Is there anything the humble Bluetooth cellphone can’t do? ASUS have announced their latest Republic of Gamers mainboard, the ROG Maximus III Extreme, and the Core i5/i7 ‘board not only supports all the usual high-speed gubbins but allows you to control the system settings from your cellphone.
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One of my big pet peeves is when people wear Bluetooth headsets when they aren’t driving and can actually hold the handset up to their ear. A long time ago I could see the Bluetooth headset as a status symbol, but today everyone, including my Grandma, has one so we aren’t impressed. If you like to wear Bluetooth headsets but don't want others knowing you are wearing it, here is the product for you.
We’re not going to let Phenom Communications get away with calling their Dream watch-phone “elegant”, but we’ll concede that it’s pretty advanced for its ilk. The $395 wrist-worn handset has a 1.3-inch color touchscreen and separate numeric keypad, but Phenom have managed to squeeze two SIM slots inside. Unfortunately, it seems that decision meant there was no room for a 3G radio, so you’re stuck with quadband GSM/GPRS.
We’re not entirely sure that the PC gaming world has been crying out for a squeezable controller that looks like the scooped-out eyeball of some sort of lizard, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a company looking to fill that unidentified niche. The Blobo hooks up via Bluetooth and then responds to squeezing, moving and general fondling; the lucky guys at the FCC have already been playing with it.
Video demo after the tuc
There’s always a risk when a high-interest product is announced that by the time it hits shelves its moment has passed. The Nokia E72 has been just such an anticipated smartphone, with eager E71 owners keen to upgrade to the Finns’ latest QWERTY marvel; problem is, at nigh on six months between announcement and availability, that’s a long time for the appeal to pale. Has tardiness robbed the E72 of its market, or does a well considered keyboard save the day? Check out the SlashGear review after the cut.
While many scoffed at the idea of Nokia building a netbook, the idea does have its share of merits. After all, the Finnish company knows a few things about eking out runtimes from compact batteries, and with netbooks being perhaps the most likely of computing devices to be in search of mobile connectivity, stuffing them with the sort of wireless access your high-end Nokia boasts certainly makes sense. Throw in eye-catching design and you’re onto a winner, right? Unfortunately, we’ve found the Nokia Booklet 3G falls short in other areas; check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
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Bluetooth headsets are generally dull, but slap a "spy!" label on them and they become instantly appealing. Well, maybe not instantly, but when you're looking at a headset that fits invisibly into your ear canal then we're pretty darned impressed; BrickHouseSecurity are offering the covert earpiece, which promises to make you look even crazier as you apparently argue with yourself while walking down the road.
Video demo after the cut
Given how often we hear about manufacturers using Android for their mobile devices, it’s a surprise dedicated sat-nav units don’t feature more highly. Chinese firm ArcherMind Technology have been showing off what they’re saying is the world’s first embedded Android-based navigation system, complete with 7-inch touchscreen display and integrated 3G.
Remember Apple’s iPod Bluetooth headset patent application, which polarized opinion back at the end of October? That seems to have at least partially inspired SlashGear’s Apple concept merchant of choice, Isamu Sanada, who has come up with a clever iPod shuffle design that can be attached to both regular earbuds and a flexible headset.
Ah, Arduino – is there anything you can’t do? Didgeridoo enthusiast Kyle Evans decided to take his instrument of choice into the wireless age, by coupling it with a Bluetooth-capable Arduino microprocessor and custom-built externally-mounted sound modules that allow the player to manipulate the sound and control various software instruments (that, again, have been custom created). The end result looks like it should fire rockets and sounds like nothing on Earth.
Video demo after the cut
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