Devices Site

The folks at fring have announced that a new version of their app made specifically for iPhone is out. The application does everything that you would expect, including letting you bring Skype, MSN, Google Talk, ICQ, Twitter, Yahoo!, and AIM all with you on your iPhone. Along with that ability you can now make free calls over WiFi with a super slick interface. The only requirement is that you need to have a Jailbroken iPhone, since this is not a browser-based application.

I followed the instructions at the fringcubator and was up and running in minutes. I then logged into Skype and Google Talk and was off and running. The only issues I found so far is that Twitter, Yahoo and AIM are “chat only”, so you can’t IM with all your buds just yet. It does include built-in sounds and notifiers, though, and I was on my iphone’s homescreen and heard a tone then saw a number increment on the Fring icon, so the sweet touches are already in place. Great job, especially for a pre-release!

Read more about it at fring.com.

The Hive is but a simulated surround sound speaker system that is way more interesting to look at compared to a standard sound bar, featuring a hexagonal honey comb pattern that features pivoting cells that form a truly customizable audio experience without the hassle of worrying about cables or cords. The Hive will need only two at most - one connected to the nearest power outlet while the other is hooked up to your spanking new home entertainment system.

For the existentialist in your life who has everything, how about the Milky Way galaxy suspended in a glass cube? Supposedly, there are 80,000 stars inside the cube, rendered using three-dimensional data from Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory. In the exact center of the cube is our solar system - a tiny speck, a reminder of how invisible we are in the cosmic scheme of things.

Because it’s a cube, you can view the galaxy from different angles:

Available from Living World for a mere $80,000 JPN (about $770).

Via Crave.

Are you bored of using a laptop with a plastic or metal case? Want something a little different for your wrists to rest on? Then a new prototype laptop from Fujitsu could be just the thing.

The laptop is called the WoodShell and replaces the typical plastic casing with cedar wood and utilises bio-plastics in a number of areas. Earlier this year Fujitsu unveiled a Biblio laptop that used corn starch to cut down on the plastic used in the casing. This latest prototype seems to be a stage on from that, replacing the plastic completely and using bio-plastic for parts.

The official unveiling of the laptop is meant to happen this week at the Japan Design Innovation Exhibition 2008, held between April 16-20 in Italy.

As you can see from the pictures, the case consists of a light wood interior, dark wood exterior with an optional cloth shell and cloth handle for trasnport. The design of the WoodShell was done with Monacca, a Japanese design team that specialises in using wood for their products.

The specifications of the machine have yet to be announced, but hopefully they will become available during the official unveiling.

Read more at PCAdvisor.com and Impress.co.jp (translated) as well as the Fujitsu press release

Matthew’s Opinion

I do like the way it looks, but am a bit dubious about the outer cloth casing. The folds at either side of the screen hinge look like they would start to hang down before too long, impeding the keys and/or screen.

I also wonder if the machine is any heavier than a plastic equivalent would be? I am assuming so as wood is heavier than plastic, but they may have saved on weight elsewhere in the design. It’s certainly not weatherproof, but you can argue plastic cased laptops aren’t either.

For a prototype it shows off how nice a wooden laptop can look, but in terms of practicality would you consider buying one?

MobileTechReview has a review of the Palm Centro And writes, “Though only 1.3 megapixels, the camera did an excellent job with the image processing and we got very pleasing colors and a natural sharpness in well lit scenes. There’s less noise in the AT&T version’s photos than Sprint’s for indoor shots, and indoor shots are acceptable. Photo resolutions are 1280 x 1024, 640 x 480 and 320 x 240. There are few settings available, and these are: effect, date stamp, shutter sound on/off and prompt sound and review period. You can save photos to a card and send them via MMS…There are separate icons for camera and camcorder, though you can switch between the two modes once in the application. Video resolutions are 352 x 288 and 176 x 144, and you can record audio (or not), disable the shutter sound, use a limited palette of effects (normal, black & white, sepia) and save video to a card. Video colors are decent, but there’s a great deal of motion blur and moderate noise. Once again, for a $99 PDA phone, we won’t complain: the camera is decent and colorizes (outdoor shots only) in a pleasing fashion.”

Read more about the Palm Centro.

The Walk - Dont Walk chair is built from authentic New York City signs. What is ultra cool is that the signs still work via a remote control. The remote control is included which allows you to switch on and off the signs when needed. Maybe they should read, Sit - Dont Sit. Power is provided by a standard 115V wall outlet. Bulbs are standard too making them easy to replace when needed. The legs of the seat are made from steel street sign brackets and are galvanized and fitted with self levelling feet.

The Walk - Dont Walk chairs are each built by hand and still contain all the scuffs and stains of living in New York for a number of years. If the old beat up signs do not take your fancy then you can opt to go for a squeaky clean look which will see the chair completely resprayed. The seating surfaces are made from one inch thick polished resin glass which sits on a felt suspension.

Shipping is the killer here as it will take around 14 - 16 weeks for delivery although a price tag of $3700 might be considered more of a killer.

Product Page Source

Guest Post by Matthew of Gadget Venue.

With people like us who stay online most of the time in mind, E-TEN Information Systems will be releasing two almost identical versions of a new Wi-Fi enabled and touchscreen-equipped Windows Mobile 6 Professional certified smartphone. Called the E-Ten Glofiish (not a typo) M810 and M750, these new smartphones are said to be targeted at bloggers, podcasters, video makers, and chatters, who need as much online time and connectivity options as they can get in order to keep their lives/ businesses running smoothly.

The Glofiish M810 has support for UTMS and HSDPA data connectivity, and will be equipped with a secondary camera that can be used freely in video calls. It will run on a Samsung S3C 2442 500MHz processor, has a quadband antenna, built-in Bluetooth and GPS, a microSD card slot and a miniUSB port. The Glofiish M750, meanwhile, has just about the same features minus the UTMS/HSDPA network support. Meaning, it will still have the same 2-megapixel camera with auto focus, 2.8-inch TFT screen, 256MB ROM, 64MB RAM, and the sliding form factor with a slide-out keyboard. Could these smartphones be a hit among netizens?

The Glofiish M810 and M750 are said to be the first E-TEN Pocket PCs to have built-in JAVA support, facilitating online downloads directly to the phone for most available downloadable content. Now I have to say the design is a bit conservative, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not striking in itself. Here’s another photo of the upcoming Glofiish M810. Expect it to be available in stores in two to three weeks time.

Via [SlashPhone]

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RC Dragon Fly

You can have this for ?39.99

Verizon will definitely win more fans over, dropping the price of its unlimited data plan to a mere $29.99 monthly from today onwards. Guess if you’re always hankering after a cheap, unlimited data plan, this is it - unless you’re with Sprint of course. Healthy competition is always great for the consumers

Intel’s new Atom processor sees action in the Willcom D4 (also known as the WS016SH from Sharp), boasting the following features :-

• 1.33GHz Atom processor
• 1GB RAM
• Tilt-slider design that fits a QWERTY keyboard and D-pad
• 5″ touch screen display at 1,024 x 600 resolution
• 2 megapixel camera
• SIM card slot
• 40GB hard drive
• microSD memory card slot
• WiFi connectivity
• Four USB ports

Both Sharp and Willcom have decided to sell the Willcom D4 for approximately $1,272 including a two-year cellular service plan. Those in Japan will be able to get their hands on it when it ships later this June, with no immediate plans to bring this across the Pacific.