Author name: Khalid Hosein

Motorola 1st Android handset, the CLIQ, appears on T-Mobile

Phones, Portable / By /

Motorola’s first Android handset, the CLIQ, makes its first appearance on the T-Mobile network. The CLIQ is a slide-out keyboard handset with a 320×480 3.1″ HVGA screen that operates on WCDMA and GSM networks. Other notable features include the accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, a microSD card slot, touch screen, 802.11b/g WiFi, 6 hour battery life (325 hrs in standby) and of course, all of the various Android applications and features.

Motorola already has other Android handsets in the pipe, and Google has already announced that there will be at least 18 Android handsets by the end of 2009 and certainly more next year.

via Engadget

“Terminal Man” to fly around for a month, not leave terminals

Miscellaneous / By /

Remember the movie, the Terminal with Tom Hanks? Well, what if you took that idea and extended it one step where the person still couldn’t leave airport terminals, but could jet from one to another? Wired.com took up Brendan Ross’ Craigslist ad to fly around on JetBlue’s all you can fly pass for a month.

Crazy, but for a month, he’s not going to leave the airport/airplane world. The other side of this is that the science ‘experts’ say that there is a huge chance he’s going to snap at some point.

You can follow Brendan on Twitter and the Wired blog.

5th Generation iPod nano features video recording

1 Comment / Audio/Video, Home Theater, Gizmo of the Day, Portable / By /

One of the new products announced at Apple’s event yesterday was the new iPod nano, now with a video camera and pausable FM radio. The new iPod nanos now have a polished anodized aluminum finish and comes in 9 different colors. But the most notable feature has to be the video camera that is paired with the larger 2.2″ screen (240-by-376-pixel resolution). Sync up the nano to your computer and it’s just one more step to sharing your video on YouTube, Facebook, et al.

The FM Tuner not only lets you listen to live FM radio, but to pause it for up to 15 minutes. You can rewind as well. Also included is the ability to tag songs that you like, so that you can look them up later on in iTunes.

The VoiceOver feature speaks the artist and song title to you, and the Genius feature in iTunes can help you put together cohesive playlists.

The new iPod nano comes in 8GB and 16GB sizes.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: 8GB: $149, 16GB: $179
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Hobbit movie to go ahead

Miscellaneous / By /

For all of you Tolkien fans out there, some good news: JRR Tolkien’s estate has settled some contentious contract disputes with New Line Cinema, and have allowed for the production to go ahead.

The Hobbit will be directed by Guillermo del Toro and released in 2011. Another Tolkien-inspired movie will follow after that.

Hasbro gets some help from Google on new online version of Monopoly

Gaming & Toys, Gizmo of the Day / By /

Google and Hasbro have teamed up to develop a new online version of Monopoly that makes use of Google Maps. Monopoly City Streets features many of the same concepts as traditional Monopoly – you start off with a set amount of money and can buy/build houses and hotels. But now you can also build skyscrapers and stadiums, as well as ‘hazards’ to slow down your competitors.

Monopoly City Streets launches today, but must be experiencing either too much traffic or some early bugs as the site was either inaccessible or not loading completely.

via Mashable

SenseWear – Electronic Weight Watcher

1 Comment / Gizmo of the Day, Sports, Health & Fitness, Outdoors / By /

The SenseWear from BodyMedia is an electronic gadget that you wear on your arm, that monitors your body’s main stats and gives you feedback on how you’re doing with your health and weight management.

In collaboration with the SenseWear website, users can track their nutrition and progress with up to date accurate information about their bodies – weight, metabolism, calories burned, sleep and more.

Key metrics tracked by SenseWear are Total Energy Expenditure (Calories burned); Active Energy Expenditure; Physical Activity Duration and Levels (METs); and Sleep Duration and Sleep Efficiency.

Gimme!
More info from the manufacturer

Price: $299.99 plus $19/mo for website subscription
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Lux Minimalist luxury Foosball table

Gaming & Toys, Gizmo of the Day / By /

Foosball fan? Got about $18k to spare? Then you need to take a look at this beauty – it’s a stainless steel, aluminum and glass (yes, glass) foosball table. The table surface and top cover is made of unbreakable ESG glass and you can customize the colors of some components like the legs, frame and players.

I like the idea of the glass surface as it probably won’t warp (or at least as fast as) say a wooden or ply surface. But the players are made of aluminum and I wonder if you would get the same action from them as you would from a wooden player. Of course, they won’t wear like a wooden player.

I suppose the only way to find these things out would be to test the table out. Ok, Pool Table Portfolio, send me a sample and I’ll do a thorough review! 😉

By the way, this is not the only foosball table that PTP carries and not even the most expensive. They also carry an amazing line-up of pool tables, cue racks and even rugs and chairs (?!).

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $17,790
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Opera 10 Web browser released today

1 Comment / Gizmo of the Day, Networking & Internet, Software / By /

Opera Software released version 10 of their Opera Web browser today [download]. New features include page compression (using their servers), a faster rendering engine (Presto 2.2), a remodeled tab bar, and synchronization of bookmark and other browser data. Opera is available for Windows, Macs and Linux.

Soon to come built into Opera 10 is a new technology called Opera Unite which aims to turn your browser into a server as well. Unite lets you share your content – files, folders, music, video, etc from your own computer. You can snag a test build here if you’d like.

While this seems like a cool piece of new technology, it’s debatable whether this will entice users away from current social sharing mechanisms and services.

However, Opera is quietly doing a lot of interesting research and product development. Just take a look at their Labs. It’s a shame that they only have about 2% of the browser market, as they have had a solid product ever since they started.

Make a font from your own handwriting

Miscellaneous, Software / By /

We’re heading to a future where there is more customization for and by the individual, and fontcapture is one such company that is doing their part. They’ve developed a very cool, free web-based service that allows you to create a font that is based on your very own handwriting.

All you need to do is fill out a template, scan it and upload it to their site where it analyzes and then creates the new font which you can then install on your computer.

Unfortunately for me, I’ve been writing less and less as time goes on (and typing more), that my once decent handwriting has deteriorated noticeably. Maybe I should capture it now before it devolves into a doctor’s chicken-scratch…!

via Lifehacker

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