Gadgets Comp

by Nilay Patel, posted Oct 13th 2008 at 11:56AM Sony’s firmware elves haven’t gotten a break since the last round of console updates — PS3 2.50 and PSP 5.00 have just been announced on the playstation Blog. Nothing terrifically major for the PS3 apart from support for the SOCOM Bluetooth Headset’s High Quality mode, as well as some trophy tweaks and power management options, but the PSP gets a WiFi version of the PlayStation Store, with downloadable games, trailers, and demos. (Read the full post about ‘PS3 2.50 and PSP 5.00 firmware coming soon, PSP WiFi store included’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Oct 13th 2008 at 10:23AM After the whole Tickle Me Elmo craze a few years back, you just knew Fisher-Price was going to ride this wave until it simply couldn’t stay afloat any longer. Elmo Live!, hailed as the “most innovative and engaging Elmo toy ever,” will officially hit store shelves tomorrow (October 14th) for $59.99, though we suspect the first batch will be snapped up in no time flat. Of course, those of you intent on retaining your sanity probably pre-ordered a few months back, but for everyone else, your battle to get one of this year’s hottest holiday gifts starts in under 24 hours. (Read the full post about ‘Elmo Live! on sale tomorrow for $59.99 (if you’re lucky)’…)

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eMachines is back with the new EL1200 desktop series PCs that have been shrunk down to the size of 1/3 of a standard PC. Despite the shrinkage, computing power is not compromised as this is a case of not judging a book by its cover. Without missing out on decent performance figures, the EL1200 desktop series PCs are small enough to fit into cramped apartments without breaking the bank - an essential point in these times of economic uncertainty. After all, with prices starting from under $300 (depending on configuration), the EL1200 is certainly very tempting if you’re looking to upgrade that Pentium III of yours this upcoming holiday season. (Read the full post about ‘eMachines get small with EL1200 desktop PCs’…)

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Gaming mice are dime a dozen these days, but that doesn’t mean companies should just stop innovating and come out with new models to tantalize our senses and tempt us to part with our hard earned money, right? SteelSeries shares this sentiment, and over the past few months their engineers have been huddled up in some top secret underground laboratory in order to come up with the new World of Warcraft MMO mouse. Yes, you read that right - a mouse named after one of the most popular MMORPGs on the earth ever. Strange how at the height of Quake’s popularity, you never really come across stuff like a Quake FPS mouse or a StarCraft RTS mouse, but this time we have an MMORPG mouse?! More on this electronic rodent after the jump. (Read the full post about ‘SteelSeries World of Warcraft mouse’…)

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Recently, Mio announced their new Moov 500 GPS series in Europe, within the 500 series are 8 nice GPSs.  Unfortunately, for the time being, these GPSs will only be available in Europe. 

Some common features in all of the 500 series are a 4.7-inch touch screen, TeleAtlas maps, and Bluetooth connectivity.  The 560 and 580 come with text-to-speech capabilities, live local search using Bluetooth.  The 500 and 510 have local search from desktop, the 510 and 580 come with real time traffic updates, and the 580 comes with an FM Transmitter.

(Read the full post about ‘Mio intros Moov 500 series in Europe’…)

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FROM GAMERTELL - Microsoft aims to aid users lacking the memory required to partake in the “New Xbox Experience” with alternate storage solutions… MORE » Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed → Tags: Ogg, wi-fi, gadgets, camera (Read the full post about ‘Microsoft to aid users unable to take advantage of “New Xbox Experience”’…)

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This isn’t like the art setup you had when you were a kid. As an artists’ daughter, I was lucky - big rolls of paper with beautiful inks and oil paints, even when I was a toddler. But I would have loved this - the high-tech creative toy from VTech called KidiArt Studio. With KidiArt Studio, kids can do all the basics, but then plug into a PC to take drawing and art lessons, create their own printable posters and cards, or use the digital camera - smartly located on the arm of KidiArt Studio - to make stop motion animations. Probably the most fun feature is the ability to add silly art to photos. Also, when in PC connect mode, your child can save their creations, create custom e-Cards for friends, and print anything they’ve made. (Read the full post about ‘VTech - Art for kids goes high-tech with KidiArt Studio’…)

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For all you folks who have teenage kids at home, there is yet another reason to buy Ford the next time you go car shopping. Well, if the initial specifications of MyKey - the latest contraption from the carmaker - are anything to go by, then it may soon be the end of the kind of parental anxiety that results from sending teenagers out alone with their cars. MyKey is a special type of key that parents can pre-program to control several aspects of driving. It can limit top speeds, alert the engine management system to set off the low fuel alarm, sound the seatbelt reminder, and even limit the volume on the car stereo. (Read the full post about ‘Ford’s MyKey pulls the plug on imprudent teenage driving’…)

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Think Green. In technology and the environment - Green IT we talked about ways to be more efficient with the technology we use. There are three main areas where improvements can be made: selection, utilisation and disposal. Looking for more energy efficient equipment, making the most efficient use of it, and recycling equipment are ways that can have a positive impact. In trying to raise awareness of things we can do to be a little greener I have created an awareness poster and am making it available online in case it might be useful to others - simply click on the image below. (Read the full post about ‘Thinking green about IT’…)

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Firefox Mobile, also known as Fennec, may become available for public download by the end of the year in the form of an alpha release.  Early screenshots of Fennec have surfaced at the::unwired. The screenshots show how Fennec looks like when running on a Windows Mobile Professional touchscreen smartphone.  I must say that those screenshots looks pretty good!  According to the developers, Fennec managed to score 88/100 on the Acid3 test, which is rather outstanding for a mobile browser. It will be interesting to see how well it fares against Opera Mini and how it will handle extensions/add-ons.  If anyone is wondering why the tiny Firefox is named “Fennec,” a fennec is a small fox. (Read the full post about ‘Firefox Mobile on Windows Mobile screenshots’…)

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