Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

New domains are always exciting, and if you can remember the most recent major one (.me) you will remember the vast amounts of money are usually spent as people bid for the best of the selection.  However .tel will not involve vast amounts of money or even much media coverage, because it is something different and a new way of looking at domain names.

These domains will not be about websites, but more of a way of sharing the information of the domain owner, and will not involve any building, hosting or managing.  They are effectively domains that tell you all about the domain owner, such as their business, their address and their phone number: a bit like an online contact card.  Keep reading after the break.

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Sections: Web

Trying new stuff sometimes just doesn’t work, especially when it is embedded into society and is in the hearts and minds of some of the most loyal people in the world (i.e. geeks!).  So why, oh why, would you want to redesign the keyboard?  The history, the tradition and the time learning to type on it are three things that no previous attempt have been able to overcome, but nevertheless μTRON have tried and the result is at no less than interesting.

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The idea of Reality TV with music has been around since American Idol where people auditioned to be put into the knock out competition where eventually the top prize was a juicy record contract and a nice cash prize.  This idea has now moved into the Internet domain (no pun intended) with YouTube, who is now taking auditions for their own Symphony Orchestra.

The idea of an organization having it’s own orchestra is nothing new (it all started with the BBC in 1930) but this is a good example of how the world is becoming more globalized and encouraging anyone to have a go.  The idea is that people will film themselves playing parts of the specially selected Symphony (which I will talk about later) to show their talent, as well as one to show their overall personality.

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Sections: Audio, Web, Websites

You may or may not have noticed that along with the previously mentioned “Blu,“ the letter “i” has become prefixed to every product known to man.  Obviously, Apple has all the right in the world to do that (as they really popularized it) but Phillips is making a name for themselves with this “prefix-stealing,“ after the goLITE Blu.  Get ready for the iPill (the intelligent pill). 
Most of us already know what camera pills are (pill sized cameras that you swallow), and this is really a development from that idea further into the world of medicine. The pill can essentially do three things: it can monitor acidity levels, it can release medicine, and it can record temperatures.  All of which contribute towards its main aim of analyzing problems and acting upon them. 

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Alltel has just added a new colored version of the HTC Touch to its lineup, the new shade is burgundy and it is currently available. Aside from the new color, the features and pricing both remain the same as the original gray coloring. The Touch offers TouchFLO, a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth and runs on Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional, it was also recently updated to add Rev. A EVDO support. The burgundy, or original gray Touch will set you back $129.99, which comes after a mix of instant and mail-in-rebates along with a 2-year agreement.

Product [Alltel]

• New .tel domain opens up
• Palm watches wistfully as HTC buys other design firm
• As the mouse reaches 40, what’s for the future?

Two new colors for the Creative ZEN have recently begun to show up online. Wal-Mart currently has a new pink color, while Buy.com is listing a red colored model, and while they are still not listed on the official Creative site the pink model is listed as in-stock at Wal-Mart, the red model from Buy.com is temporarily sold out.

The newly colored pink ZEN is listed as a Wal-Mart exclusive and is the 2GB model which retails for $69.98. The Buy.com red model is the 4GB model and is retailing for $98.24. Aside from the new coloring they will retain the same features which include a 2.5-inch display with a 320 x 240 resolution, FM radio, microSD card slot for additional storage and they offer support for a wide variety of audio and video formats. Looks like a good time to drop the pink and red, after all Mothers Day is just around the corner now.

Via [SlashGear]

• The new pirate busting idea: second hand music
• New .tel domain opens up
• The new failure of a keyboard