Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

In case you thought you were looking at something rejected on the drawing board of Minority Report, you should know that Philips is considering this concept web camera in reality. 

You can also rest assured that this arachnid camera does not actually walk on walls, or even the floor for that matter.  Yes, the legs on the concept camera are for looks only, but they help to position the camera in all sorts of viewing positions. 

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Live leaked images are typically something that come as a welcomed event, and in the case of the X800 from Philips the handset has a decent look but sadly that is where it stops. It simply does not have the specs to match the design as its missing some important support.

The handset is missing something that many have just come to expect, especially considering it offers such a large (2.9-inch) touchscreen display. It is lacking support for WLAN, 3G and even EDGE.

This handset was officially announced by Philips back in May, along with the Xenium X-Connect, but they have still not released any further information regarding pricing or availability. This, as listed below in the specs is certainly not a handset that we can get all that excited over. Keep reading to see the full specs:

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Philips has official announced the touchscreen based X800 (pictured above) and Xenium X-Connect (pictured below) handsets. The X-Connect aims a little more at the high end of the spectrum, while the X800 seems to have a nicer look than feature set.

The X800 will feature a 2.9-inch display with a 240 x 400 resolution, 2-megapixel camera, microSD card slot and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity. Sadly even with the nice look and touchscreen, the X800 is lacking some important connectivity, namely EDGE or Wi-Fi, instead it gives just 2G GSM for all your data needs. The X800 will allow you send or receive both SMS and MMS messages but the mobile web browsing is limited, not only by the previously mentioned 2G coverage, but the WAP 2.0 browsing experience.

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As if we have not yet seen enough of all these new touchscreen phones that have been jumping out of the woodwork lately, here comes yet another, featuring the same old touchscreen, and almost the same specifications as well. Although this time, it could have one thing that separates it from the myriad of other touchscreen phones out there - herculean battery life. That’s because this new touchscreen phone falls under the Philips Xenium brand, which, in case you don’t know, has a reputation for churning out gadgets with incredibly long-lasting batteries. And knowing that this same company completed its very own touchscreen phone (Philips Xenium 9@9v) a couple of months back, this new rumor becomes quite believable. But until the day that we see it get official, that’s all that it is: a faceless rumor.

Via [Unwired View]

Six additional Blu-ray players have just been certified by DivX, joining the ranks of Sony PS3 that received its certification at the end of 2007. Such certification is important because it means only one thing: 25 hours of DVD-quality video can now be saved on a single Blu-ray disc. Since the end of the format war, Blu-ray has been gaining more popularity with the gadget society. Michelle Abraham, an In-Stat Principal Analyst, said:

“In-Stat expects worldwide shipments of Blu-ray players to reach 23 million in 2011. DivX is well-positioned to become a standard feature on Blu-ray devices, just as it has shipped in millions of DVD players worldwide.”

Looks like Blu-ray players are here to say. That is, as long as no new formats are going to be introduced, and digital downloads keep from gaining any more popularity. But as of right now, DivX certified players from Philips, Denon, and Panasonic can enjoy Blu-ray disc burning as their DivX certification becomes official. The latest players that received their certification included the Panasonic DMP-BD30EE, Philips BDP7200 and the Denon DVD-2500BTC1B, DVD-3800BDC1B, DVD-3800BDSP and DVD-2500BTSP.

Via [I4U News]

Philips is at it again with the release of a reworked Xenium 9@9 smartphone, this time giving it the powers of a stylus-based touchscreen. Dubbed the Xenium 9@9v, this new smartphone will hit Asian shores next month with the following features: the previously mentioned touchscreen, handwriting recognition, dual-SIM card support and an astonishing 1 month standby time. The details have been scarce so far, and there’s no way to confirm if it will be able to have both SIM cards inserted active at the same time, and of course, whether it will be able to last as long as the 1 month standby time quoted by the manufacturer itself. Personally, I think I’d feel funny knowing my phone doesn’t need charging even after just three days. You have to wonder, does this little thing breathe oxygen? At any rate, I say hats off to Philips if the quoted lasting power is true. I wish more mobile phone manufacturers could do that with their phones.

Via [Crave Asia] Via [Crave]

I know exactly what you’re thinking...Philips is still making cameras?! The answer to that is a resounding yes, my friend, and as you can see from the photo above, Philips has actually got a slim and stylish little digital camera up its sleeve. This little number will be able to shoot 3-megapixel photos, enhanced with it’s built-in flash, and also store photos on any SD memory card. According to the product page, this “retro-styled camera would look at home in the hands of Fred Astair or Audrey Hepburn.” Now I don’t know anyone who would want to put a camera in the hands of two dead people, but hey, if you’re going to spend $50 for this thing, I suppose you’d want the right to do anything you want with it then, right?

Product [Wal-Mart] Via [Geek Sugar]

DivX and Philips have sealed a two-year licensing agreement that would enable Philips to continue including DivX video functionality on its electronic products. These products include DVD players, portable devices, digital televisions and next generation consumer products such as Blu-Ray DVD devices.

Since becoming the global standard for high-quality digital video, around 100 million DivX certified devices have been made available to the market. DivX flexibility in cross platform movement of video content and interoperability between DVD players has made it the top benchmarking tool of other companies specializing on high-definition digital video.

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Philips and Lite-On have unveiled their latest Blu-ray drive, which also marks their first external drive. The DX-401S is a USB 2.0 external Blu-ray drive that offers 4x read speeds for Blu-ray media, 12x for single layer DVD’s, 8x for double layer DVD’s and 32x for regular CD’s. The DX-401S is expected to be available in Q2 2008, no word yet on pricing.

Via [Daily Tech]

While there still is not a price to be found, the 9@9j has been officially released and with that comes the full list of specs. Of course we have already seen the unique battery system. The 9@9j contains a standard Li-Ion battery that offers 8 hours of talk time and 1 month of standby and a single AAA battery that serves as a backup and offers up to 2 hours of additional talk time and up to one week of standby time.

As for the rest of the specs; the 9@9j features Quad band GSM (900/1800/1900/850 MHz)/GPRS connectivity, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a microSD card slot, USB 1.1, stereo Bluetooth A2DP support, an FM radio and a 176 x 220 color TFT display.

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