GadgetReview

A new rumor has burst onto the scene out of the Kodak company, and everyone’s frantically trying to figure out just what exactly it is.  A “highly placed source” has promised that Kodak’s got something really big planned for the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show this January in Las Vegas, but what exactly it is, no one’s sure.

In fact, the only piece of solid data involved is that it’ll be bowing right alongside the successor to the current Kodak Zi8 pocket camcorder.

Possibilities at this point could be most anything–a storage device, a new DVD burner that works with the Zi8’s successor, anything.  In fact, this could be little more than a giant pot of smoke and mirrors designed to give Kodak free publicity by having gadget bloggers like us endlessly try to play guessing games about what it’ll actually be until CES hits.

I guess either way, we’ll have to wait for CES to find out how this one finally boils out.

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Wow, Peek just delivered a serious bitch slap to Microsoft/Danger!  They’re now offering disgruntled Sidekick users a FREE Peek Pronto device, that is assuming of course you can prove such.  Peek just asks that you “email sidekick@getpeek.com with proof that you own a Sidekick (photo of you and your Sidekick, a T-mo bill, or any form of hard evidence you can dream up).”   Make sure you provide them with your physical mailing address so they can send you the device.  This offer ends this Friday, the 16th, and keep in mind that you’ll still need to drop $20/month on service and the Pronto doesn’t make phone calls.

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The Rationalizer is slated to be the newest tool in a stock trader’s arsenal, but when you hear about it, you might find it just a little familiar.  You fasten a small bracelet to your wrist, and the wrist measures stuff like skin temperature and galvanic skin responses and whatnot to show you how your emotions are acting in a certain situation.  It shows you by–get this!–sending a radio signal to a nearby bowl.  The bowl then glows a certain color, giving you a graphic representation of how you feel.

Yes, folks, it seems as though the MOOD RING has made a comeback.  This time, of course, it’s a bit different and way more high tech, but it’s still kind of cool.  The Rationalizer can show you, visually, when you’re starting to get a little hopped up emotionally.  From there, you can take a break.  I personally think this is a fantastic idea, and wouldn’t mind having my own emergency mood display in case.

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Well, folks…seems like you can now officially stick a fork in the Sidekick.  The first ever smartphone seems to be out of the game.

It all started earlier this week, when Microsoft announced they had lost all their Sidekick user data.  All of it.  Pictures, contacts, calendars…just plain old LOST.  Since Sidekicks access their data from central servers instead of storing it on board, that means every single Sidekick user (except for those who engaged in external backups)  just lost EVERYTHING.

Rumors say it was a failed upgrade involving a Hitachi SAN that took down the Sidekick network.

But Tmobile is sympathetic to the loss and in turn is offering a free month of data service–not REGULAR service, but data service.  More telling, however, is what Tmobile is NOT doing right now: selling any other Sidekicks.  Every one is showing “temporarily out of stock” on the Tmobile web site.

So you add all these points together, and it sure sounds like the fix is in for the Sidekick.

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So 3M, those great innovators, have come up with a way to get you to watch 3-D on your mobile device of choice, but without the glasses entirely.  Check THIS out:  they’ve developed this optical film (that you can apply to any gadget’s backlight system) that uses two alternating rows of LED to project left and right images one after the other to the viewers’ eyes.  This in turn allows for a stereoscopic 3-D image but without the need for glasses.

The film works on any device with a viewing size of nine inches or smaller, and to watch video in 3-D via this method requires the video be displayed at 120hZ.

I find myself a bit skeptical to the value of this, but admit from a conceptual level this is blisteringly cool–after all, turning any mobile gadget into a 3-D player with only a strip of plastic?  That’s MacGyver-grade gadgetry right there.

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If you’re anything like me, you’ve got an old cell phone or two laying around the house and you’re about dying to get rid of it.  But you’ve got no idea where or how to dump it.  We all know there are loads of hazardous material laws to grapple with, and those collection drives expect you to pay to dump your hardware.

Enter the EcoATM, a device the size of an actual ATM that’ll let you dump your hardware quick, easy, and sometimes, profitably.  Simply drop your old phone or other device into the EcoATM’s slot, and the machine will determine if it has any value.  The machine will then make you an offer for the device, which it will pay off from a separate slot, usually in the form of a gift card.

What if your device is worthless, you say?  Not a problem–there’s no such thing as a worthless device to the EcoATM.  Even if it has no residual value, you’ll still be able to leave the device with the EcoATM, but you’ll also get a “freebie item”, plus EcoATM will arrange for a tree to be planted in your honor somewhere, which still beats having to pay off the collection people all hollow.

EcoATM is actually doing pretty well so far–its first day in operation netted 23 phones and passed out a full hundred bucks in gift cards.  Word is it got a BlackBerry Curve in prime condition.  So chances are, this prototype will likely be coming to an electronics store near you.

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It was just this past February when Verizon officially put their Hub touchscreen VoIP device up for sale.  At the time it required a 2-year contract and $200 to get aboard, which is and was one of the many barriers to the device’s success.  ‘Was’ I say?  That’s right, the Verizon Hub has already been discontinued purportedly due to floundering sales, poor technical support and probably a whole slew of other reasons.  Engadget received word back from the company, which falls just short of admitting the Hub’s demise.  It’s a bit of a shame considering how cool it could have been, but when a product is flawed it is quickly represented by sales numbers or in this case lack there of.

Verizon Wireless, like many companies, continually changes and updates the products and services it offers to customers. Our sales teams in all channels will continue to focus on providing our customers the latest and most innovative wireless products and services. Verizon Wireless will continue to support existing Verizon Hub customers with post-sale service or support.

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Here’s a new and interesting piece of gadget news for you this morning, folks–I’ve just heard about the Epson Dreamio, a strange projector with one really impressive feature.  That strange feature?  A built in DVD player.

Most projectors don’t include DVD players for a handful of good reasons–it’s entirely too simple in most cases to hook up a DVD player to a projector is tops among them.  But also included are the fact that they usually end up looking like thirty miles of bad road and how they end up badly overpriced.  This would definitely seem to be the case with the thirteen hundred dollar Epson Dreamio, especially given that the projector itself is a 720p as opposed to a 1080p.   It does, by way of consolation, include a USB port and an HDMI slot for hooking in extra components, so it clearly wants to go the distance as far as your home theater setup goes.

So for movie buffs who want that projector experience but can’t offer a lot of space for components, the Epson Dreamio may be what you’re looking for.

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Europe has a pretty big problem with its gadget vendors these days–roughly half of them, according to a report from the European Union, are under investigation for something.

The worst part is just what that “something” entails, according to reports:  concealing delivery charges, misleading customers about products, and failing to honor the customer’s right to return products within a week as mandated throughout the European Union.

Three hundred and sixty nine websites throughout twenty eight countries are currently under investigation by EU officials, and punishments for wrongdoing vary wildly according to the charges filed.

I don’t know about you folks, but to me, this is horrible news.  When you can’t trust the web stores in any basic level you’re leaving a serious potential for economic devastation.  If no one trusted Amazon any more, or eBay, we’d lose a HUGE portion of revenue.  And with three hundred sixty-nine European websites under investigation, this doesn’t bode well for an economic recovery.

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Bet you didn’t know that Amazon, Sirius Satellite and Apple Computers can tell where you are anywhere in the world, did you?

Well, that kind of shocker revelation requires some background.  Most everybody’s felt the heartbreak at one time or another of a favorite gadget just “wandering away”.  Whether it fell or it was pushed, the end result is the same–your valuable gadget is GONE.  It might surprise you to know that most of these gadgets actually already come with the technology required to track them down remotely.

But the companies won’t actually use this technology to help you track down your wayward gear. In fact, just trying to get the companies to shut down your missing tech so that it can’t be used in the future requires a subpoena and a whole lot of dancing with lawyers.

Some say the companies themselves won’t bother because they’d sooner have someone out there use the product and occasionally buy new apps and services, while you have to go buy a new one, plus in some cases all the content you already paid for once.  The companies themselves, meanwhile, are being tight-lipped about the whole thing.

This doesn’t bode well for the gadget makers–unhappy customers are very seldom repeat customers.

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