLI is mainly limited by the space and power requirements. Once space runs out, the option that’s left is the external PCIe box

It’s not the first time that Apple files patents related to some kind of tablet computer. It has been described as a “big iphone“, or as a full-fledged tablet, but on the latest images, it looks like a large mobile internet device (MID). It’s probably the right format: big enough to read and use the fingers but most likely thin and light. Images in the photo gallery show different situations, including an interesting one with a virtual keyboard. If it was to be priced correctly ($500-$700), it could be attractive. Now, we need to know more about the software, apps compatibility and performance.

RoughlyDrafted claims to have received an insider tip about what’s wrong with the 3G in iPhone 3G, tying spotty 3G network performance to both the network and the handset. More interestingly, the insider claims the problem has already been fixed.

The report confirms what an analyst told Wired.com weeks ago: iphone 3Gs were overloading network towers, causing them to spit out poor 3G signal or none at all. The insider says the latest firmware update — iPhone 2.0.2 — fixes the problem by distributing the iPhones’ power consumption so the handsets don’t stick to one tower and suck it dry. However, this requires that every iPhone user update to the latest version, because handsets still running iPhone 2.0 and 2.0.1 are continuing to strain network towers, the insider claims.

Intriguing and plausible — and it goes along with the theory we drew from our global iPhone 3G study. We’ll need everyone to be running iPhone 2.0.2 to know for sure. Download that update and spread the word to your iPhone-owning buddies.

The Inside Deets on iPhone 2.0.2 and Dropped Calls [RoughlyDraftedMagazine] (Thanks, Dylan!)

Also see:

• Wired.com’s iPhone 3G Survey Reveals Network Weaknesses
• Angry iPhone 3G Customer Sues Apple
• Apple: iPhone Update Improves 3G Network Performance
• Video: AT&T Blames iPhone 3G For Network Issues
• Opinion: Firmware Update to Fix iPhone 3G? I Doubt It
• Participate in Wired.com’s Global iPhone 3G Study
• What’s Wrong With the 3G in iPhone 3G?
• IPhone 3G Users Heated Over Network Issues

(Photo credit: Fr3d.org/Flickr)

Back in December of last year, Jason Kottke wrote about how much he feels about his cell phones. You can see it here:

• Remembrance of Phones Past (kottke.org)

In 2001, I spoke to my father on this Kyocera smartphone from 8th Avenue, having run up the block from work just in time to see the first tower fall. I don’t have to go into all the emotional baggage which that implies.

Since the time began that we were never to be found without our mobile phones (or whichever portable devices, for that matter), I feel that somehow all of the memories of the current chapter of my life are being constantly averaged out and inextricably linked to the phone that I’m using.

The Kyocera smartphone was the same one I was using when the the towers fell. I remember my client calling me on it, worried that I would be glued to the television instead of helping him with his move. Terrorists or not, he was going to homeless in 14 days if we didn’t close on his deal and I wasn’t about to let that happen.

A couple of months before that, I used to visit the phone at Office Max every few days. It was the epitome of smartphones at the time and I really wanted it. When I finally earned enough to buy it, I went to the familiar office supply store. They were closing them out and the only one left was the same display I had been fondling for the last month. I used to joke that I was going to visit my phone. I had no idea how true that was going to be.

Now, the idea of buying a phone at Office Max seems silly. They only sell the lame phones. Even going to the cell phone store to buy one seems strange, since I have bought my last two phones at the Apple Store.

I’m surprised at how much my perceptions of what is normal have changed over just a few years. I have gone through so many phones over the last ten years, each one offering me more than I had dreamed of the year before. I can remember so many times in my life, just based on what phone I had. It’s funny how our lives can be defined by our gadgets.