MOBODOJO

When you have kids things just generally take longer. Sadly, technology doesn’t really make it any easier. You might be surprised to discover that I am not a PIM freak. In fact, I try to use PIMs as little as possible and I’m pretty successful with that effort. I’ve never found a PIM which liked me. There are plenty of them out there, too. I just can’t find one that works with what I like, nor is there likely to ever be one. I’m a nerd first and a journalist second. I get loads of gear all the time. Just check out my reviews, which really only represents about a third of what I get. Considering that the majority of the gear I get is mobility enabling, I should be able to find something which suits me and my needs. Read the rest of this entry »

The great thing about being a nerd is that you look everywhere to find out about new kit. In this case, I was watching a recent episode of Beyond Tomorrow on the Science Channel and they showed off this little gadget. This is the Yamaha EZ-AG Digital Guitar. Its not a real guitar, mind you, though it does have strings to strum and a neck to play chords and notes on, but each string and fret position is actually a key, like on a keyboard. It can be used as a MIDI device, but its mission is to teach people how to play the guitar, and I think its fantastic. Its retailing for US$199 and it runs on batteries! Neato Toledo!

If you were looking at these 15″ and 17″ backhinged, widescreen lappies sporting an integrated webcam and thinking, “Damn! Dell just undercut Apple big time!“, you’d be mostly right. Sadly the 15″ model ships with a 1280×800 display while the 17″ gets 1440×900, and both get connected to 256MBs of dedicated VRAM, except the lowly 15″ base model. They come with 2-3GBs of RAM, 160GB to 250GB SATA drives, and ship in a slew of colors. I think they’re quite attractive, which is a lot coming from a Mac phreakboi like myself. Pricing start at US$799 and goes to US$1,299. Not too shabby, Dell!

I’m not sure when this will become available in the US or for how much, but its kinda cool. Honlai has shown their new QingBar iPod projector dock and its looking pretty neat. Keep in mind, however, that it maxes out at 10-15 Lumens, a 200:1 contrast ratio, and 640×480 fixed resolution. That’s not so bad, though, considering that its not meant for presentations.

OpenMoko, the spin-off from FIC, is getting geared up to start making their move into the consumer space with their Neo open source handset. Their PR people have sent me details regarding 5 groups who will be taking deliveries of handsets. They are Pulster, Golden Delicious Computers and TRIsoft located in Germany, Bearstech in France and IDA Systems based in India. The handsets, when available, will be sold directly via OpenMoko and through distributors in Europe and India. Pricing is currently set at US$399, but will likely come down as carriers start picking it up and it gets upgrades to its hardware. The Dojo is rooting for the OpenMoko team!

Keynamics has announced its new Aviator line of in-flight lappy stands. The unique feature of this stand is the hook on the front. The hook allows the stand to “lock” into the seatback trays common on airplanes worldwide. This has the effect of kicking the lappy forward so that you can get a better screen angle. Keynamics devotes a huge web page to discussing the benefits of its style of lappy stands which all look like they can help you recline quite a bit. The best thing about the Aviator is its price, US$19.99. Not bad.

If you’ve been looking for that perfect mashup of a MOTO Q sporting a Blackberry Pearl’s scrollball, a Palm Centro’s micronic keyboard, and which is adorned to look like a much, much older HP calculator, you’re in for a treat. HP is slated to release the iPAQ 900 (910 online) on the 30th. That’s just days away! HP has it listed for US$499, but as typical you’ll be able to purchase it from a carrier with a subsidy. The handset features a 416MHz Marvell CPU, it runs WinMo 6.1, has lots of GSM-type acronym capabilities, integrated wi-fi and Bluetooth, and a 2.46″ 320×240 touchscreen.