Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Do you eat, breath, and sleep technology? Are there any gadgets you don’t own?  Is your hero Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Sergey Brin, or some combination of the three? If you answered yes to any of these questions and can be in New York from October 12-15, 2006 then you have a chance to become a VIP at this year’s Digital Experience.

To enter for one of four VIP tickets to Digital Life 2006 NY at the Javits Center, send a photo to gadgetell @ gmail . com SHOWING ALL THE GADGETS YOU OWN. Only one submission per person is allowed. Submissions will be accepted until 11:59pm on October 9, 2006. At that time we will post the winning images and supply Digital Experience with your email address (they will then email you eTickets so make sure your address is valid).

Click on to see what the VIP package include besides free entrance into all days of the event…

• VIP Day takes places on Thursday, October 12 (9:00am - 4:00pm) and the VIP ticket-holders are entitled to an exclusive tour of the show floor, special sponsor product unveilings prior to the public opening as well as access to the following keynote addresses...


• 10:00 AM - The Beauty and Power of Windows Vista - Mike Sievert, Microsoft corporate vice president and head of the Windows Vista marketing team, will provide an in-depth look at the revolutionary and much-anticipated new Windows operating system and the impact it will have on consumers.


• 11:30 AM - HD World: The Fusion of Entertainment and Electronics - Stan Glasgow, President and COO of Sony Electronics Inc., will demonstrate how high-definition audio and video technologies are continuing to transform our entertainment experience.

Back at Pepcom Digital Experience, we got a good hands on with Shure’s new E Series Sound Isolating Earphones.  They look like any old pair of earbuds, but oh, they’re so much more.  The E500PTH has “Triple Hi-Definition Drivers,” meaning 1 tweeter and 2 woofers, and what the company is calling “Push-To-Hear Control,” which allows you to adjust the level of outside noise you hear.  It utilizes the VoicePort which is essentially a microphone that lets you hear things around you while you’re enjoying the isolation of the headphones.  If you’re familiar with Shure’s premium products, you already know that these are quite expensive.  They’re now available at your favorite electronics store for $549.

Read [Shure]

What The Future Holds, a column that introduces tomorrow technology and trends today, is written every Thursday. This week’s submission was written jointly by Adam Berger and Mickey Katz.

It happens every four years and it’s bigger then your anniversary, kids birthday, and even your worth missing the next month of work. Yeah so what you’ll get fired, lose your wife and your kids will disown you but at least you wont miss Ronaldo, Zidane, or Ronaldinho. Ladies and gentlemen the 2006 World Cup used to be an excuse to miss out on all of the real important things in life. Alas, call your kids take your wife out and show up to work on Monday in your finest suit, because thanks to Texas Instruments, your mobile phone and your cellphone provider you can watch every goal on your personal devices.

Prior to Pepcom’s Digital Experience we had the opportunity to sit down with Yoram Solomon, James Hymel, and Tracy Wright from Texas Instruments. They were showcasing DVB-H (digital video broadcast for handheld devices), the next wave of video content delivered directly to your cellphone, Smartphone, or other mobile device. The DVB-H chip is much smaller than a dime and (in my non-technical opinion) can easily fit onto the circuit board of most current handsets. The cost of the component is a mere $10 (or less in large quantities). The chip enables the delivery of video broadcasts, audio broadcasts (Sirius and XM), terrestrial radio, and data (i.e. a channel program guide, much like your home TV).

Read on to learn how this technology is different than current cellphone video offerings, what effect it will have on your battery life, and why you need it.

You may ask what makes this different than Verizon’s V-Cast or another cellphone video service? Broadcasting reduces the costs to the customer as well as to the provider and is available for all phones (mid to high level phones or 60% of available handsets).

I know, “This won’t work because my phone battery already dies on me, and now I’m adding video,” not true. The video or audio broadcast itself will not decrease your battery life, the LCD backlight is the real culprit. So whether you are watching streaming video or downloaded clips the battery faces the same issue. Though the Nokia N92 currently can deliver > 4 hour of battery while running constant video. And the audio? Well that does not change; if the speaker is on or if a Bluetooth headset is connected it uses the same power consumption.

The key is for the video broadcast to be on the same schedule as your home TV, so you can go from the couch, to the car, to the bleachers, and back to your home all on the same channel and program. Additionally, by around 2010 with the increase of memory on phones, you now have a mobile TiVo allowing you to view live content, record content, remotely set programs to record, and watch video recorded on your home DVR on your phone.

Don’t miss your American wannabe turn into the next American Idol because of Dinner plans, or don’t miss pinning the tail on the donkey at your kids’ party because you’re checking the stocks on CNN money. As the saying goes your free as the wind blows just as long as you’ve got one of tech’s next best gets later this year in select cities and nationwide in 2007.

Here is a little peep show of the Samsung Q1, ultra-mobile PC. As we previously said our hands on time at Digital Experience was limited but still enough to offer a brief overview. The device is feature rich. Between the large touch screen to the processing specs to the OS, the Q1 can do what you need. There is an onscreen thumb keyboard as well as handwriting recognition and an onscreen QWERTY keypad for use with the stylus. The main issue is where the unit fits in amongst thin and light 12-13” laptops, PDAs Smartphones, the Sidekick, Sony’s UX, and other mini PCs. The Q1 won’t come close to fitting in a pocket nor in many pocketbooks. Heavy users have been offering nothing but accolades (besides the 3.5 hour battery life) for the Q1 and claim that they will never use a laptop again. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Check out the peep show.