Gadgets Connect

A recent firmware update sent out by Dell for the XPS One desktop machine has raised quite a bit of suspicion over its legitimacy.

The firmware was sent out on a black CD via courier and had a Dell letter with it. However, the letter was poorly written and in black and white. One customer who received the disc got a bit suspicious and instead of putting it in his machine decided to check with Dell’s support website and tech support line first. The website had no information and the support line promptly told him the disc had not been sent by Dell and he should throw it away.

The firmware was legitimate and sent out because of an issue with the Samsung hard drives included in some of the XPS One machines.

(Read the full post about ‘Dell firmware update looks suspicious’…)

Share This

Who says you need stunning graphics and intense visuals to enjoy playing a game? Mike McCracken doesn’t think so. In fact, he is the inventor of a new Audio Ping Pong game thats uses only your ears and the tilting motion of your head play the game.

The way Audio Ping Pong works is that a sound comes out of earphones placed on your head that resembles a ball rolling towards one side of your noggin. The object is to tilt your head either left or right to get the ball to stay balanced. As the game progresses the speed of the audio ball increases, making it harder to play.

Now granted you won’t look like the smoothest person in the world playing Audio Ping Pong.

(Read the full post about ‘Audio Ping Pong brings classic game to ears only’…)

Share This

With half my family living halfway around the world, I quickly embraced Skype, the program (or if you want to get technical, Voice Over Internet Protocol) that allows you to talk to other Skype users over your computer, for free. In fact, I’m always amazed that more of my friends and family haven’t signed up… it’s almost like they don’t want to chat to me for hours or something. Anyway, despite Skype calls being free to other Skype users, if you wanted to use your account to call landlines or mobile phones in the past, you would still have to pay - and the cost would depend on the length of the call and where you were calling. But no more! Skype’s new calling plan aims to encourage more people to pick up the service, and it sounds (Read the full post about ‘Get unlimited international calls with Skype’s new plan’…)

Share This

Hawking Technologies has recently announced that it will begin to ship the first Wireless-300N WiFi Networking Adapter which sees an integration of second generation Dual Antenna Dish Technology for extreme WiFi performance. Shaped after a miniature satellite dish, the wireless adapter features a Hi-Gain dual-antenna feed design which is capable of boosting WiFi distances by up to 600% in comparison to standard embedded applications. I guess the folks at Hawking Technologies got it spot on when they remarked, “The problem with wireless networks these days is not the speed, it’s the distance. Regardless of how fast your network is, if you can’t reach the wireless signal, it simply won’t work. (Read the full post about ‘Hawking Technologies Wireless-300N WiFi Networking Adapter’…)

Share This

Now I know that everyone loves to get paid, but it gets even better if you’re being paid for what you love to do the best, because you won’t feel the time passing by while you’re having fun! If you happen to be a social butterfly, how does getting paid to date sound to you? Chief Executive Officer Leo Cono has announced the Beta launch of a new incentive-based social networking and free online dating site: www.YouLoveMe.com. For those who have given up on searching for their significant other in the real world and have turned to the solace of Internet dating, rejoice!

(Read the full post about ‘Get paid to date’…)

Share This

The Seat Instrument dive computer was recently launched by Danish watch designers Linde Werdelin, clipping onto the Biformeter watc and providing you with all the necessary information whenever you go diving. It will come in two versions - steel and gold, where the former is $3,000 while the latter is way out of reach at $46,000. Both versions are useless if you do not fork out $5,000 for the Biformeter in the first place. (Read the full post about ‘Sea Instrument Dive Computer’…)

Share This

The Kyocera Neo E1100 is a clamshell phone offering a 1.3 megapixel camera as well as the following features:

* support for the AWS frequencies (1700/2100MHz)
* Bluetooth 2.0
* hidden outer OLED display that comes to life when a call comes in.

Via MobileBurn.

Tags: games, speakers, Ogg Vorbis, gadgets

Share This

Bikers, take note! TomTom has rolled out an updated version of TomTom Rider 2nd Edition with features that are available in its in-car devices such as TomTom Map Share as well as pre-installed Tele Atlas maps of Western & Eastern Europe. Bikers can also access dedicated trip statistics, allowing them to dwell in trivia like the average and maximum speeds per journey, total miles travelled and distance from home. The updated TomTom Rider 2nd Edition will retail for £349.99 in UK/Ireland version while the rest of Europe will have to cough up £399.99 when it is made available early next month onwards. New features include :- TomTom Map Share technology that enables users to make corrections to their (Read the full post about ‘TomTom Rider 2nd Edition Updated’…)

Share This

by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 24th 2008 at 12:26PMAfter the SEC more or less cleared Apple of those pesky backdating charges and a California court dismissed a shareholder class-action lawsuit accusing the company of improper accounting procedures, it looked like the good times were over, but fear not: another institutional investor has filed suit against Apple alleging the company cooked the books. The Boston Retirement Board filed suit in the Santa Clara County Superior Court, saying that it has investigated the matter and turned up even more evidence, which it can’t reveal until the court decides how to handle confidential information. (Read the full post about ‘Another Apple shareholder files backdating lawsuit’…)

Share This

Forget smart phones. Here’s a smart toaster. The Die-Cast Smart Toaster from Breville, a name known by malnourished students everywhere for its legendary sandwich maker. The spec list for the toaster reads more like a feature list for a 1980s midi-system that of a kitchen appliance: Blue LEDs and soft-eject motorized toast slots make it sound like a tape deck, and there’s even the equivalent of the show-off’s favorite, the Spectrum Analyzer in the “Lift and Look” feature. The toast actually raises itself from the machine halfway through to cycle so you can check its progress. Finally, there’s the “A Bit More” switch, for which I can’t find a stereo-related equivalent, but which lets you hit a button for just a touch more browning. (Read the full post about ‘Breville’s Smart Toaster Automates Everything’…)

Share This