On many of the online shows that I am prone to watch on my typical work day, I have been seeing ads for the “Mojave Experiment”. At first I thought it was a reference to the Area 51/Roswell incident, but Roswell is actually nowhere near the Mojave desert. The Mojave experiment is actually an ad campaign by Microsoft for Windows Vista that is more of a response to the negative criticism that Vista has been receiving. The ad features some random people responding to some questions about Windows Vista. Microsoft asks them questions like “Why haven’t you upgraded yet?” They usually say that they have heard about all the problems. Oddly enough, they don’t show the responses where people say, “I couldn’t afford it”. (Read the full post about ‘Mojave Experiment: Success? Failure? Or Something else?’…)

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Arkon will be making available premium upgrade aftermarket car mount bundles for both the Mio Moov and Navman S-Series GPS, and each of these mount bundles comprise of a custom cradle adapter as well as a location specific pedestal that is meant for use in the vehicle itself only. Users can choose from a variety of different mounts that attach to the windshield, dash, cup holder opening, lighter socket, sun visor, and air vent locations. Arkon offers the most extensive lineup of car mounting solutions for use with Mio, Garmin, Magellan, TomTom, and other leading GPS makers. If you’ve grown extremely attached to your GPS navigation system and can’t live (drive) without one, then I would suggest investing a small sum of money (anywhere from $17.95 to $29.95) on one of these puppies. (Read the full post about ‘Arkon offers car mount bundles for Mio Moov and Navman S-Series GPS units’…)

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Many kids nowadays are getting used to being chauffeured by their parents all over town, so maybe it’s time for some of those kids to “pay” for their trips. Gizoo is currently selling “Dad’s Cab” for $18, which allows you to put this fake taxi meter on your dashboard via a set of adhesive strips. While it doesn’t charge your kids money (they’d ask you for the money anyways), it does ask for unique methods of payment such as tidying their room, or making a cup of tea for the driver. Harmless fun and it might even teach some kids to appreciate the things that parents do for them. Expect it to mysteriously disappear from your dashboard if you start “charging” your kids too often though. (Read the full post about ‘Ferry Your Kids By The Meter’…)

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Sony’s Blu-ray player continues to help pay the bills for patent lawyers. Orinda Intellectual Properties is the latest to file a case alleging that Sony has violated some Blu-ray related patents, says gaming website Edge. Sony has allegedly infringed on a patent that broadly describes "methods for recording and reproducing information via optical disc," according to the Aug. 20 lawsuit in the Texas Eastern District Court. Orinda has named Sony Corp., Sony Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment America as the defendants in the lawsuit. In addition to royalty payments, Orinda has asked for an injunction on manufacturing, sales and distribution of Blu-ray devices from Sony, which would include the PS3, Blu-ray players and computers. (Read the full post about ‘Sony Faces Blu-ray Related Patent Lawsuit’…)

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A recent post on the Google blog has hinted that we may soon be able to edit the search results presented to us via a Google search. The post, by Google Distinguished Engineer Ben Gomes, discusses how Google are always experimenting with new features for its search page. He said, Experimentation is a very powerful tool, and we use it very widely to test potential changes to search. At any given time, we run anywhere from 50 to 200 experiments on Google sites all over the world. As well as discussions on the amount of whitespace around results having an effect on how prominent they seem to the user, he also mentioned editable search results. (Read the full post about ‘Google experiments with editing search results’…)

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When I received the Air Jacket from Power Support I swear I thought they had sent me an empty case. Inside, however, there’s an almost invisible hard backing that fits snugly to the back of the iPhone 3G and an anti-glare screen for the front. Virtually thin as “Air,” the Air Jacket measures .7mm and is said to protect from scratches, dust and impacts. While it certainly compliments the iphone’s aesthetics, I’m not so sure it would protect your baby from anything more than a dust bunny. $34.95 from Power Support. On the other end of the spectrum, we have the iFrogz Treadz, with it’s 100% silicone rugged tire tread design. (Read the full post about ‘Emperors New iPHone 3G case vs. iFrogz Tire Tread model’…)

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Product: Jabra SP700. Price and Availability: $99 out now Pros: Doesn’t make you look like a tool.  Easily answer calls in your car.  Makes not upgrading to the expensive new cars “tech package” a lot easier to live with.  Sound is great, surround sound through speakers is even better. Cons: no air of superiority that comes with a headset (wait, maybe that should be in the Pros?) Overall: I’ve already ordered two for my cars.  I give it 10/10 If you are like me, you’ll go to almost any length no to wear your bluetooth headset.  An incoming call when I am in the car sends me fumbling around my front seats for the tiny headset, the awkward install into my ear and then my eyes are back on the road.  Surely that is safer than just answer the phone? (Read the full post about ‘Gadgetell review: Jabra Sp700: stop looking like a jerk’…)

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Kyle Lechtenberg has designed the Visual Assistance Card that will help visually impaired users keep their personal information private, allowing them to shop in just about any store. It works by laying on top of the debit/credit card reader, relying on Braille imprinted on the card to keep everything hush hush. I know that there is just a small percentage of clerks who wouldn’t think twice about ripping off a blind person, but better safe than sorry these days. The Visual Assistance Card, being light weight is a snap to carry around, so hopefully it will roll out soonest possible before more visually impaired people experience credit card fraud due to unscrupulous people. (Read the full post about ‘Visual Assistance Card’…)

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Just as small, fast-moving mammals replaced lumbering dinosaurs, pocketable gadgets are evolving to fill niches that larger, deskbound computers can’t reach. But as they shrink, these gadgets are faced with problems mammals face, too, such as efficiently dissipating heat. The recent example of Apple’s first-generation ipod nanos causing fires in Japan raises the question of whether increasingly innovative product designs are impinging on safety. The nano incident illustrates how risk can increase as devices decrease in size, says Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies. "As [gadgets] get smaller, the tradeoffs become more difficult, the balance becomes more critical and there’s less room for error," Kay said. (Read the full post about ‘Gadget Designers Push the Limits of Size, Safety’…)

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If you spend an equal amount of time on your iphone watching movies as well as talking, it would make perfect sense to consider the iPhone Projector. After all, this device helps project a video image of the movie on a nearby surface, giving your eyes some much needed relief instead of staring at such a small display for hours on end. Some of the features found on the iPhone Projector include :- LCoS projector 4:3 aspect ratio Manual focus 20,000 hour lamp life 10-15 lumens brightness 200:1 contrast ratio VGA resolution 15″ to37″ screen size 2W stereo speaker Composite Video How much are you willing to pay for something like this? (Read the full post about ‘iPhone Projector’…)

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