GadgetReview

A guy over at Wi-Fi Planet by the name of Mike Flynn put forth an interesting idea, one that’s almost as terrifying as it is plausible, and is possibly terrifying because it’s plausible, is the idea that the iPhone is actually a kind of disease.

Flynn believes that it has one primary symptom, to spread virulently through your life and force you to filter all your experiences in life through it.  The sheer number of applications, Flynn posits, allow you to do just about everything with your iPhone.  For instance, Flynn planned to take his wife to a movie.  His first thought was to check his Moviefone app, which he did, and the results it gave altered his plans.  An iPhone app changes his reading habits from magazines to books, since the iPhone doesn’t allow for magazine reading.  An iPhone app changed his music listening habits, his workout habits, and plenty else.

Flynn traces back the common cause of all this to one key point–the iPhone.  Without its many apps and sheer ubiquity, he wouldn’t have these problems, he claims, especially since he’s used Blackberries and similar devices without trouble, nor does he recall other people having these same issues with any other device.

So is the iPhone a kind of parasite?  The idea’s worthy of a horror movie, but whether or not it’s true likely depends on the user.  I personally wonder if he’s describing not so much a disease as an addiction (which are admittedly very close in nature, though addiction really isn’t caused by bacteria or viruses but rather at the genetic level), but that’s a fairly fine point on its own.  These things are here to stay, so we’re going to have to learn to live with them.

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So there’s been an announcement that Best Buy means to sell the iRex book reader to compete with Amazon’s Kindle, among numerous others.  It’ll cost a whopping four hundred bucks, but come with an eight inch touchscreen (8.1, actually), connect to Verizon Wireless networks, but while Verizon itself is open to connecting other e-readers through its networks, it’s not willing to sell the iRex in its own stores, at least for the time being.

This is probably the best move Verizon can make, even if it isn’t exactly good news for Best Buy.  However, even Best Buy can get away with a little piggyback advertising with “Verizon’s network”, and of course, the first mover advantage will be a big help for the iRex.

Keep your eyes front, folks–this could be a real donnybrook, with plenty of new players moving for the Kindle market.

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Now available in the United States is the Viliv X70EX, a mobile internet device weighing in at just under one and a half pounds with a seven inch touch screen.

The basic model starts in with an Atom Z515 CPU and a hundred and sixty gig hard drive, while the upgraded model has an Atom z520 processor and a three hundred twenty gig hard drive.  A final version boosts the upgraded model to include a gig of DDR2 ram, wireless internet and Bluetooth, plus a web camera, a mike and speakers.

The idea of a really tiny netbook is actually kind of interesting, though I’m not really sure any of these will ever truly replace the laptop.  Especially when you consider the price–the entry level model retails for six hundred bucks whilst the next two are seven hundred thirty and eight hundred eighty respectively.  That’s pretty salty for a tiny little webcrawler.

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All right, folks, if you’ve been waiting anxiously to get your hands on the Motorola Cliq, you should be happy to know that they’re looking to start taking orders October 19th.

Seems the company actually released this date in a brochure, which was then photographed and began making the rounds.  This handset will feature a touchscreen, and assures connectivity with your devices by both GPS and WiFi radio, and rumors suggest that Android 2.0 will come with the Cliq, so if you weren’t interested before, you might be now.

T-Mobile further threw some confirmation in by saying that they would start delivering product to their stores starting November 2nd.  Add this all up and it means, chances are, you’ll be able to get a Cliq right soon.

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Normally you think of a mouse as precious little more than a device used to point at things, but now, Philips is looking to expand the humble mouse’s role with the Bluetooth Notebook Mouse.

Granted, the name isn’t exactly inspiriting but there’s loads of time to fix that.  Anyway, the big question is how does it work.  In this case, by the sounds of it, pretty well.  It can alternate between being a normal corded mouse and a cordless mouse, with the cord also serving as a USB recharge cable for the cordlessness. Even better, it can become a presentation controller with its built-in 360-degree touch control.  Thus, it’s extremely versatile and almost two mouses in one.

Or is it mice?  Anyway–it’s good to see an invention work, for a change.

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MSI upped the anty today with the introduction of a larger, more powerful Wind Top touchscreen machine, the AE2010.   Not only does it sport a larger, higher resolution (1600×900) 20-inch touchscreen, but includes a more powerful AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core processor and ATI Radeon 3200 graphics card with DDR3 128MB VRAM.  MSI has also managed to bump the RAM a two fold to 4GB, add 4 more USB ports (a total of 6) and increase the Wind Top’s hard drive capacity to 320GB.

The Wind Top AE2010 should go on sale this week for $649.99.

Full release after the ‘leap’ …Continue reading: MSI’s Wind Top Touchscreen All-In-One Desktop Computer Now Blows A Bigger Punch

With hundreds of iPod docks to choose from this new one from Revo looks mildly innovative.  Brandishing a 3.5″ color touch screen with icon controls, the aptly titled IKON also docks an iPod or iPhone.  I honestly have never heard of this company before but I like the design as it kind of reminds me of a sleeker EOS Wireless System.  According to the European designer, the IKON is capable of receiving the full array of digital radio standards including: Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), DAB+, Internet radio, and conventional FM radio.  If radio connectivity isn’t enough to satisfy your audio needs, they’ve also tossed in a WiFi connection that will provide you access to Last.FM (30 day trial included), Pandora and DLNA supported devices.  The IKON is set to go on sale this October for about $460.

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Is this truly the splash page for the impending Macbook Touch? No one knows for sure but there are a few hints to indicate otherwise.  The URL string lists Apple.com as opposed to Apple.com/macbooktouch.  The ‘T’ in touch looks a bit odd, as if its a smaller font then the rest of the letters.  Lastly, the source cites no source for the photo leading me to believe that it is shameless self promotion.

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Will the real Macbook Tablet please stand up?  So we’ve heard rumors that Apple’s tablet computer will have a ‘Home’ button just like the iPhone.  But smack dab in the center’s edge, far from a set of gripping hands as depicted by this supposedly leaked picture, I don’t think so.  But hey, who knows, maybe Apple knows something we don’t and if you’re resting the device on your lap it might make some sense.  And what’s up with the screen’s border.  It just doesn’t seem like Apple to have such an unfinished looking product, but maybe this is a prototype version.

Of note, an Engadget commenter noticed that the exact same screen image, which is the intro for Leopard OS X, can easily be pulled off Google Image, which doesn’t exactly lend a whole lot of credence to the leak.

Believable, but not entirely sold.

[via Engadget, BGR]

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We’re already big fans of the MIMO’s USB monitors, so it should come as no surprise as we wax lyrical about their next iteration, the MIMO 710-S and 720-S.   This iteration, though, offers up a more aesthetically pleasing clam shell design and a rotatable stand that can be flipped closed to protect the screen during transport.  Spec wise were looking at a 7-inch 800×400 resolution, 500 cd/m2 brightness, USB input and some touchscreen capabilities for the 720.  While the 710-S is up for pre-order with a price tag of $150, the touchscreen version’s price remains a mystery.

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