Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Let’s say for whatever reason, you need some cash and have some iPods you are hoarding in case the economy crashes and they are used as currency.  As an economist (in my free time) I can tell you that day isn’t coming - at least the part about using iPods as currency - and it is time to get rid of them.  One easy way: NextWorth.

Find out how by clicking to follow the story.

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Sections: Audio, Portable Audio, Web, Websites

  This is where we call out the tech moves that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin’ crack.  This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity.  Here is what caught my eye this week:

Follow to see me call out:

• LG and its ridiculously square phone
• AT&T thinks Android is on crack
• Sprint thinks we want to watch football (American) on our phones.
• Moto wants to be on crack
• and our own Natesh who finds more than his share of obscure gadgetry

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While on a quick shopping trip to Staples to replenish ink for my printer (which apparently is filled with gold at the prices they charge) I was handed a sheet of paper listing some trade-in discounts for a myriad of products.  From routers to printers to laptops, the trade-in value was significant, enough to make me think, “Hey I’ve got an old router somewhere.“

Why is Staples hoarding old tech gadgetry?  Do they just reprice them and sell as new or is something else going on here?  Follow to find out.

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We have recently seen the Motorola AURA in all its expensive glory, and now there seems to be another twist in the story.  The twist is thankfully just in the rumor stage, and although we are not sure it is believable, it kind of sounds like it would be something that Moto would do with a luxury handset.

The story goes that a “source close to the company” has leaked some information stating that any AURA owners will not be able to resell the phone on eBay.  In fact, the source has stated that anyone who buys an AURA will have to “sign into a contract that states they can’t sell it on eBay.”  Plenty more after the break.

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A computer that did little but browse the web and do some mundane tasks?  That will never work.  Back in 2000, 3Com (remember them?) came out with the computer for people who didn’t want a full-fledged computer.  The 3Com Ergo Audrey was the device and it never stood a chance.

Take a look at this piece of engineering.  The Audrey had a touch screen, ran its own OS and could sync to Palm Pilots.  It even had an IR keyboard so you could type e-mails or URLs easily. 

Who was the target audience?  Where was this computer intended to go?  Find out more after the break.

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Sources have revealed to the Wall Street Journal that Yahoo! will announce layoffs when they reveal their quarterly earnings tomorrow.  The exact number of jobs affected isn’t know but is estimated to be at least 1,000.  The move isn’t much of a surprise, however.  Last month they hired a consulting firm to help them streamline their operations.

The company, which once boasted the top search engine on the net, has been struggling as of late.  Its shares have fallen 32% over the past month, its deal with Google was put on hold due to an FTC investigation, and earlier this year they rejected a takeover bid by Microsoft.  Shares entered the week at $12.90 after hitting a 5-year low of $11.37 last week.  Microsoft takeover bid was for $33 a share.

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Sections: Web, Web 2.0, Websites

StumbleUpon is trying something different these days.  One of the easiest ways to use StumbleUpon was by downloading and installing their toolbar.  Now, you will be able to use StumbleUpon without a download and you won’t even need to register with StumbleUpon thanks to some new features StumbleUpon will be rolling out.

Their website was incredibly hot for a short while to the point where eBay bought them.  The honeymoon’s over and eBay is trying to get rid of them.  StumbleUpon’s new features could be a method to drive the sale price up since eBay wants to recoup its $75 million purchase price (and probably would like a little profit).

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Sections: Web, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Websites

Millions of disgruntled Facebook users are calling for a boycott. The reason is the popular social networking site’s new design, which changed user profiles from an all in one page to a tabbed interface.

Several Facebook groups have sprung up to protest the change. One, called “1,000,000 Against the New Facebook Layout,” has nearly 3 million members, while two others, “Petition Against the New Facebook” and “I Hate The New Facebook” have over a million members each.  Even though it’s extremely likely that the memberships of all three groups overlap, the numbers are still impressive.

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Sections: Web, Web 2.0, Websites

It appears the honeymoon is over. Purchased just a little over a year ago for about $75 million (yep, million), mega-giant eBay is already looking to sell off the recommendation site StumbleUpon.

The function of the StumbleUpon site is to look at Web sites that people have hit and then make recommendations based on those visits for other sites or videos that they might also like. According to ComScore, last July they brought in 4.4 million visitors and 31 million page views; while just one year later, their numbers dwindled down to 1.3 million visitors and 25 million page views. This is even with 6 million registered users. Not too much stumbling onto their site apparently.

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Sections: Computers, Networking, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Web, Downloads, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Web Browsers, Websites, Online Music/Video

Let’s hope that eBay user jdavidson31 from Ontario Canada has plenty of cash lying around because as of yesterday evening he is the proud owner of a still unreleased BlackBerry Javelin. Of course, I use the word “proud” with a little sarcasm, because he can also be considered crazy because he

paid

bid a whopping $17,100 for that privilege.

Aside from the fact that I would have a hard time paying even $1,000 for a cell phone, I would say that $17,100 cell phone better come fully loaded with a 24/7 support staff and more. The sad part is that he certainly did not get that, in fact he did not even get free shipping. Of course, if you are willing to pay that much for a BlackBerry I guess a few extra bucks for shipping will not be missed.

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Sections: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile, Web