Hasta La Gadget!

[CEATEC 2013] You can never quite tell just when an accident or disaster is going to happen, and I am referring to the ones on a personal scale, such as your kid disappearing in the midst of a large crowd simply because you took your eyes off him or her for a split second. The world is no longer the safe place that we know of more than half a century ago, and this can be attested to the kind of atrocities that we watch and read about on the news each day. What can parents do to make sure their kids remain with them all the time short of leashing them?

Huawei has an idea – the HW-01D feature phone that will come with a built-in panic alarm. This particular handset does not only target the little ones, but it would also come in handy when used by humans as well as the elderly, as the device comes with a pull tab which will set off a loud alarm in order to attract attention to themselves as well as (hopefully) scare off would-be perpetrator. Will it catch on with the masses? Probably not, but it does function as a decent deterrent.

Hardware features of the Huawei HW-01D are functional at best, nothing fancy. They include a 2″ QVGA TFT display, a maximum number of 10 phone numbers in the phonebook, and that’s about it. Yeah, even for a featurephone, it is pretty low end.

Huawei HW-01D Feature Phone Comes With An Alarm original content from Ubergizmo.

Sony is set to launch a new line of microSDHC UHS-I memory cards, the 16GB SR-16SA and 32GB SR-32SA. These tiny cards are compliant with the new content protection technology SeeQVault, come with the UHS Speed Class 1 specification and capable of delivering a data transfer rate of up to 40MB/s. The 16GB SR-16SA and 32GB SR-32S will begin shipping from October 25th for 4,500 Yen (about $45) and 8,000 Yen (about $81), respectively. [Sony]

NEC has added another LCD monitor to its line-up, the MultiSync EA193Mi. Designed for enterprise users, this 19-inch AH-IPS LED-backlight monitor provides 1280 x 1024 native resolution and 25,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (1000:1 typical), and comes with a fully adjustable stand with 110mm height-adjust, tilt, swivel and pivot, two built-in 1W speakers and advanced connectivity with DisplayPort, DVI-D and VGA. The MultiSync EA193Mi will be available this month for $229. [NEC]

Back in the day, BlackBerry had no problems breaking into emerging markets such as India and Africa, but according to the latest SEC filing by the company, it appears that not only is BlackBerry struggling in the normal market, but they are experiencing some difficulties in the emerging markets as well. The SEC filing notes, “The intense competition impacting the Company’s financial and operational results that previously affected demand in the United States market is now being experienced globally, including in international markets where the Company has historically experienced rapid growth.”

This is not surprising given that phone manufacturers from both Android and Windows Phone have started to roll out devices that are not only affordable, but come with pretty decent hardware specifications and features, not to mention offering up a plethora of apps to choose from (at least on the Android end). This was echoed in BlackBerry’s SEC filing where it was noted, “The decline can also be attributed to consumer preferences for devices with access to the broadest number of applications, such as those available in the iOS and Android environments.”

Either way hopefully BlackBerry will be able to sort themselves out in the event that they are either bought out by Fairfax Financial or according to a recent report, Cerberus.

BlackBerry Appears To Be Struggling In Emerging Markets As Well original content from Ubergizmo.

Been wondering what LG was doing with that flexible display technology it showed off at SID? Apparently it was working on the G Flex, a 6-inch smartphone with a curved screen. The typically innominate “person familiar with the company’s launch plans” told CNET the device will be announced in November, providing the outlet with a low resolution sketch of a curved yet rigid smartphone design.

This meshes quite well with the prototype display we saw earlier this summer, which trumpeted the durability of its plastic construction (which it demoed by hitting the panel with a mallet) over its ability to bend. The prototype display is also said to be cheaper to manufacture and lighter than traditional screens, both of which bode well for the end user. Still, the word “curved” seems to have been chosen carefully — it’s probable that this device will mirror Samsung’s rumored smartphone and will be an artistically bent handset rather than a flexible one. The official announcement isn’t due until next month, but we’ve reached out to LG for a comment, just in case.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

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Source: CNET