Best New Technology

The NapTV is one of those bizarre integrations of two devices that you occasionally come across. This time the mixture is a TV and Stool built in to one device. What it allows you to do is either sit on it and read, or lay under it and watch TV. The TV screen is an LCD panel that is built in to the underside of the stool which also features stereo speakers in the two legs. This allows you to lay flat on your back, surrounded in sound with out being distracted. Laying flat also ensures you do not have to twist your neck in to any strange and uncomfortable position.

The idea behind this seat is just concept right now although it wouldn’t be too difficult to bring to the market as there is no rocket science in this concept. What are your thoughts on the NapTV? Would you use it?

Coroflot Via: UberReview

Guest post by Matthew of Gadget Venue.

The moment I saw the Micro SD Card Projector, my skepticism alarm went off. After all, portable projectors often generate images that are not as clear as their non-portable predecessors.

My skepticism lessened when I saw images of its projections from the product page. They looked like the projected images you would see from any other projector. Of course, it’s really hard to tell how good a projector is from a picture of its projection. It looks like my skepticism is now increasing.

Especially when I saw this product being sold on a site called Drinkstuff.com. It’s almost like their company slogan would be “we sell stuff that drunk people should use”. Yet Drinkstuff has also been around for over 30 years, and they have a lot of other quality merchandise on their site.

Even though I am still skeptical about this product, there is one thing that is a plus: a built-in MicroSD. That will come in handy when you want to project the videos or images from the memory card on your digital camera. The MicroSD Card Projector also has some handy ports for attaching a DVD player, Blu-ray player, or video game console.

Here’s the thing that I’m most skeptical about: how long can this product run on 4 AA batteries? I mean, my son’s Leapster doesn’t last more than a day, and this projector looks like it would use a lot more juice than that.

In short, you might have to take a chance when you buy this product. Hopefully, you are willing to bank $197 on it.

Source

The iPhone has been out the better part of a year now and a number of them are starting to show their age. On whole I have heard very few complaints from owners, but the daily operation of any mobile device inevitably leads to all sorts of abuse and operation degrades over time, especially for first generation products.

My iPhone (4GB reburb, bought in August) hasn’t been pampered, but was still holding up well, at least until a week or so ago. Then it started having a strange problem–during a call the sound would cut out and the person on the other end of the line would just get static from me. During this time the reception would stay constant (five bars with EDGE) but the call would not work. Then if I tried to end the call it would take a very long time to disconnect. Neither restarting the phone nor restoring it through iTunes solved the problem, so I set up an appointment at the Genius Bar.

I was really not looking forward to going to my local Apple store and trying to replicate the intermittent problem, especially after waiting in what is always a long line. But thanks to Apple’s online reservation system and an early weekday appointment the wait was just a few minutes. Eventually I got my place at the bar, explained the problem, and handed off my phone to the guy behind the counter.

To make a long story short, the answer just might have been a little compressed air. The technician said the inside of my iPhone was well … filthy, and a few months worth of dust, dirt, and pocket lint had accumulated in the headphone jack. He failed to explain exactly what the problem was, but basically said that the stuff inside, including the white dot (the water sensor) are important and don’t like grime.

I can’t say that I was too satisfied with the explanation but the phone is working well now and the issues I was having seem to be gone. This was the first thing the Apple rep tried when I told him that a restore had not done the trick and that the phone had no physical damage, so I doubt I am the first person to come in with this issue. It’s not clear how widespread it is, but based on my usage (typical for a heavy user) I would not be surprised if more iPhones could do with a cleaning.

Now that I’ve researched the problem a bit more, it’s clear that I’m not the first to have this problem and compressed air is not the only solution, but it’s definitely good to know if you are an iphone owner.

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 5:16AM

See it? No there, the one that looks like a flat screen TV hanging on the wall. Right, that’s Sony’s new E4000 TV series. Sony’s pushing its new Picture Frame Mode and four “blend in frame colours” hard as its looks to differentiate the 32- and 40-inch Full HD LCDs (and a wee 26 inch of unspecified, sub-1080p resolution) from the competition. As such, the TVs will display one of six, pre-installed images like Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Cypresses. Really though, why bother pre-loading content when it’ll display any image you stuff into a connected USB drive. Oh right, copyright law. Anyway, the top-o-the-line 40-inch model features x.v.Color on a 10-bit panel, Bravia Engine 2 processing, 3x HDMI inputs and even SCART for you European old-schoolers. No price or release date but you can play along with Sony’s hide the 26-incher after the break.

[Via Tech Digest]

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Filed under: HDTV

We published an article about Zipidee launch back in October. They are now announcing that eBooks will be included to the list of digital goods categories they are offering.
Since eBay restricted Digital goods trade to the Classified-Ad format on March 31, 2008, frustration was growing among eBay sellers. It seems that Zipidee is taking advantage of the situation to attract digital content publishers unhappy with the new eBay policy.
There are other sites similar to Zipidee like lulu.com and I did not get the time to compare the competitors. I got a demo at the time of the launch and I was impress by the flexibility (pricing, DRM option etc…) and the ease of use of the platform.

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 8:47AM

Remember Thingamagoop, the little synth monster controlled by light thanks to the photocell governing the main oscillator? Well, this alarm clock mod requires a 9-volt DC jack and adapter, switch SPDT, and some audio cable and wire to bring it all together. A few snips and solder burns later and voila, the monster Moog alarm clock is born. Man, robots… synthesizers… it’s like the ultimate nerd sub-cult. Video after the break, detailed hacking instructions on the other side of that read link.

P.S. Yes, he has throw-switch nipples and a uh, knob.

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets, Household

I admit it took me a while to get used to Gmail and its insistence on grouping “conversations” together and never deleting anything. I wouldn’t be without it (and its supersonic spam filter) now, though: I have three accounts: business emails, personal emails and junk emails from websites that made me register before I bought or commented on something.

But… the design could do with a little updating, couldn’t it? It hasn’t changed significantly since its launch in 2004. So if you want to jazz up your Gmail, carry on over the cut to find out how…

LG today announced the global launch of the third LG Black Label Series handset. Successes of the LG Chocolate and LG Shine, the two predecessors of the LG Black Label Series models, together with globally renowned The PRADA Phone by LG, have affirmed LG as a leading design innovator in the mobile industry.The design heritage of the LG Black Label Series will continue on to the third handset boasting its smart technology with the latest and sophisticated features including the slimmest 5MP camera. Similar to the previous LG Black Label Series handsets, the latest model also carries a product concept derived from today’s trend leaders. This new concept of ‘Style that Lasts’ reflects the timeless and elegant design of the phone enhanced by stylish materials such as carbon fiber and tempered glass.
[ Source ]

My mother taught me not to open my mouth if I don’t have anything good to say. Well, needless to say, with the Bullshit button, I don’t even have to open my mouth at all.

The Bullshit button can rile up anyone with five snarky sentences:

- (Beep) That was bullshit!
- (Siren) Bullshit detected, take precautions!
- (Siren) Bullshit level defcon 5!
- Oh come on now, that ain’t even bullshit, that’s horseshit!
- Warning, warning, bullshit alert!

All you need to do is load the gadget up with two triple A batteries and you’re on your way for some nasty pranking session. There’s nothing complicated here–just push the button and let it take the place of your potty mouth. You can test it out on its product page and see if it…um…lives up to your expectations. The Bullshit button spells it out in your place for only 5.

The most impressive company that had a booth at Comdex back in 1996 was Drive Savers:

They had a Museum of Disk-asters in which they showed the burnt, dropped and drown computers from which they were able to rescue data.

Disk Savers still exist today. You can see their website here:

• Data Recovery by DriveSavers | Hard Drive Data Recovery - Home

Here is a link to their Data Recovery Hall of Fame:

• Data Recovery by DriveSavers | Hard Drive Data Recovery - Hall of Fame

I remember being so impressed that they helped save an episode of The Simpsons. They are still touting that accomplishment almost twelve years later. So many companies from back then have disappeared. It’s nice to see that Disk Savers are still around.