Nov 29

Moshi Moshi MM03i Adds Style and Retro Flare to the iPhone

Posted in: bluetooth, iPhone, phone, Retro, Today's Chili

Moshi Moshi MM03i

There are a number of retro-themed Bluetooth handsets that look like the receiver of an old telephone but in reality pair with your iPhone or other Bluetooth enabled mobile phone to let you take and place calls, and none of them tend to sell very well, but the Moshi Moshi MM03i comes straight from Japan and has some stylish looks and sleek lines about it. 
Simply dock your iPhone at the top of the base station, pair your iPhone with the handset, and when not in use, the MM03i’s dock charges both your phone and the modern-looking black Bluetooth handset that rests next to your iPhone. When you get a call, just pickup the handset and answer it. The handset is cordless and supports MultiPoint Bluetooth, meaning you can pair it with your iPhone as well as your laptop, and if you get a Skype call, for example, you can pick it up and use it with your laptop without having to re-pair it with your iPhone. 
The style and elegance that the Moshi Moshi MM03i offers won’t come cheap though: it’ll set you back $129.99 list price, and it’s available now.
 
No Comments | Tags: , , , ,
Nov 24

Great Gift: Cellphone, iPod Booster Battery

Posted in: ipod, MP3 Digital Audio, Today's Chili

EnergizerXP2000battery.jpg

Carry an iPod-size rechargeable external battery to double or triple your phone’s talk time or your MP3 player’s playback time. They all have a USB jack; plug your device’s cord into that and you’re up and running again. The cheapest, smallest units provide a half-charge to a cellphone or MP3 player battery and take up little space in a purse or shoulder bag until needed; the largest provide 2-3 charges of a phone or music player. Recharge them by plugging into a laptop/PC’s USB jack, or into a USB wall transformer. Prices run $15-$50. The powerpack is good for 500 charges. One of the more sophisticated is the Energizer XP2000 Universal Rechargeable Power Pack, $30 street, with its own car and wall recharging transformers, four power tips, and carry case. There are many, many other choices.

No Comments | Tags: , ,
Nov 24

Is WiFi Radiation Killing Trees?

Posted in: Today's Chili

angrytree.jpg

Like trees? Then stop checking Facebook on your cell so much, tree-hater! Because according to one University’s study, we might not be able to have both.

Recently, Wageningen University in the Netherlands was commissioned to
study the rise in strange growths among trees in the
city of Alphen aan den Rijn. The reasearchers exposed 20 ash trees to various forms of radiation. And the ones exposed to wifi radiation seemed to be suffering some form of radiation poisoning including bleeding, fissures in bark, leaf death, and abnormal growth despite no detectable viruses or bacteria.

Around 70% of urban-dwelling trees in the Netherlands seem to be showing signs of radiation poisening. This is up 10% from 2005.

Before you throw your iPhone off a cliff, more research needs to be done. However, if a proven link between wifi radiation and adverse biological effects (on either man or tree), the ramifications will be a shockwave to the green-minded mobile revolution.

pic via

No Comments | Tags: , ,
Nov 24

Bicyclist Turns his Head Into a Battery Charger

Posted in: diy, Today's Chili

Are you a bicycling enthusiast? Do you own a special pair of specially-designed biking gloves? Do you hold a vehement hatred towards people who drive cars to destinations two blocks away, and also towards pedestrians who dare tread upon your clearly-demarcated bike lane? Do you feel a sense of accomplishment at having biked through a cold winter night even when public transportation could have cut your travel time in half?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then you my friend, are a biker. And we would like to put you and your protective gear to work saving the planet.

One green-minded biker has created a way to convert all that wind passing over his helmet into electricity. This mobile skull-adorned windmills utilize propellers in order to charge embedded batteries (it takes a two-hour ride to fully-charge). The batteries can then be connected to other devices by USB.

However, this isn’t meant to be just another green gadget, but rather [sic]:

We want to use it as a medium to sensibilise the public for environmental topics and to integrate sustainability topics into the lifestye of young people by creating a positive experience.

via vimeo

No Comments | Tags: , ,
Nov 23

FCC to Proposing 911 Texting

Posted in: Today's Chili

When it comes to contacting emergency services, the more venues the better, really. The FCC is said to be looking into increasing the methods people can use to contact 911, including text messages–a technology than has begun to supplant traditional voice calling for many cell phone users.

According to the FCC’s numbers, some 70 percent of 911 calls are made using cell phones. Added text messaging to the acceptable methods of contacting emergency services could actually help victims in instances where speaking would put them at risk–something students attempted to do unsuccessfully during 2007’s shooting at the Virginia Tech campus.

FCC chairman Julius Genachowski is expected to propose the idea in a speech today. The department will open the issue up to public comments before voting on it.

No Comments | Tags:
Nov 19

Daily Gift: Violight UV Cell Phone Sanitizer

Posted in: Gadgets, Today's Chili
Violight.jpg
We love/ need our cell phones so much that take our cell phones with us everywhere we go (the bathroom) and use them constantly (while driving). On a typical day, we touch every part of them with our dirty hands, lay them down on all kinds of surfaces, stick them in our warm pockets, and then put them up to our faces. In turn, we’re smothering our precious phones with germs, more germs than any other surface in our home and office.
Violight, the UV light sanitizing gadget company, quotes CBS News, saying “A British microbiologist claims the average cell phone carries more germs per square inch than doornobs, the soles of shoes, even toilet seats.” And you touch this thing to your face!! Ew.
Well, there is a solution: The Violight UV Cell Phone Sanitizer. Volight claims that its germicidal UV light kills 99.9 percent of germs and bacteria in just 5 minutes. You can use it to sanitize your cell phone, headphones, MP3 player, or whatever small electrical device you can get to fit inside it.  
This would make a great gift for the germaphobe on your list, or for someone who just wants a little extra protection during this cold season, or for that matter, anyone with a cell phone. This little germ zapper is available for $49.99 on violight.com. 
Next time you use your phone, just think about laying your cheek against a toilet seat, only dirtier, then you’ll want to buy one for everyone on your shopping list, plus one for yourself.  
No Comments | Tags: , ,
Nov 18

There Is No Such Thing As The iTouch, So Just Stop It

Posted in: ipod touch, Today's Chili

no-eweek.jpgThere is a horrible disease endemic in the tech world, and its name is “iTouch.” For some reason, even people who are otherwise sticklers for accuracy like eWeek [see left] and super-analyst Mary Meeker seem incapable of understanding the product name “iPod touch.” I’m not talking about subtleties like the fact that the “t” in “touch” is lower case. I’m talking about the whole name.

I don’t understand why this gets under my skin so much, but it does. Maybe it’s because the error pops up so frequently in publications that pretend to try to get things right; they wouldn’t be caught dead quoting “Apple CEO Steve-O Jobsy.” By calling the iPod touch an “iTouch,” they’re willfully ignoring something they know to be correct. They’re replacing truth with truthiness. They know the name of the product is the iPod touch. They know you can’t go to an Apple store and buy an iTouch. You can’t load up an iTouch in iTunes. You can’t get apps for an iTouch. That product just doesn’t exist.
If I see someone on the street ignorantly referring to an “iTouch,” that’s one thing. People use slang in all sorts of ways. But people who know better should just cut it out. It’s just not the name of the product, and only Apple can change that.
No Comments | Tags: , ,
Nov 18

Wozniak Picks Android Over iPhone in Smartphone Race

Posted in: Android, Apple, Google, iPhone, Today's Chili

woz_costume.jpg

If Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak were a betting man, it’s a safe
assumption that he would be putting his money on Google’s horse this round. The
Woz may still be an avid iPhone user, but according to a recent interview with
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, he believes that Google will have the last laugh.

Here’s a quote from the paper–keep in mind that it’s
translated from Dutch,

The Apple phone has very few weaknesses. True complaints and
problems are not [present]. When it comes to quality, [the] iPhone is leading. Apple
has the direction for the entire wereld [sic]. Android phones have more
features.

Woz’s comments come almost exactly a month after his former
partner in crime, Steve Jobs, slammed Google’s mobile OS as “very fragmented”
in a surprise appearance on an Apple earnings call.

Wozniak, meanwhile, also used to Dutch interview to slam Nokia’s
handsets as, “the mark of a previous generation.”

No Comments | Tags: , , , ,
Nov 18

White iPhone Knockoffs Could Land Teen in Hot Water

Posted in: Today's Chili

white-iphone-4.jpg

A New York-based teenager may have incurred the wrath of Apple’s lawyers after he took white iPhone delays into his own hands. Seventeen-year-old Fei “Phil” Lam has been selling eager customers converter kits to turn black iPhones into white iPhones.

The kits, which he’s selling for around $279 a piece contain parts supplied by Foxcon–the China-based company that manufactures parts for Apple. Lam speaks fluent Chinese and got in touch with FoxCon through an acquaintance. He sells the kits through his site whiteiphonefournow.com.

Lam claims to have made around $130,000 selling them to antsy Apple fans who apparently can’t sit through anymore delays (the white iPhone, now scheduled to arrive in March, was originally slotted to appear at the same time as the black iPhone 4).

Lam plans to use that money to help pay for school. “I’m very thankful, ’cause for months I was struggling for an idea that would bootstrap my first startup and help pay for college,” he told The New York Observer.

Unfortunately, all of that money may end up going to Lam’s legal expenses. The Queens-based teenage entrepreneur claims to have been contacted by a private investigator attempting to put the kibosh on his burgeoning company. Lam believes that the P.I. may have been hired by Apple.

“There are a couple of other sellers online and somehow I’m the ‘focus’ of it all,” Lam said. “I think this guy is just trying to scare me into stop selling on behalf of Apple.”

No Comments | Tags: , , ,
Nov 16

Life’s a Beach with RingerWraps

Posted in: case, Today's Chili

CleverWraps.jpg

Some people need to learn to unplug. If you’re one of them–and you can’t stand to be without your cell for a moment–now there’s RingerWraps. Brought to you by the people at CleverWraps, creators of disposable gadget covers, RingerWraps are disposable, protective sleeves for mobile phones. They’re meant to save your phone from contact with harmful elements like water, sand, or other corrosive elements.

RingerWraps come in three sizes and are made of high-grade poly. They feature a zip closure and re-sealable tape for double protection and a custom fit. Small wraps are designed for the iPhone, BlackBerry, and all bar-style phones; medium and large sizes are compatible with vertical and horizontal flip and slide phones. Each pack contains five sleeves and costs $9.99. E-reader and tablet wraps are coming in December.

No Comments | Tags: ,