Nokia Morph

The future of mobile phones is this: there won’t be phones as we know it. Looking at the “future” as suggested by Nokia, the concept of the Morph goes way beyond mobile phone technology. Essentially speaking, a “phone” by definition today implies more than just making calls - there is a camera function, MP3 playback and web surfing. Pretty much, by design - a computer.

The Morph is the closest thing to a portable environmental suit: more than calls, it becomes a repository for otherwise useless information like pollution levels, smell analyzers and other such things that require the use of nanotechnology. it can help us locate places and people, be worn as a fashion accessory, and be folded up into something more portable.

The funny thing is that when I re-read what I just wrote, I’m basically describing phones as they already exist today (save for the smell analyzers and pollution level thingees). Cliche as it may sound, the future is not too far away, really.

Nokia N96

Mere mortals will need to wait until the third quarter of the year -- if not longer, depend on their region and tolerance for some probable price gouging in the early going -- to get their hands on the mighty Nokia N96. On the other hand, Mobile-review apparently knows the right hands to shake and eyes to wink to get hold of a prototype unit extraordinarily early, and they're taking full advantage of the opportunity. A few hours of your time devoted to the novella of a review will net you a deep understanding and appreciation for the N96's strengths and follies, but in a nutshell, the site seems to come away with a pretty ambivalent opinion of a device that should be knocking everyone's socks off -- especially for a sticker price that'll hover in the $800 arena. Problems included a penchant for picking up dirt and fingerprints (the price you pay for a beautiful glossy face, we suppose), a cramped nav key layout with the tricky touch-sensitive Navi Wheel front and center, audio performance that wasn't bad but was expected to be far better in light of the dedicated DSP, and a "shovel"-like feel in the hand, a symptom of the phone's generous dimensions. Everyone owes the production version of the N96 a chance to show its true form when it's released later this year -- and hey, at least Nokia's got a checklist of things that need improvement in the prototype now -- so we're keeping our chins up that this'll still make the N95 8GB a proud daddy when it comes time to hand over the crown to the Nseries kingdom.

X4 9850 desktop CPU

Today's benchmark day for AMD's fastest desktop processor -- the Phenom X4 9850. Free of the nasty TLB (Translation Lookaside Buffer) bug, the stage is now set for a head-to-head with Intel's best. While it's a significant step forward for AMD, the 9850 proc hardly compares with Intel's best quad-core desktop CPUs. Nevertheless, as PCPer says, "any enthusiast or gamer looking for a ~$240 processor is going to have a fantastic experience with the 9850." We're just happy to see AMD back on track and ready to compete. Now get to it AMD, faster clock speeds and 45-nm processes please? Intel needs someone banging at the door to keep Moore's Law from becoming Moore's Recommendation.

Nokia's Health guard

It is quite an understandable fact that there is an obvious necessity to help the elderly. Due to their age they often get things wrong, so it's almost impossible for them to do everything by themselves. Thus, all of us who do love them and want to keep them around for as long as possible try to use all the means in order to help them. With that in mind, the creators of the "Health Guard" concept for Nokia believe that the best way to keep them around is to track their every movement.

The new gadget designed by Marcela Kawka and Izabela Cichecka represents a two-piece monitoring station that controls (via RFID - Radio Frequency Identification - a technology that uses tiny computer chips to track items such as consumer commodities at distance) what the elderly consume: expired foods, medicine, possible allergens and nutritional information. In case some problems appear you can easily find out an exhaustive explanation for the reasons that caused them. Given concept attaches to any refrigerator and features a detachable RFID reader for trips to the local market, as well as a touch display base with easy to recognize universal icons.

As other features of the gadget are concerned a memo pad and voice recorder for leaving long messages should be mentioned. In addition to that this station has quite a high end design that would probably satisfy both young and old people.

Rogers slated to get Novatel X950D and MC950D data cards

Rogers seems set to sponge as much cake as they can out of your overtaxed mobile pockets with the announcement of two new HSPA data devices, the Novatel X950D and MC950D. We've seen the USB-friendly MC950D pop up before, but as a refresh: it rocks 7.2 Mbps triple-band HSPA, supports most popular OSes, quad-band GPRS / EDGE, and may well still be the world's smallest HSPA USB modem. The X950D, however, will be making its worldwide debut on the friendly Canadian provider's network, and we're sure a goodly pile of Canadians will be whooping it up at this news. Sporting triple-band HSPA, Mac and Windows-friendly, quad-band GPRS / EDGE, Novatel's newest express port product also features backwards compatibility with a handy PCMCIA adapter. Pricing on both is apparently the same: $49.99 on a three-year contract. Of course, with data rates what they are, that $50 is definitely gonna get you in a whole heap of trouble if you don't mind your bits.

BlackBerry Pearl 8120 for AT&T

AT&T officially rolled out the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 last week. This Pearl model is geared towards multimedia and business functionalities. The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 has a 240x260 pixels resolution display, 3.5-mm stereo headset jack, microSD memory card slot, Bluetooth 2.0, media player, 2-megapixel camera with video recorder, and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g connection. The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is now available for $200 with a 2-year plan.

Acer Aspire Gemstone 8920G

Acer has recently launched a premium entertainment notebook model for the new Acer "Blue" series. The flagship of the said series is the Acer Aspire Gemstone 8920G. The series got its name from the predominant color scheme of laptop which is composed of silver, black, and blue. The 18.4-inch Acer Aspire Gemstone 8920G notebook has a 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution LCD, up to two 320 GB HDD, Nvidia GeForce 9650M GS or 9500M GS graphics card, Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo Processor, and an optional Blu-ray disc drive. Other features include six integrated speakers with Dolby Home Theater surround sound support, integrated TV tuner, and touch-sensitive media console. The new Acer Gemstone Blue is expected to sell with a MSRP of $900 to $1,700.

Tiny laptop mouse

Everybody who owns a laptop knows about touchpad, thing that was designed to replace mouse. However, when you need to work with big amounts of text, touchpad becomes very annoying. Of course, usual mouse can do this much better, but if there is no room for it to operate normally, you will remain with slow touchpad. There are different kinds of mice, even designed especially for laptop use. They can perfectly fit on your lap or on the laptop itself, and operate just like a normal mouse would. Because of their size they cannot be called very comfortable, but they are way much more comfortable than using touchpad, especially in games. One of those small mice, a very unusual one, is a hero of this review.

I-T Click Click looks very different from all the mice I've seen. It has oblong form, which resembles a stick, two buttons and a scroll wheel - all needed functions that you'll expect from normal mouse. However, this is where the differences begin. Because of its oblong form two buttons simply cannot fit on top of it. So the left button, or at least, the button which does the "Left Mouse Button" functions, is on top, while the "Right Mouse Button" is... no, not on the right side, but on the LEFT side of it.

Pretty unusual to click "Right Mouse Button" with a finger that is to the left of "Left Mouse Button". It may be confusing at first, but it is a matter of habit - after some time you will be operating with this mouse easily without even thinking about unusual button map. In case if this left-right swap is making you nervous, you can always change it in Mouse Settings afterwards. The scrolling wheel is placed near the front button; it has a comfortable size and position. Unfortunately (or fortunately for some), it is not wireless, so you will be limited with a cord going right inside your laptop.

Nokia E90 gets some sparkle

Seeing fashion-centric devices bedecked in jewels all the time, but the E90 is pretty much exclusively the domain of the business set, and we're having a hard time imagining Joe Stock Broker going, like, totally crazy over this pimped version. The Nokia phone has been set with 408 diamonds and an 18 carat white gold shell by Peter Aloisson and retails for around $80k. Yeah, Joe Stocks is really going to flip. We have nothing more to add, other than our traditional, time-worn plea to Nokia: please release a 3G version of this in the States, we swear it's not to late.

Electrolux Inspiro

Electrolux is launching a revolutionary new oven called Inspiro, the first oven that automatically selects the right heating mode based on the contents of the oven. Rather than just measuring the air temperature with a thermometer and regulating it with a thermostat, the way a conventional oven operates, Inspiro uses sensors to calculate the precise combination of energy consumption and time needed to bring the food to the correct temperature. This is similar to the way cameras now automatically set aperture, exposure time and focus, depending on the light and what's in the frame.

Clear iPod case

Pod cases with built-in speakers have amazingly been around the block a time or two before. We're guessing the reason shelves aren't flooded with 'em today has quite a bit to do with the presumably lackluster sound quality / output potential. Nevertheless, those hoping to find just a case for their precious new iPod classic need look no further, as the rotating speakers case for iPod is here to make your dreams come true. Reportedly, the $60.72 enclosure works just fine with 80/160GB iPod classic models as well as 30/60/80GB 5G iPods, but considering that each of the stereo drivers pumps out under 1-watt per, you should probably plan on tossing this bad boy over your right shoulder like we did back in 1985 in order to hear anything.

Sharp FOMA SH705iII Cell Phone for DoCoMo

Just taking a look at this phone tells me where it's from. Judging by the box-ish clamshell look it shares with just about every other phone in the land, I'd know the new Sharp FOMA SH705iII Cell Phone is for Japan. The new Sharp FOMA SH705iII has a 2.8-inch Sharp FOMA SH705iII 400 x 240 resolution TFT screen, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 0.8-inch 96 x 39 resolution monochromatic OLED display, a microSD card slot, and 1-Seg TV tuner. Based on what I see, the Sharp FOMA SH705iII phone which will be an exclusive DoCoMo device, looks better than a lot of its contemporaries. Still, I wish a Japanese phone would break tradition and have an entirely different design.

Sony Ericsson W580i in Green

Realizing it couldn't stop at being pink, the Sony Ericsson W580i Walkman phone is now available in a new and fresher color -- jungle green. It looks a bit tacky in my eyes -- like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in the guise of a cellular phone. But then again, tastes vary, and I'm sure many would find this color scheme preferable. If you're forgotten, the original Sony Ericsson W580i is a simple white music phone with 2-megapixel camera.

Classia Series loudspeakers

The C205 bookshelf loudspeaker, C336 floorstanding speaker, CC225 wall-mountable center channel speaker and C255ES wall-mountable surround loudspeaker -- all of which boast "selectable monopole / bipole / dipole / dual-speaker operation" -- are shipping now to those in need. Oh, and if you didn't get your pre-order in, fret not, as Infinity would love to accommodate your audio wishes now for $349 to $899 per speaker.

Smart Guide for drill

Those people who are familiar with power drills know that it's not an easy task to work with them, especially if the surface is rough. The most common mistake made by nonprofessionals is not enough pressure while they are drilling something. As a consequence, drill starts to wander all over the surface before hitting its mark. So you can spoil a great deal of materials before you'll get the one you need. Fortunately due to the new idea of Bongkun Shin you can forget about this.

His concept prevents any mistakes while drilling, enabling you to make straight and accurate holes. The Smart Guide makes use of two intersected rings that collapse in on each other - keeping your drill straight and on the narrow. It can be perfectly used both by beginners and professionals. Despite the simplicity of this device, it is safe to say that there can be no doubt about its efficiency and usefulness.

Actually I don't understand why something of this kind wasn't designed before. As for the disadvantages of this gadget I would say that most likely it will not be possible to use such a drill in case you need to make a hole in a narrow corner or on a really small detail. Yet, in general it's much better than all its counterparts.

Chumby

As with Pleo, many may argue that Chumby is simply too cute to tweak. But if you can manage to shuffle your emotional attachments to the side for a tick, we're confident there's quite a few things you'd like to see changed. Sure, this totally unique hodgepodge of glanceable information and bedroom mainstays can handle quite a broad variety of tasks right out of the box, but considering that it's built on an open, hackable architecture, it's just begging for someone to come along and do things better than its creator. So, now that you've had ample time to roll this critter around your domicile, enjoy its abilities and install that hefty firmware update, what's left to be done? Tell the world below, we're all listening.

MSI shows off bevy of new laptops at CeBIT

the GX600 would be showing itself at CeBIT this year, but apparently, quite a few siblings made the trek to Germany as well -- including the aforementioned unit's 14.1-inch sister, the GX400. Moving on, we've got the 15.4-inch GX620 and 17-inch GX720, and while the former looks to arrive in a wood, leather or carbon fiber finish, the latter supposedly arrives with a black lacquer coat and a built-in subwoofer (among other goodies). The GT-730 gaming lappie was also mentioned, but unfortunately, all we know is that it gets its graphics prowess from some form of ATI Mobility Radeon. The AMD-powered EX610 (15.4-inches) also turned heads with its integrated Blu-ray player and HDMI output, while the 17-inch EX700 sported the same along with a GeForce 8400M GPU. Hit up the links below for a couple more snapshots, won'tcha?

3G Apple iPhone Photo

A 3G Apple iPhone photo leaked out on iTunes today. The 3G Apple iPhone is definitely in the works, but it is highly unlikely that Steve Jobs would allow any sort of leaked pictures on iTunes. But, who knows? Maybe the photo at left is indeed the new and improved iPhone.

For now, Apple is sticking to the one carrier distribution model - AT&T. But, most likely we’ll be seeing some different carriers working with Apple to carry the iPhone. I just don’t see Apple tying themselves down to a limited amount of people. So whether or not this is the true 3G Apple iPhone, hopefully it will soon be available.

Asus spills more details on the 9-inch Eee

In a recent interview, Asus CEO Jerry Shen talked up the company's newest edition to the Eee family, and also dropped a few more details on the forthcoming laptop. Apparently, the new set of miniature PCs will carry SSDs as opposed to the flash memory we saw in previous iterations, with sizes ranging from 8GB in the XP-equipped model, up to 12GB or 20GB in the Linux versions -- though it's hard to say why the smaller-footprint Linux would need more drive space. Shen also revealed that there are tentative plans to release WiMAX and HSDPA-enabled models sometime in Q3 of 2008, and he confirmed that come May the company will trade up from VIA CPUs to Intel's Diamondville (er, Atom) chips. In addition, more colors are on the way, and the base price in the US will be $499 at launch -- though that figure is expected to drop in the following months.

Palm Centro (AT&T)

When Palm first announced the Centro on Sprint last fall, Palm OS enthusiasts were less than thrilled. They wanted a real high-end Treo replacement—not a budget model. But it turned out to be a pretty good handset, offering nearly all of the Treo's power in a smaller, lighter body, and at a low price ($99.99 with contract, and after a mail-in rebate). Now AT&T has its own GSM version, which is all-white and reminiscent of Apple products of old. In this new guise, the Centro is rather nice handset for 99 bucks, and offers much of the same power you'd get with Apple's baby for a quarter of the price—call it the poor man's iPhone.

OLPC XO-1

It has taken more than two years, but the One Laptop per Child initiative has finally released its much-anticipated laptop: the OLPC XO-1. The XO-1 costs $200 each to donate, but for a limited time—until December 31, 2007—people can avail themselves of the "Give One, Get One" promotion to give a $399 donation ($200 of which is tax-deductible): One laptop goes to a disadvantaged child in a developing nation, while OLPC gives you another one as a thank-you gift of sorts. (Think: PBS pledge drive, where they offer a gift to you of a DVD set for a $200 donation). This is certainly a different business model in this "me, me, me" holiday season: Instead of buying something for yourself, you buy technology for a child who needs it, with a fringe benefit of a gift laptop for your household. Just be advised, this limited-time offer is the only way you'll be able to get your hands on the XO-1 for the foreseeable future. After the end of the year, people can still donate the laptops, but they won't be getting one as a gift.

Iona Radio Cube

This Wi-Fi radio concept design from Cambridge Consultants is a rubber-edged plastic cube. Four of the sides are assigned your four favorite stations via a web interface (maybe some of you have more, but frankly, I think four about covers it for me). The minute some annoying commercial or crap song starts playing, you just roll the Iona over to the next channel. Gizmag says adjusting volume requires twisting the cube itself to the right (up) or left (down), though I'm not entirely sure what that means. The fifth side houses a mono speaker, and the sixth has a non-roly-poly on-off switch.

Asus' MS71

We hear it's pretty tough being a gadget with an identity crisis, and unfortunately for Asus' MS71, it definitely feels that pain. Thankfully for consumers who aren't turned off by rectangular (or atypically slender) mice, at least it provides a bit of extra utility. Quite simply, the base of the critter snaps off to plug into any open USB port; from there, it enables what's left to function as a wireless mouse and allows users to store an undisclosed amount of files on the appendage. No word on pricing or availability, but unless you place absolutely no value on ergonomics, we'd probably look elsewhere.

iRecorder

While many modern gadgets can play video, not everybody knows how to convert his favorite TV show into special format that is recognized by his gadget. It can be a real pain to do it right, and you will need to capture video from the TV first. Why would you buy a new episode of Lost preformatted for your iPod when you can do it yourself? Not without some help though. This recorder gadget is created to simplify the process of recording new videos to your mobile devices, such as iPod, and make this process more enjoyable.

iRecorder looks just like an overgrown Shuffle with big circle that imitates Click Wheel and has a set of control buttons on it. This gadget is a media device which you must connect to whatever video source available: TV, cable, set top box, satellite receiver box, DVD or your Camcorder. You'll only need to check, if there is an RCA jack output from your source. If it has one then you'd be able to connect it to this device's AV-IN jack. It also has AV-OUT to preview recorded media on the TV. iRecorder will precisely capture any video signal into a format that is easily played by most multimedia gadgets out there - MPEG4.

And more to say, it will even transfer it directly to the device itself, so you won't even worry about getting the converted movie out - all is done by this recorder. This vide transfer function is compatible with iPods, Nano (3rd generation), iPod Classic or any other media device that can play MPEG4 video.

With help of this device, you will be able to transfer any DVD or recording to your portable media player, without having to read all those freakin' manuals, which is usually meant to be understood only by technicians. And by the way: its cost is 200 dollars.

SIM Card reader to restore deleted messages and call logs

Are you paranoid about the fact that your girlfriend or boyfriend is cheating you? Do you want to know, what numbers she just dialed and what SMS had sent? You can hire a private detective for all this tasks, but his services may cost you more than expected. Listening devices are expensive to buy and need a special equipment to listen… There is a solution, which is not based on eavesdropping, and uses a very interesting method of spying: it scans the main chip of every GSM cell phone - SIM card!

This Cell Phone Spy Data Extracktor look just like an ordinary USB Flash drive. However, do not judge it by its size - it can be a powerful tool if used correctly. Just insert the SIM card in the device, plug it in the PC and you will be able to see all the numbers that was dialed through that SIM, even deleted ones! It can also restore deleted SMS messages and call logs, so nothing will be hidden from you. The manufacturer claims, this is the first SIM reader in the world that can actually see deleted messages. More than that, this gadget can be used in peaceful ways, to make backup copies of a phonebook or messages. Or you can make a full SIM card backup, buy a clean SIM card if needed and load your stored backup data on it.

Unfortunately, modern cell phones do not store messages on SIM anymore, and call logs are usually stored in phone's main memory. However, for those with old mobiles, or for the extra paranoid ones, this gadget will be very useful. Its price is a bit high though, 150 dollars for a mere SIM reader is not an attractive price but who knows, when it might come in handy.

AirQueue gives your MacBook Air's USB port

Given the fact that most (all?) 3G USB modems won't even fit in the MacBook Air's ultra-cramped USB port, it's practically a foregone conclusion that some of that sex appeal is going to be forfeited when busting out a dongle to keep using your current wares. Enter the AirQueue, which is hailed as the first USB extender designed specifically to work with the MBA -- whatever that means. Truth be told, we can't figure out exactly what makes this any different than other extenders made for helping folks out in a squeeze, but at least it's only $6, right? Oh, and if you're aiming to make things extra unsightly, be sure and pick up the pictured $38 ExpressCard adapter -- your coffee shop style quotient will be tanked in no time.

Phone to the wall

No one likes all these telephone wires that are everywhere. At the same time everyone is in the habit of pacing the floor with a telephone receiver in his/her hand. That's why a lot of different wireless phones where designed. Yet, the fact that they are wireless means that sometimes you have to recharge the receiver.

A new concept that will help to solve this problem appeared. Both telephone receiver and charger have no wires. Moreover the charger is very compact. So, in order to charge it you just have to insert the charger into the wall outlet and attach the receiver, which has a big hole in the center. Thus, the charger that has a lot of light-emitting diodes on it serves as a receiver holder too. LEDs will help you to find it easily in the dark. Design of this gadget can be considered as its significant advantage, because it's really very stylish and looks more like a high-end cell phone.

However, frankly speaking, this concept can not be regarded as something extremely original, because it does not perform any unusual functions. So, most likely it will attract people's attention just because of its interesting and stylish design.

Logitech's Squeezebox Duet

You've had ample time to mull over the specs and even take a glance at Logitech's Squeezebox Duet on video, but if you've still been holding off until a legitimate review gave you the final thumbs-up, here goes. According to CNET, this network digital audio system has a remote worth swooning over, very satisfactory file support and a certain charm that's only truly experienced when tuning into internet radio stations (yeah, it does that too). 'Course, not everything was entirely rosy, as the scroll wheel was knocked for being unresponsive at times and of course, the inability to play nice with DRM-strapped files from the iTMS or Zune Marketplace (among others) was somewhat of a letdown. Still, for those dealing with tunes that are free and clear of restrictions, the Duet seems like a solid choice -- hit up the read link for more proof.

Exclusive Vertu

At the moment many companies, focusing on the customers' needs, produce a great variety of different exclusive cell phones, which are very original and expensive. Their price varies from some thousands to million USD or even more. Yet, despite their expensiveness quite a significant amount of people buy these devices because possessing of such a unique thing emphasizes both their well-being and individuality.

Recently Vertu company that represents an affiliated undertaking of Nokia Corporation started to sell its new cell phone. Ascent Ti gadget works at 3G and four types of GSM. It has a digital camera of 3 megapixels and is made of titanium, leather and sapphire. But the main distinctive feature is an exclusive function of this cell phone. In case there is a need Ascent Ti owner can save any kind of information at the remote server. To do so he/she has just to choose the data for transmission.

All the information will be kept in a special secure place. So, if there is a necessity customer can easily restore the data. New product will be sold at quite a moderate price - 00. Actually it's not so cheap, but in comparison with the previous Vertu models - 88 and 130 thousand of US dollars, respectively - this price can be considered as a reasonable one. As far as the design of this gadget is concerned it will fit business people perfectly.

Thus, given device represents an outstanding attempt of combining quality, exclusiveness and accessibility. However, this Vertu model still remains unattainable for middle class customers.

iPhone Aims to Conquer Ireland

Apple is really set to conquer the globe. If you need more proof than what you've already seen, then perhaps this would convince you. It's been confirmed that the Apple iPhone is coming to Ireland exclusively via O2 Ireland. The official debut would be on March 14, 2008. The iPhone will be sold in the country through Carphone Warehous and O2 retail outlets. The iPhone versions which would be available in Leprechaun Country are the 8GB model which would be sold at US$600 and the 16GB model for US$750.

According to Danuta Gray, O2 Ireland CE:

"The iPhone is changing the way people use their mobiles forever, and we're thrilled to offer it to O2 customers in Ireland. Our strategy in Ireland continues to be to bring our customers the very best innovations and experiences in mobile communications."

Three new call plans will reportedly available for the iPhone which would start at €45. The US, UK, Australia, Germany, France, and now Ireland. Where next, Apple? We reckon it'll be Asian invasion time soon.

Samsung rolls out 12.1-inch P200 business ultraportable for Europe

We don't see much of Samsung's laptops around these parts, and it doesn't look like the P200 is headed Stateside either, but it's certainly a solid entry into the ultraportable market -- which seems to be the new hotness these days. The laptop has been circulating in the UK since February, but is finally "official" here at CeBIT. The P200 runs on "Intel's latest" chips, up to the Core 2 Duo 9500, and integrated graphics come courtesy of ATI's Radeon Xpress 1250, with the laptop wringing 3.1 hours of life out of those chips with a 6-cell battery. The 12.1-inch 1280 x 800 screen is no-gloss, and includes a built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam. The laptop also packs Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, Atheros Super G WiFi, 6-in-1 memory card reader, PCI Express card slot a whopping two USB ports. The whole kit weighs in at rather hefty-for-its-class 4.2 pounds, and is available in Europe today starting at € 999 ( $1,517 US).