Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
We knew that BT was working on something similar to this, but here in the States, Marx Toys has a line of plush Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck dolls that connect to a PC and “enhance” instant messenger conversations: For example, if one friend has a Bugs Bunny IM Buddy and is logged onto an…
BargainPDA has some photos and details on Dell’s new Axim X3 Pocket PC, which is lighter, thinner, and better-looking than their earlier foray into handhelds, the Axim X5 (don’t ask us why they went from “X5” to “X3”). Looks like there will be three different models, a 300MHz device, a 400MHz device with 64MB of…
We actually suggested something like this last year, but PalmSource CEO David Nagel admitted that they’re thinking about licensing the Palm operating system to manufacturer who would build a Palm-powered laptop with a proper keyboard and full-sized screen. We can’t wait; we love the idea of having a quick-booting Palm laptop that could easily synchronize…
We’re still waiting for the official announcement (this morning’s press conference was delayed an hour or so) but USA Today has photos of both Dell’s new wireless Axim X3 Pocket PC and its Digital Jukebox hard drive MP3 player (pictured at right). Dell is also announcing an online music store to compete with Apple’s iTunes.…
Cingular must really be getting scared about the impending imposition of phone number portability, because they’re throwing out lots of pathetic and condescending excuses for why it shouldn’t go through, like that the process might be too “complicated” for most people. Spare us. Read
Well, much to our surprise and delight, that Nokia phone we reported on yesterday turned out to be real. But it’s not called the 7800, it’s the 7600. And further stunning everyone, Nokia’s also coming out with about a million other new products today. Besides the 7600 Imaging Phone (which is a WCDMA/GSM phone with…
Extreme Tech has an excellent guide to building your very own wireless home media server, including tips on how to optimize streaming so that you don’t have to deal with watching herky-jerky video clips, and which digital video recording software to try (they recommend SnapStream Personal Video Station 3.0). Read
Our new favorite method for finding out details about unannounced gadgets, i.e. from dumbass retailers who accidentally post stuff early on their websites, has come through for us yet again. A retailer in Britain inadvertantly leaked lots of info about Palm’s two new handhelds, the Tungsten E and the Tungsten T3, neither of which is…
Researchers at Philips have created a new kind of foldable electronic-paper that can actually display full-color video, which means we’re now one step closer to electronic-ink newspapers filled with annoying and distracting video ads. Though it would be nice to have a paper-thin TV to hang on the wall here at home. Read [Thanks, Rich]
Sony is working on a tiny digital TV tuner chip that might would make it possible to watch digital television broadcasts on cellphones and PDAs. Probably not something we’d see here soon, since the rollout of digital TV broadcasts keeps getting pushed back here, but Japan will have DTV in some parts of the country…
They’re most likely fake, but some pictures have turned up of what purport to be the new Nokia 7800 cellphone, which look likes some sort of wearable phone with a built-in digital camera. If this is the real deal (and again, we have no confirmation from Nokia that they are, so it’s doubtful), then we…
A new ultralight laptop from ASUS (you know we can’t get enough of them). The ASUS S5 bears a passing resemblance to Toshiba’s Portege R100, weighs a mere 2.64 pounds, is less than one-inch thick, and has a 12.1-inch display, 256MB of RAM (expandable to 756MB), a 1GHz processor, and Centrino for built-in WiFi. Read
That wearable key ring digital camera from Philips we first mentioned a full six months ago has finally come out. We were pretty excited about it at the time, but turns out that the resolution of the camera is miserable, not even a third of a megapixel. You’re better off putting your pennies towards a…
Speaking of 802.11g wireless gear, Paul Thurrott reviews Microsoft’s new line of 802.11g home wireless networking equipment, like their wireless base station (pictured at right). About five times faster than 802.11b (11Mbps vs. 54Mbps, though actual throughput will vary), 802.11g looks like it’s really just a year or so away from becoming the default standard…
A new 802.11g wireless router from Netgear with a USB print server. The FWG114P, which is mainly aimed at small businesses, comes out next month. Read
Consumers Union, the non-profit organization the publishes Consumer Reports, has launched a new website to help keep the pressure on Congress to not let the cellphone companies weasel out of phone number portability, which is slated to go into effect two months from today. Read
Review of Sony’s latest NetMD Walkman, the MZ-N510CK, a MiniDisc player that comes a USB 2.0 port and can fit nearly three hours of MP3s onto one MiniDisc. Sadly, all this does is remind us of how ridiculous it is that Sony doesn’t have a proper hard drive MP3 player out. Read
Remember that the Mio 8390, that Smartphone from MiTAC we mentioned a few days ago? David McNamee over at Smartphone Thoughts contacted the company, and discovered some bad news: the 8390 won’t be coming out until sometime next year. Read
In a move that they might come to regret, T-Mobile USA is going to be the first cellular carrier to offer Nokia’s N-Gage gamephone, the one that a lot of people have predicted will be a spectacular failure. We’re somewhat ambivalent about the N-Gage’s prospects and aren’t particularly impressed with it, but you really have…
PalmSource is going to have the newest edition of the Palm operating system, Palm OS 6, ready for manufacturers just before the end of this year, which means that with any luck the first Palms with the new OS should start showing up spring of next year (it takes manufacturers a few months to customize…