by Donald Melanson, posted Aug 15th 2008 at 2:49PMIt’s not exactly the first company to try to entice customers with the promise of a free or cheap Eee PC (or other netbook), but Orange apparently isn’t about to let a bandwagon pass it by, with it now offering an Eee PC 900 16G as part of its “Internet Everywhere” bundle. That includes the Eee PC, a mobile broadband dongle and, of course, mobile broadband service, which apparently tops out at just 3GB of data per month. At £25 (or $46) a month on a two-year contract, it’s also far from a free ride. If it sounds alright to you though, you can sign up in the UK starting tomorrow.

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While most people already find it hard enough to read a road map and have to rely on something more advanced like a multimedia interface on a GPS navigation system to help them get around, the Kapsys Kapten GPS navigation system requires one to really sharpen up one’s listening skills since it does not come with a single pixel of display. Yes sir, instructions are belted out using only voice recognition and text-to-speech capability. I suppose this could be used while driving, but it works best when walking, measuring a highly portable 74mm x 44mm x 13mm while weighing just 50 grams. Inside you will find a SiRFStar III GPS chipset and 4GB of internal memory. The Kapsys Kapten will be out in the middle of next month for approximately 150€.

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by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 14th 2008 at 2:35PMSupport forum threads on Apple’s site and a number of ramblings across these great interwebs are starting to complain at great length about the iPhone 3G’s headlining new feature — 3G reception, that is — and pretty much every aspect of it: signal strength, call dropping, connecting to EDGE when 3G is present, the list goes on. Some smartypants analyst from financial firm Nomura thinks he has it all figured out, saying that the issues are “typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack” and suggesting that a firmware update pushed out to existing handsets is unlikely to ease the pain. We’ve been hearing that Cupertino could actually be working on just such an update at this very second, though, so this cat better get ready for the possibility that he could be eating his own words down the road. For what it’s worth, intermittent issues have been reported the world over, so this doesn’t seem to be anything to do with AT&T’s (or anyone else’s) infrastructure — and needless to say, not everyone is having issues to start. And for anyone whose iphone 3G we just jinxed by writing this post… well, our bad.

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Thanks to some recently uncovered pages on the Palm.com website, it seems like the upcoming Treo 850 will actually be the Treo Pro. Of course, as you would imagine, a leaked page like this will quickly be taken offline, which will only further add to the speculation, but thankfully there are some screenshots showing off the new Treo Pro.

These images certainly look quite a bit like the previously leaked images of the Treo 850, and we must say its a nice looking Treo. The few details that we can gather from these images further seem to support the theory that the Treo 850 is the Treo Pro, those specs include a reset button, 3.5mm headphone jack as well as a wireless button on the side with a power button on top.

Via [WM Experts]

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AvMap has just made the announcement that it will release the Geosat 6 Drive Safe satellite navigation system that was originally developed for the Peugeot 107 Sweet Years as a stand-alone navigator for the masses. Think about it - you don’t have to worry about not having to fork out a huge bunch of cash just to get a free car with this GPS navigation system (I suppose that depends on how one looks at the situation, of course). More on the AvMap Geosat 6 Drive Safe system right after the jump.

The Geosat 6 Drive Safe is a compact 133 x 83 x 21 mm navigator that offers users a dazzling array of features including a 4.8″ touch screen - the largest 16:9 widescreen on the market, Bluetooth for hands-free operation and even a built-in breathalyzer that helps drivers ascertain whether it is safe for them to drive or if they are above the alcohol limit. Other safety features include a text-to-speech function that announces street names and turns so users can keep their eyes on the road, a stop planner function that enables users to plan stops for lunch or refuelling in their journey, a trip computer feature that provides an overview of the journey, including average speed, top speed and stop time.

The Geosat 6 Drive Safe uses a LEA-5S GPS receiver module provided by u-blox, the leading Swiss GPS technology provider. The LEA-5S boasts a Time-To-First-Fix of less than one second, enabling drivers to instantly know which direction they need to take as soon as they switch on the navigator. Powered by the 50-channel u-blox 5 positioning engine, the LEA-5S brings high navigation accuracy and reliability in a compact, easy to integrate module.

No idea on how much this standalone unit will cost though.

Press Release

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Revo of the UK has just unveiled its latest DAB radio tuner, the Pico RadioStation. Not only do you get to benefit from both DAB and FM radio broadcasts, the Pico also comes with the latent capability to stream both Internet and computer content over a LAN connection. What’s most interesting is the compatibility of this device with DAB+ (an improved radio standard with error correction) in addition to support for AAC+ compression. It is relatively safe to assume that the Pico is one of the first few portable tuners in the world possessing such technology despite a diminutive size that stands at 6.6″ tall. Other features include a 12-hour battery life, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity, a 3.5mm headphone jack and RCA line-out, all packed into a splashproof shell. The Revo Pico RadioStation will retail for £170 when it hits the UK this September.

Source: Electronista

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Logitech has decided that there must be a way to make a portable mouse just a little more portable. That’s why the company has announced the Logitech V550 Nano mouse. The cordless laser mouse for notebooks has a very unique feature. That’s because it comes with a Clip-and-Go dock.

The dock allows the mouse to conveniently clip on to your laptop so they can truly be a single portable unit. Another nice feature of the V550 Nano is that it comes with the Plug-and-Forget Nano-receiver. That’s because the receiver is so small that it stays literally flush against the laptop since it sticks out only 8mm. The Logitech V550 Nano cordless laser mouse will retail for US$59.99.

It’s funny how a simple little idea like a mouse cradle for your laptop seems so logical, but so revolutionary when someone actually does something with the idea. Heck, the first thing I thought of when I saw it was that I could use a nice little cradle to attach my mouse to the laptop. The fact that the receiver is so small also makes it nice to be able to just keep it plugged into the laptop at all times.

Read more from the Logitech press release.

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We have two gadget competitions running this week, we have the identify the mystery gadget (£80 worth of prizes) and now onto regular coolest gadget of the week ($50 Amazon voucher again up for grabs), to enter for the draw simply vote for this week’s coolest gadget and leave a comment with your reasoning. Good luck, now onto the entries.

M400 Skycar: Fly me to the moon… or to work will do just fine

The M400 Skycar is the first feasible, personally affordable personal vertical take off and landing vehicle. In other words, it’s a flying car! It’s similar to another concept featured on Gaj-it, but much cooler in terms of looks, speed, and usability. It features storage for your groceries and is up to three times faster than any light helicopter today.

The full post can be found on Gaj-It.

Digital pasta timer spoon

If you need help in the kitchen department, this might be the answer. Just key in the type of pasta you’re cooking, its weight and how you like your pasta done and it’ll give you a perfect plate of pasta every time.

The full post can be found on Decide What to Buy.

ColorRight - Custom White Balance Gets Easy

I cannot express the simplicity and accuracy of this device enough. For those of you who never use custom white balance, the “wow” factor you get out of your first image will blow you away. For those of you that use a white card or try to snap your white balance off some guy’s white t-shirt, I’m sure that you can see the potential that ColorRight could have in your shooting.

The full post can be found on Photographybay.

Takoyaki aka Octopus Ball Maker

Anyone who visits the Osaka area knows takoyaki, the fluffy octopus balls made on the streets and sold at festivals. Good Takoyaki is a source of pride, and it’s difficult to make on your own, but the Takoyaki Factory Ton Ton just makes it look so easy!

The full post can be found on RGS.

Geeky Furniture - The Periodic Coffee Table

The Periodic Coffee table measures 4 ft x 2.5 ft x 16 inches, and if features all the 92 natural elements as well as all of the man made elements actually built in to the table.

Don’t worry though, all the dangerous ones are marked by a radioactive symbol, and according to the manufacturer they are totally safe.

The full post can be found on Geeky gadgets.

Cell Phone Jammer

I hate being stuck on a train when some idiot is yelling down a phone (for some reason callers need to shout when in confined public spaces), this nifty gadget fixes that, the Portable cell phone Jammer. Now if only they’d make one to work with MP3 players.

The full post can be found on CG.

Thanks to all the sites for their submissions now over to you guys for voting (don’t forget to leave a comment with your reason for a chance to win a $50 Amazon voucher) :

I think this weeks coolest gadget is

• M400 Skycar
• Digital pasta timer spoon
• ColorRight
• Takoyaki aka Octopus Ball Maker
• The Periodic Coffee Table
• Cell Phone Jammer

View Results

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If you write for a gadget themed blog and wish to be included in next weeks contest check out the CGOTW instructions page.

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The Park Right Laser helps you get your car in position if you’re one who has difficulty nudging your vehicle into a relatively cramped space. There are no more guide posts as found in driving school for you to count, you’re all on your own now. This laser will turn itself on whenever there is an approaching car, and all you need to do is brake whenever the laser dot hits the car at the right spot. Definitely one of the more ingenious ways to keep both your garage and car dent-free.

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OCZ has just released its Core Series V2 SATA II 2.5″ SSD drive that offers some pretty mind-numbing figures when it comes to speeds, reaching 170MB/s read as well as 98Mb/s write times. There isn’t any further information from OCZ concerning the prices of this new range, but it is a step in the right direction by OCZ to help lower the prices of SSDs to help us consumers out. Maximum capacity of the Core Series V2 has also been bumped up to 250GB, while the inclusion of a mini USB port makes it’s firmware upgradeable in the future, enabling it to keep up with the rest of the competition even in the future.

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