Gadgets Connect

Static advertisements and paper posters have just become things of the past with LCD advertisement displays on the horizon. Last July 14, Tokyo Station gets a taste of these digital posters courtesy of East Japan Railway Company and East Japan Marketing & Communications Inc. Ten 65-inch digital posters were placed at the station and will remain there until testing ends on September 30, 2008. The vertically-oriented posters are originally 150cm in diameter and 15 cm thick, although the columns add another 30cm of thickness to them. These digital posters display still images which change every minute at a 1920 x 1080 resolution. This specific test will evaluate people’s response to audio-less still image digital posters using lcd panels. (Read the full post about ‘Tokyo Station Gets a Taste of 65-inch Digital Posters’…)

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If you own a high-def television, you know what I mean when I say that you can’t get enough HD programming. So you can imagine that Dish Network owners will be pleased to hear that the company successfully launched their new EchoStar XI satellite on Wednesday. With the addition of the new sattelite in Earth orbit, this will add to the lineup of HD programming currently offered by the satellite channel provider.

Back in March of this year, Dish Network suffered a setback when the AMC-14 satellite aboard a Russian Proton Breeze-M rocket failed to reach proper orbit, hampering the company’s HD expansion efforts.

(Read the full post about ‘Dish Network launches new satellite, more HD channels coming’…)

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If you like to read Dilbert comic, you might remember a particular strip where Dilbert and his co-workers encounter The Feature Creep.  The Feature Creep is a symbol of the person who haunts every electronic device manufacturer’s research and development area, and the creep is never satisfied until the most unnecessary features are added on to the next product.  The Feature Creep must have went crazy on the JATY DR7200, a GPS device that has a SiRFstar III GPS chipset, 533MHZ CPU, plus mountain, car, and golf GPS navigation capability.  It also has a whole slew of features that probably shouldn’t be on a GPS.  For example, it has an eBook Reader, in case you want to do some reading on the road.  If you are not an avid road-reader, you might enjoy watching some Digital TV with video playback.  Both of those are illegal behind the wheel, by the way.  However, the DR7200 does have some features which are useful.  For example, the mp3 player can be used legally on the road as long as you’re not doing too much manipulating of the controls on the road.  The phone charger ought to come in handy as well.  It also has a handy life-saving tool of a breathalyzer.  I would hope that this never becomes a standard GPS feature, but if it can reduce drunk driving fatalities, I’m all for it.  The JATY DR7200 is only available in Korea for a price of around $300.  Via [Gizmodo] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! (Read the full post about ‘JATY DR7200 GPS has way too many features’…)

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You thought that Microsoft’s partnership with Netflix was going to be the only video rental information to come out of E3? Think again. Here comes Sony with their own video rental and purchasing system, available on the PS3 immediately. You’ve got to love when these companies make their announcements real immediately.

What sets Sony’s system apart from Microsoft? For one, there’s no requirement to have a Netflix account. This program is built upon Sony’s massive pile of money, enabling them to cut out the middle man. Also, Sony happens to have a movie studio. Perhaps you’ve heard of them?

(Read the full post about ‘Sony introduces video rentals and store for PS3′…)

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Sony’s VAIO SR Series notebooks have just been launched and these are definitely objects of beauty considering that they come in a lightweight, durable magnesium alloy that are durable, available in five striking colors to choose from - night black, sunset pink, glossy pink, classic silver and glossy silver. According to Mike Abary, senior vice president of VAIO product marketing for Sony Electronics, “This notebook is a dream come true for the consumer who won’t compromise profound processing power for jaw-dropping style. It meets the needs of everyday work and play while delivering the freedom, performance and style consumers crave.” More on this notebook after the jump. (Read the full post about ‘Sony releases VAIO SR Series’…)

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Steampunk is one of those trends that makes me extremely sorry that I haven’t the slightest bit of crafting skills to make my own steampunk gadgets.  Purely because steampunk is usually very expensive, so unless you can make your own most of us will never get our hands on any of our own.  This one was created by a Russian modder who posted his project in a forum for us all to drool over.  He’s nice like that.  He even crafted a box to display it in.  He doesn’t give a single bit of fun details on how long it took or what he used. (Read the full post about ‘The Russian steampunk mouse’…)

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Life’s all about details, and for those who want to see the micro picture, they can always rely on the Portable Digital Magnifier. Even if it does not reveal the secrets of life, at the very least it is able to magnify fine print that lawyers love to throw at you in their documents. The Portable Digital Magnifier outputs the magnification to a crystal clear 2″ LCD screen and with the push of a button the image can be frozen on the screen, for closer inspection. A conveniently located scroll wheel lets you instantly change the magnification level, from 5x to 20x (in increments of 1x). The magnifier illuminates using three built-in LEDs and the included batteries re-charge via USB connection. (Read the full post about ‘Portable Digital Magnifier’…)

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Fujitsu Europe has upgraded the storage capacity of its portable HandyDrive 2.5-inch external HDD with up to 500GB. This is in addition to other models which are available in 160GB, 250GB, 320GB and 400GB storage capacities. The HandyDrive also features a maximum data transfer rate of 60mbps, an 8MB read/write buffer and a password lock tool option for data security and unauthorized access. The Fujitsu HandyDrive should be a good option for a portable drive since it measures only 5.59 x 3.23 x 0.87-inches in size and weighs a mere 7.76-ounces. In addition this HandyDrive is equipped with internal shock-endurance mechanism that protects the HDD from accidental drops. (Read the full post about ‘Fujitsu’s HandyDrive gets a 500GB storage option’…)

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Sony’s VAIO SR Series notebooks have just been launched and these are definitely objects of beauty considering that they come in a lightweight, durable magnesium alloy that are durable, available in five striking colors to choose from - night black, sunset pink, glossy pink, classic silver and glossy silver. According to Mike Abary, senior vice president of VAIO product marketing for Sony Electronics, “This notebook is a dream come true for the consumer who won’t compromise profound processing power for jaw-dropping style. It meets the needs of everyday work and play while delivering the freedom, performance and style consumers crave.” More on this notebook after the jump. (Read the full post about ‘Sony releases VAIO SR Series’…)

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The Neonode N2 has received a new software upgrade that will see a slew of new features added (but of course, if not, there wouldn’t be any point to the upgrade now, would there?). This upgrade will see the addition of Winwap Technologies’ browser, a more manageable user interface, a new music player that provides an easier experience when it comes to performing housekeeping for tracks on your cell phone and a Sudoku game of all things. It is also nice to note that this software upgrade comes with an “extended area for text messaging”. Nice - but how many people do you know actually have the Neonode N2? (Read the full post about ‘Neonode N2 Software Gets Upgraded’…)

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