SHINY VIDEO REVIEW: BlackBerry Flip 8220

Here’s Susi’s take on the BlackBerry Flip. On the one hand, it has Wi-Fi and 3.5mm headphone jack. On the other, however, it has just a 2 megapixel camera. Oh, and it’s a flip phone. Which was cool sometime around 1998. For more details, check out Susi’s video above.

BlackBerry Flip

Related posts: RIM announce the flippin’ Blackberry Pearl 8220 | IcePhone – concept mobile with triple-flip

SHINY VIDEO PREVIEW: Archos 7 media tablet

The other day at a trade show I got some hands-on experience with the Archos 7 media tablet. You can see the results in the video above, but what I really wonder is who the market for these devices is. They’re not easily controllable enough to have a good web experience. The streaming media is good, but if you’re in wi-fi range of your server, then why would you need to stream?

Ecobee – a Wi-Fi thermostat

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We’ve all been there. Sat, just after midnight at your PC, shivering because the heating’s not on. You wrap a blanket around you, but you know that at some point you’ll need to turn the heating on, because you’re nowhere near done with your work for the evening.

What you need is something that will save you getting up, because getting up is cold. You need the Ecobee – a Wi-Fi thermostat. It syncs with a web server, so you can control your heating from afar – turn it on before you leave work, for example. It could even adjust the heating depending on what the weather conditions are like outside – if it knows there’s a cold snap coming, for example…

Lightbulbs to replace Wi-Fi?

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Researchers at the University of Boston have managed to come up with a way of transferring data through lightbulbs. It’s not quite as crazy as it sounds – fiberoptics uses light to transmit data, but in a much more focused way. The researchers propose to use LEDs flickering at imperceptible speeds to communicate with network-enabled devices at speeds of between 1 and 10Mbps.

Although that’s not very fast for video streaming or online gaming, it’s more than enough for an internet enabled fridge, photoframe or printer. Those kinds of devices are the target that these researchers are going after – bringing the digital home one step closer to reality…

Boris wants London to be a "wifi city"

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Boris Johnson, the inexplicable Mayor of London has offered some platitudes on making London a “wifi city”, making wireless internet available everywhere. Though he hasn’t offered any concrete plans or chucked any money at the idea yet, he seems keen to tie the idea in with the preparations for the 2012 Olympics, telling BBC London Radio “Let’s do it, beginning in Stratford in this fantastic area of opportunity”…

NOISE GATE: Wi-Fi enabled MP3 Players

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From today, I’ll be contributing a new weekly column to the site every Tuesday afternoon about digital music. We’re calling it Noise Gate – which refers to an electronic device that cuts through the noise and crackle of an analog signal and delivers you a noise-free result. In the same way, I want to cut through all the crap surrounding digital music, mainly delivered by major labels and tech companies, and deliver you the pure, unadulterated facts. Think you can handle them?

Slacker G2 – properly personal radio on the move

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Okay, close your eyes and relax your mind. Think about nothing – just a grey backdrop. Now allow an MP3 player of your choice to float in. iPod, Zune, whatever. Doesn’t matter. Now, from the other direction, float in Last.fm, or Pandora, or any other personalised radio service. Allow yourself to get a little cross-eyed as the two objects merge in your head and you visualize a portable device that streams a mix of songs to you based on your listening habits – your likes and dislikes.