Hasta La Gadget!

There are some markets in the world where one particular product might do better in compared to other places. There could be a variety of reasons, such as price, design, culture, religion, and so on, and Sony’s SRF-39FP MP3 player is a prime example. For those who might not have heard of this player before, don’t blame yourselves because we expect that you might have probably passed on it in favor of something more fancy, like an iPod. However it seems that over in the prisons in the US, the SRF-39FP is actually the MP3 player of choice, according to a very interesting and highly entertaining article from The New Yorker.

Well for starters in case it wasn’t obvious enough, the reason it is favored by prisons is due to its transparent body and the fact that it manages to get by on a single AA battery (estimated forty hours of listening time, longer than the iPod Classic). The transparent body is great because it prevents inmates from hiding contraband in them, and the single AA battery also means that prisoners will not have to spend as much money on battery. Federal prisoners are reportedly only allowed to spend up to $320 a month on commissary goods, so less money spent on AA batteries means more to spend on snacks, stationery, and so on. Who would have thought?

Sony’s SRF-39FP Is The MP3 Player Of Choice In US Prisons original content from Ubergizmo.

Earlier this month, Sony unveiled the tennis sensor at CES 2014. At the time of unveiling, Sony stated that the device was merely a prototype as opposed to an actual product that consumers could go out and purchase for themselves. Well the good news is that it looks like the response must have been good enough where Sony has decided to actually turn the tennis sensor into reality. Dubbed the Smart Tennis Sensor, unfortunately it seems that the device will only be available in Japan and will see a release this May and will be priced at around $175.

For those hearing about this for the first time, the sensor is basically a little gadget that is attachable to the base of a tennis racket. By attaching it to be the base, the sensor will be able to pick up a variety of information from the player, such as the speed at which the ball is hit, how hard it is being hit, and where on the racket it is being hit, all of which should help the player learn from their mistakes. According to Sony who announced the sensor’s availability in Japan, the sensor will be compatible with around six Yonex EZone and VCore tennis rackets, but additional racket compatibility will be added after launch.

Pretty cool stuff and with the Australia Open currently underway, we’re sure there are many players, both pro and aspiring, who might be feeling particularly motivated to up their game!

Sony To Make Tennis Sensor A Reality, Will Launch In May original content from Ubergizmo.

Sony has just announced at CES 2014 the Xperia Z1S and Xperia Z1 Compact, both based on the company’s flagship smartphone. Now it seems that a new model, currently called … Continue reading

An unlockable bootloader is the key to tinkering with your Android device. People who want to flash custom ROMs, kernels or tweak with their devices at an advanced level need to first unlock the bootloader. Its very easy to do that if you have a developer, Google Play edition or a Nexus device. Not all OEMs ship their devices with unlockable bootloaders, some cater to carriers’ demands and lock them down for good. It has been discovered that T-Mobile Sony Xperia Z1s bootloader unlock is not possible, simply because this smartphone is not shipping with an unlockable bootloader.

It goes without saying that anyone who buys this smartphone won’t be able to tinker with it, flashing custom ROMs is out of the question until a solution has been developed or if T-Mobile decides to rectify this by issuing an update. Its ironic that for a carrier that’s defying the norms of the wireless carrier industry, T-Mobile has gone down a very traditional route that carriers take to stop customers from tinkering with their devices. There aren’t many differences between the Xperia Z1 and the T-Mobile exclusive Z1s, however the former does come with an unlockable bootloader which can be unlocked by obtaining an unlock key from Sony’s developer portal and applying it via fastboot. So if tinkering with the device is important to you, you would probably be better off without the Z1s at this point in time.

T-Mobile Sony Xperia Z1s Bootloader Unlock Not Possible original content from Ubergizmo.

HBO has just announced a treat that would be coming soon to Sony’s gaming crowd. Though no definite date has been set, the popular HBO Go app will soon be … Continue reading