Devices Site

CNET reviews the Nokia E90 Communicator and writes, “As a business-centric device, some may be sad to see that the Nokia E90 has a camera, given that a number of companies are banning the use of camera phones at workplaces for security reasons. But for better or worse, the smartphone comes equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash, autofocus, and video-recording capabilities. In camera mode, you have a choice of various scenes and image qualities, and you can tweak the ISO, contrast, and color tones to get the best shot. User settings are a bit more limited in video mode, but you do have two scene modes (auto or night) and five choices in video quality.”

Read more about the Nokia E90 Communicator.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced a 40 nm process that it claims gives a 15% advantage in power consumption over parts made with 45 nm.

Both Intel and AMD are producing parts on 45nm, with Intel’s parts shipping in low quantities and AMD’s parts not shipping yet. TSMC rents out fab space to customers, and it is offering services to shrink designs intended for 45 nm processes down to 40 nm to gain some benefit.

Graphics and memory chip makers could reap the benefits of the smaller process, but I’m not sure that Intel or AMD will bother with a small incremental improvement in the technology it is just starting to get running.

Read the press release at TSMC.

I’ll make no secret that I don’t love eBay anymore.  There was a time I did, but since then I’ve been burned by unsavory folks, shoddy product descriptions and a protection that really never seemed to protect me.  The problem is I am still that cheap guy not wanting to pay retail for anything; only now I can disguise it as being green: I don’t want to add another product into the waste stream.

So what to do?  Well, my new pal Chris Whittome of trade2save aims to change that.  His vision is a used - or pre-owned if you like - marketplace where you can decide if you want one “like new” or “very good” or can settle for just “good”.  The Trade2save team will buy up your unwanted items, classify it, and put a price tag on it that will be attractive.

I wasn’t able to get a good read on Chris’s age, British accents throw my carnival guesstimator off, and thought it rude to ask; but he holds his dream of reducing waste tightly, much like I recall my desire to be a fighter pilot out of high school, settling for tech blogger later down the line.. His blog cites, as did he in my interview, many statistics of how we are polluting the planet with our electronic toxins all while lusting after whatever drops out of Cupertino.  And it is in the shareholders interest to keep us wanting the latest and greatest.  So who is looking out of us?  For the planet?

In short, trade2save.com website/boutique of pre-owned electronics.

Gadgetell: Tell me about yourself

CW: My background is in advertising, having worked as a copywriter in the UK.  During my career there, I was part of the move to encourage consumers to keep buying.  Over last decade amount of products increased and manufactures are getting rich off it.  They’ve (the manufacturers) created a throw away society that we live in today.  The result of this increased production levels is we are creating a e-waste crisis.  Electronics can be greener by 10-30% but isn’t. And the market is not providing the incentive to become more green, as we keep gobbling up the latest iPhone.  We even queue up to do so.. 

Gadgetell: What is trade2save?

CW: To fully appreciate Trade2save consider pre-owned cars.  Years ago, you could only buy new cars.  Today, when you consider purchasing a car, you carefully weight the option of buying used.  There are whole segments of the population that have never owned a new car, they are content purchasing a slightly used one and consider it to have a higher value. 

Auction sites have done well but, people get stung.  No warranty, not confident in condition of product.  Rather than being a portal, you are buying from trade2save.  We’ll have products in 3 different conditions; at 3 different prices; all with a one year warranty…

Gadgetell: So trade2save tests the equipment and offers a warranty?

CW: Yes, that is what makes our service unique.  Not only do we test the products so they arrive working, but we stand behind them.  We figure this will extend the product cycle four to five times.  Longer product cycles means less waste in the landfill.  While this may not help Mr. Bush’s economic stimulus package, we believe the economy will benefit in the long run from being green.  People will find other places to spend their money.

Gadgetell: I get the sense, if your program is copied, cutting you out; you’ll still consider your efforts a success.  Am I right?

CW: Absolutely.  The driving idea behind trade2save is this: People need to become custodians of products not consumers.  This is a major change in our thinking and one that needs to happen.

Gadgetell: Tell us about the guts of the system.

CW: It works like this, you fill out the questionnaire for the product you wish to sell to us.  You’ll receive credits for the sale to use in the store.  You’ll find a product you want and apply your credits. Customers get more for trading in (store credit) than if you sell for cash.  The incentive is to trade goods for a new product.  We are hear to insure what is being traded is legit.

Gadgetell: How sensitive will your pricing be?  If Apple drops a new iPhone this summer, how quickly can I pick the “old model” up on the cheap?

CW: Our price system is designed to be very sensitive.  It has to be.  We’ll be paying top dollar and making a very thin margin on hot items like the iphone.  We have to, as we must have the goods in the store for our plan to work.  No one will come if we don’t have the very latest, and that means paying very close to retail to get them in the store.

Gadgetell: When will the site be up?

CW: We are targeting the end of June for release.

I am really excited for Chris.  I believe he is on to something here, something that still allows us to get our gadget fix but helps remove some of the guilt about doing so.  And as I am sure you do, I have a just a few gadgets around here that I could do without.  I’d even be willing to trade them for an iPhone, GPS or…whatever is on Gadgetell’s homepage tomorrow.

Company site: [trade2save]

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A-Data has a couple of new accessories that were specially marketed for the Asus Eee PC crowd - the A-Data S70i USB flash drive and SDHC memory card. After all, the Eee PC could definitely make do with way more memory than it currently has (8GB tops), freeing up its hard drive from videos and music for more important stuff like actual work data. Both offerings will come with a lifetime warranty, making this a rather tempting deal.

Pocket Gamer reviews the Motorola U9 and writes, “The joy of finding the U9 adept at mobile gaming was dulled slightly by the entry-level technology found elsewhere on the handset, though. The two-megapixel camera is acceptable but unexceptional, with no auto-focus or flash, while the 25MB of internal storage is unlikely to hold many music tracks. MicroSD support is included but we found it irksome that the slot is located under the battery, meaning that the phone has to be completely powered down in order to swap storage media.”

Read more about the Motorola U9.

Rumors abound that Windows Mobile 6.1 will be made available for all and sundry to upgrade their creaking operating system when April 1st rolls around, although I am highly suspicious of that date and companies making announcements then. Well, the 6.1 version is tipped to function as a stop-gap measure before Microsoft perfects and polishes Windows Mobile 7.1 in order to gain a larger market share among cell phones and smartphones. It seems as though Windows Mobile 6.1 is Vista-inspired in many of its screenshots, but I’ll wait until the official version rolls out before making any more comments.

Koreans will be able to get their hands on the Reigncom iRiver NV Life that will take over the iRiver NV which was rolled out last August. Some of the features found on the iRiver NV Life include :-

• Mappy United map software
• WVGA resolution display
• Dual processors
• DMB support
• MP3 and video playback
• Rear camera input
• FMT function

There is no word on pricing as at press time, but I would probably buy this based on looks alone.

Posted Mar 25th 2008 12:11PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: cellphonesThe last we’d heard, the Indian government had ruled out the threat of a blackberry ban if RIM didn’t allow it to snoop on messages, but it looks like some overzealous bureaucrat is getting his way after all: the Department of Telecom has issued a 15-day deadline for RIM to either open up for the G-men or get shut down. RIM says it won’t comment on regulatory issues as a matter of policy, but it looks like the Indian government is playing hardball, with Telecom Minister A Raja saying that national security will not be sacrificed at any cost. Hmm, hear that? That’s the sound of over 400,000 Indian Blackberry users desperately grabbing at their devices to get another quick fix — something tells us this isn’t going to end well.

[Via Cellpassion]

Posted Mar 25th 2008 4:43AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Portable AudioSony BMG boss, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, was just quoted in an interview saying that Sony BMG is “working on an online music subscription service.” The service would cost between €6 to €8 per month (about $9 to $12) when launching later in the year and provide full access to its entire music catalog. He goes on to say that customers could own “some songs” even after the subscription was canceled. Interesting on its own, right? Now the kicker: it will work “for all digital players, including Apple’s ipod.” That means DRM-free unless Apple agrees to license its FairPlay DRM… which it won’t. Hell, Sony BMG is already offering DRM-free MP3s to Amazon. If true, then the move could almost turn public sentiment positive in the wake of Sony BMG’s “rootkit” fiasco and its handling of the Jammie Thomas affair. Almost.

Earlier this year, we mentioned that Acer would roll out it’s own version of an ultra-portable notebook computer. It was expected to feature an 8.9-inch screen just like the 2nd generation Asus Eee PC. Although no announcements have been made yet with regards to its official release date, DigiTimes is reporting that Acer’s version of an ultra-portable notebook should be expectedly cheaper than the new version of the Asus Eee PC.

According to DigiTimes’s sources, Acer wanted to steer clear of a price competition against Asus, and so humbly placed the free on board (FOB) price of their own 8.9-inch low-cost PC at around US$300-350, even though the market ASP (average selling price) should fall between US$400-500. That makes Acer’s 8.9-incher a tad cheaper than the Asus Eee PC.

But still, a large percentage of a buyer’s purchase decision will still rely heavily on the computer’s features and performance. And that’s to say that even though Acer has the upper hand in pricing and can afford to sell at a lower price point, they should know that this is not enough. Well, I’m sure they’ve got something special in store for us. Or at least they should. Unless they want to flop.

Via [DigiTimes]

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