by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 6:12PMIt’s hardly the only one working on making lithium-ion batteries a little less likely to blow up in your face, but the prolific folks at Fraunhofer Institute seem to think that they’ve come up with a solid contender for your future laptop or cellphone, and they’re now set to take the wraps off it at the Hannover Messe conference later this month. The key to their solution, it seems, is the use of a non-flammable polymer electrolyte instead of the liquid electrolyte now commonly used in lithium-ion batteries. While that switch cuts down on the explosiveness, it also introduced a fair number of challenges, not the least of which is the fact that polymer becomes less conductive as it gets more solid. (Read the full post about ‘Fraunhofer takes a stab at non-exploding lithium-ion batteries’…)

This seemingly toy-ish Ferrari is in fact a cellphone. The dialing pad is located underneath the car where the axle should be. The idea is interesting, but I agree with my friends from techdigest that I do not like the idea of talking where the back axle is. It’s purely psychological of course, but why do you think that the original ipod was white and shiny like a bathroom?

(Read the full post about ‘Ferrari-Shaped Mobile Phone’…)

Wal-Mart has the largest repository of recorded video on the planet. It just so happens that not all of it is in the retail giant’s control. In particular, one production company is sitting on a vast treasure trove of Wal-Mart footage and has decided to start using these video archives to make a little cash on the side.

Flagler Productions, who recorded countless hours of internal Wal-Mart meetings from the 1970s through 2006, was fired two years ago. While that move effectively cut off most of the company’s revenue stream, Flagler discovered there are actually plenty of people out there interested in viewing such material — especially if it involves managers prancing about in drag at an executive meeting.

(Read the full post about ‘Company Sells Access to Behind-the-Scenes Wal-Mart Footage’…)

Wind Bag It was as inevitable as rubber vomit that someone would think to integrate sound and motion sensors into these truly naff seventies joke-shop staples. Ah, technology… You can have this for ?2.95 Tags: equipment, pvr, computers, CD (Read the full post about ‘Wind Bag’…)

When it comes to digital cameras, it’s fair to say that everybody likes the idea of a powerful zoom! That’s why Nikon added a whopping 18x optical zoom (27-486mm equivalent) that could prove very useful in many situations (wildlife, crowds…). Of course, with such a zoom comes some form of image stabilization to compensate for your body’s motion. Also, we like the fact that you can shoot 30 consecutive images at 13 frames per second. The Nikon P80 is a 10.1 Megapixel camera. Tags: dap, high definition TV, buyers guides, lcd (Read the full post about ‘Nikon P80 Camera with 18x Optical Zoom’…)

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 2:42PMWell, it looks like that recently released BIOS update may not have been the cure-all solution that many Alienware M15x users were hoping for, with at least some of ‘em now reporting that the update did nothing to fix the so-called “downclocking” problems that many were experiencing. Adding further confusion to the situation is that many users, as evidenced by the discussion on the Notebook Review forums, initially seemed to think that the update had fixed the downclocking problem, only to discover that it had reappeared a week or so later. (Read the full post about ‘Some Alienware M15x users still reporting problems after BIOS update’…)

Hirokazu Hamamura the head of Japanese gaming mag Famitsu’s parent company is predicting that Nintendo will unveil the next-generation DS at E3 2008 this summer. So why are we positive on this rumor? Well it is not made by some anonymous and self proclamatory Nintendo employee but by a businessman who heads Famitsu the leading gaming mag in Japan. Hirokazu has not commented on the hardware or cost. So how would you like to change the Nintendo DS? I am a proud owner of a DS Lite since quite some time and here is my wishlist for the DS 2. 1) Bigger screens 2) Powerful speakers 3) A mobile phone attachment. The DS as a mobile phone is a god send gift. But again it is a bit too much to ask. (Read the full post about ‘Nintendo DS 2 to be unveiled at E3 2008?’…)

Click for a larger image. Back in February Sony announced two new Walkman MP3 players, the A820 and A829 (yes, horrendous names). These are 8 and 16 GB versions of Sony’s flash memory, iPod nano competitors. At first glance, the big shocker is the inclusion of Bluetooth audio on the A829—no more strangulation by your headphone—but the models have much more to offer than that. As I said before, With Bluetooth headphones you can cut the wires, a great addition for runners and other athletes/gym addicts. But filling the ipod nano with even more envy is the 2.4” widescreen QVGA LCD, 16GB storage, 62 hours of video playback at 30 fps, 36 hours of audio playback/9 hours of video playback, and MP3/WMA/AAC support. (Read the full post about ‘The Walkman returns to glory with the Sony NWZ-A829′…)

InfoSync reviews the Nokia 6555 and writes, “The built-in camera–despite having a 1.3 megapixel sensor (1280 x 960 resolution)–was atrocious, with poor light management, blurry edges and an overall lack of clarity in any conditions. We also had trouble sending photos to our computer using Bluetooth.” Read more about the Nokia 6555. Tags: electronic toys, gps, video game, games (Read the full post about ‘Nokia 6555 Review - InfoSync’…)

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 1:44PMFisker Karma’s recently announced hybrid sports car that generates motor noise through some external speakers might have received a good bit of derision when it first made itself known, but it now looks like it may actually be a bit ahead of the game, at least if a bill expected to be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives ever actually becomes law. As AutoWeek reports, the bill was apparently prompted by concerns that hybrid and electric vehicles are a little too quiet, and pose a risk to pedestrians, especially the blind. To address that supposed danger, the bill reportedly demands that the U.S. (Read the full post about ‘Proposed bill aims to set minimum auto sound levels’…)