Hasta La Gadget!

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Spring proved cruel for the sparse population of products that combine e-paper and LCD displays. Startup Entourage announced that it was discontinuing its Edge dual-screen e-reader / tablet combo. And then Barnes & Noble closed the book on the original Nook to introduce a successor that had only one screen and one button. In doing so, it leaped over (or is that under?) even the Kindle’s minimalism.

E-readers have followed an unusual demographic adoption curve for a consumer electronics product. The first buyers were, like those of many other tech products, more affluent, but the majority of them were also older and female in keeping with the book-buying habits of physical books. They were attracted to the crisp display and high contrast of e-paper displays. And many were (and continue to be) attracted by a focused product that allowed them to concentrate on the text without distraction of other media type, the Web or thousands of apps.

Continue reading Switched On: E-readers drive to digital distraction

Switched On: E-readers drive to digital distraction originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New York Post blocks iPad access through Safari browser, hopes you’ll pay for a subscription instead originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on August 21, 2006 by CyberNet.

Million Dollar Monday

If you don’t consider yourself an “average Joe” rather you consider yourself living the life of luxery, Nokia’s luxery brand of phones called Vertu will be the perfect “communication instrument” (the average joe calls it “cell phone”) for you. From sapphires and crystal to rubys and diamonds, this phone is nothing but average. To top it off, it’s made piece by piece entirely by hand.

I went to their website to get the details and I was impressed.  They offer a variety of styles and colors to satisfy all of your needs. There are white and yellow gold options available with diamonds. Yes, diamonds on a cell phone. Vertu also offers an array of colors like red, blue, yellow, and the list goes on. For comparisons, Nokia will sell millions of phones in a years time while Vertu will sell only thousands. It’s a completely different ball game and quite the different consumer Vertu aims their product at.

How would you like a keypad made with ruby bearings? Along with the ruby keypad bearings, Vertu phones also have silicone moldings under the leather on each corner that protects the phone from wear and tear. The phones also have a strong sapphire crystal and titanium surface that gives the phone some extra protection.

A phone such as this will cost at the least, several thousand dollars (and the demand is on the rise).  For such a high cost, I’d expect it to last for more than the 2.5 to 4 hours of talk time that it currently has. While there’s not a whole lot of talk time, it does have an estimated 270 hours of standby time.  It also has a fairly large user memory capable of storing around 1000 entries.

According to LuxuryLaunches.com, Vertu is expected to release another phone within the next month which is expected to sell well. You can find retailers of the Vertu phones all over the world in the United States, Canada, UK, France, and some countries in Asia. 

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide spotted in the clear, sans case originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 14:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leave it to the Senate to crush the military’s fragile dreams. All the Navy ever really wanted was a giant ship-based laser that could be used to shoot down missiles. Despite some record breaking stats, however, the latest defense authorization bill handed down from the Senate Armed Services Committee throws a giant congressional wet blanket on the free-electron laser. The project, it seems, has simply proven too expensive — among other things, the laser’s researchers haven’t found the ideal method for powering the weapon from a ship. According to the current timeline, the project was not likely to have been completed before 2020, and as such the Navy’s request for further funding was, somewhat ironically, ultimately shot down.

Senate denies Navy’s missile-destroying laser funding, puts the kibosh on annoying Dr. Evil impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 13:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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