New Home Gadgets

Another day another product leak from the FCC, the latest is the Starmate 5 from Sirius, which in by itself would not be that exciting. However in this case based on a memo that switched hands from a “testing firm and the FCC authorization staff” included the possibility of the Starmate 5 supporting Sirius channels as well as XM. “We used the satellite radio signal coming from either XM or Sirius,” Which assuming that happens, and note as of now its just speculation as nothing official has been announced, this would be the first hybrid satellite radio receiver. (Read the full post about ‘FCC leaks the Sirius Starmate 5, with possible XM support’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 26th 2008 at 2:37PMAlthough Brent Hatch’s homegrown solar-electric whip looks eerily similar (read: just as ugly) to the SUNN solar car kit, this one was actually created without the help of any pre-packaged parts or sophisticated schematics. After his gas bill rose well over $700 a month (he and his wife have seven kids, after all), he decided to purchase a rather unsightly eight-seater bicycle and figure out a way to enable roof-mounted solar panels to power an electric motor. Nah, the top speed isn’t very impressive, and you certainly wouldn’t want to head out on I-5 with it, but it sure makes picking up the offspring from their nearby school a whole lot less painful on the wallet. (Read the full post about ‘California man builds his own solar-electric vehicle’…)

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Renault and Nokia of Brazil are collaborating on a special edition Sandero. Known as the Sandero Nokia, this vehicle prides itself in being Renault’s first in Brazil to come with a “mobility solution.” Each purchase will ship with a Nokia N95 that contains an A-GPS receiver, pre-loaded Nokia Maps service, and Bluetooth connectivity. It will be integrated with the Nokia LD-3W GPS module and the Nokia CK-20W, an automobile accessories kit. (Read the full post about ‘Renault Sandero Nokia Special Edition Car’…)

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A few years ago, MP3 players were really popular and portable media players weren’t even really fully in the market yet. Over the past few years, many changes have taken place and video has now become a must have feature for many people. Bluetooth integration in MP3 players and portable media players would be nice, but that technology hasn’t caught on either. Ever since the ipod Touch came out, many portable media players began getting Wi-Fi as well, although it has not caught on with all devices, yet. Also coming with the iPod Touch was touchscreens. It seems that the average consumer wants good battery life, video playback, touchscreen, but above all, Wi-Fi. (Read the full post about ‘Wi-Fi to gain popularity, Bluetooth, touchscreens to level off’…)

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Up till now we have been getting plenty of details on just what the MSI Wind would feature spec wise, but MSI has been pretty tight-lipped on releasing any images. However they have recently set loose a complete set showing off what this little beauty looks like. Overall a nice looking notebook, but nothing over the top. Keep reading for a few more pics… Read [Engadget China] Via [UMPC Portal] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! (Read the full post about ‘The ultra-portable MSI Wind in pictures’…)

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The PS3 is still in its first iteration to date, but it already is packing in a third generation heat sink, courtesy of Furukawa Electric. This new version brings some improvements over the launch PS3s, featuring a smaller size, a lighter weight and at a price that is hard to resist. The first two generations of PS3s required a large heat sink to cool both the RSX and Cell chips, but this time round it uses two separate ones while doing away with copper heat pipes. This also drops power consumption down to 135W, a far cry from the launch PS3’s 200W. Not that the PS3 ever had any major heating issues before, it would be nice to see the Xbox 360 be as reliable as Sony’s offering. (Read the full post about ‘PS3 3rd Generation Heat Sink’…)

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The Manodo display from Sweden helps to keep the earth green, pulverizing your brain with facts on just how much power consumption your home currently sips, in addition to other uncomfortable facts such as the number of pounds of CO2 emissions from your recent hot bat. The Manodo project is currently in its pilot stage at several Swedish cities, providing apartment dwellers with a whole ton of information ranging from how long before the next tram will pass by their nearest stop to the upcoming weather. A green smiley face will appear each time power consumption has reached ‘green’ levels, and that is something worth looking forward to at the end of each day. (Read the full post about ‘Manodo Screen Saves Energy’…)

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Don't Count On It You can have this for ?9.99 (Read the full post about ‘Don’t Count On It’…)

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It took a while, but now DSL is starting to compete with cable modem service on speed, as Qwest announces that they’ll be offering 12 and 20 Mbps DSL service in 23 markets. When you call up, just ask for Qwest Titanium, or Qwest Quantum, as the services will be dubbed.

Sorry, but will I know you’re drooling over this, you’ll have to wait closer to the end of the year if not early 2009, and you’ll need to be prepared to shell out $65/mo for the 12Mbps and $100/mo for 20. Hmm… perhaps cable may still win this speed war.

Posted in Networking & Internet

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Filed in archive Competition by jim on April 26, 2008 If you love outdoor photography, and you've never visited any of the USA's National Parks, then there's a treasure trove of photo opportunities waiting for you. I took the one above in Zion National Park during early November, 2006. I haven't been to many National Parks because I caught on to them too late in life; but the ones I've visited have provided me with all the "photo ops" I could have hoped for. Because of various medical problems, I haven't been able to get to the better parts of many parks so I know there's even more to be explored, a lot more. (Read the full post about ‘Canon’s National Parks Digital Photo Contest’…)

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