Is the M300 a nerd phone/watch or what?
It is still a bit thick and heavy but it shouldn't take long before the technology is common place. The specs sound too good to be true so don't part with your money until you can try one in a shop:
The two new N903iµ handsets are just 11.4 millimeters thick:
The two thin handsets, NEC's N903iµ and Matsushita Communication Industrial Co.'s (Panasonic's) P903iµ, are just 11.4 millimeters thick. That beats all other WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) handsets on the market, said NTT DoCoMo. They'll go on sale in Japan in February at prices yet to be announced, and won't be available overseas.
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Features of the new phones include a 1.3-megapixel camera. The N903iµ has a 2.3-inch display while the P903iµ's screen is slightly smaller at 2.2 inches. Battery life is given in standby as around 500 hours for the NEC phone and 270 hours for the Panasonic model in average use. Talk time is 200 minutes and 120 minutes, respectively.
The only thing I don't love in thin and light phones is that it is difficult to notice them in “vibrate only“ mode.
Via InfoWorld
Telecom Italia and Polymer Vision is launching the Readius; the world’s first mobile device with a rollable display:
The device has a SIM slot that gives network access over GMS/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS for updating contents like RSS feeds, PDF's, e-books, e-mail, audiobooks, podcasts and music.
It also has a built in DVB-H receiver is used for receiving data sent out over the DVB-h network but not for showing digital television.
The display is “only“ black and white but that is not a problem as it is perfect for reading and gives an incredible battery life.
Coolissimo!
Paint.NET 3.0 was released recently. The main new features:
Paint.NET is free and I have used it for more than a year for all my image editing. It is powerful enough to do everything I need, but yet simple to use for someone like me who is not an imaging expert.
I have used Skype on my Pocket PC in the past and I am very glad to see that Skype is now available on advanced cell phones as well. Fring uses the data connection of the phone to make peer-to-peer VoIP calls, send instant messages and talk with VoIP applications such as Skype and Google Talk. The service itself free, you only pay for the data traffic (which varies wildly depending on your data contract).
fring™ roams seamlessly between Wi-Fi and 3G networks while bypassing traditional mobile voice and SMS text messaging services. This means that fring™ enables mobile-to-mobile calls, mobile-to-landline calls, and mobile-to-PC calls including integration into Skype and Google Talk wherever you are.
fring™ , patent pending P2P Mobile VoIP technology, works over GPRS, 3G and Wi-Fi networks, and is a PC-independent, mobile VoIP service with no need for proprietary hardware.
Why on earth did I swap my compatible Nokia 6630 for a Motorola last month???
Scientists are one step closer to understanding how the Antikythera mechanism works with the latest discoveries:
Using modern computer x-ray tomography and high resolution surface scanning, a team led by Mike Edmunds and Tony Freeth at Cardiff University peered inside fragments of the crust-encased mechanism and read the faintest inscriptions that once covered the outer casing of the machine. Detailed imaging of the mechanism suggests it dates back to 150-100 BC and had 37 gear wheels enabling it to follow the movements of the moon and the sun through the zodiac, predict eclipses and even recreate the irregular orbit of the moon. The motion, known as the first lunar anomaly, was developed by the astronomer Hipparcus of Rhodes in the 2nd century BC, and he may have been consulted in the machine's construction, the scientists speculate.
Remarkably, scans showed the device uses a differential gear, which was previously believed to have been invented in the 16th century. The level of miniaturisation and complexity of its parts is comparable to that of 18th century clocks.
Wow. Did the Greek invent the iPod as well?
This sounds too good to be true: FreeSpaceShot.com is offering free trips around the Moon as well as free trips to orbit. Sam Dinkin explains how it will be possible on the Space Review:
FreeSpaceShot doesn’t have a huge bankroll for advertising. If it did, I would use part of it to buy a spaceflight for myself instead of spending enough for a spaceflight to open up the dream of spaceflight to everyone else in the world. FreeSpaceShot needs to have its message spread primarily by word of mouth. We don’t want to wait until the age of personal spaceflight is well underway, we want to start giving away flights now. So we must be very eclectic in who we target. In particular, we are targeting kids aged 9–13.
The concept is a bit unusual as the flights to the moon will be financed by kids playing online games and watching ads:
Kids, though, do have time. If I can get one percent of kids 9–13 to play three hours a day, 30 times per hour, watch 15 ads per play, and charge $1 per thousand ads, I can put together a prize pool of $150 million in a couple of years. If I can match the $16 ad rates of IGN, a gaming and entertainment site, I can put together ten flights to the Moon per year.
I don't know if it will work but I hope it does for the kids (and that I was young enough to participate…)
