Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

With all the evolutions in communication, entertainment etc., transportation gets an innovative touch too. Volkswagen, according to reports, is designing an “adaptive sun visor”, which will recognize the precise location where sunlight is, and then lessening the width of your windshield to darken it. This could also lead to a more comfortable ride on sunny days but also a safer one. An electronic program is being designed to adapt to the movement of sunlight hitting your car as you take turns, move against curves or when the sun moves. Don’t be surprised as less and less people will opt for sunglasses while driving if/when this technology comes out. As usual, no launch date is known of or vehicle that will carry this tomorrow’s technology. Via [Engadget]

iPhone: the most hyped technology currently in the market, may look very simple to the common man due to it’s self-explanatory user interface. Nevertheless, the iPhone is quite a bit intricate. Actually so much that any geek could write a whole book about the hermetic dimensions of it. De facto, someone has!

Yeah, now there’s a book on iPhone, as if we couldn’t already tolerate enough of the publicity on blogs, news sites, and TV. The author, David Pogue, set on a quest to discover hidden features of the iPhone and publish them into a book called iPhone: The Missing Manual. He brilliantly categorized the topics, & added a well-organized index to offer simplicity for our non-geek friends.

If you would rather not prefer searching for interests by reading the whole book, take a look at the Guided Tour section at the beginning to have a quick overview of the features your new gadget holds. The overview gives you a good insight of what you can learn from this book to make your iPhone more convenient than it already is (kind of hard to believe). The added screenshots give a more vivid picture and help you a lot in understanding the underlying features that you will discover.

A few of the topics covered are how to configure e-mail accounts beyond the account sync feature already provided, how to fool around with the pop-up blocker, manage the web’s settings and understand the various plans offered by AT&T plus more! You can also learn tips for troubleshooting and about the maintenance required for your iPhone. Also, handy tips such as resetting, erasing data, and quitting applications etc. can be very helpful at times.

The book is yet to come out in print; however, you can certainly purchase a PDF version of the iPhone: The Missing Manual. . Although the PDF version will cost you a little more at $24.99, you get the benefit of hyperlinked items to bounce around the book instead of flipping pages and a printed copy is also delivered when available. The printed version is likely to come at the end of this month and at a price tage of $19.99.

Via [TechNewsWorld]

Everyday, more and more Europeans are turning to cellular phones instead of the primeval land-line technology. Analysys, an European telecommunication & IT firm, wrote a new report titled: The Acceleration of Fixed-Mobile Substitution in Western Europe: facts and figures. The report portrays the exponential rise of mobile phone users in European countries plus the evolution of pricing by operators.

The largest augment was seen in the Scandinavian country of Finland, where as much as 10% percent more calls turned cellular accounting to 74.6% total mobile usage. Moreover, Europe’s economic leader, Germany, also saw a rise of 6%. Albeit, the total still ended up small with 24.3%.

Despite the changes seen, the authors concluded that more calls weren’t being made but instead users were simply switching over. Let us know, do you have a landline or only a cellphone?

Via [TheRegister]

One of the leading international mobile companies have decided to open it’s first studio in India. The city was none other than the Silicon Valley of the south Asian nation, Bangalore. This partnership is the first in line of a series of planned associations with countries considered to be design hot-spots.

Nokia plans to design new innovative models for the increasing amount of cell-phone users in the 2nd most populated country. The company plans to work with Srishti School of Art, Design, and Technology to sell the created cell-phones worldwide. Nokia’s chief designer made the following statement in the press release:

“India is a dynamic and inspiring place for designers with its diverse mix of cultures, traditions and colour,” said Alastair Curtis, Nokia’s chief designer. “The new satellite studio will help us further develop our understanding of this vibrant country and to work more closely with its extremely talented designers.”

A Nokia spokeswoman also believes the republic is a good indicator with it’s emerging markets and an expanding economy which started early in the 90s. Additionally, the increasing popularity of all kinds of cell phones in India gives hope of for the increasing slope in sales. Moreover, Nokia also hopes to establish new trends in the market.

The Finnish company has targeted it’s next destination in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

Via [BBC]

By early 2008, Sony’s PS3 will see the day when it will be programmed to record TV shows for users of the 21st century. Warwick Light, the sales & marketing manager of Computer Entertainment New Zealand, gave out details to a website saying that Sony will keep transforming the abilities of the PS3 in order to meet the evolving entertainment demands of users.

“We’re also hoping next year – about the same time that Freeview launches its terrestrial broadcasting service – to release a digital tuner for the PS3, turning it into a programmable TV recorder,” said Light.

The Freeview services that Light mentioned are due to be released in March next year in New Zealand. The official announcement is anticipated by industry watchers to be given out this year at the Leipzig Games convention. Sony, previously, denied to comment on the matter claiming that they don’t wish to discuss about “rumors and speculations”. The report on which Sony declined to comment also claimed a price cut on the PS3 for the European market and the DVR capability for the PS3.

Via [GamesIndustry]

Apple recently released the iPhone Software 1.0.1 to fix the security problems & a few pesky bugs. iPhone users can now download the update via only iTunes, it will not appear in your computer’s Software Update, or the Apple Support site. When docked, iTunes will automatically check for update & pop up a window asking for permission to download the software. You can also manually add the update by the “Check for Updates” button or the menu choices in iTunes.

To check that the iPhone has been updated: Navigate to Settings on the iPhone/Click General/Click About. The version after applying this update will be “1.0.1 (1C25)”.

However, a warning for all those who have hacked their iPhones. You may need to restore your iPhone in order to obtain the update. Furthermore, “restoring from backup” may not necessarily mean iTunes will back-up all your date. You may lose your e-mail account settings, “Favorites”, SMS history, camera roll, WiFi networks & passwords, and notes. I’d advise a lot of time on your hands before you begin the procedure, and for the non-hackers—go download the software now!

Via [Macworld]

As an avid reader of tech news or not, everyone has heard the phrase “next-generation”. It means an evolution in technology, innovation in ideas, or simply an increased number at the end. This may apply to the subject of this article also, but this gadget truly disperses from it’s provenience. The Nav300, a recent release by Delphi Corp., blends the existing software technology from older sibling, the Nav200, plus latest innovations to enhance its GPS.

The Nav300 offers pre-packed maps of all 50 states of USA, neighbor Canada, and even Puerto Rico (a new feature). Plus, you also get NAVTEQ to offer you precise directions. To increase safety, Delphi plugs in TTS (Text-to-speech) technology so your little gadget speaks your routes out loud as you simply listen. Furthermore, it’s “My Favorites” features allows you to bookmark your most used locations, and even voice commands!

Moreover, Nav300 exhibits a “next-generation” feature by adding the Points of Interest. That allows you to quickly search dining, lodging and other leisure information via ZAGATSurvey guides. Now you can not only locate your favorite restaurants, hotels, attractions etc., but the ones that people love (this feature will arrive in September as a download).

Now you don’t even have to worry about traffic or the next big storm, since your little friend can tell you real-time traffic and weather reports through Clear Channel, using RDS-TMC (Radio Data System-Traffic Message Channel) technology. It ingeniously updates the report and even recommends alternate routes to avoid traffic. The RDS-TMC is a lifetime subscription with only one upfront payment.

To truly step up an era, Nav300 features entertainment technology ranging from movies, pictures and even a game! Music can be downloaded separately onto a SD card which is available in any tech store. The GPS machine can also be your MP3 player thanks to it’s long battery life you can take it out of the vehicle for quite a while. Delphi also added the blue-tooth feature so you can access the device for hands-free calling.

The Nav300 is currently is priced at $399. If you wish you can also add the feature of Lifetime traffic, but will cost you another $100.

The above picture alleges a Walmart ad claiming a price drop of $50 for the Xbox 360 premium. However, this is still a rumor as there are no confirmation from either Microsoft or Walmart saying that there truly is a price drop.

Asked to comment, a Microsoft spokesman said: “We have no announcements to make on pricing at this time. While price matters, content is king. And no other system is offering all the games people want to play this holiday at a better price than Xbox 360.”

The ad adds that the price drop will occur on August 8. There is no significance, that we know, to the 8/8 date, but there are a few big name games such as Madden ‘08 coming a few days later. We also don’t have information on whether or not the Core or Elite versions will get a price drop as well. 

Microsoft may be following Sony’s latest move to boost it’s sale since PS3 increased by 135%. The release of Halo 3 is also anticipated to bring a big boost for Microsoft. The NPD group claims that both 360 and PS3 trail Nintendo’s Wii. Wii outnumbered Xbox by a 2:1 ratio.

Via [HollywoodReporter] & [Gizmodo]

What else could you want? 5 satellite speakers, Subwoofer, or a price less than $300? Get it all with this stylish beauty! Go now and add to your collection, and even match them. The HT-AS720 5.1 is available in the classic black/silver/blue. However, the price is still not certain—it is just estimate.

Do not let you bring that down as the 650 watts power this little box delivers takes the audio quality to a next level. Also, the aesthetics are simply mind blowing! Ingeniously designed to accompany your Samsung Blu-ray player. You may play with the dual HDMI-CEC inputs or make use of the single HDMI output. Samsung has innovated this audio technology to match the cinematic video already offered from other products by Samsung!

Via [Gizmodo]

According to the founder of a company that offers Linux supported devices, Dell Inc. will soon have more lines of PCs supported by Linux. This will be achieved through removing Microsoft’s Windows from the computers. Dell, being the second largest PC maker only to be outnumber by HP, has decided to launch 3 PCs that will use Ubuntu Linux. The creator of Ubuntu, Mark Shuttleworth, was quoted saying,

Dell is happy with the demand it has seen for Linux PCs that were introduced in May.

He also said that this is not the full extent of what we will be seeing in the near future with the relationship of Dell and Linux.  Furthermore, Shuttleworth mentioned there are more additions in the “pipeline”. A Dell spokesperson, Anne Camden, didn’t wish to comment on that subject; however, she added that Dell was pleased with the consumer response to Linux PCs.

PCs with Linux software, believed to be the biggest competition of Windows, is believed to be have been bought most by open source software enthusiasts and even some first-time users by Dell. These open-source programs mean free computer programs that these enthusiasts modify, download and can also distribute. Shuttleworth noted that the 3 Ubuntu PC models were underway to meet the expectations of Dell and Canonical (His company created to support Ubuntu).

Companies similar to Canonical i.e. Red Hat Inc., Novell Inc., etc. gain profits through sales of Linux programs, and offering contracts to service their products.

Via [Sciam]