Electronic Toy World

Fujitsu has just intro’d the F705i, a new handset that is only 13.7mm thin, which makes it the “slimmest waterproof phone ever made.” The F705i is fully waterproof and can handle anything from that heavy downpour you may get caught in to being submerged in water. The F705i is capable of being submerged in up to one meter of water for a full 30 minutes.

As for voice quality, the handset features the Super Clear Voice and Super Clear Mike which work automatically to adjust the volume of a caller depending on noise levels in the room. The F705i also features a 1.3-megapixel camera, text-zooming and offers up to 170 minutes of talk time. Of course this model is still only available in Japan, which means that we here in the US will still have to keep our phones away from the water.

Via [AkihabaraNews]

Posted Jan 22nd 2008 2:39PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment
It’s been a tick since we’ve seen any “Big” news come out of InFocus, but now that the CES rush is over, it’s taking the time to push out a pair of new DLP projectors. Up first is the Learn Big IN2100 EP series, which was crafted with educators and rambunctious youngsters in mind. It features BrilliantColor processing technology, 2,500 lumens, a lamp life of 2,500 hours and a three-year product warranty. As for the Work Big IN2100 lineup, you’ll find most of the same features already mentioned, but this one does tout an all new remote control system and an “advanced InFocus User Interface” that other units apparently lack. The entire family will be available next month in SVGA ($599), XGA ($749) or WXGA ($999) flavors, but we don’t reckon you’ll be missing out on much should you forget to mark it down.

[Via AboutProjectors]

Posted Jan 22nd 2008 11:25AM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Transportation
While there are many rational and irrational reasons for the delays we’ve seen in production of a mass-market and massively adopted electric car, most of the major issues seem to be addressed by this new initiative going down in Israel. One of the primary problems with electric cars is refilling, and that’s going to be nicely addressed by entrepreneur Shai Agassi’s Project Better Place, which will build a charging network of 500,000 plug-in points across the country. Other issues were a bit more easily addressed: since Israel is a small country, the limited range of electric cars isn’t as much of an issue, and the government subsisdies should make prices competitive — with the eventual cost of ownership significantly less than gas cars to sweeten the deal even further. Nissan and Renault plan to built the cars, naturally, and hope to port the concepts into other vehicles in other countries in the near future. The plan is to launch the first cars in Israel around 2011.

Posted Jan 22nd 2008 1:03PM by Ben Drawbaugh
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
According to the latest NPD group report, during the month of December Blu-ray players held 60 percent of the HD media player market — despite the fact that HD DVD players were considerably cheaper. While that might’ve helped Warner in its decision to go Blu, the move has definitely had a dramatic effect on player sales since. According to the same study the week after the announcement, Blu-ray players were able to grab 93 percent of the market, which puts the year to date (short, we know) share for Blu-ray players at 70 percent. Granted, it’s hard to put too much stock in just a week or two of data, but if this and the recent media sales numbers (85 percent) becomes a trend, maybe this won’t be such a slow death for HD DVD after all.

[Via Blu-ray.com]

Posted Jan 22nd 2008 8:18AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
var There it is, just as we thought. The 8GB iPod nano now in pink anodized aluminum. A fitting new member to bear the third-generation nano’s pastel palette. The perfect color to celebrate Valentines Day or uh, cancer. Two hours of downtime for this? Check the business-side, front, after the break while waiting for the official announcement.

Update: It’s official. Still $199 with free engraving and 24 hours shipping. Yes, starting from right now.

[Thanks, mark-el]

Preserve your memories of yore with the Photograph To Digital Picture Converter.

Faster and easier than a conventional scanner, this device instantly captures the whole image using a 5 MP CMOS sensor, the same found in digital cameras. With up to 1,800 dpi resolution, 10 bits per color channel, automatic exposure control and color balance, clear, accurate digital images are assured. Photographs are placed into a tray that slides into the converter; the touch of a button records the image instantly. For photo transfers and power, it has a USB cable that plugs into a PC running Windows XP and includes software that allows you to edit, crop, and resize your pictures.

This lazy man’s device retails for $149.95 - I suppose the convenience that comes along with it is worth the price you pay.

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It looks like a white pixel or digital display pattern against a jet-black background, which I think looks pretty cool in and of itself — but this message tape isn’t just for demarcating an area as an übergeek domain. It comes with a free black marker that you can use to ink out the white details that you don’t need, turning any piece of this tape into the letters of a message or some kind of symbol.

Then it can be taped to, well, anything.

Posted Jan 22nd 2008 1:33AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Hitachi returns after suffering scathing reviews for their generation-one Blu-ray / HDD hybrid camcorder. Its new 60GB DZ-BD9H hybrid still records 1,920 x 1,080 MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video to 8-cm BD or internal hard disk. This time, however, it’s aided by an improved 5.3 megapixel CMOS sensor, Picture Master Full HD processing, and brighter 2.7-inch LCD. We’re talking about 9 hours of recording to disk at max resolution — that’s about an hour to that wee 7.5GB Blu-ray Disc. HDMI and USB 2.0 remain standard as does that super steep price when it arrives in Japan on February 12th for ¥180,000 (about $1,700). But you’ll wait for the reviews first, right? Better yet, why not consider Hitachi’s new DZ-HD90. Same 60GB camera sans Blu-ray but with an eSATA connection for ¥140,000 (about $1,320). That pup hits Japan on March 1st.

Gallery: Hitachi tries again with DZ-BD9H hybrid Blu-ray and 60GB Full HD camcorder

Really Worried is a new community website which combines group therapy with a nice purple colour and lots of helpful advice. The idea has been well explored via places like AskMetafilter, but this version looks like it could be a friendly place to unload a worry or two. Relationships, pets, legal, money, it’s all here.

  Hello. ReallyWorried is a place to seek or share help and advice on just about any worrying topic. It works on the simple notion that whatever people worry about, there are others out there who will have experienced similar problems themselves. ReallyWorried provides an opportunity for people who have been there before to offer their advice to those who find themselves in the same boat. Simply by passing on and sharing nuggets of real knowledge and wisdom, the worrier might then be able to make a more informed choice in addressing their problem.

Nokia has just announced two new handsets designed for those in “emerging markets.” The new handsets include to the 2600 Classic and the 1209, both of which seem a little dated even before the actual release, of course they are still very useful phones that offer a decent set of features at a more than fair price.

The Nokia 2600 Classic offers dual band GSM with GPRS support, VGA camera, Bluetooth, FM Radio, email, MP3 ringtones, a 128 x 160 resolution screen with 65,000 colors and runs the S40 operating system.

The Nokia 1209 offers dual band support, has a 96×68 pixel screen with 65,000 colors, a pre-paid tracker, a cost-tracking application, a multiple phonebook that allows up to five people have an address book and runs the S30 operating system. The Nokia 1209 is said to be aimed at “first time buyers.”

The Nokia 2600 Classic will be available during Q1 2008 for an estimated 65 Euros (around $95 US) and the 1209 will be available during Q2 2008 for an estimated 35 Euros (around $51 US).

Read [Nokia]