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The Nokia X1-00 has a large back speaker for sharing audio with friends and family

Gadget Lab Notes is an eclectic roundup of gadget news briefs and intriguing products that catch our eye.

Nokia’s Bright Orange X1-00 Is Designed For Developing Markets
Retailing for a mere $48, the Nokia X1-00 is built for music fans and communities in entry level growth markets. It’s got a large, powerful speaker on the back that can play audio over the noisy sounds of traffic and other loud ambient noise, and a 3.5mm jack allows it to be plugged in to headphones or speakers. It features five phone books, so the phone could be shared among folks with differing contacts, and also has a built-in flashlight and an impressive 61-day battery life.

Nokia X1-00 Is Here [Nokia Conversations via Slashgear]

Private Conversation in a Public Place? Use the Yamaha VSP-1
For the James Bonds and Jason Bournes of the world, privacy is key when engaging in phone conversations (or just about any conversation). Yamaha has developed the VSP-1, a speaker-like Sound Wall device that can make your dialogue up to 89% less audible to passersby. The VSP-1 works by playing different sounds to cover your voice, such as beach, forest or river.

Yamaha Releases VSP-1 System [Akihabara News]

Pioneer Adds A/V Receivers to VSX Line, Including an AirPlay Compatible Model
Pioneer added four new A/V receivers to their VSX line today. With an optional Bluetooth adapter, they become smartphone compatible and can stream audio. The highest end model, the VSX-1021, also features AirPlay compatibility. The receivers range in price from $249 to $549 and include internet radio and DLNA. For controlling the system and your music playlists, custom Pioneer iOS apps such as Air Jam can be downloaded.

Pioneer Announces New Receivers [Crunchgear]

Wheel Around On The Barebones EX Trike
If you’re looking for a little more adventure than your traditional two or three-wheeled vehicle provides, perhaps The EX is right for you. The EX is nothing but a metal frame, modified bike parts, 3 wheels, and some custom CNC milled joints. Oh, and dual 18-volt screwdrivers as an engine (bringing along some spare batteries on your ride would probably be prudent). Speeds top out at about 18mph.

The EX [Nils Ferber via Oh Gizmo]

Easy, Endless Poking With the SNAK Social Keyboard’s Facebook Hotkeys
If you need this keyboard, you really, really have a Facebook problem. It’s got 19 Facebook-specific hotkeys that let you quickly jump to your photos, events, inbox, and more. What if someone else uses your computer and keyboard? No worries: When you sign out, they keys become disabled. The Windows-compatible Social Network Access Keyboard (SNAK) can be yours for $30.
SNAK [Social Keyboards via Engadget]

How much is a Nokia deal worth to the future of Microsoft’s mobile business? Leave it to Redmond to put a very round price tag on the deal. The software giant is reportedly shelling out $1 billion for Nokia to develop and promote handsets based around its slightly stagnant Windows Phone platform.

Though neither Nokia nor CEO Stephen Elop ever said there was an exchange of billions of dollars as a part of the company’s tie-up with Microsoft for the Windows Phone platform, Bloomberg is sourcing “two people with knowledge of the terms” in saying that something in excess of $1 billion is flowing from Redmond to Espoo. Though the deal isn’t yet finalized — Elop said as much back at MWC — it’d apparently call for Microsoft to pay out at least some of the cash upfront with Nokia sending cash in the other direction for device licenses. Interestingly, the deal is said to give Microsoft access to parts of Nokia’s expansive patent portfolio — and they’ll have it for quite some time, too: the contract’s apparently going to be good for “more than five years.” That’s more than most marriages, it seems (and roughly as expensive).

Bloomberg: Microsoft to pay Nokia ‘more than $1 billion’ to make Windows Phones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s Windows Phone ‘mango’ update to miss 2011 target? (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 06:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In search for feedback on its momentous decision to dump Symbian in favor of Windows Phone, Nokia has put up the above poll on its Conversations website canvassing opinions about what users anticipate most out of the new deal. There’s no consensus choice, with the equivocation of reactions being underlined by the fact that the “Other” option was the modal response, however of the given categories, a UI refresh and Xbox-related gaming boons turned out to be most important. No surprises there, Symbian’s touchscreen UI shortcomings are well known about while the Xbox tie-up has been one of Microsoft’s big selling points for Windows Phone 7 since its start. We’d just ask Nokia to be quick about delivering on these things — spending too long in anticipation mode won’t be good for our health.

Windows Phone’s new UI and Xbox games are most exciting aspects of Microsoft deal, says Nokia poll originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 09:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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