SlashGear » Staff Editor

Atari Touch Tablet for the outdated artist in all of us

Staff Editor — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:08:11 +0000

Some of us oldies may have a hard time adapting to the new advances in technology. Those of us who are holding onto old devices with a death grip wont necessarily have to let to in order to be with the times, we all just need a little upgrade.

Take the Atari for instance, what is one that the world these days seems to need in just about every device? A touchscreen, that’s why the Atari Touch Tablet has been created. The Atari Light Pen package Coupled with the new Atari Artist software users can manipulate the size, color and shape of the lines displayed. The Atari Artist software comes in two different versions, a four color version for users with 16k RAM and a 16 color version for those with 24K powerhouse workstations.

Now users can create beautiful graphics without all the complex overbearing controls and effects. The Atari Touch Tablet will cost you a very modern price of $89.85 with the Atari Light Pen running you $99.95. If you get bored after five or ten minutes don’t come complaining to us.

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PS3 XCM Dominator brings back arcade style cheating

Staff Editor — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:50:30 +0000

It seems over the years video game manufactures have moved from arcade style video games to first person shooters and multiplayer party games. Now we have an amazing looking arcade stick to play some of our favorite 2D fighting games on the Playstation 3.

The XCM Dominator joystick will help you “dominate” all opposition in the latest Street Fighter game. The USB based Dominator supports macro programming and will hold up to 20 keystroke combinations to help give you the unfair advantage in any game. No longer will you be logging countless hours getting the perfect finish down packed, just the press of a button will make you look like a video game god.

Of course the arcade stick has a rapid-fire turbo button, what would a 3rd party controller be without one. Other than the shining lights and above-mentioned mods there are now clear indicators as to whether or not there is any force feedback included. This is one of the best deals you will find on such an arcade stick at just $89.99.

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New PS3 update to include photo sorting

Staff Editor — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:36:06 +0000

The Sony Playstation 3 is about to get a new update that will include a new Photo Gallery application that will sort your photos. This new application can detect faces and interestingly enough determine if the person is smiling or not and sort the photos accordingly.

These updates will come in the Playstation 3 firmware update v.2.60. The added feature will also sort photos by how old the subjects are, landscapes, colors and all sorts of other ways. It appears that Sony is really trying to push photo storage on the PS3 itself. This comes soon after Apple announced the new iPhoto 2009 with many similar features.

There will also be added support of the new 3.11 version of DivX encoding as well as guest access to the Playstation Store in this update. With new features and support coming to the Playstation 3 it really hints that there will not be a PS4 anytime soon. See the video below for a demonstration.

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New electronic stress ball lets you relieve stress on your computer screen

Staff Editor — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:34:36 +0000

We all know that the typical workday can get a bit overbearing and stressful at times. That is why every employer should give their employees the gift of virtual stress relief. Now if previous stress relief methods have failed you this one may surprise you.

Similar to punching a pillow when your angry, the traditional stress ball allows you to squeeze, slam and otherwise abuse it in whatever way you choose in order to somehow get rid of the stress your feeling. This oddly shaped stress toy allows you to virtually take your stress out on your computer screen. Go ahead and put a picture of your boss on the screen and give him a good squeeze.

Not only does this work on photos but any other work you are doing at the time. Photoshopping a difficult picture, take your anger out without actually destroying any of your work, just don’t get carried away and break it. You may need a traditional stress ball for now as we are not able to get a price or even general release date for this little gadget.

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More 10-inch Acer Aspire One photos surface in multiple colors

Staff Editor — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:11:11 +0000

Just this morning details about the new 10.1-inch variation of the Acer Aspire One leaked onto the net with not much information that we do not already know. Well it appears that yet again pictures have found there way to us, this time in three pretty familiar colors to better suit everybody.

It looks like Acer is doing a good just of scaling up the size of their portable notebook without loosing the basic concept. We can see that the trackpad buttons have made a bit of a journey to just below the pad. . Good news though on the underside of the device as there are not three panes that can be removed to access the internals rather than the one that was previously on the Aspire One. Also the second memory card reader has been removed from this mode

As we stated previously the new 10.1-inch Acer Aspire is expected to include the standard Atom processor and anywhere up to 2GB of RAM. The screen should have the same 1024 x 600 screen resolution as seen in previous modes. It is nice to see a larger screen without bumping the price up to a higher price range.

(Thanks Riccardo!)

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Amazing solar powered New American Home

Staff Editor — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:01:10 +0000

While most of us were in Vegas coving the CES floor of events the guys over at DVICE were away from the strip checking out the New American Home. This new age home was built with help from a few select tech companies, the most notable being Microsoft.

Up on the same block that Wayne Newton lives, the New American Home has a large collection of “whole-house” electronics including a 16-zone Nuvo distributed-audio system, Anthem A/V processors and 10 Toshiba HDTVs, all of which are controlled by software developed by Lifeware that allows users to control it from anywhere they like. From your phone to can start the bathtub, activate the towel warmer and even select what music you wish to listen to.

The best part of all this is that there is no monthly electric bill, everything is powered by the extensive solar paneling that makes this house 100 percent self powered. One might be expecting a house like this to go on the market for several if not hundreds of millions of dollars, but the price for one is just more than $5 million. There are plans to create 14 more of these amazing New American Homes in a community called Marquis Vegas.

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Sony’s new VAIO P photographed in Hong Kong

Staff Editor — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:33:49 +0000

Just last week all knowingly false hopes of an affordable Sony VAIO P were extinguished as Amazon’s UK site fixed what was reported as a typo. Now the portable device has been spotted on store shelves in Hong Kong complete with price tag.

The VAIO P is suppose to release in the US for about $1,000, which for a VAIO we would expect, but for a netbook is just overpriced. However Sony justifies this by saying its not a netbook, but an “ultraportable” notebook. It appears that in Hong Kong the VAIO P is simply costing a ton and not worth the money they are asking. For that price you can pick up a nice notebook and not deal with the portability aspect of this.

Store shelf tags over in Hong Kong are showing a price of $2,188.48 for the VAIO P with the best specs. There is no word for the low-end model, but this is a bit ridiculous. We are not completely sure how well a device such as this would do over in Hong Kong, but at that price the demand must be pretty high.

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Sirius XM rumored to raise pricing by spring 2009

Staff Editor — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:11:03 +0000

All of you long time Sirius XM satellite radio subscribers may have something more to worry about starting in spring. According to “ken.muise” at the Digital Radio Central forums you may have more expensive fees as well as some changes to the service they provide by springtime.

The person who is starting this rumor claims to be an employee of the Sirius XM Activations Department, if anyone would know these new policy changes it would be the activation department. The first rumor outlines that each additional radio added will costs $8.99, which is a $2 increase from standard pricing today. The second string of bad news is that online streaming will now cost you $2.99 for most packages rather than being entirely free. This service can also range up to $8.99 a month for the Mostly Music and family Pack.

Luckily for current subscribers you can “lock in” the current price you are paying for service as well as the free online streaming. It appears that Sirius is also feeling the economic crunch on such a level that raising prices is the only way to save them from such a fate that we have been seeing all over.

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Elcomsoft utilizes GPGPU to quickly hack network encryption

Staff Editor — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:07:57 +0000

Elcomsoft is a privately owned company out of Moscow that specializes in Windows Productivity applications. Recently they have released their new Wireless Security Auditor suite, which is capable of cracking WPA/WPA2-PSK in record time with the utilization of your graphics processor.

Utilizing a new software technique called General Purpose GPU Computing (GPGPU), the software users a high-end graphics adapter to complete complex calculations. New graphics cards are perfect for going through large amounts of data or calculations per second making it perfect for such a use outside of gaming. As outlined in the chart above using GPGPU for the purpose of cracking WPA/WPA2 Wi-Fi passwords the time will be decreased hundreds of times.

Wireless Security Auditor creates advanced dictionary searching attacks with variations to figure out weak passwords that are derived from phrases that are in the spoken language. If you would like to get your hands on this software it’s going to cost you $1,199 USD, but for a limited time you can pick it up for just $599 USD until the end of April 2009.

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Victory Motorcycles shows off stripped down Core concept

Staff Editor — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:56:39 +0000

Last week at Cycle World International Motorcycle Show in New York they were able to unveil the new Victory Motorcycle’s CORE concept bike. Designed by Victory’s lead Industrial Designer, Michael Song, the bike features some great body work with a ton of touring amenities.

The frame is made of an aluminum alloy that consists of five main pieces that houses everything. This concept has very solid brakes as it is powered by the same engine as the 2008 Hammer with 97 HP and 113 lb-ft of torque. True to its name Victory has managed to take out all of the added bloat and create a really amazing concept bike.

Victory Motorcycle claims the “design team felt the name CORE perfectly reflects the essence of this concept motorcycle. It is, in fact, the raw ‘core’ or center of a motorcycle. There is no traditional bodywork; the motorcycle is effectively turned inside-out with its architecture completely exposed. It also accentuates the innovative frame design and the process that is used to make the cast aluminum frame: the molten aluminum is poured into a sand core, which is removed when the casting process is complete.”

We have all asked why take the time, money and effort to build a functional concept, Victory’s Director of Industrial Design, Greg Brew, sums it up best for us. “The fact is a project like CORE is as important to the design team as winning Daytona would be to an engineering team. ‘Pushing the boundaries’ is just another cliché – CORE exists to show the world how dedicated Victory is to the art and science of motorcycle design.”

Tell us what you think about the Victory CORE concept.

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Obaba spy belt buckle just in time for the presidential inauguration

Staff Editor — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:32:46 +0000

Just in time for President Obama’s presidential inauguration we have spotted the Obaba Buckle DVR (yes it’s spelled “Obaba”), which really is nothing more than a spy cam in a place you wouldn’t normally look. The buckle includes a hidden video cam complete with audio.

Go under cover with the Obaba Buckle DVR to grater information to compete your very own investigation. The buckle was originally carved out of wood but was eventually changed to a “beautiful master piece” by casting it in an aluminum mold making it more believable. Looks may be deceiving in the case as you have a total of 8GB of recording space. If that does not appear to be enough you can expand the memory up to 2GB more via microSD card slot.

You can record in th3GP color video format (176 x 144), which really isn’t much if your trying to shoot video from your pants. The included Lithium-ion battery can be charged via USB for up to 3 hours of battery life, although you can record up to 33 hours of video on a single 1Gb microSD card. Too bad there was not a price tag on this little rarity.

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ASUS announces new F70 and F50 range of media notebooks

Staff Editor — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:18:54 +0000

ASUS has just announced the new F50 and F70 range of notebooks designed to bring users a range of multimedia features as well as extensive multitasking capabilities. The F50GX offers great graphics with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G dedicated graphics chipset. The F70Sl offers users an astounding 1TB of storage space allowing users to do more on the go.

The F50GX runs Windows Vista with a build in 1.3-megapixel integrated webcam and Bluetooth support. For entertainment purposes you can choose between a 16-inch (1366 x 768) or 15.6-inch (1366 x 768) HD panel to watch great Blu-ray movies in HD. The F50Z has an AMD M780G with DDR2 800 up to 4GB of RAM and also includes a built-in Blu-ray player. The F70SL on the other hand has a SIS 671 DX + SiS 968 chipset running Windows Vista Home Basic or Premium. Unlike the previous models, the F70SL has a 17.3-inch HD+ (1600 x 900) LCD display with no Blu-ray player.

This new line of notebooks being offered by ASUS seem powerful enough to handle great movies on the go, but there is no mention as to what the battery life is like. There was also no information on suggestive pricing. Definitely geared to catch your attention, I sure can’t wait to get my hands on one of these notebooks.

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Belkin hiring people to rate their products 5 stars?

Staff Editor — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:55:50 +0000

Belkin has managed to find themselves in the middle of a public relations fiasco as they are being accused of hiring people to write fake ratings and reviews of their products on many online shopping websites. This comes shortly after posting on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk site, which offers a thing called “artificial intelligence.”

This means that companies can pay small amounts of money to people in exchange for performing very repetitive tasks such as when Belkin’s Mike Bayard asking for people to write a positive five star review for their products. In exchange for 65 US cents (44p) people will write a review for the Belkin product as if they had owned it and give the best possible rating. None of these people own or use any of the products they are asked to rate.

This process of boosting the user popularity of a particular product is called “astroturfing.” While it is not a new way of gaining reputation, such a large company has never been so outright open about participating in such behavior. In defense of their actions, business development representative “Bayard” has “created dozens of jobs on the Mechanical Turk site.” Since the news of Belkin’s actions all of the job requests have been deleted for the Mechanical Turk website with no official statement from the company.

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Intel drops prices on processors with little notice

Staff Editor — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:37:09 +0000

Intel has taken the time to drop the prices for their Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo and Pentium processors, all while not drawing too much attention to the change. This makes some of the Core 2 Quad processors a considerate amount cheaper than before. See below for full price changes.

For some reason the Core 2 Quads Q9650, Q8300 and Q9400 have had their prices dropped more drastically than the others. The Q9400 and Q8300 processors are still in direct competition with the newest additions to AMD’s line. This gives AMD little choice but to cut the prices on the Phenom II line in order to compete. The Core 2 Duo E7500 has a higher clock speed than the E7400 whose spot it took at the $133 price point.

As a leading name such as Intel drops their prices it will force their competitors to soon follow suit, thus dropping the overall price for these products. I would say this is the time to snag one, as you will soon be after the newest and greatest thing at an even higher price in coming months. It appears that Intel did not want such pricing to be shouted from the hilltops.

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Kingston now offering rebranded Intel solid-state drives

Staff Editor — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:20:39 +0000

Kingston Technology currently has new solid-state drives (SSD) coming to store shelves for those of you who like a little more to choose from. The company has just announced two new enterprise-oriented SSD product lines, one being the E series and the other the M series.

The 32GB E series is designed with an enterprise server environment in mind, offering read and write speeds of 250MB/s and 170MB/s. The 80GB SSDNow M series on the other hand is geared more towards the mobile professional with read and write speeds of up to 250MB/s and 70MB/s. Both of these drives are rebranded versions of the existing Intel high-performance SSDs. Kingston hopes to speed up the acceptance of solid-state drives in the year 2009.

In order for the adoption of such technology the pricing has to come down. The Kingston 32GB SSDNow E series and 80GB SSDNow series are priced at £680.56 and £499.08. Maybe in a few months we will be seeing a price drop on such drives.

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Helio Ocean 2 almost ready to ship after much delay

Staff Editor — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:34:57 +0000

Helio is said to be readying the launch of the Ocean 2 or OZ2 as some may call it. This new flagship smartphone is the successor to the Ocean that was launched back in 2007 around the same time of the iPhone. The phone is said to be ready to hit store shelves as early as next month.

This device is said to have a 3-megapixel camera and the same dual-slider form that has recently been seen in a few Pantech devices. The Ocean 2 has only 1GB of internal memory that can be expanded via microSD card slot. One thing that has a lot of people excited is the rumor that this handset has integrated Flash support in the mobile browser. We cannot tell you how many times people complain that there is not Flash support in their smartphone.

Another curious aspect of the Ocean two is the optical navigational touchpad on the front, we are seeing more of this type of navigation in phones such as the Samsung Omnia. Lets hope this handset gets to see the light of day soon to help Helio pull out of a huge slump.

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Cydle packs HD Radio into their first T43 navigation device

Staff Editor — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:14:59 +0000

If you’ve been in the market for a personal navigation device recently you may have noticed that there are so many new options on the market today. With all the options, manufacturers need to add features to their devices that put them ahead of the rest. Cydle is introducing the T43 navigator with features that just seem to sweeten the deal.

The Cydle T34 is a very clean looking device that incorporates a feature that I have believed should be standard in these types of gadgets for some time now. There is no need to go out and get an HD Radio if you pick this navigation system up, as has one built right in. There is no word as to if you can simultaneously use both features at one time, but we imagine voice directions and music would clash after a while.

The T43 has a 4.3-inch touchscreen, and integrated Bluetooth support. With a combination of Cydle XE Map, 4Cydle 3D Map and real-time traffic updates this little device should hit the ground running against other famous brands like Garmin. There was no pricing mention, but it is expected to hit Best Buy shelves sometime in the near future.

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Nintendo Wii sales set new industry records

Staff Editor — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:48:48 +0000

Nintendo has set amazing sales records in the year 2008 due to the growing popularity of the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS gaming devices. Never before has a gaming console sold more than 10 million units in a single year, but Nintendo has almost accomplished this twice in 2008.

According to independent sales data released yesterday by the NPD Group, the Wii had a total sales number of 10.17 million units for 2008 with the Nintendo DS coming in as close second with just 9.95 million. In the last generation of gaming devices, Nintendo fell short against Sony and Microsoft with its GameCube, but this generation Nintendo has redeemed themselves with amazing sales.

“Our type of entertainment has now moved to the point where there is no longer a question that if you offer consumers an expanded definition of what a video game can be, and deliver that idea with quality and affordability in mind, millions of new people will start playing video games,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing.

The previous record was set in 2007 by the Nintendo DS with sales of 8.52 million or 72 percent of the total handheld gaming market. The DS held that 72 percent of the market in 2008 wile the Wii takes up 55 percent in home console sales. Nintendo also has the industries top 4 selling games of 20008 with Wii Play at number 1, Mario Kart Wii at number 2, Wii Fit at number 3, and Super Smash Brothers Brawl coming in at number 4. 2008 has been an amazing year for Nintendo.

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New report claims 95 percent of music downloaded is pirated

Staff Editor — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:29:49 +0000

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has released its annual report for 2008, stating in short that piracy is indeed becoming a very large problem. The rather large report makes many claims and tries to help better understand how to prevent it while educating people of the affect it is having on business.

Business efforts in the music industry today are being shot down by the increased availability of unlicensed music to the general public. IFPI is estimating that over 40 billion files have been shared illegally in 2008 alone, this brings the piracy rate of music files to about 95 percent. However there is no guaranteed way to track all of the illegal music transfers that are taking place. Music being downloaded, then burned to a CD and distributed make matters even worse.

Several major artists are even seeing the affects of this in their everyday work. The Smashing Pumpkins have stated that they are not going to release any more albums because of the way the music industry has been affected by being able to download music. They simply do not see a point in recording an album if someone is going to go online and illegally download a single song. Record sales are ultimately taking the fall here as live performances generate the bulk of income for such bands.

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No bicycle lane? Create your own with LightLane

Staff Editor — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:16:52 +0000

I really do envy all of those people out there brave enough to ride in the bicycle lanes that close to traffic. All it would take is one distracted driver to clip you and end your cycling days. Sometimes having a red blinker and other various lights just doesn’t seem to catch their eye.

Only a very small fraction of the streets have dedicated bike lanes and that is understandable seeing that the cost of installation is anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 for mile. Luckily LightLane projects a very vivid virtual bike lane just behind you on the road itself.

Now that there is a clearer indication of the bike lane at night cyclists can have a bit more confidence while taking to the streets after dark. It is clear in the picture that the large red lighting effect given off by the LightLane will make drivers more aware to your presence than a traditional single blinking red light would. Though it is only a concept now, it would really help cyclists who brave the roadways at night.

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Final Fantasy XIII won’t make it to US soil until April 2010

Staff Editor — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:56:39 +0000

Those of us die hard Final Fantasy players apparently will have to wait a while before getting our hands on the newest installation, Final Fantasy XIII. Square Enix said that they won’t be releasing it until next April, by next April they mean April 2010.

As Square Enix said, the game wont be released until the next fiscal year which begins in April of 2010 putting the game at the earliest release 15 months from now. I can think back to the first time the game was revealed at E3 back in 3006, this is some major time that they are taking to refine such a highly anticipated game.

Final Fantast XIII still wont be appearing on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 until the Japanese PS3 version has been fully completed. Look at the bright side, if still have plenty of time to play every other Final fantasy through a few times before this one makes it to store shelves.

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Sprint takes a gamble with a $50 unlimited plan

Staff Editor — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:32:43 +0000

We all know Sprint has taken a few big hits recently and needs more than good ideas to pull out of its slump. These days it is a rare find to get an unlimited wireless plan from a major name in the mobile phone industry. Sprint has just managed to change that by offing a new unlimited $50 wireless plan – via Boost Mobile.

Such stiff competition can force other mobile providers to change their entire plan pricing in order to be competitive. Boost Mobile is the Sprint brand that offers prepaid wireless services for those who cannot be tied down to a contract. Doing really well they had 3.9 million customers at the end of September. Last year Sprint offered unlimited calling options in the $100 range and it was a success, maybe not the huge serge that was expected, but it certainly did not fail.

Even though the prices for wireless contract options have stayed about the same, the prepaid market pricing has been steadily declining. Boost Mobile plans to market this new price point very heavily and even reach out to those who currently have contract agreements. The $50 package includes unlimited, voice, text and wireless Internet access. Most contractual agreements do not offer text and Internet in the unlimited pricing, only minutes. Below are charts outlining the monthly expenses and running totals for each plan price.

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DROP.IO launches a new DROP.IO Manager allowing companies to simply share files

Staff Editor — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:36:01 +0000

Private file sharing company drop.io, inc. has just announced a very simple file sharing solution that allows professionals in businesses or organizations to centrally manage and share large data files. Many people already use the drop.io service as a central hub for project content.

The drop.io Manager extends the core sharing functionality by providing users with the ability to organize multiple drops from a single interface with many administrative, customization and privacy options. drop.io Manager is available in three different subscription options including Professional, Business and Enterprise.

“Virtually any organization can relate to the increased hassle and expense when they need to share large digital files”, said Sam Lessin, drop.io’s CEO and founder. “Email often imposes strict file attachment limits, FTP requires IT knowledge, is hard to use, and is often un-reliable and portable media (CDs, memory cards) require physical distribution. With drop.io manager, companies can use drop.io’s simple private file sharing system in a custom branded, centrally administered environment for all of their files sharing needs.”

With drop.io Manager companies can privately share, documents, audio files, images and many more. You can even upload files through a variety of different methods including the website itself, MMS / SMS, email, desktop applications, your phone and more. Content can only be accessed by whom ever the uploaded would like through one of many outputs including all of the above-mentioned sources and even iTunes. drop.io Manager as many features that the consuper service does not, these features include a range of enhanced services at a significant value to file sharing alternatives. Some of the key features include the ability to pre-define the total size, access, expiration and look-and-feel of the drops.

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Voice controlled helicopters apparently coming soon

Staff Editor — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:21:31 +0000

Tokyo-based Taiyo Corp. announced yesterday that they would soon be offering a toy helicopter than responds to your voice commands. These helicopters will apparently be able to respond to Japanese and English voice commands.

This helicopter measures only 18 centimeters long and can fly up to 10 meters away from the user controlling it. In order to operate the toy you will need to wear a helmet that is able to recognize 5 voice commands. The commands include “hold,” “stop,” “up,” “start engine” and “down.” If your just not down with that you can use conventional controls to steer it, but where would the fun be in that?

Taiyo is offering a range of radio-controlled toys that are deemed “intelligent.” Annual sales targets for its model are set at 100,000 or more units. The Toy will be available in March To the Japanese market with Asia, North America and Europe to get it afterwards.

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Obama “oPhone” for the most patriotic people, in Kenya!

Staff Editor — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:03:53 +0000

For those of you overly patriotic people who simply cannot show enough pride for you country and would like to have President Obama’s babies, they now have a phone for you. The only problem with this phone is that it is a very cheap handset that is available in Kenya.

This phone may not be the best, in fact its probably one of the cheapest working novelty phones ever. There is a big Obama logo on the back that is sure to catch the eye of people passing while you’re on a phone call. Other Obama “markings” include a distinctive Obama “O” on the main selection button and a very classy color scheme.

Getting a hold of this in the US may not be too easy as its available in Kenya through the mobile carrier miPhone. With Barack’s heritage he has become hugely popular there. Watch for it on eBay, as it should be a hot little item.

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Newman A1, just another iPod clone

Staff Editor — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:33:00 +0000

Newman has not given up on cloning some of the most popular electronics on the market. Unlike many companies the cloning is not limited to just Apple products. This time is appears that the iPod Nano was the victim with the cleverly designed A1.

Despite being just another clone this device has a nice fashionable look to it. This one really takes toward being a clone of the iPod Nano 4th gen for those who are familiar with it. From the pictures we can see an interface that is almost exactly like cover flow, but they state it is a new type of Smart Touch UI. Newman is not famous for their user interfaces by any means.

We also see what we guess is a 2-inch screen just above a heat sensitive strip which is located above the round button. The A1 also includes a RockChip RK2705 media chip, capable of playing multiple video files at high resolution along with multiple audio files. This device will be available by the end of January in bother pink and blue.

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EIN Cyber Heartbeat LED watch does not actually read your heartbeat

Staff Editor — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:59:36 +0000

Japan has gotten another odd yet stylish device, this time it’s in the form of an interesting watch. This watch does not use numbers or clock hands to tell what time it is, instead it uses a tiny electrocardiogram machine that doesn’t appear to be readable at just a quick glance.

The EIN Cyber Heartbeat LED watch does not actually tell you what your heart rate is, that is all just the style of the device. From looking at the instructions I can’t even tell what time is being displayed by the dots. Unlike most watches, with this one you can elect to have the display on at all times, because the watch has built-in resuscitation capability.

In order to charge the watch all you have to do is plug it into a USB port and in an hour or two you will be ready to go. A single charge is suppose to give you 24 hours of constant illumination. If you just have to have one you can get them now in Japan for ¥25,200 or about $290 USD.

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LG Korea introduces their UP3 Touch DAP

Staff Editor — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:36:23 +0000

LG has managed to stay a bit behind when it comes to personal media players (PMP). The newest of these devices from LG, the UP3 Touch DAP, very closely resembles the UP3 that was released back in 2006. Just how do they manage to do it with such strong competitors and much larger names?

The UP3 Touch Dap includes the same very basic support for MP3, OGG and WMA file formats. What is new and apparently the exciting part is the new 2GB and 4GB versions, both of which are said to have improved battery life lasting about 15 hours.

This is by no means great new and exciting news as many of today’s phones are capable of much more than this device. One thing I need to know is what is up with the focus in the press picture? It seems the cameraman was looking at the model rather than the little black relic she is holding. Right now there is still no pricing or release date that we are aware of.

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Steve Jobs taking a leave of absence from Apple due to heath concerns

Staff Editor — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:12:35 +0000

First there were plenty of rumors in reference to the personal health of Steve Jobs, enough in fact to flush him out to where he made a statement about it. It seems commenting on his health has only made situations worse for Jobs. Now Steve has come fourth again with a notice stating that we will be taking a leave of absence.

In the letter Jobs mentions that the curiosity around his health issues have only served as more of a distraction for not only him and his family, but Apple as a company as well. For the time being Jobs will leave the day-to-day work to Tim Cook. If all goes well jobs plans to return to duty in June. See below for full letter.

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve

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Smarfish Pro prevents carpal tunnel by periodically adjusting itself

Staff Editor — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:27:09 +0000

One thing that we, the computer generation, are always getting a little bit closer to is carpal tunnel syndrome. Between writing, posting comments con Facebook and gaming we are growing ever close to feeling the pain that is carpal tunnel. The Smartfish Pro is designed to help prevent it rather than just contributing to the cause.

There have been hundreds upon thousands of devices out there that are designed to aid us with low strain typing, but many of them are really rather odd. The Smartfish Pro is a great solution to this growing problem without announcing to the office that you are trying to prevent what seems to be unavoidable. By now your asking just how does this work.

The Smartfish Pro is outfitted with motors that slightly shift the keyboards angle throughout the day to help resist the repetitive stress injuries. In addition the keyboard will track your typing speed and adjust the angel and separation according to your specific needs. They are available today for about $130.

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