The Gadgets Page

Flash memory MP3 players have such little battery requirements that something like this might actually be feasible.

• Pop-Sci Core77 Design Challenge – Grand Prize Winner – REGEN: A yo-yo/MP3 player

This is only a design and isn’t available from any company yet, but it is estimated that it would only take approximately 10-12 throws an hour to power this MP3 player. Of course, if wireless headphones are used, then that should be a big power drainer. Using wired headphones should save a bit, but they would have to be removed before using the player as a yo-yo.

As described by the designer:

“Enjoy hours of endless entertainment yo-yoing and listening to music everywhere you go – and never run out of batteries again! Introducing REGEN: A yo-yo/MP3 player complete with wireless headset and docking station.”

If this existed, I would spend the money to get it, despite any DRM restrictions. It would be the perfect gift for any music loving yo-yo freak you might know. I can’t wait until it exists.

Via: Meriblog: Meri Williams’ Weblog » links for 2006-08-28

You are looking at a DDI. It is the part of the mobile phone that controls the LCD screen. This one, from Samsung has genius to it. It automatically adjusts the brightness of the LCD screen depending on how bright the light is outside. Instead of cupping your hand around your mobile phone when you are outside, you’ll be able to easily see the screen.

Why did it take so long for a company to come up with this idea? Samsung’s new mobile phone display will sense the light levels when the phone is activated and adjust the screen accordingly. If it’s bright outside, the screen will be brighter. If it’s dark, the screen will dim in order to save battery power.

• SAMSUNG’s Digital World – Press Release

They call it the Intelligent Mobile Display Driver IC (DDI). In the past, DDI have just controlled the LCD screen. This new DDI will adjust the power depending on how bright the ambient light is. They will begin production of this by the end of this year.

Via: Samsung’s new display adapts to sunlight – Yahoo! News

I have been playing with OpenOffice for a couple of weeks now and I thought I would give you all the details. OpenOffice is a free, open source office suite for Windows, Linux and Solaris operating systems.

• OpenOffice.org: Home

I downloaded the Windows version. The first thing I noticed is that it didn’t take forever to boot up and it didn’t suck down my resources. When I Beta tested the new MS Office, I took it off my computer within a few hours of installing it because it made my computer so slow. I have a pretty nice computer that performs well with video editing software, but the new MS Office made it crawl like a turtle when I used it, so I removed it. That wasn’t the case for OpenOffice. It runs smoothly.

It also opens MS Office documents and can save in that format. My Excel documents loaded in Calc (including all the sheets) and looked exactly like they did in Excel. That wasn’t the case when I uploaded Excel spreadsheets into the Google online spreadsheet. The charts where messed up and the pages looked completely different. Calc really beats Google spreadsheet in that case.

There were a few small things that I noticed that might affect your decision.

• The software is different from Word and Excel: If you have trouble learning new things, there would be an adjustment period. I was able to easily find the things that I usually use, but not everyone can learn software quickly. If that is problem for you, it might be worth it to pay the $400 for Microsoft Office. Of course, for $400, I’m willing to put up with a little confusion.

• It isn’t perfect: There are small things that might make you wish for your old MS Office, like passwords. You can password protect documents, but only in the OpenOffice format, not the MS Office formats. When I cut and pasted some cells in Calc (their spreadsheet program) the formulas that were based on those cells didn’t automatically correct like they do with MS Excel. That is a minor thing that is different than Excel and might even be a preference that I can change, but it’s an example of their programs not being “perfect”.

• It might not be around forever: If you are scared that OpenOffice won’t be around in the future, you might want to stick with MS Office. OpenOffice is an open source product of Sun Microsystems, so that gives it some stability in the unstable world of computers, but there is an old saying, “No one ever got fired for buying Microsoft.” Of course, that saying used to be, “No one ever got fired for buying IBM,” and they aren’t quite the market leader that they used to be. There are really no guarantees no matter which software you use.

Most importantly, you can’t beat the price. OpenOffice is free and available for download here:

• OpenOffice.org 2.0 Downloads

For that price, give the software a test run and see how you like it. Maybe you will be able to take that old bootleg copy of MS Office off your computer and free up a little memory while you’re at it.

Here is some footage of Steve Jobs introducing the very first iPod. It held 1000 songs (5GB) and was the size of a deck of cards.

Some thoughts:

• Steve Jobs thought that my entire music library was 1000 songs and back then, that was probably true for a bunch of people. Now, our libraries swell at 60GB and 12,000 songs. Is it peer-to-peer sharing or are our music collections growing with the drive size of the iPods?

• This introduction is missing the most fashionable piece of the iPod, its white earbuds. Sometimes I believe it was the earbuds that launched the iPod. The sillouhetted dancing figures and the conspicuous white wires hanging from our ears announced to the world that we owned the “correct” MP3 player.

• Back then, I opted for the MP3 CD player that played 150 songs for a $1 a song. It still works and runs on a single AA battery, unlike the wheezing hard drive of my original iPod. Of course, it wasn’t as cool as the iPod by any stretch of the imagination.

• Steve insists on showing the back first. I compare it to the scratched stainless steel back of my own original iPod and the five years haven’t been good to it.

• I watched this introduction right after watching the 1984 introduction of the Macintosh. The audience isn’t cheering or excited at all. What changed? In retrospect, the iPod is just as pivotal as the Mac. Why is the audience so subdued?

It was interesting to watch this video after five years. I forget that there was a time when Steve might have had to convince the world that the iPod was a good idea. It was fun to see this slice of the past.

First, Google was testing an online spreadsheet, now they also have an online word processor. If you have a computer, but no Microsoft Office, this might be an option for you:

• Welcome to Writely!

Of course, if you don’t own MS Office, there are other options for you that don’t require an Internet connection in order to run them, like Open Office:

• OpenOffice.org: Home

Open Office is a free open-source office suite that allows you to write documents, work with spreadsheets and even draw pictures. That is another option for you.

Via: Boing Boing: Google launches free, kick-ass word-processor

Just when I said that you can’t slap a coat of pink paint on something to make me want it, I’m proven wrong! I hate it when I have to take back my words. Nintendo is releasing the DS Lite in Pink and Black. I liked the pink one so much, I actually talked to the game store to see how much I would get for my white DS Lite if I turned it in toward a pink one. They’ll only give me $65 dollars for it. I would do better to sell it on eBay.

I feel such a strange feeling of girliness about me. Is it the fact that it’s a light coral pink instead of PeptoBismol colored? Could it be that the game marketers were right, they just chose the wrong shade of pink? I’m not a girly girl at all, why do I want the pink one so bad that I’m willing to deal with the hassle of eBay just to get the pink one? I would truly worry about myself (and maybe even give myself a pregnancy test) if Mike hadn’t felt the same way about the black one.

Maybe it’s not the novelty of the pink. Maybe I’m just sick of iPod white.

These silicone skin cases are only 14 bucks and do about the same thing, so I think I’ll opt for them instead.

Maybe I just want to be able to tell my DS apart from Mike’s. They come in gray, clear, pink, aqua and green! Now, green is the color for me! It won’t make me feel so weird and girly inside.

Last January at CES, we saw a backpack from O’Neill that worked with your iPod. Now, Jansport has also added that feature with their LiveWire backpacks. They range in price from $60 to $300 for the BlueTooth version.

Just like the O’Neill backpack. the controls for the iPod are on the shoulder of the pack. This allows you to keep the iPod in the backpack and turn it off, on and change songs using the shoulder controls. It was an ingenius idea when O’Neill released their backpacks, but their prices were astronomical. At $60, the Jansport backpacks are actually affordable.

Here is a list of the packs available:

• JanSport Daypacks Livewire Mullet – $ 59.95

• Jansport Audio Pack Live Wire-iPod Backpack – $79.95

• Jansport Kingpin Live Wire-iPod Backpack – 99.90

• Jansport ALT Bluetooth Live Wire Backpack (Black) – $299.95

The fact that you can easily order these backpacks from Amazon.com gives Jansport a huge leg up on the O’Neill backpacks. When I tried to order them when they came out, I couldn’t get through their complicated website. Jansport has made it easy and affordable.

Just when I had my heart set on a Smart Car, India comes up with an even cuter electric car for the city:

• The REVA Electric Car Company – Home Page

I love this little car, but it’s not available in the United States. After designing my Reva with my favorite colors and choices, I clicked on the “Buy this Reva” button, but it assumed I lived in India, giving me only choices for Indian cities.

I am really drawn to the efficient and small cars that are available all across the world, but haven’t hit the states yet. I especially enjoy some of the marketing. Look at this picture of the mother and her two children. The car might be small, but it’s big enough to pack in two grade-school kids with Mom and Dad.

Why haven’t the American car companies jumped on this bandwagon? Do they assume that we enjoy gas-guzzling? I can’t wait until the small car phenomenon hits the United States!

Via: Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women