Filed under: MVNOs, Misc

In today's day and age, playing the MVNO game is a bit of a challenge. Some can't keep their head above water, others need a life raft, and a select few can actually stay afloat on their own. Disney's CFO Thomas Staggs -- who spoke at Merrill Lynch's Media and Entertainment Conference recently -- alluded that Disney was in the process of evaluating "where it sits" because of "some challenges" having the Disney Mobile brand distributed. "It's still too early to determine any losses for the MVNO," he concluded. With a variety of services targeted at kids filtering through virtually every mainstream carrier these days, does Disney still have a solid business model to work with?

[Via mocoNews]

 

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Filed under: ATT, Misc

AT&T's Smart Limits parental control package has been temporarily taken offline after the carrier discovered a little catch-22 with the service: if a user of a Smart Limits-controlled phone dials 911 and gets disconnected, the emergency operator is blocked from calling back. Obviously, this is a case of Smart Limits being just a little too smart (or too dumb, depending on how you look at it) for the user's own good -- we don't think parents are too concerned about their young 'uns spending hours racking up anytime minutes on the line with a chatty 911 operator -- and AT&T clearly did the right thing by pulling the service until it gets sorted out. Shouldn't take too long, we imagine.

[Via mocoNews]

 

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By Evan Ackerman

I have to admit that sperm is only the second thing that leaps to mind when I think about LEDs. Not so for Professor Andrew Steckl, an expert in light-emitting diode technology from the University of Cincinnati. It turns out that you can enhance LEDs by using biological membranes to slow down electrons, getting them to emit more photons:

“DNA has certain optical properties that make it unique. It allows improvements in one to two orders of magnitude in terms of efficiency, light, brightness — because we can trap electrons longer. Some of the electrons rushing by have a chance to say ‘hello,’ and get that photon out before they pass out. The more electrons we can keep around, the more photons we can generate. DNA serves as a barrier that affects the motion of the electrons.”

So, where can you get a whole bunch of DNA for cheap? Two words: salmon sperm. “Salmon sperm is considered a waste product of the fishing industry. It’s thrown away by the ton. It’s natural, renewable and perfectly biodegradable.” Any sort of DNA will potentially work just as well, but I’m not even going to touch that one. “I’m receiving salmon sperm from researchers around the world wanting to see if their sperm is good enough,” says Professor Andrew Steckl. Um, good luck with that.

[ Salmon Garnish Points the Way to Green Electronics ] VIA [ TreeHugger ]

Innovation, LEDs

By Evan Ackerman

Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG, and Nokia, which together comprise some 85% of the GSM hardware market, have all agreed to standardize their cell phone chargers to Micro-USB. This is great news for consumers, but why are companies making the change when it cuts in to their accessories market? According to Nokia, “with the reduction of cables needed for mobile data connectivity, we can further enhance user experiences in our devices while reducing the burden to the environment.” Forgive me, Nokia, if I don’t believe that you and your buddies are doing this just to be nice to us and the planet. What they might actually be referring to is that in the EU, manufacturers have to pay for part of the cost of recycling electronics that they manufacture, and a common standard might cut down on the number of useless chargers floating around. But I guess whatever the motivation, it’s a good thing.

[ News.com ] VIA [ Gearlog ]

Cellphones

By Andrew Liszewski

USB is great and wireless USB will be even better but until that time we still have to deal with those pesky cables. And if you’re like me you have a USB cable on your desk that’s only used for syncing gadgets and has the tendency to fall off the edge when not in use. This drives me crazy so in my opinion the Knicks Cable Holder is the greatest invention ever created by man! (Take that ‘the wheel’.)

It’s basically a small clip made from metal and plastic that easily attaches to the edge of your desk and hangs off by about a half inch. On the end is a small opening that will accommodate any cable including USB. The idea is that you run any loose cables that aren’t used all the time through a Cable Holder and when they’re not needed they’ll still fall off the desk but get caught in the holder instead of hitting the floor. So the next time you need to use the cable it’s conveniently hanging just off the edge. Simple, easy and incredibly useful.

The Knicks Cable Holder is currently available from Charles & Marie in two sizes for just $11.

[ Knicks Cable Holder ]

Office, Organization

By Andrew Liszewski

There’s few sounds I hate as much as the standard electronic beep of an alarm clock. So I think my body has managed to tune them out with some sort of defense mechanism that also serves to help me sleep through the alarm those rare times I need to wake up in the morning. For people like us there’s the Sonic Boom Alarm Clock that guarantees to wake you up using a couple of extreme approaches.

First off there’s an ear-deafening, neighbor-angering 113db alarm that will go off when it’s time to get up. Keep in mind that a jet taking off 200 feet away is rated at 120db so if you don’t end up having a heart attack odds are the alarm will wake you up. But if for some reason that still proves ineffective there’s also a ’super-charged’ bed shaker you place under your pillow that will basically shake you awake and guarantee you’ll be in a great mood the rest of the day.

The Sonic Boom Alarm Clock is available from Zsuaro.com for about $58.

[ Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock ]

alarm clock

By Andrew Liszewski

When it comes to flashlights is there really such a thing as too bright? It seems Black & Decker doesn’t think so since their latest spotlights have an impressive 20 million candlepower rating. Now when it comes to physics I’m no Richard Feynman but I’m pretty sure a flashlight this powerful could actually let you see all the way around the world, and possibly even back in time. But just a couple of days.

Not surprisingly the spotlight also has a rather unimpressive runtime of about 25 minutes when powered by its rechargeable batteries but it can also be plugged into a 12-volt DC outlet allowing you to drain the battery on your vehicle as well. It uses 2 replaceable 120-watt Philips halogen bulbs and even includes a shoulder strap since you’ll probably get tired of holding it well before the 25 minutes of battery life runs out.

It’s currently available from Amazon for $76.24. I suggest getting two for Hallowe’en night so you can dress up as the 40 million candlepower monster who blinds little kids.

[ Black & Decker 20 Million Candlepower Spotlight ] VIA [ The Green Head ]

Lighting, Tools

Halo 3 just launched. If you didn’t know that already, you’ve likely been living under a rock. Halo 3 is arguably one of the biggest games being launched this year. People have wondered how hard it’s going to be to get their hands on a copy come launch day. I decided to brave the lines and go see just how hard it would be to get one.

I don’t live in a small town by any means. The total population where I live is close to 200,000. On top of that, it’s a college town, so there should be a decent crowd to fight come midnight, right? Knowing that my local Best Buy wasn’t opening at midnight, I checked a couple of other stores before finally giving up and going to Walmart. It’s always open, and I’ve seen in-store advertisements saying that they’ll have it on midnight. Upon walking back to the electronics department at about a quarter till midnight, I was surprised to find no one there. No customers, no employees. I did manage to find an endcap devoted to the game.

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© 2006-2007 SlashGear.

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, GSM, CDMA

It hasn't been long since this sucker graced the FCC with its presence, albeit with just a little (okay, a lot) less detail than we'd like. Once again the W619 makes our radar, but this time it bears Anycall branding, so it's looking like a probable release for Samsung's domestic market. With features like a dual band CDMA / GSM radio, 2 megapixel camera, and a 4.2 ounce weigh-in, it seems like a bit of a lightweight by Korean standards -- but hey, not every phone can occupy the high end, right?

[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]

 

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Some people just get to play with all of the cool new toys. This time, it’s not Vincent that has all of the cool phones, but the guys over at Mobility Today got their hands on some of the hot new phones we’re going to be seeing this fall.

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© 2006-2007 SlashGear.