DigitalLife Summer Press Preview 2008

DigitalLife’s Summer Press Preview 2008 is later this week in NYC.  Expect a horde of bloggers flashing cameras and scooping up freebies while pushing through an overcrowded Roosevelt Hotel lobby in search of that one cocktail that makes it all worthwhile.  Sound like a nightmare?  Well it’s not,  the number of new gizmos and exhibitors is supposed to be way up this year,  meaning more gadget-gropes and seductive promoter girls/boys than ever.   This Thursday evening at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown New York,  Press Only.

Of course the main DigitalLife Expo 2008 is in the fall (Sept 25-2 at the Jacob Javits Center on the west side and is open to the public.

Link goes to DigitalLife

LG Vu rocks mobile TV and haptic feedback touchscreen

I got to play with the new LG Vu yesterday and was surprisingly impressed. It’s no iPhone when it comes to it’s interface, browser, or media functions; but it does have Apple beat in a couple of interesting areas.  1.  It’s 3G.  Nuff said.

 2. It has a haptic feedback display.  This eliminates the biggest drawback of having a touchscreen; the lack of feedback to let you know you actually clicked on something.  On the Vu when you touch an item on the screen, that part of the screen vibrates to let your finger know you clicked.  

3.  Mobile TV.  I was really impressed with the mobile TV offering and it’s performance.  It kicks both Verizon and Sprint’s TV ass easily.  Full touchable, scrollable program guide. Real channels you actually want to watch.  Channels loaded almost instantaneously and changing between channels was quick too.  Very slick.

The downside is this baby costs $500.  

Korea’s MIU’s HDPC packs 4gb RAM and for under $500

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Here’s the stats from Engadget:

• 4-inch, 800 x 480 pixel touchscreen display which slides out and flips over for the cellphone interface
• Up to a 1GHz VIA C7M ULV processor and 4GB of DDR2 memory
• Dual, Windows XP / Linux Qplus embedded OS
• Unspecified cellphone radio
• Maximum 1.3-inch 60GB hard disk (or 4GB SSD) and miniSD/microSD expansion
• 7-hour battery (or 90-hours at low power)
• 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0
• 2x USB, docking port, stereo speakers, QWERTY thumbpad and mouse
• What looks like a 5 megapixel camera
• DMB mobile television and external GPS add-on

All of this for $500 US. Yes, it may be a little chunky and brickish, but it’s got 4 gigs of RAM and runs two operating systems at the same time, does mobile TV, GPS, and takes sharp pics.  When its flipped over in ‘phone’ mode it looks retro-futuristicly awesome.    More pics and info at AVING USA

Philips Dynamic Daylight Window

Control the amount of light, the color, and effects coming through your futuristic home’s windows with Philips new Dynamic Daylight Window. A simple wave of the hand is the interface. Amazing.

Hands on with the Pantech Duo 3G

The guys at AT&T just got the new Pantech Duo in stock.  It’s much smaller than I imagined and makes the Helio Ocean look like a Newton.  The keyboard feels great and the slide action is smooth.  Just wish it had WM6 Pro instead of Standard, but otherwise this baby’s rockin’ 3G data, decent camera, and all the Exchange Push Mail you can eat.  $249 with two-year indentured servitude.

Sent from my iPhone

Boynq’s sexy new WakeUp iPod system

This has got to be the new de-facto ultimate-in-cool from the crowded iPod dock arena.  The design pros at Boynq have unleashed their new WakeUp iPod system which not only looks amazing, but packs some serious features too.  A 20-watt speaker system has plenty of power for your tunes;  there’s video-out for connecting to TVs; a removeable wireless remote that charges itself when you’re iPod’s away; an FM radio tuner; and oh yeah- it’s an alarm clock too.

Should be shipping stateside before the holidays, but it’s already in the hands of discerning eurotrash for about $185.

Boynq.com  via Technabob

Finally a watch-phone that’s not fugly: Hyundai’s W-100

Finally a watch-phone that doesn’t reek of designless Chinese grey market manufacturing.  This little wearable phone from Hyundai looks good enough to be seen in public with.  Inside its iPod white shell it’s packin’  some respectable hardware. International GSM radio for phone calling,  a relatively high resolution touch screen, removeable microSD memory card slot for videos, photos, and tunes, stereo bluetooth and a 1.3megapixel camera to boot. There’s also a removeable SIM card slot behind the battery.

No word on price or availability (I’m sure its already on the streets of Hong Kong as I type) but I’ll be checking my local craigslist underground electronics dealers to see about this one.

via PhoneDaily.com (in CHINESE)

handheld projection augmented reality project

Cigarette pack cellphone jammer to covertly silence that loud talker

From the James Bond department: 

Open this cigarette box and push the black button seen in the picture and the jammer jams all cell phones signal within range of 60 feet (no one can make or receive any phone calls within range of 60 ft. from the jammer).  In other words, no one can use a cell phone in range of 60 feet from the jammer.Prevents eavesdropping using cellular telephones in meeting rooms, homes, office etc. Can also be used where disturbance from phones are not allowed such as in theaters, meeting rooms, class rooms, libraries, etc. Built in rechargeable batteries. Charger included with purchase.

Awesome right? The only sad thing about this is it’s insane $950 price tag.  For that much you could build your own army of marijuana joint cellphone jammers.

The future of gaming? Augmented Reality with HP’s MScape

I got to see this demoed at the HP Keynote speech at DigitalLife last week here in NYC. If they can make this next-gen gaming platform a reality I will be the first in line.  MScape takes a portable game console, adds a video camera & highspeed wireless Internet, and merges the gaming world with the real world around you.  It’s like holding up a lens to the real world and seeing the virtual game world overlayed on top. Just watch the video.

Ex-time watch projects time onto your skin

This sexy concept watch by Ron Yong at Coroflot uses a microprojector to beam the time and other data onto your skin for all to see.  When not projecting the minimalist sleek watchface has eye catching animations and other gimmicks to woo your pals.  What no built-in cellphone?

via OhGizmo

Live at the Halo 3 Launch Party in NYC

This sexy G4 TV announcer girl is fending off screams from hundreds of greasy teenage gamers in Midtown Manhattan right now for the Halo 3 Countdown at the Fifth Avenue Best Buy store.   We all know what a sucker I am for product launches;  but I’m actually here to pick up Metroid Prime Corruption for my Wii.  I think these sort of corporate hype machines are stalking me.

Sent from my iPhone

My iPhone unlocked on T-mobile

See that T-mobile icon up top? Ohhh yeah. Thanks to the anySIM app I
have been freed from the evil clutches of AT&T! I can now slut my
iPhone out to any skeevy SIM card I find on the street; from New York
to Bangkok.

Sent from my iPhone

Cellphone Watch also takes pics, plays tunes, cooks breakfast

Fresh from the Asian gadget blog-scraping bin today is a bluetooth-enabled cellphone wristwatch that triples as a 2 megapixel camera and a media player.

I can’t read the language on the link, but there’s lots more pics so here it is anyway.  No pricing or release date yet, but this sure makes my previously-awesome non-phone-or-camera wristwatch look pretty lame doesn’t it?

In line for the iPhone in Midtown Manhattan!

I just joined the queue at the at&t store on Lexington and 43rd st in Midtown Manhattan. 5 hours to go! Only about 20 people ahead of me, I think im in!

Im live blogging this from my OQO Model 2 using EVDO.

Seems that JP Morgan is sending out research drones to all the stores asking line waiters to complete a survey about which mobile operator they are ditching for the iPhone. In   addition they ask how many minutes u currently have and which iPhone plan you plan on getting.  Sneaky bastards!

call my cell for nyc iPhone updates!  210.473.9238