WindUp
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Luxury phone maker Vertu is calling it quits
Luxury phone maker Vertu is in the process of being wound up after an attempt to rescue the business from administration failed. The Financial Times reports that the firm, which apparently had debts of around £138 million, will close with the loss of around 200 jobs. The news comes as a surprise, given that the outfit recently signed a technology-sharing deal with Chinese giant TCL.
Windows Phone's answer to Snapchat has you 'winding up' your friends
There's no official Snapchat app for Windows Phone right now, but don't worry -- Microsoft is offering an equivalent that might do in a pinch. The new WindUp app covers very similar ground, letting you send media and messages that disappear after a set amount of time; you're supposed to "wind up" your friends by giving them just a brief glimpse of what you're sharing. No, we don't get the (fairly contrived) explanation any more than you do, but Microsoft isn't worried about marketing here. While this technically competes with services like Snapchat, it's really a research experiment meant to explore how people "create, share and converse," not to topple someone else's messaging empire. Don't expect WindUp to evolve or reach other platforms, then. Even so, it may be worth checking out if you'd like a ephemeral chat app focused solely on Windows Phone fans.
The Cranko MP3 player twists our panties into a knot
You know what kids in developing nations need besides water, vaccines, and schools? MP3 players... and laptops, lots of laptops. Meet the Cranko, at least that's what we're calling it since Thanko's "Cranking MP3 Player" bores us to the point of Wal-marting razor blades. The 1GB capacity player from Thanko features a flashlight and 10 minute charge per minute of cranking. You know, just in case your spelunking adventures take you too far away from a USB port. Yours now for ¥6,000 or about $60.
Ecodigital's windup PMP runs on elbow grease
Trevor Baylis, famed British inventor of the "windup" radio (which runs on cranking power) and all-around bon vivant, has set his sights on a newer form of portable entertainment: the digital media player. Baylis, along with the company Ecodigital, has created a small PMP which never needs to be plugged in -- you simply wind the small crank on the back when you need more juice (although, if you want to go ahead and destroy the planet, it offers USB charging as well). According to the company, one minute (or a third of the new Kelly Clarkson single) of cranking garners 40 sweet minutes of playback, and you can crank to a maximum of 20 hours. The player features a 1.8-inch color screen, 2GB of onboard memory, an SD card slot, FM tuner, line-in recording, and playback of MP3, WMA, ASF, and WAV files. Pre-orders for a mid-August shipment available now for £169.99, or around $344.[Via SensoryMetrics]
