A very creepy gadget, this one a biometric mouse from Fujitsu that authenticates users by scanning the pattern of veins in their palm. Harder to fake than a fingerprint. Read
InfoSync review of Palm’s new flagship PDA, the m515, which has a 16-bit, 65,000 color screen, 16MB of RAM, and weighs just under five ounces. Amazon has them for just $380. Read Amazon
Great guide to multi-channel audio over at FiringSquad. Read
There’s been a lot of debate (well, a little bit at least) about whether DVD-Audio will ever catch on beyond the audiophile market. With most people seemingly satisfied with the relatively poor sound quality of MP3s, it doesn’t seem all that seem likely. However it doesn’t mean it won’t. Cirrus Logic is introducing two new…
A USB cable from Ositech that charges your cellphone while at the same time letting you use it as wireless modem. Sure to be especially popular once 3G cellphones are more prevalent. Read
New software from BroadQ which lets you hook up your PC to your TV via your Play Station 2 and record shows just like a TiVo. Using the new network adapter Sony released last month, Qcast Tuner connects a PS2 to a PC running SnapStream’s Personal Video Station software. Now if the PS2 had a…
Another stylishly retro digital camera from Leica, the 1.3-megapixel MINOX Digital Classic Camera Leica M3, which has the same design as Leica’s M3 Rangefinder camera from the 1950’s. And it’s tiny – just 3 inches wide. Read
The Sony Dream World 2002 show is going on this weekend in Yokohama. One of the new experimental gadgets that Sony is previewing is a flashlight that lets you project video onto any surface and a videophone wristwatch. Read
Design Technica review of the Canton LE Series Home Theater Speaker system. Read A 2.1-megapixel camera is coming out under the Polaroid name. Read AT&T Wireless to sell Java-enabled cellphones. Read
In his latest column for Fortune, Peter Lewis ventures to Akihabara, Tokyo’s electronics district, and muses on the differences between the US and Japanese gadget markets. Read
Interesting discussion over at Slashdot about when the best time to buy gadgets is. Read
InfoSync look at the latest Sprint PCS Vision cellphone, the Samsung N400. Kind of a bulky phone, but it does have a nice looking 16-bit screen. It also is one of the first phones to come with what Sprint PCS is calling “Airplane Mode”, which lets you switch off the phone’s radio when in-flight, so…
CNet takes a first look at Sony’s new all-formats DVD burner, the DRU-500A. Sure to be hit with consumers trying to avoid the confusion of all those competing standards. Read
Word from MacOSRumors.com that of an imminent 1GHz PowerBook G4, and that another overhaul of the iBook is in the works for January. The next version may come with a 14-inch widescreen display. Read
A new semi-regular feature on Gizmodo: a quick round up of product announcements and reviews. CNet review of Polk Audio’s latest subwoofer. Read InfoSync takes a long look at the new HipTop from Danger. Read Canadian company Electovaya plans a Tablet PC called the Scribbler, which they claim will have three times the battery life…
Design Technica reviews the hefty, double-screened Xentex Flip-pad Voyager laptop. When all folded up, the whole thing isn’t that big, but unfurled the Voyager dwarfs all other laptops. It’s even big enough to have a full-sized keyboard. Read
World’s smallest 3 megapixel digital camera from Olympus. The C-730 has a 10x optical zoom lens, and is just 4.2″ x 3″ x 3.1″. Read Amazon
Washington Post on the new “smart-home” technology being developed right now in Japan: closets that pick out clothes based on the weather, air conditioners that kill the flu, and mirrors that recommend skin treatments. Read
Cashing in on consumer paranoia: Levi’s is planning a pair of Dockers that come with a cell phone pocket that is lined with a “radiation-reducing” material. Don’t really see the logic in all of this. If you think a cellphone is too dangerous to keep in your pocket, wouldn’t be too dangerous to use next…
How’s this for a set-top box? Taiwanese company Well Communication has a new Linux-based box that combines a DVD player with a 20GB hard drive digital video recorder and has an Ethernet port for surfing the Web. What’s missing though, is a DVD burner for archiving your favorite shows in digital form. Read