Gadgets and New Technologies

Back in February, we reported that Motorola was stating that it was looking at alternatives for its mobile device Business. One of those alternatives Motorola said it would consider would be to completely spin off that business. Well, Motorola announced today it is taking that very step in 2009.

The Motorola Board of Directors will take action to create two stand-alone businesses, both of which will be publicly-traded companies. Current Motorola shareholders will receive a tax-free distribution as part of the split.

(Read the full post about ‘Motorola to split in 2009′…)

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Posted Mar 26th 2008 11:03AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Laptops Word on the street is that ASUS has joined the fray and released an SDK for its Eee line. According to the folks over at Eee Site, the Xandros-based software package is available for download as a 1.2GB disk image. Of course, since the mini-laptop’s Linux-based OS is… well, Linux, it doesn’t really seem like an SDK would be necessary. Could it be that the company is just jumping on the development bandwagon, which has gone from obscure hacker-geek territory to front page Apple news? Perhaps, but it’s still nice to see developers getting some attention for once. Hit the read link to get your downloads — and apps — started.[Via Eee Site] (Read the full post about ‘ASUS releases Eee SDK, open source continues to be open’…)

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The Luminous Stylus Handy Strap makes it easier for you to find it even if you’re in the most disorganized of bedrooms - all you need to do is leave the light on for a while, turn it off and hope that it glows bright enough for you to locate it. Otherwise, it makes for a suitable companion in the cinema (make sure it absorbs some light before you go in), enabling you to go about your stylus-enabled tasks without any hassle. The Luminous Stylus Handy Strap will set you back by $5. (Read the full post about ‘Luminous Stylus Handy Strap’…)

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Posted Mar 26th 2008 8:53AM by Darren MurphFiled under: cellphones, Wireless Just think — this time next year, we’ll all look back at this milestone and wonder how on Earth we thought it was impressive. For now, however, we wouldn’t blame you for high-fiving everyone around, as NTT DoCoMo has stretched the boundaries again with a recent Super 3G field test. Reportedly, the outfit was able to record “a downlink transmission rate of 250Mbps over a high-speed wireless network in an outdoor test of an experimental Super 3G system,” and while it’s not quite the 300Mbps we’d heard about before, you won’t find us kvetching. If all goes to plan, the firm is hoping to “complete development of the technologies required for the event (Read the full post about ‘Super 3G hits 250Mbps downlink in NTT DoCoMo field test’…)

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Every major city has to deal with the troubles of neighborhood graffiti. On the one side it’s a way for some of today’s youth to express themselves and on the other it is costly to remove and lowers property values in neighborhoods. Well, graffiti art has now crossed into the 21st century as one clever graffiti artist recently hijacked several digital billboards in Southern California. According to reports, 18 year old graffiti artist Skullphone hacked into 10 digitial billboards owned by Clear Channel around Hollywood and LA and placed his signature logo between the normal cycle of billboard ads running on the giant screen. (Read the full post about ‘Digital billboards in California hacked by graffiti artist’…)

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Posted Mar 26th 2008 11:25AM by Darren MurphFiled under: Transportation Crazy though it may be, XCOR’s looming Lynx isn’t the first rocket ship built to take Earthlings to outer space, but it’s definitely taking a different approach than that of the SpaceShipTwo. Unveiled as the “sports car of commercial spaceflight,” the smallish craft is only designed to carry two individuals (or a driver and cargo), meaning that you and your SO will have to take turns shooting up to some 61-kilometers above the ground. Reportedly, Lynx would be fueled by a kerosene / liquid oxygen mixture and could take off and land from traditional airstrips, and while it could manage several flights per day, each one is only slated to last 25 minutes. (Read the full post about ‘XCOR’s Lynx aims to enter space tourism business in 2010′…)

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Posted Mar 26th 2008 4:14AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Laptops According to Jenn Lee over at Pocketables, Sony’s recently introduced “Fresh Start” — the crapware-killing do-over it’s charging $50 for on VAIO TZ2000 setups — will be making its way to all of the company’s Windows devices very soon. Apparently, Sony Senior Public Relations Strategist Jon Piazza told the site that, “Fresh Start will be rolled out to the entire product line by the end of this summer,” after being asked about the possibility of a UX180P getting a new lease on OS life. It sounds like a lovefest, certainly, but wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to pay a premium for our systems to be free of mucky bloatware and storage-hogging garbage? (Read the full post about ‘Sony’s “Fresh Start” getting a wide release soon?’…)

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Posted Mar 25th 2008 11:35PM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Wireless As unlikely as this sounds, rivals Time Warner Cable and Comcast are apparently in talks with Sprint and Clearwire over establishing a nationwide WiMAX network. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the companies are scrambling to get a deal wrapped up by CTIA — which takes place at the beginning of April — and could see an influx of cash from both Google and Intel in excess of $1 billion. It seems the odd-couple partners are keen to cut into heavyweights Verizon and AT&T’s ever-expanding range of at-home and mobile services by offering their own take on a high-speed data and voice system to consumers. (Read the full post about ‘Comcast, Time Warner, Sprint, and Clearwire could join forces on WiMAX, help from Google and Intel possible’…)

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Another day, another LCD monitor to look at. The LCD-DTV221 XBR is different from the rest since it not only comes with an HDMI port for you to use it as a TV during your leisure time, it also features a digital TV tuner, boasting a maximum resolution of 1,680 x 1,050, Picture-in-Picture capability, a pair of 2.5W integrated speakers, a contrast ratio of 1,000:1 and a brightness of 300cd/m2. There is no word on pricing of this 22″ lcd monitor though. (Read the full post about ‘LCD-DTV221 XBR’…)

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Looks like Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader may be facing a good rival soon courtesy of a company named Ectaco. The newly released Ectaco jetBook reader is lightweight and portable and is capable of storing thousands of e-books. The jetBook reader looks trendy, as exemplified by the red external design with some rugged edges on its side that mimics a traditional notebook spring binders. It was made this to probably attract traditional book readers who just won’t part ways with printed books. Weighing only 7.5 ounces, the jetBook reader would fit perfectly into the palm of the hand. The jetBook reader supports an easy-to-scan high-resolution 5-inch display with a viewing angle close to 180 degrees that is fully customizable to suit a user’s needs. (Read the full post about ‘Ectaco jetBook reader could have been the Kindle killer’…)

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