Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

The NYRIUS Global Talking Translator offers 8400 programmed phrases in 12 languages.  The unit has a speaker so that it can say the phrases for you in the language you choose.  In emergencies, this could be quite helpful since you wouldn’t need to worry about miscommunication due to mispronunciation.

The form factor is small—small enough to fit in a shirt or pant pocket.  However, the sacrifice for such a convenient size is the lack of a keyboard to type in phrases, leaving you tied to the unit’s less than convenient menu tree of phrases.  Access to the menus is via dedicated buttons on the unit, such as Emergency, Transportation, and Restaurants.  The unit does come with a paper reference guide that maps the phrases by the menus.  Finding a phrase this way is a bit quicker than doing it through the unit, but it means you’ve got one more thing to bring with you.  More after the break.

MORE »

Hopefully you all read the first post on President-Elect Obama, technology and the future (if not, it is here) in which I started addressing what Obama’s election means for the world of tech.  Having looked at how Obama will work for an open Internet, I will now delve into Obama’s plans for a connected democracy and infrastructure.

The first thing that Obama has promised to do is to create a more transparent government, a policy that has probably been prompted by the manner in which the Bush administration has been very secretive.  He will attempt to do this by “creating a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for America’s citizens” through the use of technology.  Presumably, this will be done by extensive use of the Internet, as well as other technology such as mobile phones, as shown in the selection of Joe Biden as his second man. 

Continued after the break.

MORE »

I have seen the iPhone, and all the BlackBerry’s and other smart phones. Then I have heard the cold, dead polyphonic ringtone of my phone with its barely audible Casio keyboard cover of “Superstar”, mocking me. I bought my phone a mere eight months ago, just after the dawn of the iPhone, choosing it for its sleek size, and a consumer review which noted its superior battery life and technical bells and whistles. My phone is an excellent phone, and I could care less.

I want a phone that does everything else, maybe even magic. A phone that takes crystal clear pictures, develops them, and prints them in a matte finish. I want a phone that plays music-actual music, an instrument perhaps the oboe. A phone that plays videos of Bigfoot, The Lock Ness Monster, and proof of Alien life. The “Magic Super Amazing Phone” surfs the web utilizing a touch screen that touches back (delightfully tickling you, nothing else…dirty mind). This phone will not only let me access my email, but automatically interpret what I wish to write back in response and also access my regular mail always blocking junk mail and junk credit card offers. And it is not only compatible with Bluetooth, but Blue Fairy. A tiny blue fairy that whispers in your ear, and grants wishes.

My phone should basically be able to thoroughly thrash your phone. Grinding it to bits and pieces and recycling them. My phone is very green conscious. Now I know that no such phone presently exists, but I am issuing a call to all inventors, create this “Magic Super Amazing Phone” and buyers will come, oh yes they will come. Until that point though I will have to suffer, at least for the length of a very iron clad two year contract.

• Who’s On Crack in tech: 11.21.08 edition
• iPhone is number 1 in mobile ads
• Verizon employees suspended for accessing Obama’s call records