Nokia, once King of the Mobiles, has been dragging its heels of late. It’s almost like the Finnish company was having a party and the iPhone turned up, ate all the cake and started playing hide and seek with the girls. Nokia threw its toys from the pram and refused to play until the iphone went home. One zillion iPhones later and Nokia has realized that nobody is listening to its cries anymore. Today we see the company’s new N97, a touchscreen and QWERTY equipped "multimedia computer" (remember, Nokia doesn’t make phones anymore) that is a clear answer to Apple’s precocious device. What’s inside? On paper, it’s a solid iPhone-beater. In fact, it should probably come with a dirty white undershirt and half a bottle of whiskey. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia Announces Chunky, Full-Featured N97 ‘Cellphone’’…)
2
Dec
On Wednesday, Wikio is going to update its Top 20 Tech sites list and we’ve learned what it will look like. We’re glad to see Ubergizmo in there and we thank our readers, fans, friends and fellow bloggers for it. Many people are familiar with Technorati, but in Europe, Wikio is pretty big. It’s a French company, founded by Pierre Chappaz, who also co-founded Kelkoo, which was sold to Yahoo for about half a billion Euros a few years ago. Wikio’s ranking is computed with an obscure mix of information that includes linkbacks but not traffic. The site is mainly a news portal where people can vote. There’s also a shopping component - it’s a bit as if Google News, Digg and Kelkoo had a child - somehow. (Read the full post about ‘Almost Official: Wikio’s Top 20 Update in Two Days’…)
1
Dec
Barco is coming up with a 20″ monitor that has the particularity of being able to render four times more shades of colors than most monitors (1024 levels). And that can help when trying to diagnose a condition based on black and white radios or scans. Now I suspect that you also need the appropriate graphics card and drivers. It has a 1600×1200 resolution, which is quite standard for a 20″ and a 19″ version is also available. Tags: gps, speaker, computers, video game (Read the full post about ‘Barco MDRC-2120 Monitor for Medical Applications’…)
1
Dec
Joule, the South African Electric Car
Published in electronics
[Blogging Tour - South Africa 08] This morning we went to Optimal Energy in Cape Town to meet with CEO Kobus Meiring for a presentation of the South African electric car A.K.A. Joule. Presented last September at the Auto Show in Paris, this promising green vehicle got a lot of attention from the industry, but it will not hit the market until the end of 2010. The goal of Optimal Energy is to compete with the mainstream offering and not only with the other electric cars, that is the reason why it fits 6 passengers and has a 130 km per hour maximum speed. The company does not know which type of lithium battery it will use for the final product yet, and we did not see any drive test. (Read the full post about ‘Joule, the South African Electric Car’…)
1
Dec
Most smartphones we’ve seen to date come with only one operating system of choice, but Qigi goes against conventional wisdom with its i6 smartphone. You will be able to choose from either Android or Windows Mobile 6.1 as the operating system of choice, but both models will share the following :- 2.8″ LCD touchscreen display 624MHz processor Bluetooth connectivity 2 megapixel camera Wi-Fi support microSD memory card slot GPS navigation Strange to see 3G connectivity omitted. Which would you prefer, Windows Mobile 6.1 or Android? Tags: Ogg Vorbis, laptops, mobiles, DVD (Read the full post about ‘Qigi i6 Smartphones Runs On Windows Or Android’…)
1
Dec
Landport Cube Speakers
Published in electronics
The wonders of miniaturization is shown in these Landport Cube Speakers that are so small, they measure a mere 26mm x 26mm x 26mm. Heck, that’s even tinier compared to an ipod Shuffle, so you can imagine the consternation of those who are prone to losing small items. The internal battery is good enough to power them 0.8 watt speakers for 4 to 5 hours continuously, whereby they need to head back to a nearby USB mothership for a recharge. Tags: laptops, camera, speaker, cameras (Read the full post about ‘Landport Cube Speakers’…)
1
Dec
SanDisk’s Cyber Monday deals
Published in electronics
If you’ve got a phone that uses micro SD cards or a camera that uses SD cards, SanDisk is having a big Cyber Monday Sale starting today. There are some good deals here including some USB flash drives in case you’re a fan of sneakernet. You can pick up a SanDisk 16GB flash drive for under $44 (which is down from $79.99). SanDisk also makes some MP3 players and they are discounted as well. Sale ends Monday, December 1st. Check out the full details after the break. (Read the full post about ‘SanDisk’s Cyber Monday deals’…)
1
Dec
Medion GoPal P5430 Released
Published in electronics
Medion wants to conquer Europe by releasing its latest GPS navigation system, the GoPal P5430. This device comes with above average features, including a fingerprint sensor for security reasons. Features include :- Traffic Master Voice control SiRF Titan 600Mhz processor SiRF InstantFix II GPS receiver Text-to-Speech for precise traffic guidance Pre-loaded safety camera locations Lane and Speed advisor 3GB memory Nice to see Medion go against the grain by offering a 5″ display. Each €200 purchase comes with maps of Western and Eastern Europe from Navteq to get you started. Tags: technology, cameras, lcd, consumer electronics (Read the full post about ‘Medion GoPal P5430 Released’…)
1
Dec
Pret A Manger Go For Wireless Transactions
Published in electronics
All 171 UK outlets of Pret A Manger will be going wireless from next April onwards with Near-Field Communications (NFC) equipment installed, allowing customers to enjoy reduced queuing times so that they can get to their meal faster than usual. Guess there is no slowing down when living in this world, eh, where everyone wants things to be done fast and in an instant. Currently, a few restaurants have already installed similar wireless payment technologies, including Yo! Sushi, Coffee Republic and selected O2 stores. Tags: electronic toys, video, digital, speaker (Read the full post about ‘Pret A Manger Go For Wireless Transactions’…)
