Hasta La Gadget!

The Tivit lets your smartphone or PC access Mobile DTV programming via Wi-Fi. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10418784-269.html” class=”origPostedBlog”2010 CES/a/p

Well, while some folks are busily working to revive the technology that made the Polaroid name what it is, it seems that company itself (now owned by Hilco and Gorden Brothers) is wasting no time in going down the potentially perilous path of licensing the brand for other companies to use. On that front, consumer electronics maker jWIN — responsible for the iLuv line of products — has now announced that it’s signed an exclusive agreement to produce and market a whole range of products under the Polaroid brand (which is actually just one of a number of licensing deals recently announced). While specifics are still a bit light, jWIN will apparently make an “extensive assortment” of peripherals for PCs, game consoles and cellphones, as well as other audio / video products, and even the odd laptop case and “cleaning care accessory,” among what’s sure to be countless other products. Full press release after the break.

Continue reading jWIN strikes deal to sell products under Polaroid name

jWIN strikes deal to sell products under Polaroid name originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Occasionally, a phone exists simply because it can. Not because it’s powerful; not because it offers amazing bang for the buck; not because the manufacturer negotiated some lucrative exclusivity agreement with a major carrier, and certainly not because it’s introducing some groundbreaking new smartphone operating system. Yeah — not even Sony Ericsson is attempting to frame or formulate a legitimate business case for the sinfully hedonistic Xperia Pureness, because they don’t have to. One look at that wild transparent display and you’ll either be smitten or confused and dismayed by the $1,000 sticker price. It’s that simple.

Anyhow, we’ve just taken delivery of a Pureness today and have had a few fleeting moments to check it out. If it weren’t for the screen, you’d be looking at a $30 prepaid candybar here — you don’t have a camera, a high-res display, or any sexy metal or soft-touch bits to give the phone a premium feel. The UI is about the simplest possible incarnation of Sony Ericsson’s typical dumbphone platform, owing largely to the fact that the display’s just grayscale; you’ve got an FM radio (with a headset attached) and a basic music player and browser, but if you’re in North America, don’t expect any 3G.

That said, seriously, look at that shot we took up there: the display is insane. We can’t quite get over it — it’s the ultimate conversation piece. Motorola Aura owners looking for a fresh way to draw a crowd might look at this as their next purchase, but if you’re looking to do anything but talk (and occasionally browse an eerily translucent version of Engadget), make no mistake, this isn’t your phone. Did we mention we want one really, really badly?

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As 2009 winds down and we try to come up with new and clever ways of referring to the early years of this century, there’s really only one thing left to do: declare our ten favorite gadgets of the aughts and show them off in chronological order. It’s arguable that if this wasn’t the decade of gadgets, it was certainly a decade shaped by gadgets — one which saw the birth of a new kind of connectedness. In just ten years time, gadgets have touched almost every aspect of our daily lives, and personal technology has come into its own in a way never before seen. It’s a decade that’s been marked the ubiquity of the internet, the downfall of the desktop, and the series finale of Friends, but we’ve boiled it down to the ten devices we’ve loved the most and worked the hardest over the past ten years. We even had some of our friends in the tech community chime in with their picks on what they thought was the gadget or tech of the decade — so join us for a look back at the best (gadget) years ever!

Continue reading Ten gadgets that defined the decade

Ten gadgets that defined the decade originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bibble 5 Pro is out, bringing higher performance and a higher price to the raw-photo editing and cataloging software. Also new: selective editing. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10422959-264.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Deep Tech/a/p