Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
Apple [AAPL] now have charge of the iPad trademark (serial number 76497338) and are now on the legal side of things in terms of calling the Apple iPad just that.
Previously the trademark was owned by Fujitsu who registered it in March 2003 when they created a wireless handheld computer specifically used by retailers called the iPad.
From what we see the iPad trademark was assigned over to Apple on March 17 this year just in time for the iPad to launch next week. [Read more…]
The Movie Peg is a neat little idea that allows you to easily prop up your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch to make a more comfortable viewing angle.
Forget awkwardly propping up your iPhone with your bag or that complicated tripod contraption. Add MoviePeg to your iPhone, adjust the angle and like magic you’ll be in relaxed viewing heaven. And it’s not just for movies; use it in the kitchen when following recipes, with the guys watching sports, as a night-stand for your alarm clock, in the garage working through those how-to instructions, or keeping the kids entertained without the evidence of sticky little fingers. No matter how you use it, MoviePeg is your super portable iPhone tilting wonder.
Over on the Benheck forums a user has uploaded some pictures of what he claims to be the worlds first portable SEGA Saturn.
The only information provided about it is that the unit has a 7 inch screen, a joy stick, triggers, memory card slot and the VCD card is also integrated allowing for video CD’s to be played back.
It runs on a 9 volt battery which apparently is good enough to watch a movie and somemore. [Read more…]
Amazon have put the A-Team DVD Box set on their site ready for pre-order.
The new DVD set includes 25 DVD’s that covers all five series of the show which contains 98 episodes for you to spend a good few months watching. [Read more…]
Sony have announced 12 new full HD TV’s in their Bravia range, some of which are 3D TVs. The Sony Bravia LX900, HX900 and HX800 series are each backlit by LED and have full 3d HDTV capabilities with those attending the press event describing them as being “beautiful”.
Interesting features of the LX900 series include a new Intelligent People Sensors mode that uses a built in camera on the TV to detect were viewers are sitting in the room and the system adjusts the sound to match their location. As well as dealing with sound the Intelligent People Sensors also adjusts brightness in that it can detect when the viewer just has the TV on in the background rather than directly watching it… in these cases the picture will dim to save power. When it detects that no viewers are in the room the TV will automatically switch off to again, save a bit more power. Lets just hope that Sony have got this right!!! [Read more…]
Now that we know the launch date of the Apple iPad (ie, April 3 in the US), we now have the first official iPad advert that was first spotted during the 82nd Annual Academy Awards that were held yesterday. Steve Jobs was in attendance at the event.
The video doesn’t really confirm anything new from what we can see after watching it several times. Applications seen in the video include the ebook reader, email, video, pictures, facebook, web browsing etc… to just name a few.
The advert is 30 seconds long and can be seen below… [Read more…]
When considering an input device for a mobile phone or other portable device, your own skin was probably not on the list. Skinput uses exactly that to create a unique input surface that allows you to interact with electronic devices.
Appropriating the human body as an input device is appealing not only because we have roughly two square meters of external surface area, but also because much of it is easily accessible by our hands (e.g., arms, upper legs, torso). Furthermore, proprioception (our sense of how our body is configured in three-dimensional space) allows us to accurately interact with our bodies in an eyes-free manner. For example, we can readily flick each of our fingers, touch the tip of our nose, and clap our hands together without visual assistance. Few external input devices can claim this accurate, eyes-free input characteristic and provide such a large interaction area.
Apple [AAPL] has sued HTC for infringing on 20 different iPhone UI patents. Various patents infringed (according to Apple) include unlock gestures and other similar functions.
From what we understand, Apple is wanting a permanent injunction to prevent HTC selling phones that use these patents. More patents include the following…
The ˜331 Patent, entitled “Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States,” was duly and legally issued on April 22, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The ˜949 Patent, entitled “Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics,” was duly and legally issued on January 20, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ˜949 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
The ˜849 Patent, entitled “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image,” was duly and legally issued on February 2, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ˜849 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
ThinkFlood have created a new product called the ThinkFlood RedEye mini that converts your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad (when available) in to a universal remote control and TV guide.
The RedEye mini costs $49 and connects up to the 3.5mm headphone jack of your iPod allowing you to control a variety of systems such as a TV, DVR, Stereo, Digi-Box etc… and lets you control them all from the single remote control software created as an application.
To get the system working it requires that you either enter a unique code for the device you own, or put the iPhone RedEye mini in to training mode which can detect signals from other remote controls. Once achieved you attach the IR transmitter, load up the app and use a variety of methods to control your TV and other devices. Gestures can be used such as sliding a couple of fingers down the screen to lower the volume or flicking the iPhone to jump up a channel. [Read more…]
NVIDIA have announced a new NVIDIA ION GPU that potentially can deliver graphics up to 10 times faster and still retain a battery life on the netbook of 10 hours.
The new GPU’s use what is called NVIDIA Optimus technology that allows the netbook to “vastly outperform basic netbook graphics by delivering rich HD media in games, movies, and Internet-based video.”
Netbooks are traditionally known as being a little on the slow side when it comes to most things, but by using one of the NVIDIA ION GPU’s in there, it totally transforms the netbook allowing it to playback HD video without jitter as well as play games such as World of Warcraft without problem. [Read more…]
Last week we reported that Google Earth was now available for Android 2.1 based phones such as the Google [GOOG] Nexus One.
To get a run down of how it performs on the Nexus One versus the Motorola DROID, AndroidHD have put together a side-by-side comparison. In some cases the Nexus One seems to win hands-down while in others it appears like the DROID and N-One are very similar in what they can handle as well as the speed of the data transfer to get the textures and imagery to the Google Earth application. [Read more…]
Yesterday a bug hit the PlayStation Network which has caused problems for the older classic (fatter) Sony PlayStation 3 units to not connect or have data loss.
The reason for the problems is due to a bug in the clock functionality that is used by the system. Errors include…
* The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
* When the user tries to sign in to the PlayStation Network, the following
message appears on the screen; ‘An error has occurred. You have been
signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F).
* When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears
on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; ‘Failed to install
trophies. Please exit your game.
* When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the
Internet, the following message appears on the screen; ‘The current date
and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)
* Users are not able to play back certain rental video downloaded from the
PlayStation Store before the expiration date.
