Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Basketball fans you now have two things to look forward too. No, it’s not the bounce back of Larry Brown or even the Knicks having a rebound season after last year’s fiasco. Speaking of bouncing and rebounds, Spalding the official basketball provider of the NBA has just released a new high-tech basketball. Dubbed the Cross Traxxion it packs a new design that will have a better grip and feel.

“Two interlocking panels cover the ball and provide more material coverage. The material is a microfiber composite with moisture management that provides superior grip and feel throughout the course of a game.”

To the average basketball fan the new high-tech ball might mean everything but to the average shopper, the $99.99 price tag might come with some hype of its own. So, if new kicks make you jump better this ball is sure to make you think you can shoot. Or leave you wondering why you just spent $99.99 on an orange ball.

Read [HipTechBlog]

It happens to the best of us, we live in a quiet neighborhood with perfectly trimmed grass some of us have white picket fences and we see the kids playing in basketball in the driveway. Okay now that dreaming is over let’s wake up to the real world where our quiet streets are taken over by the incessant sounds of your neighbor’s kids failing garage band. It seems the more they practice the worse they are. If only there was a way to shut them up, well how about a taste of their own “bad medicine.”

Purchase your very own revenge kit. It comes with complimentary ear-buds to drown out your very own garage band-esq music…if you can call it that. Track one, how about traffic jams, track two, construction drilling. Do you get the picture? So ladies remember you are no longer stuck listening to your significant other’s bad attempt at reliving his high school rock years. Just pop in the ear-buds and pick a track…any track.

Read [Gadget4Girls]

There’s nothing worse then trying to give a presentation and the sound goes on the fritz, especially if your trying to distinguish the difference between your products selling points and a competitors. Isn’t it about time you throw out those old projection screens along with their weak speakers? Why not kick some board room ASS-60AK! What am I talking about? This new projection screen with built in speaker from Japanese ASS-60AK provides a new type of speaker woven into the fabric of the screen itself. Using invisible vibrations throughout the screen, the speakers are able to provide better sound then ever before. Now while these speakers can not compare to a surround sound movie theatre style speaker set, they will put the power back into your PowerPoint presentations.

Read [OhGizmo]

Imagine you’re at work and your sitting in your tiny cubicle along with hundreds of others. Each time you pick up the phone or turn on the TV or anytime you participate in communication which would be broadcast between two or more people, you have the feeling someone is watching over your shoulder. Say hello to the FCC. Well maybe I exaggerated a bit, but it probably isn’t too far off. In a “brilliant” new move by Washington, all on-air broadcast companies are being requested to send over any tapes that might have expletives in them. This ranges from a word slipping out, to an angry fan telling the ref what he thinks. According to Reuters.com, the FCC has asked for 30 tapes ranging from sports to news events.

So why does this matter to people like you, or even people like me? Well it seems that it is just another example of our government doing exactly what it promises we are not turning into…a government who controls more then it should. If you ask me, this country has enough to worry about, let the angry fans tell the ref what they think and let me hear it, or better yet let the ref tell the angry fan just what he thinks.

Or you know what, let those @#$%^@#  piece of !”:$ ^*%#!~ ;’>@  @$#$%——-This portion of the story has been blocked the FCC. Say it ain’t so.

Read [Reuters]

Product: Samsung t609 by T-Mobile
Price: $149.99
Rating: Average - 6.825/10.0
Pros: Battery life, bright screen, speaker phone, comfortable, size, fun features, and the microSD card slot.
Cons: Decent reception, monochrome exterior screen, and slow download speeds.
Overall: Average phone with standard features. However with its small size, steady performance, and summer style’n you will be satisfied if you are stuck with it for a two year contract.

Design - 7.0 - Tell you what folks, it may be a basic looking phone according to today’s standards, but I was happy with the size and the way it felt. Nowadays companies go crazy over outdoing the rest, when really all they need to do is try to design a phone that is comfortable for the user; One that will look pleasant to the eye and feel good in the hand. The t609 has done both. With the amount of time I used it, I was more satisfied with it than my other phone. For the men, it fits great in your pocket, and for the ladies throw it in your purse and you’ll have extra room for everything…plus the kitchen sink, should you choose to bring it. The keypad is spaced out well with dedicated call and end buttons as well as right and left soft-keys, a 5 ways navigational pad, and a clear button. The * button doubles as the activation for voice commands while the # buttons mutes the speaker. The left side has volume up and down keys and the headphone jack. The right side has a dedicated camera button and the microSD slot.

Continue reading about the whole host of features in this small phone and the overall experience.

Features - 7.0 - The quad band world phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) handset has messaging with AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, and ICQ, a decent 1.3 Megapixel camera, an OK video camera, a MP3 player that makes good use of the microSD card slot, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, voice-activation, and a wireless address book back-up. The great thing about the t609 are the amount of features packed into it. With a good camera and decent video (albeit a short amount of recording time) you can take a pic, record your voice, type a message, and send it to your friend. So take a picture of their bad side, tell them how they look, and then type it in…just in case they didn’t get the message the first time.

The Experience - 6.5 - Nothing extraordinary, If you’re looking for a phone that is usable and workable…especially for those of you tied to long contracts, you will not be disappointed. It is a reliable phone that will last a long time (assuming you treat it the right way). The calls are perfectly clear (assuming your area has a strong signal). When the signal faded, instead of dropping the call I heard static and the call cut in and out.

Folks, if you’re looking for a phone that will not only do the trick but keep you happy for your those lengthy two year contracts, then I would say the Samsung t609 from T-Mobile is right for you. Packed with the features you would want your teenage kids to have, or even your significant other. The sparkling white color and comfortable size looks great on any day at the beach or picnic in the park. With a strong reception and average download speed you’ll be jammin to the sounds of summer with your new Sean Paul Ring tone. Remember It maybe dressed for the beach but it’s no swim partner.

Editors Note: The categories were weighted in the following manner to reflect the importance of some features over others (in our humble opinion). Design 35%, Features 30%, and Experience 35%.

It’s happened to all of us, either you’re on a business trip or you took your family out for a vacation. Within the first couple hours of arrival it’s either your children or your inner child saying..“I’m bored, when are we going to do something?” Well Fairmont Hotels and Resorts finally have an answer. After teaming up with Fuji, HP, and Sony you no longer have to look for something to keep you occupied. How about a brand new digital camera for the weekend, simply take your pics hand the hotel staff the camera once your finished, and walla! The staff puts your pictures on a CD for you to take home. What’s that, already got a camera? You hotshot! Okay, how about the new and highly popular Sony PSP. Go ahead, rip it up with Tony Hawk or bust your brain with an intense game of Lemmings. Whatever your poison, you’re sure to get your fill at the next Fairmont Hotel. So the next time you check in and are once again disappointed by the high cost of bottled water…just remember a PSP or digital camera is only a hotel away.

*Fairmont Hotels are not responsible for giving you free water…stop being so freaking cheap.

read [NYTimes.com]

Is your job driving your crazy, your boss not seeing your full potential, do you always have a case of the Monday’s… even on Friday’s? If this is you then the mundane work-world has sucked out any self expression that might come with the individuality and love of what used to be an exciting job. Is there a remedy? Well if your as into tech as we are then you’ve already got your fix. Thanks to ThinkGeek.com and their new line of “Ties Suck” you can bring self expression back into your work life. With a 100% silk tie covered in binary code you’ll make a statement anywhere you go. In the elevator strike up some convo with the IT guys at work. You never know where the ThinkGeek tie will take you. Great as a conversation starter anywhere it says look at me, I hate my job but I’m still an individual.

Read [Popgadget]

Google: verb.
Definition: to search for information about a specific person through the Google search engine.
Example: She googled her high school boyfriends.
Usage: Googling, noun.

The term Google has become synonymous with ‘searching’ the internet for various things. So much so that Google is afraid it is losing its brand. To add to Google’s fears, Merriam Websters Collegiate Dictionary plans to add the popular word to its 11th edition. It will join the other popular brands such as; Coke, Xerox, and Kleenex as the most used words in the world. Is this the end of the Google power brand? I don’t really think so because with its usage increasing and its increase in products they need not worry. Until the word changes its meaning completely Google will be safe. The positive side to all of this is that Merriam Webster continues to prove how the influence of technology on the people of this world is so strong that it creates a demand for new words.

Read [AMCP]

Often times we reminisce the good old days, when Spongebob was just a household cleaner and when slice bread was brand new. Okay so maybe I’m going back a little to far. In the very fashion of Gadgetell and well in my taste for goofy products this one is sure to either strike your fancy or make you wish I crawled back into the hole I came from. Thanks to Bluetooth and cool headsets available to us, we no longer have to hold our phone to our ears. This makes things both more comfortable and for those neurotic people, may even protect you from harmful radiation. We have reviewed and spoken about numerous headset attachments for today’s phones, however this is a first for Gadgetell.

The P-phone and the Penelope from Hulger, a company who resides from Britain, has created an analog style phone piece. It looks just like a corded phone (if you don’t know what that is…go look up record player as well). With its bulbousy shape and death cord that used to be attached to it reminds me of those old times when mother tried stretching the phone across two rooms so that the base was peeling off the wall and the cord was taught like a tightrope at the circus. Ah, those were the good ol’days, but as good as they might have been new innovations have wiped any need for this style of phone. But if you still churn your own butter and light wax candles then maybe the P-phone and the Penelope by Hulgar is for you. And for those who churn their own butter, but can’t live without light bulbs fear not because both the P-phone and Penelope are offered in Bluetooth.

Read [Popgadget]

Let’s face it, our lives are busy. Some of us need reminders to remind us to check our calender who’s sole purpose is to remind us of a meeting or an important phone call we should make—so it comes as no surprise that future technological concepts are being created to make our lives easier, faster, and maybe more convenient.

From the moment we wake up technology is in our face. Today, you can have an alarm clock that will wake you up according to your favorite scents and sounds. How about a toothbrush that you just turn on and stick in your mouth, the brushing is all done for you, and if you’re really letting tech take over the morning rituals you might even have a heated towel rack.

My Gadgetell friends if this sounds like you we have some wishful thinking for you. According to the 2005 Nespresso Design contest for future innovations in coffee distribution you may soon be able to equip your next car with its very own espresso machine, which of course, doubles as an arm rest. The idea is that you will be able to have your very own custom coffee creations while your cruising down the coast. So, dare to be dreamers because the next time you realize their must be a faster way to enjoy your life well, its only a thought process away from reality.

Read [Gizmag]