New handset replacing E71 inbound

Nokia has accidently leaked details of a new handset thanks to an slip-up by its official blog, Nokia Conversations.
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Read Nokia E72 leaked on Pocket-lint now

We’re actually surprised we didn’t make the connection earlier, but word on the street today is the the rumored Samsung Omnia Pro will actually be a renamed Louvre B7610, a set that’s been popping up a lot lately. Makes sense — the Louvre’s 3.5-inch WVGA AMOLED screen, 800MHz processor, and 5.1 megapixel camera match up nicely with the Omnia line. It’s running Windows Mobile 6.1 right now, but we wouldn’t be too surprised if the rumored August release date is held back to September or October to coincide with WinMo 6.5. One more pic after the break, couple more at the read links.

[Via Unwired View]

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Read – Beyond3D forum post

Continue reading Samsung Omnia Pro to be the Louvre B7610?

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung Omnia Pro to be the Louvre B7610? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When I got up this morning, I threw my Kindle in my bag’s padded courdoroy laptop sleeve like I always do. A few hours later, I pulled it out and it looked like this.

Granted, this is partially my fault—I didn’t keep it in the ugly cover that comes with the Kindle, just like I don’t lock my iPhone or any other gadget in disfiguring covers, since I’m all about naked gadgets (almost entirely for aesthetic reasons), and I thought my bag’s padded sleeve provided sufficient protection. Apparently it does not when you have a heavy DSLR on the other side of the stuffing and some guy slams into your bag.

A book made out of dead trees would’ve buckled and creased and returned to its original shape. So would a reader with a flexible display like Plastic Logic‘s, which at one point was said to withstand getting smacked by a shoe. Which actually takes it one step closer to emulating books than the more fragile Kindle or any other E-Ink powered reader—too bad Plastic Logic’s reader is about a year away. (Though it says something about the Kindle that I’d sort of taken to treating it almost like a real book, and that this is the first time I’d actually materially felt the gap between it and paper.)

The story for other kinds of flexible displays, like bendy OLED, is actually even more depressing, since “progress” at this point means they’re now 5 years away. Given how easy it is break screens, and how much we depend on them now—witness the slow recession buttons, though I’m sure they’ll experience a retro counter-touch resurgence—rugged displays that we can treat like organic materials instead of delicate magic under the constant threat of destruction by mere everyday living might be more revolutionary than expected.

Or maybe I’ll just have to learn to be more careful. [Giz's Kindle Review]

If you use a webcam on a regular basis, you’ve probably discovered that at times, the lighting adds odd effects on the image that shows up.  Sometimes overhead lighting can create dark circles when you’re plenty rested and wrinkles you’d rather not be seen.  It becomes tempting to find an adjustable desk lamp to position it as a spotlight.  At least for those that mind how their cam is making them look.  Well instead of doing that, you could pick up this web camera that has a little built-in lighting.

The camera has a total of six bright white LED lights, which would be enough to give you some nice lighting.  While still also not making you look like a ghost on your cam.  The 2MP camera is on a semi-rigid cable that allows for it to be positioned where you need it.  The camera also has a built-in microphone and can capture video at 30 fps at 640 x 480 resolution.  You can purchase the camera for $89.95 from Hammacher and Schlemmer.

Source: BookofJoe

If you call Jason, his iPhone, Pre, Ion and pants all ring because he has Google Voice. The service’s biggest downside is that you have a new number to deal with—but TechCrunch says number porting is coming.

That means you’ll be able to port the phone number you’ve had for 5 or 10 or 100 years to Google Voice and use whatever phone you want, whenever you want, on whatever carrier you want, with your current number—meaning you’ll never have to worry about your phone number again. Right now, you can kinda hack it by forwarding calls from your current number to your Google Voice number, but you’re stuck with pitfalls like texts not being forwarded. Google’s also got an app cooking that’ll route outbound calls through Google Voice as well, so the service is more seamless—currently, your outbound caller ID is whatever’s actually assigned to the phone you’re using. Update: Lifehacker pointed out a few months ago that Google mentioned the possibility in their support pages, but TechCrunch specifies Google is testing it now and that it’ll roll out later this year.

I have to say, it’s been interesting watching carriers become more and more irrelevant over the last two years. Their fears of becoming a “dumb pipe” are certainly coming true, and cutting the core of your mobile identity—your phone number—completely out of their hands has to be at least a little bit scary for them.

Now if Google would just solve GV’s other major flaw—actually letting people in. [TechCrunch]

This slick Seamless Experience video from the Asus Computex booth is a neat glimpse at a future where even coffee cups have a story to tell. It looks, unsurprisingly, like Microsoft Surface. Let the marketing concept arms race commence.

Judging from the concept, the future works surprisingly well, so long as your desktop is populated with nothing but Asus products, computers, mugs and coffee products. [YouTube via Engadget]

We heard earlier this month that the first official CrunchPad units would arrive soon, and it seems like Mike Arrington and company are making progress — here’s what looks to be semi-final hardware and packaging on video for the first time. Interestingly, the device is still plastic and somewhat chubby, not the 18mm-thick aluminum we’d heard earlier — and whoever’s in charge here won’t boot it, so we’ve yet to see the custom Linux / WebKit OS in action. It’s all due to drop in July, so we’ll know what’s what soon enough — for now, check out the vid after the break.

Update: Looks like there is a short video of it in action, so we’ve stuck it after the break as well. It’s certainly an interesting idea, but we noticed some glitches here and there — we’ll see how cleaned up things are at launch.

Update 2: Oh, Mike Arrington. The king of all whispered rumors isn’t too happy that this video went out — he says it’s not “sanctioned or official,” and that “it’s certainly not the launch prototype… which doesn’t actually exist yet.” Of course it doesn’t, Mike.

[Thanks G]

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Continue reading CrunchPad unboxed, handled on video

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

CrunchPad unboxed, handled on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For gamers well-versed in the antics of former attorney Jack Thompson, this PS2 casemod found over at Kotaku has to be all sorts of Schadenfreude. [Kotaku]

There have been other versions of this type thing before, specifically one from Hammacher and Schlemmer.  However, you’re likely to appreciate this version a bit better if for no other reason than it is $30 cheaper.  Cheaper is always a major bonus.  Especially if you’re picking this up to get better photographs on items you’re attempting to sell.  The less you spend on supplies, the more profit you’ll make on your products.  This tiny studio collapses for easy storage, so when you don’t need it, it’s easily tucked out of sight.

The set includes the photo lightbox, two 35 watt photo lights, a 6 to 7 inch mini-tripod and then a zippered nylon carrier to store it all within.  The camera in the picture is of course not included with the set.  You’ll tragically have to find your own camera to use with it.  The miniature studio will keep your pictures from being blurry, diffuses lighting, creates a clean background and reduces harsh shadows that would normally be created.  The entire set will cost you $49.99 from Think Geek.

Source: BookofJoe

Do you want to create your own slow motion water gun fight, just like Gizmodo? You do? Then head on over to Lifehacker, where they’ve discovered a DIY project that will create a high speed studio in the garage. [Lifehacker]