Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Considering the hype about 3G networks, particularly surrounding the iPhone, it’s surprising to hear about a push for 4G that is picking up speed.  The gain is largely due to the implementation of VoIP.  With 300,000 Vo4G subscribers already, it’s moving in the right direction.

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol and is used (frequently in conjunction with existing public switched telephone networks) for the delivery of voice communications over IP networks.  This includes both internet and intranet.

Being called Vo4G or VoIP 4G, the transition to a full packet-switched system is happening slowly already.  With technologies like LTE and WiMAX already optimizing for Vo4G, the transition is moving forward.  The two will be the first to be fully Vo4G.  But potential issues such as the fact that WiMAX does not bother itself with speech-based traffic Quality of Service may slow progress.

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With mobile and wireless technologies growing and the public asking for more the eventual transition to ultra wide-band (UWB) seemed obvious.  Recent setbacks may hinder UWB from becoming a standard anytime soon.

UWB is technology that allows for the wireless connection of a variety of devices.  Everything from wireless monitors to wireless communication between digital cameras and printers, even transferring data from digital camcorders can be done.  It is made possible due to the high data transfer rates capable with UWB.

UWB chip makers like Intel, Focus Semiconductor, and WiQuest have either shut their doors or stopped their programs in 2008.  A total of 4 companies stopped manufacturing chips for some reason or another.

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Mmmm, printers.  Many may ask, “How exciting can a printer be?  As long as it prints well, inks cheap, and it lasts awhile, what else is there?”  They haven’t seen the new line of printers from Konica Minolta.

The new Magicolor 1600 series of color laser printers from Konica Minolta promises some great features for both the high-quality print market as well as the home office.  With 4 new printers in the series there is something for everyone.  Don’t expect flashy with tons of bells and whistles, though.  These printers are serious about printing, but feel no need to be other office products as well.

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With the New Year in full swing and CES having wrapped up, the gadget industry is exploding with new items.  This one comes from Acer in the form of a new 23-inch widescreen monitor aimed at home computer users.  This release is shortly after Acer released two new LCD monitors geared for business users.

The new Acer H233H 23-inch widescreen high-definition LCD display offers some nice features at an affordable price.  Standout features include HD support with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 1920x1080 resolution and two stereo speakers.  The display also features SensorTouch technology, a touch-sensing solution.

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With CES less than a week over, the tech world still seems to be pushing releases.  Maybe in response to the poor holiday sales the industry saw, maybe not.  But one thing is for sure, Acer’s new TravelMates hit the streets with some strong features for both the average home user as well as the business user.

Acer’s new TravelMate 6593 and TravelMate 6493 have a large variety of options available.  Both come with Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology as well as a modest integrated Intel 3D graphics accelerator.  Additionally, the TravelMate 6493 has a 14.1-inch screen while the TravelMate 6593 has a 15.1-inch screen.  Both offer the Acer GridVista for displaying up to 8 display windows on one screen simultaneously.

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When President Elect Barack Obama takes office on the 20th, the most influential BlackBerry user on the planet right now will have to get rid of his Blackberry.  The reason for this is that due to certain federal regulations the new president must dispose of any potentially compromised communication and tracking devices.  That includes certain GPS chip enabled devices, cell phones, PDAs, and the like.

The most obvious course of action is to simply shred these devices at Inauguration time to ensure that they will never again work properly.  And to mark this historic event, Maryland-based data destructors DataKillers has offered to shred Obama’s BlackBerry for free.

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Just days after CES 2009 wrapped up in Vegas, Lenovo hits the streets with an entirely new set of three desktop PCs.  These PCs are aimed at power and affordability for the general user and hard-core techy.  Gamers will appreciate a few of the additions in the K series especially.

Lenovo has unveiled two new desktop models in their IdeaCentre K series.  Both the IdeaCentre K220 and K230 are built for the higher end PC user.  Both models come complete with options for faster Core 2 Quad chips as well more storage (up to 1TB), Blu-ray and GeForce 9300M GE integrated video capable of full HD decoding.  Key differences between the two are the K220 comes offered with a webcam and face recognition but only up to 4 gigs of memory, while the K230 swaps the webcam option for up to 8 gigs of memory.

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Monster, a leading manufacturer of cables and surge protection products, has teamed up with HP to bring you a line of co-branded products to, according to Monster, connect everything to everything.  The new line of products, labeled HP Monster, is being unleashed at CES 2009 in Vegas.

With storage increasing on electronic devices and a higher demand for data transfer speeds, part of the goal of these products involves new cables to provide more speed for your newer devices when transferring large amounts of data.  The list of cable categories is as follows: DisplayPort Monitor Cables, Advanced Cables for HDMI, Ethernet Cables, USB Cables, FireWire Cables, and DVI Monitor Cables.  According to claims, these new cables are set to outperform even the highest industry standards.

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In a media driven world, finding a way to organize and manage that media on your computer can be a pain.  For someone who has over 3,500 songs alone, it can be a nightmare if you start adding video and other media.  Twonky is here to save the day, hopefully.

Twonky is a media management software that, at first glance, looks much like any other media player.  But upon further inspection and reading, this software is not like other media players at all.

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Unveiled at CES 2009 in Las Vegas was a powerhouse tech item from Powermat.  Tired of always needing to be near the end of your cord to charge that portable device in your pocket or your office?  Powermat’s solution is a wireless charger for portable electronic devices.

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