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Nokia recently announced they were pulling their 5800 cell phone model off the market after learning that the units speakers weren’t protected from moisture, which could cause damage to the unit and/or possible injury to the user.
The Nokia 5800 was released in the United States on February 27, 2009. The smartphone features a touchscreen and is designed for music lovers.
Nokia has sold over 1 million units since its worldwide release in October.
As well as the speaker malfunction, the Nokia 5800 model was found to be having issues connecting to AT&T 3G networks in some markets.
The Nokia 5800 has a full QWERTY keyboard and can even be used with a guitar pick.
Prior to be pulling form American markets, the Nokia 5800 retailed for $399.00, not including taxes, rebates or a calling plan.
Keys? We don't need no stinkin' keys, says Rinspeed, Swiss automotive concocter and maker of the iChange concept car.
Okay, they didn't really say that, but they might as well have. According to the video on PC World, the iChange boasts a lot of swell features, including the unusual ignition function:
"You don't need a key. The car is started and stopped by an iPhone. A big green button powers up the electric engine that sits at the heart of the vehicle, and you can use the iPhone for control of other things, such as the lights."
Lithium-ion batteries power the electric motor and come in two different configurations for short- and long-distance driving. The car also features a 3D navigation system that calculates the most eco-friendly route, plus a Harmon Kardon audio system that is lighter and uses less energy than standard systems.
While the iChange seems to focus on green technology, it is also built for speed. It goes from 0 to 100 kph (62 mph) in 4.2 seconds. And though we've all seen teeny tiny little sportscars on the road, this takes the cake: The vehicle's base configuration is modeled around a single seat (for one person only). That doesn't mean drivers can't take a couple of pals for a joy ride — At the push of a button, the rear pops open to provide room for 2 more passengers.
Rinspeed seems to be like the mad scientist of the automotive vanguard. Last year, the company unveiled another concept car called the sQuba, which ran underwater. Crazy stuff. Sadly, neither inventions are likely to be available at your local Dealership anytime soon. Still, it's neat to know what's possible.
You can check out the informative video on the PC World link above or look at this hands-on presentation. But if you enjoy cheesy overdramatized promo vids, complete with a swelling symphonic score, may I suggest the one below.
Helio's Ocean 2 is still one of the best non-smartphones available, even if it's not that different than the original Ocean. Noah goes in-depth with the Ocean 2 in part one of his review.
Know that lame guy at the party, the one who crashes in and gets on everyone's nerves? Well, according to Slashdot, CNET and others, when it comes to the Japanese mobile phone market, the iPhone has become that guy, effectively becoming the "Barney" in the room. As a result, it looks like Softbank Mobile, the iPhone carrier in Japan, has resorted to giving the handset away for free.
Why? Japanese consumers are notoriously finicky about their tech, and mobile phones are no exception. It's here that Forbes wins the Crystal Ball award for prognostication. It predicted (way back in January of last year) that Apple would have a tough time breaching this Asian market.
Now everyone's looking at the country's current top-selling model, the Panasonic P905i, for comparison's sake, and the result is pretty revealing. Photo via Forbes
Japan's cell phone users are hardcore about videos and photos, and the P905i's built-in TV tuner and 5 MP camera delivers. (That's in addition to features like 3G, GPS and accelerometer). Plus, clamshell design is big over there — way more so than the candy-bar style of the iPhone.
The monthly plan is nothing to sneeze at either. The country's three cellular providers offer fiercely competitive rates, so for the average Japanese consumer, $60+ seems like a lot of bucks for not much bang.
According to Crunchgear, Softbank is responding to local market conditions by launching a new program today that gives the 8GB version away to customers who sign a new two-year agreement between now and May. (The old price in Japan was $235 for the 8GB model). The company is also discounting the 16GB phone to $118 (from $350) and the data plan by nearly $20 per month. This follows a price cut that was already implemented last August.
The news is definitely tough for an iPhone freak like me to swallow, but looking at all the juicy tech products available over there — well, I'm not entirely surprised about the response. (Hmmm... Could this be the reason Apple just yanked emoji apps from the store? As some sort of retaliation? I wonder.)
Somewhere in America, John Walton — PhoneDog editor and Android fiend — is undoubtedly laughing about all this. He even tipped us off to this video, which had me rolling on the floor when I first saw it. Now I'm just shaking my head, sad that it's become a pretty accurate depiction of the phone in the Japanese mobile scene.
This just in from Slashdot: Parkingticket.com is now compatible with Safari on iPhone, so if you live in New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., you can immediately contest a parking ticket as soon as it's issued.
At first, I thought it sounded like the usual silly hype with little substance to back it up, but the site actually does put its money where its mouth is — to the tune of $10 a pop if the service doesn't work.
Here's the catch: You have to pay a deposit equal to 50% of the ticket's fine. If you follow the instructions and the violation still stands, you get the deposit back plus a $10 bonus. If it works, Parkingticket.com keeps the cash. (If the fine's reduced, the service fee works on a sliding scale.)
As if to remind iPhone users that their handsets include a very handy camera for these types of situations, the site suggests immediately snapping pics of the actual parking sign, the street and the address where the ticket was issued.
Even though this isn't a free service, the satisfaction of not having to pay the city for a malicious fine would be enough reason for me to give this service a go. When I think of all the bogus tickets I got over the course of my driving life, my blood pressure goes up again. Mostly, it had to do with the indignation of getting a bum rap (like getting mistakenly tagged because the meter behind mine was expired) or dealing with a ticket-happy meter maid looking for an excuse. (I just know she saw me running down the street with change in my hand. She was staring at me as she pulled out her pen, and started writing the instant the meter clicked to yellow, which was 8 seconds before I got there.)
I don't drive much anymore since I moved to New York City*, which means I can't test this out! Bummer, because I'm really curious to know if this actually works. If you have been unfortunate enough to have reason to test this, please write back and let us know how it worked out.
*Special Note: If you live in NYC, but don't have an iPhone, Parkingticket.com created a special phone number so you can still fight your ticket on the spot: 1-888-NYC-PARK. It handles calls in English or Spanish, 24/7. Good luck!
Did you ever speak with your friends in a secret language as a kid? Me neither. I wasn't bright enough to keep that stuff straight. But now, thanks to modern technology, I too have the ability to alienate outsiders and trade information on the down-low.
There are a lot of ways to do this, like encoding a jpeg with an entire song or using some arcane hexadecimal gobbledygook to ask a girl out on a date (reliable sources say it works every time). Or if you're a total show-off you can learn to read a binary clock. I don't know how to do any of that, but check out what I can do:
Who cares, right? It's a two-dimensional bar code. Well, people who like to move fast and keep their contacts organized, that's who. Not only does that contain all of my (fake) contact info, it's arranged for easy importing. Scan this with ixMAT from the Android Market, and you can instantly add me to your contacts - all of the information will go where it belongs; name, email, website, etc.
Tane Piper, the coder writing Brightroid - an Android client based on the location-aware social network, Brightkite - turned me on to ixMAT Scanner. (I'll be reviewing his program later - it's in the early stages now.) He sent out his contact info in the form of a QR image, and I had to know how he did it. There are plenty of sites that can make one of these for you, but the link he offered has the most consistent, standardized formatting of the five-or-so I tested.
You can render in three different sizes, making them perfect for the sidebar of a blog, the signature at the bottom of an email, or as the wallpaper on the homescreen of your G1. Now that's a practical application. And you'll WIN at any gathering of geeks.
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