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Started by D Lim; Last updated Feb 27, 08 6:56 AM CST by K Schwartz | View history

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Gear & Gadgets

"One day soon the Gillette company will announce the development of a razor that, thanks to a computer microchip, can actually travel ahead in time and shave beard hairs that don't even exist yet." - Dave Barry

Stories

Stories 41 - 60 of 129

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June 2008
- Stolen Gadgets Call Home With Pictures of Thieves
  
  Reuters | Jun 6, 08 3:40 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Technology letting cameras and other gadgets automatically contact their owners is thwarting thieves, Reuters reports. GadgetTrak software, for example, lets stolen BlackBerrys send data from thieves’ SIM cards to their rightful owners and allows Macs to shoot and send video of robbers. In other cases, emailed data not intended to stop thefts has helped owners track missing items. More »
- New Kind of LCD Promises Better Viewing
  
  MIT Technology Review | Jun 6, 08 3:01 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Watch out, plasma TVs. A new kind of LCD screen in development at Samsung overcomes the weaknesses of ordinary LCD displays. A prototype of the blue-phase liquid crystal screen has a wider viewing angle and doesn’t blur fast-moving images as much. What’s more, it could wind up being less expensive than current LCDs, reports MIT Technology Review. More »
- Most Returned Electronics Aren't Broken
  
  PC World | Jun 3, 08 6:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Just 5% of the electronics that consumers return to stores actually don’t work, though often the buyers believe they’re broken, a new study says. In 68% of cases, “they thought it was defective when it wasn't, or there was an expectation gap,” an executive of the firm releasing the study told PC World . US electronics returns cost $13.8 billion in 2007. More »
May 2008
- Taking Analog Stuff Digital? Skip the Gadgets
  
  New York Times | May 29, 08 11:32 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - If you’ve been lamenting the fate of your analog media recently, wishing you could bring records, tapes, or photos into the digital world, new devices are here to help. They just don’t do a very good job of it, laments David Pogue in the New York Times , reviewing the Hammacher-Schlemmer photo converter, and vinyl and cassette-tape converters from Ion. More »
- Would Kerouac Be a Nuppie?
  
  Reason Magazine | May 25, 08 2:53 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The evolving lifestyle of nuppies—nomadic urban professionals—and upscale designers' efforts to outfit them catch the attention of Greg Beato, writing in Reason . Casulo, a trunk "crammed with enough stylish furniture to outfit a studio apartment," is one such easily transported option; a pair of mobile homes intends to take things further (and, ahem, farther). More »
- GameStop Axes Zune; Microsoft Shrugs
  
  TheStreet | May 23, 08 7:22 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - GameStop, a national chain of video game stores, has announced it will no longer carry Microsoft’s floundering Zune digital media player, TheStreet.com reports. "We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated," a spokesman said of the iPod competitor, on shelves since late 2006. Microsoft seemed unfazed. More »
- Trucking Goes High Tech
  
  ComputerWorld | May 22, 08 3:18 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Trucking companies are adopting technologies that track vehicles, monitor trucks’ condition and drivers’ actions, and even act automatically to stop accidents, reports ComputerWorld . The systems help companies meet regulations and contract obligations. Take the company that delivered the final Harry Potter book nationwide within a three-hour window and achieved its goal that “Harry Potter must not escape” with advanced tracking. More »
- Satellite Tech Plays Larger Role for Emergency Crews
  
  USA Today | May 20, 08 5:19 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Emergency workers are increasingly turning to global-positioning and vehicle-tracking systems to find their way to victims and dispatch crews more efficiently, USA Today reports. "Clearly, we're in a business where seconds count," an Arizona fire official said. "If you're using GPS or automatic vehicle locator, it's a tremendous life savings you can't put a value on." More »
- Bluetooth Gets a Makeover
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 15, 08 2:19 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As more states push “hands-free” rules on drivers, ridiculous-looking wireless headsets only get more common. But two firms, Aliph and Plantronics, are attempting to address that. While the Wall Street Journal ’s Walter Mossberg finds the “jewelry-esque” makeover of both models pleasing, it’s the functionality of Aliph’s Jawbone that most impresses him. More »
- Microsoft Takes Windows to the Walls
  
  CNET | May 15, 08 8:22 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Microsoft has already unveiled mega-expensive “Surface” computers, with which a user interacts solely through touch. Now, cNet reports, it's unveiled an impressive lower-budget version: the TouchWall. Touchwall looks like an ordinary projector, except that the image it projects on the wall is itself an interactive touch screen. More »
- BlackBerry Holds Its Own Against iPhone
  
  Forbes | May 14, 08 1:21 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The release of the new 3G BlackBerry Bold Monday sent Research in Motion’s shares up 6.93%, to $141.97. The reason, according to Forbes , is the BlackBerry’s business focus, which lets it maintain its edge over the popular but business-weak iPhone. The Bold apes the iPhone in design, but integrates smoothly with business email and other systems, unlike its smartphone rival. More »
- BlackBerry Gets a Bold Facelift
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 12, 08 8:53 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The new BlackBerry Bold was unveiled today, sporting a sleek update aimed at keeping its traditional business clientele from defecting to the iPhone. The silver-rimmed Bold is Research in Motion's first to run on speedy 3G wireless networks designed to handle multimedia content and has a faster processor to handle business software, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »
- GPS Beams Laughs to British Drivers
  
  Guardian (UK) | May 3, 08 7:32 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The world's first satellite navigation comedy has British drivers chuckling up and down the country's busiest highway, the Guardian reports. The "satcom," called 230 Miles of Love, features audio comedy sketches set to play when drivers reach certain points along the country's 230-mile-long M6 highway. More »
- 'Lifelike' Sony TV Wows Viewers
  
  New York Times | May 1, 08 12:34 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Sony’s new XEL-1 television is neither plasma nor LCD: it uses organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology, and “its picture is so incredible, Sony should include a jaw cushion,” David Pogue writes in the New York Times . Sony is the first to sell TVs using the system, which is "like looking out a window. With the glass missing,” Pogue notes. More »
- Keyboards 'Dirtier Than Toilet Seats'
  
  Guardian (UK) | May 1, 08 7:01 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A microbiologist studying computer keyboards discovered that some of them harbored more bacteria than the average toilet seat, the Guardian reports. The dirtiest—which had to be removed from an office—had 150 times the level of acceptable bacteria, putting the user at risk of catching bugs that cause diarrhea and vomiting. "It was off the scale," the researcher said. More »
April 2008
- New Tech Spins Silk Like a Spider
  
  BBC | Apr 29, 08 10:39 AM CDT