Concept: Communication Gadget Projects A Virtual Keyboard

With powerful smartphones such as the iPhone 4 and HTC EVO 4G, we do sometimes wonder why folks would want a dedicated messaging device, but then again, maybe they own a simpler no-fuss mobile phone. The Communication Gadget concept design looks pretty cool. When closed it looks like a metal tube, but it can be expanded to connect directly to an ICQ server, projecting images/messages onto a flat surface, giving you a virtual keyboard to send off your messages too. Would you carry something like this around with you if you were to hit the streets?

Icon Battery Pack For iPhone

How's this for an external battery pack for your iPhone 3G/3GS? The Icon Battery Pack for iPhone looks just like the iPhone's battery icon, and even shows its visible 'battery power', allowing you to know how much additional juice that it can provide your iPhone. This device is supposed to be able to juice your iPhone up for an additional 3-hours worth of talk time, or audio playback of 18-hours. Would you buy a battery pack that looked like this?

BlackBerry Bold 9650 Gets The ColorWare Treatment

Think that your shiny new BlackBerry Bold 9650 is beginning to look just like everybody else's out there? While you can't add any new features to the cell phone, the folks over at ColorWare can help you customize its colors to make it stand out, and hopefully you won't pick the same color scheme as everybody else out there. You'll also need to lighten your wallet by a good $150 for this.

Shock study: Adult Web sites are filled with malware

Wow, who would have guessed that visiting adult Web sites would be dangerous to the health of your computer? I mean, of all of the genres of sites out there—sports, tech, politics, books, etc.—the last I would have predicted to be dangerous was adult ones. Thanks, International Secure System Lab!

The deal is that scammers and hackers and whatnot know one thing: people sure do look at a lot of adult content online. (One-third of all downloads is adult-related!) So what better way to target people to grab them when they’re the most vulnerable?

What’s going in is that a lot of these sites are desperate for traffic, so they’ll stop at nothing to keep you hanging around. Things like tricky Javascript that locks you into a site, that sort of thing.

Even worse is the so-called “free sites” that are loaded with malware: trojans, viruses, keyloggers—just garbage.

If there’s one piece of advice I can give, it’s this: use Firefox and install AdBlock Plus and No Script. You can still do whatever, but the odds of getting bitten by some piece of malware is greatly reduces.

Or use Mac/Linux. I can’t imagine too many of these pieces of malware affect Mac or Linux.

Orange Power Wellies convert all that dancin' to juice for your mobile

Charge when you Walk...

We're coming upon festival season again, and you know what that means -- Orange is dragging their solar energy tent to Glastonbury. This year, prepare to charge your mobile phone while checking out the acts at the John Peel Stage, courtesy of your new Power Wellies. Developed in partnership with GotWind, the soles of the boots collect heat all day and, using something called the Seebeck effect, this heat is converted into electricity -- electricity that can be used to recharge your phone later that night. As if you needed an excuse to dance in the first place! PR after the break.

Continue reading Orange Power Wellies convert all that dancin' to juice for your mobile

Orange Power Wellies convert all that dancin' to juice for your mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:58:00 EDT.

Microsoft launches free Office Web Apps

Microsoft launched Web version of MS Office & its Free. Cant believe that..Microsoft and Free?? Thanks to Google Docs...Now MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint & One note can be accessed online free.....

Last night, Microsoft launched the free version of Office Web Apps after nine months of allowing select users to test the Technical Preview. The service is initially available via Windows Live SkyDrive (integration with Hotmail is not yet ready) at office.live.com to users in the US, Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland, with support for English, Spanish (USA), and French (Canada) languages. Users who don't live in those regions still have access, but they can't choose their language; Microsoft says 'more languages and locales will be added over the coming months.'

Office Web Apps let users view, edit, and share Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote documents directly in their browser. OWAs require Internet Explorer 7+, Chrome on Windows and Mac, Firefox 3.5+ on Windows, Mac, and Linux, or Safari 4+ on Mac. Microsoft has also finally revealed which mobile browsers are supported: 'You can view the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files that you save to SkyDrive via Office Web Apps on supported mobile browsers, including Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile 5 or later, Safari 4 on iPhone 3G or 3GS, BlackBerry 4.x and later, Nokia S60, NetFront 3.4, 3.5 and later, Opera Mobile 8.65 and later, and Openwave 6.2, 7.0 and later,' a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars.

The apps get better with Microsoft Office 2003 and later, and when Office 2010 is released to consumers next week (it hit RTM two months ago), Microsoft will further explain how the two will work together (for example, editing files offline, and co-authoring documents using revision marks, comments, and other rich features in Word and PowerPoint). Mark your calendars: June 15 is when a beta of Hotmail Wave 4 (with OWA integration) should start rolling out as well as when Office 2010 will hit retail and start getting preloaded on new PCs.

Farmville and Guitar Hero announced for iPhone

You knew it was bound to happen sooner or later -- Farmville is heading for the iPhone. But that's not all, Activision was also on hand at WWDC to announce an iPhone version of Guitar Hero, which packs classic rock from the likes of Queen and The Rolling Stones, and is available in the App Store today for $2.99. Check out a shot of it after the break, and look for Farmville to be available by the end of June -- or don't, it's up to you.

Update: Guitar Hero press release, with the complete tracklist and add-on packs, is now after the break.

Continue reading Farmville and Guitar Hero announced for iPhone

Farmville and Guitar Hero announced for iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:04:00 EDT.

iPhone 4 first hands-on! (update: FaceTime video demo)

We've just gotten some face time (ha ha!) with the new iPhone 4, and let's just say this: it's incredibly sexy. We'll hand it to Apple, the phone is so thin it's kind of mind-boggling. The 3GS by comparison looks bloated. Feast your eyes on the pics below, and check out the FaceTime video demo after the break! Oh, and special thanks to hand models Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg.

Some takeaways about the device:

• As we said, it's shockingly thin.
• The screen is truly outrageous -- you basically cannot see pixels on it. We're not being hyperbolic when we say it's easily the best looking mobile phone screen we've ever laid eyes on.
• The build quality is really solid. The home button feels much snappier, and on the whole it just feels like a tightly-packed device, but it's not heavy.
• The side buttons are really nice and clicky.
• iOS 4 is very familiar -- there's not a lot added to fit and finish.
• The general speed of the whole OS is way snappier. The camera app in particular is noticeably faster -- shots get snapped in an instant.
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Continue reading iPhone 4 first hands-on! (update: FaceTime video demo)

iPhone 4 first hands-on! (update: FaceTime video demo) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:08:00 EDT.

iPhone 3GS drops to $99, 8GB only -- iPhone 3G discontinued

iphone prices sliced in the US and 4 other countries from June 24...Jobs said at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

iPhone 4 announced, launching June 24 for $199 with new FaceTime video chat.

A 16-gigabyte model will cost $199 and a 32-gigabyte version will sell for $299. Also the new iPhone 3GS 8GB model will be available for just $99 (US)....

Will be available only in the US, UK,France, Germany,Japan.....but not in India..:-( According to sources it can be expected in India by September'10

We've already seen the iPhone 3GS drop to under a $100 at Walmart, and Apple has now expectedly made that the official price point following the announcement of the iPhone 4. What's more, the 3GS will now only be available in an 8GB version (it's still not clear if both colors will be available or not), and that naturally also means that the iPhone 3G is now officially discontinued. Of course, there's also still quite a few of the current iPhone 3GS models floating around out there, and AT&T will be doing its best to clear those out -- you can now grab a 16GB 3GS for $149, and a 32GB 3GS for $199 on a two-year plan "while supplies last.

Read more in Engadget..

iPhone 3GS drops to $99, 8GB only -- iPhone 3G discontinued originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:29:00 EDT.

Shaadi.com Indian Matrimonials

Acoustic Immersion Pod

Want to get the best out of your music? If you’re seriously considering upgrading your home audio system with money being no object, how about the Acoustic Immersion Pod from Hammacher? This uniqe pod will immerse a listener in an acoustically optimized chamber, where it offers an enveloping audio experience with its robust six-speaker surround sound system. Inside, you will find it lined with open-cell acoustic foam, similar material used in recording studios which will deflect, disperse, and absorb sound waves, helping create a personal sound environment which will not annoy those nearby especially if you’re a huge fan of manufactured pop music living in a household who loves classical tunes. The Acoustic Immersion Pod offers a frequency response of 20 Hz-20 kHz for a full range of sound ideal for movies, sporting events, music, or games. You can choose from a Red shell with red foam or Black with gray foam, where either color will make your bank account $3,000 lighter.

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[ Acoustic Immersion Pod copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]