Gadgets and just Gadgets

Lenovo’s slim combo adapterSource

Lenovo today announced its new ThinkPad and IdeaPad 90W slim AC/DC combo adapter, the company’s first all-in-one adapter designed to charge other electronic devices such as most cell phones and PDAs; and many mobile music devices (using optional connector tips.) At about a half-inch thick and 33 percent smaller than Lenovo’s previous combo adapter, it’s roughly the size of a deck of playing cards – small enough to easily fit into a shirt pocket. This will come to be really useful, as it will spare a lot of your space.

Traditionally, the power adapter for a notebook PC has been referred to as a “brick;” a weighty, bulky necessity that is inconvenient to travel with. A further inconvenience for business travelers, particularly those who fly a lot and spend time in airport security lines, is the need for multiple adapters for multiple devices. Lenovo’s new ThinkPad and IdeaPad 90W slim AC/DC combo adapter helps business travelers cut down on the number of devices they must carry.

The ThinkPad and IdeaPad 90W slim AC/DC power adapter is priced at $119. It is available at Lenovo.com and through Lenovo business partners.Enjoy.

Tags: adapter, Lenovo, power adapter, Think Pad, Ideapad, combo adapter

Honda’s black box for carsSource

Aeroplanes come with black boxes, so why not cars? Apparently, that’s what Honda hopes to change with its Drive Recorder. The recorder will detect impacts and save information for the 12 seconds before and 8 seconds afterwards, aircraft black-box-style: forward-view imagery, along with sound and data on speed and deceleration rates all get stored on an SD card in its main unit, ready to be uploaded to a PC.

This information includes forward-view imagery, sound, speed data, and deceleration, all stowed away in an SD memory card within the Drive Recorder itself. Guess insurance agents and the authorities will have a much easier time pinpointing who is in the wrong in the event of a collision.

Its 135-degree field of view camera gets hung on your windscreen, with all the accelerometry going on inside the 4.5 x 3 x 0.8-inch black box itself. Honda hopes this system will turn you into a safer driver, though we imagine it might also make insurance claims a little more straightforward. You can also switch on recording just for the hell of it, and amuse your friends with a show later: “Hey, check out that braking after I missed the red light.” Available in Japan for ¥54,600 (around $500), and, sadly, only if you have an Honda car or your name is Jenny or Debra.

Tags: black box, honda, drive recorder

Jobo re-announces Photo GPS camera add-on

We haven’t heard much about Jobo’s Photo GPS camera add-on since it was announced around the time of last year’s PMA show, and it now looks like that’s been for good reason, as the company’s apparently decided to have another go at this whole “product launch” thing at this year’s PMA. From the looks of it, however, not much has changed with the device itself in the ensuing months, with it still promising to attach to your camera’s flash hot shoe and record GPS information as you shoot, and squeeze all that data into your images’ EXIF metadata (or XML file in the case of RAW images) when you sync it up.

It will, however, hold plenty of photos — available in 40, 80, and 120GB versions for €249, €299, and €379, respectively (or about $330, $390, and $500). Taking a cue from some earlier, less discreet devices, the photoGPS promises to let you tag all your photos with GPS data as you take ‘em, conveniently adding the location information to the photo’s EXIF file. From the sound of it, the device (pictured after the break) will also apparently work with any digital camera, although that’ll undoubtedly be cleared up meanwhile.

Assuming things don’t change any further, you can now apparently look for the unit to hit “mid-year,” when it’ll set you back $159.
[tags]
jobo, photo gps, gps,[/tags]

Garmin has the nuvifone officialSource

Garmin’s GPS-packing mobile, the nüvifone, has been announced. According to Cliff Pemble, the firm’s president and COO, it’s the “breakthrough product that cellphone and GPS users around the world have been longing for.”The actual device won’t be available until the autumn at an undisclosed price with undisclosed partners. Nevertheless, the spec sounds promising and as GPS is increasingly integrated into phones we can only assume that plenty more sat nav manufacturers will be on the case with similar gadgets soon.

The unit features a 3.5″ touchscreen, browser, HSDPA, pre-loaded maps of either North America, or Eastern and Western Europe. In addition Garmin’s claiming “millions” of POIs, a Google-powered local search feature, instant reporting of co-ordinates, built in geotagging camera a la Navpix and an integrated media player. There’s also a handy feature that marks the point at which the device was removed from the dash mount; in other words, it’ll tell you where you parked.

Tags: nuvifone, garmin, GPS, cellphone

CTT-Net TouchSense-enabled navigation systems

It’s been a while since we last heard about Immersion’s TouchSense technology for LCDs, but it looks like the tactile feedback technology has now managed to squeeze itself into one of its biggest potential markets, with CTT-Net now introducing a pair of TouchSense-enabled GPS units. In a visually busy and a potentially noisy environment, the tactile feedback can provide a (tactile) confirmation that the last command was executed. This feedback can replace or supplement a visual and audio feedback.

Aimed squarely at the Korean market, the CSN-7040 and CIN-7000 models each boasts 7-inch touch screens, and support for DMB mobile TV, along with the usual array of GPS and PMP features. But, of course, the real selling point is that tactile feedback, which Immersion says will “minimize driver distraction” by reducing the time spent glancing over at the unit. No word on pricing or availability just yet, it seems, or any word of the technology making into GPS units outside of Korea, though we’re guessing Immersion is far from giving up on that last point.

Tags: ctt-net, force feedback, ForceFeedback, gps, immersion, tactile feedback, TactileFeedback, touchsense

W53H cellphone and GPS from Hitachi
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If you have an idea about GPS-laden cellphones, you’ll know that Hotachi is no stranger to these gadgets, and that their team are constantly trying to amaze us. Hitachi sets the standards higher and higher with every product released and now has recently introduced a new phone that seemingly aims to replace your car’s GPS entirely.

Hitachi certainly knows how to turn on the style with the W53H cellphone.As with its previous W51H model, the new W53H phone (also called the “Wooo”) sports a reasonably-sized screen (2.8-inches in this case) that’s able to flip around and cover up the keypad, along with 2 megapixel camera, a microSD slot, and a 1seg TV receiver. That mobile TV should look especially good on the phone’s OLED screen, as it apparently boasts a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. As you can see, it also comes with a stand to prop it up for easier viewing in your car, and the GPS software boasts voice input so you can keep your hands on the wheel.

While other countries are obsessed with smaller and smaller handsets, it looks as though the Japanese don’t mind having a cellphone that is rather large, as long as there are enough functions in there.No word on pricing or availability just yet, but you can no doubt guess where it won’t be available.

Tags: W53H cellphone , GPS, Hitachi, phone, microsd, handset

Pioneer introduces 9 new navigators

Pioneer sure loves its navigators. Therefore they thought of releasing not one, but nine new navigating devisces for you to choose from. We can’t blame them for wanting to satisfy their clients in every sinle way.

The navigators range from 730 euros up to 1590 euros like the AVIC-HRZ009G, with its 7” LCD touch screen, HDD, DVD/CD/MD player with Mp3, WMA and AAC support for audio files and DivX files, as well as an analog and digital TV tuner.

Starting at the top, the AVIC-HRZ009G / AVIC-HRV002G both sport the seven-inch displays, DVD playback, support for MP3 / AAC / DivX formats, a terrestrial digital TV tuner, built-in hard drive and a wireless remote, with the only real difference being the in-dash design of the former and the on-dash (mountable) design of the latter. As your budget tightens, Pioneer ratchets the specs down on seven other similar siblings, giving users a ¥126,000 ($1,094) to ¥262,500 ($2,278) window of alternatives.

Tags: avic, divx, head unit, HeadUnit, in-car, in-dash, nav, navi, navigation, pioneer

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Dash Express is the smartest Internet-connected automotive navigation system on the road.The unique quality is navigation system with built-in two-way connectivity to the Internet to provide traffic information. Which means it gets you where you want to go—in the fastest time possible—and delivers the most relevant information—right to your dashboard.

Like other GPS devices with traffic information, it will reroute you when traffic is detected. But Dash does more than this. Traffic service will anonymously aggregate information from multiple drivers on the Dash network to provide up to the second traffic information. Each time you ask for a route the Dash device will offer up to three routes based on estimated travel times.

The Express has a 4.3-inch LCD screen, a larger battery and two dedicated touch screen buttons for calls and menus.The device will be available in the 1st quarter of 2008.

Tags: dash, express, gprs, gps, sms, wi-fi, traffic info, route

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I’m gonna make diabetes with all this pink around me. And may I add that I am a girl. I don’t know how you guys can manage this pink invasion.

Reuters is reporting that a new pink gadget is on its way. A pink nuvi from the C300 series will be launched soon. It seems that Garmin has also adopted this global marketing strategy of aiming women consumers with this Barbie colour. Sooner or later we’ll have pink breaks and engines to match our pink GPS.

To give you also an useful news, analyst Jeff Evanson of the investment banking firm Dougherty & Company “expects an upgrade of Garmin’s C300 series later this year”. As for the pink gadget, it will be available by the end of this year, only in Europe.
[tags]Garmin, C300, GPS, pink nuvi, women, Jeff Evanson, Dougherty & Company,

Siemens VDO is upgrading its VDO Dayton brand portable navigation system into a multimedia center that integrates digital television into its mobile terminals PN 4000 and PN 6000, presented this week at the IAA International Motor Show Cars. The company boasts with new DVB-T capabilities for some in-car entertainment / distraction.

At a first glance the two devices look alike, the diference between them being the screen size. PN 4000 has a display of 4.3 inches whereas PN 6000 has a screen of 5.3 inches. They both act as usual PMPs, having in addition the DVB-T feature with an SD card slot provided for storage of your portable media such as videos or music

The navigation systems offer high resolution maps rendered in 2D or 3D, and have a 16:9 aspect ratio display. You can also get live traffic info if you choose to get the optional RDS/TMC traffic receiver.

There’s no word yet on price or availability.

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Tags: siemens VDO Dayton, PN 4000, PN 6000, IAA, navigation system, PMP, RDS TMC, DVB-T