Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

A Japan-based designer known as Marimo-san is thinking way out of the box with his latest cellphone concept design, featuring a mechanism that allows for a detachable screen. The screen in this cellphone concept design can be removed so the user can enjoy video calls on the go. And aside from that, the slot for the screen should also accept other add-ons such as a widescreen display and a dual screen video viewer, to name a few, turning the cellphone into a number of new devices at any given time.

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The latest to land in what seems like a never ending stream of mini notebooks is the RazorBook 400 from 3K Computers. While the RazorBook 400 seems to have a very similar feature set as the Eee PC 701 it is lacking a little in the power department.

Similar to the Eee PC, the RazorBook 400 offers a 7-inch display, 4GB SSD, 512MB RAM, built-in card reader, Wi-Fi and runs Linux, but the processor is a lowly 400MHz. With people even at times questioning the 900Mhz of the Eee PC, its hard to imagine a similar notebook running at 400MHz and sadly the price is the same $399 that the Eee PC is retailing for.

Product [3K Computers] Via [Gotta Be Mobile]

While rumors about buyouts, mergers and partnerships continue to swirl around them, the number one and number two social network websites are announcing new features and services. MySpace, the top social site, is taking the wraps off of “data availability,” which allows members to easily share public profile information and user-generated content with Yahoo!, Ebay, Flickr and Photobucket.
And Facebook, after hearing complaints from state attorneys general about the threat from child predators and cyberbullies on its website, has agreed to tighten up security to protect its under-18 users. The social network will work with a task force to make sure identities and ages of members can be verified while trying harder to keep inappropriate content - including alcohol and tobacco advertising - from underage eyes. 

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Sharp and Amimon, an emerging leader in semiconductor technology for wireless high-definition video, have combined their technology to bring wireless HDTV experience to users of Sharp’s LCD display units. Slated for a release in Japan soon, Sharp’s super-thin X-series LCD displays will be equipped with Amimon’s Wireless High Definition Interface (HDMI) 1080p wireless technology. For us users, this simply means that we would no longer have to connect any cables to our TVs since all the necessary wires and cables of the Sharp LCD displays will be tucked in a separate set-top box. 

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The FCC is one good source of phones that have yet to be made public. Such in the case of this Motorola phone, rumored as the Motorola A1600 MING 2, the phone is a Linux smartphone that looks simply like an upgrade of the original MING. Only, a 3.2-megapixel camera and a few other goodies have been added.

Other rumored features of this leaked phone include Wi-Fi and quadband EDGE. While this report may excite fans of Motorola in the US, it looks like the A1600 will only be available in the Asian market, what with the “Asia/EMEA” mark written on the page. However, don’t lose hope since anything is possible now.

Read [FCC] Via [Engadget]

If you’ve been monitoring news in another language like I’ve been doing this morning, you might have also noticed that the homepage of Google’s Translation service has undergone a bit of a makeover. And if you mess around with it a little you’ll find a few new features that haven’t even been announced by Google yet.

In addition to the thirteen languages that Google Translate already supports, it now offers translations for eleven new languages, which are Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hindi, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Swedish. So now you can translate text and web pages in 25 languages, plus there’s a cool new feature that lets you translate something even if you don’t know the language of origin. It’s called Detect Language, and lets you translate text and web pages without asking you for the original language you are trying to translate from. It’s a godsend for people like me who don’t know their Simplified Chinese from the Traditional, and I’m sure a lot of other people are going to like this new feature as well.

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The recently announced Touch Diamond from HTC has made its FCC appearance. Which for those waiting to see that US release this should be very good news. While there is not any additional release info along with the FCC news, this does fit in well with the North American release timeframe, which was mentioned to be during the second half of 2008.

Read [FCC]

I just hate goodbyes. And I especially hate it when I have to say goodbye to something that has been dear to me even for just a while. But sadly, Google doesn’t seem to be planning on taking back its announcement regarding the shutdown of Picasa’s photo sharing service, Hello. On Hello’s home page, all you will be able to find now is this: “Hello will be shut down on May 15th.” Followed by a short and optimistic message from the Hello Team. In case you’re not familiar with Hello, you can find a copy of their old home page here, and a copy of their “how it works” page here. Well, there goes another startup, I guess.

Read [Hello] Via [Google Blogoscoped]

A fascinating report by the United Kingdom’s version of the Federal Communications Commission paints a vivid picture of a technology-driven world right out of a Vernor Vinge novel: Bluetooth implants in your body warning doctors of impending heart attacks; wireless sensors in cars slamming on the brakes before collisions; reminders from doctors to take medications based on wireless vital sign readings.

The Office of Communications, known as Ofcom, is the UK’s independent regulator of competition in its television, radio, telecom and wireless communications industries. Its new report, “Tomorrow’s Wireless World,” features technology innovations being tested in some British cities and it already has some privacy advocates shouting about a digital Big Brother. But the tone of the report is generally positive about the role technology could play in saving lives, trimming health care costs and making travel safer and greener. 

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As usual, when it comes to getting new computing machines, our friends from Japan are again ahead of all of us. Our Japanese buddies will have the chance to be the first one to get hold, feel and test the spanking new and ruggedly handsome NEC tablet PC, which is appropriately branded as the ShieldPro FC-N22A. From its name alone, you can immediately deduce that this machine was built for the purpose of sustaining the most severe environmental conditions. True enough, the ShieldPro tablet PC can withstand temperature range of -4 F to 122 F, can sustain falling up to about 35-inches without breaking apart, is dust proof and complies to IP55 requirement for being water proof.

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