Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

National Geographic has announced that they will be joining the ranks of those who are now Blu-ray exclusive. This is certainly no surprise that National Geographic would make this decision as they are a subdivision of Warner. It does however continue the sad march to the dead pool for HD DVD. Of the Warner subsidiaries only BBC continues to holdout for non-exclusivity. The first title to be released as a Blu-ray exclusive will be the April release of Sharkwater which should get an official announcement in the next few weeks.

Read [Blu-ray.com]

Wireless Mobile Group (WMG) is set to integrate Slashpower technology into their new batch of smartphones. This technology will enable you to charge your phone (and not just phones) by just placing it on a pad; it works by magnetic induction. Currently, you can add modules to a regular phone so that it can be charged wirelessly, but it won’t be necessary by integrating Slashpower directly into the batteries of the phone.  Hopefully other manufacturers will hop on the bandwagon and embrace this neat technology, that will get rid of half a dozen cables on my nightstand.

Via [ubergizmo]

Who’s trying to upstage the iPhone now?  Um, everyone… Last night, I got to witness first hand from out of nowhere (almost) comes Garmin with the nuvifone (hey, maybe the third time is the charm?) and I’ve got to give them credit, it is pretty slick.  So if phone industry noob, if you will, Garmin can make a serious stab at Job’s baby, are there more to follow?

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MP3 players sure have dropped prices in the past few years, and this model of the Stone may only have 1GB of memory, but 30 bucks is still pretty impressive. Nearly 2 months ago, Creative Zen announced the 4GB model of the Stone which at that time sold for $90. That is probably the better deal, but if you’re just looking for a nice, simple MP3 player, you might want to consider purchasing the 1GB model.

If you want to buy this MP3 player, you can head over to Newegg.com, where it is selling for $29.99 with 3-day shipping for free. Newegg will even give you a free universal MP3 case. The Zen Stone only comes in black, but it looks to be a serious competitor to Apple’s iPod Shuffle, which retails for $79 for the same storage capacity.

Via [Crave]

SanDisk has once again upped their SD card storage size. Now up to a whopping 32GB. The 32GB SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card is expected to be available beginning in April and retail for $349.99. It will also ship with a MicroMate USB 2.0 Reader and can hold an estimated 8,000 high-resolution pictures or 40 hours of video.

Just in case the price scares you away from the 32GB card, SanDisk will also begin shipping a 16GB and 8GB card in March. The 16GB card will also ship with the MicroMate USB 2.0 Reader and the 8GB card features SanDisk’s Hinge Lock that allows the card to be plugged directly into the USB port. The 16GB card will retail for $179.99 and the 8GB card will set you back $99.99.

Read [Business Wire]

Sony has posted a small rise in quarterly profits recently, but are being cautious about painting too rosy a picture. Sony’s Cybershot series of cameras and Handycam camcorders had a strong fourth quarter which helped to bolster the Japanese giants overall numbers. Sony even managed to get better numbers out of it’s gaming division by lowering production costs on the PS3 as well as getting some improved sales figures for the PSP.

“The game division turning into the black is a positive,” said Takeshi Osawa, a senior fund manager at Norinchukin Zenkyoren Asset Management. “But the U.S. economic outlook is a cause of concern for its consumer electronics business.”

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Netscape first announced that they were ending support for the Netscape browser as of February 1, 2008. With that date almost upon us, it has been given a slight reprieve, the browser will live on for one more month. The official support will now remain until March 1, 2008 and Netscape has also plans to release an update for Navigator 9 that will help users with the switch over. In the meantime Netscape is also recommending the Flock browser in addition to Firefox. 

Read [CNET]

We had lots of fun with the lasers that we were able to play with recently, thanks to Wicked Lasers. Granted we really have no good use for them ourselves, but they are still fun to play with. The higher powered lasers were able to do some minimal damage in the form of lighting matches or popping a balloon, but Wicked Lasers has taken this to a new level with the introduction of their new Torch.

The Torch, according to Wicked Lasers is the “world’s brightest and most powerful flashlight” and has “4100 Lumens with an adjustable high efficiency reflector.” Given that, it does have some pretty amazing power with the ability to burn plastic, light paper or even fry and egg or toast a marshmallow.

Why you would want to toast a marshmallow with your flashlight is beyond me, but its nice to know you could. The Torch will retail for $299.99 and is currently available. The biggest drawback to the Torch is the battery life is a low 15 minutes. Check out the video’s they have posted demonstrating the power of the Torch.

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Alltel has officially added the red BlackBerry Pearl 8130 to its lineup. The red 8130 joins the ‘regular’ amethyst model and carries the same features. The Pearl offers a 2-megapixel camera with flash and video, GPS and mapping, Bluetooth and microSD card slot. The red Pearl 8130 is currently available and retails for $149.99 after a $100 mail-in-rebate along with a 2-year agreement.

Read [Alltel]

Casio just bagged top honors from JD Powers Ultra Slim Camera Usage and Satisfaction Survey according the company’s latest press announcement.  Almost 7500 camera owners responded and rated Casio’s offering highest.  The survey was open to owners who purchased their camera between June and July 2007.

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