Mobile phones have changed our lives in more than one way. It has given a new dimension to our lives, attempting to remove the “ennui” and “dread” from our deepest chambers of hearts. This idea came recently after I saw a production of Sartre’s No Exit. His mouthpiece famously retorts in the play “Hell is other people.” While travelling back from the theatre, I realised how much effort people were making to keep away from each other. I saw a young lady completely immersed in her book, even though she could not have made a word in the bumpy ride! And most others were busy sounding “busy” on their mobile phones.

As compatriots of Existential philosophy (including me) assert that we have been dropped in this meaning less world without any essence, and that the whole responsibility of finding essence rests on us. If you have you read/seen Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot you would remember how Gogo and Didi are engaged in munching a stale carrot because they have nothing else to do. Similarly, playing with the grown up’s toy- cell phone, give us some meaning to our lives. It is definitely a way to kill the ennui in our lives.

If you are feeling out of place in a surrounding, simply take out your cell and do something on it- play a game, watch your videos or read your mails. You will get the satisfaction of utilizing you time well. Well, I am not criticising or appreciating this trend, its only an observation made. In this world bereft of any meaning, fiddling on cell phones is one of the many ways in which we try to tackle our “existential dilemma”.

Tags: · Cell phone, dread, ennui, Existential philosophy, gadget, Mobile phones, No Exit, Samuel Beckett, Sartre, Waiting for Godot

As much as I am impressed by the infrastructure of Japan, I will be lying if I say I am not the least bothered by the extreme fashion consciousness. It no exaggeration, but the Japanese eat, drink and live fashion. There seems to be nothing else about a majority of them.

Please do not accuse this article of generalising; but every morning when I take train to get to work, there would be umpteen number of women adding more mascara, or glitter or blush-on………the list is endless. In fact, many times watching them at this little escapade is more consuming than the book in my hand. I seriously wonder, and so does the previous generation of Japan, what does the youth really want? Changing haircolour, using dark and heavy make-up that makes you hardly recognizable and even lost in the sea of foundation and rouge, leads to what?

And now, they have come up with cosmetic belts that can shrink heads. Believe it or not, but this five-pound Small Face Make Belt is supposed to be worn when sleeping and it will make your head smaller. Plus there is the mouth shrinking machine popular with men.

I dunno, the craze for whacky gizmos is one thing and going berserk for the RIGHT look is another. I hope the sociologists are taking record. This madeness for makeup fad may have drastic results for this young community.
Via ibnlive

The Photo kina 2008, more fair picture of the world, is to arrive there and the various manufacturers and will Endeavour desorbed up on ads to try to grab the attention of consumers. Already a number of announcements will be made and of course many new technologies and cameras that will be presented during the fair.

Despite all play the same game, not all companies use the same tactics and while some prefer to announce it will be filed within a few days, others prefer to substantiate rumors and stop running, but without the check nor deny. This is the case for Leica camera cool gadgets that talks will submit during the Photo kina the new version of its popular compact high-end, the M8. Named for M8.2, this new compact should equip a 10.3-megapixel CCD sensor and sensitivity among the 100 ISO 2500 and ISO.

In addition to M8.2, the Leica camera cool gadgets will also announce the D-Lux 4 (clone of the new Panasonic Lumix LX3 own definitions with the Leica camera cool gadgets) and C-Lux 3 (clone of Lumix FX37). But not only the lives of rumours Leica camera cool gadgets because the company has officially announced its new objective: the Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 ASPH, Summilux-M 21mm f/1.4 ASPH, Summilux-M 24mm f/1.4 ASPH and Elmar-M 24mm f / 3.8 ASPH. Interestingly the fact of proposing a Leica camera cool gadgets lens with a diaphragm opening of less than 1.

Come August 22 and the Indian mobile phone market will never be the same again. The much-hyped Apple i-phone will finally arrive! We all were eagerly waiting for it. After all, it’s an Apple product. So much is the hype that other mobile phone companies are already running for cover. New mobiles are being launched by Nokia, HTC, Samsung et al with the pseudo-name ‘i-phone killer’. Meetings are being called, strategies are being discussed and even the smallest glitch in the I-phone is being magnified to humongous proportions.� �

Apple Inc. has a huge reputation in the consumer electronics market. Its products have aesthetic designs and are objects of desire to most of us. Apple added a new dimension to the portable media players with the launch of i-pod. It created a new industry for i-pod accessories. But are the products of Apple Inc. over-hyped? If you ask me, my answer would be a YES!�

Without going into the features of the phone, here are a bunch of reasons why we need to look over all the gaga for the i-phone. Firstly at 31,000 INR for 8GB model it is overpriced. Apple is known for post-launch price changes. When launched in US, the price was slashed by $200 just two months after the release. Secondly, downloads from Apple’s I-tunes music stores will not be available on the I-phone. Thirdly, as 3-G network is not available in India, many features of the phone will not work. Fourthly, it’s the iTunes monopoly. When I bought my i-pod 2 years back, I did not have a personal computer. Getting music/videos used to be a tedious task. And last but not the least, once you buy an i-phone, it needs to be activated. As a lot of sales are expected on the date of launch, I bet the i-Tunes servers would be overloaded. So you might have to wait for a day or two before you can actually start using the phone. �

So there is no need to make a beeline to the electronic stores for the i-phone on August 22nd unless you really need to flaunt it!
Via rediff

It’s raining music for ears which are always wired into an iPod or a walkman phone! Yesterday, the much awaited Walkman Series of Sony Ericsson was announced. The series includes 3 mobile phones W902, W302 and W595. The phones can play wide variety of music files and come with other multimedia functions as well- camera, internet access and connectivity options. These will be on shelves in the last lag of this year. The company’s previous model (W800) is already a hit among music fans.

Here are the features of each phone one-by-one:

Sony Ericsson W302:-
•� 2 Megapixel camera with 2.5x zoom.
•� 3D games, Java and Video viewing.
•� Bluetooth connectivity, USB support and Memory Stick Micro.
•� 20MB of internal memory.
•� Available in Midnight Black and Sparkling White.

SE W902 phone:-
•� 5 Megapixel auto focus camera with up to 16x digital zoom.
•� Includes cool stuff like Picture blogging, Video blogging, Video recording & Photo feeds.
•� Shake control and SensMe features +nt.
•� Allows access to Google Maps and enables Geo tagging of photos as well!
•� Available in Volcanic Black, Wine Red and Earth Green.

SE W595 (slider style) phone:-
•� 3.2 Megapixel camera.
•� Bluetooth stereo.
•� FM radio.
•� Shake control and SensMe.
•� 40MB of internal memory (supports for Memory Stick Micro also +nt.)
•� Available in Active Blue, Lava Black, Cosmopolitan White & Jungle Grey

All the three models are too tempting but their price will be a defining factor as well (which is yet to be announced!).

Via: techshout

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In today’s highly competitive world, surviving in markets is next to impossible if your customers aren’t happy with your products. Worst, if their grievances are not looked after, in a well enough manner. To improve its image and upon numerous complaints by users of AVIC F-Series navigators, Pioneer has now taken the recovery path.

Users earlier reported complete lock-ups to distorted voice commands to quirky iPod interactions. Now, Pioneer’s rescue plan comes in the form of a free firmware update! Specifically designed to rectify the irksome problems with US-based AVIC-F900BT, AVIC-F90BT, and AVIC-F700BT; the update promises to rectify certain software issues and thus enhance the quality of system by overall improvements in it. Ok, sounds good enough! But will it work? To find that out, use this firmware. In case your unit was lucky enough to not face any hiccups earlier while using AVIC-F500BT it is still advised by the company to still go for the upgrade. Hopefully, this one doesn’t give headaches like it previous cousin!

Source: ubergizmo

The rapidly changing technology in the world of digital cameras has facilitated the emergence of good quality pictures and snaps by even amateur photographers. However, its always nice to know a ting or two and specially features about a digi cam if you are about to purchase a better version of it.

Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-LX3 digital camera is about to make its debut in world markets coming august. The model seems to be good best among the Lumix DMC-LX range and stands good chance of giving other contemporary models a stiff competition in terms of performance and price.

Features:
•� 10.1 MegaPixel (though fabulous pictures can be clicked at somewhere between 3-7 Mega Pixel as well).
•� LCD 3″screen - new and improved with a 460,000-dot high resolution.
•� 24 mm lens.
•� Image processing Venus Engine IV, ISO 3200.
•� CCD Sensor 1/1.63″.
•� Technology red-eye correction.
•� ISO intelligent face detection (until 15).
•� Video recording up to 1280 x 720 to 24 FPS.
•� Features a Film mode with six color types and three types of monochrome selections.
•� Fast autofocus.
•� AF Tracking- automatically tracks the image subject and locks it into focus, thus, making it easier for anyone to capture sharp. Result: well-focused, crisp and sharp photos!

Price: About $ 500.

So, what do you think of it? Sure, it could be a great gift option too!

Via: gadgetarena

The Indian mobile gaming scenario just got better with the recent announcement by
Zotac International to bring forth its latest graphic cards on Indian soil. Based on Nvidia’s GeForce 9800 graphics architecture, the nouveau arrivals include-Zotac GeForce 9800 GTX+ and GeForce 9800 GTX+ AMP Edition.

Carsten Berger, marketing director, Zotac International said, “With the latest generation of ZOTAC GeForce 9-series graphics cards, the clock speed and performance of each individual processor core has become an important performance aspect”. It doesn’t come as a surprise then that, both the graphic cards can deliver you every 3D related task from gaming to HDV (high definition video) Playback! The Clock speed of Zotac GeForce 9800 GTX+ and ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GTX+ AMP Edition are 1836 MHz and 1890 MHz respectively. Oh Baby! That’s some ultra-fast clock speed for you.

Users can also pair the GeForce 9800 GTX+ graphic card (core738 MHz) with 512MB of super-fast 2200 MHz GDDR3 memory for some action-packed high-resolution gaming. GTX+ AMP Edition takes a step beyond this with a 750 MHz core and 2300 MHz memory clock speed.

Other Sexy Features are:
•� HybridPower compatible and Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ architecture available
•� Nvidia PhysX ready as also, Nvidia PhysX and Nvidia CUDA ready
•� DirectX 10 with Shader Model 4.0 compatible
•� PCI Express 2.0 interface (Compatible with 1.1)
•� PureVideo HD technology
•� Dual dual-link DVI – up to 2560×1600
•� OpenGL 2.1 compatible
•� High-definition hardware decoding acceleration and 3-way SLI ready
•� XIII Century game bundle

Now, the most important detail which, I’m sure all your gaming fans and mobile freaks are waiting to know- THE PRICE ofcourse!
So grab Zotac 9800GTX+ for Rs. 14,300 and shell out Rs. 15,500 for Zotac 9800GTX+ AMP Edition and needless to mention, get the maximum out of your latest multimedia phone!

Source: techshout

The last time the word “Cryptex” stunned me was when I was actively perusing through Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. This time it has struck me when I learned about this nameless mobile phone which uses haptic technology to provide physical feedback for making a call. So, for convenience it can be called as the Cryptex Phone Concept.

The latter is the brainchild of designer Marc Schömann and is very much functional in case you thought (after looking at it) that its one of those useless toy-types! How to use it? Simple enough (or perhaps not, depending upon the time factor!) -� twist a section to turn it on; twist a bunch of sections to dial a number, just twist baby twist! And don’t get frustrated in case you are making an international call.

Cryptex phone concept comes with a vibrate feature also. Phew! Ok, there’s something mobile-like in it because this phone concept comes without buttons and display. The designer’s word on it is that- “thou shall turn the dial of every element to desired cipher”.

On/off system- green LED: you turn the first segment to phone and get indicated by this Green LED AND Red LED- you turn the first segment to hang up your call and get indicated by this red one. I tell you, this old-timer sort of Cryptex Phone might not be a hit among the generation-next but old one can still relish it and in case you want to control your hyper-active kids then probably, Cryptex phone will be a better choice than a Nokia/ Samsung!
Source: ubergizmo

That tiny USB port of your laptop is useful in ways more than what you had been using it for! Now you can use it to charge a small digi clock! The USB watch (as you can see in these photos here) works on the principle of ‘minimalism’. You won’t find any mechanical components in this one. The clock thus, comes with a ‘forever-at-your-service’ tag.� Your PC / laptop serves as the charging station for this ingenious gadget. All that power gets stored up in the watch’s in-built battery. I’m clueless on its price so far but I will surely update you folks, as I will learn about it. For the moment, all I can guarantee you is that this simple timepiece is definitely a good choice for those who love to wine and dine in the techie-circles of the society!

Source DesignBrothers