Hasta La Gadget!

Toshiba has just introduced a new e-book reader to the market, although they are targeting the Land of the Rising Sun this time around with the Toshiba BookPlace Mono. This will definitely cater for the budget-minded, as how expensive can a monochrome e-book reader cost to manufacture, anyways? The Toshiba BookPlace Mono is a wee bit smaller in terms of dimensions compared to its BookPlace DB50 reader, where it will sport a 6-inch E Ink display with 758 x 1,024 pixels resolution, chungging away to an 800MHz processor that is accompanied by 512MB RAM, Wi-Fi connectivity, 4GB of internal memory, a microSD memory card slot, and an USB port.

It seems that the Toshiba BookPlace Mono has been slapped with a $100 price tag or thereabouts, where a Benjamin (after conversion, of course) would not only net you the e-book reader, but also a set of books to get you started right out of the box. Come to think of it, how many of you folks out there use a dedicated e-book reader to get your daily dose of reading done?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Patent Hints At Their Own Version Of Google Street View, Major Retailers Hint At Upcoming iPad 5 Release By Cutting iPad, iPad Mini Prices,

In the latest round of April fools, a number of high-profile companies have worked hard to make us smile at the office. We’ve selected our favorite gags of the day (with a tech twist obviously!) and while Google gets a commendation for being very prolific, others have done great April Fools gags too, here are our favorites, in no particular order:

Virgin Glass-Bottom Plane

The title says it all, really, but Virgin has come up with an interesting (or terrifying) concept with this glass-bottom plane. Can you imagine what it would be see through that bottom while you are at 10,000ft in the air? Actually, the landing would probably be the  most interesting part of the trip — let us know which one you prefer in the comments. Can read the fake announcement from Richard Brandson. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Best of CES 2013 @ Ubergizmo, Ubergizmo Gadget Guide – Nov 2012,

First released last year, we have been impressed with “Shapes” by Toshiba and for good reason. This is exciting technology. Finally tablets have moved beyond rectangular.

Oblong
Technology that’s come full circle.
Ideal for:
DJs, artists, and custom pizza makers. Or anyone that just doesn’t like to be boxed in.

Rhombus
More than just a convex quadrilateral.
Ideal for:
Politicians and corporate folks. Engineered for people who regularly tuck their shirt in, but actually want to …

Toshiba announced today its 2013 lineup of home theater and entertainment products, including new televisions, Blu-ray players, and a new service called Cloud TV. The lineup is headlined by the company’s new 9-series Ultra HD televisions and a new service called Cloud TV, which offers on-demand content like Netflix, Vimeo, and YouTube.

Toshiba says that the new line of products features a “new design identity,” which includes rounded corners, brushed metal, gloss finishes, and a minimalist aesthetic that makes the new products simple and easy to use. Toshiba says that the new design for its 2013 products will go right along with any modern and contemporary look in a home.

The new 9-series Ultra HD range comes in flavors of 84-inch, 65-inch, and 58-inch screen sizes. Also in the new lineup are 4-series, 6-series, and 7-series lines of new televisions. The 4- and 6-series are the companies new entry models for 2013, which are basic smart TV models that come in either 32-inch or 50-inch screen sizes.

The 7-series is a new line of 3D-enabled smart TVs that come in 40-inch, 50-inch, and 58-inch flavors. As for the new Cloud TV platform, there’s not a lot of information about it at this point, but it’ll essentially be a service that includes a handful of apps, as well as the ability to share content between multiple devices in the home.

Toshiba also announced three new Blu-ray players, all of which look more or less the same design-wise, but are slightly different from one another. They feature built-in WiFi, 3D playback support, smart TV functionality, including access to YouTube, Netflix, etc., and the design of the new players compliments the new range of televisions nicely as well. No details on pricing or availability, but we should be seeing these new products on the market very soon.

Toshiba announces 2013 range of new home theater products is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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When we talk about wireless connectivity, most of the time we might think of wireless networks at the local cafe or restaurant, and to a lesser extent, wireless charging which seems to be the next big thing concerning smartphones these days (no doubt tablets too, would eventually get on the wireless charging action in due time), but how about a wireless lamp? Normal circumstances would point towards a torchlight, but here we are with Toshiba’s brilliant engineers working to create a see-through (read: transparent) OLED lighting panel as well as an OLED lighting panel that supports wireless power transmission, and both of these were demonstrated at the Lighting Fair 2013 in Tokyo, Japan.

Toshiba managed to come up with this “miracle” thanks to the implementation of integrated electromagnetic induction-type wireless power transmission technology within an OLED panel. The result itself will be a configurable light unit which does not require any pesky wires to work, and it is capable of supporting up to 9 wireless OLED panels within a single square frame, where different patterns can be worked out without any physical connection required. As for the new transparent OLED panel, it will emit most of its light in a single direction, hence increasing its energy efficiency while lowering light pollution.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Android Leader Andy Rubin Steps Down, DRM Chair Falls Apart After 8 Sits,