If Only I Had It

DoCoMo is far ahead in the race of setting up a better lifestyle for the future generation. This time they have worked on a child friendly mobile phone that has lots of in-built security features.

The new F801i is an improved version of the popular FOMA SA800i model that DoCoMo released in March 2006. This new model can be easily held by kids in their palms. The waterproof phone never restricts the kids from playing in water fountains or beach.

You will surely be surprised to know the security features of this cute little phone. The F801i has an emergency alarm that yells out a big “HELP” (approx 100 dB). The LED blinks up with a bright light once the alarm is activated. This helps anybody nearby to identify the kid’s position.

Moreover the alarm ON state (means your kid is in danger)can be automatically notified to loved ones. By pre-setting this, it can even send the current position of phone to them. Just by clicking the button on the side, the phone will send the location message to the registered i-mode subscribers as well.

When the mobile gets switched off due to zero power, a pre-setting can bring the power back atleast to message a registered DoCoMo phone about the incident and location.

The bracelet that comes along will help you to find out the phone in case it is misplaced. A presetting can even switch off the phone from a distance as well as send a lost phone message to registered DoCoMo phone user.

The design of F801i mobile phone symbolizes safety, peace of mind, creativity and the future. This phone is all set to go on sale by December 20th. Surely if you care very much for your kid, can you find a better Christmas gift for your little one?

Have you ever left a message on the message board for your colleagues or your loved ones and they never noticed it and it finally ended up with a big quarrel? A conventional message board that lets you use those ink markers to write on it, would not be prominent enough to attract attentions. You’d need something that can deliver the message in a more prominent manner, such as the written message could be flashing or blinking to attract others’ eyes on it.

Thanks to today’s LED technology, here comes the Lighted Message Board that features LED lights to better attract attentions. Just write your message on it using one of the two included special pens and switch on the LED. The message will stand out either blinking or flashing. You can also set it to work in the single color or multi-color mode. It runs on three AAA batteries.

For those who would love to carry a mouse of your own to anywhere you go, here is a thin one that fits in your pocket. This business card sized mouse is quite handy and can be easily operated.

This extra ordinary optical mouse is from Evergreen and is just 5 mmm thick. These mice are available in 4 exciting colours viz- White, Silver, Blue and Pink. Which one is your choice?

Operating this mouse, Slim G4 is quite simple. You just need to pull the flap back and turn it upside down to mimic any other optical mouse with two buttons.

The Slim G4 is designed to fit well in a PCMIA slot where it can be stored. Isn’t that a damn cool mouse?

Gizmodo has done a review for the PocketSurfer 2, and it turned out to be more negative than positive for all of its features. They broke it down into a few points here as follows after the jump:

The Gadget - It is a handheld Internet browsing device that uses poor GPRS data connection. We’re all talking about 3G or higher G nowadays, but PocketSurfer 2 is still using GPRS. Well, although it’s an good alternative at places where you can’t find WiFi to hook up, but GPRS is really damn slow in speed. Anyway, the PocketSurfer 2 is claimed to have additional compression technology incorporated which makes surfing Internet over extremely slow GPRS data connection much speedier than usual. Datawind seems to be working for implementing an accelerated form of GPRS, but the gadget can only support in its version 3.

The Build - They claim that it’s not a gadget that fits well into your pocket as the entire device measures 152 x 75 x 15 mm, meaning it’s a little bit too big in size to go comfortably in your pocket. The 640 x 240 screen resolution wouldn’t give a good experience of browsing especially when coming to view high-res images. There is a little positive view on its full QWERTY keyboard, but you need some time to get used to it if you aren’t familiar with RAZR-type keypads. But once you’re about getting used to it and clicking, it seems to work extremely well if you ain’t mind about the clicking sound. And the backlights seem to be kind of annoying!

Getting Around - Poor navigation, no scroll wheel, you can only rely on the four-way direction pad to get you around webpages, which is kind of not feasible on a device with 5.2? wide screen. Generally, the gadget is kind of good-to-hold. But the gadget has some poor quality such as ports that do not fit well when inspected thoroughly.

Functionality -The Datawind compression software that helps speed up the poor GPRS connection seems to be in consistent and buggy, such as startup is lengthy and a number of occasions failed to connect such as time out or server error. (Well, sounds similar to what I’ve faced with certain 3G modems ocassionally). But when it does work, the compression and caching works impressively fast for a GPRS connection. Besides, the connection problem, the browser is also short of form of video codec compatibility and of course the screen as mentioned sucks with high-res images and provides no way to zoom out to get the whole picture. Surprisingly, Google maps seem to work well on the few occasions it loads up without fault, thanks to proper pseudo-GPS information.

Overall, it fails to gain the love of the Gizmodo guy. Well, I strongly agree that the device is behind in terms of technology implemented. Especially with its data connection relying on poor GPRS and depends on software caching and compression, hoping to get the users to feel the Internet connection is fast on it. Well, advanced users nowadays will need to have multiple screens and streaming data simultaneously, making use of software will definitely fail to handle mass data transmission. I bet the device would be taking lots of processor resources or burning hot while you’re having heavy download on it.

For the price, Pocketsurfer 2 is available for £179.98 in UK, with 20 hours of web surfing/month included in the asking price. For those in the States, it will be made available via T-Mobile for $29.99 per month for unlimited data plan, but will be bound with a 12 month contract. And the hardware will cost an additional $299.

Apple does it again. Last year the iPods were the best sellers, now it is iPhones. Apple’s iPhone takes the lead among the holiday gift gadgets around the world.

Apple introduced iPhone in US around mid June 2007. Now it has topped the gift chart by becoming the best sought gift gadget of 2007.

Let’s check out what makes the iPhone the best gift gadget of 2007.

What is iPhone?

iPhone is the revolutionary cell phone that combines the features of a touch screen phone, a new age internet device and a video iPod. Apple owns about 300 patents and some of the features are first introduced in this iPhone.

Apple iPhone’s breakthrough internet capabilities allow you to send email, browse full websites, do search and navigate through maps using the wi-fi / EDGE connectivity.

The good part is the all these features are easily accessible through the carefully designed touch screen system.

What are iPhone’s Important Features?

Wide Screen Video iPod / Revolutionary Touch Screen

The important part of iPhone would be its 3.5 inch wide screen display. It has multiple functions to work both as an entertainment screen and also as a touch screen. The display supports max resolution of 320*480, which gives you much more icon space than regular plastic buttons. Hence the iPhone‘s touch screen icons are larger and easily touchable.

The major difference between regular iPods and iPhones would be this wide-screen display. Regular iPods have a 4:3 display (similar to normal TVs), which reduces the viewable area very much. But with the latest iPhone and iPod touch, you can watch wide-screen content without losing much screen space.

New Age Phone

As the name suggests it is a phone. Here are the important phone functionalities.

One Touch Call – For making a call, you just need to touch the name or number of person from the phone book. In addition to regular phone book, you can create separate lists of phone numbers similar to what we do for music play lists.

Visual Voice Mail – It lets you select any of your voice mail messages without going through other messages. This gives you quick access to the required messages without checking all previous messages.

SMS – Apple iPhone features a full touch screen QWERTY keyboard that allows you to easily type sentences without making mistakes. It also has an intelligent dictionary that will correct your spelling mistakes.

Internet Functionalities

Connectivity – Apple iPhone supports both Wi-fi and EDGE connectivity. Wi-fi allows you to easily connect iPhone to your home/office network/public hotspots easily. The EDGE network is available in most part of the US, but not popular among rest of the world.

iPhone is powered by a light version of Mac OSX operating system that includes Safari, an email client and special software applications called widgets that are specially designed to give you helpful information on weather, traffic, stocks, news etc while you are on the move.

The important difference between iPhone and other smartphones would be in its web browsing capability. The Safari browser shows you full webpages instead of the simplified mobile editions.

Other Features

iPhone comes with variety of sensors. One sensor is named accelerometer that detects iPhone’s rotation and accordingly changes the display from portrait to landscape mode. This means you don’t have to rotate an image for wider viewing. You just need to rotate the phone and iPhone will automatically take care of the rest.

Another sensor called proximity sensor (near ear piece) which detects whether you are actually speaking over the phone and turns off the display to save power.

The third important sensor is the ambient light sensor. It would brighten the display for much better viewing if you on outdoors.

iPhone Technical Specifications:

• Display: 3.5 inch wide-screen LCD display with max 320*480 resolution.
• Input Device: Multi-Touch Touch Screen
• Operating System: MAC OSX
• Storage Capacity: 4GB / 8GB solid state storage.
• GSM: Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g, GPRS/EDGE, and Bluetooth 2.0.
• Camera: 2.0 Mega Pixels
• Battery Life: 8hrs normal usage / 24hrs on audio playback / 250hrs on standby.
• Dimensions: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches
• Form Factor: Candybar Smartphone
• Supported Audio Formats: MP3 / AAC
• Video formats Supported: MP4, H.264, M4V, and MOV

iPhone Disadvantages:

Closed Availability – Apple iPhone is now sold by certain cell phone networks and you need to buy a phone usage contract along with iPhone. The locked phones cannot be used on other networks.

Trademark Problem – Cisco system now owns the original trademark for the term “iPhone” for their VOIP phones. Apple may loose the name iPhone if Cisco system wins the legal battle.

Lack of Support to GSM 3G Networks – iPhone does not support latest 3G capabilities that allows faster data rate and better voice quality.

Expensive – The basic version of iPhone with 4GB memory costs $499, while the 8GB version costs $599. Along with the 2 year network subscription, most customers think, the iPhone is highly expensive.

The creator of Diamond iPod iDiamond, Thomas Heyerdahl reveals this ear phone that is more a jewelry than an expensive ear phone.

Each earphone is made of 102 diamonds and 18carat gold. Hence in total there would be 204 diamonds in the pair.

From the Heyerdahl Website:
“iDiamond ear” uniquely and most innovatively combines traditional handcraft with modern technology into a high end exclusive piece of jewellery with comprehensive high-tech earphone functionality.

These limited edition earphones will be available from February 2008. Heyerdahl Jewellery will be only manufacturing 1000 units of these expensive pair of ear jewellery. Each pair is priced at $6400. Have to start saving NOW!!!

I have no patience at all for playing around with Rubix cube as I’ve always been busy. But in fact it really takes time for me to solve this kind of cubic puzzle. Perhaps, I’ll need at least 30 minutes or more for a properly scrambled cube. Anyway, the Japanese has developed a new kind of robot, called Cube Kun, which its sole purpose is for solving Rubix cube. And this Cube Kun robot can solve Rubix cubes within seconds.

The Cubbe-Kun robot has a big flat face. While a cube is presented to him, he will quickly register what the six sides of the cube look like. And then displays it on its screen to continue figuring out a solution in about one second and the next few seconds his hands will start moving to solve the cube! Impressive? Of course, I wanna protest here. Our brains are not solely designed for solving Rubix cubes. We have very sophisticated brain that can solve tons of problems in life. Furthermore, we might be lacking of focus while solving those cubic puzzles as we have worries, distractions and lots of other excuses too.

This is the first early prototype of Google Android spotted, which looks like carrying an HTC form factor. The guy who found this Google phone, has some pretty positive comments for it. After using for a day, he found the phone is generally light and fast, even though this gadget is still in its early prototype. And it’s deemed much faster than the desktop emulator at times.

According to the guy, who is a long-time programmer, the OS that this gadget runs is much better than Windows Mobile 5. Things can change right? Something in its early prototype could be disabled with certain functionalities. Once everything is put together would be a different a story!

We will always need a better gadget for detecting WiFi networks. If you’re kind of shy to wear the WiFi t-shirt, which you might deem it makes you look stupid, then you could try wearing a less noticeable piece, such as a wristwatch to help you detect WiFi signals.

ThinkGeek has got a WiFi detecting wristwatch, which has a prominently marked WiFi button on it. Just a press of this button, it will tell you the signal strength on a scale of 0 to 8 (Why 8 instead of 10?). Of course, besides detecting WiFi signal, it doesn’t forget its main function, which is telling you the time and also the date. So the watch also includes functionalities such as world time clock, alarm and calendar functionality, and a bright EL backlight. It’s quite a handy gadget for you to shift around from coffee shop to the other, if you aren’t satisfied with the WiFi signal.

To provide physical safety for your data, we will get them burned on CDs or DVDs and then store them in a safe. And the safe for storing these precious data must be able to stand the test of any disaster caused by water or fire. The SentrySafe USB Fire-Safe is one great safe box that ensures everything stored in it is fire and water proof. The safe can protect up to 120 CDs and DVDs for two hours in intense heat (up to 1850 degrees) and eight inches of water for 24 hours.

Besides, this safe comes with a USB connector. You’d be wondering what the USB connector is for? It’s for you to hook up to your computer’s USB port for transferring data onto a 2.5? hard drive that sits in the safe. Smart! While you have no time to burn your data onto CDs or DVDs, you can hook this safe to your computer for a quick transfer of data onto its hard drive. So, you’ll have a copy of your data in the safe which is water and fire-proof.

Features:

* LCD electronic lock with programmable pin access and tubular key lock

* External USB 2.0 bus powered port (Y-cable included)

* Convenient door pocket stores 2.5 hard drive which connects to the internal USB port (cable included)

* CD/DVD organizer tray (stores up to 72 CD/DVD’s in jewel cases)

* Holds A-4 size papers, folders and box files laid flat

* Key rack and compartment for small items

* File rack