One of the lesser known predictions of the Mayan calendar foretells that 2011 will be the year of NFC. The contactless communications stuff looks to be building all kinds of stream in the Western world, but don’t lose faith in your current smartphone if it doesn’t already have it. Japanese carrier Softbank has responded to complaints about the iPhone 4′s NFC deficit — the FeliCa payment system is pretty popular over in the land of sumo, sushi and sun-rising — by introducing a new “seal” for the back of Apple’s latest and greatest. It sticks on, covering almost the entire rear, but is apparently thin enough not to get in the way of using one of Apple’s own Bumpers alongside it. From our reading of the press release, the sticker doesn’t actually communicate with the iPhone, it’s just a dumb NFC card, but hey, other people don’t need to know that when you’re swiping payments with your phone, now do they? On sale in February at a price of ¥2,980 ($36).
There are a lot of different options out there for people who are looking for a particular mouse accessory for their computer. Touch controls are becoming popular, so here’s a concept design that not only has touch controls, but also a flexible touchscreen, and pressure sensitive controls to boot. Not only that, but the designers made sure that when you look at this Mouse for Men, you realize that a real mouse was used for the inspiration.
While the technology within the concept may be unique enough, there’s the fact that the “tail” of the Mouse for Men is actually detachable. It was conceived by designer Nitin Mane, the Mouse for Men is meant to be comfortable to use over long periods of time, thanks to its ergonomic design. The touch controls, along with the pressure sensitive design elements, are all meant to make sure that the user doesn’t have to exert any extra force to use the mouse.
As for the touchscreen display? It’s an OLED. It’s also meant to inform the user as to what type of “mode” you are in, at any given moment. You can change from a standard mouse controls, or to a multimedia mode as well. The controls on the front of the mouse will change depending on what you need. The Mouse for Men was designed for the LG cube Competition 2010.
It’s not exactly a ton to go on, but a trademark application recently filed by Motorola for the word “Stadia” has at least opened up a few interesting possibilities. While the (as yet nonexistent) device in question is seemingly phone-related given the goods and services Motorola is hoping to have covered, the application also specifically mentions a “game device in the nature of handheld units for playing electronic games for use with external display screen or monitor,” along with a number of fitness-related functions like heart rate, speed, and calorie monitoring. That latter bit is further backed up by a separate “Stadia” trademark application filed by Motorola back in November, which specifically covered “fitness monitoring devices.” What does it all mean? If we had to guess we’d say it’s some sort of fitness accessory designed for use with a phone (possibly with some game-like features). Unfortunately, guessing is about all we can do at the moment.
It may seem like there’s a new decal for the iPhone 4 every other day, or case, or accessory in general, but we can safely say that not all of them catch our eye like this new one from Etsy seller blakemedia. There’s just something about making our futuristic gadgets look like something out of our retro-yesteryears. This time around, it’s certainly one of the greatest pieces of technology from the 80s. The Speak & Spell.
The decal is cool in of itself, but it’s also designed to make sure that you get to install the vinyl decoration without any air bubbles popping up after you put it on. Thanks to the Avery vinyl blakemedia used, and the “air egress technology” used to create the decal, it should mean that you’re not plagued with little bumps in the vinyl. It may be simple enough, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome. Especially when you consider that the decal is only $6.99, and available right now.
SEOUL, Korea (AVING Special Report on ‘VIP ASIA 2010′) — Pentium-class vehicle black box ‘SIV-M7′ of Amon(representative Im Chang-Seob, www.siv.co.kr), a car professional IT company is awarded ‘VIP ASIA 2010 Product of the Year’ by AVING, a global news network.
Vehicle black box SIV-M7 can write and manage the driving path, time, speed and driving purpose by day because it is loaded tachograph using GPS. An official explains that while existing products have simple accident recording functionality, but SIV-M7 raise the better usage of black box adding very useful functionality.
(Photo: Im Chang-Seob, representative of Amon)
The design of SIV-M7 very sophisticated and light to appeal the young shedding from the roughness of …
So, your RCA 25055RE1 cordless landline phone is a lot more comfortable to hold upside your cranium for hours on end compared to that [insert smartphone here], but you aren’t about to reinstate the phone service that you axed half a decade ago. What’s a boy (or girl) to do? Enter Cobra’s PhoneLynx BT 215, a Bluetooth-to-home phone adapter that funnels any call you receive on your cellphone to any handset that you connect to the peripheral. Better still, it’s capable of distributing calls to multiple landline handsets at once, enabling the whole family to talk to Uncle Rickie when he phones in this holiday season. Oh, and did we mention that it creates a dial tone when you pick up the aforesaid RCA handset while also pushing calls out via your cellphone? You can get your retro on now for around $35.
Our quest for the perfect iPhone 4 battery case continues apace with the Exolife Exogear presently holding the lead, slightly ahead of the Mophie Juice Pack Air and the Mili PowerSpring. Just like these fine selections, the Aigo aiPower i616 claims to “virtually double” battery life, but it’s got another trick up its sleeve: a hidden USB ribbon cable for both charging and data built right into the case. Should you want for a longer sync cable than it provides on its own, there’s also a second microUSB port built into the left side, as well as a switch for the external 1500mAh battery and a handy button to display its current level of charge. Not bad for a pleasantly comparable 125.8 x 62.6 x 17.25mm, nor the $80 asking price.
If you’re looking for something a little more svelte, however, the $60 InCase Snap Battery might be more to your liking — it adds a 900mAh battery in a soft-touch frame that InCase claims is the slimmest around. We can’t say it looks like it offers much protection, only covering the corners and rear of the phone, but fashion has long been a harsh mistress to those who obey her siren call.
Looking (and sounding) a bit like a more-advanced version of the Bluetooth dock that accompanied the Nexus One, it seems that T-Mobile has started shipping a so-called Bluetooth Swivel Dock for its recently-launched myTouch 4G — and, well, you can get a pretty good idea of exactly what it is from the name. Indeed: not only does this bad boy charge your phone, it routes Bluetooth audio to a 3.5mm jack that you can leave connected to that bookshelf system of yours. Oh, and it swivels, which frees you of the arduous task of knocking the dock on its side should you wish to view some landscape material. TmoNews says this is starting to filters into stores for $49.99, so you should be able to try your luck at your local corporate-owned shop right now if you’re interested.
No iPhone? No problem. If you’ll recall, we heard back in May that Visa was in cahoots with DeviceFidelity, with the two trumpeting a not-exactly-svelte In2Pay case that would add contactless payment support to Apple’s darling. Today, the rest of the world is finally being taken into consideration. The aforementioned firms have just cleared a new In2Pay microSD solution for use in the real world, with the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and the Samsung Vibrant in particular named as compatible. In theory, it seems that nearly any smartphone with a microSD slot could be ushered into the arena, and Visa itself expects to add additional phone models for use with this technology, “including phones based on the Symbian and Windows operating systems.” This unveiling is happening after a solid 18 months of testing around the globe, but there’s no definitive word on which banks will be offering this to customers. Between this and the sudden interest in NFC, America seems more poised than ever before to slip ever further into an endless pool of debt, and with way less friction than before! We kid, we kid… kind of.
SEOUL, Korea (AVING) — AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Dec. 6, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Takata Corporation, a leading global supplier of automotive safety systems including seat belts, airbags, child seats and safety electronics has announced it has become the first in the world to commercialize a new front seat belt system for passenger vehicles that inflates like an airbag at the time of impact. The Takata “Airbelt” will provide occupants added safety and protection designed to reduce injuries and save lives.
The first commercially available vehicle to be fitted with the new safety technology will be the Lexus LFA, scheduled to be launched by Toyota Motor Corporation in December 2010. The Takata “Airbelt” system will be commercially known as the SRS Seat Belt Airb…
