Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

According to research company NPD, Flip Video has broken the one million mark with their Flip Video Ultra camcorder. In an ever increasing market, Flip Video is now seeing competition from Kodak and DXG in the easy to use and easy to upload market.

“Flip’s simplicity makes it easy for anyone to capture and share their stories and to participate in the explosion of video-sharing on the web, and that has been a winning approach with consumers,” said Jonathan Kaplan, Chairperson and CEO of Pure Digital Technologies.

Of course, Flip was the first to make a splash in this market, so its safe to think they have gotten a nice head start in terms on sales. It should be interesting to see just how well they do with the new Flip Mino model, especially considering some of the competition is offering up to 720p quality.

Via [I4U News]

So, we saw the hands-on review come in for RIM’s first venture into the clamshell market and things continue to seem to be pretty promising, that is assuming the price is close to the rumored $49. Now to add a little more tease, the team over at CrackBerry have released a nice (and thorough) 9-minute video of the Kickstart 8220 in action.

Of course caught in the action is the heart of the handset, the OS 4.6, but they also demonstrate some other goodies to include the web browsing, trackball, display, and the large SureType keyboard. Initially, I was not all that excited to see RIM venture into the clameshell style market, but after seeing this in action and shown next to the Pearl, all I can say is that the Pearl had better watch out, because the Kickstart looks very nice.

Continue on to check out the video…

MORE »

Some more information has been leaking about in regards to the upcoming BlackBerry Kickstart and thankfully this time it was not another set of blurry images. Instead its some speculation based on just how much RIM is planning to charge for this little clamshell BlackBerry.

We have already heard that it was headed to T-Mobile and it looks like it will land there in September, but the latest information is calling for this to be a very affordable handset. Coming in at just $49.99 with a two-year agreement. Which assuming this is accurate would have it even less expensive than the popular and low-cost Palm Centro. At that price I think that RIM could have a winner on their hands.

Via [CrackBerry] Image [http://blog.berryshack.com/blog/content/new-leaked-blackberry-kickstart-pictures]

The BlackBerry Kickstart is what is aiming to be a highly anticipated BlackBerry, for some they are anxious to use one, and for some its just a curiosity factor as this will be RIM’s first venture into the world of flip-style phones.

One thing that is for sure is that, at least up until now, there has not been any shortage of live sightings of the Kickstart, and the latest leaked images even show off some comparison shots with not one, but two Bolds. Sadly while the comparison shot is decent, the rest are in the typical leaked image fashion—blurry. We do however also get a pretty good glimpse of the front exterior display, which in this case shows of a nice looking “analog” clock. Personally the Kickstart is a little taller than I expected.

As far as the specs, so far we have learned that it will feature a 240 x 320 internal display, a 160 x 128 external display, a 2-megapixel camera, a SureType keyboard, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and has quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support. It will also be running OS 4.6 and not the previously rumored 5.0. Keep reading to check out a few more images…

MORE »

While I am not 100% convinced that this is a nice looking flip, its certainly nice enough looking in the pictures to intrigue me enough to want to get my hands on one and play around a bit.

The Kickstart, also know as the BlackBerry 9100 will feature a SureType style keyboard, along with a trackball similar to what is found on the Pearl, as well as what appears to be a large internal display and an external display. Also contrary to previous reports that the Kickstart would not feature a camera, the images certainly show off what appears to be a lens. It is expected to be available with T-Mobile this September. Keep reading to check out a few more images of the BlackBerry Kickstart…

MORE »

Flip lovers sit tight – there’s a new Flip about to hit the market.  Silent and unassuming, the new camcorder came without much fanfare.  A B&H print catalog simply listed the new camcorder from Flip Video—the Mino Flip.

Currently there are not any available specifications about the new device.  The only thing known about it is that it has a list price of $179.99, comes in white or black and will be available on June 4.

It may be assumed that the new device is the company’s new flagship Flip as the high-end Ultra also started out at $179.99.  Improvements in design, features, and performance compared to earlier flip models seem like a safe bet, but actual details are still unavailable.

Via [Crave]

Creative has released its new Vado pocket video camera with a promise of improving on the current market of ultra-simple, thin and light video recorders. Weighing just 2.96-ounces and measuring 3.94 x 2.16 x 0.63-inches, you wouldn’t think that this video camera could give out good 640x480 quality video as well as pack in 2GB of built-in flash memory. And since it supports MPEG-4 video format, Creative has even thrown in a built-in video editing software which you can use to streamline your captured video before uploading them to YouTube, Photobucket and other video sharing sites.

Other features of this small and yet decently powerful video camera include; extremely high sensitivity to low light environment at 3.8V/lux-sec, 2-inch diagonal LCD display, 2x digital zoom, MPEG-4 AVI video format recording at 30fps and a built-in USB flexi connector which also serves as a charger. The Vado Pocket Video Cam offers support for Macs running OS X 10.4.11 or later and most modern PCs. The Vado Pocket Video Cam will be hitting the streets with a retail price of $100, and be available in pink or silver.

Product [Creative] Via [Electronista]

A recent purchase from a Best Buy of a PureDigital Flip camera offered a little more than you would expect from a standard retail version. This camera in particular was an open box item, and true to the word, you never know what to expect when you buy something that has already been used and returned.

In this case it was two stupid kids, who forgot (and when you read on its easy to understand why) to delete their footage before returning the camera. They left three videos which ran a total of about 40 minutes worth of footage on the camera of themselves smoking up. Hence the, making it easy to forget to delete the footage comment.

In what could possibly make the perfect anti-drug ad, or if at the very least should make you think twice about filming yourself doing something illegal, acts as nothing more than entertainment for the rest of us. While I was not able to sit through the nearly 13 minutes of footage uploaded by the new owner of the Flip, the first few minutes were quite entertaining, especially the parts when the camera was shaking due to the bass, not to mention their goofy attitudes. When will people learn not to film themselves doing illegal activities, I am sure this will make their parents more than proud. If you feel so inclined you can check out the videos over on Viddler.

Read [Skippy.net] Via [CrunchGear]

Well the recently surfaced clamshell styled BlackBerry Kickstart looks like it will be heading to T-Mobile. Originally labeled as being released sometime in 2008, it has since been un-officially narrowed down to September. Of course without any official announcement that is more than subject to change, and no pricing has been mentioned or even speculated.

Otherwise the Kickstart does not look as unappealing as it did originally, based on reports it will be anodized and the back battery cover will have either a soft rubberized finish or a low gloss finish. Other features include a “next-gen” SureType keyboard, 2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, a 3.5mm headset jack, and will be quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE. The Kickstart will be running OS version 4.6 and have a 240 x 320 internal display with a 160 x 128 external display, both of which will be 16-bit color LCD’s.

MORE »

It looks like the guys over at BGR have yet again unveiled a BlackBerry handset before RIM. With claims that “this isn’t fake, this isn’t a hoax,” they are showing off the latest BlackBerry handset, its a clamshell style that at least based on the available images has a nice large internal display, an external display, a SureType keypad and a trackball similar to that found on the Pearl. It also does not feature a camera.

A rumored release date has the Kickstart hitting the market sometime before the end of the year. Overall not a bad looking phone, time will tell just how accurate these reports are. Keep reading to check out a few more images…

MORE »