Hasta La Gadget!

If there is a scourge to modern technology, it would definitely have a whole lot to do with battery life. While battery capacities increase, the device manufacturers tend to cram in more and more features in their hardware that guzzle up the additional power, leading most ordinary smartphones to last for up to a day at best (assuming you turn on all the bells and whistles, of course). Well, there are some handsets out there like the RAZR MAXX HD that has a really huge capacity battery, but those are more of the exception than the rule. One thing about larger capacity batteries though, they have a direct influence on the way a device is designed due to their bigger size, and this is something Sony wants to have a stake in with their new range of small, flat, external batteries.

These new flat batteries are not meant to be a direct replacement, but rather, to provide additional juice for tablets and smartphones on-the-go, and are the first products from Sony that rely on its thin “laminate” technology. One of them include a 7,000 mAh capacity, which is more or less equal to around 3 full charges to a typical smartphone. The battery tips the scales at 198 grams and measures 130.6mm x 70.4mm x 12.9mm. There will be slightly smaller models in the works that hold 3,500mAh and 2000mAh capacities, respectively, with the latter sporting a cylindrical shape. Prices start from $30 after conversion, depending on capacity as they arrive in Japan from next month onwards. A global release date has yet to be announced though.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sony works on paper-powered battery, PlayStation Vita to have external battery pack,

One might resign oneself to the fact of life that socks tend to miss their partners after a round of laundry, while at times, some of the design on the socks look way too similar to other pairs, that it is difficult to know just which sock is paired to up which. Samy Liechti of Blacksocks thinks that the has quite the innovative solution through the clever use of RFID chips on individual socks, and when used in tandem with a scanner and an iPhone app, you will be able to match up your socks to their respective partners after each trip to the laundry.

Known as ‘Smarter Socks’, whenever the sock is scanned, the iPhone app will actually display the history of the sock from the time it has been tagged via RFID, of course, with details ranging from the number of times it has been washed, the ID number, the partner for that particular sock, whether it is meant to be worn on the left or right, the date it was purchased, order date, the works! Good thing it is flexible enough to update the sock’s partner information just in case one of them goes missing. The Smarter Socks will cost $189 for a 10-pack, where it is accompanied by a scanner.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Burberry London flagship store gets digital makeover, Wakestock festival uses wristbands, ditches paper tickets,

Some of us think that the best things in life are simple items – such as some home-made jam, butter and freshly made toast. Well, if you want to spruce up your dining room with a unique toaster to go along with the rest of the appliances there, how about keeping your fingers crossed that this conceptual toaster would actually be funded to make its way across the manufacturing line? The Jamy toaster concept is the brainchild of Nathan Brunstein, where it relies on integrated Wi-Fi connectivity to pull weather information from a server somewhere, so that what pops out from the toaster will provide basic weather information for the day as such as the sky’s prognosis as well as temperature.

Once you have gobbled down the weather report, you can head to the office (or wherever you are headed to) with a smug look, knowing that the umbrella you carry in your hands is not there for show or to beat up some bullies around the neighborhood, but to help keep you nice and dry when the heavens open. The Wi-Fi cheap would need to be pretty heat-resistant though, or is well insulated from the heating element in the toaster if it were to last, don’t you think so? Not too sure how the Jamy Toaster knows where you are located though.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Breville VTT296 radio toaster keeps you entertained in the kitchen, XToaster360: Xbox 360 crammed into a toaster, still plays games,

It’s all too easy to forget in English-speaking countries that the e-reading selection often isn’t as diverse in other parts of the world, where local authors are often kept out of the equation. The Portuguese may know that all too well, which makes Kobo’s arrival in their country a potential breakthrough. A deal with European retailer FNAC has both the Kobo Touch and a localized Kobo e-bookstore reaching physical and online stores in Portugal as of today. The price strategy won’t be a shock versus what we’ve seen through an earlier deal in France: the Touch itself costs €99.90 ($129), while books vary and typically hover around €15 ($19). Whether or not Kobo’s offering is a good deal, its arrival could be a relief for lisboetas who’d rather not resort to paper and ink to catch up on their own culture.

Continue reading Kobo Touch, localized e-bookstore reach Portugal through FNAC

Kobo Touch, localized e-bookstore reach Portugal through FNAC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 02:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like it or not, the Presidential elections are happening real soon, and Facebook knows just the kind of talk that goes around a table when it comes to politics. How about helping digitize the elections in one way or another, by declaring to the rest of the world (actually, just within your Facebook circle) that you have now registered as a voter so that you have a say in who will run this great country in the future? Just like how Facebook introduced a “Same Sex Marriage” icon and “Expecting a Baby” timelines earlier this year, so too, can you now declare to the world that you’re “Registered to Vote” via a new Timeline event.

Needless to say, only US residents are able to make use of the personalized shortcut link for this new feature under the “Travel & Experiences” category of the Life Events tab on your Timeline’s post composer. You can share the location and when you registered, in addition to an optional box of details as to your political leanings. Will this increase the awareness for those who are still sitting on the fence and have yet to register themselves to be heard this November? Only time will tell.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Old private messages publicly show up on Facebook Timelines, Facebook allows users to delete search history,