Intex Showcases Their Range of Gadgets

Intex Technologies (India) Ltd, Delhi, elaborated its business plans for Western India for FY 2007-08, in the city. Along with revealing their target of Rs. 115 crore from the region this year, they also had a wide range of their products displayed. Among the range were some of the new Intex mobile phones which have hit the Indian market aside from the Aura and Infi models that were launched earlier.

The Envy 1044 is a lightweight mobile (78g) with a 1.8 inch TFT display sporting a resolution of 176 x 220 pixel resolution and 262k colors. It has video caller ID and the memory can be expanded. A 512MB card is provided with the box. It’s equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera that records video. It supports MP3 playback and files can also be used as ringtones. It also has USB support. The Envy 1044 also has 8 embedded games and loudspeaker. It's priced at Rs. 4,990.

The Flair 1107 has a 1.5 inch CSTN display with a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels and 65K colors. It also has a torch light feature and is an entry level mobile priced at Rs. 1,990.

Envy 1044 and Flair 1107

The Estelo 3060 is a slider phone with a 1.3 megapixel camera, an MP3 player and USB support. It has a 2.0 inch TFT display with a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels and 262K colors. The phone's camera also doubles as a web cam for video chats on the PC. The Estelo 3060 also supports Bluetooth. It's available at Rs. 5,440 with 512 MB T-Flash Card and Rs.5,640 with 1GB T-Flash Card.

Intex’s higher range mobile the Ultima 1170 is equipped with a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, an MP3 player, supports Bluetooth and also has an integrated FM radio. The Ultima 1170 has a 2.4-inch QVGA display that sports a 240 x 320 pixel resolution with 262K colors. It also supports video caller ID and is also equipped with TV out capability, expandable memory, USB support and this models can also be sued as a webcam. It’s priced at Rs. 13,999.

Estelo 3060 and Ultima 1107

One of the previously launched models the Aura is now available in Gold and is priced at Rs. 6,990 with a 1 GB T Flash card and the older Aura Black is priced at Rs. 6750 with a 1 GB T Flash card.

Aura Black and Aura Gold

Along with their mobile phones Intex also showcased their Bluetooth headset the Bluetooth 121, their 5 megapixel webcam and a slew of other products from Bluetooth enabled car audio and video players, car speakers to computers, monitors, Laptops, Speaker systems and other gizmos and devices for your home and car.

Source- http://www.tech2.com/india/news/mobile-phones/intex-showcases-their-range-of-gadgets/24271/0

Parody sites start anti-social networking trend

Tired of phony online friends? Make enemies instead. Riding on the popularity of social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, new Web sites are poking fun at online friendships that connect you to the people you like, by turning attention to the ones you don't.

Over the past 18 months, sites such Snubster, Enemybook and Hatebook are appealing to Internet users who get a kick out of the tongue-in-cheek humor of mocking their friends and others who are just plain cynical.

"I didn't understand these fake-friend war chests that people were so busy building online," said Bryant Choung, a technology consultant who started Snubster last year.

"I would get Facebook requests from people I talked to for three minutes at a bar or party, and now this person wants to go online to peruse all of my photos and contacts. I just didn't get it," the 26-year-old added.

Snubster, a Facebook application and a Web site with 16,000 users worldwide, lets users compile people and things they dislike.

No one from Facebook, which boasts 59 million active users worldwide, was available to comment about the sites.

When Facebook opened up its network to outside applications earlier this year, some users decided it was an opportunity to poke fun at the phenomenon.

Kevin Matulef, the creator of Enemybook, said the idea for his Facebook application started as a joke last summer when friends at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were asking if someone was a real friend or a Facebook friend.

"It started basically as a satire, sort of a parody of some of the superficial aspects of Facebook and the connections that you have, but now it's kind of evolved and it allows people to express themselves via their dislikes," said Matulef, 28.

Enemybook, which has 9,000 users, is similar to Snubster in that it lets you "enemy" so-called friends, public figures and fictitious characters.

"A lot of people like myself use it just to joke around with our good friends," said Matulef.

Choung agrees. "I hope that most people take it as a joke, on occasion I do get complaints from people about others who take it too seriously."

But Murray Pomerance, a professor of pop culture sociology at Ryerson University in Toronto, said most people take their online relationships very seriously.

"There are a lot of people who do not believe the friends that they have on these sites are phony," he explained.

"I know people who have lots and lots of friends on these sites and who say things about themselves on these sites that they would never say to anyone straight up in public or in private."

Pomerance added that any online social networking, whether it's making friends or enemies, could be dangerous.

"Who you liked and who you hated used to be private," he said. "What they're doing is taking human feeling and emotion and making us actually register them through these online services."

Source- http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/web_facebook_parodies_life_dc;_ylt=AijL6dbmTlRwNJQiJ2jvi3QjtBAF

Super Smash Bros. Brawl "Subspace Emissary" Intro

Unlike its predecessor, Super Smash Bros. Brawl "features a number of new additions, including an Adventure Mode (with co-op play), a wealth of new characters and stages, and online combat for multiple players to face off against each other from anywhere."

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a brawling, battling, action-packed video game that features a varied roster of characters for four-player simultaneous melees! Use your Wii Remote and Nunchuck controls to deal serious damage to your opponents and win the game.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/super-smash-bros-brawl-subspace-emissary-intro

Million-Euro Cellphone is A Smorgasbord of Diamonds, Croc and Execrable Taste

This is 1.43 million bucks-worth of telephone.

It is hideous. Made by Swiss company Goldvish, the Le Million (what a name, just reeks of (cl)ass, doncha think?) comes in a choice of red, yellow or white gold. Tastefully studded with diamonds and what looks like crocodile skin (although surely croc is far too prosaic for such a phone, perhaps skin from something found in a freezer in Roswell might be more keeping with the exclusiveness of this—this thing) it's not available for just any old pleb, you know.

Just three units are available—yes, you too could be one of the top three plonkers in the world should you choose to become one in Le Million club. Anyway, they're on sale in Russia now, so perhaps Vladimir Putin, with the Man of the Year's fortune recently estimated by some to be as much as $40 billion, would like to snap up all three, gifting one to Hu, one to Bush, and keeping the red one for himself.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/336612/the-million+euro-cellphone-is-a-smorgasbord-of-diamonds-croc-and-execrable-taste

Ninja Gaiden 2 (Xbox 360) "Day of the Ninja" Trailer

This followup to the first Ninja Gaiden (Xbox 360) game, builds upon its predecessor and offers players "an auto-generation health system, new enemies and locales, and thrilling combat built upon an extensive assortment of ninja weaponry."

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/ninja-gaiden-2-xbox-360-day-of-the-ninja-trailer

Liquid Image Camera-Mask Lets You Shoot Video

Although only waterproof to 15 feet, and therefore not exactly serious underwater snapper gear, this Liquid Image digital camera-mask is not a bad idea for kids or snorkelers as it lets you take hands-free images of the Big Blue. Full details will be released at CES next month, but we've got a bit more info after the jump.

Available in 3.1-Megapixel and 5-Megapixel models, you shoot your subject by lining it up in the crosshairs on the mask. LED lights on the glass indicate whether you're in video or stills mode. A USB port allows you to download from its 16MB internal memory, and there's an SD card slot allowing you to bump that up so you can shoot your swimming-pool version of Jaws. Price of the Liquid Image Camera-Mask hasn't been finalized yet, but the idea of smaller version will cost $99.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/336066/liquid-image-camera+mask-lets-you-shoot-video-take-pics-underwater

Unborn Babies on Our iPod Creep Us the Hells Out

This is just weird, even for the giddy parents-to-be types who like to run around showing off copies of their ultrasound at work. A hospital in England is one (two?)-upping old-school 2D ultrasounds with 4D scans of your in utero spawn.

read more | digg story

Oracle 2Q profit soars 35 percent

Oracle Corp. fared far better than analysts anticipated in its fiscal second quarter, easing worries that the sagging U.S. economy will curtail corporate spending on technology and drag down the business software maker.

Relieved investors drove up Oracle's stock price by more than 6% late Wednesday after the results were released.

The Redwood Shores-based company earned $1.3 billion, or 25 cents per share, for the three months ended Nov. 30, a 35% increase from net income of $967 million, or 18 cents per share, at the same time last year.

If not for stock option expenses and the costs incurred in recent acquisitions, Oracle said it would have earned 31 cents per share — four cents per share above the average estimate among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Revenue totaled $5.31 billion, a 28% improvement from $4.16 billion last year. Analysts, on average, had projected revenue of $5.04 billion.

Even more important to Wall Street, Oracle's sales of software licenses climbed by 38% to $1.67 billion. Analysts had predicted gains in the 20% range.

Software sales are closely watched because new licenses establish a pipeline for future revenue from product upgrades and maintenance.

"The strength of the quarter comes down to the fact that we are selling more products to more customers in more industries," Safra Catz, Oracle's chief financial officer, said during a conference call with analysts.

Signaling that its recent momentum will carry into 2008, Oracle forecast software sales will rise 15-25% in the current quarter, which ends in February. Oracle made the same projection for the second quarter and then soared well beyond it.

Excluding stock option expenses, Oracle expects to earn 29 cents or 30 cents per share in the fiscal third quarter. The average analyst estimate for the quarter was 29 cents per share.

Oracle shares fell 49 cents to finish Wednesday's regular trading at $20.76, then rebounded by $1.39, or 6.7% in extended trading.

"It was a very strong quarter, based on just about every metric you can think of," said Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry.

Oracle has been on a roll through most of the past two years, reaping the benefits of a shopping spree that has turned it into a one-stop shop for database software and applications that automate a wide variety of business operations.

By spending more than $25 billion snapping up its smaller rivals since 2004, Oracle has created the software industry's equivalent of a Costco warehouse, said Cowen and Company analyst Peter Goldmacher.

"Oracle looks to be better positioned than just about all its competitors," Goldmacher said. That list of rivals includes other technology heavyweights like IBM Corp., SAP AG and Microsoft Corp.

Larry Ellison, Oracle's hard-charging chief executive officer, remains on the prowl for other takeovers. In October, he offered $6.7 billion for another Silicon Valley software maker, BEA Systems Inc., only to be rebuffed. Echoing recent public comments, Oracle reiterated it's unlikely to buy BEA unless there's a change in the makeup of the San Jose-based company's board of directors.

Oracle's second-quarter showing and upbeat outlook may revive hopes that the technology sector will be able to overcome the threat of a looming recession and grow solidly next year.

With informal surveys indicating that a substantial number of companies plan to spend less on technology next year, some analysts are bracing for a downturn and their only question is the depth of the drop.

But there's a theory that Oracle and a few other industry leaders won't be hurt if the economic uncertainty causes businesses to concentrate their tech spending on products made by well-established vendors.

"Customers are going with proven technologies with proven value," Chowdhry said. "That bodes well for Oracle and Microsoft. It doesn't necessarily bode well for the rest of the software industry."

Source- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071219/ap_on_hi_te/earns_oracle;_ylt=AlwBIiAKNjY0Lii7zTd1enkjtBAF

AT&T promises mobile TV "as early as possible" in 2008

So we know that AT&T slipped its MediaFLO-based mobile TV launch from the end of 2007 out to early '08, but just how "early" are we talking? Well, "as early as possible," to be specific. That rather unhelpful statement is all that's coming out of AT&T for the moment regarding its go-live window for the service, saying that testing is going "very, very well" but that it wanted to take an extra timeout to "make sure the user experience is absolutely optimal."

As far as we're concerned, those statements are in conflict with one another -- if they'd planned to launch in '07 and everything's going well, what the heck's the hold up? At any rate, when it does launch, it turns out that we'll be getting essentially the same lineup MediaFLO offers through Verizon's VCAST TV presently, featuring channels from Fox, NBC, ESPN, CBS, and MTV. That rubs us the wrong way considering that AT&T's original press release mentioned its intention to take advantage of advanced MediaFLO capabilities like datacasting and music, so to summarize: less functionality, later than originally expected.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/19/atandt-promises-mobile-tv-as-early-as-possible-in-2008/

Google UK top searches for 2007

In the UK Google has announced for the first time a city by city profile of the top searches people are looking for.

Overall technology dominated the lists, with the social networking sites doing particularly well. Proving that the Internet isn’t just for adults, with sites like Club Penguin and StarDoll featured heavily.

It was good to see obesity featuring high up the lists as people sort life changing diets, but I am not so sure about the Spice Girls being one of the most popular music searches!

That is nothing though compared to the items of ‘news’ that people searched for:

….. the list of most-Googled news searches worldwide. Iran featured a lowly ninth on the list, one above High School Musical star Victoria Hudgens, and below searches for American Idol, YouTube, Britney Spears, the Cricket World Cup, wrestler Chris Benoit, Apple’s iPhone, Anna Nicole Smith, and Paris Hilton.

That is just worrying!

Source-
http://www.gadgetell.com/2007/12/google-uk-top-searches-for-2007/

Unborn Babies on Our iPod Creep Us the Hells Out

This is just weird, even for the giddy parents-to-be types who like to run around showing off copies of their ultrasound at work. A hospital in England is one (two?)-upping old-school 2D ultrasounds with 4D scans of your in utero spawn. The new scanner produces a moving 3D image, which is why we guess they're calling it 4D—not 'cause it's like tesseract, which I would much rather look at.

The article about the new tech's kind of trend-fishing with the iPod angle, since the hospital gives you the file on a CD or DVD, which you can load up on any portable media player. But sweet christ, I hope this doesn't become a real trend.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/336000/unborn-babies-on-our-ipod-creep-us-the-hells-out

I-Buddy - shows off the emotions of your interlocutors

It seems to me that any modern person uses at last one kind of messenger. Unfortunately, people meet each other so rarely nowadays. That's why messenger is a very nice and handy solution for the majority of them. But.. I wish the messenger could reflect people's emotions. It's the biggest disadvantage of the messengers, because they can't.

The progress made a step forward in this sphere. Now appear different gadgets that help people to make their communication via different messengers more realistic and natural. I-Buddy will help you to understand the mood and reactions of your interlocutor.

This sweet gadget visually demonstrates you emotions. It flaps its wings and changes the colors depending on the emoticons in the messages. Generally, the device looks really interesting and funny. It may show love, angriness and other feelings. It's rather jokingly to observe it.

If i-Buddy starts annoying you and if your interlocutors have too many emotions, you may program it to react just for one person.

It seems to me that your computer might be happy to have such accessory. If you spend a lot of time communicating via messengers this gadget is definitely for you.

Unfortunately, the device reflects just the emotions of your interlocutors that you may also see on your screen. Why doesn't it show the real emotions that are hidden inside? I guess that would be the best-seller and the greatest accessory for the computer.

Anyway, now I represent you this gadget the way it is: funny, interesting, but it might become a little annoying.

Source- http://gadgets.infoniac.com/index.php?page=post&id=444

Circle Phone- Brings Simplicity Back

While cell phones make us truly mobile, they are becoming cluttered with more unnecessary features. Jin Le brings simplicity back with the "Circle Phone". It sports "only 3 buttons and a rotary style dial pad set in a very modern looking ring."

The upswing in high-tech technology integrated into every facet of our lives will soon (say 5+ years from now) experience a backlash started by none other than designers. The Circle Phone is an example of such a backlash.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/pictures-circle-phone-brings-simplicity-back

PC World's 30 Most Popular Stories of 2007

Twelve months. Thousands of articles, slide shows, videos, downloads, and more. Millions of visitors perusing billions of words and images. There's a surging sea of content on PCWorld.com, and over the course of a year, all of it gets read--but only a few items qualify as true smash hits.

Herewith, our megablockbusters for 2007, from practical advice to pure entertainment.

1. The Strangest Sights in Google Earth: A digital travelogue? On PCWorld.com? We'd never done one before, but when Senior Reporter Tom Spring told us that you can spot elephants, crop circles, and corporate logos in Google's mapping program, it sounded like a lot of fun. What we didn't know was that Tom's slide show would go on to be the single most-read feature ever on PCWorld.com.

2. The 20 Worst Windows Features of All Time: Fact one: The vast majority of PC World readers use Microsoft's operating system. Fact two: Virtually none of them love it unconditionally. Those two truths inspired us to compile this illustrated history of two decades of Windows nuisances, from the mild (Windows Movie Maker) to the monstrous (Messenger Service, which let hackers reboot your PC by remote control).

3. The 10 Worst PCs of All Time: Some of them were surprisingly popular, like the VIC-20. Others made no mark in the computing universe, like the New Internet Computer. But these ten machines had one thing in common: In one way or another--usually in multiple ways--they gave the PC a bad name.

4. The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time: Talk about an article that just won't say die--we published Dan Tynan's list of losers back in May 2006, and it has remained wildly popular ever since.

5. The 100 Best Products of 2007: Once again, we decided to rank the 100 best products of the year, gathering winners from an array of categories. Once again, we did it midyear, for reasons too complicated to explain. Once again, we named the Product of the Year (it's an office suite, and it doesn't hail from Redmond). And once again, the story was a monster hit.

6. The Most Notable Notebooks of 2007: We thought people would like this slide-show retrospective of the most interesting laptops we'd tested as of September, and they did. But we never guessed that one factoid--that the MacBook Pro ran Vista faster than any other machine we'd benchmarked at the time--would inspire an Apple TV commercial.

7. The 50 Best Tech Products of All Time: Okay, by "all time" we meant "since the dawn of the PC revolution." (If we hadn't set limits, we would have needed to consider the bicycle, the ball-peen hammer, and fire.) Our choices led off with the browser that was once synonymous with the World Wide Web. (Meanwhile, we asked readers to vote on our picks, and iD Software's Doom was a runaway winner as the best tech product ever.)

8. Laptop reviews: If you could visit the PC World Test Center, you'd see a bevy of notebooks undergoing objective testing with our WorldBench benchmark and other methodologies. That's because thousands of people come to PCWorld.com every day for advice on which portables to purchase.

9. 101 Fantastic Freebies: Back in the 1990s, our cover stories on the year's best stuff were top sellers at newsstands everywhere. Actually, they still are--and today, our annual freebie roundup is also a smash online.

10. The 20 Most Annoying Tech Products: We asked readers to vote on the products that had irritated them the most over the years. The top vote-getter was an object that was round, silver, and free--and for a while in the 1990s, it seemed prone to Tribble-like multiplication.
Downloads, TVs, Cameras, and More

11. 15 Great, Free Security Programs: If you have Windows computer, you have security headaches to worry about. For this download extravaganza, we focused on ways to ward off spyware, viruses, and hackers without spending a nickel.

12. 15 Great Free Utilities You've Never Heard Of: If you've read all the way to this point in this list of our hits, you know that people love to come to PC World to learn about useful free software. This story is yet more evidence of that.

13. How to Buy a Flat-Screen TV: In the market for an HDTV? You have company--lots and lots of it. Our guide to the products, technologies, and specs is an essential resource, all year long.

14. Top 10 Compact Cameras: Cameras have been a hot topic for PCW since the dawn of digital photography, but as our reviews show, you've never been able to get so much camera in such a small case for so little money.

15. Cell phone reviews: Computers may look more and more alike these days, but wireless phones are anything but a commodity And we're thankful that we haven't had to change our name to Phone World to become a popular source of information on them.

16. The 20 (Mostly Free) Downloads You Can't Do Without: Here's yet another collection of helpful downloads for customizing, troubleshooting, and speeding up Windows. We won't stop doing 'em until we run out of good picks, or the world loses interest--and we don't think either of those scenarios will play out anytime soon.

17. Great Free Files--20 Fantastic Open-Source Downloads: Some open-source apps are household names, like Firefox. But there's plenty of good stuff you might not know about, such as the utilities, multimedia tools, and other downloads in this feature.

18. Before They Spoiled the Software: With software, newer isn't always better--sometimes, it's slower, more annoying, and less intuitive. So we called out some examples of programs that have moved in the wrong direction over the years, and showed readers how to grab the older, sprightlier versions that made the applications popular in the first place.

19. Desktop reviews: Portable computers may be taking over the planet, but plenty of people are still shopping for solid desktop computers. No surprise, then, that they're still among the most popular review subjects on our site.

20. How to Buy a Laptop: If you go to Google and type the simple phrase "how to buy a laptop," the first link you see will take you to this buying guide. That's presumably one reason why the story is a year-round hit. Hatred! Ugliness! Stress!

21. 10 Things We Hate About Apple: Back in the spring, we decided to let off a little steam with two stories--one listing stuff we loved about Apple and its products, and the other listing our gripes. The latter article made the news in a way we never would have predicted.

22. The Ugliest Products in Tech History: Great industrial design has always been hard to find in the tech world. Terrible design, however, has always been plentiful. And hey, we even included an Apple product in our slide-show roundup of notable eyesores.

23. The Most Collectible PCs of All Time: Three decades into the PC revolution, the oldest and rarest computers aren't just curiosities, they're prized collectibles. Check out our slide show to see if you have a $10,000 relic stored away in your basement.

24. 19 Tools to Get the Junk Off Your PC: Applications you don't want. Files you don't need. Almost every PC is bloated with stuff that bogs down performance and fills up the hard drive, so we gathered tools for clearing out all the clutter.

25. 35 Things Every PC User Should Know: This compendium of useful tips on troubleshooting and other topics was the cover story of our March issue, which was a best seller. But the article's popularity has persisted far beyond the dead-tree version.

26. iPhone Stress Tests: On June 29, legions of gadget freaks waited in round-the-block lines to be among the first to get their hands on Apple's phone. We were there too--and we were probably the only buyers who promptly began trying to destroy our new toy. Our torture tests, starring Senior Associate Editor Eric Butterfield, became the most popular video we've ever created.

27. Top 10 External Hard Drives: No, they're not glamorous. But since every PC user needs at least one big USB-connected drive for backups, archiving, and other data-preservation purposes, the PCW Test Center and storage guru Melissa J. Perenson try out many of them over the course of the year.

28. Vista vs. Leopard--Battle of the New Features: When Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system finally appeared in October, we compared and contrasted it with Windows Vista in this slide show.

29. Top 10 Inkjet Printers: Today's printers are one part printing press, one part photo processing station. Our lab-tested reviews are perennial favorites.

30. 14 Great Programs You Didn't Even Know You Needed: Here's yet another practical guide to practical software that found a big audience in 2007.

Source- http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20071219/tc_pcworld/140636;_ylt=AncrArvk5xu6a3GuPiwP7w0jtBAF

Original Sonic the Hedgehog Now Available for the iPod

Just in case you haven't had a chance to play the original Sonic the Hedgehog on your Wii or Xbox 360 lately, now there's yet another platform that's offering the classic platformer for sale: the iPod. Yep, for $4.99 you can now download the classic Sonic the "I remember this being better" Hedgehog for all of your awkward, click-wheel-controlled gaming needs.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gaming/original-sonic-the-hedgehog-now-available-for-the-ipod-335255.php

Beta of XP Service pack 3 update made public

Microsoft on Tuesday said it will make publicly available a beta version of Windows XP Service Pack 3. But, like a car salesman pitching the new Corvette over the old jalopy, Microsoft argued that a switch to Vista is the better move.

"While Windows Vista provides the most advanced security and management capabilities of any Windows operating system, Windows XP SP3 will ensure PCs running Windows XP will have the latest updates, as well as compatibility with the Network Access Protection functionality of Windows Server 2008," Microsoft said in a statement.

Lest anyone misread that as an endorsement, Microsoft goes on to say that "Windows XP SP3 does not bring significant portions of Windows Vista functionality to Windows XP."

The service pack has already been delayed several times as Microsoft has put its focus on getting Vista out the door and then updating that release.

Microsoft issued a release candidate version of XP SP3 in November and expanded its testing earlier this month, promising the public test version would come at some later date.

For anyone who still wants to try the darn thing, Microsoft says, the beta should be up on Microsoft's Web site later Tuesday and ready in final form in the first half of next year.

Source- http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9835411-56.html?tag=nefd.top

iPhone coming to Japan's NTT DoCoMo

According to the Wall Street Journal Asia, Jobs and Co are in Japan working out the details for a domestic iPhone launch. It's no surprise then that Jobs was rumored to have just met with NTT DoCoMo's president, Masao Nakamur, to discuss the deal with the largest carrier in the world's second-largest economy. As usual, Apple seems to be playing the carriers off one another with rumors that The Steve is courting Softbank as well. However, "people familiar with the situation" say that DoCoMo is the first choice. While the revenue sharing is a sticking point as usual, WSJA says that Apple doesn't expect to have any difficulty closing the deal. Funny, that's what everyone was saying about Vodafone in Europe.

P.S. For what it's worth, NTT DoCoMo does not run a GSM/EDGE network. Any iPhone released on DoCoMo's FOMA service will be HSDPA -- right, the 3G iPhone.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/18/iphone-coming-to-japans-ntt-docomo/

A Robotic Jurassic Park Coming to Dubai

When it comes to Dubai and attracting wealthy tourists, the word "restraint" is seldom used. Perhaps that is why it is not surprising that the locals are building a $1 billion theme park that will feature over 100 animatronic dinosaurs of 40 different species. Dubbed "Restless Planet," the park will attempt to provide an educational experience amidst all of the Vegas style spectacle. This will be done using history themed rides and robots / habitats that represent an accurate portrayal (based on current knowledge) of what life was like millions of years ago.

The robots will also be capable of interacting with guests by following them with their eyes or lunging at them as the walk by. Even though you would think that keeping the wraps on a 500,000 square foot park would be difficult, further details are scarce. However, the park is scheduled to open in late 2008 in City of Arabia, Dubai.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/robots/a-robotic-jurassic-park-coming-to-dubai-335002.php

Kawasaki robot solves Rubik's Cube in seconds flat

We've seen robots that could solve a Rubik's Cube in nearly no time, but Kawasaki's Cube-Kun can pick one up, figure out the solution and sip down some lemonade all in the extended blink of an eye.

Reportedly, this brainiac was created with absolutely one goal in life, and judging by eyewitness reports, it succeeds mightily. The fellow rocks a huge flat-panel display as a face and utilizes built-in sensors to determine the current position of each square and how to most quickly solve it. Interestingly, we heard that sabotaging the cube by removing a sticker would send Cube-Kun into fits of uncontrollable rage, but apparently, no one's been courageous enough to test its patience.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/17/kawasaki-robot-solves-rubiks-cube-in-six-seconds-flat/

Toshiba Launches New Range of 1.8 inch HDDs

Toshiba boosted its portfolio with the release of 5 new 1.8 inch HDDs.

These drives are aimed at laptops, UMPCs and other portable devices. The drives that have been introduced are the 120GB MK1214GAH, the 60GB MK6028GAL and the 80GB MK8025GAL.

All three models are equipped with a PATA interface, 2MB buffer and 512 byte-per-sector format. The other two drives Toshiba has introduced are two single-platters, 60GB 1.8-inch HDDs in the slim, 5-millimeter-high form factor with 4,200 RPM and 3,600 RPM spin speed. Pricing and availability remains unknown as of now.

Source- http://www.tech2.com/india/news/laser-printers/toshiba-launches-new-range-of-1.8-inch-hdds/23763/0

Glowbys Illuminating Hair - Shine everywhere

Ladies, do you want to feel yourself a fairy, a princess or an enchantress on any party? You will be absolutely individual, unique and stunning with the help of one magic accessory. The whole attention will be yours. Even in the darkness you will be the brightest.

A few thin fiber optic strands should be attached to your hair to create an unforgettable appearance. What unusual is there? The strands are illuminated. They are shining and it looks like a magic spray was poured on your hair.

In a moment after attaching this Glowbys Illuminating Hair you will look brilliant and festive.

I think that is can be a nice accessory for any party or holiday. On a New Year or just Birthday party it will look the most suitable and effective.

Source- http://gadgets.infoniac.com/index.php?page=post&id=442

Transparent Cell Phone is Ultraslim

Aesthetically, the Cypres Mobile Phone by Nao Tamura is a work of art. It features a transparent case, integrated camera, and an OLED display. No word yet on pricing and availability.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/pictures-transparent-cell-phone-is-ultraslim

Robodance- 4 software lets you control Tomy i-SOBOT with a Wiimote

Tomy's i-SOBOT usually requires users to punch in one of 147 different keycodes on its monster handheld controller to get things moving, but a couple enterprising hackers have developed a control system that lets you get it on mo-cap style using a Wiimote and the nunchuk attachment.

The secret is the upcoming Robodance 4 software, which maps the i-SOBOTs commands to the Wiimote and a GUI for complex scripted macros -- which means it'll be even easier to pretend that the bot is actually your real friend. Check a vid of the system in action, apparently shot in someone's underground bunker, after the break.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/15/robodance-4-software-lets-you-control-i-sobot-with-a-wiimote/

iPond Combines Portable Speaker With a Fish Tank

Pet stores in Australia have been selling a portable speaker with a built-in fish tank, designed to hook up to portable audio devices like the iPod.

The cleverly named iPond, which is currently drawing fire from animal rights groups for not providing adequate space for a fish to live.

Melbourne Aquarium officials say the Betta fish sold with the iPond need a 10 liter tank to swim and get a proper amount of oxygen, but the iPond's tank is only 650 milliliters. Acoustics experts also say sound from the speaker, which is built into the bottom of the iPond, could transfer into fish tank, bringing up another potential hazard.

But even if Aussies are ambivalent to bleeding heart animal rights activists, they should still avoid the iPond because it looks like a cheap piece of garbage selling for an inflated 70 Australian Dollars (60 USD).

Source- http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/audio/ipond-combines-portable-speaker-with-a-fish-tank-enrages-animal-rights-activists-334424.php

Microsoft Slashes Xbox360 Prices This December

Good news for anyone looking to get into next gen gaming, Microsoft has slashed the price of the Xbox 360 significantly this holiday season.

For the month of December only, the Xbox 360 core console will be sold for Rs. 14,990 while the Pro version will set you back by Rs. 23,990. The core console will come bundled with two free games (Forza Motorsport 2 and Viva Piñata) while the Pro version will come bundled with four games (Project Gotham Racing 3, Forza Motorsport 2, Viva Piñata and Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007).

And remember, this offer is available till 31 December 07 and till stocks last.

Source- http://www.tech2.com/india/news/xbox360-games/ms-slashes-xbox360-prices-this-december/23581/0