Gadgets and New Technologies

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 30th 2008 at 6:47PM While there’s plenty of folks out there focused on making lithium-ion batteries safer and longer-lasting, there’s also thankfully some dedicated to making ‘em cheaper, which is especially welcome when we’re talking about the expensive batteries powering cars. Among those in the latter camp is University of Texas at Austin professor Arumugam Manthiram, who has devised a method of using microwaves to heat a concoction of commercially available chemicals, which ultimately results in the Rorschach test of rod-shaped particles of lithium iron phosphate pictured above. (Read the full post about ‘Microwave process could cut cost of lithium-ion batteries’…)

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Sources from within Intel have allegedly reported that Apple is going to use a chipset from a different brand in upcoming Macbooks. The chipset is the chip that controls the motherboard and the inputs/outputs. Sometimes, there is also an integrated graphics processor. Apple might do this to improve the quality of its products, reduce costs or just to keep Intel on their toes. There aren’t a whole lot of (good) options out there: it could basically be an NVIDIA chipset or a Via chipset. It’s hard to picture why Apple would move over to Via for Macbooks computers, so if Apple were to change, they might go with NVIDIA to have access to a better integrated graphics that has hardware Blu-Ray decoding and decent entry-level 3D capabilities. (Read the full post about ‘If Apple dumps Intel chipsets they will likely go to NVIDIA’…)

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PC MicroWorks wants to set the record straight by claiming that its Edge gaming laptop is the most powerful in the world, but I would take that pitch with a grain of salt. Check out the specifications below and judge for yourself :- Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core QX9300 (2.53GHz) Processor 8GB Ultra Speed DDR3 1333MHz Memory 500GB HDD or 128GB SSD NVIDIA Geforce 9800M GT graphics with 512MB DDR3 memory Blu-ray drive 15.4″ HD WUXGA 1920 x1200 Crystal-View X-treme Bright LCD 8 Channel Advanced SRS WOW Surround Sound System Wireless a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, optional EV-DO, GPS TV Tuner Finger Print Reader Windows Vista Ultimate Prices start from $2,634 upwards, and if you think you must get your high-end gaming no matter where you are, the top-of-the-line configuration will cost you a pocket-burning $6,659 thereabouts. (Read the full post about ‘PC MicroWorks Edge Gaming Laptop’…)

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So, we saw the hands-on review come in for RIM’s first venture into the clamshell market and things continue to seem to be pretty promising, that is assuming the price is close to the rumored $49. Now to add a little more tease, the team over at CrackBerry have released a nice (and thorough) 9-minute video of the Kickstart 8220 in action.

Of course caught in the action is the heart of the handset, the OS 4.6, but they also demonstrate some other goodies to include the web browsing, trackball, display, and the large SureType keyboard. Initially, I was not all that excited to see RIM venture into the clameshell style market, but after seeing this in action and shown next to the Pearl, all I can say is that the Pearl had better watch out, because the Kickstart looks very nice.

(Read the full post about ‘BlackBerry Kickstart 8220 shows itself on video’…)

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I wonder what’s the rationale behind Tomy to manufacture a transparent, radio-controlled R2-D2? Well, it is Star Wars merchandise nontheless and will probably find its fair share of buyers, but perhaps Tomy has run out of blue, white and red paint at their manufacturing plant? Anyways, I suppose no harm is done if you decide to paint this by yourself. The included lightsaber is actually the remote control that allows you to move R2-D2 according to your whims and fancies. Retailing for an affordabel $24.99, this will make a decent desktop toy at home and at the office. (Read the full post about ‘Tomy R2-D2 Goes Transparent’…)

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T-Mobile has unveiled the latest model of the Sidekick, once known as the Gekko, it has been dubbed the Sidekick 2008 and is retailing for $149.99 along with a two-year agreement will be available beginning today.

The Sidekick will feature a decent set of specs which include a 2.6-inch 400 x 240 WQVGA display, 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support and a microSD card slot. The handset also ships with a 512MB memory card. The phone itself measures in at 4.7 x 2.3 x 0.7-inches and weights 5.3-ounces, and as expected it also maintains the standard, easy to use IM, text messaging and email capabilities.

(Read the full post about ‘T-Mobile makes the Sidekick 2008 official, with immediate availability’…)

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The Blinkx Remote is now available in beta version, and Joe Public have been invited to navigate and search through any show from Channel 4, Five or any of the BBC and ITV channels. Blinkx has so far indexed over 26 million hours of audio, video, viral and TV content, so it will be interesting to see just how fast the search function works. Performance in the beta version cannot be taken as what the final product has on offer of course, as the developers would have weeded out whatever bugs available and optimized the entire experience by then. (Read the full post about ‘Blinkx Remote Hits Beta’…)

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If you think you’ve got a top notch projector in your home, chances are you haven’t stumbled upon the Meridian 810 projector. Touted to be the Reference Video System, it features specially calibrated JVC D-ILA light engine panels that are capable of throwing a resolution of 4,096 x 2,400 - that translates to 10 megapixels. Now that’s a whole lot of pixels by any standards, but it doesn’t justify the jaw-dropping $185,000 price tag. The 10 megapixel number is achieved by stitching a quartet of 1080p scalers together with DVI connections, cranking up digital sources (480i to 1080p) up to a full 10 megapixels. Truly mind blowing stuff. (Read the full post about ‘Meridian 810 Projector’…)

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Website reputation plug-ins seem to be all the rage at the moment with McAfee having their popular SiteAdvisor and AVG adding LinkScanner to their anti-virus package. Now Symantec is joining the growing list with Norton Safe Web (NSW).

Safe Web went into beta this week and is on course to become part of Norton Internet Security 2009 and Norton 360 version 3. But for now you can access the beta site and search to make sure sites you are visiting are safe.

NSW works differently to other reputation tools that usually analyze as many sites as they can and give them a rating.

(Read the full post about ‘Norton puts Safe Web into public beta’…)

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Here’s a sneak peek of the latest BMW M3 that will be launched in 2009. Notice the bumpers, lights and interiors that look much better and less awkward than their previous ones. Expect this on the roads soon [ Source ] (Read the full post about ‘Introducing 2009 BMW M3′…)

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