Nokia is back to please a wide range of audience, this time round by launching a trio of handsets that will cater for everybody with different budgets. The three are the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic, Nokia 5330 XpressMusic and Nokia 5030, offering music-oriented features that bring people’s music to life. Available across a wide spectrum of price points, it will open up more markets with Comes With Music service and the Nokia Music Store, in addition to integrating these elements as seamlessly as possible on both the cell phone and the PC. Nokia attempts to turn the digital music player that rings in your pocket into a library, shop and platform that manages all your music as well.
Nokia 5730 XpressMusic This high-end handset comes with a full QWERTY keyboard for fast messaging and email, where the Homescreen for XpressMusic offers access and dynamic information on music, people, games, email and calendar. You can also enjoy an improved contacts bar with up to 20 friends and family members, while getting direct access to music, N-Gage and other applications (including Facebook, Photos, Ovi Contacts, Maps and messaging among others). Dedicated gaming keys make the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic a true N-Gage gadget, where direct access to the N-Gage Arena community and preloaded N-Gage games will go down well with the competitive types. It will retail for 280 Euros sometime in Q3 this year.
Nokia 5330 XpressMusic The Nokia 5330 XpressMusic is a mid-range music-centric handset that helps one keep in touch with one’s social network. All XpressMusic touch keys on the side of the display offer instant music access, and it is nice to see a standard 3.5mm jack included for crystal clear sound for most headphones in the market. An extended battery life provides over 26 hours of playback, and you can also access online sites that specialize in online sharing, including Ovi, Facebook, and MySpace. Expect to see the Nokia 5330 XpressMusic in the market this Q3 for 160 Euros.
Nokia 5030 Last but not least is the Nokia 5030, the first handset from Nokia that comes with an internal FM radio antenna that does away with the need for a headset or external speakers. In tandem with its XpressRadio name, there is one touch FM radio and channel selection keys on the side of the device. When placed sideways, this cell phone will turn into a portable FM radio that targets emerging markets. Available in graphite and red colors, the Nokia 5030 will retail for below 40 Euros when it ships in Q2 this year.
If you have the tendency to kill USB drives due to strange accidents, you might want to consider a tougher drive. This cool little drive in the shape of a submarine will hopefully stand up to your random mishaps. Such as spilling your coffee, knocking over your bowl of soup or any other liquid you might come across. It might also be able to deal with being dropped or stepped on every so often too.
The best part about this drive is that the designer chose the shape it in the shape of a submarine and made it waterproof. Making the submarine shape all the more fitting. The K95 drives is available in both 1GB and a 2GB version. It also comes in four different colors, white, red, black and green. It was designed by Moscow’s Man Works Design and since it is a design, it doesn’t have any purchase information. Hopefully with a witty design like this it will start becoming available to the public soon.
A lot of people appreciate a pretty picture and with the coming of digital cameras, it’s now easier to take one. Even if you aren’t that great with photography, so much of it can be fixed later. However, not every camera should be taken everywhere. I have two different cameras that I use for different occasions. Sadly though, like most digital cameras they aren’t something I’d want to take camping or especially not good for any extreme outdoor activities like rock climbing. Well this Argus Bean camera would be a great camera to take along with you when you’re outdoors.
It even has a clip to keep it attached to a bookbag or anything else you want to clip it to. That clip also makes it ideal for any little kids that might want to take a few snapshots while on a field trip. It’s not the best camera, but the 1.5†LCD display isn’t too shabby. It also has an SD Card Slot and 16MB of built-in memory. The camera is sold in a few different colors, red, blue and green. Then there are both the 5MP and 3MP versions of the camera. You can pick up the 5MP for $57.59 on Amazon.
Technology and restaurants have combined at the Imano Restaurant in London, as every table is essentially a computer display. These tables are not like the Microsoft Surface, but they are just as good.
As you can see, there are projectors above the tables to obtain the virtual display, and there is a circular touchpad to allow for navigation. From the moment a customer sits down, the user can then select their “placemat†like selecting a wallpaper for Windows.
From there, the customer/user can look at the menu, which includes pictures of the appetizers, main courses, even drinks. Ordering is as simple as pointing and clicking, and a wait-person will deliver your meal to you.
While the customer is waiting, he or she has the option of watching their meal prepared through a camera in the kitchen. The customer also has the option of playing a game with his or her dining partner. I have included this YouTube video showing a little kid enjoying his Imano interaction.
So is the Inamo the wave of the future when it comes to restaurants? I hope so. I am tired of flagging down a wait-person every time I want a refill of my drink. Of course, one has to ask if mixing too much technology removes the human element of restaurants. Do you want a robot to bring out your meal? I would probably have to ask how well the robot can do the job, and if it requires tips.
One of the troubles with filming documentaries or reality shows is that people tend to act differently when they are on camera. I suppose that is what makes reality TV entertaining, but it is hardly a realistic portrayal of life. A Canadian filmmaker named Rob Spence has figured out a way to remove that “I’m-on-camera†factor in his documentaries, as his prosthetic eye has a concealed camera.
Spence plans to film many people, and the eye will transmit the footage wirelessly to a storage device nearby. Of course, he is required by law to tell his interviewees that they are on camera. Oddly enough, the subject of his documentary is about whether people are “sleepwalking into an Orwellian societyâ€. I’m sure he realizes that his film could be one step into a surveillance society.
The special prosthetic eye was developed by OmniVision of Santa Clara. Spence got the idea for the camera eye by watching The Six Million Dollar Man and noticing that the tiny cameras in cellular phones could easily be put in a prosthetic eye.
So now Spence can film anything he wants without worrying about his subjects being distracted by the camera. Of course, they could be distracted by a prosthetic eye. Granted, the eye is the same hazel color as his working eye, but Spence even jokingly refers to himself as “Eyeborgâ€.
So if you see a man who wants to interview you, you might want to take a closer look at his eye to see if it has a camera. Be prepared to sign a release form if that is the case.
In case you haven’t heard, the new iPod Shuffle is out. The boys at Apple have given the Shuffle a makeover, and it is both good and bad.
The good news is that it now has 4GB worth of memory on it. It is also smaller, measuring just 1.8 inches tall and 0.7 inches wide.
Another new feature is the VoiceOver, which will tell the user the name of the current track and also when it is time to recharge the battery. The VoiceOver feature allows the user to operate multiple playlists, as they can be navigated as the player announces their names.
All the buttons have been taken off of it, and placed conveniently on the headphones. Even though Apple thought this was going to be the good news, many tech blogs everywhere have been criticizing this feature as extremely bad news.
After all, the user cannot use just any earbuds anymore. It doesn’t look like there will be any newer models of these earbuds any time soon. When they do, it will probably be at exorbitant prices.
The new iPod Shuffle is available for the same price of the original, for about $79.99. I believe the iPod Shuffle is available in many colors, but the new is only in silver or black.
Flickr has grown to be really huge, and every single day there are hundreds, if not thousands, of new users signing up to make sure they have a place online to share their favorite digital memories with. The whole idea of an online photo album that can be accessed by friends, family and strangers alike no matter where they are in the world is pretty interesting, but how do you improve upon something that looks as though there is no longer any need for improvement? Well, for starters, Tiny Pictures, Inc. has just launched Flickr integration for Radar today - also known as the leading service for real-time sharing of cameraphone pictures, videos and conversations between friends. More on Radar’s capabilities right after the jump.
This tight integration enables users to follow Flickr photos each time they are shared, and will remain on top of conversations around photostreams, straight off from from the Radar mobile applications, mobile site and desktop site. According to John Poisson, Founder and CEO of Tiny Pictures, “We have a long-standing affinity with the Flickr team and the massive photo community theyʼve built, and we’re veryexcited to be able to offer the Radar mobile experience to Flickr users as well. We talk a lot about visual conversation at Tinyâ€"the burgeoning trend of sharing in-the-moment, and knowing your friends are browsing that content and engaging with you at the same time. That’s precisely what we designed Radar to enable, and making this same experience available to Flickr photos was a natural next step.â€
Current Radar users can always hook up their Radar and Flickr accounts together, selecting just which Flickr contacts they want to follow. Subsequently, all Flickr photos and comments will appear in-line with Radar content on both mobile and desktop platforms, whilst comments are left on Flickr photos. As for the merry bunch of Flickr members who are not already on Radar, they can opt to use the service as a standalone mobile browsing and commenting platform. All web-enabled phones across all networks worldwide will be able to work via the Radar Mobile site as well as through mobile applications for Java, Windows Mobile, Blackberry and iPhone.
If you’ve ever wanted to curl up and cuddle with your iPod speakers, this is the way to do it. This silver little bear allows for you to not only have your music playing loud and clear for all to hear, but gives you something to rest your head on when it’s not playing. I suppose you could always curl up with it while it’s playing, but it might end up causing a slight headache after a little while. This speaker bear, of course, comes straight from Japan. It seems that most odd accessories come from there.
The speakers can be powered by either batteries or plugged into the USB port of your computer. To turn off the bear just squeeze the bear’s left ear. Then to adjust the volume you just squeeze the bear’s palms, one will lower the volume the other raises it. All of which are clearly marked to make things easier. You can not only plug in your iPod, but other MP3 players as well. The bear is 7.8†tall and is priced at $38 from Molla Space.
As far as iPod accessories go, this has to be the most well thought out item. One of the favorite features about a Nano is the fact that they come in those bright varying colors. However, wanting to protect the iPod leads many to buy a case. Once the case is on, that color you spent the time to choose is then hidden away. Well these iSee cases protect your iPod, while all the while allowing for the color you chose to show through.
The great thing is the designs on the case actually accents the color and gives it something a little extra. It comes in seven different designs, swirls, squares, reverb, flourish, circles, argyle and finally zebra. Each case is etched then covered with a clear scratch resistant coating. If you’re worried that you won’t like how the case looks over your particular color, you can choose the color and the design and see it on the website. They only sell these for the Nano 4G and will cost you $24.95.
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Flickr has grown to be really huge, and every single day there are hundreds, if not thousands, of new users signing up to make sure they have a place online to share their favorite digital memories with. The whole idea of an online photo album that can be accessed by friends, family and strangers alike no matter where they are in the world is pretty interesting, but how do you improve upon something that looks as though there is no longer any need for improvement? Well, for starters, Tiny Pictures, Inc. has just launched Flickr integration for 
