Gadgets

Behold the latest champion of the mobile phone industry! The new GPhone, the anticipated and top-secret mobile phone from Google, is already expected to beat the widely popular Apple iPhone by providing more features and lower cost. The GPhone ... project was officially launched after Google's recent acquisition of the small Finnish start-up company, Jaiku. The acquisition was a tremendous coup for Google because Jaiku holds many key SMS patents. SMS (Short Message Service) is text messaging, the technology that allows short messages to be exchanged amongst billions of ordinary cell phones. ( ... (view more)

It should come as little surprise that children take their iPods with them to school. Traditionally, the device has been referred to as a distraction for students during class time and most teachers will only allow students to take them out at ... designated periods of the school day. A student who takes out their device prematurely may face a detention, removal of their iPod or, in some extreme cases, an expulsion. (Source: nytimes.com ) However, a few schools in the U.S. are raising some eyebrows for handing out iPods to their students, while encouraging them to sing along to their favorite pop ... (view more)

In the world of computer technology, measures that put the brakes on a user without his or her permission are often tossed into the hated spyware heap. However, when it happens to a car thief, it's hard not to be a supporter. Confused? Granted, the ... idea is a strange one. For years OnStar has been offering drivers directions, help in emergencies, and saving them embarassment after keys are locked in a vehicle. However, its latest idea, to gradually decrease the speed of a stolen vehicle, is getting some very positive reviews from everyone but the thieves themselves. How do they do it? OnStar ... (view more)

One of the hottest products for Apple, now and ever, has been the iPod nano. It seems the device is certainly living up to that billing lately, with reports that the nano recently engulfed one Atlanta man in flames. Hot, but certainly scary stuff. ... The report comes from The Register, which cites the case of one Danny Williams. Williams apparently told local news agencies that the glossy paper in the pockets of his pants saved him from burns. Although smoke allegedly surrounded Williams by one point, injuries are reported to be only minor and superficial. (Source: theregister.co.uk ) Still, it ... (view more)

Just when you thought Apple was going to run away with yet another handheld market, industry powerhouse Samsung has announced its own contender. The iPhone may not be the only super communicator if the "Serenata" has something to sing, er say, about ... it. The Serenata will be a joint venture launched by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and audio electronics designers Bang ... (view more)

Last week we reported on the release of a new legal downloading page called "SpiralFrog.com," which boasts free downloading but disallows users from uploading material to an iPod. Since it's not much of a competitor for iTunes (although it will ... surely take a few customers away), Amazon has a more deadly new weapon in its arsenal. Already firmly established as the world's largest online compact disc retailer, it's really not much of a leap for Amazon to take on Apple in this sphere. Although iTunes certainly retains great name recognition when it comes to online music sales, Amazon's recently ... (view more)

At a question-and-answer session in Florida last Saturday, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak criticized his former partner's decision to cut the price of the iPhone. Apple had dropped the price by $200 just two month's after the device's long-awaited ... arrival -- a bad decision, according to Wozniak. (Source: slashdot.org ) "Nobody expects a product to drop that much in price in such a short time," he said. While he admits that technology inevitably drops in price over time, he maintains that this price cut wasn't right. "The first adopters always pay a premium. I am one of them. I am used to that ... (view more)

The smallest piece of artwork ever made has finally been unveiled to the world. It's an image of the sun made from 20,000 microscopic particles of gold, and what is most unique about the creation is that it was done without the presence of an ... artist. (Source: usatoday.com ) IBM researchers are taking credit for the piece that used ultra-miniature sensors, lenses and wires inside of nanoscale circuits. The image of the sun was etched on a silicon chip "wafer" using a special technique that manipulated each gold particle which measured just 60 nanometers in diameter. In proportion, a nanometer ... (view more)

As rumors of a Microsoft-crafted competitor for the iPhone begin to swell, the company is making one of its other hardware experiments a little more attractive. How, you ask? By dropping the price, of course. When it launched during the late fall of ... 2006, the Zune music player was lauded by some critics for its revolutionary WiFi support. Such a feature gave it the power to transfer songs from one party to the next (albeit for a limited time), something very new for the digital media market. Unfortunately, the Zune came up short on its sheer appeal, with consumers less interested in brown, ... (view more)

With wireless technology becoming increasingly faster, one can't help but to imagine what the future has in store. For one professor at Georgia Tech, the future is just too far away. As Joy Laskar stands before his students, he swipes his hand over ... a handmade receiver and waves to a nearby television screen. He smiles and tells his students that he has just moved a full-length movie from a portable media player right onto a television set. (Source: usatoday.com ) While the entire concept seems ridiculously magical, Laskar argues that researchers have been temporarily derailed by beliefs that ... (view more)