new(e)gear

Warren East, CEO of ARM Holdings PLC, mentioned at Computex that the iPhone will promote all smartphones. Apple first put out the Newton personal digital assistant (PDA) in the early 1990s, in which U.S. Robotics followed with its Pilot (which later became Palm). Adding computing functionality to mobile phones to create smartphones happened soon after. Seeing that everyone wants to stay connected while on the move is another reason small computing devices are even more popular.

This is not very new news, in fact East said “this has been an emerging market for a long time.” East predicts that sales will end up close to 200 million units, or double last year’s figure. He also adds that within the next few years, smartphones will make up half f the mobile phone market.

I stumbled upon a pretty funny post at CrunchGear pertaining to ugly gadgets. Thought it would be a good service to our readers so you know which devices to steer clear of.

This first one is the BusLink iBot Mp3 Video Player w/ Speaker.

Here’s what they call an Indicatear. I believe it is supposed to be a blinker for your ears so people know you are making a turn. If you move so erratic, you shouldn’t be walking in public.

One of the ugliest (quite possibly the ugliest) gadget is the Techno Privacy Scarf. CrunchGear had such a humorous remark about this one, so I won’t even touch it. Check out these and the rest of the ugliest gadgets at CrunchGear.

Looking to stream live television and other video content through your home? Well, with the LocationFree Wireless Base Station LF-B20 you can do just that. I was thinking just the other day that I would love to not worry about where my cable connection is in order to install a TV in a specific location. Looks like Sony was thinking ahead. Plus you can access this device remotely!

The LF-B20 can stream content with excellent picture quality through your home network or across the Internet to remote devices. You can even access this device when you are not at home. You simply log in and watch live TV, change channels and access and control any additional audio-visual devices hooked up to the system. LocationFree features integrated 802.11 a/b/g wireless LAN, NetAV streaming, and the ability to connect to PlayStation Portable, Windows and Mac OS X computers, TVs and Windows Mobile cellular phones. How cool is that?

Feature List:

Total Entertainment Mobility With LocationFree® Living by Sony, wherever you go, your home entertainment will follow. Now every show, every movie, all your created video, and even live moments can be where you are. Watch live TV, TV programming recorded on a digital video recorder (DVR), stored digital video, digital camcorder content, and more on a wide range of devices, including PlayStation® Portable System, notebook computers, TVs and cellular phones. LocationFree® Base Stations include LFA-PC20 LocationFree player for Microsoft® Windows® XP (single PC license, additional licenses sold separately).

Integrated Wireless LAN and Wireless Access Point Functionality Select models of the LocationFree® Base Station are equipped with integrated 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN capability, so you’re ready to access your media wirelessly from the get go. The Base Station can also act as a wireless access point for other 802.11 a/b/g devices.

Enhanced Picture Quality The use of the AVC (advanced video coding) codec – also called the h.264 codec – means higher picture quality even at lower bit rates, which is how you’re able to take the experience of entertainment in your living room to hotels, coffee shops, airports . . . anywhere else you have broadband access.3

“At-Home” Experience Anywhere LocationFree® Living by Sony truly enables you to take the experience of at-home entertainment with you wherever you go. LocationFree® Living employs advanced networking and video technologies such as the AVC Codec (a dream for digital video enthusiasts), integrated wireless LAN, and NetAV7 streaming for smooth access to video content via the Internet.

NetAV Streaming Video via the internet NetAV enables you to connect your LocationFree® Base Station via a broadband Internet connection when you’re away from home (hotel, airport, office hot spots, etc.)3, so you can enjoy your favorite TV shows, movies, created video content, and more wherever you go.

Sleek, Stylish Design LocationFree® Living is more than your solution for total entertainment mobility. LocationFree® Living looks good, too. Hardware components feature stylish design and a “piano” finish. The Location Free® Base Station can be set vertically or horizontally, so it fits easily into your home theater outfit, and if you choose the LF-B20 Base Station, you can set your Base Station up wirelessly, adding the genius of LcationFree® Living to your home entertainment outfit without cluttering it up. And when you’re away from the sofa, as you so often are, the LocationFree® TVBOX is compact, sleek, and portable.

User-Friendly Set-Up and Use It’s easier than you can imagine to start your adventure in LocationFree® Living. The LF-B20 Base Station networks wirelessly with your system. And if you choose the LF-B10 Base Station, connecting it is simple and includes automatic set-up for accessing the Base Station when you’re away from home. The handy set-up wizard whisks you through the software set-up process, including automatic device registration and automatic set-up for pre-installed security software. The onscreen remote control function makes it easy to navigate your media and services, and the fact that it’s equipped with a learning function means that you can replace other remote control devices and control your home.

The Xbox 360 Elite is the premier Xbox 360 console package that includes a massive 120GB hard drive, a HDMI port, and high definition cable, all wrapped up with a premium black finish. And it is now available! Xbox 360 Elite also includes a black wireless controller and black Xbox LIVE headset. Xbox 360 Elite has enough space for a whole library of Xbox LIVE Arcade games as well as downloadable high-definition TV shows, movies, music, and all the other content available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

This is Microsoft’s high-end version of its video game console. The Xbox 360 Elite will retail for $479. Although the price tag is about $80 more than the Pro version of the Xbox 360, it is still slightly less expensive than the lower-end model of Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3). Both are substantially more than Nintendo’s popular Wii.

If you’re an electronics buff as I am, I’m sure you will enjoy popping in from time to time to view info on the latest gadgets, computers, MP3 players and everything in between. Please be patient as I am in the middle of setting up this and a few other blogs I am involved with. I promise — It won’t be long.