Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables
Bluetooth technology has been finding its way into ski gear for years now, but Swany has taken things to a whole ‘nother level — one that’s only reachable via the heated quad-lift. Unless this description is positively inaccurate, there’s actually a Bluetooth module, speaker and microphone tucked within one of the g.cell gloves. When it detects an incoming call, it gives your wrist a shake (read: there’s a vibrate function) and enables you to quite literally talk to the hand. Swany asserts that it’ll last for 12 hours on standby (4 hours of talk time), though your phone may crap out a few hours earlier in extreme temperatures. Now that we think about it, wrestling that mobile out of our deep coat pockets with frostbitten hands is pretty annoying — maybe that $495 price tag isn’t so staggering after all.
[Via bookofjoe, thanks llya]
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Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless
Oh sure, Wireless USB products are out there, but they’re pretty far out there. We’re talking deep back shelf type stuff. NEC Electronics is hoping to get the cord-free version of the well known peripheral standard into more and more gizmos by cranking out the uPD720171 Wireless USB host controller. The unit was designed with the PCI Express bus interface in mind, and it can also provide laptops with connectivity via the ExpressCard slot. The company claims that the $10 device can handle transfers up to 480Mbps within a range of three meters, but you’ll be waiting a little while yet before testing out said claim in a finalized product.
[Via SlashGear]
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Filed under: Laptops
Now that you’re well acquainted with the specifications of Lenovo’s ThinkPad T500, there are only a couple more hoops to leap through before pulling the trigger or calmly placing the mouse on the ground and walking away. Here to help you inch closer to one option or the other is NotebookReview, which has procured one of these rigs and given it a thorough inspection. Fans of the trademark design (read: plain, simple, boring / beautiful) will find oodles to love, and build quality (overall) was seen as satisfactory. Unfortunately, a good bit of flex was noticed in the keyboard, which could be a serious issue for fans of previous units. There’s plenty more discussion where this came from, so head on down and give the full writeup a look if you’re remotely interested in bringing the T500 into your loving abode.
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Filed under: Cellphones
With Japanese handset sales declining pretty much across the board (thanks, lower subsidies!), it follows logic that the government and Japanese-based handset makers would look internationally to pick up the slack. In a rather vague report, we’re told that the nation is hoping to push its technologically advanced mobiles in other countries, though it’ll have a tough time marketing mobile TV without sufficient infrastructure. One of the token handsets chosen to lead the parade is a Sony-made “wallet phone,” which is only described as having cashless technology built in. Color us (very) mildly enthused.
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Filed under: Cellphones
Though we can’t definitively say this will end up being the priciest iPhone 3G this side of eBay, there’s a good chance it will be. Word has it that Vodafone will be offering up Apple’s latest 8GB handset for a mind-boggling Rs 31,000 ($712), or Rs 36,100 ($830) for the 16 gigger. Why so serious high? Because neither Vodafone nor Airtel will subsidize the phone, and to add insult to injury, there’s not even a 3G highway up and running in India. Grey market operators to capitalize in T-minus 3, 2, 1…
[Via Cellpassion]
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Filed under: Laptops, Peripherals
First the iPod nano, now Apple’s Mag(not so)Safe adapters. That look familiar? If so, Apple is ready to replace the faulty MagSafe adapter from your 13-inch MacBook or 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro — in warranty or out. You do live nearby an Apple-Authorized Service Provider right?
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Filed under: Transportation
Japan’s not hurting for trains, but what’s the addition of another going to hurt? Senyo Kogyo and Senyo Kiko have jointly announced plans to construct a test line for an energy-saving urban transportation system this October. Dubbed Eco Ride, the “roller coaster-like” system in Chiba Prefecture will operate “using the height difference on the railway,” and furthermore, there will be drive units (complete with clanks and clangs, we bet) “installed at various points on the railway so that the Eco Ride can obtain the potential energy to run.” Reportedly, Eco Ride would likely remain just a short-distance transportation system even if expanded, but no matter how you slice it, it sure beats taking the Segway to work.
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Filed under: Tablet PCs
Intel’s certainly taken the lid off some interesting gear at this year’s IDF, but this is a little disappointing — that cool-looking slate / tablet PC the company was teasing this afternoon is a Panasonic tablet aimed at the healthcare industry, just as we suspected. Put in that context, it’s nothing special at all, really — we’ve seen tons of these from various manufacturers, and Panny’s been putting out similar Toughbook tablets for some time, including the Atom-based CF-U1. Guess you can’t win ‘em all — but at least the guessing was fun for a while.
[Via jkOnTheRun]
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Filed under: Digital Cameras
Look out, world — we’re not so certain you’re ready to behold the greatness of Olympus’ latest duo. In all seriousness, we’re not so certain you’ll be able to stay awake as we explain the details, but stay up and you just may run across something you’re into. The FE-360 and FE-370 point-and-shoots each include an 8-megapixel sensor, face detection, image stabilization, a video mode and an xD card slot. There’s also a bundled attachment that enables the use of microSD cards, but we’re assuming the all-but-forgotten xD slot is kept in there to stroke a suit’s ego somewhere up the chain. Anywho, the two differ in the optical zoom category (3x on the FE-360, 5x on the FE-370) and LCD size (2.5-inches versus 2.7-inches). Each shooter will arrive in a variety of hues and will hit the UK market for £129.99 ($242) / £179.99 ($334) next month.
[Via DigitalCameraInfo]
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Filed under: Gaming
It’s sad that the petty bickering between Activision, Harmonix, and Konami required console makers to step up and ensure that gamers didn’t end up with piles of redundant plastic instrument controllers, but things are starting to get better — just as Sony did yesterday, Microsoft announced that it’s requiring Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution to be cross-compatible on the Xbox 360. The post on Redmond’s Gamerscore blog isn’t chock-full of details, but we’ll commend Microsoft and Sony for getting involved to make sure that all the lawsuits and infighting don’t adversely affect their customers — now if they could only find a way to make those drumkits actually fit into a living room, we’d be all set.
[Via Joystiq]
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