Gizmos for Geeks

Crackberry Owners willing to trade for iPhone

Chief Gizmateer — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:39:00 +0000

An interesting article by Arstechnica state that 40% of Blackberry users are willing to trade in for an iPhone. Does this mean Obama’s BlackBerry endorsements are wearing off?

The more likely scenario is that RIM is unable to keep up with features consumers want more of that are incorporated in the iPhone and Android. To muddy the waters even more, Windows Mobile 7 has been rebuilt from the ground up and will become more of a threat in 2010 to BlackBerry business. In fact, I know several gigantic enterprises that have switched from RIM to Microsoft’s Mobile devices porting apps and removing all traces of RIM from the environment.

It seems current iPhone and Android users are happy with their device as 90 percent plan to stick with their current platform for their next upgrade.

Line2 iPhone VoIP app lets you make/receive calls via Wi-Fi/3G

Chief Gadgeteer — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:55:00 +0000

The Line2 iPhone app from Toktumi is a VoIP calling application that lets you use Wi-Fi and 3G networks to make or receive calls with your same telephone number. Line2 may be particularly interesting to international travelers, as they can make calls back home without incurring international fees. On the flip side, making international calls starts at $0.02.

Line2 is so named because you actually get a second line on your iPhone replete with voicemail, caller ID, etc. Line2 costs $0.99, but monthly service runs $14.95/mo with unlimited US & Canada calling.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $0.99 for app; $14.95/mo for service
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Augmented Reality comes to Greeting Cards

Chief Gadgeteer — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Hallmark have a new greeting card product that incorporates augmented reality. You just need a computer with a webcam, visit www.hallmark.com/extra and hold the (dead tree) card you received in front of the webcam to see the whole show.

Take a look at this video to see how cool it is. Next step, holocards.

Silex SX-3000GB Gigabit USB Sharing Server

Chief Gadgeteer — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:55:00 +0000

Here’s another way to do some ‘wireless USB’ sharing via Silex’s Gigabit USB Device Server. Plug your USB devices into this hub-like gadget, then plug it into one of the Ethernet ports on your wireless router. Et voila! Shared devices.

It only has 2 USB 2.0 ports, but you can share up to 15 devices by using a USB hub. The SX-3000GB also has a built-in web server, so you can manage it, see status, connect and disconnect attached devices.

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $81.96
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Google most likely exiting China

Chief Gadgeteer — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:56:00 +0000

Oh well. So much for the big G trying to throw their weight around to convince the big C to give a little on their censorship stance, following the hacking attacks. Google will most likely close its search engine business in China, google.cn.

They’re going to make an orderly exit, and take steps to protect their employees there. Does China care? Not really. They can (and have) created their own search engines that are more compliant with their way of thinking.

via FT.com

LG eXpo GW820 smartphone can turn into a projector

Chief Gadgeteer — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:56:00 +0000

We don’t feature a lot of cell phones on GfG because there are entirely too many models and there are other sites that are dedicated to just that. But of course we feature the ‘big name’ ones and the newsworthy and unique.

The LG eXpo GW820 definitely fits the newsworthy category, as it’s the first handset to feature (an optional) snap-on pico projector. Yes, a projector, like the expensive ones you have in the office to show off those mind-numbing PowerPoint presentations on how badly your company is doing.

The (did we mention optional) projector weighs only 1.8 ounces and is small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, and can project an image up to 40″ in size. Not bad. However, it does kill the phone’s battery pretty quickly, so you’ll probably end up using the conventional office projector for long presentations/demos.

The phone itself is a slider with a full QWERTY keyboard, a 3.2″ touchscreen, 3G connectivity on AT&T, a 5MP camera, 802.11b/g WiFi, microSD card slot and runs Windows Mobile.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $99.99 with contract on AT&T. $179 for pico projector
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

The Cry Baby Analyzer – why is your baby crying?

Chief Gadgeteer — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:46:32 +0000

So you just became a parent? Congratulations! Now you get to deal with more than a few sleepless nights. Or do you? Maybe not with the Cry Baby Analyzer.

It claims to analyze why your baby is crying. Could be annoyed, hungry, sleepy or even bored. The Cry Baby Analyzer has a big LCD screen with a bunch of smiley faces that correspond with those emotions/states, so you can quickly see what’s going on.

Now no telling if this works or not, but for a pretty low price, you could test it out.

Buy now!

Price: $99.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

yourenew.com pays you to recycle your old electronics

Chief Gadgeteer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:55:00 +0000

Recycling your old electronics is really becoming easier, as more services spring up to cash in on the growing industry. Yes, cashing in, because they make money from re-selling the parts and raw materials. But I don’t want to rain on their parade, because it’s a win-win for everyone. You can get some cash for your device and they get to run a profitable business.

Take YouRenew.com – they even pay for the shipping of your old gadget and then pay you depending on what it’s worth. For example, a 1st gen 4GB iPhone will get you $94. Nice. Naturally, the older it is, the faster the price goes down, but hey, you’re recycling and not tossing a bunch of hazardous materials into a landfill, and the price on that is much higher!

Another service that we covered previously is Gazelle.

Interface your Guitar to your Computer via USB

Chief Gadgeteer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:56:00 +0000

Here’s an inexpensive way to get your guitar ‘hooked up’ to your computer (PC or Mac) – a Guitar to USB interface. Plug your guitar’s output into this, and then plug the USB cable into your computer.

It comes with a PC software driver and has this variable speed playback function, so you can slow down those tunes to learn. It also has a headphone jack so you can hear your jams.

Buy now!
Price: $9.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

iPad Pre-Order Perspective

Chief Gizmateer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:42:29 +0000

There are two distinct camps when it comes to the iPad… those who have pre-ordered and are anxiously awaiting April 3rd by researching iPad accessories and those who call anyone that ordered an iPad a fanboy. Let’s get some perspective on the iPad pre-order that started this past Friday.

There are estimates that over 150k units were pre-ordered online through the weekend. Friday an estimated 25k were sold per hour but over the weekend only 1k unit were sold per hour totaling more that 150k units in 60 hours. This was determined by tracking over 120 order numbers submitted by volunteers on a message board. This number includes only those pre-ordered through Apple’s online store and the estimates do not include iPad reservations or any large-volume orders that have been placed directly with Apple’s sales force by businesses.

Daniel Tello (the analyst for the above study) estimates that Apple will hit the 1M unit sold mark the first week of sales.

These numbers sound impressive… but are they?

Considering the original iPhone took 74 days to sell 1M units and there are only 3M-4M tablets across all brands and makers selling globally every year, this Geek thinks Apple may have a hit on their hands.