Gadgets Connect

by Ryan Block, posted May 8th 2008 at 6:19AMWe’re a little ambivalent about robots performing surgery autonomously and unattended, but there are clearly cases where it’d be beneficial, and it seems like an inevitable future. Duke researchers working on robo-doc lab feasibility studies announced this week a proof of concept using 3D ultrasound mapping to enable machines to “see” what they’re doing. (Read the full post about ‘Duke inches toward autonomous robo-surgeons’…)

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Have a website?

Make your content available by cell phone text messaging for free!

DOTGO is a new way to send and receive information by cell-phone text messaging. And it is free.

You can use DOTGO to read the news, check a train schedule, or track a package.

How it works?

1) the owner of any website (e.g. gadgets-club.com) can create a file called "index.cmrl" on their website written in CMRL, a very simple HTML-like language;

2) anyone with a cell phone can immediately send a text message containing the domain name (e.g.

(Read the full post about ‘The new way to send and receive information by cell-phone text messaging’…)

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The Yahoo-Microsoft deal that wasn’t: a victory for emotion and memory. You saw it in Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang’s “OK, so now what?” post on his Yodel Anecdotal blog. And you really saw it in the comments to that post. Yang is now being spanked throughout the blogosphere for having the temerity to say no to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Allegations of Yahoo execs high-fiving each other after the deal fell through will no doubt end up in the inevitable shareholder lawsuits. True, the shareholders are the ones losing a lot of money as they watch the stock price sink. (Read the full post about ‘Yahoo: Anybody-But-Microsoft Club’s last hurrah’…)

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GodTube, a video sharing site for Christians is preparing to take their business to the next level.  According to paidContent.org, GodTube has secured $30 million in funding from hedge fund GLC Partners.  This funding augments the $2.5 they raised privately. How popular is GodTube?  The company says it has 2 million visitors per month, compared to 138 million for YouTube last November.  Still, clearly this niche is growing. For churches wishing to stream its services live to the net, the site offers subscriptions which adds to their advertising sales (both secular and religious).  The site also offers user-generated content and social networking feature to bring more of a community feeling to the site.  And their traffic is booming, leading the pack back in August of ‘07.  Each and every video is reviewed before posting. (Read the full post about ‘Trade the pew for the tube: GodTube gets cash’…)

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We’ve all had mornings where the sound of the alarm clock made us wish we had a gun to blow the shrill little noise maker away. But thanks to municipal gun laws, such tactics would likely land you in jail for firing a gun within city limits. Now you can silence an alarm clock while getting in some target practice and without the need to hire an attorney. ThinkGeek is offering a Laser Target Alarm Clock that comes with a laser gun that makes you work for sweet silence in the morning. When the alarm sounds, you pick up the phaser-like shaped gun and fire it at the target over the clock. In order to quiet the alarm the laser has to hit the center of the target. (Read the full post about ‘Set phasers to snooze with the Laser Target Alarm Clock’…)

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Residents of the U.K. have been enjoying free digital channels for several years now through a service called Freeview. For the price of a new digital set top box (around US$80) you get access to 30+ TV channels and radio broadcasts through a standard TV aerial. Now another new service has launched called Freesat, which requires the use of a satellite receiver dish instead of a standard aerial. Freesat is a joint venture between the BBC and ITV and will be available to 98% of U.K. households. Straight away it will offer 80 channels including TV, radio and high-definition content as well, but this will increase to 200 channels by the end of 208. (Read the full post about ‘U.K. gets 200 channels of Freesat’…)

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If you’re interested in importing a few digital photo frames from Japan, check out the new ones made by Kenko. They might not be the best in terms of style, but at least the technical aspect is good, because it supports different format files, like images, audio, and video. On top of USB ports, the latest KDF-07 series are compatible with SD, MMC, MS, and CF memory cards. As for the price, approximately 80 but you might have a hard time getting your hand in one of these. (Read the full post about ‘More digital frames!’…)

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TomTom has just released its GO x30 series in the UK, bringing the following specifications to the table.

• 4.3″ widescreen 16:9 format LCD (WQVGA, 480 x 272 pixels) display
• 400MHz processor
• TomTom GO 930 Traffic: 4GB internal flash memory
• TomTom GO 530/730 and GO 530/730 Traffic: 1-2GB internal flash memory
• SD card slot
• High sensitivity GPS receiver
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Battery lithium-polymer (up to 5 hours operation)
• Dimensions: 118mm x 83mm x 24mm
• Weight: 220 grams

The TomTom GO 930 Traffic, TomTom GO 730, TomTom GO 730 Traffic, TomTom GO 530, and TomTom GO 530 Traffic will retail for £399.99, £299.99, £329.99, £249.99, and £279.99, respectively.

(Read the full post about ‘TomTom GO x30 Series hits the UK’…)

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If I asked you to describe your keyboard, I’m sure that most people wouldn’t have much more to say aside from color and the name of the manufacturer. Honestly, the only thing special about mine is the fact that the keys glow red so I can see it in the dark if I feel so inclined. However, if you’re the kind of person that hates the ordinary, you should check out these hand painted keyboards. I’m actually quite disappointed with these keyboards. Granted, I’m not sure that I would ever buy one simply because the designs don’t suit me, but that’s not it. If you’re going to make the effort to hand paint keyboards, why make the tiny subcompact keyboards that most people aren’t going to want. (Read the full post about ‘Tiny hand painted keyboards will set your desk apart from the rest’…)

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HP’s MediaSmart TVs will soon be able to view YouTube videos straight on the TV without the need for a keyboard and mouse, as all one needs would be a simple remote control. Since the MediaSmart line has already made accessing digital media content from networked home PCs a snap through a single menu, this new alliance with YouTube will bring even greater functionality to the big screen in your living room. All you need to do is have a YouTube account and you’re good to go. Perfect for those frat parties where watching short crazy videos are the norm, but a more serious family will probably find something else that is more fitting and cultured. (Read the full post about ‘HP Partners with YouTube’…)

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