Our cat knows better than to step on or try to sleep on our computer keyboards, but boy does she love to position herself riiight next to them so that some of her fur and extra chub “accidentally” cover a few keys. Coupled with her strange habit of rubbing her face against the sides and corners of monitors and notebook screens, she certainly does her part in encouraging us to procrastinate and “finish up tomorrow.”

She’s too adorable and squishy to ignore or scold, of course, so it’s obviously out of everyone’s control. The only solution? The Kit-In Box wooden pet bed. Suitable for pets up to 20 pounds, the solid pine bed clamps onto the straight edge of a desk and lets Miss Kitty do several of her favorite things at once: perch, sleep, curl up, nest, and be with you.

Available for $50 with your choice of cherry, birch, or mahogany stains.

Via OhGizmo!

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The Samsung SGH-F490 is the latest device to land on Vodafone UK’s handset lineup, and promises to add yet another great option for those looking for a multimedia-centric phone. It has a lot of similarities to the recently introduced Samsung Instinct, but know that the SGH-F490 has some interesting features of its own.

The Samsung SGH-F490 is a touch-enabled device with a 3.2-inch display capable of showing up to 262k colors. It sports a very minimalist design with only a few hot keys on its front face and a lone speaker for voice calls. And unlike the iphone, the SGH-F490 is 3G enabled. Chew on it Apple.

Other features of the Samsung SGH-F490 include a built-in 5-megapixel camera, support for A2DP Bluetooth stereo, UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, and Samsung’s very own Croix user interface. Visit Vodafone’s web site for region availability and local pricing.

Via [Mobile Burn]

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All four devices are being auctioned on eBay and the proceeds will go to the Children’s Cancer Foundation (in Singapore). Before bidding, you should know that HTC will only ship to an address in Singapore.

Highlights

• Windows Mobile 6 Pro
• WiFi Stereo
• Bluetooth
• MicroSD port (512MB included, 4GB max)
• 2 Megapixel camera
• 4.0” x 2.4” x 0.6”, 4 ounces

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Hirokazu Hamamura the head of Japanese gaming mag Famitsu’s parent company is predicting that Nintendo will unveil the next-generation DS at E3 2008 this summer. So why are we positive on this rumor? Well it is not made by some anonymous and self proclamatory Nintendo employee but by a businessman who heads Famitsu the leading gaming mag in Japan. Hirokazu has not commented on the hardware or cost. So how would you like to change the Nintendo DS? I am a proud owner of a DS Lite since quite some time and here is my wishlist for the DS 2. 1) Bigger screens 2) Powerful speakers 3) A mobile phone attachment. The DS as a mobile phone is a god send gift. But again it is a bit too much to ask.
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Imitating the looks of a F1 Ferrari, this red blushing beauty is a car phone with a difference. Like the phone that masqueraded as a cigarette box, this one’s got a Ferrari hangover. It F1 features a 2.2″ LCD touchscreen, MP3, 3GP, and MP4 file support, it can be expanded via a transflash card and it weighs 82 grams. Besides these specs and really hot looks, there’s little else going for the phone. Spending ₤96.54 ($191) on this seems a tad too ambitious.
[Source]

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Adobe has released Lightroom 1.4.1, which fixes some serious blunders introduced in the mid-March release of v1.4 and introduces RAW support for a few new cameras (full list below). The 1.4 update could erroneously alter the EXIF metadata of imported images on Mac OS X and Windows, specifically the time and date fields,as well as incorrectly diplaying JPEG files from Olympus cameras.

The Windows version had an even worse bug, and could render DNG files unreadable. These issues have been fixed, although right now the download page on the Adobe site is down for “scheduled maintenance”, so you’ll have to wait a little while longer.

Lightroom 1.4.1 and Camera Raw 4.4.1 [Lightroom journal]

Previously on Gadget Lab

Adobe Rushes Out Lightroom 2.0 Beta: Multiple Monitors and Non-Destructive Dodge and Burn

Aperture Update Adds Plugin Support, Dodge And Burn

• Canon EOS 450D (Digital Rebel XSi/EOS Kiss X2)

• Fujifilm S100FS

• Nikon D60

• Olympus SP-570 UZ

• Pentax K20D

• Pentax K200D

• Sony A200

• Sony A300

• Sony A350

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Remember this scene from Robocop? It’s the public unveiling of ED-209, and a programming glitch causes the giant killer robot to gun down an innocent suit. A chilling scene, and one which was almost re-enacted for real in Iraq.

Last year, three remote controlled, gun-toting robots, named SWORDS, were deployed in the war zone and then suddenly pulled from duty. Nobody knew why until Popular Mechanics quizzed the US Army’s Kevin Fahey at the RoboBusiness conference this week. Apparently, one of the robots went rogue: “the gun started moving when it was not intended to move” said Fahey. Unlike ED-209, the ‘bots were shutdown before any shots were fired, but it seems that the incident left people spooked enough to pull the plug on the operation.

Non-Answer on Armed Robot Pullout From Iraq Reveals Fragile Bot Industry [Popular Mechanics via the Reg]

Killer Ground ‘Bots Out of Iraq: How Come? [Danger Room]

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Stardock Corporation, the world’s leading provider of desktop enhancement software, has launched two new versions of their award-winning product: Object Desktop 2008 and Object Destktop 2008 Ultimate.

The Object Desktop program is designed to work in conjunction with Windows for full customization by and for the user. Like the previous versions of Object Desktop, the 2008 version allows users to take complete control of their Windows environment and experience.

Object Desktop 2008 features some unique programs including:

WindowBlinds: Allows Windows users to change the look and feel of the Windows interface by applying a new “skin”.

IconPackager: Allows users to change all their Windows icons by applying them to “packages”.

DesktopX: Enables users to build their own desktops, widgets, and gadgets.

DeskScapes: Allows users to have animated wallpaper (for Vista only).

SoundPackager: Brings customization of the auditory experience through the use of “sound packages”.

The Ultimate version of Object Packager includes even more programs such as:

TweakVista: Configures Windows Vista to meet a user’s needs, increasing the performance and productivity of the computer.

SkinStudio: Allows the user to create new visual “skins” for WindowBlinds.

IconDeveloper: Allows import of images designed with other programs, then turns them to icons.

Object Desktop 2008 can be purchased at the Stardock website for $49.95, and the Ultimate edition is priced at $69.95.

Source

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I have to admit that this post is way overdue but better late than never. A full three months after the end of the 2008 CES we would be crazy not to thank our sponsors. Without these three companies we would have gotten nowhere while out in Vegas.

Pentax - We were thankful to be hooked-up with a Pentax K-100D Digital SLR. The pictures were fantastic, storing photos on a SD card made posting extremely convenient, and the zoom lens helped us get some great close-ups even when not up front. Just check out the great photo galleries. Now we are left drooling for the K200D.

Energizer - Energizer? Yup, Energizer. If you learn one lesson after your first trade show, it is that you can never have enough batteries. In the past we have been burned by buying after-market computer batteries but because of the major cost difference between the manufacturer models and OEM models, we continued to search for a high quality solution. This search led me to Energizer and their line of rechargeable computer batteries. Personally I went for the ER-L385X extended battery for my Sony VAIO, and it could not be happier.

Sprint - Last but certainly not least would be Sprint. Without a whole bunch of mobile broadband cards there would have been no way for us to offer our non-stop coverage from up and down the Vegas strip. I think we may have had every single card, all EVDO Rev. A from the Sierra Wireless ExpressCard to the Pantech PCMCIA card.

So, thank you to these sponsors and we hope you, our readers, benefited from them supporting us.

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Remember how Dick Tracy used his watch as a communicator? Considering the last incarnation of Dick Tracy came out in 1990, I’m not surprised if you don’t. Let’s try this one: Remember when Michael Knight used his watch to talk to KITT? I’m sure anyone eighteen years of age or younger has no idea what I’m talking about.

Well, here’s a wrist communicator that anyone from any generation can understand: the Van Der Led WM2 Watchphone. I have only three words to say about this: “Yeah, baby, yeah!”

After all, science fiction writers have envisioned communication devices on our watches for years. Isn’t it about time that someone made it into reality by putting a cellular phone on a watch?

This Van Der Led WM2 watchphone is a quad band GSM, and it has some very interesting features including a 1.3 inch 260K TFT touchscreen, an FM tuner, 1 GB worth of storage, stereo Bluetooth, and USB data transmission. It has a stand-by time of 240 hours, and a talk time of up to 300 hours. I was surprised to hear that it even has a 1.3 Megapixel camera.

The Van Der Led WM2 watchphone costs about $475, but will not be available until next week on the Van Der Led site.

Source

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