Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Earlier this week we heard the news of Jerry Yang resigning as CEO of Yahoo, the result of a painfully disappointing year for the company that saw failure after failure.  They have watched their grip on Internet search slip through their fingers and they are in danger of slipping into the worlds of anonymity and the pages of history.  However, things are looking good for Yahoo fans with two positive pieces of news.

One Search

They are both an attempt to fight back at Google’s search domination, both in the mobile phone and PC sectors.  The first is a deal sealed with T-Mobile with the “One Search” button.  Yahoo have been poor at closing deals recently; however, this catch is definitely one that should help them in the future.  T-Mobile has agreed to put the One Search button on their phones, thus allowing users to quickly get to a search engine and helping Yahoo by making it theirs.

Find out what else is in Yahoo’s plans to fight the Google empire after the break.

MORE »

We haven’t heard from Dospara for a while, so perhaps you were wondering what they have been up to.  Well don’t worry, they have been doing exactly the same as everybody else: making a netbook.
I’m sure you could recite these specifications blindfolded, but in the interest of comparison I will tell you.  It has a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, a 120GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, 1,024 x 600 screen, 802.11b/g WiFi, Linux and a reasonable battery.  To be honest, it is exactly the same as loads of other netbooks, and that is the point that I want to make.  More after the break.

MORE »

This story has all the makings of a tragic soap: a vulnerable love sick teenager, a sick vengeful adult and death.  Unfortunately this story is not confined to the pages of a book, but is a reality that took place in October 2006 and resulted in Megan Meier, aged 13 at the time, taking her own life.  But why did she do it?  What had happened before?  Who caused it?  And what does this have to do with technology?

It all started when Megan fell out with the daughter of her neighbor Ms Drew in St Louis, prompting Ms Drew to take it upon herself to spite Megan.  She did this by creating a fictitious 16 year old boy, Josh Evans, who lived in the local area which she did by creating a fake MySpace account.  This was then used to contact the unassuming Megan, and create a friendship, although the implication is that Megan believed it to be more serious than that.  Contined . . .

MORE »

Getting the newest games console has always been hard, and the Nintendo Wii is no exception with ‘Out of stock’ signs adorning many games hardware outlets.  In addition to unrelenting demand, would be buyers are facing constraints from an unlikely source.  If you can’t get a Nintendo product this year: blame Somalian pirates.

Not content stealing folks using Torrents, but sword in mouth, eye-patched, rum-swilling pirates.  Thought today’s crews cary RPGs and fast boats to seize your electronics as their booty.

Find out why the increase in pirating means no Wiis for many.

MORE »

You may remember the slightly odd Thanko Hot Cooler USB Keyboard which warmed/cooled your hands whilst you typed, which could be in some circumstances quite good.  Well, undeterred they have moved to mouses (yes, that is the plural of a computer mouse) and mouse mats with the “USB Warm mouse” and “USB Warm Mousemat.”  Unfortunately, it would appear that they still haven’t sacked the guy who names these things, as they are as unimaginative as ever.

However the awful naming does make my life a little easier: it is fairly obvious what they do.  The mouse version is a basic optical mouse that connects to your PC through USB and comes in a range of colors such as black, black, black or black (seriously, I’ve seen paving slabs more imaginative than this company).  The only clever thing about this mouse is the heater inside it, operated by a little switch about 10cm up the wire which can reach temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius.

MORE »

Supercomputers are great, in fact even the name is great: conjuring images of CPUs in red capes flying to the help of damsels in distress.  However, in the real world they are hundreds of cabinets stuffed full of computer stuff and do in fact loo incredibly dull.  The opposite can be said of what they actually do as they push the boundaries of what is capable using solely 0s and 1s to solve complex calculations, help define new theorem, and play Crysis on full graphics.

Yet, as with everything in this world, it has become a competition to have the fastest computer and this has been going on since computers began; in fact, even Romans competed over abacus skills.  In June, the Roadrunner which was built by IBM, became the fastest computer ever achieving a sustained speed of 1.026 petaflops. 

However there could be a new leader on the Top 500 list which is compiled by computer experts and is to be updated this week in a supercomputing conference in Austin.  This is Cray’s Jaguar XT, which claims to have reached 1.64 petaflops, a massive increase on its probable predecessor and is set to gain this prestigious honor.  It runs Linux and has a massive 362TB of memory which is spread out over its 284 cabinets, each of which holding 192 quad-core AMD Opteron chips.

MORE »

Everybody loves a survey (especially me) as it is a great way not only to identify the underlying social changes within the growing world, but also a good chance to laugh at the astonishing number of people who can’t identify where Australia is on a map.  This is no exception, as a survey released by YouGov in conjunction with their sponsors AMD showed that 77% of Europeans asked are addicted to the Internet.  Continued after the break.

MORE »

Don’t worry, I can sense your confusion, either there is a serious contender for the phone top spot (so why haven’t you heard of it yet?) or I have gone crazy.  Admittedly, I am stepping out of line here, and perhaps I was being a little pretentious (maybe even ostentatious) but I think that this is seriously a good concept and if it takes of it can, and maybe will, be big.  So what is it I hear you cry, read on…

MORE »

The Wii has been a massive success, and has transformed the gaming but predictably sold out incredibly quickly.  The Wii Fit brought a whole new fitness aspect to the world of gaming, and that mirrored the console it played on by being great, and selling out.  However EA thinks that they have come up with a competitive alternative to the incredibly hard to get Wii: EA Sports Active which they hope to release next year.

Aiming itself at the more physically demanding gamer, EA claims that it is more of a rigorous workout than the Wii Fit, which it has to be said is mainly aimed at being fun.  It supports multiple people, so it means that families will be able to “get fit together.”  Ahh, how sweet!  Instead of using an expensive board like the Wii Fit, it will use specially designed leg straps to hold the Nunchuck in, which will monitor lower body movements, which work in conjunction with upper body resistance bands to track workouts.

MORE »

You may or may not have noticed that along with the previously mentioned “Blu,” the letter “i” has become prefixed to every product known to man.  Obviously, Apple has all the right in the world to do that (as they really popularized it) but Phillips is making a name for themselves with this “prefix-stealing,” after the goLITE Blu.  Get ready for the iPill (the intelligent pill). 
Most of us already know what camera pills are (pill sized cameras that you swallow), and this is really a development from that idea further into the world of medicine. The pill can essentially do three things: it can monitor acidity levels, it can release medicine, and it can record temperatures.  All of which contribute towards its main aim of analyzing problems and acting upon them. 

MORE »