Gadgets and New Technologies

Mozilla is growing, and it seems that in addition to the recent world record, which was set for the software downloads in a 24 hour time period, they have also risen to 19.03% of the market share. Mozilla saw an increase from 18.41% up to 19.03% from the end of May to the end of June. Of course, Firefox may be seeing an increase, which is at least partially due to the recent release of Firefox 3, but Internet Explorer still remains on top with a whopping 73.01%. On the other hand, some are saying that because of the auto-update features within Firefox, that those users are amongst the most users with up to date versions of their browser installed. (Read the full post about ‘Firefox claims a 19% market share in the browser wars’…)

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Sharp will be exhibiting its latest range of environmentally friendly products during the Hokkaido Toyako Summit on July 7-9 this year. One of the more interesting items is a prototype of a 26V-inch Low Power Consumption LCD TV. In terms of energy efficiency, this prototype uses about a quarter of a 28-inch CRT TV, whilst having almost the same display area. Even if it were to be compared to today’s LCD TV’s, it would still be energy friendly, as it would be using about one third of their consumption. The benefits of having such a low-power LCD TV is that it can be run from a solar module, whose surface area would roughly be the same as the viewing area of the screen, allowing it to be used in places with utility-supplied electricity is scarce. (Read the full post about ‘Sharp Low-Power LCD TV Could Work With One Solar Panel’…)

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by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jul 4th 2008 at 10:02AM
According to reports, Acer’s tiny Aspire One laptop is now available in three breathtaking variations: the A110L, A150L, and A150X. The A110L sports an Atom N270 CPU, Intel’s 946GSE chipset, 512MB or 1GB of RAM, 8GB of NAND flash storage, an 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 display, 802.11b/g, and three USB ports. The other two models come equipped with the same specs, save for a 120GB hard drive in place of the flash storage, and are offered with Linpus Linux, or Windows XP. Excited? (Read the full post about ‘Acer Aspire One available in Europe’…)

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by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 4th 2008 at 1:34PM
Sanyo’s Gorilla GPS devices are certainly never lacking when it comes to non-GPS-related features, and it looks like its new NV-SD585DT model is no exception. This one shrinks things down slightly from the last model we saw with a 5.8-inch touchscreen, although you’ll still get a 1Seg mobile TV tuner, 4GB of solid state storage, an FM transmitter, an SD card slot, and that same ECO driving mode seen on previous Gorilla models — not to mention all the usual GPS-related features like weather and traffic information. (Read the full post about ‘Sanyo rolls out 1Seg-packing “Gorilla” NV-SD585DT GPS unit’…)

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Here is a sink that’s as spooky as it is stealthy. This Hidden Faucet comes to life when you place your hands near the horizontal slot and a narrow band of water begins to pour out.

What makes the faucet really eerie is that the water will follow along the narrow track as your hands move, adjusting the temperature as it travels from one side to the other.

(Read the full post about ‘Hidden faucet will confuse and amaze your guests’…)

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When I first saw this device, I thought it was some sort of new TV antenna or something. Not that we need one, since TV is getting all digital on us.

I was very surprised when I found out this contraption is actually a wind turbine from a famed designer named Philippe Starck, a man who literally came out of retirement to create this energy-efficient device.

Believe it or not, this wind turbine thing can somehow crank out twenty to sixty percent of the power necessary for a house. This also has an unusual aesthetic, and this design comes in stainless steel, signal orange, or even transparent.

(Read the full post about ‘Philippe Starck’s Wind Turbine Design’…)

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Some more information has been leaking about in regards to the upcoming blackberry Kickstart and thankfully this time it was not another set of blurry images. Instead its some speculation based on just how much RIM is planning to charge for this little clamshell BlackBerry. We have already heard that it was headed to T-Mobile and it looks like it will land there in September, but the latest information is calling for this to be a very affordable handset. Coming in at just $49.99 with a two-year agreement. Which assuming this is accurate would have it even less expensive than the popular and low-cost Palm Centro. At that price I think that RIM could have a winner on their hands. (Read the full post about ‘Rumor: BlackBerry Kickstart to land with T-Mobile for $49.99?’…)

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There have been some invitations flying around from the good guys at Archos, inviting websites to their press event on July 10 in London. On the invitation, it says that there will be an “exciting announcement.” Such a phrase has led to the reports of a new Archos 6th generation portable media player with 3G connectivity. Around this same time last year, Archos has announced the availability of its 5th generation of players.

If Archos does announce a new PMP with 3G connectivity, it will certainly give them an edge in the market, as they can compete with Apple and Microsoft for the top spot. UK’s managing director of Archos, Tony Limrick, is set to deliver the good news.

(Read the full post about ‘Rumor: Archos new 6th gen 3G PMP coming soon?’…)

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Your right to privacy is no longer as private as you once thought or hoped. By court order, Google is being forced to hand over all the records of every video watched by YouTube users. This information will include users’ names as well as IP addresses, and the request has Google lawyers arguing invasion of privacy.  The judge in his ruling, however, found this argument “speculative” and ordered them to turn over the logs on a set of four terabyte hard drives.

The purpose behind the lawsuit is that Viacom intends to prove that infringing material is more prominent than user-created videos. This would most likely increase Google’s liability if they are found guilty of contributory infringement.

(Read the full post about ‘Judge orders YouTube to hand user histories over to Viacom’…)

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(Image courtesy of Xinhuanet.com) Watch out you Segway cruising mall security guards. The Chinese Police are showing you guys up and proving they have mad Segway skills. Recently, Chinese Security Squads were photographed performing counter-terrorrism drills on the self-stabilizing, 2-wheeled, electric transporters, proving that they could be used as a mobile shooting platform and counter-terrorism tool if the situation calls for it. With the Beijing Olympics just a month away, it’s not surprising the Segway is being considered by the Chinese as they can be used to quickly mobilize troops around a dense urban setting in a crisis scenario. (Read the full post about ‘Chinese counter-terrorism drills using Segways’…)

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