Gadgets Connect

Since deciding that its SIM card would be more useful in a 3G-capable phone, I’ve been keeping my iPhone next to my pillow to use as a clock (I don’t sleep with my contacts on, so I literally can’t see the clock on my husband’s end table) and late-night/early-morning email and Internet device. Even though blogging allows me to wake up whenever I want to, there are still some days when I need the iPhone’s alarm function to get me out of bed. On such days, I often end up waking up earlier than necessary because of my anxiety about sleeping through the alarm, which I fear could be too easily muffled beneath my pillow or knocked to the floor. (Read the full post about ‘iHome iP99 clock radio for iPhone’…)

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Good news for 360 owners, bad news for PS3 owners. The original Dreamcast version of Soul Calibur is being ported by Namco Bandai to Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA).

The game is going to contain everything the original had including Arcade, Training and Survival modes. All the characters will be there as well as a new leaderboards system, but unfortunately, Namco hasn’t seen fit to include online multiplayer, which is surely a missed opportunity?

The other good news is it will all be presented in glorious HD, adding an extra sheen to one of the bext 3D fighting games out there and certainly one of the top Dreamcast titles.

Although no playstation Network version has been mentioned we may still see it in the future.

(Read the full post about ‘Microsoft gets an exclusive – Soul Calibur on XBLA’…)

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Some of you might remember the 7 inch LCD Wii Screen that I reported on yesterday, so I felt it only just to report on an LCD screen for the PS3. I have to tell you, these two products are so alike, that someone probably got sued. Both of these screens are similar in the way they can conveniently attach to your console and play your favorite games. The screens are exactly the same size at seven inches, but it appears this PS3 screen is concave in contrast to the flatscreen for the Wii. The Wii Screen can plug into a cigarette lighter or wall outlet, but the PS3 screen is plug-in only. I suppose that makes the PS3 screen not as portable as it should be, but hey, portable technology for video game consoles is relatively new. (Read the full post about ‘Clearvision Playstation 3 Seven Inch LCD Screen’…)

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Jem Stansfield’s moped uses tanks of compressed air to power a pair of rotary engines, which drive the rear wheel via chains. Because the air comes from the same supplies as those used by divers and firefighters, Stansfield says that the bike’s emissions are actually cleaner than regular city air. Recharging is fast, too, but as the moped only has a range of seven miles and a top speed of 18mph, that’s pretty essential. We can see this converted Puch being useful for short runs, though, and Stansfield himself suggests that you could “run a fleet of delivery bikes on it.” Next up: Money that grows on trees. (Read the full post about ‘Home Made Moped Runs On Fresh Air’…)

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by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 18th 2008 at 10:33AM Samsung and pretty much everyone else is taking a long hard look at their clumsy UIs as consumer electronics continue to commodify. We’ve certainly seen that demonstrated with striking effect with the Samsung F480’s unfortunately named TouchWiz interface. Now take a look at the UI for Samsung’s NV24HD. Besides shooting 720p video, this 10.2 megapixel shooter with 24-mm ultra-wide angle lens features a series of touch-sensitive buttons surrounding a brilliant 2.5-inch AMOLED display. An interesting twist on the lifeless touch-screens we’ve seen on other cameras. However, it does so at the expense of screen size on a crowded back panel. (Read the full post about ‘Video: Hands-on Samsung’s 10 megapixel / 720p NV24HD shooter’…)

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In a world desiring “more, quicker” the new Surface Tabletop displays being shown to AT&T customers might be the beginning stages of “just what the PhD ordered”.

A new type of kiosk is being employed, one which allows users to bring a particular product box to the kiosk whereby a bar code reader scans the device and then begins to interact with the customer. Information about the product is displayed and a type of touch-screen navigation is used to go through the data.

The touch-screen simulation is handled by specially mounted cameras which “watch” the user’s motions.

(Read the full post about ‘Tabletop PCs give way to bigger, faster, better, more’…)

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What happens when there isn’t anyone in the vicinity to call the doctor when you’re experiencing a medical emergency? The uBOT-5 is here to help, featuring a couple of arms that can pick up tiny objects, knowledge of using a stethoscope and dialing 9-1-1. Sensors placed next to its video screen head also helps it detect if somebody has fallen down or not. It costs approximately $65,000 to build one of these in the lab, but a mass-produced version might cost a couple of thousand (an estimate only) compared to $1,500 one pays for a part-time, human in-home caregiver each week. uBOT-5 also reminds folks to take their medication, pick up packages as well as perform cleaning chores. (Read the full post about ‘Robots Dial for Help’…)

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Bluetrek has just announced their latest Bluetooth offering, and while a decent looking headset its not quite as unique as the BIZZ, which featured a microSD slot for storage. Their latest, the X3 Bluetooth headset is a follow up to the X2 and offers an estimated 8 hours of talk time with 10 days on standby. The headset itself is weatherproof and should be comfortable to wear thanks to the variety of ear hooks that it comes with. The X3 is also lightweight coming in at around 0.46-ounces. Otherwise the headset was designed to take its fair share of abuse thanks to the rugged construction. Look for the X3 to be available this June, initially in the UK only and retailing for £29.99 (around $60 US). (Read the full post about ‘Bluetrek intro’s the weatherproof X3 Bluetooth headset’…)

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Although Panasonic’s HDC-SD9 is mighty, mighty small, reviewers over at CNET felt that it fell short in a number of key areas. For starters, Panny included a few quirky design choices; for instance, removing the battery requires the LCD cover to be open, but doing so can also turn the camera on unless you place it in a different mode. Granted, the minuscule size didn’t leave the outfit too much to work with, but if you’re easily flustered by these kinds of niggles, you can run far, far away right now. As for image quality, critics noted that still shots were marginally better than awful, but capturing full motion HD clips was something it did manage to do relatively well. (Read the full post about ‘Panasonic’s flash-based HDC-SD9 HD camcorder gets reviewed’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 17th 2008 at 4:08PM Shamelessly attempting to rip off a plethora of yesteryear’s gaming handhelds all at once isn’t a new trick or anything, but you’d expect the creators of the Cool Boy to at least conjure up a name with some inkling of originality, right? Nevertheless, the portable, um, system features a 2.4-inch color display, gets juiced from a trio of AAA cells and even includes a video out port for taking the sweet handheld action to the 13-inch CRT. Of course, the thing only works with Cool Boy Mega Pack game cartridges, which means that even the homebrew crowd is likely out of luck here. But hey, you can get 120 sure-to-be-riveting titles in a single cart for just $7.99. (Read the full post about ‘Cool Boy handheld gaming system is anything but’…)

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