Oh, this is lovely. Washington state ferries will be WiFi-enabled by summer, thanks to a small Port Townsend firm Mobilisa. They are beaming a fat signal from ship to shore over 5GHz (Glenn Fleishman is guessing 802.11a), then distributing it freely via 802.11a/b/g — at least until the fall, when they’ll start charging. Each of … Continued
We’ve all given Nokia a break with the launch of the N-Gage QD. I mean, they fixed Sidetalkin’, added a longer-lasting battery, they dropped extraneous features like stereo sound … wait, whaa happan? Digital Lifestyles has the first of a three-part review up, focusing on the hardware of the QD and while it seems like … Continued
Far be it from me to begrudge anyone the opportunity to tear apart a ridiculous consumer product, but no matter what the guys at Whining Dog say, I think this Belkin TuneDok iPod holder is pretty clever. It’s basically just a simple travel holder for your iPod, doesn’t do anything terribly fancy, or electronic, even, … Continued
Linux Devices writes about the Sony ‘Navi’ in-car navigation systems, the NV-XYZ 33, 55, and 77, and while they say Sony ‘introduced’ them yesterday, we talked about them (and linked to the Sony website) at least a couple of months ago, so maybe they just mean they launched. Either way, they have a decent write-up … Continued
Good news for everyone that pre-ordered an iTrip mini, the FM transmitter from Griffin Technology that is designed specifically to work with the iPod mini — it’s shipping a month early. How often does that happen? Well, I mean, I guess there was that time when the solids residue from that batch of 5,6-MeO-MIPT recrystallized … Continued
I tried writing something about this, but I couldn’t stop thinking about quitting my job to start a company that makes powercords — oh, excuse me, “AC Master Couplers” — that are “a hybrid of [the] Kaleidoscope and Looking Glass interconnect geometries.” For serious, two grand? But hey, that’s a bargain compared to the Siltech … Continued
Product Highlights • Sonos Multi-Room Digital Music System [Sonos] Bonus Link: Sonos’s Double Ouch [CultOfMac] • Toshiba Tecra A2 [Toshiba via BIOS] • iCEBOX FlipScreen Kitchen Entertainment [ActiveForever] • Samsung’s Auto-flipping P510 Cellphone [MobileBurn] • Motorola i830 for Nextel [PhoneMag] • ‘World’s Smallest Headphone Amp’ [XinTechs] • Gold-Plated Kyocera TK22 Phones [TechJapan] • $10 RoboMaid … Continued
DefenseTech’s Noah Shachtman has a short write-up about this cute little device that wraps up half-a-century’s worth of science-fiction ideas into one floating red jet-powered sphere. Called the ‘Personal Satellite Assistant,’ the goal of the program is to provide an intelligent assistant to the astronauts who need both hands free to perform experiments (by the … Continued
Dear mechanoid brethren, It has come to my attention that twenty of you have taken upon yourselves to participate (with your “inventors”) in the third annual ArtBots: The Robot Talent Show. I, the Penultimate of the robotic overmind, have been directed to inform you to cease your digital candy-assery and get back to work subjugating … Continued
The Bluetooth SIG, the group that controls the standards that define the short-range radio networking technology has announced a proposal for a new version of Bluetooth that offers data rates almost 3 times as fast as the previous version. Called Bluetooth EDR (for Enhanced Data Rate), the new specification claims data rates of up to … Continued
Another convergence device from Concord called the DV2020, this one revolving around a 2-megapixel camera that also records digital video or can serve as a webcam, as well as work as a voice recorder and MP3 player. It has 16MB of internal storage, which isn’t going to get you very far as a video camera, … Continued
Speaking of The Times’ Circuits section, I have it on good word that when they are slaving overnight by gaslight to complete the next day’s column, they seek answers to their more difficult queries regarding the Tecknologikal Arts inside one of these Encyclopaedia Britannica First Edition Replica sets. As soon as I can cart enough … Continued
Reading The Times’ Circuits section invariably causes a single metallic tear to vent from my society-integration hardware, wetting my dome. Sometimes it’s from the cognitive trauma of trying to parse whether or not they’re even talking about technology anymore or just repurposing old articles from the Steamer Tramp Watch column or something, but sometimes — … Continued
The Beeb has a short profile of the upcoming ‘stealth ships’ being designed by various world navies (including the U.S. and its DD(X) destroyers), focussing specifically on the Swedes’ carbon fiber Visby Corvette, an angular low-profile (to radar and otherwise) ship which, among other innovations, includes a retractable 57mm cannon. Although there are many criticisms … Continued
Verizon Wireless is launching an Atlas Mobile-designed poker game for ‘Get it Now’-enabled phones for $3 a month. Called ‘Holdem Poker for Prizes,’ the tournament game will allow you to play against other customers online for prizes, but sadly not real money. It’s like a glamorous night in Reno without the blinding salt winds or … Continued
God damn it, Apple. So I don’t buy a lot of albums from iTunes Music Store, because I’m cheap and Denton had to get another set of gold fronts, but I’ve got a couple here and there, which I have unlocked with Playfair/Hymn. Now part of the whole shtick with Hymn is that even though … Continued
IBM is releasing their smallest desktop PC yet, the ThinkCentre S50 Ultra Small, a somewhat goofy-looking yet strangely attractive black machine the easily fits under one of IBM’s LCD monitors, powered by a Pentium 4. The ThinkCentre isn’t designed for enthusiests, obviously, instead aimed at business customers or small office clients who need a relatively-powerful … Continued
Is it just me, or does this Vaja HA42 case sort of make the Treo 600 look like Batman? For $55, the leather custom casing is not a bad way of keeping your smartphone in crime fighting shape. And like the Dark Knight himself, it has ample secret compartments for storing all your special gear … Continued
You know how we were saying Creative’s new Zen Touch hard disk player (the one with the killer 24-hour battery life) was coming out this fall? Greg Anderson found this press release on Creative’s site that said it was coming out this month. I’m not a professional dateist or anything (although I did take two … Continued
Make it or break it time for Tapwave as they confirm a June 24th retail launch date in CompUSA stores for their PalmOS-based gaming PDA Zodiac. Tapland confirms that the Zodiac will have at least a 4-foot dedicated shelf space and a full marketing rollout with all the usual ads and promotions, I would imagine. … Continued