LG Swift & Samsung Hue II released by Alltel

The LG Swift is another handset from Alltel Wireless. It earned it’s name due to the Fastap Press-to-Experience keys that make for faster composition of text messages. It combines six one-touch, easy-access keys with a standard alphanumeric keypad, giving you quick access to services and apps. Other specs include: External music controls, Alltel Navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, 1.3 megapixel camera, Up to 3 hours talk time. Alltell is offering the LG Swift for $49.99 with a 2-year contract.

The Samsung Hue II (SCH-r600) isn’t on Alltel’s website yet, but it looks like it also is on sale today too. The Hue II comes with changeable faceplates in a variety of colors. Some specs: A 2.2 inch internal display, Music player with external controls, GPS, Bluetooth, Email, 2MP camera with video recording, 54MB of internal memory, MicroSD card slot.

(more...)

NASCAR Helmet with Radio and CD Player

It’s like somebody decapitated a Nascar robot for your musical enjoyment. While I’m not a big fan of watching cars go around in circles all day myself, while hearing phrases like “y’all” and “get her done” and the like, this makes me actually want to see a robot Nascar driver. There’s just something cool about LED’s under a helmet and a CD tray mouth branded with my favorite home renovation store.

It’s an AM/FM radio and CD player helmet, designed like the one Tony Stewart wears when driving his #20 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Comes with a remote control. It would also double as a nice psycho trophy for the unbalanced Nascar fan who hasn’t managed to get close enough to bring home a head of their own for their desk. It will cost you $140 from Wal-Mart. Just where you might expect to get a gem like this.

(more...)

Nokia “Wahoo” 3G half-QWERTY flip uncovered

We didn’t see this one coming. Boy Genius has uncovered some pics and specs on a new Nokia flip that’s destined for AT&T. It’s super secret codename? “Wahoo”. Damn they’re creative. This quad-band clamshell has an interesting half-QWERTY keypad, internal 2.2-inch QVGA display, 1.36-inch external unit, push-to-talk, microSD expansion, and A2DP support. It sports a form-factor that’s similar to the BlackBerry Pearl Flip. Nothing on a release date. Wa-freakin-hoo.

(more...)

Panasonic iPhone charger

With the Panasonic Pocket Power phone charger, you can have instant power for your iPhone anytime you need it. Just insert a few AA batteries inside, connect the Pocket Power phone charger to your handset and let it charge for awhile. Then you’ll have a few more hours of jibber-jabber time. It doesn’t just charge your iPhone, it will also charge your iPod touch and a bunch of other devices. The Pocket Power will retail for $36.45. It’s practical and convenient.

(more...)

Storm looms over N Korea balloons

The huge balloons carrying leaflets float into the North on southerly winds


There are 10,000 in each bundle, all destined for one of the most information-starved countries on the planet.

They will get there with the help of helium gas, pumped from cylinders to fill giant plastic balloons, the vehicles for this exercise in paper bombardment.

Each bag of leaflets has its own timing mechanism, readied to burst open at different intervals and scatter the cargo over a wide area.

With a loud cheer, the first of the balloons rises up into the bright blue sky of the Korean autumn.

The wind is blowing gently from the south, and it should be over North Korea in a matter of minutes.

"North Korea is a feudal dictatorship hidden behind an iron curtain," says Park Sang-hak, a human rights activist who defected from North Korea in 1999.

"We're sending these flyers across the border to let the people in the North know about the concept of freedom, and to provide factual information about their leader," he says.

Taboo

Storm looms over N Korea balloons

ALCNON humanoid bot picks on bots not quite it’s own size

In the video above, this gigantic ALCNON humanoid robot picks a fight with a miniature opponent, showing off a combination of his swift punches and dance moves. The little bot is pretty scrappy and comes at him again and again, sadly to no avail. It’s all pretty sad, yet strangely satisfying.

Despite ALCNON having a name that sounds like a substance abuse meeting, he’s presumably pretty adapt at picking on robots his own size, not that you’d know it from this video. He sports a creepy cyclops eye, and two pincers for hands. ALCNON was a big star at the recent ROBO-ONE robot battle in Japan.

(more...)

UPS goes label free with new printer

This thing may look like an X-Man accessory or strange sci-fi gun that straps on your arm and sucks your precious lifeforce with every round it fires, but no, as cool as that would be, it’s just something UPS is using so they can get all label-free. It’s HP’s Handheld sp400 All-in-One, which scans barcodes and prints sorting info directly onto boxes with quick-drying ink. No paper labels are required at all. UPS has been testing it out at a shipping center in Orlando, where they reportedly used it on 40,000 boxes with not a single error. Of course there was that one guy they pants in order to tattoo his butt cheeks, but that doesn’t count.

This device alone will make the company much greener. It will replace several larger, less green pieces of equipment like a giant thermal printer, PC, monitor and scanner. According to UPS the company will save 92,456 hours, 1,338 tons of paper and 3,807 tons of carbon emissions a year. That’s pretty big.

(more...)

Firm adds smell to video games

Researchers in Birmingham have been developing new technology to add smells to the virtual world of video games.

Dell Inspiron Mini 12 now available in the US

Dell’s Inspiron Mini 12 is now available in the US as of today. The sleek notebook will aim for it’s market share against the Asus Eee PC S101, in a two notebook’s enter one notebook leaves kind of Thunderdome fight. Both feature 12″ screens and have that same sleek look. You can choose from two versions: A $549 model powered by an Intel Atom 1.33GHz processor, with 1GB RAM, a 40GB hard drive and Windows Vista Home Basic. If you need more power, the faster 1.6GHz processor with a 60GB hard drive and 6-cell battery is your other option.

(more...)

Windows 7 'to kill off mouse'

Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system will come with a multi-touch feature, with no need for a mouse.

It should allow people to enlarge and shrink photos, trace routes on maps, paint pictures or 'play the piano'.

Maryam Moshiri talks to the BBC website technology editor Darren Waters.

iBoogie Speaker & Dance Machine

Sometimes you just get the urge to dance. Problem is, last time you had that urge you came out of your Saturday Night Fever daydream and found all of your cubicle mates staring at you. Now you’re known as “that guy who shakes his ass”. There’s a better way my friends.

Now you can let the iBoogie do the dancing for you. It’s a small speaker that connects to your MP3 player via the headphone jack.The iBoogie includes an LED stick figure who will do the dancing for you, along with the music you’re playing. Your new little buddy has over 50 choreographed dance moves, and it’s powered by 3 AA batteries. It will only cost you $19.95 to live out your dance fantasies on your desktop.

(more...)

Archives aided by anti-spam tools

Obscured text systems are a widely used anti-spam tool.

Crumbling texts and books are being digitised thanks to anti-spam tools.

To thwart spammers many websites force visitors to transcribe obscured words or characters before they get access.

Now instead of random words many sites are taking text from old books and documents that have been scanned by character reading software.

The words supplied are those the software cannot read but humans can, helping to complete the conversion of old texts to digital form.

Archives aided by anti-spam tools

Websites set government data free

More than 450 people entered the website design contest

The UK government has announced the winner of a website design contest.

"Show Us a Better Way" asked for ideas that would give the public better access to public information.

The finalists included ideas for a map site showing school catchment areas and a service telling people where to find the nearest public toilet.

More than 450 people entered the design contest, with the overall winner being "Can I Recycle It?" - where people can find out what they can recycle locally.

Websites set government data free

Nasa Mars mission declared dead

Nasa says its Phoenix lander on the surface of Mars has gone silent and is almost certainly dead.

Engineers have not heard from the craft since Sunday 2 November when it made a brief communication with Earth.

Nasa Spokeswoman Lesley Tamppari spoke about the mission's success.
Nasa Mars mission declared dead

Full-length MGM films on YouTube

Legally Blonde is one of 4,100 titles in the MGM library

YouTube, the largest video-sharing website, will show full-length films from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's archives.

The partnership is aimed boosting advertising revenue for both YouTube and the Hollywood studio.

It will result in the launch of a video-on-demand channel called Impact, dedicated exclusively to action films, TV shows and clips.

"I think it will grow into a nice little business," said Jim Packer, co-president of MGM Worldwide Television.

Full-length MGM films on YouTube