If you think that international data roaming charges with the iphone is bad, try putting yourself in the shoes of this mobile broadband user who received a whopping £31,000 bill garnered, despite the fact that all he downloaded was some music and a solitary episode of the popular TV show Prison Break. Apparently, Iayn Dobsyn was busy holidaying in Portugal and downloaded those files via a mobile broadband card connected to his notebook. He was unaware of the difference in mobile charges when abroad, but managed to get his team of lawyers to reduce the bill to a more manageable £229. Tags: consumer technology, CD, amps, camera (Read the full post about ‘Shocking Roaming Broadband Bill’…)
If you ever wondered where the ‘reflex’ in Single Lens Reflex comes from, take a look at this video. What you will see is Nikon’s new D700, naked but for an MB-D10 battery pack, mirror flapping in the wind for everybody to see. And it’s fast, flipping up and down eight times per second.
Try to imagine, if you will, a camera doing just this, only faster, and with the addition of a film speeding through the gate.
Hasselblad has announced its new H3DII-50, a monster of a camera whichever way you measure it. The new flagship model features a 50MP, 36×48mm Kodak sensor, which is twice the size of a full frame 35mm DSLR sensor. Confusingly, the product page says that the camera captures 300MB files, but the downloadable pdf says that the RAW files are just 65MB. Even at that size, you’ll only squeeze 30 frames onto a 2GB (Compact Flash) memory card. Otherwise, the H3DII-50 is built for comfort, not speed. With a top shutter speed of 1/800 sec, an ISO range of 50 to 400 (boostable to ISO 800 with the included Phocus software) and a capture rate of one frame per second, this is clearly a studio camera. (Read the full post about ‘Hasselblad Announces 50 Megapixel Camera’…)
Check it out - folks with sharp eyes would have noticed the couple of screws located at the bottom end of the iPhone, opening up (pun intended) the possibility of an iPhone battery replacement when removed. This bodes well for iPhone users, since we all know that a battery’s performance does not remain at the same level always, leading to a downward slope in due time. Instead of having the folks at Apple replace your iphone battery in the future, you could possibly perform a DIY operation and save yourself a few bucks simultaneously. (Read the full post about ‘Replacable iPhone Battery?’…)
If you are one of the millions of Americans each year who try to quit smoking, you know there are many tools out there to help you kick the habit. Tools like hypnosis, patches, prescription pills, just to name a few, are available to help break the cycle of dependence. One of the options out there that many of you have probably never heard of, is an electronic cigarette. At first glance, images may come to mind that this device may be some kind of shock therapy device. In actuality, however, the electronic cigarette is a battery powered atomizer. When it is placed in the mouth, a small processor detects airflow and injects a small amount of fluid from a propylene glycol/nicotine cartridge into the atomizer which vaporizes the liquid. (Read the full post about ‘Electronic cigarette helps people stop smoking’…)
Every once in a while, I’ll encounter a concept gadget that I don’t want to ever see become reality. Such is the case for the MEDUSA, a gadget that is already in production at the Sierra Nevada Corporation. The MEDUSA (Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio) creates a microwave audio effect that can implant sounds and possibly specific messages inside people’s heads. In other words, this can produce a shockwave to make the victims believe that they are going insane. I’m not certain how this would be a “Mob Excess Deterrent”, because I thought Mobs were already crazy in the first place. Maybe it will make them crazy enough to stand still and try and get a grip, at which point the “good” guys can strike back! As you are no doubt well aware, Medusa was the gorgon girl from Greek myths whose very gaze could turn people into stone. I’m guessing this is the effect the MEDUSA creators wanted. They must have really loved Clash of the Titans. Perhaps it is just me, but this product sounds about as scary as the monster that inspired its namesake. If this really can implant specific suggestions in my head, then there is really no limit to the amount of mental destruction it can bring. In fact, James Lin from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Illinois in Chicago insists that more testing be done to determine if there could be neural damage. Thank you, Mr. (Read the full post about ‘MEDUSA is as scary as its namesake’…)
Acer has just announced the Aspire X1200 desktop PC that caters for those on a tight budget, with prices starting from $450 upwards, depending on the muscle within. The compact chassis measures a mere 10.6″ x 4″ x 14.4″, making it suitable for small apartments and cramped cubicles without compromising on performance. It will be powered by AMD dual-core processors and NVIDIA’s range of integrated graphics, which means the X1200 targets the office crowd as gamers will be better off looking elsewhere. More detailed specifications on the models can be found after the jump. (Read the full post about ‘Acer Announces Aspire X1200′…)
That’s right folks, some new exclusive shots of the upcoming Blackberry Thunder, which is officially called the BlackBerry 9500 have been leaked. The new BlackBerry 9500 will feature a large 360 x 480 touchscreen display and we also found that it will allow users to buy songs from their device via a mobile music store similar to iTunes. It is also expected to be running OS 4.7. In addition, this new BlackBerry will also boast of a portrait media player that would be perfect for watching movies and videos while you are on the move. We’ll keep an eye for more developments, but in the meantime keep reading to check out a few more images. Via [blackberry Sync] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! (Read the full post about ‘More official photos of the Blackberry 9500 leak out’…)
The cool new music-centric LG Chocolate 3 is all set to make its grand debut on Verizon Wireless come July 14th. The VX8560 model will be a clamshell unlike the first two handsets in the Chocolate Series, and will be made available in Black and Light Blue color options for the time being. The guts of the phone will be peppered with features like 2.2″ internal QVGA display, 1.76″ 176×220 pixel external display with navigation wheel, 1GB of internal memory, microSDHC support up to 8GB, Bluetooth 2.1, 3.5mm headset jack, 2MP camera and stereo speakers. (Read the full post about ‘LG Chocolate 3 set for July 14 release’…)
by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 1:38AM You know it’s getting bad when even Amazon can’t tell all the flavors of the Eee PC apart — a listing for an “Eee PC 900″ with 16GB of flash and an Atom processor just went live on the etailer’s site with a pre-order price of $399. (Read the full post about ‘Eee PC 901 shows up for pre-order on Amazon for $399′…)
