April 10, 2006, 6:55 AM CT

Rugged i580 iDEN from Motorola

Motorola has released its latest iDEN phone that is designed to meet military standards. The iDEN is water and dust resistant and sports Bluetooth, MP3 player and a 1.3 megapixel digital camera.

Multiple push to buttons are available to allow you to push to talk, push to meet and push to smart reply that allows you to send SMS messages using push to talk. The iDEN also accepts microSD memory cards. If your the outdoors type, that doesn't want to kill another cell phone while on the go, the iDEN is worth a look.........

Posted by: Ashley      Permalink         Source

April 10, 2006, 6:49 AM CT

Passport Pocket 6GB Hard Drive

This is a passport sized storage device that holds 6 GB. Since the size of storage devices is one of the most important features, Western Digital comes up with a small-sized Pocket Hard Drive containing 6GB of space.

Comes with a "rubberized sleeve" for better protection - already thinking about the 100 times you'll drop this because of how small it is.

If you're thinking about buying a 1GB or 2GB small flash drive, think twice because the Passport Pocket is a good competitor, and it isn't expensive for the small size-big storage it provides.

Costs $130 at WesternDigital.

Via gadgets-weblog........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source

April 9, 2006, 8:39 PM CT

Glasses That Hear

Today a new hearing aid in the form of a pair of glasses was unveiled. These hearing-glasses are called 'Varibel' and offer older people the chance to stay active longer - free from the aesthetically unpleasing and technologically limited traditional hearing aids. Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands originally developed the hearing-glasses. Varibel developed these glasses into a consumer product in partnership with Philips, Frame Holland, the design agencies MMID and Verhoeven, and others.

Approximately 1,265,000 people in the Netherlands over the age of 60 are hearing impaired. Of these, half 22% (or around 275,000 people) use a hearing aid, but it is not always possible to hear others well if there is surrounding noise. A number of hearing aids intensify sounds from all directions. The result is that people hear noise, but not the people they are speaking to. Because people have such difficulty understanding what others are saying, a number of people - in spite of their hearing aid - have less social contact with others or must retire from their jobs earlier than desired. The hearing-glasses can provide a solution to this problem, say the experts and users who have tried and tested the Varibel.

The Varibel cannot be compared to traditional hearing aids. In each leg of the glass' frame there is a row of four tiny, interconnected microphones, which selectively intensify the sounds that come from the front, while dampening the surrounding noise. The result is a directional sensitivity of +8.2 dB. In comparison, regular hearing aids have a maximum sensitivity of +4 dB. With this solution, the user can separate the desired sounds from the undesired background noise. Dr. Cor Stengs, ENT specialist involved in the clinical tests, said of the Varibel: "Practical experience with the hearing-glasses supports the theoretical claims that the ability to understand speech is much better. There is a significant improvement in the sound quality".........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source

April 9, 2006, 8:01 PM CT

changing semiconductors into flexible membranes

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have demonstrated a way to release thin membranes of semiconductors from a substrate and transfer them to new surfaces-an advance that could unite the properties of silicon and many other materials, including diamond, metal and even plastic.

Led by materials science and engineering graduate student Michelle Roberts, the team reports in the April 9 issue of Nature Materials that the freed membranes, just tens of nanometers thick, retain all the properties of silicon in wafer form. Yet, the nanomembranes are flexible, and by varying the thicknesses of the silicon and silicon-germanium layers composing them, scientists can make membrane shapes ranging from flat to curved to tubular.

Most importantly, the technique stretches the nanomembranes in a predictable and easily controlled manner, says materials science and engineering professor Max Lagally, who is Roberts' advisor. In silicon that is stretched, or under tensile strain, current flows faster-a fact engineers already exploit to help control silicon's conductivity and produce speedier electronics. Strain also becomes important whenever different materials are integrated.

The new technique makes tuning the strain of materials simpler, while avoiding the defects that normally result. In addition, Lagally says: "We're no longer held to a rigid rock of material. We now have the ability to transfer the membranes to anything we want. So, there are some really novel things we can do".........

Posted by: Ethan      Permalink         Source

April 4, 2006, 11:27 PM CT

Asus AGEIA Physics

After the debut of "the physical" processore, Asus, in order to remain to the step with the technology and the innovation, has declared of being one of the 2 companies that will produce the physic accelerator card.

The collaboration with AGEIA, of which Asus she is partner from May 2005, will head to conquer all more that slice of market of the gamer upset. The PhysX card places side by side to the card traditional video and the processore and takes cargo of all the calculations of physics, the movements and the effects of the game, freeing the system from onerous tasks and allowing a effective game in real time. Already more than 60 sviluppatori than you play are planning and realizing beyond 100 tito them that they will draw advantage from the new processore physics. The first physical cards PhysX, will be available on the PC of Alienware, Dell and Falcon Northwest, from half May, to an equal price to 299.........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source

April 4, 2006, 11:22 PM CT

Soccer Ball Cooler

Can't get enough of the beer dispensing PC? Then check out this soccer ball-shaped beer cooler, which has enough room inside for a 6-pack.

It's AC-powered but also comes bundled with a cigar lighter adapter for easy cooling on the go. Pricing and availability have not yet been announced.........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source

April 4, 2006, 11:18 PM CT

Multi Electric Adapter From Tumi

Now here is useful device for all the people that use plenty of gadgets while traveling. Instead of packing the bags with 3 or 4 adapters for the different countries, the Electric Adapter offers a one-in-all solution.

Comes with the case seen in the picture for easy transportation, and one "replaceable electric fuse".

For example. South Africa, Portugal and the US are countries in which the adapters are different, and these would be perfect places to use the Eletric Adapter.

Available at tumi.com

for $50.........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source

March 30, 2006, 4:05 PM CT

Bridging Semiconductor Chips And Nerve Cells

Hybrid neuroelectronic devices will be the basis for future information technology relying on the plasticity of networks formed by mammalian neurons in culture. Microelectronic implants interfaced with neurons in the nervous tissue will become sophisticated neuroprostheses able to rescue impairments of the human nervous system.

The present project deals with the fundamental aspect of electronic interfacing of microstructured silicon chips to rat neurons in culture. Its focus is the optimization of electrical coupling in both directions, from excited mammalian neurons to transistors and from stimulation areas on the chip to the cells. This will be achieved with the expression of mutated sodium channels lacking inactivation in the neurons and with the induction of channels accumulation at the neuron-silicon interface. The use of highly integrated CMOS(Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) chips is envisaged.........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source

March 29, 2006, 11:15 PM CT

Rising To The Challenge Of Managing Bandwidth

Emerging mobile services are demanding an ever-increasing amount of bandwidth, but the radio spectrum for third generation (3G) and beyond systems is in short supply. Algorithms developed by European scientists are helping operators better manage their precious bandwidth resources.

The EVEREST project developed and tested advanced algorithms to provide mobile operators with enhanced Radio Resource Management (RRM) techniques aimed at reducing the risk of communications bottlenecks at a time when mobile devices are increasingly being used for much more than just voice calls. Email, video conferencing, live television and streaming music, together with a range of other emerging mobile services and applications all increase the pressure on limited network resources.

"Operators will therefore have to manage the scarce resources they have more efficiently if they are to maintain service quality and increase network capacity while meeting consumers' demands for new services," explains Fernando Casadevall, coordinator of this IST project. "The goal is for users to be provided with just the sufficient bandwidth necessary to ensure end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS)."

RRM techniques to control traffic, prioritise some services and clients over others, and switch clients between different wireless communications systems depending on their location and needs are an increasingly necessary feature of network management. Operators benefit by being able to handle more traffic and therefore more clients, while consumers receive better quality services.........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source

March 27, 2006, 7:13 AM CT

You don't need many choices

The paradox of choice has been well-documented, but a new study from the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Research offers an explanation of the hierarchical consumer choices that lead to dissatisfaction with an overwhelming number of options - and how we can overcome these shopping crises.

"This research examines consumer choice as a decision process that comprises two different stages: selecting an assortment and, subsequently, selecting a particular option from that assortment," explains Alexander Chernev (Northwestern University).

Chernev argues that two conflicting goals are in play when we shop: maximal flexibility and minimal decision complexity. When choosing where to shop, we tend to opt for maximal flexibility, preferring to have a large assortment of options. However, when test subjects were asked to focus on the idea that a larger number of options - say, at a Wal-Mart - would make the final decision of what to purchase more complicated, they tended to revise their original choice and go for a smaller, less varied assortment.

Moreover, there is an additional danger to offering too a number of options, even if it does draw people into the store. As Chernev explains: ".....increasing the size of the assortment tends to complicate the decision process and decrease the overall probability of purchase".........

Posted by: Ryan      Permalink         Source