The Washingtonpost reviews the Nokia E90 Communicator and writes, “The 3.2-megapixel camera took snapshots that were markedly clearer than those I’ve taken with other phones, but using it was more difficult than necessary. I somehow managed to invoke the video camera when I meant to take a snapshot; if this had happened only once, I wouldn’t have thought it was a big deal, but I did it repeatedly over several days. I had to go in and manually select image mode each time, even though I’d been in image mode to start. Nevertheless, the results were good, and the built-in flash and autofocus worked well.” Read more about the Nokia E90 Communicator. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia E90 Communicator Review - the Washingtonpost’…)

Cycling is fun, but doing so at night is definitely more dangerous than during the day as visibility drops to extremely low levels. Hence, you ought to do everything in your power to make youself visible to other road users. This is where the Pedalite Pedals come in. Pedalites are the latest cycling phenomenon and are, to put it bluntly, uber cool. These kinetic energy powered (no batteries, ever!) 360 degree light-up pedals simply replace your boring old pedals, and light your feet up like a Christmas tree. As well as standard reflectors, the pedals have three integral bright LEDs, one facing forwards, one backwards, and one sidewards - or rather sideways. (Read the full post about ‘Pedalite Pedals’…)

An engineer has a promise which could potentially be full of hot air - literally. He claims that within a year’s time, he will sell a car that runs on compressed air without having it produce emissions at all. Dubbed the OneCAT, this five-seater comes with a glass fibre body and tips the scales at 350kg, and has a target price of £2,500. Compressed air stored inside its carbon-fibre tanks located within the chassis will keep the OneCAT moving, and these tanks can be filled with air from a compressor in just three minutes, making it much faster to “refill” compared to a battery car. Folks who have an errand to run can always hook it up to the mains for four hours and let the on-board compressor get to work. (Read the full post about ‘Car To Run On Air?’…)

The Washingtonpost reviews the Samsung BlackJack II (i617) and writes, “If you use or have seen the original BlackJack, you probably noticed the potentially confusing layout of the alphanumeric keys: A column of alphabet-and-symbol keys sits between them. Thankfully, Samsung fixed the issue on this model by placing the alphanumeric keys directly next to one another. Other keyboard-related enhancements are in the bottom row, where you get a dedicated key for the silent mode and a dedicated key for the camera. Samsung also changed a couple of the bottom-row keys to accommodate shortcuts to AT&T’s Cellular Video service and its home page.” Read more about the Samsung BlackJack II (i617). (Read the full post about ‘Samsung BlackJack II (i617) Review - the Washingtonpost’…)

Create your own hotspot with the Sprint PHS300 Personal Hotspot USB device. Developed by Cradlepoint, this nifty little gizmo automatically starts an EV-DO to WiFi hotspot right in your pocket - all you need to do is plug in your Sprint EV-DO card to the USB port and voila, you open the doors to welcome up to four simultaneous clients via WiFi. An 1,800mAh battery will definitely go some distance before requiring a recharge, although there are no official figures yet. Sounds like the perfect device to carry around in next year’s edition of CES instead of paying through the nose for a hotel connection. (Read the full post about ‘Sprint PHS300 Personal Hotspot USB device’…)

Camera leader Canon has envisioned a new way to add DRM to photos. A recently filed patent application describes a system in the camera that would scan your eyeball and add that identifying info as metadata for each image captured by the camera.

The idea is that this would be a more hack-proof system than watermarking to establish the ownership of a photo and thus restrict its use in accordance with the photographer’s wishes.

Canon’s Iris Registration Mode - Biological Copyright Metadata [Photography Bay]

Tags: tech, gizmos, CD, hdtv

It seems that current T-Mobile HotSpot customers will get a nice perk out of the Starbucks AT&T Wi-Fi deal. In a Press Release, courtesy of T-Mobile we now have some more details on just what those HotSpot customers can expect. Customers will not be impacted “for years to come” and can expect to continue to “experience seamless Wi-Fi access at Starbucks.” The free access for HotSpot customers will mean access for “at least the next five years” thanks to a roaming agreement between AT&T and T-Mobile. Current HotSpot @Home customers will also not see any additional charges. (Read the full post about ‘T-Mobile HotSpot users to get free AT&T Wi-Fi at Starbucks, more details on the free user access’…)

Google isn’t the only company trying to win over developers to build applications for a mobile product. AOL has thrown its hat into the ring and will soon offer the AOL Mobile Platform. The platform will allow developers to build applications for a variety of mobile devices, including those that support BREW, Java, Linux, RIM (BlackBerry), Symbian, and Windows Mobile.

What’s AOL’s motivation? Well, remember AOL has changed its business model to more closely match Google’s. That means the company wants advertising revenue.

(Read the full post about ‘AOL attempts to attract mobile developers’…)

Crumpler Biglittle Thing For iPod Video The new Crumpler Big Little Thing is an ideal partner for the Apple iPod Video 30GB or 60GB. Constructed using fine quality Nappa leather it will keep your iPod scratch free whilst the heavy duty belt loop keeps it firmly by your side so you can enjoy your music on the move. Fine quality Nappa Leather construction with embroidered logo with contrasting leather lining. Belt loop on back doubles to make a stand for video viewing. (Read the full post about ‘Crumpler Biglittle Thing For iPod Video’…)

Electrolux launches the 6th edition of its annual design competition and will select a limited number of entries to compete in Zurich at the international finals October 8 & 9, 2008. This year’s submissions should be for 2-3 years into the future and address food storage, cooking, and/or washing. The Design Lab 2008 has a First Prize of 5,000 Euro and a six-month internship at one of Electrolux’s global design centers. The second prize is 3,000 Euro and third prize 2,000 Euro. An international jury will judge the entries based on intuitive design, innovation, and consumer insight. Entries must be submitted by May 30, 2008 via the website. (Read the full post about ‘Electrolux Design Lab 2008: Designs for the Internet generation’…)