When the much-hyped Esquire E-Ink cover finally shipped to newsstands a few weeks ago, we were kind of underwhelmed. Using conventional methods, the sectioned panel isn't really hackable in any meaningful way, so Phone Losers took a more proactive approach: violence.
As it turns out, E-Ink is ridiculously durable, standing up to bending, cuts, water, fire and even total punctures without ceasing to blink. The panel only died when microwaved for a few seconds, but that was just because all of its metal components (power connectors, mainly) vaporized in fantastic balls of lightning. If anything, this amazing demonstration of flexibility and toughness makes Esquire's lame foray into the medium even less excusable. [Phone Losers via Technabob]
BoyGeniusReports has got hold of some imagery and specs for an upcoming LG slider phone, the Xenon. It's a side-slider with QWERTY keypad, quad-band GSM and UMTS/HSPDA. It's only got a 3-megapixel cam, so it's no Viewty or KC910 but it does pack in AGPS, an accelerometer and proximity detector.
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE • Dual-band UMTS/HSDPA (850MHz/2100MHz) • 950 mAh battery • 105.5 x 53.5 x 15.8 mm • 240
BoyGeniusReports has got hold of some imagery and specs for an upcoming LG slider phone, the Xenon. It's a side-slider with QWERTY keypad, quad-band GSM and UMTS/HSPDA. It's only got a 3-megapixel cam, so it's no Viewty or KC910 but it does pack in AGPS, an accelerometer and proximity detector.
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE • Dual-band UMTS/HSDPA (850MHz/2100MHz) • 950 mAh battery • 105.5 x 53.5 x 15.8 mm • 240
It's Woot Off! time and it seems it's gaming peripherals day. I just saw a Razer mouse and now this cool-looking Saitek P2600 Rumble Force First Person Shooter Gamepad for $4.99. That's less than a Margarita cocktail, people. [Woot]
Jalopnik spotted the new Peapod—Chrysler's GEM electric car for neighbourhoods—in the wild. Even while it feels like a glorified golf cart for "gated communities", it looks great down to the iPod/iPhone dock in the middle of the dashboard. The design makes us smile for obvious reasons—although it's also a little bit scary because it reminds me of the evil Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters.
The Peapod will run at 25 miles per hour with just a 30 miles range per battery charge, which can be reloaded using a standard electrical plug in six to eight hours. [Jalopnik and Mocoloco]
Sony's Bluetooth wristwatches may do a neat job of buzzing to alert you that you're phone's ringing if it's not in your pocket, but until now they've been kinda gruff. The upcoming MBW-200 versions are different, aimed squarely at the gadgety woman. Dubbed "Sparkling Allure," "Contemporary Elegance" and "Evening Classic" they auto-pair via Bluetooth, have an OLED number display and let you mute or reject the call from the watch, as well as control a phone's music-player functions. Sony's also drummed up support to outline the femininity of the design (no, really!) by getting three young women tennis players to model them, but not mentioned pricing. Pics and press release below.
That's Dominika Cibulkova, Caroline Wozniacki and Agnes Szavay, in case you're interested.
London, UK – 24th of September, 2008 – Convenient, good looking and distinctive, the Bluetooth ™ MBW-200 range of Bluetooth™ watches is an expansion of the highly successful Bluetooth ™ MBW-150 range. With three different sophisticated designs to match your personality, be the first among your friends to control your phone with your watch.
Missed an important call or SMS because you couldn’t hear or find your phone at the bottom of your handbag? With the MBW-200 this is now a thing of the past. Using innovative Bluetooth™ technology, the watch displays the caller ID and vibrates as your phone is ringing or when you receive an SMS. Reject or mute the call with a button on the watch or use the Bluetooth™ headset or mobile phone to answer the call and start chatting.
“The MBW-200 series is the next step in the development of Bluetooth™ wireless technology.” said Karmen Mandic, Product Business Manager, at Sony Ericsson. “Now women can buy a Bluetooth™ watch that gives them both wireless functionality and an opportunity to express their personal taste. We’re all looking for products that make our lives more convenient. With a glance at your watch you can see who is calling, what the time is and with a push of a button you can change your music or use it as a music remote control when your phone is on the other side of the room– all in one stylish device.”
Designed in partnership with watch industry leader Fossil and the Bluetooth™ knowhow of Sony Ericsson, the MBW-200 series comes in three distinct designs; Sparkling Allure, Contemporary Elegance and Evening Classic. The Bluetooth™ Watch Collection features scratch resistant mineral crystal glass with an anti-glare coating for optimum readability and glow. The discreet, yet stylish and clear monochrome OLED display is invisible when not in use and clearly visible on a bright day so that you can see who is calling or which track is playing with ease.
Can’t decide which stylish Bluetooth™ Watch is for you? Sony Ericsson has teamed up with three leading female tennis players to show how each MBW-200 watch has a distinct personality to match anyone’s personal style and fashion tastes.
The Sparkling Allure Edition, as modelled by 19-year-old Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova, is glamorous, yet strong and sporty – created for the ultimate young and funky fashionista. With its on trend white leather strap and display with crystal d
In collaboration with Nissan and NTT DOCOMO, a Japanese mobile operator, Sharp has developed what they claim is the first mobile phone that also functions as a keyless entry and ignition device for cars. Rather than building a new system from the ground up, Sharp has simply opted to include Nissan's existing Intelligent Key technology in a phone. The system will function like any of the many other wireless keyfobs on the market today, authorizing the driver to enter, exit and start his or her car without ever poking any keys around.
Since most popular keyless entry systems depend on radio raves (and have since the early 2000's, when they first rose to prominence) and likely won't be using the phone's includes radio, this pairing is less of a technological integration than a lets-strap-another-piece-of-hardware-on-a-phone. In any case, hackers, the obscenely rich and the Chinese have been doing stuff like this for a while now, so it's about time that this obvious path for convergence was taken. [NTT DOCOMO]
As well as tweaking its Gorillapod flexible gripping tripod design in the Gogo model, to support all sorts of gadgets, Joby's now applied some real beefing-up techniques to its original camera-tripod verion and created the Gorillapod Focus, designed for heavier camera gear. Made from aluminum so it weighs just 1.1 pounds itself, it can nonetheless support pro-video or SLR equipment that weighs up to 11 pounds, and of course fasten it/dangle it from all sorts of places you wouldn't normally mount your cameras. The Focus is due soon for a similarly beefed-up price of $150. [GeekyGadgets]
The Rovio is quite definitely revving up for its September 26th launch with a bunch of new promo videos from WowWee. If you weren't already intrigued by the web-controlled roving webcam, then you will be after watching this teaser: it looks like it does a pretty fab job of maneuvering while streaming video and sounds. I do wish the camera vertical angle was more adjustable though.
I like the way it finds its way back to the charging base automatically...though you'd better plan ahead on having it charged up if you want to use it for a serious business video conference. Though I reckon your colleagues'd be too amused by the strangeness of nattering to a robot for the conference to go smoothly...and if they're Red Dwarf fans then the similarity to the scutters will have them giggling far too much.
The Rovio's out this friday for $300. [RobotsRule]
USB hubs, schmUSB hubs: jam this 5-in-1 charger cable into the back of your machine and you'll be able to charge-up/sync five different gizmos at once. That's if you have an iPod, a PSP, a Nintendo DS, aGBA and a device that connects via mini-USB. Not rocket science by any means, but a handy way of simplifying your desktop wiring clutter, and good for computers with few USB sockets (I'm looking at you, Mr. MacBook Air). Out now for $14. [Gadget4All via BoingBoingGadgets]
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It's Woot Off! time and it seems it's gaming peripherals day. I just saw a Razer mouse and now this cool-looking Saitek P2600 Rumble Force First Person Shooter Gamepad for $4.99. That's less than a Margarita cocktail, people. [
Sony's 
That's Dominika Cibulkova, Caroline Wozniacki and Agnes Szavay, in case you're interested.
In collaboration with Nissan and NTT DOCOMO, a Japanese mobile operator, Sharp has developed what they claim is the first mobile phone that also functions as a keyless entry and ignition device for cars. Rather than building a new system from the ground up, Sharp has simply opted to include Nissan's existing Intelligent Key technology in a phone. The system will function like any of the many other wireless keyfobs on the market today, authorizing the driver to enter, exit and start his or her car without ever poking any keys around.
As well as tweaking its Gorillapod flexible gripping tripod design in the 
USB hubs, schmUSB hubs: jam this 5-in-1 charger cable into the back of your machine and you'll be able to charge-up/sync five different gizmos at once. That's if you have an iPod, a PSP, a Nintendo DS, aGBA and a device that connects via mini-USB. Not rocket science by any means, but a handy way of simplifying your desktop wiring clutter, and good for computers with few USB sockets (I'm looking at you, Mr. MacBook Air). Out now for $14. [