Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

What is the strongest thing in the world?  The Boy Scouts know the answer.  The Internet.

Since putting their fundraising products on the Internet, the Boy Scouts have seen a 700% increase in sales.  Yes, I said 7.  700%!  Now that’s a great return on your investment.  Weaver Popcorn, the Boy Scouts’ supplier of popcorn changed their ecommerce provider to LaGarde and updated the Boy Scouts’ fundraising site. 

Find out how to order some for yourself after the break.

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Sections: Web, Web 2.0, Websites

The Samsung Instinct has just been given what sounds like will be a welcomed firmware update, which is reported to include updates for some of the apps as well as the base code.

Some of the updates include an increased audio volume when using Bluetooth, the ability to use saved images as wallpaper and improvements to the signal and battery indicators as well as the web browser. Also mentioned was the ability to now set recurring appointments in the calendar.

Current Instinct owners can grab the update directly from their handset by heading to Menu -> Settings -> General and then choosing Update Phone. In addition to this update, Samsung is also rumored to have a much bigger update coming later this year.

Via [IntoMobile]

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Dell has just announced that it will start offering a free software update for Latitude XT owners that will bring them multi-touch capabilities on their XT machines. By upgrading their XT’s firmware users will be able to maximize the full real estate of their XT’s screen.

Once the XT’s firmware is upgraded, users can start using their XT’s screen to scroll through web browsers and productivity application as well as zoom in and out various contents just by placing two fingers on the screen and moving them together horizontally or vertically. Users can also program a double-tap gesture on the screen to to launch an application or to turn the machine off. This feature is somewhat similar to the multi-touch capability of the MacBook Air’s touchpad..

The firmware upgrade is available at http://support.dell.com. If you want to find out how this multi-touch capability works, keep on reading to watch the video demo.

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The latest Treo rumor is calling for the Verizon branded 700wx to be getting an upgrade. The details are coming from some leaked “internal training slides” but sounds a little strange because it specifically mentions Windows Mobile 6 Professional, and not 6.1 as most would expect at this time. Either way, according to the rumor this will be update 1.24 and is coming sometime during the summer.

It would be a nice update to see come true, but this is one that I will not be holding my breath for. This is going to have to be one of those that we just sit back and wait, either for some additional details or for the update to actually happen. Also notable is that this Windows Mobile 6 update will be just for Verizon users and not be coming to those Treo 700wx users on Sprint.

Via [BGR]

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As part of the recent OTA update for the Sidekick LX, those lucky users were given the ability to record video. But with a little disappointment the quality of those videos is not looking all that great, in fact it seems pretty bad. Of course, I am not sure what quality level we were really expecting, because after all the Sidekick still images have not always been of the highest quality either.

The folks over at Hiptop 3 have a few videos they are showing off, as they explain they opted not to post them on YouTube because they come out even worse than they started, that alone should tell you something. However, the videos are small, coming in at just 176 x 144 pixels and can be considered acceptable. They even went as far as doubling the video size, bringing it up to 352 x 288 pixels and although you can see what is going on, its not what you would want to really bother with. For those who are ready to grab that Tony Hawk branded model, the quality does not seem like its going to be anywhere near nice enough catch your hottest skate tricks.

Overall it seems the only place the video does not look horrible is on the device itself, so I suppose if your only intention was to share the video with your Sidekick carrying friends than you may still have something to get excited over. Otherwise you may want to look into an inexpensive handheld video camera such as the Flip mino.

Via [Hiptop 3]

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Sections: Video, Portable Video, Communications, Cellphones, Mobile, Web, Online Music/Video

While the official announcement of the Tony Hawk branded Sidekick LX showed us a neat new limited edition model, it also gave up some details on just what every other current Sidekick LX users had to look forward to, most notably the soon-to-come video capture support.

Well the good news is that the update will begin to roll out in a little over a week from now. Coming in the form of an over-the-air update it is scheduled to begin on June 25 and will be rolling out, as opposed to hitting everyone at the same time. Which means that in the past it has taken upwards of 4 weeks to reach everyone, so while the update is well worth the wait, try and be patient if yours does not arrive on the first day.

Aside from the video capture support, there is a whole slew of other features which include the ability to send or receive photos, videos, or music via Bluetooth, QuickFind, and no more restarting after a download. Keep reading to check out the full list below.

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Nokia, acting a little ahead of the planned schedule for “early June” and released the latest update for the North American N95, bring the firmware to version 20.02.011. Along with the new firmware comes a few welcome changes that include a faster boot time that was cut from 30 seconds down to 19 seconds and a camera start-up time of just 2 seconds. The N95 also sees the addition of Flash Lite 3 support, demand paging, Web Run Time and Idle Screen Nokia search. Nokia also added a few N-Gage demos in for good measure. The update, which is currently available for all Nokia N95 NAM users can be found on the Nokia Software Updater.

Via [IntoMobile]

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Microsoft has released Windows XP SP3 to the masses and also re-added Vista SP1 as an automatic update. After having some recent compatibility issues, Microsoft had delayed SP3 for XP and although SP1 for Vista remained available, it had to be manually downloaded.

It seems everything has been fixed and both updates are now available and waiting to be installed. Simply wait for Windows Update to kick in, or if you feel like you cannot wait any longer lunch the Update get the satisfaction on having an up to date system, at least for a little while.

Via [Engadget]

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It turns out that April 29 was not the day for Windows XP SP3 to be officially released. However it was not just SP3 that was delayed, all of the updates for both Windows XP and also Vista have been stopped temporarily. The issue is due to another product called Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, which was causing some incompatibility issues. In addition to XP’s SP3, the SP1 for Vista is also being affected. The update for XP was put on hold, while the update for Vista is still available, its just not available as an automatic item. Microsoft is encouraging anyone who is running Microsoft Dynamics RMS to not install Vista SP1.

Via [CrunchGear]

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The wonders of the built-in accelerometer are put to good, legitimate use by Nokia as it enables an automagic screen rotation feature on any European Nokia N95 8GB handset. This move makes Nokia look like it has accepted that the feature is really in-demand with users.

It might seem a novel idea, but who would’ve thought that this little trivial thing could become one of the most popular features ever on mobile phones? (Do I really need to say it? Um, iPhone? Hello?) Unfortunately, Nokia N95 8GB NAM owners still have to wait a bit for official support to roll out on local shores. But you can ask your European friends how this old new feature fares out with their handsets. It’s non-intrusive, and you’re free to deactivate it if you deem you don’t really need it (Oh, come on.). So don’t waste time and test it for yourself already. I know you can’t wait.

Download [Nokia] Via [IntoMobile]

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