Gadgets Connect

Sharp will be exhibiting its latest range of environmentally friendly products during the Hokkaido Toyako Summit on July 7-9 this year. One of the more interesting items is a prototype of a 26V-inch Low Power Consumption LCD TV. In terms of energy efficiency, this prototype uses about a quarter of a 28-inch CRT TV, whilst having almost the same display area. Even if it were to be compared to today’s LCD TV’s, it would still be energy friendly, as it would be using about one third of their consumption. The benefits of having such a low-power LCD TV is that it can be run from a solar module, whose surface area would roughly be the same as the viewing area of the screen, allowing it to be used in places with utility-supplied electricity is scarce. (Read the full post about ‘Sharp Low-Power LCD TV Could Work With One Solar Panel’…)

Share This

The recent release of the latest Firmware for the PlayStation 3 has done nothing to endear the company with some owners of the console. On updating to version 2.4 of the Firmware a number of machines have been left dead with owners venting their anger via the forums.

Patrick Seybold, director of Corporate Communications & Social Media posted the following to the Official playstation Blog:

As has been reported on many gaming blogs and websites, we have temporarily taken Firmware v2.40 offline. We’ve received a limited number of calls from consumers experiencing an issue with installing the system software update on their PS3.

(Read the full post about ‘Problems make Sony remove PS3 Firmware 2.4′…)

Share This

On of the tools Google uses for web application testing is called Ratproxy. Its job is to audit applications, checking them for any problems specifically of a security nature. The tool is optimized based on data gathered from typical web 2.0 websites, including the traffic that visits them and more importantly how it visits them.

With Ratproxy they can pick up on cross-site scripting problems, broken defence mechanisms across multiple sites, data leaks and code that does not handle data retrieval from 3rd party sites securely. A useful tool you’d agree?

(Read the full post about ‘Google makes Ratproxy open source’…)

Share This

On of the tools Google uses for web application testing is called Ratproxy. Its job is to audit applications, checking them for any problems specifically of a security nature. The tool is optimized based on data gathered from typical web 2.0 websites, including the traffic that visits them and more importantly how it visits them.

With Ratproxy they can pick up on cross-site scripting problems, broken defence mechanisms across multiple sites, data leaks and code that does not handle data retrieval from 3rd party sites securely. A useful tool you’d agree?

(Read the full post about ‘Google makes Ratproxy open source’…)

Share This

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is still confident that the standard hard drives of today will be pushing the limits of storage capacity in a couple of years time.

Regardless of how well ssd storage does over the next 18 months, Hitachi has set itself a lofty goal of producing a 3.5 inch hard drive with a storage capacity of 5 TB some time in 2010.

It aims to do this with the help of perpendicular-to-the-plane giant magnetoresistance or CPP-GMR for short. With that technology Hitachi believe they can achieve greater than 1 TB of storage per square inch of the disk.

(Read the full post about ‘Hitachi sets sights on 5 TB drive in 2010′…)

Share This

With the deal closed on the Dictionary.com purchase, Ask.com has now become, at least according to comScore, the ninth-largest web property. The all-cash deal originally began back in mid-May and had Ask.com purchasing Lexico Publishing Group LLC. The web properties that were included were Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com. Ask.com is reporting that this will give them an increase of around 15 million additional users on a month basis, which would put them up to a monthly audience of around 145 million. Terms of the acquisition, such as how much was paid were not disclosed. Read [Reuters] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! (Read the full post about ‘Ask.com finalizes Dictionary.com purchase’…)

Share This

The hoodie shown here may look like just your average hoodie, but it has a bit of added protection for skateboarders.  In the picture where you see the darkened sections, all but the one at the neck, are spots with added pads.  When you take a nasty spill, it will help protect you from injuries.  Also the spot where your hands slip through has another built-in pad.  When you just want to wear the hoodie as a normal hoodie or it needs washed, the pads can be removed by unzipping the pouch. (Read the full post about ‘Cali Hoddie keeps skateboarding safe’…)

Share This

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 4th 2008 at 7:24AMHey USers — we know where all those “delayed” Winds are. Just take a look across the pond. bit-tech managed to wrap their paws around a retail unit of MSI’s Eee PC fighter, and while early reviews sang a lovely song, this one was just a bit flatter. All in all, reviewers found the machine to be useful and totally practical, but it was glaringly obvious that they were none too pleased about MSI jacking up the price of its own machine while the completely identical (save for branding) Advent 4211 was selling for less. If you’re listening to these guys / gals, you’ll gloss right over the Wind and nab yourself a rebadge, but whichever edition you end up getting, it’s sure to be “great” in the grand scheme of things. (Read the full post about ‘MSI Wind gets reviewed’…)

Share This

In today’s hurried world, it’s not uncommon for many people to use their digital camera or even camera phone to record life’s moments as movies. While the quality is normally not on par with traditional video cameras, nothing beats the convenience of easy recording “in the moment”. Through the years I’ve gone from toting around professional video cameras (I have a Broadcast Television background) to having the latest and greatest camcorders. Most recently though, I find that I’m shooting more photos since the video camera is just too bulky, even at its smallest. Enter the Flip Video. (Read the full post about ‘Review: Flip Video Mino’…)

Share This

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to come home and top off the day with your favorite mixed beverage, but without the mess or fuss of dealing with liquor bottles and measuring ingredients? Maybe you want to keep your favorite alcohol stored away from unwanted moochers, or are worried about giving the wrong impression by keeping your liquor bottles out in the open? Well have I got a gadget for you. Meet the Super Sidebar. Part faucet, part bartender, this beverage dispenser can pour 5 different non-carbonated beverages from bottles stored up to 10 feet away. (Read the full post about ‘Super Sidebar is your 24-hour personal bartender’…)

Share This