March 25, 2006, 11:32 AM CT

A Gadget For The Heart

HeartWare is developing a family of implantable mechanical circulatory assist devices or "blood pumps", aimed at treating patients with congestive heart failure. Heart failure is one of the leading causes of death in the developed world, affecting over 10 million people globally.

HeartWare's lead product, the HVAD, is the smallest full-output "third generation" circulatory assist device in development. Having completed extensive pre-clinical studies, the HVAD will begin human clinical trials in early 2006. HeartWare's "next generation" device - the MVAD or Miniaturized VAD - is expected to begin clinical trials in approximately two years. The MVAD is one tenth the size of the HVAD. Small size is a key competitive advantage as it facilitates a relatively fast surgical implantation procedure, enhances patient quality of life, and expands the range of patients who might be implanted with the device.

HeartWare listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX: HTW) on 31 January 2005, raising A$32.4 million (US$24.95 million). The Company's Corporate Head Office is in Sydney, Australia and its Operations Centre is in Miami, USA.........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source

March 23, 2006, 8:27 PM CT

Change Calendar View on Your Blackberry

Navigate your calendar with ease.

Steps

• Open the Calendar application.
• Go to the "Options" menu.
• Choose day view (standard) or change to month view, from which you can select any day. Also, looking at the Agenda is good way to quickly see when your next availability is.

Tips

• D= Day
• D= Day
• W= Week
• A= Agenda
• M= Month
• ALT and trackwheel to go to prior day, week, month
• N to next day
........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source




March 22, 2006, 5:44 PM CT


Electrically Heated Undershirts


Winter chills are unbearable, especially if have to endure them after a nice warm shower in the morning. I don't know anyone who admits to loving cold weather, although I suspect there is such a person out there. For thin-skinned folks like me that wear three layers of clothing even when the weather is in the 60's, you'd like to know about a German company called WarmX that has introduced a line of electrically heated clothing. Their first product is a unisex undershirt with a silver plated thread of polymide knitted around the waist that contains a mini power-controller that regulates temperature.

These silvered fibres integrated into the jersey are supplied by a small battery with electricity. The jersey warms up itself directly on the skin - completely without heating wires. The temperature has three settings, and it's powered by a rechargable lithium battery that lasts 2 to 5 hours. Now you can peel the layers off during winter without compromising your bodies temperature.........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source




March 22, 2006, 5:39 PM CT


More iPod Battery


A few months ago I mentioned an iPod battery from Sonnet that was pretty good, but as a user commented, you would have to open the iPod and replace the battery yourself making the warranty null. I asked Sonnet about this issue, but never got a reply to my e-mail.

That doesn't matter now that iLuv batteries have joined the party. Easy to use (just attach it to the bottom of your iPod) and you're good to go, it also comes with a silicone battery. The one in the image is the i602 for the lates iPod with video, but there is more.

Available for almost all the iPod versions (besides shuffle), the extra-battery can pump it up to 56 hours of extended play, depending of your iPod and the iLuv package you pick.

Here is a break down of what they have to offer:........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source




March 21, 2006, 10:59 PM CT


XDA EXEC


The XDA EXEC can be used as conventional PDA. In addition to PDA functionality, the gadget is a phone with has VGA video camera, which can be used for video calls. ........

Posted by: Ashley      Permalink




March 19, 2006, 8:27 PM CT


PSP Prices Go Lower



If you are a Playstation fanatic and got into a serious depression after knowing that PS3 got delayed, don't worry now, because you will be able to buy a PSP for a "reduced price".

Starting March 22nd, the PSP price will drop from $299 to $199, that's just great, right? Hmmm.not really! Did you think the prices would drop by $100 just for the sake of it?

The current PSP package comes with:
• 32MB Memory Stick Duo
• soft case
• remote control
• headphones
• AC adaptor
• battery
• battery


And what will the next PSP package come with? More devices? Less devices? Cut all the devices from the list besides the last two, and that's what you'll get. A PSP with an AC adaptor and a battery for $199.........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source




March 19, 2006, 8:23 PM CT


E-Ten shows off Pathfinder - GPS, DMB, PMP


Currently on display at CeBIT is E-Ten's newest portable media player cum GPS device. The Pathfinder, they're calling it, runs on Windows CE 5.0 and is also a DMB television and DAB radio. But before you get too giddy don't forget that DMB isn't available anywhere outside Korea as of the moment.

It features a 3.5-inch, 320 x 240 LCD touch screen, a 400MHz Samsung 2440 processor, 64MB on board RAM, 128MB via the miniSD expansion slot, and support for Bluetooth 2.0. The GPS unit runs on a SIRFstar III GPS-Chipset.........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source




March 18, 2006, 10:50 AM CT


How Consumers Evaluate Newly Released Products


In a forthcoming study from the Journal of Consumer Research, scientists from Indiana University explore the process by which consumers evaluate new products, be it a new razor with an unprecedented number of blades or an even mintier chewing gum. The scientists argue that when a multi-product brand - such as Nike, which recently added electronic gadgets to its core of athletic apparel - releases a new product, the consumer's evaluative process is significantly different than when a brand strongly associated with one product - such as Gillette - releases a new product.

"[The] attitude transfer process may be more complex than suggested by current models," write Huifang Mao and H. Shanker Krishnan. "For a multi-product brand, multiple referent points exist to judge a brand extension, resulting in more complex evaluative processes."

For multi-product brands, the scientists distinguish between the two measures consumers use to decide what they think of a newly released product: brand fit and product fit. "Brand fit" is the degree to which a new product is consistent with the overall brand image, and knee pads would fit well with the athletic Nike persona. However, certain new products that do not mesh with the Nike brand might still garner a positive consumer reaction if they demonstrate "product fit." A Nike car audio system, for example, would have high product fit with Nike's existing line of audio equipment for joggers. Surprisingly, this second type of association is often easier for consumers to make, the scientists found. "Consumers tend to transfer attitudes from varying sources to a brand extension," explain the authors. "[But] consumers may transfer their liking for an existing product to an extension in a spontaneous fashion."........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source

March 16, 2006, 7:55 PM CT


Verbatim Announces 4GB and 8 GB Store And Go HD Drives

Verbatim announced 4GB and 8GB Store ‘n’ Go USB 2.0 drives which have a 1-inch hard disk inside and weigh just shy of 2 ounces. That makes for an easily portable form factor that's just 2 inches tall. They are preloaded with Verbatim's Mobile Launch Pad, which lets you plug the drive into a guest system and run your applications from there, and when you unplug, you leave without a trace. The drives come with a stylish travel wallet that fits easily in your pocket. The 4GB drive is $129 and the 8GB is $199; both will be available this month.

Product page


 
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Source:
• Gizmodo





March 16, 2006, 7:25 PM CT


Self-Destruct Privacy Flash Drives


Trying to force your way into the new Kingston Data Traveler Elite Privacy Edition for a competitor's data? Think again. The Kingston can reportedly melt the data, in a digital way, after just 25 consecutive failed passwords. This should supposedly thwart the "brute force attack" in an attempt to guess your password.

The new Privacy Edition does sound very familiar, at least to those whose professional lives rely on mobile data storage. The original version, which we reviewed, has the same hardware-based 128-bit AES that encrypts and decrypts data on-the-fly. Its on-board CPU is very efficient at this the transfer rate is flying at 24MB/s read, 14MB/s write.........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source