The caption to this photograph — spotted on CNet's gadget blog, Crave — reads "CNET News reporter Elinor Mills knows what it's like to feel frustrated by computer glitches." Apparently! Look at her: the woman is so perturbed she actually needs to clamp the lid of her skull down on the pan, lest her brain boil over. One would imagine that even the citizens of Hiroshima, witnessing an encroaching wall of nuclear fire racing towards them out of ground zero, somehow managed to be more composed.

So yes, we agree: CNet News reporter Elinor Mills knows what it's like to feel frustrated by computer glitches. There couldn't be any less doubt about that if she was tearing long strips of skin from her face with her finger nails. Curiously, though, it seems that what CNet News reporter Elinor Mills doesn't know is what a blue screen of death actually looks like. Here's a hint: it is neither a pop-up window nor an embedded graphic in a Word document. You may stuff your hysterically disgorged eyeballs back in their sockets, Elinor. There is nothing to see here.

Young people, men more optimistic when tech fails [CNet]

Would you pay US$1,991 for your very own finger-massage gadget? Hmmm… I’ve asked that question myself and I still have to put down my eyebrows in surprise. I think that’s too much for the DanBall Finger Massaging Robot, even if it would do shiatsu finger massages.

This gadget is designed by Ekbo. It works immediately after you insert all fiver fingers into those holes. DanBall will give you a one-minute massage, making sure every area (pressure points) of every finger is given the shiatsu attention it needs.

While operating the Danball will also treat your fingernails with infrared rays. They said it will help to improve growth. I think they’ve followed a lead that most computer geeks are biting their nails to the roots. Well, this just means more nail to bite in lesser time! :) lol. Danball will play soothing music too, just to keep you more relaxed and also know when it’s working and when the massage session is over.

Ok, now let’s look at the features:

• Colors: purple, clear, grey
• Power supply: DC 7.4V lithium ion battery
• Diameter: 12cm
• Weight: 670g
• External material: polycarbonate
• Internal material: silicon gum
• Usage time: 1 minute (automatic shut-off, internal timer option)
• Number of uses per battery charge: approximately 50 times (based on 1 minute usage)
• Charging time: 3 hours
• Battery life: approximately 500 possible charges
• Recommended usage temperature: ＋10℃ ~ ＋40℃
• Recommended storage temperature: -10℃ ~ ＋50℃;

It’s available right here.

Source: Gizmodo

That man is a prophet, I tell you. A prophet! [Craftsman via Toolmonger]

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Buttons are on their way out.

Five years from now, it is likely the mobile phone that you will be holding will be a smooth, sleek brick--a piece of metal and plastic with a few grooves in it and little more.

Like the iPhone, it will be mostly display; unlike the iPhone, it will respond to voice commands and gestures as well as touch.

"So much of how we understand technology is visually driven," says Rachel Hinman, a strategist with Adaptive Path, a user experience and design consulting firm. "Mobile interface design has to mimic the touch, sight, gesture and auditory feeds that we use to interact with our environment."

That means speaking to your phone rather than typing, pointing with your finger instead of clicking on buttons, and gesturing instead of touching. You could listen to music, access the internet, use the camera and shop for gadgets by just telling your phone want you want to do, by waving your fingers at it, or by aiming its camera at an object you're interested in buying.

Over the last few years, advances in display technology and processing power have turned smartphones into capable, if tiny, computers. As a result, phones have gone beyond traditional audio communication and texting to support a wide range of multimedia and office applications.

The one thing that hasn't changed, until recently, is the tiny keypad. Sure, there have been some tweaks, such as T9 predictive text input that cuts down on the time to type, a QWERTY keyboard instead of a 12-key one, or the touchscreen version of a keyboard found on the iPhone. But fundamentally, the act of telling your phone what to do still involves a lot of thumb-twiddling.

Experts say the industry needs a new wave of interface technologies to transform how we relate to our phones. The traditional keypads and scroll wheels will give way to haptics, advanced speech recognition and motion sensors.

Touchscreens Everywhere

Until Apple's iPhone came along, keypads were a standard feature on all mobile phones. The iPhone paved the way for a range of touchscreen-based phones, including the T-Mobile G1 and the upcoming BlackBerry Storm.

"What's a shame is everyone's following Apple now," says Gus Desbarats, chairman of The Alloy, a UK-based product design firm. To take the next step in phone design, mobile phone companies will have to make radical changes in how they create their products.

"Most user interface experiences today start around a new generation of microprocessor or new screen technology," says Desbarats. "Those things are important, but companies need to ask themselves: What kind of devices do we want people to really have?"

Take the touchscreen. So far even the iPhone clones require navigation across multiple screens to complete a task.

That will change as touch screens become more sophisticated and cheaper. Instead of a single large screen that is fragile and smudged by fingerprints, phone designers could create products with multiple touch screens.

A prototype from The Alloy shows two touch screens folded into a clamshell with the keypad and other functionality available on one of the screens and the ability to manipulate photos and other information on the other.

Speak to Me

Users could also interact with their phones by simply speaking to them, using technology from companies such as Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Vlingo.

Vlingo's application allows users to command their phones by voice. That could enable you to speak the URLs for web pages or dictate email messages.

Natural speech recognition has long been challenging for human-computer interface researchers. Most devices with speech recognition capabilities currently require users to speak commands in an artificially clear, stilted way. They also tend to have high error rates, leading to user disenchantment.

Unlike conventional voice recognition technologies, which require specific applications built to recognize selected language commands, Vlingo uses a more open-ended approach.

User voice commands are captured as audio files and transferred over the wireless connection to a server where they are processed. The technology personalizes itself for each individual user, recognizing and training itself based on the individual user's speech patterns.

"If you say Boston and it shows up as Austin you can correct it on screen," says Vlingo CEO Dave Grannan. "And when you make the correction you are training the system."

It also means no need to memorize a list of commands or change the way you speak.

The technology has already found a major partner in Yahoo, which offers voice-enabled search on BlackBerry phones. Vlingo's completely voice-powered user interface is also available on Research In Motion phones such as the BlackBerry Curve and Pearl.

Vlingo hopes to expand its services to additional platforms such as Symbian, Android and feature phones over the next few months.

Speedier Keypads

Even the traditional keypad is set to get a face lift. Typing on a touchscreen keypad is slow and difficult, even for those without stubby fingers or long nails.

That's where Swype comes in. It allows users to use trace a continuous motion on an onscreen QWERTY keypad instead of tapping individual characters

For instance, instead of typing the word 'infinity', users can just draw a line through each of the characters.

It's fast and remarkably error-free. "This is a game changer," says Swype founder Cliff Kushler as he draws a line through the characters on the keypad to create the word 'infinity.' "You have a subconscious awareness of where things are on the keyboard and people can ramp up on this to 40-50 words per minute."

When Kushler is done, the line on his touch screen keypad traces through all of the letters of the word 'infinity" -- a path that, coincidentally, resembles the infinity symbol.

The 55-year old Kushler is no texting addict, but he has changed the way we interact with our phones before.

About a decade ago Kushler helped invent the T9 predictive text input system, which lets people enter text on 12-button phone keypads more quickly than the old multi-tap system (press 2 once for A, twice for B, and so on).

Briefly a college drop-out, Kushler had set out to create an interface that would make it easier for disabled people to interact with their phones. But along the way, his research morphed into T9, which became a runaway success: It is now available on 3 billion phones.

He hopes Swype will have a similar impact on touchscreen phones. His instincts are certainly good: Researchers at IBM Almaden research center have developed a similar technology, called ShapeWriter, which is available for download from the iPhone App Store.

Swype CEO Mike McSherry says he is negotiating with handset makers to integrate the technology into phones.

Slowly Moving Forward

In a few years mobile phones are also likely to come with embedded micro projection displays that will allow the device to project a screen or a keyboard onto a table or any surface so users can navigate using the virtual interface, says Desbarats.

User experience will also improve, as phones integrate disparate features, such as GPS and camera, to provide a better interface. Nokia's 'point and find' technology, for instance, is based on image recognition technology. The feature allows user to point their phone's camera at objects and then uses image recognition to help identify them and bring up more information.

But don't rush to the stores yet. While the industry's direction seems clear, it will take a long time before these innovations hit the market.

The 18-month average lead time for a handset to make it to market increases the pressure on companies. Manufacturers shy away from really experimental interfaces, fearing that such changes will be off-putting to consumers. Instead, they make devices that push the envelope just a little bit at a time.

"It isn't about the technology but it is about the company's ability to use the technology in a compelling and profitable way," says Adaptive Path's Hinman.

In the short term, look for small, incremental improvements as mobile phone manufacturers strive to make their handsets ever more usable by cleverly utilizing technology and capabilities that already exist.

"The thing about the future is it is built out of bits that are there in the present," says Desbarats. "In the future we will be looking at how to put those bits together in different ways to create innovative solutions."

Scientists from the University of Utah have come up with a health card that is able to detect and test diseases rapidly, and these samples range from saliva to blood and urine. As samples are loaded on the card, it will automatically perform its magic and determine the type of disease and illness, courtesy of the giant magnetoresistance or GMR principle - similar to what is currently in use when hard drive reading is concerned. The health card itself is loaded with a bunch of disease markers for instantaneous test results - no more waiting for weeks on end while biting your nails. The current device is roughly the size of a desktop PC, but they are working on shrinking it further to the size of a credit card.

Add a comment | From: Health Card Seems To Work Wonders | Visit Ubergizmo | Good deals

Samsung's 25GB / 50GB Enterprise SSDs can't stop, won't stop under heavy loads originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As you can see theres quite a resemblance at the back of the bindings where the Aeron’s Y-shape structure is used to provide support and allows riders to set their own angle of forward lean using a dial.

Burton say the CO2 bindings are:

Quite possibly the world’s most perfect freestyle binding, the CO2™ rides in a league all its own thanks to its unique dual-component baseplate construction. Softer materials underfoot increase lateral flex, while stiffer materials along the outer spars ramp up edge-to-edge response. Try doing that with metal! Check the mind-reading control and forget-it’s-there feel of the canted Living Hinge™ hi-back—complete with our tough as nails, yet featherweight, Real Mesh.

• 50:50 Carbon Fiber/Nylon Composite Spar
• B3 Gel Heel Cushioning
• Canted Hi-Back Design
• Dual-Component
• Dual-Component Smooth Glide™ Buckles
• Gapless Baseplate Padding

The bindings are available for around $390

Source

Post from http://www.gadgettastic.com

Furniture Inspired Burton CO2 Snowboard Bindings

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As far as I am aware this is the first time that invites had been sent to anyone but the mainstream journalists and analysts, rubbing shoulders with the likes of the New York Times, The Telegraph etc. was very enlightening, if not somewhat boring at times. The hardships I had to endure to get a glimpse of the new X1!

This device has been long awaited and been victim to the usual release date delays...only this week becoming available in earnest, as mentioned by Matt, now available at Clove Technology.

As a different kind of review, I imagine that the X1 for many is going to end up as straight race between it and the Touch Pro. As I reviewed the Pro some time ago, I will try and add some direct comparisons taken from that review.

The first departure from the norm is that the unit I have been given is a ‘C&J’ (Customer and Journalist) model so the box itself is plain white with nothing on it apart from ‘Prototype’ and the basic phone details, we can probably update this part of ‘What's in the box’ feature as and when the full retail device arrives, hopefully this week.

Whats in the box?

• 4 plain white boxes presumably for CD’s, Manually etc.
• Spare stylus
• 2 pin mains charger
• Stereo 3.5mm headset
• MiniUSB to USB sync cable
• 1500mAh battery

Perhaps any early buyers could confirm what, exactly, is in the retail box?

Xperia X1 Specification in comparison to the Touch Pro

Xperia X1	Touch Pro
Windows mobile 6.1 Professional	Windows mobile 6.1 Professional
Qualcomm MSM7200A @ 528MHz	Qualcomm MSM 7201A @ 528MHz
512MB ROM / 256MB RAM	512MB ROM / 256MB RAM
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSDPA 900 / 2100
Recessed 3" WVGA (800x480) screen, 65k colours	Flush 2.8" VGA screen (480x640),65k colours
7.2MB HSDPA / HSUPA	7.2MB HSDPA / HSUPA
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g	Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
Bluetooth® 2.0 with EDR	Bluetooth® 2.0 with EDR
A-GPS function	A-GPS function
3.2 Megapixel Auto Focus camera with flash	3.2 Megapixel Auto Focus camera with flash
Secondary videocall camera	Secondary videocall camera
FM Radio	FM Radio
MiniUSB	MiniUSB
1500mAh battery	1340 mAh battery
110.5 x 52.6 x 17 mm	102 x 51 x 18.1 mm
158g	165g

General

The Xperia is very well made, my first impressions where that it was smaller than I imagined and a lot heavier than I had thought, as I am used to the Diamond, the majority of the people I showed it to commented on the weight. For me, as mentioned on previous reviews, I like my gadgets with plenty of buttons rather than the trend to have the minimal look, and the X1 doesn’t disappoint with no less than, 9 in total plus the d-pad. The phone is a great combination of chrome, metal and rubber available in both black and silver, it is very stylish and I think best described as well designed and good looking.

Around the device starting from the top, is the non-telescopic, 85mm long, slim stylus holder, the 3.5mm headset and the Power/Standby button.

Xperia X1 top view

On the left is found the miniUSB sync/charge connector, and one of the back release clips.

Xperia X1 left side

The flip side houses the volume up/down rocker and the dedicated camera button. As well as the second back release clip.

Xperia X1 right side

At the bottom of the device you can find a recess for a lanyard, or fridge magnet, dangly thingy, and nothing else.

Behind the X1 is the 3.2 megapixel camera and LED flash, no portrait mirror. There is also the battery housing which is released by pressing the 2 VERY small clips on either side of the cover, if you have no nails, you will be prodding it with the stylus or pen or anything to hand that will fit, to access the back.

Xperia X1 back view

Out of interest and don’t tell SE or Matt, during my time with the X1 I did drop it a couple of times and the back always flew off, but I wouldn’t recommend this as the preferred release method.

The business end of the device is found the recessed 3” 800x480 Wide VGA screen. Above which is the speaker, light sensor and miniscule front facing camera. Below, you can see the array of buttons including the left and right soft keys, the send and end keys, which also locks the device, an ‘X’ key which switches the phone back to the panels screen, covered later. And finally, an ‘OK’ Button.

Xperia X1 front view

In the midst of all these buttons is the recessed optical joystick and surrounding d-pad. Although present I don’t think I found the need to use these to any great extent, I have managed without them for quite some time now and did not see the need to start using them now. For those of you who do use them, you will find them very quick, and unless you set to the least sensitive, almost uncontrollable, not for me, thanks I’ll manage without.

Xperia X1 controls

At all 4 corners of the device on the sides there is some unusual, customisable and ‘switchoffable’ (is that is a new word?) status indicators, these warn of received SMS, Mail, Instant Messages, etc.

Finally, underneath, is the much talked about keyboard slider, this reveals the 4 line keyboard which again which I shall cover shortly.

Xperia X1 keyboard

Highlights

• Stunning screen
• Easy used with third party applications
• Nice build quality
• Adaptable ‘Panels’
• Connectivity with accessories

Lowlights

• Keyboard
• Reset button
• Back release

Software

Being of Windows Mobile 6.1 professional ilk, a lot of the software is familiar and easy to use as normal The usual programs are present such as Google maps, messenger, windows live etc. also included on top of these are eJava, QuickGPS, Adobe reader LE and Handango In Hand, which directs you to lists of available software and accessories with the likes of ‘Best Sellers’, ‘Recommended’, ‘Games’ and so on, also on offer is various promotions and savings.

Settings available are also familiar, with nothing much out of the ordinary apart from an illumination icon which allows access to configure the aforementioned LED notifications, an optical joystick icon, also accesses the.. er.. optical joystick, you can switch it off if you want, at least turn down the sensitivity.

I especially found that loading and using third party applications with this phone as a doddle, the likes of Tomtom runs great and the fears of certain application not being compatible with wider screen aren’t present at all, the X1 handles the differences very well and the crisp, sharp screen even allows a greater peripheral view of the map, especially in landscape mode, Google maps, which is preinstalled works fantastically well also. One more added benefit for me is that. in landscape, with the keyboard open, the car charger connects to the bottom of the Keyboard and is completely out of the way, it points downwards rather than, as normal out to the side.

The installed Opera 9.5 as always with this type of screen was also great to use and the extra width of the screen came into its own when viewing lists in portrait or webpage’s in landscape, no issues with compatibility here either.

(The EBay search was for Mark to make sure he wasn’t missing any deals.)

Most importantly of all, especially to Sony Ericsson, is the ‘Panels’ concept which Magnus from SE talked of at great length at the launch in Lund, this I covered in the video of the presentation previously posted, http://www.tracyandmatt.co.uk/blogs/index.php/2008/09/30/xperia-x1-showcase-video, this for me was a bit of fun and good to be able to switch ‘Today’ screens dependant on your mood or what settings you wish to have easily accessible, there are 9 available ‘panels’ all bar one of which are customisable. The only one that is fixed is the standard Windows Mobile ‘Today’ screen panel. It is like having a new phone every now and then when you fancy a change.

Over at Sony Ericsson’s website you can keep up-to-date with some of the developments and downloads available, they are also actively inviting companies and individuals to progress this area, should be interesting to see what peoples imagination can come up with, already available is Spb Mobile Shell from the SE website.

http://www.sonyericsson.com/fun/fnd?cc=us&lc=en&lf_res=gb#ts=1225038095812;applstate=contentlisting.contentdetails;contentCategoryId=800;filterId=0;genreId=-1;startIndex=0;phoneId=-1;contentItemId=34685;promotionId=0

I like the idea of being able to switch the screens to different views, I found myself using the middle one more often than not. A point to note here is that there is quite a lag when loading these panels, sometimes between 2-4 seconds is not unusual.

Unfortunately at this point, there are a few issues that will need to be resolved, whilst using the email I have fallen victim to the ‘smtp’ issue, and running the .cab’s didn’t seem to rectify the problem. Although this is obviously not an Xperia issue but a WM 6.1 issue, frustrating none the less.

Also certain applications do cause issues but I am confident these will be adapted and corrected as the device becomes available; such issues include this problem that I encountered with my favourite SMS chat, amongst others...take a look at SMS chat in landscape....

...this doesn’t always happen but occasionally, it does.

Review

First off I like this phone, the screen is fantastic, although the fact that is not flush can be a bit of an issue, digging into the corners to close programs etc, and scrolling is not as easy as it is on the likes of the Touch Pro/ Diamond. However the longer screen is helpful, the device I have been playing with has a trailer for the upcoming 007 film ‘Quantum Of Solace’ which looks and runs absolutely superbly.

The call quality and signal lock is perfectly functional, the loudspeaker is not necessarily the best but again adequate.

The camera is fine, it has the built in flash don’t expect fantastic results in low light conditions, it has autofocus and the unique touch autofocus by which you can select on the touchscreen an area to focus in on, the picture qualities for a non expert, like me, are perfect useable.

The battery life is, for me, the best I have used in a long time. Being a Diamond user, this has been a refreshing change, going a fully day with normal use ie. 2 hours of calls, a bit of web, 20 texts or so etc.etc. would result in half battery left at the end of a 14 -16 hour day. If only the diamond......

The 3.5mm jack is a welcome addition and allows personal choices of headset / headphones connection.

Now, one of the biggest questions, the keyboard, personally I don’t like it, I think the Touch Pro’s 5 row layout and key size is more user friendly. I found that the keys on the Xperia in the wrong lighting conditions are absolutely unreadable; I have no doubt that those who use it regularly and are comfortable with the usual layout will manage fine and with practice it does get easier. Being grey on silver I really struggled to be able to see what keys I needed. It was better to use in low light, because it is white light illuminated, and easier to see when it was darker; in bright light for me was a complete pain, having said that, I am also very aware that I am not a great keyboard fan anyway. I do feel that especially on the black model, which I have been using, a black keyboard with white keys would be have been preferable.

Another pet hate of this device is the reset button and microSD card slot, as I have mentioned already it is somewhat fiddly to remove the back panel because of the small release catches, but this you will have to endure if you want to soft reset the device as, ridiculously, the hole for resetting is under the cover, as is the microSD card holder.

Xperia X1 memory card and SIM card slot

I also agree with many that the omission of and accelerometer to enable automatic screen orientation was a minor slip up, I have been using the device with the left soft key configured to screen rotate and that works fine for me, as a second best option.

I do like the fact that Xperia proved really easy to connect with other devices, such as my laptop, car kit etc. these are not always trouble free but not an issue here. On more than one occasion, however, when I jumped into my car the automatic pairing did not happen because the Bluetooth had switched itself off for no apparent reason. Hopefully teething troubles soon and quickly sorted out.

I did also note that occasionally when I removed the phone from my pocket all sorts of things had been happening on the screen, top tip would be make sure you lock it before stowing it away. This could also have been the cause of the Bluetooth switching off.

Conclusion

I have been using this phone on a daily basis for about 2 weeks or so, and I find it very easy to live with, the speed, clear screen (albeit recessed) and quality of the device makes it very enjoyable. The battery life for me was the best bit; the ability to switch about in and out of the different panels was fun. I am sure that given time out in the wild, development in these areas, will prove that this is probably one of the all time classic devices.

My doubts on the keyboard and the d-pad are definite put off’s. I think in comparison to the Touch Pro, I have to agree with Matt, it really depends with your personal uses and preferences. My personal decision is that I really don’t use the keyboard enough to warrant having one on a phone; I have convinced myself that I can operate just as quickly on a touchscreen SIP, so for now I will be sticking with my diamond. But I will definitely be interested in the directions that software and ROM developments take this phone, it has a great starting point and can only get better, this is definitely the start of things to come and not the finished article.

As a footnote, whilst in Lund, I took the opportunity to suggest to the Guys in development that a great solution for me would be an X1 / Touch Pro, with a detachable keyboard, so that during the week, it is a business phone, but in the evening and at weekends, detach the keyboard and have the benefits of a slim, pocket friendly, social phone.

Watch this space, if it materialises, that was my idea!

Now I am going to try and answer some of the questions posted that Matt has not already answered:

What's it like as a phone?

Works very well. Signal strength seems good, better than the Pro in this respect, and holds on to signal while in call quite well. Had a few dropped calls but only in known black spots. Battery life is good and sound quality/volume also good.

Navigating to the place to make an outbound call?

There is a send hardware button as pictured, which opens the standard Windows smartdialer.

What does it do when the phone rings? (pop up? etc)

Standard Windows Mobile fare, a pop up which can be disabled.

What about when an SMS comes in? Or if you want to write one?

Once again standard WM. Pop up, sounds etc can be configured. To write WM messages.

Is user is able to text message single-handedly?

You can, it’s easier for me on the screen, as I use TouchPal, you can on the keyboard but adding Capitals, figures etc tricky one handed.

Which display is better in sunlight?

As soon as I see some sunlight I could answer! Seriously though there isn't much to choose between the two, the X1 has a slight edge as it seems to have one less layer of plastic in front of the screen for light to bounce off.

Hi, only major question I've got is how solid is the slider mechanism, is there any slop or lateral movement in it?

This is very good, very positive, satisfying click once open, very little to none lateral on this one, slightly more when shut than open but still good.

Can you confirm what the 3G specs for the device you have are? 850,1900 and 2100 mhz or just 2100?

According to reported specs 850, 1900 and 2100.

When will Xperia 1 be launched in Guam (part of u.s. territory)?

No idea sorry. Now on general release though.

What are the contents in the box if I will get to know dat it wud be easy to get my hands on em thanks a lot

As mentioned this is a C&J device, hope to confirm soon

Hey, I'm just wondering about one thing...how much do you think the X1 would be?...

Now appearing in stock, check out prices, as they are country dependant.

Review by: Steve