Best Gadgets News

For those concerned about the battery taxing tendencies of 3-G chipsets, there’s new evidence that Apple may be planning to include a 3-G kill switch of sorts in its forthcoming second-gen iPhone. The option, although hidden, was discovered to be a part of the latest firmware update for the regular EDGE-based iPhone and was found in the 2.0 beta5 Preferences binary. This, of course, implies that Apple will be using common firmware/software for both models of the iPhone, but the developer who made the discovery notes that the 3-G on/off option will only be available to those who purchase a 3-G iphone. A screenshot of the new preference appeared Saturday on an independent Chronic Productions blog, which is also a part of iPhone hacking Chronic Dev web site. (Read the full post about ‘Second Gen iPhone: 3-G When You Want It, EDGE When You Don’t’…)

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Fancy a portable Xbox? I’m sure many people have thought about it before, and it will really see Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony slug it out both in the living room as well as on the portable front. How would you like the portable Xbox to look like? There are several major pitfalls for the big M to look out for, and one of them would be the lack of connectivity. Microsoft’s Xbox Live is one of the biggest attractions to date, and has not seen any serious competition from either Sony or Nintendo, so that will be quite a problem unless WiMAX is rolled out extensively. Also, disc changing on the go just isn’t viable, so Microsoft will have to think of a way to circumvent this.

(Read the full post about ‘Portable HD Xbox Idea’…)

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This wired backpack not only fashionably allows it’s wearer to enjoy their favorite MP3 tunes, but it also has a remote capture capability thanks to the onboard web camera that’s built right into the rigging.

Coming complete with a wireless 2.5GB hard drive, USB Hub, a tiny LCD screen with 4 button navigation and input, and 1 GB of flash memory, the PORTA2030 performs what its creators call “portable data sensing-storage-transmission” as it not only captures video streams in real time but also plays MP3s for its user to enjoy. Each Porta2030 is assigned a unique IP address for wireless transmission to a central hub.

(Read the full post about ‘Wired backpack is fashionable and poses some interesting security questions’…)

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Well, it was a long time coming, but YouTube has finally made its localized Indian version go live. Now, YouTube users from India are given access to a highly personalized version of the site, featuring content that’s filtered through a so-called “Indian lens.” The live video charts show what videos are being watched by users in India, and the featured videos are now targeted towards an Indian audience. Literally dozens of local partners have also been signed-up by YouTube to provide home-grown content to the users. And they even launched an official Indian YouTube Blog. So if you’re looking for some original South Asian video goodness, head on over to http://in.youtube.com. (Read the full post about ‘YouTube launches YouTube India’…)

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Customers in Florida will now have access to information about traffic incidents, traffic updates and detours as Verizon Wireless has made its VZ Navigator Version 4 service available. The VZ Navigator is a location-based service (LBS) application utilizing GPS technology and real-time information feeds from government traffic monitoring groups. With VZ Navigator, customers will have access to traffic integration information which updates them of traffic routes based on the analysis of both historical and real-time traffic information. This allows customers to know which traffic routes are affected by traffic lights, heavy traffic situation and activities in school zones. (Read the full post about ‘Verizon brings VZ Navigator version 4 to Florida’…)

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Have you jumped onto the Wii Fit bandwagon yet? If you do (and are hooked on it), I’m pretty sure you’ve experienced the sudden interruption while playing when the Wii balance board runs out of juice unexpectedly. This scenario can be disappointing, especially when you’re halfway through working up a sweat. Nyko aims to save the day with the Energy Pak which was developed specifically for the Wii balance board. It is installed at the bottom of the board, and is a snap to plug in for a recharge without having to remove the device nor turn the board over. The Nyko Energy Pak will be released this May 19th for $19.99. (Read the full post about ‘Nyko Energy Pak’…)

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A Japan-based designer known as Marimo-san is thinking way out of the box with his latest cellphone concept design, featuring a mechanism that allows for a detachable screen. The screen in this cellphone concept design can be removed so the user can enjoy video calls on the go. And aside from that, the slot for the screen should also accept other add-ons such as a widescreen display and a dual screen video viewer, to name a few, turning the cellphone into a number of new devices at any given time. Here is the cellphone with detachable screen concept pictured with the add-ons I mentioned earlier (widescreen display and dual screen video viewer). With the technology that we have today, this actually seems pretty doable. (Read the full post about ‘Cellphone concept with detachable screen seems doable’…)

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Outdoor Sports Boomerang Without too much practice you can summon-up an immense 15-20 metre throwing range, perform tricks and catch with ease. Even in the wind. Even with a hangover. Guaranteed to return, unlike even the most faithful golden retriever, it’ll save you chasing all over the park looking like a complete plank with no friends. (Read the full post about ‘Outdoor Sports Boomerang’…)

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Check this: Sprint is dropping a ridiculous $100 million on an online ad campaign for its iClone, the Instinct. The selling points? 3G and real GPS. That’s right, the two technologies almost certain to end up in the next iteration of the real iphone. It’s hard to fathom the boneheadedness of this move. Is it desperation?

This ad, the second in a series, isn’t even accurate. My ipod Touch, without the benefit of cell-tower triangulation, manages to return a pinpoint result in the Maps application, complete with a cross-hair in the “ginormous circle”.

(Read the full post about ‘Sprint Wastes $100 Million On iPhone Dissing Ad Campaign’…)

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Sony has made available a slew of tiny USB flash drives in its Microvault product line, branding these babies as the USM-L. The drives measure in at 0.69 x 0.33 x 2.44-inches and weighing only around 0.32-ounces, who would think that the USM-L flash drives can store as much as 16GB of data? Well, that’s how flash drives are nowadays, the smaller they get, the larger their storage capacities are, and this is particularly true with the Sony USM-L flash drives. As if the USM-L flash drives were not small enough, Sony even made use of the Click mechanism which makes it shorter when it is connected to your machines. (Read the full post about ‘Sony makes the Microvault USM-L flash drive available in various candy colors’…)

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