Gadget Reviews On The Internet

Gadget Reviews Neverlate AlarmClock

2007-12-01T13:35:00.001-08:00

I’m a person who can not get up for work in the morning without an alarm clock. It is impossible for me to get to work on time without one. (The people who get up without one should be checked for cyberneticts.) Even though I need an alarm clock, that doesn’t mean I can’t geek out with my choice of alarm clock.
ThinkGeek has the Executive Neverlate Alarm Clock. This alarm clock has so many features(full feature set below), I’ll just highlight the main points. It has two separate, 7-day alarm schedules and each of those 14 alarms can be set to a different time and wake alarm sound (one of 4 buzzers or 20 preset radio stations). In addition, you can have another seven “every day” alarms. Added up, you get a total of 21 alarms. And if you get bored of the radio, you can plug in your MP3 player and listen through the clock’s speakers and even charge your MP3 player up with the built-in, standard 5V USB port.

Pick one up today for $59.99 over at ThinkGeek.

Executive Neverlate Alarm Clock Features:

Alarms:
Two 7-day schedules (”his & hers” - 14 different alarms)
Seven extra “everyday reminder” alarms
Four buzzer ringtones
Linked alarm station presets
Customizable alarm duration and volume
Customizable snooze with “declining snooze” and snooze disable options
Alarm skip feature
Gradual wake option
One-touch alarm review
Radio:
FM (87.5 - 107.9 MHz) / AM (520 - 1710 kHz) digital tuner
20 station presets
Display:
High-contrast, HTN/Negative backlit LCD
Adjustable multi-level (off, low, medium, high) backlight brightness control
Time & Date:
12 hour / 24 hour modes
US or Euro calendar display
Other Features:
Customizable sleep and nap timers
Patent-pending rotary dial controls
Power Requirements:
110V AC with battery backup (1x CR2032 button-cell battery included)
Inputs & Outputs:
MP3 input (1/8“ audio)
Headphone out (1/8” stereo)
5V powered USB (no data)
Dimensions:
5” x 5” x 5”
[via ThinkGeek]

Gadget Reviews Next Gen-Iphone Case

2007-12-01T13:29:00.000-08:00

Just when you thought you couldn’t find a case to fit one of your new iPods that wasn’t designed to look like a diving suit or made to run a marathon with, you’re now in luck.

Case-Mate, the masters of fine cases for your electronic products, has come out with new Signature Collection line of leather cases for the current generation of iPods: iPod Nano (with video), iPod Classic, and iPod Touch.

These elegant, high quality leather cases offer excellent protection and a great look. Made of supple, yet durable Napa leather, each Signature case is outfitted with an injection molded, impact resistant plastic shell for added protection.

The cases offer full access to the iPod Classic and iPod Nano’s Click Wheel, headphone jack, Dock Connector, and hold switch, and include screen and Click Wheel protectors. The cases for iPod Touch offer full access to the device’s touch screen, Dock Connector, headphone jack, and home and power buttons, and come with full face screen protectors. In addition, belt clip versions of the iPod Classic and iPod Nano cases are available, and a perforated leather version of the iPod Nano case is also available.

The iPod Touch case is available in Phantom Black and Sienna Red, the iPod Classic and iPod Nano are available in Phantom Black, Sienna Red and Peony Pink. Pick one up over at Case-Mate for around $30 each.

Gadget Reviews Stylophone

2007-12-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

Looks like a 40-year old musical gadget has been given a modern facelift, and is now known as the Stylophone for obvious reasons.

You tap the electronic keys with the integral stylus to make funky noises - now with additional Classic, Synth and Bass sounds, - and maybe you can produce some musical hits using this retro kit as the likes of Kraftwerk, Erasure, Orbital, Marilyn Manson, They Might Be Giants, and White Stripes have done in the past. You can play solo, or plug in your iPod/MP3 player and play along to your favourite tunes, and even add some vibrato enhancement to really annoy anyone foolish enough to be listening to you. It may have been invented in 1967, but 40 years on this re-invention is bound to be another hit.

The Stylophone retails for £14.99 and makes an affordable gift this holiday season for the music fan in your home.

Gadget Reviews Google Phone

2007-12-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

Google Phone

It appears that we will be seeing the long awaited Google phone sooner than we originally thought, or maybe not depending on your point of view and possibly insider information. But again this has been a long running saga where the original stories began to break about the phone, followed swiftly by all the rumors about what it may do, what it cannot do and so on, until it reaches the point where we all wonder if this is really ever going to happen at all. Clearly it is now, so what has the Google phone got in store for us?

If we can believe all the rumors then the Google phone will be using the Texas instrument 3G phone platform, and will of course have Gmail, Gtalk, Google Maps and anything else that is available with a “G” in front of it, so lets hope that it is great! Although having said that it may be possible that the one and only important “G”, GPS will not actually be included which is a shame but its not the end of the world. So far there has been little information regarding the networks that the phone will be available to, though it does seem to be that Orange have the lead to get this phone first for the European market and maybe even beyond.

According to many sources the phones must be nearing a launch date, as the manufacturers Taiwan based phone maker High Tech Computer are said to be preparing for the first shipments by the end of this year, 2007. This means that there will be a build up to a massive launch in early 2008! Which in techno terms is not really that far away, because there are always going to be leaks, photos and even mock ups of new products appearing, we can be expecting many views and news on the Google Phone from now on.

Gadget Reviews Iphone Killer?

2007-12-01T12:50:00.000-08:00

Verizon, where's your iPhone killer?

Verizon Wireless unveiled four new handsets it plans to have on the market for the Holiday 2007 season, but unless I missed something, there wasn't an iPhone killer among them.

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)
On Tuesday, Verizon Wireless invited various reporters, such as myself, to a hotel in New York City to take a look at new handsets expected to launch before Thanksgiving just in time for the holiday season. Company representative said that these phones were just a sampling of what's to come, with more handsets expected to hit store shelves in the next couple of months. Maybe I am being a bit too harsh, but I wasn't really blown away by any of the phones that Verizon showed off.

The new Samsung Juke will work as the company's entry-level music phone. It's cute. If the LG Chocolate is the size of a candy bar, the Juke is the width of two Kit-Kat candy bars stuck together. Instead of flipping the phone up or sliding away the top piece to reveal the keypad, users will "flick" or swivel a piece of the phone to the side to punch in numbers. Honestly, I had a hard time figuring out how to open it and someone had to show me. But as far as a basic phone goes, the Juke is cute and it's design is kind of interesting, although it reminded me of a fatter version of Motorola's Krzr.

Verizon Wireless also said it will be offering the popular BlackBerry Pearl for the first time. This is great. But the phone is already more than a year old, and it's been available from AT&T and T-Mobile for several months. The big difference, Verizon execs say, is this version of the Pearl operates over Verizon's 3G network. That should make Web surfing and emailing faster on Verizon's network than it is on AT&T's and T-Mobile's networks.

Then there are the two new LG phones, which look like Verizon's best attempt at getting something cool on the market to compete with Apple's iPhone. But honestly, I think they both fall very short from the mark.

First, there is the Venus by LG. This slider phone essentially looks like the LG Chocolate, but it's a little sleeker and more stylish. Instead of buttons on the bottom half of the front panel, it has a touch screen. But this touch-sensitive screen is limited in its abilities, and it really doesn't do anything that a set of buttons couldn't handle. To make it a little easier to tell if you've actually made a selection, LG has added a little vibration that you can feel under your finger when something is selected.

Then there is the Voyager by LG. This is the highest-end device that Verizon Wireless is showing off for the holidays. The phone's entire face is a touch screen, but you can flip up the top half of the phone to get to a full QWERTY keyboard. While the touch screen looks cool, it simply doesn't hold a candle to the functionality of the iPhone. You can't pinch sections to blow them up, and the picture doesn't automatically adjust depending on how the phone is held. It looked to me that all you really could do with the touch screen is basic navigation.

As for the rest of the phone's functionality, it operates over the 3G network to allow for fast Web browsing. It provides personal e-mail and the Verizon representative said it could be synced with work e-mail, too. The phone, which is considered a top-of-the line "multimedia" phone, also has built-in speakers. So when you lift the top of the phone to get to the keyboard, the speakers are on either side. The phone also works with Verizon's live TV service called VCast TV, which uses Qualcomm's MediaFlo network to deliver real time TV programming.

Pricing for the Voyager and most of the other phones isn't yet available. So it's difficult to compare pricing with Apple's $400 iPhone. At any rate, I don't think that people impressed by the iPhone and hoping to get one this holiday season will be happy with any of these Verizon Wireless phones in their stockings.