Cool toys and Gadgets

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

Man, would I have loved to be in the crowd at the Symbian Partner Conference when AT&T’s Director of Next Generation Services, Roger Smith, stated the telecom’s lofty goal of having the company’s smartphone offerings on the same operating system.  You know what is coming: he said Symbian is “a very credible and likely candidate” to become that one operating system.

Symbian who?

Symbian, which garners 45% or so of the worldwide smartphone OS market, owes much of its success to Nokia.  The platform is stable, works well, and is loved in Europe.  As of late, Symbian was purchased by Nokia and is committed to going open source. 

iPhone effect

Other news this morning from Bloomberg states Apple’s iPhone is recession-proofing AT&T thanks the steady line of new customers for the device.  The company is expected to be the only carrier to post accelerating growth this quarter as companies hunker down for the economic storm.  While AT&T has announced layoffs, subscribers are not detered from obtaining these luxury phones.

“People still want those iconic devices and are willing to pay up for them,” said Will Power, analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co..  “Look at wireless and consumer behavior generally, this also applies to the lower- income demographics.”

Additionally, iPhone buyers are among the industry’s most wanted customers, those that pay 1.6 times what the average customer pays for phone and data services.  In a time where carriers are running out of new customers, they are looking to steal or hold onto these higher-paying customers.

Sucking up?

Perhaps Mr. Smith was sucking up the Symbian crowd?  Certainly a unified OS would make AT&T’s life easier.  One OS to support would be a welcome task to AT&T’s customer support team who currently deal with Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Apple, and then the home brew jobs from Pantech, Samsung and lots more.  Is it possible AT&T could narrow that list down to just one?

Perhaps, but at what cost?  When you remove consumer choice, demand will typically lessen.  Unless other carriers adopt similar rules (and who wants to be the first?), AT&T’s dream of one OS is just pie in the sky thinking.

Source: [Bloomberg]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

FROM GAMERTELL - Along with novelty gift cards, the other inexpensive plastic tchockies, I like to scout for kids meal toys.  As a followup to last year’s Wendy’s Wii toys, Burger King is offering this year’s Wii-related tiny toys intended for tots (but not those under the age of three, of course).… MORE »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Yet another day and yet another fake creation from the land of cloned phones, but we must agree that many of these Chinese phones prove to be better than the real ones. It’s the Barbie P520 clamshell phone this time that shares the looks of Mattel’s Barbie B2 mp3 player. Anyway, this one is not a sponsored product of Mattel. The most interesting part is that the pink heart shaped box even bears the tag line that reads “Barbie Music Phone.” The Barbie P520 phone doesn’t look phony by any means when it comes to technical specifications. The phone measures 60 × 63 × 21mm and weighs 110 grams.

(more...)

If your current phone just can’t handle the extreme conditions such as dust, shock, vibration, temperature extremes, low pressure and solar radiation, all you need is a rugged phone. Are you on the hunt for a phone that could take a beating? Here we present the 10 best rugged mobile phones of all time. Check the out after the jump…

(more...)

Photograph by Kim Dow

Scott Wade of San Marcos, Texas, thought he could do better than write "Wash Me" on the backside of a dusty car. He started drawing caricatures. His father was a cartoonist of sorts and had taught him to draw funny faces. It was Wade's idea to make a dirty car window his canvas.

"For the last 20 years living on a dirt road," he says, "there's always dirt on my car."

With the sun baking it, the dirt takes about two weeks to form a stable work surface. Wade began, like anyone else, by using his finger, and then tried popsicle sticks. To introduce shading, he decided to use brushes. Over time he developed a range of techniques, which included using plants and rubber paint-shaper tools.

Wade particularly likes the dirt of central Texas, where crushed limestone mixed with clay serves as a road base.

"It makes the perfect dirt," he says. "It's very light-colored and the contrast is great against the dark shadow inside the car."

As he got more requests to create his Dirty Car he realized that he had to figure out how to dust up a car himself. Now, he can prepare a car in minutes using a light coating of oil and pyro-lite, a less toxic alternative to fuller's earth.

At the Austin Maker Faire in 2007 (& 2008), Wade dusted up his Toyota and created Monsters from the Movies, featuring the Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman. The next day he painted a tribute to Willie Nelson that included Waylon Jennings. "After a good rain," he says, "it appears to wash off, but in a couple days it comes back in a ghostly form."

Recently, he was asked to draw Biff Henderson for the David Letterman show. In addition to portraits, he enjoys dusting up the old masters. "I have this grandiose idea of parking cars all the way up the ramp of the Guggenheim Museum and painting in dirt reproductions of the pieces that are on the wall next to it."

>> Dirty Car Art: dirtycarart.com

From the column Made on Earth - MAKE 14, page 23 - Dale Dougherty.

If we believe what is being rumored now, Apple is further going to strengthen its hold on the smartphone market. Well, the latest news in the air is that a new 4GB iPhone 3G is coming to Walmart store in the U.S. for a mere $99 with a 2 year contract. Although, BGR is saying that the tipster can’t be believed for sure, but this is something that can really happen. Anyone would love to spend $99 for one of the best selling smartphones, even if it has lesser built-in memory. “Lesser” is not an appropriate word here, right? Let’s wait and watch if the rumor sees the day’s light. In fact, it must!

Via: BGR

Following up on the previous post covering Make: Tokyo Meeting 02, here are more photos and info from this event. This time there were over 60 presenters and over 1,200 people in attendance (twice as many makers and guests as the first Make: Tokyo Meeting). This time the meeting featured makers from Tokyo and beyond, showing a growth in the event as well as the DIY community that Make: Japan seeks to bring together.

The Make: Tokyo meetings, although in their early stages, are quickly becoming one of the premiere arenas for makers in Japan to display their creations. Because there are relatively few other arenas for makers to display their work in a large, interactive setting, it will no doubt continue to be an attraction for creative people in Japan and beyond.

The event was kicked off with an opening speech by sci-fi novelist H. Nojiri on the future of DIY. Throughout the day there were a total of 18 presentations at ~20 minutes each, as well as full-on workshops on Arduino, electronics for crafters (using Craft's Fashioning Technology book), and LED Throwies, as well as many other mini-workshops conducted at the maker booths. MTM 02 also featured a Making Things Talk publication panel discussion by Shigeru Kobayashi, A. Kubota, and Takumi Funada. This panel coincided with the very recent publication of the Japanese translation of Making Things Talk. Appropriately, the event showcased a lot of work by students from site hosts Tama Art University, IAMAS, etc. who utilized physical computing technology such as Arduino and Gainer in their projects.

This Make Meeting also saw the presence of more craft-related makers.

"Don't sit on me!"

The Teslasizer (Tesla Coil + Synthesizer), made by high school student Hidehito Kikuchi.

FROM GAMERTELL - Sony’s Home closed beta was shut down Thursday (Dececmber 4, 2008) morning for maintenance and to add items to virtual mall… MORE »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Rachel Hobson @ CRAFT writes:

Jeffery Ruddell over at CraftStylish has done it again! All of his paper projects leave me swooning, but - honestly - often leave me feeling a little intimidated. His latest project, though, is right at my speed and would actually be fun to tackle with my kids. He's made a gorgeous snowstorm garland that uses two very simple supplies: dental floss and white circle stickers from the office supply store. This makes me want to try the same idea with colored circles to string around my tree...

Disk fragmentation leads to system slowdowns, PC crashes, slow startup and shutdown and sometimes to system failures. Auslogics Disk Defrag is designed for fast optimization of today´s modern hard disks. (more…)