Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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Gadgets

Gadgets

GPSMirror Warns of Speed Cameras to Avoid Speeding Tickets

May 16, 2007


NaviGadget reports on the "GPSMirror" from SpeedCheetah, a rear-view mirror with integrated GPS that uses its built-in database to look for "accident black spots, common mobile cameras, and fixed safety camera locations," to help you avoid getting one of those nasty speeding tickets from one of these fixed camera locations. It also shows your heading and speed and warns you if you are above a predetermined speed.

The $400 price tag is definitely a bit steep especially since my Garmin 2720 and my other GPS units allow you to download speed camera waypoints from the Internet for free - and these are fully functional GPS navigation units to boot, where as this GPSMirror is a one-trick pony. Still, if you have a heavy foot, some cash to burn, or just love gadgets, then it can't hurt to get one of these.


Nokia N95 unboxing

April 30, 2007

24K Gold iPod

April 23, 2007

Everyone and their brother/sister has an iPod, right? Sure Apple offers multi-colored iPods, though the white model is still the most popular. So how do you stand out from the crowd from all the other iPod users? What if you want to "bling bling" your iPod with some diamonds or gold just to be different?

Skype SMC WiFi phone and FON router bundle

April 13, 2007

Joanna Stern, a staff writer over at LAPTOP, forwarded me a story she wrote on a Skype (SMC) WiFi phone and FON router bundle being offered by Skype, which is similar to the SMC/Skype bundle I recalled seeing on Skype's blog a few months ago - but the added addition of FON support. If you're not familiar with the FON router, it allows you to securely share your wireless signal with others that are part of FON's very large WiFi community to enjoy free WiFi wherever you find another FON router. This opens up a huge opportunity for SMC Skype phone users since the phone doesn't have a web browser to authenticate onto "fee-based" WiFi networks. Stephen Pinches on the Skype blog discusses this in detail today. Joanna from LAPTOP makes this bundle even more enticing when she tells me, "Even better we are giving away10 free bundles to our readers." The 10 free bundles include a SMC WiFi phone, FON router, 500 SkypeOut minutes and a year's worth of free Skype voicemail for $159. 

Apple delays Leopard blames iPhone

April 13, 2007

Apple just released an intriguing statement involving the Apple iPhone and Leopard - their next operating system. In a statement, Apple said, "We can't wait until customers get their hands (and fingers) on it and experience what a revolutionary and magical product it is. However, iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price -- we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS® X team, and as a result we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned."

Wow. So Apple announced a major delay and places the blame squarely on the much-anticipated Apple iPhone as the reason why their next operating system is delayed. I have to wonder, is this just a PR move so Apple doesn't suffer the same criticisms that Microsoft faced when they delayed Vista.

iTunes streaming to mobile phone using Slingbox and Apple TV

April 10, 2007

Apple TV has become the ultimate hacker magnet allowing users to use the Apple TV in ways Apple hadn't intended. As discussed recently, Apple TV was hacked to allow Asterisk, the open-source IP-PBX to run on it. Check out the Apple TV Asterisk tut. Now it appears that just a few weeks after launch, CNet is talking about an intriguing new feature for that will allow you to stream music from iTunes on your home computer to your cell phone leveraging Apple TV and Slingbox.


                                           Apple TV


It's a bit of a kludge since the iTunes music has to sync from your PC to the Slingbox and then to your mobile phone.





100 million iPods sold

April 9, 2007

Belkin In-Desk USB Hubs and iPod Dock for Grommet Holes

March 30, 2007


Belkin has introduced innovating "in desk USB hubs" that are designed to slip into those grommet holes on most desks that are typically used to snake your monitor VGA cable, network wire, and mouse and keyboard cables. The lien of products includes two USB hubs (including a 4-port model) and the Belkin In-Desk dock for iPod. By adding a USB hub or iPod docking station into the grommet hole, you certainly reduce clutter and maximize your desk workspace area. To me this product seems to be for the truly anally retentive organized folks that have desks so well organized and clean with no clutter they make The Pottery Barn look like a pigsty in comparison.

Apple iPhone has launch date

March 30, 2007

NAVTEQ's Traffic.com Selects Acuity Mobile to Drive Mobile Advertising

March 26, 2007

Acuity Mobile, a provider of mobile marketing content delivery technology, announced today its EMAP technology has been selected for the embedded mobile advertising for Traffic.com, a NAVTEQ company. Traffic.com, a leading provider of real-time personalized traffic information for drivers coast-to-coast, was recently acquired by NAVTEQ, a leading global provider of digital maps for vehicle navigation and location-based solutions. Just what we need right, advertisements on our GPS units! I'm still waiting for my p2p GPS traffic idea to take shape, since I hate traffic with a passion.
 
Acuity Mobile’s EMAP technology delivers Spot Relevance -- content based on time, context, location and user preference. 

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