Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

This is one of those concepts/ideas/products that would work great in the perfect world and if people used it right, would be really cool.  However this is the real world, and despite the undoubted merit in the idea behind this concept, I’m not sure it would work in the “real” world.  Nevertheless I may be wrong and we may soon see these adorning streets everywhere: I am willing to be proven wrong.  But what is it?  This is the Boombench and it is pretty much what it sounds like.

Pretend for a second that you haven’t just looked at the picture, and imaging a modern, sleek minimalistic bench combined with a 80s/90s.  Now open your eyes and see the epitome of minimalistic-cum-retro design: the aforementioned Boombench.  Keep reading for more.

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RadioShack’s Black Friday ad is now out and here’s what they are offering to those brave folks willing to wait in line for the 6AM opening:

• Canon PIXMA MX300 Office All-in-One Printer (Requires Purchase of EX-Z9 Camera) - Free after $50.00 MIR.
• Memorex MCC228 HD Digital Camcorder- $79.99 (regularly $119.99)
• TDK DVD+R Discs (50-Pack) - $7.99 (regularly $27.99)
• TDK DVD-R (50-Pack) - $7.99 (regularly $27.99)
• Casio EX-Z9 8.1MP Digital Camera Bundle- $99.99 (regularly $139.99)

Keep reading to see the entire list.

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Sections: Audio, Video, Computers, Gadgets / Other, Imaging, Web

HTC, along with Russian carrier Scartel have just unveiled the world’s first integrated GSM/WiMAX handset—the HTC Max 4G.  The new handset has taken plenty of design cues from the HTC Touch HD and has a solid feature set.  To begin with, the Max 4G has built-in support for WiMax, and it takes advantage of that support.  When calls are made in-network, they are automatically switched over to the WiMax network and handled as a VoIP call.

Other features of the Max 4G include a 3.8-inch touchscreen display with an 800 x 480 resolution, GPS, WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth, 8GB of built-in flash memory, an accelerometer, a 5-megapixel camera with a second VGA quality camera on the front, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an FM radio.  Additionally it will be running Windows Mobile 6.1 and powered by a 528 MHz Qualcomm ESM7206A processor.

As of now a release date has not been announced, of course, this one is not destined for the US market anytime soon, so no sense in holding your breath.

Keep reading to check out the full press release…

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Samsung recently announced their successor to the P2 PMP, the P3.  The P3 is set to be formally introduced at CES 2009, but they have announced a few details to keep some of their fans excited for the new device.  It is similar to the P2, but does bear several differences.

First, the device measures out at 102mm x 52.7mm x 9.9mm and weighs 85g.  It also comes with a 3-inch WQVGA screen with 480 x 272 resolution.  A nice thing about the P3 is that you will most likely to find the model that fits your needs because it comes in models such as 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and all the way up to 32GB.  So, whether you just need a small storage device, you can get the 4GB model, or if you have a lot of media, you can get the 32GB.  Continued after the break.

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Recently, Holux has added a new GPS to their mix of GPSmiles - the new one being the GPSmile 62.  This new GPS comes loaded with many cool features making it a high-end GPS. 

It comes with a 5 inch WQVGA touch screen, with 16:9 aspect ratio.  In addition, it can act like a media player because you can also play videos and listen to some music on the go.  The video component would be especially nice coupled with its 5-inch screen.  Find out more features after hitting that “More” link below.

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So RIM said they couldn’t put together a BlackBerry Flip with a full QWERTY keyboard.  LG said, “We can.” 

Take a look at the LG Lotus that will be available on the Sprint network.  It’s a flip phone with a full QWERTY keyboard and an odd square form factor. 

What else does it do outside of being a texting machine?  The Lotus comes with GPS navigation, music player (which works with the Sprint Music Store), Bluetooth, and a 2.0MP camera that also does video.  LG claims over 5 hours of talk time and the phone weighs in at 3.7 ounces.

You can pick one up in black or purple at $149.99 if you grab it alongside a

ball and chain

two year contract. 

Flashy product page: [LG Lotus]

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Fun stats, right?  According to XLINK, it is accurate and 20% of US households are doing just that by the end of this year, jumping off the landline bandwagon.  But is going all cell going to work for your family?  XLINK happens to make a product that it believes will make the transition super-easy.

Stop carrying around your cell phone

Leave it charging!  With XLINK BT, you can connect your cell phone via Bluetooth to your home phone (even without a landline).  A call comes in and is automatically transferred to your house phone via bluetooth.  Your house phone rings just like before you went all high-tech and ditched the landline.  Simple right?  It gets better.

Quick, get a kid

The XLINK BT can add up to 3 cell phones to the system, all linking up Bluetooth style.  So you, the Mrs. and you 1.5 kids can all be connected to the home phones.  The housephone will ring in 3 different sounds so you can tell if that call is worth getting up for or if you should just let it go to voicemail.  And speaking of voicemail, XLINK says their product behaves just like your cell phone, so you can check voicemail from it as well.

The XLINK BT sells for $69.99 (though, their website says $99.99) and the company offers one that bundles with your landline (if you’ve held off cutting it off) for $79.99 (though their website says $109.99). 

Product page [XLINK]

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Today, Navigon has announced that two of their newest GPSs, the 5100 max and the 2090S, will be available exclusively through RadioShack.  Let’s take a look at what kind of GPSs these are and what features they include. 

First off, let’s begin with the Navigon 5100 max.  One of the main features in this GPS is that it comes with Navigon’s FreshMaps service.  This service provides regular map updates over the course of two years. 

Continued after the break.

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Motorola has announced that its MOTOZINE ZN5 will be available via T-Mobile for $99 with a two-year service agreement.  The MOTOZINE was first announced this past June.

At first blush, the MOTOZINE looks like a very simple phone.  Its secret—a 5 MP camera packing lots of goodies, including some Kodak technology, Xenon flash, auto-focus, and a multi-shot mode.  It also has special capture and edit modes (like a panorama mode).  Photos can uploaded to photo sites directly from the phone via Wi-Fi, printed via Bluetooth or USB, or sent out via MMS.

The design of the phone is clean and the screen size is decent relative to the size of the keypad.  The phone is lacking a QWERTY keyboard, though this is not necessarily a negative.  Why use words when you can say it with a picture?

Check out the phone [Moto ZN5]

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Today we’ve got a guest post by Scott McGrath.  Scott has worked in the IT industry as a consultant and Sysadmin for 12 years, and has enjoyed communications gadgets since he got his Fisher Price telephone at 2 years of age.  Like what he said?  Hate what he said?  Go over to Scott’s blog at http://www.scamwagon.com and let him know.

Believe it or not, I’m in the market for a cordless phone.  Before you laugh, there’s actually plenty of reasons I maintain a land line, not the least of which is the fact that I have poor cell coverage at my home, and not the most of which is the fact that cellular usually can not hold a candle to the real deal PSTN or good VoIP line, in terms of quality.  Cordless phones still have life since some can pair to your cell phone so you don’t have to rush to find that tiny handheld when it rings.  If you’re a Skype user, you can be untethered with some cordless phones.

Continued after the break.

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