Gadgets

Hitachi Ltd. will soon become makers of the most powerful hard drive ever designed for a laptop computer when they reveal their astounding 500-gigabyte drive later this week. The Travelstar 5K500 will be the highest capacity drive ever developed for ... a portable notebook computer and hopes to finally put an end to the ever-increasing consumer demand for more drive space (for now). To put into perspective just how much space comes with the new hard drives, the Travelstar 5K500 has the potential to store up to 500 hours of digital video, 178 standard-definition, feature length movies, 250 games ... (view more)

Globalstar has launched a new GPS device specifically targeted at backpackers, hunters and wildlife enthusiasts. In reality, the latest product could save the life of anyone trapped in a foreign and secluded area. The Spot Satellite Messenger can ... trace the whereabouts of an individual at the push of a button. When help is needed, Spot sends out a signal that displays the longitude and latitude coordinates along with a prepared text or email message to loved ones and the authorities. (Source: yahoo.com ) The only down side to the service is that there is virtually no way of knowing if your ... (view more)

Imagine a television set so thin that you could roll it up and carry it in your knapsack or briefcase. That kind of technology is not as far off as one might think. Sony is currently selling a concept television set in Japan that is about an eighth ... of an inch think, or just over 3 millimetres. The sets are intended to replace the back-lighting of typical LCD televisions which make up the perceived "bulky" frame. (Source: gizmodo.com ) The new televisions use a thin film that glows with colors and can even be viewed from the side. The Sony XEL-1 owes its saturated colors and super-slim frame ... (view more)

Thought maybe that sleek 'n cute little iPhone from Apple would hurt sales of the efficient but not-so kitschy BlackBerry? Doesn't look like that's the case. According to third quarter sales, Research in Motion (the Waterloo-based maker of the ... BlackBerry) is reporting double its 2006 third quarter earnings. The statistics stem from numbers released last Thursday. Most surprising may be that BlackBerry subscriber accounts climbed an impressive 1.65 million over that third quarter, which ended back on December 1st. In addition to 3.9 million devices being shipped, it means Research in Motion ... (view more)

The shortage of Microsoft's new 80GB Zune player this holiday season is not the result of overwhelming demand for the product. A report recently published by the market intelligence firm iSuppli indicates that popular retailers such as Amazon.com ... are either in short supply of the product or backordered. However, iSuppli is quick to dispel speculation that this shortage is a result of overwhelming demand for the Zune, which has been falsely accredited with outselling the various Apple iPod variants. (Source: isuppli.com ) Microsoft's MP3 player has been positively reviewed by a number of ... (view more)

Microsoft has announced they will soon be testing Windows XP on the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) "$100 laptop". It's all part of a project to produce computers so cheaply that it can be donated to children in the developing world. Despite the ... nickname, the machine currently costs $188 to produce. Known as the XO, it's designed to be sturdy enough to work under a variety of conditions such as in extremely warm or cold countries. (Source: laptopgiving.org ) James Utzschneider of Microsoft says he'll be meeting the team behind the XO this week. He says reports that Windows already works ... (view more)

On Friday, Unicef, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), and Google announced a project to help create a greater understanding of different cultures and experiences through an online community. A new web site called "Our Stories" ( www.ourstories.org ) will ... serve as a vehicle to share the histories and identities of cultures around the world. Using OLPC's XO laptop and other devices, children will record the experiences of elders, friends and family members in their native language, and then upload them to the web where the stories will be accessible by clicking on a Google Map. "Information ... (view more)

Japan recently held the largest robotics convention in its history, offering up a glimpse of the technological future. The convention boasted a wide assortment of technological wonders that included mechanical panda bears welcoming visitors, a robot ... capable of solving Rubik's cubes in a matter of minutes, and one of the most life-like human replicas specifically designed to advance the field of dentistry. The dental robot, intended for training future tooth-pullers, has realistic skin, eyes that narrow and a mouth full of scale-sized teeth. A sensor where nerve endings would typically be ... (view more)

In 1975, Rock Bottom Productions introduced a product called the Pet Rock. It was cute and it was novel. Pet Rocks sold for $3.95 each, were the rage for the 1975 Christmas season, and they made its developer, Gary Dahl, a millionaire. The following ... year, you couldn't give a Pet Rock away. On November 26, 2007, Newsweek announced Amazon's new wireless reading device: the Kindle. According to Amazon, when it was made available for sale, Amazon's complete stock sold out in 5-1/2 hours. (Source: www.newsweek.com ) Any way you look at it, the Kindle is a bold move by Amazon, and could change all ... (view more)

The One Laptop Per Child campaign is said to be one of the largest foreign relief efforts to be given no financial government assistance. The campaign hopes to put simple laptop computers in the hands of children from Third World countries. When I ... first reported about the OLPC project back in July, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were embroiled in a battle to see which company would contribute most to the venture. All attention that had initially been focused on the campaign has since been put on the backburner as the nostalgia of charity wore off and profits continued to be the main ... (view more)