Iphone Updates

The research scientists at Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society keep way ahead of the global warming curve. Thanks, that is, to the Xsan that hosts their data library. A powerful and freely accessible online tool, the data library lets researcher “view, manipulate, and download more than 400 climate-related data sets. At least 60,000 users from more than 120 countries use the library each year, and they can depend on Apple’s solution to help them quickly locate and download the data they need.”

So even though Mr. Jobs is rumored to be announcing ringtone customization software on Sept. 5th, Ambrosia went ahead and released theirs. Maybe it’s a challenge to see whose is easier?

Although personally I can’t see an easier interface than drag and drop, which is was iToner is bringing to the table. According to the animation on their products front page there is a virtual iPhone that you just drag and drop your AAC or MP3 files into and then click “sync” and viola! it copies your files over as ringtones.

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Ah, content providers and their stringent pricing and sales schemes. On the same note, NBC signed up knowing what the deal was, and now they want to come along and change it like as if they have a stake in the company?

Basically what is happening is NBC is apparently wanting to change the pricing scheme for its shows. As if that wasn’t enough, they also want the ability to bundle videos, I don’t know if they would be bundling multiple videos, test pilots, or advertisements, but surely there has to be a reason why Apple is so dead set against it since they already bundle songs in albums.

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LG has done it again at IFA this year, first it was the KS20 which was basically the Prada running Windows Mobile 6, and now this, the Viewty KU990. If the Prada was a fashion phone only, then it would be like the supermodel at a fashion show, that would make the KS20 like the business end of a fashion show, and then there is the Viewty KU990 which would probably be the designer, not quite as simple as the supermodel, but full of features.

Specs wise this thing is amazing, it has 3G, a 3” 240×400 touchscreen, 5.1MP Schneider-Kreuznach camera with image stabilization (is this a phone or a camera?), auto focus, ISO 800, and QVGA vid recording topping out at 120fps! Now what good would a phone with that extensive of a list of camera features be if you couldn’t edit and upload your content? Well that’s just it, you can, you can use the touchscreen to edit photos and you can upload your video directly to YouTube.

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Could the next iPhone or the latest iteration of the iPod have this technology implemented into it? If Apple were to implement a multi-touch LCD like this into their devices the applications would be nearly endless.

Just imagine being able to use multiple gestures at a time to edit videos and photos you just took with your iPhone. Another possible use would be in the music industry, making and producing beats right on your iPod or iPhone.

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Not to long ago SlashGear brought you an article about an LG phone they saw that looked like the Prada running Windows Mobile. Well it turns out that’s pretty much exactly what it was, only know its been officially released, with a name, the LG KS20.

Essentially it looks like the Prada you all know, and some have come to love, but with a few nice additions, namely the smartphone functionality. On the hardware side it has HSDPA and twin cameras as well as a generous screen.

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As long as you have no more than two of them. Essentially it is a program that installs on your iPhone, and switches between your two libraries on your iPhone. It sounds pretty nifty, if, like the guy who wrote it, you have a PC at work and a PC at home, both with different iTunes libraries.

Regardless, it seems like a nice feature, I don’t have two separate PC’s for work and home, but I do have a laptop and a desktop, so if I were gone and only had my laptop and bought a new CD off of iTunes I would want to be able to listen to it without having to turn on my laptop every time. Switching libraries is as easy as running the program, which comes up with the customized waiting screen that’s pictured.

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It was only the other day that we wrote about the early-beta of ApolloIM, an native instant messaging client for the iPhone, but the team behind it have already released a new version fixing one of the primary issues.  Previously, when you returned to the homescreen ApolloIM would close and lose the connection with the AIM server; now, as long as there’s a song playing (which is needed, apparently, to prevent the iPhone from going into low power mode), you can shuffle around to your hearts content secure in the knowledge that you’re still signed-in.

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The iPhone Alley team have been hard at work getting iFuntastic v.3 ready for release, and it’s finally gone live.  If you don’t already know, iFuntastic started off as a simple way to add custom ringtones to your iPhone, but has since evolved into a full file browsing, application installing, wallpaper managing hothouse of general cellular hackery.  Now they’ve added support for PowerPC-based Macs, there’s a new file browser, image editing and support for multiple home screens.

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Someone has been sneaking Apple news to the Silicon Valley Insider, and if you’re a Beatles fan and a card-carrying iTunes addict you won’t be pleased to hear it.  Apparently their source has told them that, contrary to some predictions, Steve Jobs won’t be announcing the Beatles back-catalogue on iTunes next week; instead, it’ll be the excitement of a new device and an official piece of software that’ll allow you to make ringtones from songs you’ve already bought.

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If you’re one of those people with hundreds of gigabytes of music on their computer and you’re getting sick of swapping over tracks on your iPhone, then maybe it’s time to take a look at a service like Dot.Tunes.  It’s a web server that publishes your entire iTunes library online, so that anybody with the right password (I’m assuming for legal reasons that would be you and only you!) can access them from wherever there’s internet access.  Give them twenty bucks and you can have a custom iPhone interface making searches, playback and playlist management easy.

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At any track. At any time. In any country. If it’s MotoGP, Dorna’s got it wrapped. Based in Barcelona and Madrid, Dorna cuts “live footage for more than 40 networks across the globe.” Says Manel Arroyo, Dorna Managing Director, “We cut highlights for TV stations almost immediately after the race. Then we produce a DVD of the race within hours, and it’s available to the public within a few days.” Still racing to the finish line, they send video out to “moto.gp, a massive compendium of race videos, rider stats, news, and technical information” and, at the final turn, the high-speed production team at Dorna streams video “to mobile phones across the globe, giving hardcore fans a fix anytime, anywhere. It’s some of the most technically advanced sports coverage ever and the best of it is primed, cut and polished with Macs.”

“iPhoto and Aperture work really well together,” reports Micah Walter in a recent Inside Aperture post. To take advantage of some of the “really cool and fun tools” that iPhoto offers (e.g., including Aperture photos in a .Mac web gallery or a calendar), you can simply drag Aperture photos into iPhoto. But iPhoto offers an even better option, letting you “reference” the photos in your Aperture library. By doing so, “if you make a change to an image in Aperture, you will see those changes in iPhoto.” Like to give it a try?

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Features

While we might not spend as much time geeking out over ISOs and shutter speeds as the true photography faithful, even we couldn’t help but shiver at the feel of the “click” in Nikon’s new D300 DSLR. You have to be pretty serious about your hobby to pick this thing up, or perhaps going pro on a “budget,” but there’s certainly plenty of quality under the hood and photo-geek sexy on the outside to make it worth your hard-earned Euro.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Those patiently awaiting the slimmer PSP, codenamed PSP-2000, will probably enjoy (or be exceedingly envious) of Joystiq’s hands-on with the forthcoming device, but regardless of what emotions it evokes, we’re givin’ it to ya straight. Hordes of readers submitted questions about the impending PSP, and nothing provides the answers like a good bit of time handling the actual unit in question. So go on, tag the read link to catch an early glimpse of the PSP Lite, and who knows, maybe one or two of your own burning questions will be addressed, too.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

Well ladies and gents, it seems the rumored Windows Mobile 6 update for the Sprint PPC-6700 / Verizon XV6700 is looking a little more legit. True to his word, ppcgeeks user Helmi_c showed us that the proof is indeed in the pudding with a goodly pile of pics of what appears to be a real handset running the updated operating system. It should be dropping tomorrow — though no word of an exact time — so feel free to hit the gallery we’ve put together while you wait.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Features, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Our unreasonably good fortune continues, as we’ve gotten to have a go with the Samsung YP-S5, another new entry to the company’s PMP lineup that adds a sliding set of external speakers to the mix. After ducking past Samsung’s “helpful” booth staff, we got to toy with the small-screen media player, which was awful light, but admittedly very attractive. Samsung pushed its design-conscious vibe at the press conference, and it really shows with these new players. Want to check it out for yourself? Hit the gallery for loads of exciting shots.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Features

We wanted to get down and dirty with LG’s other touchscreen phone — the KU990 (AKA the Viewty) — a 5.1-megapixel cameraphone that also does Flash, but the company’s staff would barely even let us get close. It’s true: the German showgirls and Japanese press handlers were less than forthcoming with the goods, but after a round of strong drinks and some serious sweet talking, we got to demo some of the phone’s functions — though there appeared to be a lot more lurking beneath the surface. Check the gallery for some “hands-on” action, and feel free to write letters suggesting LG’s people to lighten up.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Video

OK, it’s not quite a jumbo-tron, but 10.2-inches is seriously infringing on laptop screen territory — and that’s really not a bad thing. Philips‘ new PVD1075 DVB-T TV sports all the screen you really need (until the bigger ones come out next year), along with an external antenna and analog tuner. There’s a seven-day Electronic Program Guide for picking your shows wisely, and you can play files off of SD cards if it strikes your fancy, though Philips isn’t forthcoming on codec support. Unfortunately, the 2.5 hours of battery life is hardly enough for that marathon session you were planning of badly dubbed American TV — we know how you Europeans do. No word on price or availability, so we’re going to guess “soon” and “free.”

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Robots

It’s here, the Yume Neko Smile cat robot is here! Nourished on the bowels of discarded corporate mice and tears of frightened children, Segatoys has finally released its ¥8,379 (about $72) robo-puss to the delight of lonely old flying-monkey men the world-over. Check the video after the break Dorothy, you just gotta believe.

[Via Japan Probe, thanks Andrew]

Continue reading Faster Yume Neko Smile cat! kill! kill!

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

It’s weird and it’s hot and we likey… a lot.

Here it is, Sony’s Rolly which looks (and appears to act) just like a mini robotic Miuro. You’ll know as much as we do about it once you disco on through to the video.

Continue reading Sony’s Rolly, revealed

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Not to be left out of this year’s HD device love-fest at IFA, German firm Loewe has a sexy yet silly named Blu-ray player surely only slightly more likely to gather respect than the American actor Rob of the same name. The BluTech Vision Blu-ray player features HDMI, 24p, TrueHD, DTS HD, 7.1 surround, although not much else is known — like where the hell you put the discs, or where the front display is. Guess Loewe’s home audience of Germany will find out when it’s released in October. One more shot after the break.

[Thanks, AG23]

Continue reading Loewe’s BluTech Vision Blu-ray player also lands

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Features, Portable Audio, Portable Video

We got our grubby mitts all over Samsung’s new YP-P2 “palm theater” at IFA, and we’d thought we’d share all the widescreen havin’, movie playin’, music listenin’ action with you. The player is extremely light and thin, but still feels pretty substantial in your hand (it’s not tiny). The screen isn’t quite as clear as something like the iPhone, though it definitely holds its own. The UI is clean and ultra simple, sporting easy-on-the-eyes lists for most sections, and a familiar icon grid for your main apps. The touch screen response was extra-lively, even for our gigantic paws. Check the gallery for more photos than you can shake a stick at. No… seriously, you can’t shake a stick at them.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Networking

First came the GejBox, then came Connected, and now the DSM-330 DivX Connected HD Media Player is checking in as the final version of DivX’s first foray into the hardware realm. Hooking up with D-Link, DivX has announced its first piece of kit designed to “enable the seamless streaming of media from digital devices directly to the television set.” Additionally, the DivX Connected platform — which includes built-in support for the Stage6 DivX video service — will indeed be open, thus allowing “consumers to access media content and services from the PC and internet through a range of consumer electronics devices.” Reportedly, the device is slated to hit the UK, France, and Germany in Q4 of this year, but details surrounding a pricetag and availability for the rest of us remain undisclosed.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Features, Portable Audio, Portable Video

While the new Creative Zen might not be much of a stand-out on looks or feature set, we’re pretty hard pressed to find anything wrong with the player. All the functions are quite straightforward and responsive, and the interface is certainly passable. Format support might just make this a winner, but like the reviewers are saying, there’s not point in rushing out and buying something just yet, with an Apple event just around the corner.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Digital Cameras

We’re getting reports that Canon’s EOS 40D has hit US retailers. Both Amazon and Ritz camera show the 10.1 megapixel beauty in stock and shipping for $1,348 and $1,300, respectively. So giddy up photogs, you’ve waited long enough.

[Thanks, Tayor and Justin]

Read — RitzCamera
Read — Amazon (via DBROTH)

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays

Philips certainly is making good use of the spotlight provided over in Berlin, and while we’ve seen quite the array of LCDs emerge from the firm, up next is a trio (plus a limited edition tagalong) of smaller displays aimed at living room tables. The 5.6-inch Digital PhotoFrame touts a panel capable of displaying 140ppi, while the 7- and 10-inch iterations get powered by an integrated rechargeable battery and tout enough internal memory “to store 1,000 digital images.” Furthermore, pictures can be loaded up through your USB-equipped Mac / PC, or you can upload directly from CompactFlash, Memory Stick, MSPro / MSDuo, xD, SD, SDHC, and MMC cards. Lastly, Philips will be offering up a Christmas-themed version of the 10-inch digiframe to grab the eyes of desperate holiday shoppers, but unfortunately, the outfit failed to provide release dates or pricing information for us to mull over.

Read - Philips’ Digital PhotoFrames
Read - Philips’ Christmas-themed Digital PhotoFrame

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Features

It might look a little squat at first glance, but slide her open and the SGH-i620 is ready for business. We had some tactile problems with the touch-sensitive buttons up top, but the scroll wheel is like butter. Like most keyboards, we need some more time with it to give it a fair rating, but at first touch it’s certainly passable. The screen seems awkwardly tiny compared to most recent smartphones, but it’s certainly sharp and bright. In all the phone is a pleasure to hold and quite small enough to pocket, but we’re not quite sure how much we could get done with it — other than the usual photo snapping that Samsung phones are known for.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Home Entertainment

We’ve seen a lot of wacky speaker tech, but ELAC’s new 240 series is the first we’ve seen with speaker cones made out of crystal-shaped aluminum. ELAC says the shaped membrane allows the speakers to provide a flat frequency response, yet still be tolerant of positioning — something we’d have to hear to believe. On the other hand, we do love shiny things. ELAC is covering the whole spectrum of speaker needs with the 240 series, from the €498 ($670) BS 243 bookshelf units to the €1,998 ($2727) BS 249 top-of-the-line floorstanders. We’ve heard ELAC is showing these off at IFA this week, we’ll let you know how they sound if we manage to get our hands (and ears) on them.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Features

You asked for it, you got it. Some sweet, sweet pics of the wild new 6 megapixel Casio prototype. You know the one — 60fps bursting at full resolution or 300fps VGA video? Believe it or not, the camera is surprisingly light, will use SDHC storage (which won’t last long at these resolutions), and is expected to ship sometime in 2008. Hey, that’s what they told us. Peep the gallery for all the hotness.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Amidst the slew of new Blu-ray players showcased at IFA comes word that two new forces are pledging their alligiance to the BD camp. Reportedly, both Acer and China Huala Group have joined on as hardware partners, and the latter is supposedly looking to establish a “Blu-ray Disc authoring center in China.” The announcements were purportedly made by the Blu-ray Disc Association while in Berlin, and while we’re not exactly sure how long Acer will make us wait for more Blu-ray-equipped lappies, the more intriguing question — you know, the one regarding concerns over piracy from a newfound authoring center in China — has yet to be tackled by the BDA.

[Thanks, AG23]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Laptops

Fujitsu Siemens loves to court the business set, but deep within that suited exterior is a heart for the consumer, as shown by this mildly interesting pair of AMILO Xi laptops. The AMILO Xi 2428 runs a 15.4-inch screen and weighs 6.6 pounds, while big brother Xi 2528 goes for 17-inches and a painful 8.8 pounds. Specs are fairly similar between the two: Core 2 Duo procs up to T7700, room for 2GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS graphics with 256MB of RAM, integrated webcam, and a full complement of ports like HDMI, S-Video, FireWire, ExpressCard, S/PDIF and a 5-in-1 card reader. The main difference between the pair is that the 2428 maxes out with a 250 gigger, while the 2528 can hold a pair of drives. The laptops will retail between £699 and £1449 ($1,404 and $2,909 US — it’s laptop prices like that which remind us why we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave), and will hit shelves sometime before the holidays.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio

As the rush of new Philips paraphernalia continues from IFA, along comes a new set of wireless cans dubbed SHD9100. The digital wireless HiFi headphones boast a sleek, glossy black color scheme, an equally stylish charging base station, and tout “up to six hours non-stop listening” on a single charge. Furthermore, the device sports a lightweight headband, breathable fabric ear cushions, 40-millimeter drivers, an operating range of 40-meters, and “automatic tuning so that they can be installed without requiring any complex manuals or instructions.” Regrettably, Philips didn’t bother to mention how much this sucka would run, nor how soon we’d be able to pick one up, but feel free to click on for another look or two.

Continue reading Philips showcases wireless SHD9100 headphones

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Features

We found LG’s “booth” slightly less impressive than Samsung’s, primarily due to the lack of a balcony cafe, which is just a serious oversight at this year’s IFA — all the cool Korean electronics giants are doing it. That said, LG is pretty serious about design these days, and has a lot of sexy product to prove it. Again, we’ll be getting you hands-on shots of the new releases later today, but for now you’ll have to settle for a stroll through hall 11.2 with us at the helm.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Features

Samsung’s IFA “booth” is pretty much the 8th wonder of the world, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Taking up the entirety of one of the largest halls at IFA, there’s quite a lot to see, and more TVs than you can shake a sleek black plastic stick at. We’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, and be sure to stand by for our hands-on impressions of the fresh stuff later today.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Displays

Want to see the glass behind the iPhone’s multi-touch panel? Well this ain’t it, it’s better. Sharp — one of Apple’s iPhone panel providers — just unveiled their newest 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 pixel resolution multi-touch panel which does what its predecessor did in just half the thickness. The new 1-mm depth was achieved by integrating the optical sensor into each pixel while incorporating scanning functionality for fingerprint authentication or barcode and business card scanning. Right, with the appropriate underlying software of course. Sharp expects to adapt the new technology to multi-touch, glass panels as large as 12.1-inches. Sample LCDs will be made available in September before mass production beings in the Spring of 2008.

Update: Whoa, reader Tony C just reminded us of this Apple patent application. Sure, the jump from scanning business cards to having your screen become the webcam is pretty big. Still, it’s not as crazy as it once sounded, eh?

[Via Impress]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!