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PhotoFast makes iPad work with a Microsoft webcam, cats and dogs live together
We're still thinking there's an integrated camera coming for the iPad, but there's one company out there who must surely be hoping that's not the case. That company would be PhotoFast, flash storage gurus turned to iPad video chat enablers. The company's early prototype is simply a Microsoft LifeCam bodged into the dock port, but when it releases toward the end of the year will be a fully custom two megapixel webcam that manages VGA video and, supposedly, will be compatible with at least some IM apps. PhotoFast is also working on an iPad TV tuner and a dock that reads flash memory, which will also be made available for the iPhone/iPod whenever it is released. As for the cats and dogs thing, no firm date was given there, either.
Samsung's SCH-B550 enters N-Gage territory
Yeah, we get pretty excited when we see a phone like this too -- the tilting screen and plethora of buttons make it clear that this isn't your run-of-the-mill handset -- but like so many other hot devices out there (save for Nokia's N-series of multimedia computers), Samsung's SCH-B550 entertainment powerhouse will likely never venture beyond the Korean peninsula. Besides the usual assortment of features you'd expect from any halfway-decent Asian cellphone these days -- MP3 player, two megapixel camera, and of course, Bluetooth -- the B550 also delivers a number of value-added extras, not the least of which are a DMB TV receiver (with video out) and what sounds like some pretty serious gaming capabilities. On the surface you have a key and screen layout that are most conducive to gaming, but beyond that, a 3D graphics processor ensures that you'll feel like you're really committing a crime when playing that Marc Ecko graffiti title. In the end, though, it's the game selection that will make or break this model, so until we hear about an imminent Gears of Wars port, we couldn't say whether or not we'd be willing to toss our smartphone to the curb for the flashy B550. [Via Slash Gear]
ASUS' "Goose" clamshell takes flight
While we're all for cellphone manufacturers giving their handsets "regular" names along with those annoying model numbers (Chocolate, RAZR, everything HTC makes), we're sure that there are still enough good words left that ASUS didn't need to resort to naming their latest cameraphone after a common waterbird. Besides its rather clunky pseudonym, "the Goose" sports a pretty attractive set of feathers features, including a two megapixel camera, music playback via the built-in MP3 player or FM radio, Bluetooth, PictBridge support, 64MB of RAM plus a microSD slot, voice recognition capabilities, and perhaps the ability to to use it as a webcam. No word on when a gaggle of these Geese will be touching down (probably just in Korea), nor for how much, but we've already moved on to wondering about that "Superman" phone that seems to be referenced in the background of this pic...[Via MobileMag]
