Recently in Portable Devices Category

How about asking someone for directions? Well, you can do so now with the release of Garmin's new nüvi 860 touted as the first portable navigation device with full menu speech recognition. In addition, the 860 nüvi comes in with other features ranging from safety camera alerts and emergency location assistance to hands free calling and photo navigation with Google Panoramio.

Garmin's nüvi 860 uses full menu speech control to make driving safer and easier. It's now possible to keep both hands on the wheel and tell the nüvi 860 what to do and where to go. Furthermore, with the speech control and a Bluetooth link to your phone the nüvi 860 makes calling even safer as it allows you to interact with your phone totally hands free.

Other features include a traffic receiver that can display up to the minute traffic information, a Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free calling when paired with compatible phones and boasts a bright, sunlight-readable 4.3-inch colour touch screen display.

via: press

It's a pleasure talking about those new HP laptops especially as they keep coming in. Today we have the Puma based Compaq 6735b and 6535b models. These two business oriented laptops come with the AMD Puma platform and their basic setup will sell at $779. But let's look what else we're going to find inside.

The Compaq 6735b is a 15.4 inch laptop while the 6535b is a 14.1 notebook. Both of them will have similar configuration. As for processor you can choose between the AMD Turion X2, X2 Ultra, or Athlon X2. You will get the ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphic card and up to 8GB RAM, you know just in case your job is launching rockets from NASA and you have to occasionally do it from home. The hard drive is a little little at 160GB but you can replace the DVD burner with a second HDD. Although I would advise for getting yourself and external dependable hard drive and leave that DVD in place.

The LCDs are special too. They will play nicely in WXGA resolution. The 15 inch version will get WSXGA+ while the 14 inch version will get the WXGA+ resolution. Need more details? Check with HP for further customization, although it might not be available just yet.

via Engadget

If you miss those Polaroid moments which were so popular at a certain time, you should try the Polaroid PoGo Instant Mobile Printer. It's a perfect solution for on the go pictures. Of course quality can't be asked
for. After all it's not a regular printer, but it will get the job done.

Connect your camera via PictBridge or any device via Bluetooth to this Polaroid Instant Mobile Printer and go printing. You wil get a 2 by 3 inch photo in about 2 minutes or so. You can take about 15 pictures on a fully charged battery and it costs $150. You will have to pay $10 for a 30 sheets pack and off you go printing.

There's no ink needed to print those pictures. This device uses a Zero Ink technology or ZINK. If you aren't familiar with it here's how it works. The paper has clear dye crystals embedded into it which is activated by heat. This is how images will be later formed in printers like the Polaroid PoGo. The paper includes a polymer at the exterior which will protect the images and give that traditional photo feeling.

The Polaroid PoGo Instant Mobile Printer is attractive for what it can do. It's a "look what I have" kind of gadget which could use more improvement for better picture quality. Try it while traveling if you have the chance to get your hands on one; it should be fun.

via Engadget

While you are waiting for the Asus Eee 901, 1000 and 1000H to hit the USA, Asus has announced they are going to launch the new Eee PC laptops which are the 904 and 905. What's new you ask? Well, these two models will have an 8.9 inch LCD but the chassis and keyboard will be taken from the 10.2 inch models. So they finally realized the keyboard is too small to use successfully? Are we going to see 704 and 705 laptops too?

Here's what Asus officials said:

The Eee PC 904 and 905 will adopt Atom processors and the major difference between the two and the previous 901 model is that they feature a bigger keyboard. Asustek is still evaluating whether to make changes to the two models battery and storage capacity.

The 904 and 905 should retail for almost the same price as the 900 and 901 do, and in time they will replace the first 8.9 inch models. It's also rumored that Asus will either drop 900 and 901 prices to sell them out or leave them to compete against the Acer One. If I were Asus I'd drop prices and have the 904 and 905 compete the Acer.

I don't know if this cuts cake or not, but Toshiba's Portege R500-12Q, rebranded for US as the R500-S5007V, still remains the first laptop to have 128GB of SSD sweetness, while being thin and light at the same time. There is no word on when it will become available, but at $3000, I would give the MacBook Air a pass any day over this.

Here is what you will get if you pony up $2,999:

• Intel Core2Duo Processor U7700 1.33GHz, 2MB L2, 533MHz FSB with 64 bit


• 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM


• 128GB Serial ATA Solid State Drive


• 12.1-inch diagonal widescreen high-brightness display with 1280 x 800 WXGA resolution


• Transreflective backlit LED


• Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 950


• 7mm, 8x SuperMulti-DVD (+/-R Single Layer) drive supporting 9 formats


• Genuine Windows Vista Business (32-bit version) with downgrade media for Genuine Windows XP Professional


• Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN, Intel PRO/1000 - 10/100/1000 Ethernet, and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR


• 3-Year Standard Limited Warranty

Source

We've shown you a powerful gaming design yesterday, the Qosmio X305 and we have another Qosmio, the G55 under scrutiny today. It's rumored that this laptop will go in sale somewhere in July for no less than $1,550.

Here's what we know so far about the Qosmio G55 from Toshiba:

• an 18.4-inch (1680 x 945) display,


• Centrino 2 CPU,


• GeForce 9600M GT,


• 4GB of RAM,


• dual drives,


• "Quad Core HD processor" (Cell-based SpursEngine?).

What we are curios about is the visual gesture control capability. Apparently that's what the quad core HD processor should be doing. That's something I want to see done. I like the old fashion keyboard and mouse thing to control my blogging habits and I intend to keep it for a long time. But I'd still try the hands control thing once!

via Engadget

The MSI Wind U100 gets ready to meet the people. We've seen so many Eee wannabes so far, each having good and bad parts to add to this new mini laptop market.

From what people are mumbling over the MSI Wind it looks like Asus should fear the U100 release. First of all I must say the price looks really good. The Wind with Windows XP is going to retail for $499 which is a whole $100 cheaper than the Eee 901. And if you don't remember why the Wind is not only cheaper but better, here's why: it's got 10 inch screen and a whooping 80GB hard drive.

I haven't had the chance to test the MSI but I did try the Eee. The MSI does make a better impression. I would alway recommend a bigger, better laptop, but if I were to choose from the MSI and the Eee series, I'd go for the MSI Wind for now.

Samsung has recently unveiled the new SCH M470 slider handset. This model is compatible with the HSUPA technology. It is for the first time that Company has experimented with a HSUPA capable smartphone. Evidently, HSUPA is a better version of the conventional WDCMA technology.

Now, let us have a look at its remarkable features.

• 2 Megapixel Camera
• Video Telephony
• Bluetooth enabled
• Push e-mail
• Web Access

As for now, the device is available only in South Korea at a price of 600,000 Won.

LG recently announced the launch of LG-KM710 and LG-KM380 Cell Phones in the Korea market. These models will be available in Asia, Brazil, Chile, South Central America and China in the third quarter 2008. The KM380 model will let music buffs enjoy continuous 40hour music. LG-KM710 and LG-KM380 Cell Phones will explode the market with their features. Great! Isn't it? At least they won't be disappointing like the LG Vu cell phone. Hope so! Interested to know more? Wait for a couple of days, we will update this info soon.

Via: LG

Here is one more cell phone destined for a Korea-only life. The Pantech IM-U300K is a clamshell that is HSDPA capable with WCDMA global roaming and video calling. There is also the usual suite of applications like an mp3 player, electronic dictionary, and a document viewer. But what sets it apart isn't the terrestrial DMB TV or the passable 2-megapixel camera but the 49 LED dots that are present on the front folder of the IM-U300K. These LEDs have the ability to form personalized icons/messages for 15 different situations including receiving messages, alarm, and caller identification. Furthermore, users can also create their own personalized icons with the bundled PC Sync Tool.

The IM-U300K Neon-Sign phone will be available in a choice of white, sky blue, and black on Korea's KTF mobile network although there is no information on when.

Via

Samsung has recently announced the launch of OMNIA cell phone model number SGH-i900. It sports a 5 MP Camera along with GPS, FEMTOMETER radio and Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi. The 16G internal memory can store 4000 MP3 files and 100 minutes of movie. You can access Word, Excel and PPT etc. with the latest phone. Latest version of Opera (9.5) offers enhanced browsing. SAMSUNG OMNIA Phone is expected to reach the market in the second half of 2008.

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Eclipse Intuit Concept Phone
Asus Wii-like Eee Stick

Eee did it again. I mean Asus. I have a hard time naming them as it looks like the Eee is going solo with their whole new line of Eee products.

Like I said yesterday, the Eee seems to be appearing everywhere. Asus will Eee anything and it's up to us, the buyers to allow it or not. Today we are looking at the Eee stick which is based on the Wii console. It was a matter of time until other big electronics manufacturers started to come up with different Wii versions. And we aren't counting all the Chinese knock-offs of course!

We're not sure if the Eee Stick will be sold by itself or bundled with any of the Eee PCs or the Eee Box yet but it seems that's the direction Asus is heading. $1000 might get you the Eee 901 PC and the Eee Stick, but then again we aren't sure of that. The release date of the Eee Stick isn't available yet either but we'll be waiting.

In the mean time I'll get out of my Eee chair and go to my Eee bathroom for a quick Eee experience. Wonder where my Eee towel is!

ASUS Taiwan has announced the release of the latest Essentio CS5110 Mini PC. It belongs to the family of Eee Station series. Loaded with innovations the Essentio Mini PC lets the users enjoy exceptional quality graphics. Interestingly, Asus CS5110 Essentio Mini PC is the world’s smallest Desktop PC.

Look at the image. It appears elegant. This irresistible PC is provided with a discrete graphic card for best reproduction of high definition movies. You must be wondering what all will it include?

Well, I won’t keep you pondering..It is equipped with a Blu-ray drive, wireless remote for home theater, hard drive, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT card.

You can choose from the available black and white options as per your choice. This model will also reach Computex along with ASUS fantabulous collection of electronic products.

Via: Press

iRiver has just launched two MP3 players for UK customers. In case none of the iPods does it for you, maybe it's time you tried the T7 Stix and the L Player for a change.

T7 Stix is the stick-like player in the image above. It's a really simple USB device that comes in 1GB, 2GB or 4GB, depending on your needs. It will pack MP3, WMA, ASF and OGG music or the regular FM radio. If none of that impresses you than maybe you need it to record your own music. If you were wondering about prices, the T7 retails from $98 for the 1GB version to $137 for the 4GB one

The L Player is interesting too. It has a 2 inch 320 x 240 pixel display and it supports MP3, WMA, ASF audio files and of course, MPEG-4, WMV and Flash video.The FM radio and voice recorder are there as well as the radio recording option. There are two versions, the 4GB which sells for $177 and the 8GB which comes to $216.

So if you want to listen your music the iRiver way, and you'll be in the UK starting from June, you will be able to purchase one of them. Let us know how they work!

via Crave

Two new products got discreetly added to Nokia’s Polish website Nokia 7510 and 7610. These are a part of the recently released Supernova Collection. The 7610 is a gorgeous up-slider cell phone.  The 7510 boasts a clamshell design and looks good in its flip open style. It works only on GSM network. It features QVGA display, monochrome external display, music player, FM radio, Bluetooth (A2DP) and memory card support.

Via: Idnez

We had a small notebooks day today here at MobileWhack with so many small laptops emerging from various manufacturers. The leader of the pack, the Eee inventor, Asus, will be launching soon the Eee 1000, which is a 10 inch notebook.

All this is bound to happen in a few days in Taipei at Computex 2008. The Eee PC 1000 is Asus' way of answering to feedback received from their customers. They are asking for a bigger display and a wider keyboard for a better Eee experience, and I couldn't agree more!

The Asus Eee 1000 will be available later this year and we hope we can count on some other hardwares upgrades besides the extra inch. Hopefully we will know more about this laptop in a few days. We're also curious about the official release date and of course the price. If you are in Taiwan, give us a hint once you find out more.

via Gear Diary

Well this is something I'd be interested in doing. Having Earth at the tips of my fingers is interesting at least. Of course I would have expected this to be a Google Earth version for the iPhone. And I am both happy and sad to report it isn't.

Why happy? I like the fact others have approached this subject. Competing against Google is tough on every level, especially against their perfected Google Earth and especially in the mobile world.

Why sad? I am still counting on Google for any search I'd make, especially on Google Earth. I would assume they will bring an iPhone solution to the table.

This Earth version is in beta right now for Windows and Linux and there's no release date. Hopefully it's going to hit 3G iPhone users soon. The manufacturer Earthscape should be kept under observation. Who knows what similar solution they might come up with!

We first laid our eyes on the Samsung SGH-F480 and its new TouchWiz interface back in MWC 2008. We were promised a April/May release date and true to their word, Samsung has announced that the 5-megapixel shooter is now headed to Europe. No word on availability in US, but considering that it is triband GSM designed for Europe and Asia, the phone would pretty much be a dud here anyways. With the new TouchWiz UI comes support for widgets, which can be dragged on to the home screen, which wasn't available on its predecessor, the Croix 2.0 interface. Also available are 22 different vibrations which provide haptic feedback to the touch of a finger. Otherwise, the cell phone is basically the Samsung Armani with a 2.8-inch touchscreen, video messaging, email, USB 2.0 and Bluetooth connectivity, mobile blogging, and a 5-megapixel camera equipped with auto-focus as well as image stabilization.

The SGH-F480 will be released in the European market with a graduated release in other countries, most probably Asian.

What do I mean more? We showed you other pictures of the second generation Apple phone a while ago. Those were either Black or white, slimmer or rounder 3G iPhones.

Rumors you said? Yes indeed they were. But with all those rumors there has to be a seed of leaked truth out there. The pictures above show us a rounder iPhone with a thicker back. This version is Black over Graphite and comes via XSKN. If it's true or not it just makes us dream and wait anxiously for the WWDC. We'll see if Apple will confirm or infirm any of these skin shots.

Any Apple employees to leak some pictures over? Thought you wouldn't...

Microsoft unveiled its latest accessory, the Microsoft LifeCam. The series includes three models, including the VX-5000, VX-500 and LX-2000. With a unique bendable attachment base that you can use with pretty much any surface (either on your laptop or your desktop), it comes in a convenient size so you can carry it around.

The LifeCam VX-5000 webcam has a colored ring around the front of the webcam, available in Cool Blue, Lucky Green and Fire Red. It comes with MSN Photo Swap, allowing you to share photos during a video conversation. The other two models are affordable ones: the VX-500 is your basic webcam while the LX-2000 features a full-size headset.

Pricing and availability:

LifeCam VX-5000: available in June 2008, retailing at US $49.95

LifeCam VX-500: available in May 2008 for US $16.95

LifeCam LX-2000: also in May 2008, for US $29.95

via press

Apple's Macbook Air has at least one important problem to solve, and that is overheating. This problem has been reported and I would assume Apple would solve it by the time they launch the next version. Just in case your Air needs more air in order for you to keep doing what you're doing without any time off for cooling, here's an external cooler, the Zephyr from Moshi. It might be the world's slimmest cooler designed for the world's slimmest laptop.

I had to show you this gadget. Have you ever been in a phone conversation you simply felt you had to record and wasn't able to do it? Or are you just paranoid and tend to record events from your life, like talking to your mother, girlfriend or boss?

If so, for $18 you can have this Olympus TP-7 microphone that goes in your ear. That means that what you hear gets recorded. Say you have a tumultuous conversation from your landline and you wish you recorded it. Nothing easier with the Olympus TP-7 waiting in your ear. Turn it on and it will record everything you hear. As long as it's connected to a recorder of any type.

Does this mean you'll have to wear the microphone at all times as you'll never know when you'll have to use it?

It looks like Palm hasn't forgotten what it's best known for, PDAs. One&Co has teamed up with Palm to bring out a looker, the Zire 72. Focusing mainly on media-centric functions, the Zire 72 has a 1.3-megapixel camera with 2x zoom and video recording at 320x240 pixels. Along with the MP3 and video player, the device carries a 320x320 transflective screen to display bright and crisp images with its 65k colors. Running on Palm OS v5.2.8, the Zire 72 is also endowed with pretty good power with a 321MHz Intel PXA270 processor and 32MB of RAM, which may seem low but just enough for a PDA. It sports 24MB of internal memory which can be expanded via MMC, SD, and SDIO cards.

Priced at $100, the Zire 72 PDA is available on Amazon and other online stores.

I personally do not wear a wristwatch. I like to have my hand free at all times and if I need the time I already have my cell phone to tell me that. Apparently other like watches so much they are trying to fit cell phones inside them.

Today we are looking at the EP2502 which takes talking to you watch a step further. It's pretty good looking for a cell phone/watch, it's full shockproof and waterproof and it will retail starting May 10th from $299.

Let's take a closer look to some of EP2502's specs:

• OLED screen: 1.3 inch OLED 260k; resolution:128 x 160px touching panel,
• Ring tone: 64 polyphonic,
• Music format: mp3,
• Movie format: mp4, full screen,
• 2.0m pixels camera,
• T-flash support: free 512MB card but up to 2GB,
• Bluetooth connectivity

So which one do you prefer? The EP2502 cell phone watch for $299 or the UR-202 eco-friendly watch?