Gadgets

Philips VP5500 WiFi VoIP phone launches

January 23, 2006

The Philips VP5500 WiFi VoIP phone was announced way back in September 2005 and it was finally launched today in the Netherlands of all places. No offense Netherlands, but how come you get first dibs on this cool phone? Anyway, the sleekly styled VP-5500 is powered by Linux and lets users enjoy live video calls using its built-in VGA camera (640x480 resolution) that rotates up to 240 degrees and supports 30 FPS. Video calls are displayed on a 2.2" color LCD supporting 64k colors. The VP5500 features a video out port that lets others watch the video on a TV.

Posted in Gadgets, Linux, Mobile Phones, Video Hardware & Software, VoIP, Wireless

Google Talk and VoIP on Sony PSP?

January 18, 2006

SIPThat's popular blogger, Erik Lagerway pondered in a blog post last year if the Sony PSP would one day run a VoIP (Voice over IP) client. In fact, he hinted while working at Xten (now CounterPath) that they could should be able to "hack together" a softphone for VoIP on the PSP handheld gaming console. Erik wrote in May 2005:

Looks like Sony has their crosshairs clearly focused on providing a feature-full portable communications and entertainment system. Since we can browse the web on this thing, and it has a USB port, Wi-Fi and a TCP stack you would think we should be able hack together a softphone for VoIP.

Posted in Gadgets, Google, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Video Games & Gaming

Roboraptor: The Age of Dinosaurs Returns!

January 17, 2006

Dinosaurs are back!!!� Scary, very scary!!!!

Actually, it’s just my son playing with the Roboraptor, an advanced fusion of technology, personality and fear. Wth its advanced artificial intelligence personality, realistic biomorphic motions, direct control and autonomous free-roam modes, the 32-inch long Roboraptor is like a creature from the Earth’s distant past.

Here’s what the tech/personality/fear fusion is all about:�

Fluid bi-pedal motion -- walking, running and predatory gaits
Realistic body movements -- turning head and neck; whipping tail actions
Three distinct moods -- hunter, cautious and playful
Autonomous environmental interaction -- responds with mood specific behaviors and sounds
Mood dependent behavior -- aggressive/hunting mood, nervous/cautious mood and friendly/playful mood
Multi-sensory -- touch sensors in his tail, chin and mouth; sonic sensors
Infra-red vision system detects objects in his path or approaching him
"Laser" tracking technology trace a path on the ground and he’ll follow it
Powerful jaws that play tug-of war games, bite and pull
Oh!

Posted in Gadgets

Use iPod Video to fake concert performance

January 13, 2006

Forget singers (Ashley Simpson) faking their singing in concerts by lip-synching their tunes, this release just emailed to me talks about a band using the video features of the iPod to fake the entire performance (voice & video) of a particular band-member that can't make it to the concert. If I read this release correctly, they display the video of the drummer, guitarist, keyboardist or bass player on the Jumbotron. Only thing I don't get is that the iPod has a 320x240 resolution. I would think that'd look pretty crappy on the Jumbotron.

Posted in Gadgets, MP3 Players & Digital Audio

Apple Mobile Me iPod phone

January 13, 2006

According to Yahoo/Reuters, Apple is developing the oft-rumored iPod mobile phone with a recent trademark of the phrase "Mobile Me". Hey, if they are going to marry an MP3 player with a mobile phone, they may as well marry VoIP too, right? I wonder if Apple's Mobile Me will run Skype? That'd be cool.

And speaking of marrying, just came across a CNet article saying two people got married using VoIP and two webcams.

Posted in Gadgets, MP3 Players & Digital Audio, Mobile Phones, PDAs & Handhelds, Skype, VoIP

Engadget "borrows" my image, but it's all good

January 12, 2006

I was one of the first to write about the NETGEAR Skype phone, a PC-less Skype phone and I'm almost positive I was the first to acquire an image and post it online. I love the Engadget site and often submit some of my interesting stories to them. I know they picked up at least one of them, namely my Linksys CIT200 Skype phone review.

Anyway, I decided to submit my NETGEAR Skype phone blog post to Engadget and a few other sites, which included my exclusive photo of the NETGEAR Skype phone. But before doing so, I altered the image slightly so I could track to see if anyone used my image and didn't reference my website.

Posted in Gadgets, Skype

The Smartphones Show online streaming video program

January 11, 2006

Steve Litchfield emailed me to tell me about his online video program, called the The Smartphones Show, which he positions as a new online 'TV' series looking specifically at smartphones. The show covers all software platforms and is currently free to download. I've actually come across Steve's past reviews of smartphones, GPS software (Tom Tom), and other technology-related stuff and his articles & reviews are usually pretty detailed..

Each 20 minute program is distributed as a Quicktime video (at quarter VGA resolution) that's been designed and encoded to have as wide an audience as possible, including all Windows PCs, all Macs, video iPods and even the most recent smartphones themselves.

According to Steve, programs will include introductions to various aspects of the smartphone scene, plus hardware reviews and 'how to' material, covering Symbian OS, Windows Mobile and Palm OS-based phones.

Posted in GPS, Gadgets, Mobile Phones, Wireless

Panasonic KX-THA16 Cordless Bluetooth video phone

January 10, 2006

I was perusing the FCC site looking at some old FCC applications when I came across one from Panasonic for a videophone product called the Panasonic KX-THA16 Home Communication System (2.4 GHz Expandable Cordless Unit) that was registered with the FCC back in August 2005. Curious, I dug deeper and found the manual with a listing of the features for this cordless videophone.

First, I should mention that you can expand the system by adding handsets (monochrome display handsets and color display handset), wireless camera unit, USB wireless adaptor, and repeater. Using these accessories, you can have a video call, video monitor a room where the color display handset or wireless camera is located and take pictures. Up to 8 handsets (KX-THA11/KX-THA12/KX-THA16) and up to 10 other Bluetooth featured units (KX-THA13/KX-THA14) and a maximum of 5 cellular phones can be registered to a single base unit.

The KX-THA16 features a 3.6" color LCD screen, built-in camera, Bluetooth support, and a USB port.

Posted in Gadgets

Panasonic DVD-LX97 portable DVD player

January 10, 2006

Panasonic will soon has launched a new portable DVD player called the Panasonic Model DVD-LX97. The Panasonic DVD-LX97 features a wide 9" screen, two headphone jacks, an FM transmitter (to transmit the audio to your car's speakers), 48.5 kHz maximum (Stereo), 21.1 kHz maximum (Mono), DC IN 12V Port (car cigarette adaptor), MP3 and WMA compatible, SD Card compatibility (JPEG/MPEG4), Dolby Digital and DTS Decoder, car mountable bracket for headrests, and more. It has a 9" screen supporting up to 300 lines of resolution. No word on the battery life, but the battery pack looks huge, so here's to hoping the Panasonic DVD-LX97 supports >3 hours of DVD play time so you can watch Lord of the Rings without running out of juice.

Posted in Gadgets

Pentium Computer in a Dodge Viper?

January 9, 2006

Whoa! A computer inside a Viper? Yep, you read that right. An actual Pentium 4 computer inside a Viper. No big deal you say?

Posted in Computer Hardware, Gadgets, Technology and Science

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