Hello World, I have been a frequent visitor to Jay’s excellent blog for a while and have had a lot of opinions on the tech world, in particular the Smartphone world for a while and, but never had the time or patience to write a blog. Well now that I have the loooong summer holidays ( I go to University) I have decided to volunteer and write for Jay’s blog and offer some of my opinions on the Smartphone world shenanigans. Well, who am I ?… you ask I am John and study BA Product design and have had an interest in Technology and design for a long time and have had too may opinions kept in my head for waaay to long anyway I hope you enjoy my posts and don’t forget to comment good or bad
The push for 3D may have started in the movie theaters, but it’s definitely a sensation that’s invading our living rooms. Whether you’re a fan or not probably doesn’t matter anymore (outside of your own living room, of course), because it doesn’t look like companies are slowing down any time soon. Sony , in fact, has just announced that they’ve got the largest array of 3D-capable devices on the market, which is bolstered by the fact that you can now pre-order your favorite BRAVIA 3D HDTV from their online store
Samsung Mobile has something going down on June 29
With all the news about the iPhone 4 and its new “Retina Display”, it is easy to forget the Samsung Galaxy S and its shockingly clear AMOLED display that I saw at CTIA last March . As you can see from this ad here, Samsung is promising some “next generation in Android smart phones”. I’m going to guess that the release date for the Galaxy S will be announced here, which is rumored to be July 21 from T-Mobile. Of course, there is always room for surprises
Booq’s Taipan spacesuit XS is a 3mm neoprene zippered sleeve for the iPad. It features a plush non-scratch interior lining that surrounds the entire iPad and a cushioned jersey trim that protects the device from zipper scratches. The Booq Taipan spacesuit XS is available in Black & Red, Berry and Silver & Turquoise for $29.95 at
Nokero debuts rugged, rainproof N100 solar light bulb for developing worlds
Oh, sure — the world has plenty of those ritzy LED light bulbs to choose from, but how’s about using the ultimate light source to create… even more light! That’s exactly what Nokero is setting out to accomplish with its N100, which is being christened the “world’s first” solar light bulb. Designed specifically for use in developing nations where continual electricity is a mere pipe dream, this bulb is housed in an ultra-rugged, rainproof enclosure that can provide around four hours of light when fully charged; if you leave it in the sun all day, it’ll harness enough juice to provide illumination for around two hours. The unit itself is constructed from impact resistant plastic and includes a foursome of solar panels, five LEDs and a replaceable, nickel metal hydride battery that’s said to last two years. The company informed us that these will run you around $15 if purchased one at a time, though the goal is to sell ‘em in bulk for around $6 apiece and have them delivered to rural parts of India, Africa and possibly District 9
A Reader’s Website of the Day: Glö Modern-Minded Weddings
Today’s Website of the Day comes courtesy of reader LondonLady , and it’s just in time for wedding season . She and her fiancé loved using the website Glö to create invitations, save the dates, a wedding site, and more.
Uh-Oh: Autonomous Drone Bots Can Assemble Themselves Into A Hovering Death Copter
Note: Video is after the jump because even I peed a little and I’m exposed this this sort of thing everyday. Autonomous drones that can assemble themselves into a flying mothership. Crap.
Apple announced the iPhone 4 two days ago at WWDC 2010 , and alongside it they released a video that highlights all the new features of the device. Get a look at Facetime, the iPhone 4 video calling technology, as well as high definition 720p video recording.
Research and Markets: Smartcards Application Report: Market …
Fully revised and completely updated, the Future Horizons Smartcards Application Report (a section of the Semiconductor Applications Market Report) analyses in detail the global key market drivers covering historical data for the …
Technology is an ever-progressing front, and as we welcome the next batch of great inventions, we also have to take in the minor steps in the same direction as well. Then again, getting a monitor that not only receives its display signal from the next step in Bluetooth tech, but is also powered by it, may not be all that minor at all. Thanks to 3M , you can now safely debate the subject, as they’ve gone ahead and demoed their first monitor that does just that. 3M have gone ahead and pulled the curtain from their first USB 3.0 -powered monitor
Take one lesbian nun, a scythe, six upgradeable weapons, hordes of undead, and some of the smoothest visuals I have ever seen on the iPhone, and you’ve got yourself a solid $2.99 action title in the form of Twin Blades . If you’re into mindless zombie destruction coupled with incredibly stylish action (and don’t mind a bit, well, a lot of repetition), then Twin Blades will deliver in spades
Okay, this might be the coolest thing that I am going to see all day. It is essentially the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) running on an emulator, with an iPhone used as the controller. This application is built on ZodTTD’s emulator, the man who gave us the Playstation Emulator for Android devices . Yeah, apparently this is “coming soon” from Cydia . In order to get it, both your iPhone and iPad will need to be jailbroken
What iPhone 4 really needs: a stand. We’ve found a cute one called MoviePeg
If there’s one iPhone accessory you might want to consider for your iPhone 4, it’s a stand. Even if you’re not a case person, a stand will be pretty useful for the 4 because of the emphasis on this…
Just dropping in to let you know where we are with Nerd Approved’s Oatmeal, Coffee, Bacon Stout project . The fermentation process has concluded, the beer tastes great so far, and it is set to move on into the most interesting stage. I was aiming for a final gravity reading of 1.013 (the measurement used to determine the level of fermentable sugars and final alcohol content in beer) and pretty much hit it dead on. I went ahead and racked the beer (transferred it to another container to clear it) where it will sit for about a week
Sprint voice service down in New York City (updated with official statement)
We certainly don’t want to point the finger at a wildly-successful EVO 4G launch just yet, but it seems that Sprint’s voice service is down in New York City (data is still working, for what it’s worth). This is happening consistently for three of us here in the city with EVOs on hand, so it certainly seems like a real problem. We’re reaching out to Sprint for comment and we’ll let you know what we hear. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: And we just got this from Sprint — “One of our VoIP switches in New York did experience an equipment failure earlier today causing some traffic to be rerouted to another switching location during the repair process and resulting in call congestion for some Sprint customers. Our network operators are working aggressively to resolve this issue and hope to have service back to normal soon.” Let’s hope those glorious EVOs resume normal operation shortly.
If you like low prices, don’t mind contracts, and don’t really care for having the latest tech, then this deal from Bell may be for you. Through their Family and Friends program, Bell is offering a “refreshed” iPhone 3G for $9.95 on a 3-year agreement with a minimum $50 per month smartphone plan. The promotion expires June 30, 2010
For his final project in the course How To Make (almost) Anything , David Carr designed and built this 3-axis CNC milling machine . It’s probably not the most precise or powerful device, but it costs less than $90 to build, and can mill PCBs, wood, and even light steel
Building an LED flashlight is simple, right? Take a battery, connect it to an LED by way of a resistor. Alright wise guy, now make one that steps up the voltage for multiple LEDs and don’t use a boost-converter IC to do so. [fede.tft] shares a flashlight built inside of a used glue stick case . It’s the perfect size for one AA battery (we’re always on the lookout for good battery cases ), and a shape that we’re familiar with as a flashlight.
Here’s another reason to buy the Nexus One, and not just because it will have Android 2.2 (Froyo) earlier than other phones. Apparently, there is some new type of download that enables Google’s favorite phone to shoot at 720p resolution
Section: Web , Web 2.0 / Social Networking Watch out bit.ly! Twitter announced yesterday that it has begun testing its own URL shortener. The company says it’s necessary to improve security and also to provide analytics for its Promoted Tweets service. A post on their blog explains how the service works: All links shared on Twitter.com or third-party apps will be wrapped with a t.co URL. A really long link such as http://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose/dp/0446563048 might be wrapped as http://t.co/DRo0trj for display on SMS, but it could be displayed to web or application users as amazon.com/Delivering- or as the whole URL or page title. As of now the service is being tested on some employee accounts but Twitter plans to roll it out to users later this summer.
Anyone looking for a device that’s as much a sat-nav superstar as it is a capable smartphone might want to mosey on over to T-Mobile, as the Garmin-ASUS Garminfone is now available. Running Android 1.6 with a 3 megapixel camera and AWS 3G, the Garminfone really comes into its own with its GPS capabilities which include just about everything you’d get in a top of the dedicated GPS unit for your car