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Moto to introduce NC800 EV-DO WiFi router?
Looks like Moto's jumping in the 3G WiFi router arena too soon enough, only their new NC800 isn't kind enough to the user to be carrier-independent and have a PC card slot for your choice of wireless broadband. No, the NC800 is straight up EV-DO Rel. 0, and comes also with your usual 802.11b/g, Ethernet ports, and firewall. Nothing special or out of the ordinary, in other words, but maybe if they get the price down to something reasonable they'll be able to snag a few customers.
RedOctane CEO: More music games coming
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, RedOctane CEO Kelly Sumner revealed that the company's "got other products in development" in the music genre.The former Take Two Interactive Europe CEO's statement that he "can't tell you what [these other products] are and when they're coming" would lead us to believe he's not talking about the Guitar Hero sequels (sorta like song expansion packs) already announced.A rhythm line-up to rival Konami's Bemani brand, perhaps? This blogger would love something to take advantage of the RedOctane drum peripherals created for Namco's Taiko Drum Master, and it wouldn't be too hard for Harmonix to work up a karaoke game considering their work on Karaoke Revolution (unless licensing prevents it). Whatever the case, fans of music gaming would love to see what Sumner's got up his sleeve.[Thanks, murph]See also: Guitar Hero readies for European tour A whole range of Guitar Heroes to be available A postmortem on Accordion Hero (with a little info on Guitar Hero, too) RedOctane Guitar Hero Specialty Store [where'd the cherry SG go?!]
Bluetooth SIG chooses sides for UWB-based Bluetooth successor
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group, in search of a standard for its next version of Bluetooth, had already expressed its intention to pick between the quarreling UWB factions: WiMedia Alliance and the UWB Forum. Looks like WiMedia ended up fitting the bill best for bringing high speeds to Bluetooth connections, and it's expected that most UWB manufacturers will follow suit. Now the respective tech teams just need to sit down and hammer out the spec, which Bluetooth SIG estimates will take about a year, with prototype chips becoming available around Q2 2007. There are some distinct technological hurdles that must be jumped to get the 480mbps UWB interoperable with the 2.1mbps Bluetooth connections, including the fact that UWB operates in the unlicensed spectrum above 6GHz, while Bluetooth hangs out at 2.4GHz. Even with those problems in front of them, Bluetooth SIG is confident that UWB fits the low power consumption requirements of Bluetooth, and, of course, it's hard to scoff at the promised data rates.[Via Phone Scoop]
MegaSIM gets bumped to 512MB
We've yet to actually see a MegaSIM in the market in the US -- you know, those vastly capacious SIM cards from M-Systems, recent purveyors of vastly un-capacious flash drives. But apparently they've upped the capacity to a clean half gig, and are launching in France on bundled with an LG U8210, which doesn't make a ton of sense being that the LG has a MiniSD slot, but hey, the more memory in your phone the better, says we.
Wi-Ex Car Extender cellphone signal booster
Wi-Ex, or Wireless Extenders as we used to know them, have announced their Wi-Ex Car Extender which captures and amplifies the cellphone signal in your car. This "dual-band" signal booster, which we assume (they don't specify) covers the 800 and 1900MHz frequencies, should be compatible with T-Mobile, Sprint, Cingular and Verizon among others. The Car Extender kit is said to be user-installable and consists of a magnetic mounted external antenna, a bi-directional amp you place in the trunk or under the seat with power supplied by the ol' cigarette lighter, and a small interior patch antenna. Expect the kit to demand about $299 and drop for retail before the end of the month.[Via gadgets weblog]
ROK Entertainment reveals SlingBox-like "BLCX"
Hot on the heels of the SlingPlayer Mobile release is word from the UK that mobile content provider ROK Entertainment is planning to release a SlingBox-like device to coincide with the broadcast of the World Cup. Mobile Marketing Magazine is reporting that ROK, who currently offer a variety of streamed programming for Symbian phones, decided to manufacture the so-called "BLCX" box after learning that soccer's biggest event wouldn't be available live online. Keeping in mind that folks might only want a product like this for the Cup, ROK will be offering the BLCX as a rental for £12 a month in addition to the outright purchase option of £250. Also unusual is the fact that this service claims to work on connections as slow as GPRS -- sounds kind of dubious to us (although ROK TV currently boasts 2.5G support -- any anecdotal evidence, Brits?), but all will be made clear on the promised rollout date of June 1st.[Via Tech Digest]
Nokia teams up with Neil Squire Society to help disabled phone users
Through a partnership with the Neil Squire Society, a Canadian non-profit that serves Canadians with physical disabilities, Nokia is building a new Hands Free Adapter (HFA) to bring wireless communication to those with serious mobility impairments. There aren't a lot details as to the actual operation of the device, but it seems to somehow interface with traditionally used controls available to the disabled. The HFA will be compatible with select Nokia phones -- no word if it works over Bluetooth -- and should be out this fall.
Sierra announces EV-DO Rev. A gear
2006 is the year Sprint and Verizon upgrade their already relatively new EV-DO networks from Rel. 0 to Revision A, which will increase download speeds to 3.1Mbps (from 2.4) and upload speeds to 1.8MBps from the paltry 0.15Mbps we've been living with until now. Of course neither network has to enable the full pipe on Rev. A, but you'll no doubt be getting at least somewhat faster access if you grab Sierra's new AirCard 595 PC card or MC5725 PCI Express Mini Card (pictured is their old AirCard 580). And hey, if you don't have Rev. A access where you're at, the devices are backward compatible with Rel. 0 and 1xRTT -- it's just too bad the 595 isn't, um, forward-compatible with all those ExpressCard slots we're gonna be seeing in loads of new laptops in the next few months.[Via Phone Scoop]
Samsung SGH-Z500 3G clamshell goes pink for Vodafone
Vodafone UK has taken a handset that we once called "understated" and snazzed it up with a fresh coat of pink paint to make the exterior complement the already sexy feature set. As we've known for awhile now, the Samsung SGH-Z500 is a UMTS clamshell with Bluetooth, MP3 playback, dual cameras for video calling, and a TransFlash slot to bulk up the 50MB of included memory. Not only will this model be free on certain plans starting in April, but Vodafone is even throwing in a pink Plantronics Bluetooth headset for the odd occasion that you wouldn't want to be seen holding this hot little number up to your face.[Via Shiny Shiny]
Phlash phone flash for fine phone photos
We'd really have to see it in practice to know what this little device could do for our admittedly lame cameraphone pics, but this new Phlash LED phone flash claims to be 12 times brighter than your average phone flash. All you do is stick the Phlash to the back of your phone and then push its button while taking your picture. You'll want to have the flash on for long enough to get the exposure right with your phone, so we're not quite sure how long the battery is going to last -- Phlash claims "hundreds of brief flash cycles." The Phlash is recommended for closeup pics, up to around one meter, and can be attached to your phone via a short strap if you don't want to commit the back of your handset to its adhesive.
CellAntenna's RDCRS brings cellular signal and overlong abbreviations to disaster areas
The new CAE750 Dual-Band Rapid Deployment Cellular Repeater System (RDCRS) from CellAntenna might have a little bit too much of a name, but it does seem bring a fairly impressive service to disaster areas. Basically it boosts existing phone signals that might be spotty during a disaster so that workers within its 15,000 square foot coverage area can have a clear signal. The RDCRS is fairly portable and can be deployed by a single person, with 8 hours of battery life in case the power is down. No word on price, but we're guessing you'll be needing a bit of government relief money to pull this one off.[Via gizmag]
LG's Style-i hands-full headset
Looks like LG is no longer content just knocking Samsung, they've apparently moved on to Haier in the P7 "inspired" Style-i, their new 4.3-inch long Bluetooth handset / headset. How's it both? Well, it's not a phone itself, just a Bluetooth device meant to emulate the experience of using a phone when your real handset stays safely in your bag / purse / pocket / wherever. Yeah, we might think a non-hands-free headset wasn't such a good idea either, but you'd be surprised how many people we've heard ask for something like this. Though the "below $150" price tag (i.e. $149.99) could definitely be tweaked a little, this much we know.
TOPEX drops world's first HSDPA wireless router
So it's clear that we're not really getting all of our hip-cool tech news out of Bucharest, Romania, but if it's the world's first HSDPA Wireless Broadband Router we're not going to let that stand in the way. TOPEX has just announced their newest BYTTON wireless router, which includes WiFi, VPN, a Firewall, LAN and Video Surveillance Server abilities, and of course your everyday HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS, EV-DO, and CDMA 1x support. Sure, it's not quite the fashion statement that the Junxion Box is, and we're fairly sure it's using different PCMCIA cards and not some sort of ancient Romanian magic to support all those wireless standards, but it's still a winner in our book.Update: Turns out this isn't the "world's first" HSDPA router after all, since Junxion has had support for the Cingular HSDPA cards for a while now. The revised statement should read: "world's least green HSDPA router."
LG UBNM 1GS01 USB drive charges, syncs phones
It's a flash drive! It's a cellphone charger! It slices. It dices. And it may actually be coming to a cellphone near you. LG's UBNM 1GS01 (just rolls off the tongue, eh?) combines a USB flash drive with a cellphone charger and sync software, letting you sync files between your computer and cellphone, download files from your phone, and charge the phone, all with one compact device. It will apparently be compatible with phones from Sony Ericsson and Nokia off the bat, with other brands coming later. No word on when it will be out, or at what price -- or whether LG will come out with a more euphonious name for it.
Orange Mobile Mitts make it easy to gab on the slopes
UK wireless carrier Orange wants to make sure its customers can keep racking up minutes even on the ski slopes, so they've developed a pair of prototype mittens meant to simplify the often-frustrating process of fat-fingered dialing. Orange's Mobile Mitt features a compartment in one of the gloves for storing your cell, and a quick-finger-release on the other so you don't have to take it off in order to manipulate your phone's buttons. For now, though, weekend snowboarders are going to have to stick with the old Bluetooth or wired headset option while carving it up- pros are getting the first crack at these mitts at the Orange British Ski and Snowboard Championships in Switzerland this month (because nothing cuts precious seconds off your run like chatting it up as you slalom down the hill).[Via textually]
Pretec's i-Disk Mobile thumbdrive & data/charging bridge for your cell
The storage gurus at Pretec, makers of such innovative-for-their-day USB drives as the 8GB i-Disk II thumbdrive and super-small i-Disk Diamond, have come out with a new addition to the i-Disk family that can also act as a data bridge between a PC and a cellphone for backup and file transfer. Even better, the phone keypad-controlled i-Disk Mobile can act as a charging bridge, juicing up your handset from your notebook's USB port. Nokia- and Sony Ericsson-compatibly will be standard out-of-the-box when these start to ship in April, with support for other manufacturers to follow shortly.
Charming Kitty Fujifilm Pivi Camera Phone Printer: Kitty's got a new look
Longtime Engadget readers may be wondering what's become of our curious adult-male obsession with Hello Kitty-themed gadgets, as the adorable little furball hasn't been seen around these pages in a long while. Well fear not, fellow Kitty-lovers, our infatuation has not waned in the least -- we'll continue to bring you HK swag until they pry the Kittyboard from our cold, dead hands -- it's just that we haven't seen any really good feline gear lately that's worth your precious reading time. Until, that is, we spotted the Charming Kitty Fujifilm Pivi Camera Phone Printer, which features our favorite little puss in her new "come hither" pose (think: "Maxim" Barbie), that was designed for slapping her likeness onto racier items like bras and underwear (and mobile gadgets, apparently). The $159 printer itself is nothing to write home about, allowing you to turn your crappy cameraphone shots into crappy Polaroid-like pics through IrDA transfer- but when it comes to Kitty goodies, functionality is never something we pay much mind to.[Via The Red Ferret]
Zboard version 2: the MERC
While you're waiting for the Infinium Phantom or Optimus OLED Keyboard, here's another peripheral that may pique your interest. Zboard have been making gamer-focused keyboards for some time now, but the compromise between QWERTY and separate WASD keys has forced some gamers' hands into unusual contortions (ours included). Fortunately, their all-new, all-singing, all-dancing MERC does away with the problem--it features a side WASD pad, with more programmable keys than before as well as a full QWERTY keyboard. No need for separate keysets this time; although the older model is much easier to clean thanks to its hot-swapping keys, we prefer comfortable typing every time.[Via Opposable Thumbs]
Sony Ericsson MP001 music dock
Sony Ericsson has expanded the speaker options available for its music phones with the MP001, a dock for the company's Walkman phones that includes a 25-watt speaker system, and integrated charger. We're still not sold on the idea of using a cellphone as our main source of at-home music, though if the price is right and this doubles as a speaker phone, we'll give it some serious thought.
Energizer dongle charges cellphones from AAs
Om Malik has news of a super-small battery pack from Energizer that may soon be commercially available for charging cellphones with regular or lithium AA batteries. GigaOm has some shots of the, well, battery-sized device, which uses "some amazing circuitry" to perform its wizardry and accepts short adapter wires for different phone models. The chargers supposedly provide phones with one or two top-offs, although we have some doubts that a AA could fill up our extended battery-sportin' smartphones. Still, with these batteries relatively cheap and widespread, they could provide a real alternative to products like the Cellboost- assuming you actually remember to bring the minuscule charger along in your travels.
