Posted Mar 19th 2008 3:50AM by Thomas RickerFiled under: cellphonesDon’t hide it. We all share the same moment of reflection accompanying any $500+ smartphone purchase: “Man, I could really use a cheap, new Axim right about now.” Say it loud boy, ’cause you might be in luck if DigiTimes’ sources are to be believed. According to the Taiwanese rumor rag, Dell is set to “resume its handheld device business” with a focus on Windows Mobile, not Android as previously rumored (though we’d would be nuts to rule that out). Sources claim that Foxconn (not Quanta) is preparing to accept handset orders from Dell who is busy organizing its handheld device team under Ron Garriques, the executive VP Michael Dell hired away from Motorola’s cellphone division in early 2007. (Read the full post about ‘Dell handset rumors continue to swirl’…)

Europe has announced that they will be making the DVB-H format for mobile TV’s the norm in order to accelerate the deployment of mobile television services throughout Europe like GSM standardization in the 90’s. Also the new mobile TV of choice will be Nokia instead of Qualcomm. Looks like Europe is moving on up as far as mobile television is concerned. (Read the full post about ‘Europe Standardizes DVB-H for Nokia Mobile TV’s’…)

Road studs (or markers) are pretty important as they help motorists find their way around at night, even more so when it is pitch black and the street lamps are all but working. Since most roads face the harsh heat of the sun all day long, how about solar-powered road markings that are smart enough to warn motorists of bad weather as well as slow-moving traffic by illuminating themselves during times of congestion in order to direct traffic from the motor way’s entry ramp to the hard shoulder? These studs are linked directly to the local traffic controller to ensure that no mix-ups occur. (Read the full post about ‘Solar-powered Road Studs’…)

Filed in archive Cameras by jim on March 19, 2008 The latest, top of the Panasonic, "FX" line, has just been announced and it looks like a dream camera to me. The slim line Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 has just about every feature necessary to satisfy everyone from the casual snap shooter to the most ardent photo-hobbyist. For fans of wide angle photography, such as yours truly, this camera, with its 25-125mm lens, 35mm equivalent, should fill the bill nicely. I'm eager for the results of the first tests to see how well the Leica F2.8 Vario Elmarit lens fares on barrel distortion, the bane of ultra wide angle lenses. (Read the full post about ‘New Panasonic Lumix Looks Like A Winner’…)

Sanyo has decided to introduce to the world their new Xacti CG9 digital camera. This entry level video camera offers 9.1MP CMOS sensor, 40MB of internal memory, a 5x optical Zoom and H.264 Video codec. Let’s watch the video after the jump to see what its like [ Source ] Tags: tech, DAB, gprs, mobile devices (Read the full post about ‘Sanyo Xacti CG9 Digital Camera’…)

Having too much time on your hands can be a bad or good thing, depending on the outcome of how you spend your time. The Shocking Disposable Camera is one crazy project that makes for a great novelty item - and good thing April Fool’s Day is still a good 10 days or so away. Just make sure that you don’t simply let all and sundry get shocked with this as electric shocks have a funny way of messing up pacemakers.

Tags: M4A, gps, game, equipment

Posted Mar 18th 2008 9:33PM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Portable Audio, Portable Video Samsung fans, your wildest dreams have come to fruition. Word on the street is that the company’s do-it-all PMP, the YP-P2, will be getting an update in the form of a new 16GB model. The new player — which boasts features like a 3-inch WQVGA screen, Bluetooth 2.0 support, and H.264, OGG, and WMV playback — will cost somewhere in the vicinity of $347. (Read the full post about ‘Samsung’s YP-P2 coming in 16GB flavor soon’…)

Posted Mar 18th 2008 8:29PM by Donald MelansonFiled under: cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Portable Audio While it’s not quite a daily occurrence, it must nearly seem that way for the folks in Apple’s legal department, who are now facing yet another lawsuit alleging that the company has infringed on some slightly obscure patents. This latest one comes from Mirror Worlds Technologies, which claims that Apple’s Time Machine violates no less than four of its patents that, as AppleInsider reports, describe a “highly visual system that displays a line of documents and other items dating back (or forward) in time along with the option of searching these items to retrieve and edit them.” As if that wasn’t enough, Mirror Worlds also claims that the iphone and various iPods also infringe on all but one of the patents, apparently due to the way they sort podcasts and other information. (Read the full post about ‘Who’s suing Apple today? Mirror Worlds takes aim at Time Machine and more’…)

Don’t you just love those hour glass timers that were often included in a variety of board games? There’s just something mesmerizing about watching the sands of time sift through, so it is about time (no pun intended) that a digital concept is concocted. Dubbed the Sand+Time Watch, this digital hour glass comes into action in screen saver mode, but otherwise tells the time at the click of a button using numbers. I don’t mind seeing this as a bedside accessory, although the inclusion of an ipod dock would make it a must-buy for me. Unfortunately, this is but a concept at press time. (Read the full post about ‘Pxiel Perfect Hour Glass’…)

Posted Mar 18th 2008 11:53AM by Nilay PatelFiled under: Features, Wireless Well, what can we say? The new 802.11n AirPort Express looks exactly like the 802.11g AirPort Express we’ve been using to stream iTunes and wirelessly print to an el-cheapo USB laser printer since 2004. In fact, if not for the different model numbers (A1264 now, instead of A1084) and the fact that our old unit has some random battle scars, we would have found it almost impossible to tell them apart. Check the gallery for the hot side-by-side action. (Read the full post about ‘802.11n AirPort Express hands-on’…)