Section: Gadgets / Other, Miscellaneous  This video is pretty amazing. An ARM powered Droid has managed to manipulate a mass of LEGOS from a Mindstorms NXT kit to solve a Kubik’s cube.
 The image capturing software that has to be used in order to do this is pretty extraordinary not to mention the robotics. This machine has been dubbed the SpeedCuber and uses the DROID’s camera to take pictures of each face of the cube and sends the solution to the LEGO NXT controller via Bluetooth. Pretty impressive. Now if I could only get that into my hands to solve my Rubik’s cube that has gone unsolved for the past couple years. Read [Wired] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Mobile, Web, Google  Google Goggles released last December as a Google Lab creation, allowing all users to access a Google search through a mere picture sent from a phone. Although the first release was a bit spotty on accuracy, the application has evolved to become a pretty good scanner for the world.
Google’s latest update to the application, however, takes on a monumental task of converting text to other languages. The concept is to snap a photo using a Goggles enabled phone, have the text drawn out of the picture, and then have the text converted to the language of choosing using Google’s translation tools. This could potentially be a travelers tool of choice when dealing with language barriers. If you wish to download the app, simple go to the Android marketplace and search “Goggles” or scan the QR code below.
 Read [Google Mobile Blog] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Mobile 
Got pills? Got relatives who have to take pills? Got a cell phone? If so, the Pill Phone might just become your new best friend. The software downloads onto “most phones” (a new iPhone app was just approved and turns the phone into not only a reminder to take a particular medicine but also a record tracker and just maybe, a snitch. The software allows users to set up reminders for over 1800 different medications. When the user is reminded they can select snooze or note that the medication was taken. Alerts can be set up so an email or text is sent to a care giver if a dosage was not taken. Most of the data can be entered into the Pill Phone web client making set up a breeze. Produced by the same folks that write the Pill Book, the Pill Phone allows access to the Pill Book database where users can research medications, potentially hazard drug interactions and see large images of what each pill looks like. The data is updated frequently, according the company. The software is sold as a service for $3.99 per month, depending on carriers. Currently deals are with AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. Company site: [Pill Phone] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile Believe it or not, 60 million Americans use pre-paid phones. Given the recent economy it makes sense to go with the cheaper option. Following the logic of ultra-cheap phone plans, Sprint will be rolling out possibly the best pre-paid deal on May 12. The changes will come to Sprint’s Virgin Mobile brand and be targeted at 18-24 year-olds, though could prove useful for many others. The new plans for Virgin Mobile will start at just $25 a month. That $25 will get you 300 minutes as well as unlimited messaging, and data. To bring the minutes up to 1,200 will cost $40 a month. Unlimited minutes will cost only $60. If you want to use the BlackBerry service with the plans, that’s just an extra $10. The idea behind the plans is that most younger cell phone users are calling each other less and less, instead opting to communicate via SMS, email or IM. Therefore, why both with a lot of minutes? Why even bother with anything more than $25 a month for unlimited texts and data? The phones for the new plans, dubbed Beyond Talk, are the LG Rumor Touch and Rumor 2, Kyocera Loft, and the BlackBerry Curve 8530 which will come at the end of May. The Loft will be the cheapest at $69.99. The Rumor Tough and Rumor 2 will cost $149.99 and $89.99, respectively, with both phone being available off contract only. The Curve 8530 will retail for $299.99. The deals do seem like a great idea at first. Those who don’t talk much and want a cheap plan would be perfect for this deal. However, the choice of phones are rather slim, and features only one “true” smartphone. Then again, those who are looking at pre-paid plans probably aren’t looking for smartphones. Read [Boy Genius Report] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile  Ah, when will it end? A new poll released by ChangeWave says 53% of Verizon customers were at least “somewhat likely” to switch to an iPhone, should the company offer it. In rough terms, that 48 million would-be iPhone customers waiting in the wings. Unfortunately for Verizon and it’s customers, we’ve got no evidence we’ll see a Verizon iPhone anytime soon.
From ComputerWorld: “Saying that there is “an unprecedented level of pent-up demand for the iPhone among Verizon subscribers,” Rockville, Md.-based market research firm ChangeWave said its survey of more than 4,000 consumers pegged Verizon as the U.S. carrier most likely to reap massive rewards if Apple opens up the iPhone to other providers.”
Coinciding with this news is another ChangeWave poll that found AT&T customers are finding more dropped calls, three times as many as Verizon (who claimed the least amount of the four carriers polled). One question AT&T has to be asking is not only how many Verizon customers would switch to an iPhone but how many AT&T customers would defect to get better service? Far too much has been said on a Verizon iPhone, good and bad. Analysts have gone on record saying they would expect Verizon to add 11 million iPhone users the first calendar year. Even this number of new iPhone sales adds $3.8 billion in revenue to Apple (placing the expected payment from Verizon to Apple at a conservative $350 each). Could that be enough to sway Apple? What would that mean to the App Store ecosystem? Could anything stop that super train of captured users? I suppose we’ll see, someday. Read: [ComputerWorld] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Web, Websites  Faisal Shahzad, the Pakastani-American man accused of trying to set off a car bomb in New York's Time Square, bought the SUV he rigged with a crude and thankfully faulty explosive device from Craiglist. A Connecticut man said Shahzad bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder from him for $1300 in cash. Despite a fake license plate and scraped off VIN number, the NYPD was able to trace the vehicle back to the man and from there, used the emails Shahzad sent him to arrange the sale to track him down and arrest him. Shahzad , who recently became an American citizen, was apprehended at JFK Airport as he attempted to flee to his native Pakistan. His home on Long Island was raided and his computer seized in an attempt to locate any possible associations to known terror cells.
Fortunately for New Yorkers and tourists alike, Shahzad's attempted terrorist attack failed miserably, thanks to an alert T-shirt vendor and his own ineptitude. Read [CBS News] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Audio, Headphones, Reviews, Features I was excited when i received the Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5vi. Knowing that Ultimate Ears are used by some of the top musical artists globally, my expectations were set very high from the onset. Of course the ones I have been using are not the same as the $3k+ custom models, but my expectations were still high. (from time to time throughout the review I will compare the 5vi ($189) to the Shure SE210 ($179) as they are my daily go-to earphones). Packaging: While one cannot argue that the 5vi packaging looks premium, there is a ton of wasted plastic, cardboard, and weight to pack a rather compact product. There has to be a better way to get shelf presence without all that extra garbage. C Included Accessories: The 5vi comes with four different size rubber ear plugs (all of which I find uncomfortable). Shure on the other hand gives you multiple size ear plugs in two different styles (to be fair, I don’t like theirs either). Both offer memory foam plugs as well which are my preferred choice, but the 5vi are much thinner than the Shure and do not expand as much in my ear. B Design: The earphones have a chrome plastic coating that gives them a very premium look and feel. I am accustomed to putting earphones over my ear, so I was surprised when these went in frontward. I wasn't 100% if I was sticking them in wrong or they really couldn't be looped around, but once I realized that the iPhone mic was behind my ear if I wrapped it around, I was sure that they must go in frontward. Finally, the 1/8" audio plug is a straight 1/2” object the protrudes straight out of my iPhone/iPod. This is especially annoying when I want to type in landscape mode on my phone, while listening to music. B- Functionality: I opted to review this model because i find the microphone module attachment integration for my Shure to be extremely clunky. The 5vi is the exact opposite, you can easily forget that there is a mic as well as a call/answer button integrated into the cord. But as much as it is not intrusive, i often forget that I have it, because I hardly use it - not because I don’t get calls, but it doesn’t do anything else (volume, prior track, etc). If Ultimate Ears went through the effort of integrating two items inline, why not add volume/track control as well? B Features/Sound: In the end the way earphones sound are the most important part. The 5vi fell right in the middle, they were ok for daily commuting on a bus and walking around the city, but the sound quality really began falling short when I was in a quieter location. The earphones were light on the lows and a bit to strong on the highs. Further they sounded almost tinny at times. Overall: For $189 I do not believe you are getting the sound quality or functionality that other similar prices earphones offer. While these are a ok, they just don't cut it. The average user may not hear the imperfections I did, but then they don't really need $189 earphones anyway. For those of you who do, I suggest you look elsewhere. B- Full Story » | Written by Adam Berger for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking  A bug hit Facebook Wednesday, allowing users to see their friends' private chats and pending friend requests. Once they were made aware of the bug, Facebook temporarily disabled the chat feature until a fix could be found and applied. Site officials said the bug was short lived and only displayed the personal information above if a user "manipulated in a specific way" the feature that allows them to preview how their profile looks to each of their friends.
The bug has since been fixed and the chat functionality restored. There have been no known user complains about the issue but some internet privacy experts used the incident to criticize Facebook's handling of user privacy.
John Simpson, an official with Consumer Watchdog, was displeased with the incident. “Once again we see what happens when companies push the technological envelope with little concern for consumers’ privacy rights,” he said via e-mail.
Facebook recently changed its privacy rules again, this time upsetting many users by forcing them to link personal info such as education, employment, and interests to their new "community pages" feature. Users that don't link have those areas of their profiles completely deleted. The lack of a middle ground has infuriated many.
Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Video, Content, Video Providers, Gadgets / Other, Household  It looks like Roku users should be on the lookout for an update coming soon, well technically its coming in June. But that aside, the update will add some additional features that should be welcomed by those who use the Netflix Channel. Once available, users will be able to search the Netflix movie listings as well as add television and/or movie selections from your queue. Additionally, there were also some changes and updates to the overall user interface. But in the end this just moves us one step closer to removing the need for the full Netflix website. Keep reading to check out the teaser video that Roku released…
 Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks, Web, Google  Google is just reaching its arms into every market they can aren’t they. Now, they plan to open up their own eBook store, Google Editions, to accompany the million free public domain books they already have available. Pricing wise, Google is still deciding between letting publishers set the pricing, which would avoid all of this drama, or set their own prices. They also plan to let online retailers sell Google Editions and retain the “bulk of the revenue.” This service should be available either late June or early July.
So what does this mean for you? Well, first-off, it means Google will branch itself into another part of your life; but what else is new. Seriously though, pricing is going to be a big factor in many different aspects of this store. If Google lets publishers set the prices, that could mean higher prices for you because publishers are all about profit. But it could also mean that more publishers will jump on board with Google because of the freedoms it entails. Now, if Google sets the prices, than it will probably end up like every other eBook retailer and be filled with drama over prices and similar fiasco’s. Personally, I feel it could only benefit Google to let the publishers set the prices. It would definitely take a load of responsibility off of Google’s shoulders. Is the big G spreading itself too thin? Will they hit a point where all their projects grow so big they can’t keep up with them? Read [Wall Street Journal] Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
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