technabob » gps + navigation

zoombak’s iphone app: where’s the heck is my stuff?

technabob — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:43:34 +0000

The guys over at Zoombak make these nifty little GPS trackers that you can place on cars, bicycles, suitcases or other items that you want to make sure you don’t lose track of. Now they’ve launched an iPhone app that lets you keep track of the precise locations of all of your stuff, wherever you go.

Stash a Zoombak in you kids’ backpacks and you can tell exactly where they are at all times. Or stick on in your glovebox and find out where that valet is really going with your car. Just load up the iPhone app, choose your tracked item, human or pet, then click “Find Now”. You can even enable a continuous tracking mode, which will watch the movements of your Zoombaks at five-minute intervals.

While Zoombak modules retail for $99 to $149 (USD) each, but I managed to find many modules for as little as $38 over at Amazon, which is a steal. You can grab the iPhone app here.

(Note: If you already have a Zoombak, you will need to update your devices to the latest software to use this app. Be sure to read the notes up on the iTunes store.)

robot riding shotgun: aida the in-car robot companion

lambert v. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:49:14 +0000

Developed by researchers at MIT’s SENSEable City Lab in cooperation with Audi, AIDA (Affective Intelligent Driving Agent) is a drivers’ companion that offers useful information while interacting in a “socially appropriate and informative way.” AIDA will be mounted on a car’s dashboard, where it’s “face” will be visible to the driver.

As you can see from the pictures, AIDA has its own set of facial expressions, to help it “establish an affective bond” with the driver. I guess it is more pleasing to interact with something that has a face, as opposed to talking to the air like the Hoff used to do with KITT, but won’t it become a distraction?

What I like about AIDA though is its ability to familiarize itself with the needs and habits of a driver, like one’s usual destinations, or how one drives. It will then combine that information with real-time data like traffic or weather, stuff that may not be immediately available to the driver, to give hints and tips:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

What do you think? Will AIDA be a helpful companion, or a nagger that you won’t be able to kick out of the car?

[via MIT via Popular Science]

toys for big boys: iphone remote controls honda civic, blackberry remote controls f1 car

lambert v. — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:40:55 +0000

Man, these are smartphones indeed. The wise – and probably bored – folks at the University of Berlin made a one-of-a-kind iPhone app which they called iDriver, which allows them to control a Honda Civic via Wi-Fi. But it’s not like our German friends just coded the app and then began playing real-life Hot Wheels; the car – which has been nicknamed “Spirit of Berlin”- was modified and fitted with a ton of electronic equipment as well.

Here’s iDriver and Spirit of Berlin in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Praise Apple and the iPhone! Well, not really. Upon reading about iDriver at 8bitfix, commenter Solidsnake72 took time off from sneaking about and shared the video below. It starts small, but an insane turn of events comes about 2 minutes into the clip:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Blackberry FTW! Although RIM’s smartphone loses points for using Bluetooth, which of course has a limited range, I think we can all agree that controlling a real F1 car is infinitely more fun than controlling a station wagon, even if said station wagon has lasers onboard.

Update: as nobbi points out in the comments, the Blackberry video is (almost) certainly a viral marketing stunt. Can anyone confirm this? At least no kids on balloons were involved. And thanks to gusto for the tip!

quad-rotor autonomous helicopter eschews gps in favor of lasers. laz0rz!

lambert v. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:30:18 +0000

Here’s another one of them MAVs that’ll soon be flying all over the place. A group of MIT students – Abe Bachrach, Anton de Winter, Ruije He, Garrett Hemann and Sam Prentice (I think I got +10 to my IQ after spelling their names) – developed an autonomous flight system that could sweep and analyze it’s environment in real-time. While a 10-year old human can also “analyze it’s environment in real time”, a 10-year old human can’t fly. Or use lasers to build maps. Thanks to the Bachrach et al, the robot in the picture can do both. It’s a quad-rotor helicopter packed with sensors and a laser. It’s specialty? The great indoors.

You see, it’s relatively easy (for nerds) to build a robot that can find its way to a target outdoors, thanks to the magic of GPS. But what if you want to search inside a building? GPS won’t help you there, believe me. I researched it extensively. If you don’t have a map of the building or whatever structure you’re infiltrating, you’re screwed. But more importantly, GPS receivers need a strong signal to work, something which you’ll have difficulty obtaining inside a building.

So the aforementioned MIT students came up with a laser scanner that sweeps the helicopter’s immediate area, and that along with some algorithm magic (yeah this is where I lose track of definitions) builds a corresponding rough three-dimensional map of the autonomous vehicle’s immediate environment, as shown in the image above. Now I need you to watch the video below and then answer one tiny question for me: when the narrator uses the word “we” and “us”, does he mean that they can control the robot remotely which means they can see the map that the laser sweep generates, or is the robot fully autonomous?

Maybe the chopper is the narrator, and it’s talking using lasers. I don’t know. I’m confused.

[via MIT Tech TV]

dishpointer augmented reality iphone 3gs app helps you find satellites with ease

technabob — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:19:26 +0000

Ever try to install a satellite dish? Speaking from personal experience, I can say that finding the right line-of-sight from the dish to the skies can be a real pain in the a$$. Now there’s a new app coming for the iPhone 3GS that could make satellite dish positioning just a bit easier.

DishPointer’s next-generation software uses augmented reality technology to overlay the exact position of the satellites on the live video from your iPhone. The application takes full advantage of the iPhone 3GS built-in compass, GPS, and accelerometer to show you the locations of the satellites in the sky. Check out the video below to see a preview of the application in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You’ll have no excuse for those pesky tree branches or leaves getting in the way of your mega 5-LNB high-def dish with this app in hand. And if you’re a satellite dish installer, you’ll definitely want this in your bag of tricks when it’s released.

DishPointer hasn’t revealed when the new augmented reality app will hit, but says it should coincide with the release of iPhone OS 3.1 (rumored to be in September). For now, you can check out DishPointer’s other satellite pointing apps here.

nokia booklet 3g netbook coming soon, looking awesome

lambert v. — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:50:20 +0000

If Apple does release a Tablet PC, fanboys would do well to thank Nokia, because the Finland handset maker was one of the first to come up with Mobile Internet Devices, or MIDs. Now they’re back in the realm of portable computing with the Booklet 3G, a 10-inch, 2.75 lb. Intel Atom-powered netbook that will most likely run Windows 7. As its name implies, the Booklet 3G has built-in 3G wireless connectivity. Further separating the netbook from the bajillion other flavors on the market is its aluminum chassis and its “HD-ready” screen, along with an HDMI port and A-GPS navigation. Sweet.

I wish Nokia would add HSDPA connectivity as well. Portable USB modems – the ones as small as a flash drive – are becoming popular here in the Philippines, but the 3G speeds suck donkey dong, with a very theoretical maximum speed of 384 Kbps. Good thing the Booklet 3G also has WiFi. What I find most interesting about this netbook is the 12-hour battery life. 12 hours! If that is indeed true, then we should thank Intel for coming up with the Atom. Unless of course it turns out that the netbook only lasts an hour when it’s playing HD content.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Please let it be below $400 please please please. With that kind of battery life plus an HD-capable processor I’ll gladly take back all my netbook-bashing and buy one for myself.

[via Ars Technica]

pronto4 strap-on kit converts vehicles into real life (non-transforming) autobots

lambert v. — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:25:36 +0000

The Pronto4 strap-on kit from Utah-based Kairos Autonomi can turn any ordinary vehicle into an autonomous and unmanned one, able to follow waypoints and can go as fast as 90 mph. Of course, users also have the option to control their vehicles remotely. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could race F1 cars using a remote control?

Kairos Autonomi showed off the Pronto4’s capabilities at the recently held Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International demonstration. The kit was installed on a pickup truck “fitted with a heavy weapon”, and it went through a maze, following waypoints. The folks at Popular Mechanics were kind enough to share the fun of seeing a vehicle drive itself:

The vehicle is steered by a ring of actuators, while the transmission and throttle are “controlled by lines from a main box”. Like most of the awesome tech we’ve featured here, the Pronto4 is primarily for the military, so they can conduct night missions more easily, or allow one soldier to man the weapons while the vehicle takes care of the driving. Or they could install the kit for vehicles on patrol, and even put it on an expendable car for target practice.

So if you’re thinking of saving up to get your own Pronto4 so your vehicle can also be your designated driver, you’re out of luck. The kit isn’t sold to the public. Not yet anyway. Man, I can think of a dozen pranks that you can pull off with this kit. Viva technology!

selfic cube 7100: like a tiny black box recorder for your car

technabob — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:08:39 +0000

Nobody wants to get in a car crash. But if you have the misfortune of ending up in a fender-bender – or worse, wouldn’t you like to have a video documenting the entire thing for insurance or legal purposes?

Well now you can, thanks to this little bit of modern technology from Korea’s Selfic Technologies.The Selfic Cube 7100 mounts on the windshield or dashboard of your car, and captures your every move on a built in digital video recorder.

The tiny black box camera (appx. 1″ x 1″ x 2″) features a 360-degree swivel mount and can record each of your driving sessions, automatically tracking date and time stamps, as well as the speed of your vehicle, your exact GPS coordinates and any shock due to an impact. And it can also record audio, so if you decide to turn the camera on yourself and your passengers and shoot your own episode of Taxicab Confessions, you can do that too.

The Selfic Cube can capture video at 640×480 resolution at 30fps, and stores all of its images and data on either a micro SD (2GB) or micro SDHC card (up to 8GB). Here’s a little bit of sample video shot with the Selfic that I found over on YouTube. Not exactly thrilling footage, but it sure would come in handy if you got broad-sided by a moose.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Of course if you get hit from behind, you’d better hope you bought a second one of these for the rear window. At this point the Selfic Cube 7100 is only available in Korea, but if you’re willing to deal with the translation and currency challenges you might be able to grab one over at the Early Adopter Shop for 207,000 South Korean Won (appx. $167 USD).

galaxy’s thinnest gps unit rendered pretty much useless thanks to lack of actual gps software

technabob — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:45:16 +0000

The guys over at Chinavasion can always be relied on for bringing inexpensive and offbeat gadgetry from China to the rest of the world. The latest addition to their line of GPS devices claims to be the “Galaxy’s Thinnest GPS”.

Measuring in at 13mm thick, this portable GPS is definitely one of the slimmest units I’ve seen. Although last time I checked, my iPhone 3GS is actually a hair slimmer at 12.3mm thick, but I suppose that’s splitting hairs. Regardless, as standalone units go, this one could be the thinnest. The compact GPS features a 5-inch diagonal LCD touchscreen, and is powered by a SiRF-Atlas III processor. The device runs on the Windows CE 5.0 operating system, and takes map files loaded onto a MicroSD card. The system offers voice guidance, 2D and 3D map modes, as well as day and night modes for the display.

In addition to its GPS capabilities, it can play media files in MP4, AVI, 3GP, MOV, WMV, M4A, WAV, MP3, WMA and even SWF formats. There’s even a built-in FM transmitter so you can send the audio to your car stereo. And it does all this for just $100 (USD).

So that sounds okay, right? Well, here’s the bad news. According to Chinavasion’s product description: “This model is compatible with most brands of GPS software – however hardware specific software such as Garmin may not run on this unit. As the wholesaler, Chinavasion provides the GPS- enabled hardware only, not the software. Chinavasion provides no warranty or customer support regarding GPS software. Chinavasion cannot provide downloads / links / advice regarding GPS software. Any software installation you undertake should be performed or supervised by a professional… Actual GPS voice and display languages depends on the GPS software package.” So unless you know where to go digging for Windows CE-based GPS applications and maps, it sounds like this super-thin GPS could be pretty much useless.

If you’re feeling adventurous and don’t mind trolling around some Torrents looking for GPS software, you can order one here. Just don’t blame me when you drive your car into a drainage ditch.

acer f1 phone powered by 1ghz snapdragon processor

lambert v. — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:55:59 +0000

Acer displayed their first-ever phone, the tentatively named F1 at the ongoing Computex exhibition in Taiwan. You may be familiar with Acer’s obsession with Formula 1 racing, as they have made numerous tie-ins with the BAR-Honda and Ferrari teams. The F1 hopes to live up to its codename with the help of one of the hottest pieces of technology today, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor. The Snapdragon fitted on the F1 is rated at 1 Ghz. By comparison, the iPhone 3G’s Samsung ARM processor is rated at “only” 620 MHz.

The F1 is Bluetooth- and Wi-Fi-enabled. It also has GPS capabilities, an FM Tuner and a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus.

I wish we had hi-res pictures that would do justice to the F1’s 3.8 inch touchscreen, but we’ll have to be content with these shots for now. I also wish that Google would polish up their translator, because I’m pretty sure that ePrice didn’t mean to say that the F1’s “biggest selling point is a 1 GHz processor, doubling the speed while not really, but to ensure faster. ”

Here we see the buttons in front of the phone. I’m not sure if that’s three or four buttons; the ePrice article probably mentions it but again the answer got lost in translation.

That’s the camera right there, along with the LED flash. The vents on the lower left are speakers, and the tiny dent on the upper left of the F1 is actually its stylus.

You can check out more details regarding the F1 at ePrice (Google Mangled Translated version). For our readers who can read Chinese, click here for the original article. And please tell us if we missed any juicy bits.

[via Akihabara News]

tap your screen if you’re present: iphone to take attendance in japanese university

lambert v. — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:40:34 +0000

If there’s one thing I can say about the Japanese, it’s that they’re weird. Now if there are two things I can say about the Japanese, then I say they’re weird and they’re quick to embrace technology. Case in point: beginning this June, Aoyama Gakuin University in Sagamihara city will be giving iPhones to students and faculty. The iPhone’s easy to use interface and its GPS capability will be used to take the students’ attendance.

The image above shows the attendance-taking app. As you can see students simply enter a 3-digit alphanumeric code to confirm their presence. The iPhone’s GPS helps verify that the student is actually in school when the code is entered. Awesome.

Of course, the school doesn’t want the device to be reduced to an expensive attendance monitor; they’re looking for ways to integrate the iPhone to foster better teacher-student interaction, like viewing videos of class lectures for reviewing or for absent students.

There’s the fear that the GPS-based attendance may lead to privacy issues, but if the response of the people in the video are any indication, there’s a decent chance that Aoyama Gakuin’s high-tech – or is that iTech – system will be emulated by other institutions.

[via Reuters]

sixthsense wearable gestural interface: microsoft surface + google in a portable package

lambert v. — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:29:31 +0000

Last October, Pattie Maes had the idea of making a gesture-controlled interface similar to what was in the movie Minority Report. But unlike the interface in the movie, which was projected onto a screen and was thus stationary, Maes wanted a cheaper and portable equivalent. One that people could walk around with, projecting stuff all over the place, and interacting with the surroundings as well. Maes contacted Pranav ‘Zombie’ Mistry, and the latter came up with a prototype in just 3 weeks.

As you can see, SixthSense is made up of a camera that tracks the color-marked fingers, and a projector to display whatever relevant information the system digs up. What’s not in the picture is of course the computer itself, in this case a “mobile computing device” installed with software that analyzes the gestures and the objects captured by the camera, so that it can respond and provide the appropriate information. What sort of information? Let’s start with a little trick: if Mistry traces a small circle on his wrist using his index finger, SixthSense will project a watch onto his wrist:

There are many other gestures that the system recognizes – drawing a magnifying glass projects a map application, while drawing the ‘@’ symbol lets the user check his/her email. SixthSense can also interact with everyday objects, like in the image below where it reveals that the flight which the user has a ticket to is delayed.

And here we see SixthSense providing Amazon’s rating for a book on the book’s cover itself:

SixthSense can also pull up video from the internet:

That right there is so awesome. SO AWESOME. As you can see, SixthSense is like a portable, more intuitive, multi-touch version of Google. As Pranav Mistry says on his website: “SixthSense frees information from its confines by seamlessly integrating it with reality, and thus making the entire world your computer.”

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And the best part? All this automagical stuff we’ve seen was achieved on a prototype that costs only $350 USD to build. There are netbooks that are more expensive than this system. If SixthSense becomes mass-produced or integrated into computing devices, I’d imagine prices will only go south of that figure. SixthSense really has the potential to make digital information as accessible as possible, the same way that cellular phones made communication instant and affordable.

[via Pop Sci]

spotlight gps pet locator will make lost pet posters obsolete

lambert v. — Sun, 17 May 2009 11:45:30 +0000

Positioning Animals Worldwide, Inc. (PAW) and the American Kennel Club will soon be offering a high-tech way of keeping track of your pet dogs. The service is called SpotLight, and it combines Assisted GPS technology along with round-the-clock service to ensure that pet owners can track – and recover – their pet as easily as possible. If Bolt had this on him, his movie would have been over in 5 minutes.

To start using SpotLight, users will purchase a tracking device along with a service plan (price TBA). The tracking device is rechargeable, durable and waterproof. PAW says that the device can last up to 10 days between charges. Aside from tracking a dog’s location, the device also has a LED beacon that’s visible from over 100 yards; customers can activate the beacon through text message to make night-time searching easier.

To ensure that the service won’t nag or annoy people with endless updates of their dog’s whereabouts, customers will define “Safe Spots”, or the home areas of their pet. The tracking device will only actively alert customers (via text message or email) when their dog leaves its Safe Spot. Customers then have the option to track and search on their own or call on SpotLight’s recovery team for help.

Of course, none of these will be able to help you if the gadget becomes separated from your dog. Perhaps someday we’ll be able to inject fool-proof nanotrackers in our pets. Check out SpotLight’s website for more details.

[via the gadgeteer]

ace the robot does what male drivers won’t: ask for directions

lambert v. — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:23:58 +0000

Martin Buss and his team at the Technical University of Munich created a robot that relies on help from humans to get to its destination. The robot is called Autonomous City Explorer or ACE, and while it looks really ugly, it’s one of the first robots that’s proven successful in a real world setting, as opposed to lab tests or simulations.

Buss and his team dropped ACE outside of their university and instructed it to go to the Marienplatz, which is 1.5 kilometers (0.93 mi) away from the school. ACE’s problem? It didn’t know how to get there, and it had no digital map or GPS. So ACE had to ask the people it came across for directions.

ACE can detect nearby humans using cameras as well as motion- and posture detecting software. ACE also has a touchscreen for a head, and another screen with an animated mouth. Once it finds a human, ACE calls out using its built-in speaker and asks the person to touch its screen if he’s willing to help. ACE will then ask the good Samaritan to point its body in the right direction. ACE will then be on its way, but not before saying “thank you” to the fleshy construct who helped it.

After 5 hours, ACE reached its destination. In its defense, Buss’ team said that ACE became too popular for his own good, and was slowed down when it crossed a busy pedestrian zone, where 21 passersby stopped to talk to the defenseless robot. As expected, ACE also received wrong directions, but fortunately it only happened once. While ACE still needs to be equipped with a bullshit detector, roboticist Paul Newman of the University of Oxford in the UK was impressed by the German experiment, specially because the robot adapts to how humans process and share information instead of the other way around.

[via NewScientist]

buglabs open-source modular gadget factory: the modder’s gadget

lambert v. — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:23:46 +0000

Bug Labs’ very geeky product is the perfect Modder’s Day gift. You see, BUG is a set of tools that lets you mix and match its components to build your own gadget, like LEGO but a hundred times geekier. Each BUGbundle includes a BUGbase, a touchscreen module, an accelerometer and motion detector, a GPS module with remote antenna, and a breakout module.

BUG runs on open-source software – BMI (Bug Module Interface) and a Java-hosted component runtime called OSGi. Users can create apps for their BUG gadgets using the Dragonfly SDK, which can be downloaded from Bug Labs’ website.

Like LEGO blocks, you can also buy additional modules and combine them with what you already have to create new BUG gadgets. Pictured below is a BUG gadget made of a BUGbase (as its name implies, its the base for all BUG gadgets), a BUGview touchscreen LCD module, and a BUGSound, an audio module equipped with a speaker, a mic and 4 mini stereo jacks. In other words, it’s a BUGPod Touch.

The only downside to BUG is that its a bit expensive: the BUGbundle costs $579 USD; additional modules sell for $60 – $120 USD depending on the module. But I think its a worthy product for those with the right skills and the knack for modding and inventing. Ben Heck can probably create the gadget equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife with the BUG system. Here’s a video of BUG in action from OhGizmo.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can buy the BUGbundle at ThinkGeek or at Bug Labs’ online store; additional modules are available at Bug Labs’ store as well. For more info and more geek porn, check out Bug Labs’ website, community, and Flickr page. It’s what? Oh Mother’s Day. Huh. Hmm. Maybe you should get a Mom Translator instead. Or make one using BUG.

humminbird rf35 wrist wearable gps fish finder perfect for bears

lambert v. — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:18:35 +0000

The Humminbird RF35 uses GPS technology to allow its user to “see” where the fishes are in an easy to read, Game and Watch-style wrist mounted LCD display. Its remote sonar sensor can detect fishes within a 75-foot radius up to a depth of 120 feet.

It really is the perfect gift for bears. Or for people who love fishing. Or for bears. I think we should have bear friends for a change.

The Humminbird RF35 sells for $80 USD and can be ordered at Humminbird’s online shop. Buy one for your fisherman friend and he’ll surely give you a bear hug. Buy one for your bear friend and he might, I don’t know, growl in gratitude.

[via techchee]

iknow where you are: ipod nano gps hack

lambert v. — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:30:45 +0000

Engineer Benjamin Kokes used to work for the now-defunct GPS company Nemerix. While he was there, he started working on a GPS peripheral for the iPod nano as a personal challenge. From the looks of it, he still has quite a ways to go, but at least he has shown that it’s feasible.

Kokes used “a reference design board containing a Nemerix GPS with an Atmel ATMEGA324 micro-controller” for his hack. He said that the hardware part of his project “is not at all that complex”, but then again he’s an engineer. The software portion, on the other hand, turned out to be a beast of a challenge, as he had to write a screen driver to display the information on the iPod.

Kokes also said that the device he’s working on will not work with touchscreen iPods – and Shuffles of course, because they have no screen at all.

I’ll stop here and direct you to Kokes’ website for more details, because honestly this is all nosebleeding-wizardry to me.

P.S. if you want to post about Kokes’ project or link to his site, he requests that you email him as well, just so he knows.

[via Navigadget]

nintendo ds lite gets gps navigation with google maps

technabob — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:23:02 +0000

Your mobile phone already has GPS navigation. Your car probably does too. Even the Sony PSP has a GPS option. So it was only a matter of time before the Nintendo DS would jump into the GPS fray.

Designed by China’s Fab Chain, the Ranger is a GPS add-on module for your NDS Lite. Just plug the Ranger into the accessory port on the front of your NDS, and provides turn-by-turn directions with Google Maps integration. The Ranger can display maps in both 2D and fake 3D perspective modes, and even has automatic day/night modes. And since it has its own built in rechargeable batteries, it won’t put added strain on your NDS’ power supply. As an added bonus, you can connect the Ranger to your PC or PDA via a USB connection and use it as a GPS on those devices as well.

Fab Chain hasn’t revealed pricing or a release date yet, but if you always travel with your DS and despite all your other gadgets, you’re still directionally challenged, you might want to look into one of these.

[via Navigadget]

lg arena km900 multimedia phone specs, details and product video released

technabob — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:19:42 +0000

The new LG ARENA touchscreen mobile phone is definitely one to watch for when it’s released later this Spring. The ARENA (also known as the LG-KM900) was launched today at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

The first thing you notice when you first look at the ARENA is its unique is its 3-D user interface options. Which offers something like an iTunes cover flow on its side. And it doesn’t just work for your media, but for navigating all of your applications. There’s also a 3-D cube layout which lets you find your way around your media and applications by manipulating a 3-dimensional cube. And yes, Virginia, the ARENA offers tactile feedback under your fingertip as you interact with the display.

The ARENA packs a substantial 3-inch touchscreen display running at super-sharp WVGA (800 x 480) resolution. Oh, and did I happen to mention that the ARENA offers Dolby Mobile surround sound? With a screen like that and surround, if you want to watch movies on a mobile device, this could be the one. There’s also a built-in FM transmitter to send your audio to your car or home stereo without wires.

Looking to take some photos or shoot some video? The ARENA offers a 5-megapixel digital camera, which lets you access the type of adjustments that you’d normally only get on a standalone camera. And you can shoot DVD quality video at up to 30FPS. There’s even a manual focus mode, and you can shoot slo-mo video at up to 120FPS.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The ARENA is a full 3G phone, running on HSDPA 7.2 networks, and also has built-in Wi-Fi and A-GPS. There’s 8GB of onboard memory, and MicroSD slot which lets you add up to 32GB of additional storage.

Want to see it in action? LG has launched the online ARENA emulator, in case you want to see the device in action.

And it packs all of this into a case that measures just 105.9mm x 55.3mm x 11.95mm, smaller than the svelte iPhone 3G. The iPhone might finally have a true challenger. Expect the ARENA to hit Europe this March, then go worldwide later this year.

[LG ARENA Website]

sony vaio type-p ultra mobile windows pc available for pre-order

technabob — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:00:59 +0000

Sony says their new VAIO type-P series ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs) are the lightest full-fledged Windows machines you can buy. Now you can pre-order them for delivery starting this February.

The guys over at Sony Style have started to accept pre-orders for the sexy compact 1.4 pound PC that runs a full version of Windows Vista, despite the fact that it can fit in (or at least stick out of) your pocket.

At the heart of the Type-P is it compact 8″ display, offering an amazingly crisp 1600 x 768 resolution LCD screen with a bright, power-saving LED backlight. I think that’s better resolution than my old 15″ laptop has. There’s also a built-in webcam and microphone for live video and audio chat.

Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n networking and Bluetooth connectivity are built in. The Type-P also includes on-board GPS navigation with turn-by-turn directions. Run time for the included Li-ion battery pack is rated at appx. 4 hours under normal usage, but you can upgrade to a larger battery for up to 8 hours on a charge.

The VAIO Type-P is available in Crystal White, Garnet Red, Onyx Black, and Peridot Green for those of you looking for a bit of color in your UMPC.

Prices for the Type-P start at $899.99 (USD) for the VGN-P530, with an Atom Z520 1.33GHz CP, Vista Home Basic and a 60GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM. The VGN-P588 ($1199.99) adds Vista Home Premium, and swaps the hard drive for a 64GB SSD (solid state drive). The top-of-the-line VGN-P598 ($1499.99) bumps the drive up to a 128GB SSD. If you’re looking to fully customize your Type-P or add a faster processor, check out the pre-order Japanese P90 over at GeekStuff4U.

Now I just need to find a pair of pants with bigger pockets.