Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Its been just a few days now since Buy.com listed the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition with a selling price of $455 and its already seen a price cut. The newly lowered price is still based off a list price of $479, but instead of a $23.01 savings, they are now offering a $47.01 savings, which lowers the price down to $436.48.

Of course like we previously mentioned, this is the WiMax Edition and we are still unsure as to when Sprint will roll-out the service, otherwise it still seems to be a good deal at $436.

Product [Buy.com] Via [TabletBlog.com]

Best Buy and Geek Squad have announced partnership with FixYa, a community contributed website that offers product care support. The group has launched a co-branded website which will allow Best Buy and Geek Squad customers to help each other out with support issues. FixYa boasts 7 million users who post around 100,000 support questions and solutions each month. It is a welcome reprieve from the often complex and frustrating world of company tech support solutions, which often involve long hold times, language barriers, and less than helpful or canned email responses. From their press release:

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Remember what we told you about Skype needing to give itself a boost to avoid getting sacked by its mother company, eBay? Well, after successive announcements the past couple of weeks, it looks like Skype is really out to prove itself and hopefully sends the signal that its “synergies are strong.” For its latest buzz creation strategy, Skype has just taken version 3.9 for Windows out of beta.

So, what’s in mean for us, the Skype-using public with this new version? A couple of good features actually, including reduced background noise during calls, less delay, fewer call drops and fewer cut-offs. Plus, changing headsets, headphones and microphone will now be easier as Skype 3.9 will adjust the settings of the devices automatically. Another major improvement made by Skype is the taking out the default profile image that previously shows up when authorization request is incoming. This is in response to users’ demand as some of them encounter offensive profile photos of other Skype users. These plus other improvements which the Skype blog did not mention, are supposed to come with the new version of Skype for Windows.

It’s up to you if you want to be part of Skype’s move towards strengthening its synergies. By all means download the new Skype for Windows version or just continue using the old one.

Via [Skype]

If you envied Chris Clark while reading our previous post on the profit he made from selling his pizza.com for $2.6 million after keeping it alive for 14 years, well here comes another domain name up for bid at eBay, 1-pizza.com. There are many reason why 1-pizza.com would be a viable domain name even if the keyword rich domains pizza.com and pizza.net are already up. And Numbers That Work, has listed several of these reasons.

Based on an appraisal and marketing analysis of 1-pizza.com, the domain can ride hot on the heels of the buzz created by the recent sale of pizza.com and pizza.net which were sold for $2.6 million and $1.1 million respectively. Other reasons cited by the market analysis on why 1-pizza.com is worth more than the two pizza domains, include; 1-pizza bears the TLD “.com”, contains a hyphen, it has the “pizza” keyword and it’s a short domain name having only 7 characters.

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It takes a lot of sophisticated, cutting-edge technology to solve a major homicide within an hour - including commercials, of course.

How many times have you watched the computers used by the fictional forensics detectives on “CSI” and thought to yourself, “if only...” That is, if only databases were that fast, if only touch technology were that advanced, if only location tracking were that integrated...and all of it fast and flawless, naturally. Memo to Grissom: give more shout-outs to your IT guys, OK?

Real-life is starting to catch up to “CSI.” This week Microsoft is hosting law-enforcement authorities from 35 countries for a conference on crime and technology, and the software giant announced it has developed a new USB thumb drive that allows police to quickly extract information from computers suspected of being used by the bad guys. It’s called COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor) and Microsoft says some officials have been using it for nearly a year.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has steered its technology toward solving crimes. In 2003 a Toronto detective, discouraged by the rise of online predators targeting children, e-mailed Bill Gates for help. That plea prompted the creation of CETS (Child Exploitation Tracking System), a suite of software tools that allows agencies to better share information on child pornographers. Of course, the marketing gurus in Redmond know when to blur that line between reality and fiction. Yes, those were Microsoft touch-screen surface computers you saw during Season Six episodes of “CSI: Miami.”

Read [Seattle Times] Read [Microsoft]

The LG enV2 was first announced during CTIA 2008 and since then we have since a few unofficial images get leaked, but as of today the handset is officially available and comes in either black or maroon.

Other than the two color options, the enV2 will offer a small exterior display and flip open to reveal a 2.4-inch internal display and a full QWERTY keyboard. Other features include a 2.0-megapixel camera and camcorder, Bluetooth, speakerphone, microSD card slot, auto view and text to speech. The enV2 will also have dual-speakers and a music player that supports MP3, WMA, unprotected AAC and AAC + files as well as a video player with support for WMV, MP4, 3GP and 3G2 files.

The LG enV2 will be available beginning today and retail for $129.99, which comes along with a two-year agreement and after a $50 rebate.

Read [Verizon Wireless]

OK kids, get off the Kool-Aid.  AT&T, no matter how cool (or lame) you think they are, is not going to subsidize the second coming of the phone that made people sleep in streets to be first in line to get it.  There are probably a lot more than four reasons, but these four make a pretty solid case.

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Photo enthusiasts who also love underwater creatures will have more reasons to dive into the sea if they bring the new Sealife DC800 underwater camera. Touting an ergonomic design, large shutter button and well-spaced buttons, the DC800 offers users with an easy to use and easy to handle camera. When you’re underwater, having this kind of camera would certainly enhance your diving experience, as you won’t have to worry about damaging it.

The DC800 boasts a wide-angle optical lens with 4x optical zoom, auto focus of up to 2-inches and it even has a video mode, so users are not limited to documenting their experiences in still images but on digital video as well. Sealife has also included five unique underwater modes into the DC800. The sea mode allows for taking sharp colorful pictures regardless of the color of the water the user is diving into, two external flash modes, external flash auto mode and the external flash manual mode for the more advanced users.

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Today, AT&T started offering a new text plan specifically for iPhone users who have disabilities. This text plan will be extremely helpful for people who either have weakened hearing or speaking abilities. It will be officially called the Text Accessibility Plan (TAP) for iPhone, and will be available for both new and old iPhone customers for a fair price - $40 a month. And what exactly does 40 bucks a month get you? Unlimited text messaging, Web browsing and easy access to e-mail, that’s what. You can find out more about this new plan and whether or not you qualify for the said program from AT&T’s web site.

Via [Unwired View]

Leaves have taken color, trees filled with luster and shape again. There’s a smell to spring that is unmistakable, and a hunger to venture out beyond our own borders that cannot be ignored. For those explorers who answer the call, the road sings. A car, the company of good friends, and a destination that has yet to be determined, the iconic American journey. The road trip is an entity that hasn’t evolved, hasn’t been exploited or stripped of its romance yet. Even now as we tie ourselves to cell phones, MP3 players, GPS, laptops, and PDA’s the road trip remains unvarnished, and true.

It remains that way now through our dedication to its principles, rejecting our newly instilled primal urge to be connected to every inch of this world. In it’s embrace we must run away from the comforts technology has provided us. That means using a radio, being guided by a paper map, and hiding from email, text messages and the like for a short breath of untethered freedom. An exercise more in rediscovering something organic and true, then a Thoreau like abandonment of controlled civilization.

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