Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft’s decision to drop out of CES prompted a lot of questions with regards to the future relevance of CES, not the least of which was how much the industry really needed an in-person tech trade show in an age where business is primarily done online. Of course, there’s still a fair amount of value in offering members of the media and buyers the opportunity to actually interact with the technology in person. And while software companies have long been a staple of the show, their presence is most often an acknowledgement of hardware partners.

It’s fitting, then, that many of the show’s offbeat highlights came in the form of companies looking to offer hardware solutions to our increasingly virtual world. Parrot’s always-amusing CEO, Henri Seydoux said it best while showing off the latest additions to the company’s AR.Drone on our stage. “Today, the kids have video games,” he told us. “They’ve replaced toys, because it’s a much more interesting experience. With the drone, we’ve tried to make toys as fun as video games.” And it’s easy to see how such a product can be taken as a real-world answer to smartphone gaming, with video from the built-in camera being overlaid with AR content.

Continue reading Making the virtual a reality at CES 2013

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Robots, Tablets, Internet

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Las Vegas is probably a lovely place to live. But spending a week in the desert at a trade show like CES—talking to thousands of people, handling hundreds of devices that countless others have touched, spending all your time going from taxi to casino to buffet along the Strip—it can leave you feeling incredibly grungy. More »

Following the unsuspected success of the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2, big phones (a.k.a phablets) are on the rise this year, and, at 6.1-inch, the Huawei Ascend mate is now the largest smartphone on the planet.

Beside its gigantic 6.1-inch display, what sets the Ascend Mate apart is its high capacity 4050 mAh battery, which promises to deliver extensive battery life, or to simply compensate for the huge screen size. To date, the Huawei Ascend Mate features the highest capacity battery found in a smartphone: the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 only gets 3,100 mAh while the famous Motorola RAZR Maxx HD gets 3,300 mAh.

I have purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for my personal use, so I was very curious to get my hands on this Huawei Mate. I have briefly played with the Mate after the Huawei press conference, here is the complete hands-on with my first impressions..

Editor’s note: What’s a “hands-on review”? Unlike reviews that are done in our office/lab, the hands-on reviews are usually our first contact with a device. We try providing as much information about the look and feel along with critical details available at that time. A complete review may follow when the device is actually on the market.
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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia Purity Pro Wireless Headset by Monster – Demo at GDGT, Android Mind Blowing Numbers at Mobile Loco,

As you can imagine, touchscreens have a slight bias against long fingernails, and if you happen to have long fingernails, we’re sure that you’ve already developed some special techniques to effectively use your phone and tablet. However, a new product called Nano Nails aims to essentially turn those long fingernails into touchscreen stylii.

A company by the name of Tech Tips created a detachable fingernail attachment of sorts that acts as a stylus. From there, the company figured out a way to embed the technology into wearable and fashionable fingernails. Nano Nails hide a tiny capacitive tip under the index fingernail that can be detected by a touchscreen just like a fingertip would, and it’s completely invisibile unless you’re looking for it.

The stylus nails will save you from having to carry a separate stylus, and since they’re glued to your finger, they’re always at the ready. There is a slight learning curve to Nano Nails, which is mostly getting used to using the proper angle for the tip to make contact with the display, but it’s certainly better than having to blindly tap at your phone with the pad of your finger.

Nano Nails will be available in either a full press-on nail or a nail tip, and the company expects them to sell in packages of four or six for around $10. They can also be put on by either the wearer or applied professionally at a salon. Tech Tips expects to start shipping the new product sometime this May.

[via CNET]

Nano Nails converts long fingernails into stylii is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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We are still not quite done with CES 2013 just yet, even though the show ended late last week, there are still some ripples to cover considering the vastness of the entire event. Well, Rapoo, being one of the leading manufacturers of wireless peripheral products, did take the opportunity to make an announcement of a trio of new wireless, portable audio solutions back at CES 2013. They are the Bluetooth Portable Speaker A5000, Bluetooth Portable Mini Speaker A3060 (as seen above) and Bluetooth Portable Speaker A8060, where all of them will deliver a compact design and powerful sound perfect for use at home or on the go.

First off, Rapoo’s compact Bluetooth Portable Speaker A5000 will be a Bluetooth 4.0 speaker that will come in a range of bright colors that include lime green, watermelon pink, electric blue and basic black. Do not judge this by its small size, as it can deliver powerful sound while on the go, while boasting of a built-in microphone that doubles up as a speakerphone for hands-free calls as well as a 3.5mm jack to connect mobile devices

As for the cylindrical Bluetooth Portable Mini Speaker A3060 that you see above, it too, will jive to Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity while boasting Intelligent Voice Prompt that delivers audio status updates which includes when the speaker is paired to a device, battery life and volume changes. You are able to control the volume, pause/play music and skip over to the next/previous track from the connected smartphone, or you can also opt to use the integrated controls that are located on the top of the speaker. It will feature a built-in microphone for hands-free calling, a rechargeable lithium ion battery and five different metallic shades to choose from – silver, green, orange, yellow and blue.

Last but not least, the sleek Rapoo Bluetooth Portable Speaker A8060 will too, have Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and Guided Acoustic Wave (GAW) Technology. It comes with smart control buttons with a proximity sensor that illuminates the controls whenever one is in range. All three models are tipped to be available before the first quarter of the year is over.
[ Rapoo does a slew of wireless audio solutions copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]