Recharge your gadgets without wires

A Pennsylvania based company, Powercast, came up with an impressive product to cut the wires on small to medium gadgets and let the recharge happen wireless. That is a pretty cool concept and the good thing about this is that they just didn’t come up with the concept but they’ve made that concept into a product and have successfully signed agreements with more than 100 companies including the electronics giant Philips.

Here is how it works…A transmitter plugs into the wall, and a dime-size receiver (the real innovation, costing about $5 to make) can be embedded into any low-voltage device. The receiver turns radio waves into DC electricity, recharging the device’s battery at a distance of up to 3 feet.

Read more about this cool stuff here.

Technorati Tags: Recharge over the air, Wireless Recharge, Gadgets, Recharge, Wireless Electricity, Cool Gadget, Powercast, Cool Product, Innovative Product

ZYB: Online Mobile Phone Contact Backup Service

I just tried ZYB, the online mobile phone contact backup service and I’ve to tell ya, it is simply a great tool to make sure your cell phone numbers are safely backed up somewhere online. I always was concerned of losing my cell phone or having it not startup on a fine day. One day I happen to drop my cell phone in the rain and it wouldn’t start up after that and I still remember the moment when I was literally trying my best to make sure I get my contacts written somewhere safe. Fortunate for me that I got my cell phone back up and running without that many hassles but that taught me a good lesson and importance of keeping a backup of my cell phone contacts.

When I heard of ZYB providing the same service of what I was looking for, I thought of giving it a try. Truly it was a seamless effort to back up my cell phone contacts. Even though the web site was a bit slow in terms of performance it was simple enough to have my RAZR contacts backed up with few simple steps that ZYB will guide you thru.

One great service that I would recommend you to try.

tags: Backup, Backup Cellphone, Backup Cellphone Contacts, Backup Service

Leopard and iPhone – Delayed

Initially it was Leopard (the latest Apple Mac Operating System) that was delayed until at least October 2007 because Apple was leveraging engineers from the Leopard team to focus on the iPhone delivery.

But rumors are popping out on the net cloud that the iPhone could also be delayed. It looks like the extra features in the iPhone software is taking a huge drain on the battery life and that’s a huge concern for Apple given that it’s a phone and on top of that it’s $500 with a contract.

I was kinda’ waiting for this iPhone to hit the market in June so that I can think about having one once my Cingular contract gets over. But now given this concern about the battery life I would rather have to wait and decide.

tags: Apple, iPhone, Leopard, Breaking News

Recharge your gadgets without wires

A Pennsylvania based company, Powercast, came up with an impressive product to cut the wires on small to medium gadgets and let the recharge happen wireless. That is a pretty cool concept and the good thing about this is that they just didn’t come up with the concept but they’ve made that concept into a product and have successfully signed agreements with more than 100 companies including the electronics giant Philips.

Here is how it works…A transmitter plugs into the wall, and a dime-size receiver (the real innovation, costing about $5 to make) can be embedded into any low-voltage device. The receiver turns radio waves into DC electricity, recharging the device’s battery at a distance of up to 3 feet.

Read more about this cool stuff here.

tags: Recharge over the air, Wireless Recharge, Gadgets, Recharge, Wireless Electricity, Cool Gadget, Powercast, Cool Product, Innovative Product

Time Projecting Alarm Clock

I just love this little gadget from Emerson. It’s an alarm clock that projects the time on to the floor/wall or any flat surface that are at a reasonable distance. I wear glasses and I keep the alarm clock on the back of the bed (thanks to IKEA) and so it was very inconvenient to peek at the time with sleepy eyes. This new gadget allows me to project the time on the ceiling floor, just above the eye if I stretch straight on my bed. It was just so handy.

If you are ready to shell out $29.99 I would highly recommend this or one of these versions.

tags: Emerson, Projection Clock, Gadget

iPhone Prices May Go Down

Apple Inc. will have plenty of room to eventually reduce the retail price of its upcoming iPhone, according to preliminary gross margin estimates by a market research company.The iPhone, the combination cell phone-iPod media player that Apple unveiled last week, will yield gross margins of more than 50 percent at the current set of retail prices, iSuppli Corp. said in an analysis of presumed component and manufacturing costs.

The 4-gigabyte version of the iPhone, with a retail price of $499, will cost Apple $245.83 to make, iSuppli estimated. The 8-gigabyte version, priced at $599, will cost Apple $280.83.

”With a 50 percent gross margin, Apple is setting itself up for aggressive price declines going forward,” said Jagdish Rebello, a director and principal analyst with iSuppli.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

“Since Apple will face stiff competition in the cell phone market, the company may need to cut into its margins to reduce pricing in the future”, he said.

The Apple iPhone, which was announced by CEO Steve Jobs last week, will be available starting in June exclusively through AT&T’s Cingular Wireless. Apple has said it hopes to sell 10 million units in 2008, or about 1 percent of the market.

That goal ‘’seems attainable,” Rebello said.

Source: WindowsX

Technorati tags: iPhone, iPhone Price Reduction, Apple, Apple iPhone

Download (in iPod format) Steve Jobs Keynote video from MacWorld 2007

Steve Jobs’ MacWorld Expo 2007 Keynote video was streaming at Apple’s website. You know that. But who wants to watch the keynote in the computer? What happened to the Apple frenzy, iPod?

Here is a location from where you can download the keynote video in m4v format (widescreen - 680×360) and can carry it in your iPod.

Pre-download Warning: The video file size is around 1.2 GB and you might want to be little diligent while downloading.

Download it from here.

Technorati tags: Apple, Macworld, MacWorld 2007, MacWorld 2007 Expo, MacWorld 2007 Video, Steve Jobs Keynote at MacWorld 2007

Demo of Apple TV at MacWorld 2007 Expo

If iPhone was a hottie at the MacWorld 2007 there is another little hottie at the expo that got a bit less attention, the Apple TV.

Here is what Apple has to say on Apple TV,

With Apple TV, you can enjoy movies, TV shows, music, and podcasts in your iTunes library, plus photos and movie trailers, on your widescreen TV — wirelessly, from your Mac or PC.

Here is a video that demonstrates the Apple TV at the MacWorld 2007 Expo.

(Note: To one of my reader Phil, I just followed the exact same steps as mentioned on my blog post on how to embed YouTube videos on to your blog. I just want to prove, with an example, that it works if you just follow the exact steps on that blog post.)

Technorati tags: Apple, iPhone, Apple TV, Video

iPhone – Full Specs

Here ya go again…iPhone baby…iPhone…

The full specs:

Screen size: 3.5 inches
Screen resolution: 320 by 480 at 160 ppi
Input method: Multi-touch
Operating system: OS X
Storage: 4GB or 8GB
GSM: Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
Wireless data: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0
Camera: 2.0 megapixels
Battery: Up to 5 hours Talk / Video / Browsing, Up to 16 hours Audio playback
Dimensions: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches
Weight: 4.8 ounces / 135 grams

Technorati tags: Apple, iPhone, iPhone Specification

Hello iPhone!

At it’s annual Macworld expo in San Francisco, Steve Jobs announced their latest gizmo, iPhone. Yes, you read it right…a phone from Apple. The pretty neat thing about this phone is that it has a nice built-in web browser that’s almost as functional as it’s PC counterpart. The next neat thing I like the most is that it allows you to have widgets which are pretty handy to have some much needed information on the go at the fingertip.

The phone, which runs the Mac OS X, will come in two models — a $499 version with 4 gigabytes of flash memory and a $599 one with 8 gigabytes of flash memory. And one more interesting fact, my cell phone service provider Cingular is the official partner. Yeaaaaayyy!!!

Take a look at here for an introductory video.

No…it doesn’t come with that extra black border

Technorati tags: Apple, iPhone, MacWorld

Amazon Customers Vote program is back, now with a Special Edition

You must be remembering the last time Amazon ran the Customers Vote program, it was a big hit and the products disappeared in no time. Now they are back with a Special Edition of the Customers Vote program.

This time the whole gist of it is a bit different. Here is a quote from Amazon on how it works.

Select the item that you want: the Sony PlayStation 3 (20GB), the Nintendo Wii, or the Sony PlayStation 3 (60GB). Then click the “Sign up” button under that item to get a chance to be randomly selected for the opportunity to purchase that item. Note:

• Your Amazon.com account must have been created no later than 11:59 p.m. (Pacific time) on December 11, 2006.
• You need an authorized credit card on your account.
• The claim codes will be distributed only to randomly selected customers.
• If selected, you are eligible to buy only the deal that you signed up for.

The sign-up process ends on Sunday, December 17, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. Come back to this page anytime on Tuesday, December 19 (12:00 a.m. – 11:59 p.m. Pacific time), to find out if you have been randomly selected for the opportunity to purchase the console that you signed up for.

Dates to remember:

• Your Amazon.com account must have been created no later than 11:59 p.m. (Pacific time) on December 11, 2006.
• The sign-up process ends on Sunday, December 17, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.
• You have to visit this page anytime on Tuesday, December 19 (12:00 a.m. – 11:59 p.m. Pacific time).

I’ve signed-up for the “incredibly hard to find” Nintendo Wii console. Last time when I tried for an XBox 360 console the site was slow enough to let me loose my bid. I hope this time there won’t be any competition for traffic.

Here is the link to the page.

Good luck and please leave your comments.

Technorati tags: Amazon, Amazon Customers Vote Program, Amazon PS3 and Wii deal, PlayStation3, Nintendo Wii, Deals

Amazon To Sell Wii and PS3 Soon

TechCrunch reports that Amazon will soon be selling the frenzy Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3 consoles. Amazon sold out Wii consoles on the first day of its release in less than one minute and has not been able to keep PS3 in stock consistently at all. Even though its not clear when Amazon will take the orders again for Wii and PS3, as per TechCrunch it would be soon.

Read the source of the report here.

Technorati tags: Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3, Amazon, Amazon.com, TechCrunch

Google releases Google Toolbar 3 Beta

Google announced on Tuesday the availability of it’s new Google Toolbar 3 Beta version. The new beta version is packed with handy features that makes downloading Google Toolbar 3 Beta a smart thing to do. Here are the new features at a glance.

• Custom buttons
• Send To
• Google Docs & Spreadsheets
• Bookmarks
• Google Account Sign-in
• Enhanced Search Box
• Google Safe Browsing
• AutoFill
• WordTranslator
• Subscribe to Feed
• Send with Gmail
• Custom Layouts
• AutoLink
• SpellCheck
• PageRank Display
• Highlight Search Terms
• Word Find Buttons
• Auto Update

Here is the full list of the new features.

for Firefox 1.5+ versions.

For Internet Explorer 6.0+ versions please use this link to download the toolbar.

Technorati tags: Google, Google Toolbar 3, Google Toolbar 3 Beta

Extendable Task Bar if you use multiple monitors

If you are upto the standards and you use multiple (extended) monitors at home or work then you should have to have these tools to make life easier. Media Chance has a Task Bar that extends to the second or even the third monitor so that you can have your own Task Bar for each monitors.

Here is what it does,

• It adds second taskbar to the extended desktop on Monitor 2 (either right or left)
• It can add third taskbar to the second Extended monitor if you have 3 monitors setup.
• It shows only applications from that Monitor
• It hides the applications on Monitor 2 from normal Windows Taskbar

 The cool thing about this tool is that it adds a “Move To” button at the top of each window which will allow you to move the window from one monitor to the other with a click of a button.

It’s a pretty handy tool if you use multiple monitors.

Visit the site here.

Download it from here. (~500KB)

Technorati tags: Multiple Monitors, Task Bar

XBox 360 themed wallpapers for your Zune player

So now you’ve bought your Zune player…how about spicing it up with some custom wallpapers? And that too, how about spicing it up with some XBox 360 themed wallpapers?

Visit this site to download some XBox 360 themed wallpapers for your Zune player.

Technorati tags: Zune, Xbox 360, Zune Wallpapers

Microsoft to link Zune device to XBox and PCs

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said at the annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday that “Microsoft will take Zune even further by connecting Zune to the Windows PC or Xbox, there is a lot more coming there”.

Yes, Microsoft plans to extend the wireless capability of its new Zune device to PCs and the company’s Xbox 360 game console, according to Gates. Zune, Microsoft’s competitor to the iPod, shipped with the capability for users to share photos, videos and music between Zune devices. However, Gates says that eventually Microsoft will connect Zune to other Microsoft products that serve as content and entertainment platforms.

Gates says that Zune’s wireless connectivity is just one way Microsoft is changing how people enjoy and share various multimedia. “We’re changing entertainment from something you do in isolation to connected entertainment,” he says.

Connecting Zune with its Xbox 360 console seems like a logical next step for Microsoft, as the company is promoting both as devices to serve up a variety of multimedia content. Later this month, Microsoft will allow customers to download movies and television programs to their Xbox 360 gaming consoles through the Xbox Live Marketplace, an online store where Xbox users already can purchase game updates and other content.

To facilitate the Xbox video-downloading service, Microsoft signed a deal that allows it to sell or rent an initial 1,000 hours of programming from various broadcasting companies, such as CBS Broadcasting, Viacom’s MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures and Turner Broadcasting System. The company signed similar deals with record labels such as Sub Pop Records to provide some of the initial media on its Zune devices.

Source: ComputerWorld

Technorati tags: Zune, XBox, XBox 360

Amazon to sell 1,000 XBox 360’s for $100 this Thanksgiving day

It’s official. Amazon has confirmed that they have 1,000 of brand new XBox 360’s that are available for sale this Thanksgiving day for $100.

When I blogged about this early on I thought it might be very less in numbers and the lucky ones will get one. But it turns out that Amazon will be offering 1,000 XBox 360’s. That is quite a number. Still I know that it will disappear in few minutes for sure.

To get this you have a part to play. You have to vote on to get one. Read my other post on how to vote your favorite product at Amazon so that it can be made available at these prices.

Go vote. Keep in mind that you can cast your vote each week for the next 4 weeks. Go for it.

Technorati tags: 1000 XBox 360 for, 100, XBox 360, Amazon, Amazon XBox 360 deal

Vote at Amazon to get your XBox 360 for $100 deal

You’ve heard about the rumor/speculation that Amazon is planning to sell XBox 360 for $100 this Thanksgiving day. I’ve even blogged about that. Now to add more juice to it here is what Amazon says on their web site. Take a look at the picture on the right.

Yes, Amazon is asking for you to vote before they decide what to put on for this Thanksgiving day. I’d vote for the XBox 360 offer and the 1 year Amazon Prime Membership. Since I can’t vote for both I would rather vote for the XBox 360 deal.

To add a bit more lime to the juice, Amazon says they are going to offer deal like this for the next 4 weeks this holiday season but with each deal the items listed would be different. That makes it even more interesting.

Here is what you have to do to make this deal happen,

• Visit Amazon.com (you should be able to see the vote option at the right side of the page)
• Pick your choice (I wish you pick XBox 360)
• Hit the VOTE button
• Login with your Amazon account
• That’s it. It will take you to the “Amazon Customers Vote” page where you can see some of the details of this program.

Keep in mind that you can vote once every week for the next 4 weeks this holiday season. Bookmark the page and keep a reminder on your Google Calendar (How to bring Google Calendar on to your Windows desktop?) and keep hitting the site at least once a week.

So I ask you, please go ahead and vote for it here.

PS: For XBox 360 vote Amazon says,

Voting ends Tuesday, November 21, and the winning item will be announced Wednesday, November 22. It goes on sale Thanksgiving Day at 2 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Pacific.

Technorati tags: Amazon XBox 360 deal, 1000 XBox 360 for, 100, Amazon, XBox 360, Amazon Holiday Sale

del.icio.us tags: Amazon XBox 360 deal, 1000 XBox 360 for, 100, Amazon, XBox 360, Amazon Holiday Sale

Send text messages from your PS2 or XBox 360 game controllers

Texter™, a new plug-in kind of device for the game controllers from Blue Orb Inc. lets you send text messages from your Playstation® 2 and XBox 360™ game controllers. This would particularly be helpful for the gamers who need to message with their buddies and enemies while they are on the game. It’s particularly useful for XBox™ Live Chat.

It’s kind of a new way of typing without the traditional keyboard. They claim that its 5 times faster than the tradition keyboard typing. I haven’t tried it though so I’m not sure how true the claim is.

The Texter™ also allows you to use your controller to type on a PC!

The Texter™ is currently available for the Playstation® 2 and will soon be available for the Xbox 360.

Visit this page to get an idea of what all these means.

Technorati tags: PS2, XBox 360, Text Message using PS2 or XBox 360

Zune vs iPod

Gizmodo has a nice comparison on Zune vs iPod. Here is a gist of it,

You want a bigger screen: Zune.

You need an all-you-can-eat subscription service: Zune.

You want a store with a larger music library: iPod.

You want a movie and TV store: iPod.

You want contacts, calendar, notes, stopwatch, and iPod Games: iPod.

You want to be different/want something new: Zune.

Xbox 360 owners who purchase music and want streaming: Zune.

Xbox 360 owners who purchase music and don’t want streaming: iPod.

You want a scratch resistant player: Zune.

You want a built-in FM tuner: Zune.

You want a touch-sensitive scroll wheel: iPod.

Read the full article here.

Technorati tags: Zune, iPod, Zune vs iPod

Microsoft Zune – I wouldn’t buy that now

I was at an Office Depot store last night and came across to experience Microsoft’s Zune player, the latest Gizmo. I was following the trend on Zune and have even blogged about it.

I own an iPod 30GB Video and I love it. It’s pretty sleek and the video looks crisp and above all, the all famous, scroll wheel. If at all I complain anything about iPod I would complain my (horrible) experience with iTunes. For some reason it never worked for me in a pleasant way. That’s another reason I was looking at and (eagerly) waiting for Zune to hit the market so that I can see if it’s worth buying it. BTW, I run Windows based OS (XP Pro and XP Media Center Edition) and I’m not sure if that makes any difference.

Anyways, I was attracted with Zune for it’s FM radio capability, wireless sharing and a bit more screen real estate. Even though I hate the color cases of Zune I thought it would be cool. But after my experience at Office Depot I was a bit disappointed with what Zune has to offer. Sure there is FM radio and wireless sharing, but these are the stuffs that made me disappointed,

• Unbelievably poor exterior case color choice
• No scroll wheel….Psssst
• Glaring screen, this was pretty annoying at the store with all those bright lights
• Poor user interface, I even noticed the pixelating fonts
• A bit bulky

I haven’t experienced the Zune Market Place but I hope that to be at least better. To me the whole Zune player looked to me like Microsoft just rushed to bring this to the market at the time of holiday shopping. I would rather say they should have taken the time to make it better than just rushing. But again…it’s Microsoft and they have billions on hand. I hope they would make at least Zune2 a better one.

I would hold on to my lovely iPod 30GB Video. Apple…hey…are you there?…can you please make this freaky iTunes work with my Media Center PC? That would be great.

Technorati tags: iPod, iTunes, Zune, Zune Market Place, Zune Review, iTunes issue with XP Media Center Edition