Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Levi’s is crossing a barrier that has never before been breeched. They are creating an all-new meaning to the words “fashion technology”. Keeping up with the youthfulness of their main consumers, the Levi’s brand has decided to introduce a fashionable, steel mobile phone.

The Levi’s phone embraces current technology; the user can connect to others, play music, and exchange pictures and videos.

Even the phone is in high fashion; the design is compact in a sturdy riveted steel casing. It is offered in metallic silver, black and brown copper. Stylish feminine “shiny silver” and “shiny sand” editiopns, featuring a “mirror” screen have also been created for the fashion forward.

It will be in select stores all throughout Europe in September.

Read [Levi]

Addictive. Invasive. Wonderful. Essential. And now: a threat to the French government.

French government defense experts have warned the use of BlackBerrys in France’s corridor of power to avoid snooping by the U.S. government intelligence agencies. The French swears that it’s not a lack of trust that have caused this alarm, but the reality of an economic war that is in play.

Emails sent through “Le BlackBerry” have to pass through servers in the United States and Britain and France fears that the system is vulnerable to foul play. RIM, the company who makes BlackBerrys, however, denies it. BlackBerrys pose a “problem with the protection of information” and “the risks of interception are real” says Alain Julliet, who is over economic intelligence for the government, to Le Monde, the French newspaper who broke the story.

In all actuality, emails sent through BlackBerry are more heavily encrypted than online banking sites and cannot be read by NSA or any other organizations, says Research In Motion.

Read [AP]

AT&T might have something big here. They have recently launched AT&T Video Share, the first and only service(so far) in the U.S. that allows the user to share live video over their wireless devices while participating in a voice call.

As of right now, this hot feature is available in Atlanta, Dallas and San Antonio. Expansion to the rest of technology-hungry America will begin in late July. The service works only through AT&T 3G wireless network.

AT&T has apparently done their research for customer interest in a feature like Video Share, including sharing special moments and occasions, the feeling of “being there”, and getting/receiving advice. According to AT&T, Video Share enables one-way, live streaming video feeds, which can be seen by both users while they are holding a two-way conversation.

Via[AT&T Video Share]

Yahoo just announced the launch of its second release of Go For Mobile. The newest edition to YahooMobile goes download-able on Friday, June 22nd.

Yahoo will be making big waves with this release, which will be available for download in 13 countries: France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, Thailand and Vietnam. All countries will be privileged to enjoy the full localized beta versions.

Speaking of big waves, 2.0 will be featured in over 200 phones in the US alone, to be expanded to over 400 by the end of the year.

But what is so special about version 2.0? According to Yahoo, the feature comes with a revolutionary design, complete with increased speed, better email, more powerful maps, GPS integration (on select devices), easier navigation and better mobile search results.

Yahoo will also be announcing a new partnership with six major mobile operators across Asia to distribute Yahoo! oneSEARCH. Yahoo hopes to reach 100 million subscribers in the world’s fastest growing mobile market.

Read [Yahoo! Mobile]

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s SmartBunny to the rescue! This new gadget by Nabaztag - besides being adorably cute - is actually very impressive. According to HGTV, the little guy can read your e-mail, report on the weather, get stock quotes, pull RSS feeds, tell you the time and even teach you tai chi! While moving his ears, playing music, whistling and talking, his small body displays a dazzling light show. For $150 this is a great asset to any PC. The makers claim that he’ll keep you organized and has his own random things that he’ll do or say; it’s easily configured and customized through a web browser. Your best bet to buying a SmartBunny is online at Nazbaztag  or via ThinkGeek/Best Buy. As they say there at Nabaztag, “SmartBunny is like a fine wine; he’ll get you drunk (on opportunities).”

Product page [Nazbaztag]

Anaheim, California - A guy raises his eyes to the heavens in a silent thank you. He grabs his new purchase eagerly from the HDTV dealer and - after making sure the gift is secure in his hands - sprints off down the street. Knowing, just knowing, that the dealer made a mistake.  No HDTV costs less than $600… do they?

Ladies and gentlemen, yes, they do…

ViewSonic Corp. has just introduced a beautiful LCD TV combined with an elegant, glossy design and premium high-definition. Accomadated with ATSC/NTSC tuners, the 35 series features the 26-inch N2635w, 32-inch N3235w, and 27-inch N3735w.  All three TVs include a 2D comb filter with motion adaptive de-interlacing for delivering consistent, high-quality digital images,  and are also equipped with SPDIF audio outputs to bolster the integrated 20-watt Dolby stereo speakers. And it doesn’t stop here: the features go on and on.

You can buy these feature rich HDTVs now with a estimated street value of $599, $699, $799 respectively; which will be sold only by authorized ViewSonic resellers, distributors, and mail order outlets.

Read [ViewSonic].