NewSky Factory has this visually interesting faux-sky called SkyCeiling that - they claim- could be a healing tool for dementia or Alzheimer patients. It is called “programmable” because one can change the “scene” and the lighting conditions. That’s interesting because we recently covered a study that concluded that artificial scenery (on Plasma TVs) does not provide the same benefits relaxing as real outdoors trips… However, I’m interested by this because it could look cool in my office. Price: probably uber-expensive. Cons: images might look flat-ish.

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Palm announced this afternoon that the Centro will be able to add Google Maps with My Location as early as tomorrow.  The maker also announced an unlocked version of the Centro in white with grey

Another phone with Google Maps for location and driving directions.  Iv’e said it before, but anyone else feel like something else is coming?  Google has to have given this some thought?  Don’t get me wrong, Google Maps is fun but navigation is missing.  Enough of my blather.

My Location on the Centro will allow users to find themselves with fewer keystrokes and less effort.  The My Location is in addition to all the great things Google Maps brings: traffic, aerial shots and driving directions.  Ok, I can’t take it.  Just driving directions?  Come on Google.  You know where we are.  You’ve got the directions.  How much harder is it to put this together???  Ok, I am over it now.  This is a cool addition for the plethora of Centro users out there (the phone is really cute).  You can download as of tomorrow from here.

The unlocked phone is $229 and retains the same dimensions.  You can find it for sale online here.

Press release [Palm]

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by Darren Murph, posted Jun 23rd 2008 at 9:16AM
We’ve seen folks lay their noggins on some pretty interesting pillows, but these critters just stand out like no other. Featuring Dig Dug himself along with a menacing Pooka, these homegrown cushions were created by manicmaiden for his / her brother’s birthday. We know what you’re thinking, but it doesn’t seem as if this particularly thoughtful individual is accepting applications for adoptions.

[Via CRAFT]

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by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jun 23rd 2008 at 11:58AM
There’s a lot of hoopla today over a Wall Street Journal piece stating that Google’s first Android device has been pushed back to late 2008 for release — yet the article fails to mention that this is right inline with what Google has been saying for quite awhile now. Admittedly, the fresh-faced mobile competitor probably is finding itself somewhat mired in carrier demands, which doesn’t seem unexpected given the broad swath of partners it’s collaborating with and the open source nature of the project, but as phone release schedules go, it hasn’t veered off the path much. The breakdown is something like this: from what we’ve been told, you can expect an Android-powered handset before the new year (i.e., HTC’s Dream driven by Google’s OS), followed by a crop of higher profile phones showing up in early 2009 (as previously stated by companies like LG and Samsung). So… feel free to switch off the alarms anytime you like.

[Via GigaOM]

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Alltel has just announced that they are continuing to update their Rev. A network and have plans to offer it in 18-market within the next six months. The new markets will include, but not be limited to Little Rock, Charlotte, New Orleans, Phoenix, Tampa and cover both rural and urban markets.

The Rev. A network will give users upload speeds in the range of 500-800 Kbps with bursts up to 1.8 Mbps and download speeds of 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps, with bursts up to 3.1 Mbps. These speeds of course are dependent on having a device that is compatible with the Rev. A network and currently include the Huawei EC228 USB and the UTStarcom UM 150 laptop cards and the HTC Touch or HTC PPC6800 phones. However those HTC users will need a free download from the HTC website in order to get those speeds.

In addition to the Rev. A upgrades, Alltel is also continuing work on their existing EVDO network. They are estimating that as of now they have 76-percent of their users covered and hope to bring that up to about 82-percent by years end.

Read [Alltel]

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What do you do when a 12-year relationship and 5-year marriage has come to an end and you really don’t like your current life situation any more? Well, Ian Usher, a 44-year old British man living in Australia, is in that situation and has decided to end it all by selling his life on eBay.

If you are the winning bidder you get everything except his identity, passport or Citizenship in Australia. That leaves you with a his house including all its contents, vehicles, introduction to his friends, his job on a trial basis and all of his hobbies.

The auction is now live and ends on Sunday June 29. If it meets his reserve price then he intends to pay off his debts and use the money to travel around the world with literally no ties.

The listing became active on Sunday starting at just AUS$1 and is currently up to AUS$288,108 (US$273,596) based on 23 bids.

Ian says he has had interest from all over the world with people either calling him crazy or sympathising with his situation. 50% of bidders are Australian so far, but Ian is more surprised by the amount of attention he is getting, saying:

There has been worldwide media attention … There has been a lot of interest in where I will go afterwards … It amazes me. Who cared a few months ago?

Read more at AlifeForSale.com and view the eBay auction listing, found via the Times Online

Matthew’s Opinion
I couldn’t imagine just selling my entire life in one go and walking away. There are just too many good memories and things I appreciate to give it up. For Ian, it is a different story though, and he just wants to get away from all his memories.

It is a brave decision, and potentially a very lucrative one if he gets some serious bids. He is losing everything, but the US$273,596 current bid is a significant amount of money and it has only been going for a couple of days. By Sunday it could have quadrupled and may reach his reserve price, whatever that may be.

If successful this is sure to spurn other people to try it who are equally at odds with the current lives. Ian has the advantage of having a really nice house, spa, vehicles, location and employers willing to offer a new person a job too. It’s unusual to get that combination and someone who wants to give it all up.

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The B-membrane computer concept design by Korean Won-Seok Lee is something worth taking a second look at - it might resemble some fancy pants subwoofer from JBL, but actually holds the innards of a computer within. Bulky monitors are a thing of the past, since there is a built-in projector that beams your display onto just about any surface. Another interesting aspect of this concept is the membrane keyboard that makes an appearance when needed and a built-in optical drive. No doubt something like this will take years, and maybe even a decade or two before it becomes a reality.

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Alright, so everyone has their bizarre tendencies, mine happens to be that I find pigs adorable. I don’t mean in the way that someone who has never seen a real pig in their life buys cute little pig accessories. No, I mean both real and fake, I fully admit that it is both strange and completely ridiculous. That being said, I am of course a sucker for these cute little novelty earbuds. Being a bit of a gadget geek, I of course take into consideration that likely they don’t have the greatest sound quality.

However, that being said, it is taking a great amount of restraint on my part to keep that in mind and not pick them up purely because they are cute. It does slow me down a bit at least that this isn’t a US product. The cute little earbuds come in pink, black and even white. The coolest being the black if you ask me. Although, I wouldn’t, mostly because I wouldn’t ask a person that is so off their rocker that they like pig earbuds. The earbuds are being sold for about $12.

Source: pocket-lint

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I just learned that the Napkin PC concept that we reported on six months ago has won a Next-Gen PC Design competition. On a related note, I found this Next-Gen PC concept, and I thought it was just as practical, especially for summer.

The Pool PC, aka PC of the Swim-Rings, is a waterproof computer that has a small place so you can attach a swim ring. Then all you need to do is lay back in the ring, let your body float, and you are free to check email, surf the web, or anything else you want to do on your computer.

It has many features including a GPRS receiver, Bluetooth wireless solutions, finger-touch input, a solar power driven processor, water-cooling system, as well as a magnetic charging interface. I believe that the swim ring holder can also house some speakers for non-amphibian work.

So far, this is a concept, but I don’t see why it shouldn’t be put on the market. After all, I have been on vacation several times and have taken my computer with me to do some work while away. There are times when I’ve wanted to take my PC into the pool with me and get my work done there.

Hopefully, the computer has an anti-glare screen for the sunshine.

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Motorola has just announced the MOTOZINE ZN5 cell phone that sees a collaboration with Kodak, resulting in a high quality cell phone camera that shoots images up to 5-megapixels in resolution. In addition, it features :-

• USB and Wi-Fi connectivity
• Bluetooth wireless technology
• CrystalTalk technology
• Supports SMS, MMS, IM and personal e-mail
• 5 megapixel Kodak CMOS sensor

Strangely enough, the Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5 hit China first next month, followed by a global release shortly thereafter with no mention of pricing.

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