It might be specifically designed for kids and the elderly, but the clean design and oversized keypad of the iNO CP09 mobile phone makes me want one for those times when I need to stay in touch, but don’t want a lot of bells and whistles. In addition to the easy to read buttons, the CP09 features a basic, though detailed, monochrome LCD display with an orange backlight, as well as an FM radio with a standard headphone jack on the bottom of the phone. And in the event of an emergency, there’s a dedicated ‘SOS’ button on the back which sounds an alarm and contacts a pre-programmed phone number when pressed.
Nothing goes better with the blues than random computer files, so the FlashHarp miniature harmonica includes a 4GB flash drive with a USB connector hanging off one end. It was actually created to provide a convenient way to deliver harmonica lesson videos for those wanting to learn to play, and it’s available from Etsy seller ‘BackyardBrand’ for $54.95.
There are a number of reasons why a person might want to jailbreak their iPhone. This list includes data tethering, using it on another carrier and running unauthorized apps. Of course if you aren’t careful, you could leave your device vulnerable to a rather simple attack. Recently a number of people discovered a rather troubling message on their jailbroken phones, informing them that they had indeed been hacked.
The message, seen to the right, was left on a number of people’s phones with a link to the hacker’s website. Originally the hacker was asking for €5 in exchange for a fix, though he has now simply posted the fix on his site. So how did he pull it off? It’s simple really.
He used port scanning on the T-Mobile network (in the Netherlands) to find iPhones running SSH. This is something generally necessary when jailbreaking an iPhone. Armed with the knowledge that many people don’t bother changing the default password, he was able to gain access to a number of phones. He then changed the wallpaper to make it look as though there was an SMS alert being displayed.
It’s good that the hacker changed his tune and made the fix available for free. It does bring up a very, very valuable point. Regardless of what we’re talking about, be it desktop, phone or server; change the root password!
Printers are this close to becoming obsolete technology. I mean, paper in general is just a terrible idea these days… All kinds of catastrophic things can happen to paper (fire, loss, airplanes, etc.), and not only that, but it can kill you. I do admit that on occasion, having a printer comes in handy, like the few times a year when I need to print a boarding pass or some labels, and this is why the PrintBrush is basically my fantasy printer: it’s small, it’s fast, it’s silent, and 99.9% of the time I can pretend that I don’t actually own a printer at all.
The PrintBrush is a real product, not a concept, and you really do just wave it back and forth over a piece of paper like in the video. It’ll cover a full size sheet of paper at 600 dpi (black and white only) and uses Bluetooth and rechargeable batteries to print without any wires whatsoever. The real beauty of the PrintBrush is that it’ll print on any flat surface you like, meaning that you can print addresses directly onto letters, for example. It even prints on fabric. It works using some kind of crazy accurate optical sensor, sort of like the thing that optical mice use, except way better ’cause it can detect tilt and rotation in addition to translation. Supposedly, the PrintBrush is due out in early 2010 for $199 USD… They have working examples, which is good, and a production plan, which is good, and some dates, which is good, but their last press release is eight months old so as cool as the PrintBrush is, I wouldn’t hold your breath on this one.
The word on the street (meaning Peter Kafka from AllThingsD) is that Apple has been going around TV networks over the last few weeks pitching a $30/month subscription service that would make it possible to watch TV through iTunes. It’s not clear exactly how this would work. For instance, we don’t know whether this would make live programs available live or as a later download, nor whether you’d have access to the same kind of programming that you get currently from cable companies. This of course would depend on how many networks jump on board, a selling task left up to iTunes boss Eddy Cue. Rumor has it
“that if anyone jumps first, it will be Disney (DIS), since CEO Bob Iger has shown a willingness to experiment with Apple and iTunes in the past: In 2005, Disney was the first player to sell its programming on iTunes, via a-la-carte downloads. And Apple CEO Steve Jobs is Disney’s largest single shareholder, a result of Disney’s 2006 acquisition of Jobs’s Pixar animation studio. Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment.”
Whatever happens, Apple’s in a hurry as they’d like to launch this early 2010.
The question is, would you pay $30 for a service like this? Would you ditch your cable company? Everything is moving to the web as it is, so this seems like a natural and perhaps inevitable evolution for broadcast… but is it too ambitious, too soon?
It’s nice to see when innovations in science and technology trickle down to the grade school level where they can directly benefit students. No longer will hoodlums have to settle for Kleenex-based spit balls since they can now take advantage of advanced polymers to rain down terror on their fellow classmates. Available from Edmund Scientific for $4.95 a pack, these Spit Balls will grow to 200x their original size and according to the packaging will “Slip, Slide, Bounce & Explode” which are essential qualities when it comes to spit ball engineering.
It first surfaced last week, but today Peek officially announced the availability of the TwitterPeek, a version of their handheld device designed exclusively for accessing and publishing content on Twitter. Now Twitter power users might find the device a bit limiting since the lack of a web browser prevents you from following links, and the lack of a camera prevents you from uploading your own photos, but you can pretty much do everything else including viewing twitpic images, following other Twitterers and posting replies or direct messages.
At the moment the TwitterPeek is available in a $99.99 version that includes 6 months of service followed by a $7.95 per month fee, or the previously rumored $199.99 version that includes a lifetime of service.
By now most of you have probably already forgotten about the Philips Tapster Bluetooth headphones we first wrote about way back in February. But that’s a good thing, because according to CNET’s Crave blog, the device will never be hitting store shelves.
While Philips apparently didn’t have any official comments as to why, Jasmine France chocks it up to the device… well… sucking. “The major draw of the Tapster is the playback and volume controls, which are manipulated via light tapping and swiping on the ear modules. In theory, this is a sweet idea, because pressing tactile buttons on an in-ear headset has a tendency to dislodge the earbuds. Unfortunately, although we tested the Tapster with four different devices, it never worked completely as advertised.” Oh well…
Borderlands sets you down on the desolate planet of Pandora. Here is a world that few people would ever want to set foot on, save for the prospect of treasure. It has been rumored that a vault lie hidden somewhere in the vast wasteland which contains riches beyond measure. Treasure hunters, mercenaries and even large corporations want to get their hands on whatever is contained within.
The world of Pandora seems like a barren wasteland, yet the art styling makes the landscape seem rich and exciting. The prominent black lines and shading remind me very much of a comic book, while at the same time it feels like something entirely different. The overall landscape doesn’t change much from zone to zone, but each has its own characteristics that makes it seem unique.
Related Tags: Cellphones, Safety
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