Hasta La Gadget!

“You know, that pallet of overpriced skin cream isn’t going to stock itself. Maybe if you’d stop playing Bingo Bonanza you’d have done that already. Oh, you say you’re scanning their RFIDs to add them to our system? Whatever, you’re fired.” It’s a scenario we see playing itself out at warehouses all around the world thanks to the iCarte from Wireless Dynamics, a device enabling iPods and iPhones to read from and write to RFID tags. It clips on the bottom and sports a mini-USB port so that you can still sync, but can also use the phone’s wireless mechanisms to communicate with various systems, updating inventory or tracking purchases. As far as we know it will not prevent your phone from playing games, but we won’t tell your boss about that. Nor will we tell him how much these will cost or when he can order them, since we don’t know ourselves.

Update: Wireless Dynamics asked that we clarify that this device is indeed consumer-oriented, able to scan the RFID tags in your credit cards, transport badges, and probably even that chip you had implanted into your dog’s head. So, this means you would be able to make MasterCard PayPass and similar RFID transactions without even reaching for your wallet — which sounds as convenient as it does disconcerting. Being able to verify that your dog hasn’t been replaced by an evil clone while you were at work? Priceless.

Wireless Dynamics brings the joys of inventory management to the iPhone with the iCarte RFID reader originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two astronauts will leave the International Space Station and step into free space today, for the first of three spacewalks to deliver spare parts, Space.com reports.

The two spacewalkers will spend about six and a half hours floating outside. Here’s the to-do list: install a spare communications antenna for backup, grease the station’s robotic arm and rail car attachment point, and install new cables and a handrail for a future ISS expansion mission.

The shuttle Atlantis launched mission STS-129 Monday and arrived at the ISS Wednesday with a total of six crewmembers. The entire round trip will last 11 days, barring unforeseen weather issues the day of landing. (Image credit: NASA TV)

If an unannounced product exists solely in the minds of speculative journalists and know-nothing analysts, can it be “delayed”? If so, then the fabled Apple tablet has just seen a setback to its non-existent launch date, pushing it to the second half of 2010.

The source? Component manufacturers for the iTablet, who, according to Digitimes, say that Apple has changed its mind on the product range (partway through production, it would seem) and decided to confuse customers with a split product launch.

Instead of the usual Apple strategy of launching one product, letting it run for a few years, and only then adding more lines (think iPod, which was on sale for two years before the Mini joined it, and iPhone, which is still the only iPhone), Digitimes’ sources claim that there will be two tablets at launch. One with a TFT screen will measure 10.6-inches and one with an OLED screen will measure 9.7-inches.

The sources have even worked out the prices of the tablets. Going on current prices of OLED screens and the percentage of the product budget they normally occupy, the price is estimated to be between $1,500 and $1,700. That’s not the sale price but the cost. Add a conservative 30 percent on top  of that for Apple’s famously fat profit margins and you get to around $2,200. That’s almost as much as the 17-inch MacBook Pro.

Due to the imaginary delay, these prices are expected to drop to a more reasonable $1,200-1,500 by launch, as the prices of OLED screens drop. Digitimes also points out that “The price could be more flexible if bundled with telecom providers’ 3G services.” Extrapolating from the iPhone, which costs AT&T around $600 and sells for $200 on a two-year contract, the iTablet would need a four-year contract to bring it into the necessary price range between the iPhone and the MacBook, around $700.

Why would Apple, a company famous for its pared down, easy-to-understand product lineup, introduce two models of a new device not only almost exactly the same size, but with confusing differences in screen technology? And why would it sabotage the recent and aggressive price cutting across all product lines by launching a big iPhone at a price higher than many of its pro-level notebooks?

This is a truly bewildering story. One day, we will see an Apple Tablet, I’m sure. But until it is officially announced, the only place to get one will be in the Atlantis Apple Store, which is staffed by unicorns.

Apple tablet PC reportedly delayed until 2H10, with OLED model now included [Digitimes via Henry Blodget on Twitter. Thanks, John!]

Illustration of an Apple tablet: Photo Giddy/Flickr

See Also:

• Dear Tablet Naysayers: Stop Looking Back When We’re Thinking Ahead …
• Gadget Lab Contest: Show Us Your Apple Tablet Mock-Up
• Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet
• Financial Times Confirms Apple Tablet for September
• Rumor: $800 Apple Tablet Coming in October

Want perfectly color corrected photos? Stick a translucent white disc in front of your camera lens for one test photo and the rest of your pictures taken in odd lighting situations will have the same neutral color cast your eyes saw when you shot the picture. Correct color balance is the promise and delivery of the Expo Imaging ExpoDisc. It works this way: Set your camera for auto exposure, take one picture with the calibrated ExpoDisc filter in front of your lens, remove the ExpoDisc, then tell the camera to use that photo to set white balance. The photo above shows an image taken under incandescent light using auto white balance (left) and corrected with an ExpoDisc (right); the background in real life is off white, as the right picture captures. Of all the methods I’ve tried, ExpoDisc works best and is most idiot-proof. As well it should be, for the ExpoDiscs run $60 to $105 (direct) depending on lens diameter. Just buy whatever fits your largest lens and let it overlap the others. ExpoDisc isn’t cheap if you’re a casual photographer, but it does work in almost every lighting situation.

Although we saw glimpses of ViewSonic’s VPD400 and VPD500 media players back in July, the no-longer-just-a-monitor company is officially pushing ’em out the door now. NetbookNews was kind enough to do a quick unboxing and hands-on for us, and although they both seem nice enough, we can’t help but wonder who’s in the market for a chunky dedicated PMP like these anymore — and hey, seeing as ViewSonic’s totally ripped Sony’s XMB interface, you might as well save a few more bucks and get the real thing plus games by picking up a PSP here, you know? Video after the break.

Continue reading ViewSonic VPD500 and VPD400 media players handled on video

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

ViewSonic VPD500 and VPD400 media players handled on video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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