by Techno Witch on July 31, 2008
By Jonathan Kimak
Progressive Insurance has a gadget that can monitor your driving habits. It can tell how many times you slam on the brakes suddenly and how fast you accelerate along with other signs of a good or bad driver.
If you drive safely then you could save as much as 60% on your insurance premiums. The downside is that if you drive poorly your insurance rate can actually go up by 9%. Everyone who signs up will get an immediate 10% reduction on their premiums before Progressive learns the truth. The monitoring system is already being tested in Alabama, Oregon and Minnesota and will make it to the rest of the U.S. during 2009.
[ Detroit News ] VIA [ Kicking Tires ]
by Techno Witch on July 31, 2008
I’ve seen a lot of alarm clocks that try every evil tactic in the world to make sure that you get your lazy self out of bed. They generally make you physically get out of bed, or solve some kind of puzzle before they stop making an annoying noise. But what about an alarm that simply made you want to get up, and rewarded you for doing so? That’s exactly the idea behind the Wake n’ Bacon.
The night before, just pop in a frozen strip or two of bacon, and set the alarm. Shortly before it’s time to wake up, it will start cooking the bacon. The idea is that the sweet aroma of greasy bacon will lure you out of sleep, and out of bed. If the smell isn’t enough to wake you, it will set off a small alarm, which should wake you enough to smell your wonderful bacon. Unfortunately it appears to be only a concept device at the moment (though the creators do have a working model). Rest assured, if the price isn’t outrageous, I’d be first in line to get one of these.
[ Mathlete ] VIA [ Dvice ]
by Techno Witch on July 31, 2008
I grew up living in the middle of nowhere, so I’m used to dealing with bugs and strange creatures. Of course, no one likes mosquitoes, since they leave you with itchy little bumps. There are plenty of contraptions that promise to rid your yard of the pests, but few actually perform. So what if I told you there was something that was proven to get rid of up to 600 bugs per hour? Would you want something like that in your yard? What if I told you that bug-killer was a bat?
Yes, the average bat will eat around 600 bugs, including mosquitoes, per day (or night rather). With a simple Bat Conservatory you keep a few bats hanging around (bad pun alert!) your yard , and thus keeping the area bug population at a minimum. If you don’t mind the bats being around at night, then install this Bat Conservatory made from Western Red Cedar for around $55.
[ Amazon ] VIA [ RGS ]
by Techno Witch on July 31, 2008
Oh dear, how sad, it seems yet again there are problems with the Apple iPhone 3G. Reports are coming in according to macenstein.com that some of the White iPhone 3G handsets are apparently developing hairline cracks in their casing.
It appears also that the black iPhone 3G casing is suffering from the same problem but isn’t as noticeable. Maybe whatever compound is used in the black casing is somehow making it more resilient to fracture.
It is unfortunate for those owners of the Apple iPhone 3G White because Apple has not yet recognised there is a problem, (burying their heads again it seems)
Which probably means there will not be any cracked iPhone 3G replacement swaps happening until Apple actually acknowledge there is a problem with the White iPhone 3G, well THE iPhone 3G.
Beside that, with Apple continuing to struggle to get iPhone 3Gs onto store shelves, it will probably be some time before they can replace any defective unit.
by Techno Witch on July 31, 2008
Opera Software has launched the latest “State of the Mobile Web,” based on anonymous and aggregated statistics from Opera Mini servers, reports Intomobile.
According to those stats, 6 out of the most popular mobile phone models for browsing with opera Mini are from Nokia, 2 from Sony Ericsson and 1 from Blackberry along with 1 from Samsung.
Although over in the USA, nine of the top ten mobile phones for Opera Mini are RIM BlackBerrys.
Further info from the State of Mobile Web report of June 08: In June, Opera Mini users generated more than 46.7 million megabytes of data for operators worldwide. Thanks to the Opera Mini’s built-in compression of data, the actual amount of data requested was 311 million MB in June. People using Opera Mini viewed more than 3.2 billion pages in June, up 9.4% over May.
by Techno Witch on July 31, 2008
T-Mobile has release an update for the Sidekick LX OTA and Boy Genius has got their hands on it. Boy Genius confirms that other than spell checker, share, and play capabilities, Bluetooth A2DP, alarm clock, Bluetooth file transfer, the Sidekick LX OTA also incorporates video recording and playback.
A quick update on the above is it is looking like the Sidekick LX OTA update is beginning to roll out to the Sidekick masses. So if you still haven’t received the update, be patient and keep waiting.
The Sidekick LX OTA update is somewhat random so should be delivered to Sidekick owners HipTop by the end of August apparently, so the whispers go.
by Techno Witch on July 31, 2008
The word roaming the net waves is that Samsung has put the mobile breaks on their upcoming Linux based Samsung i800 mobile phone according to a post on engadget mobile.
This follows on from Asus’s conformation that they are scrapping their plans to release the ASUS ZX1 Lamborghini, ASUS M536, and the ASUS P560 smartphones.
Samsung touted the Samsung i800 as their first step into the Linux based platform as “The World’s first smartphone based on Access Linux Platform (ALP).”
Samsung planned to release the i800 on the Orange network in the UK, but it appears that the handset was “withdrawn in order to… prepare a more competitive Linux mobile.”
by Techno Witch on July 31, 2008
Becoming bored with your already old Motorola Q9h on the AT&T network? Well at least you can update your old Motorola Q9h Norman to the latest Windows Mobile OS available.
We know you are probably frustrated at the super speed of mobile handset development, but you’ll just have to face the fact that upgrading every year is a necessity if you really wish to stay up to date.
However there’s nothing wrong with updating your old handset to the newest OS, and according to a post on WMExperts, it looks as if MOTOMODDING has posted the official AT&T branded Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM for the Motorola Q9h.
by Techno Witch on July 31, 2008
It appears Nokia are fed up with Research In Motion’s encroachment on their business mobile phone segment and according to symbian-guru, Nokia has announced they are to no longer support BlackBerry Connect support on their business E series mobile phones.
Research In Motion are apparently do well enough that Nokia feels a parting of the ways is needed and they will offer their customers more potions in email connectivity.
“RIM are a competitor and have done a reasonable job in a space that is traditionally ours, so it’s no great surprise that we see this as an opportunity to give consumers a proper choice on what email solution they want.”
The recently launched Nokia E71 is the newest mobile handset to go without the BlackBerry Connect feature, which leaves the E71 with only Nokia’s unrefined email client foe emailing.
by Techno Witch on July 31, 2008
By Andrew Liszewski
I like complex watches that are crammed full of functionality and features as much as the next gadget blogger, but I have to admit these simple Independent Retrograde Dualtime watches from Citizen have their own unique appeal. The watches come in either a polished stainless steel (the ITR21-5053) or IP gold and black (the ITR21-5051) finish and both feature an analog watch face with a digital typeface for the hours, as well as a unique L-shaped 24-hour clock at the bottom. They’re both available from Tokyoflash with the stainless steel model selling for about $242 while the IP gold and black is just a bit more at about $271.
[ Independent Retrograde Dualtime ITR21-5053 & ITR21-5051 ] VIA [ Uncrate ]
