Sharper Image selling self-branded cellphones
2008 - 12 - 31
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Many of us know The Sharper Image best as a purveyor of massaging lounge chairs (which makes their stores a must-stop location in the mall), a chronic pusher of
ozone generators, and as a perennial favorite in SkyMall catalogs as we bide our time on the redeye. What we
don't know The Sharper Image for, though, is its broad selection of no-name phones procured from Chinese manufacturers. We just happened to be flipping through TSI's latest catalog today and came across these four little gems, three with "The Sharper Image" proudly emblazoned across their faces. The pack includes a touchscreen equipped
Chocolate knockoff (very 2006, but still quite strapping), a branded version of the
AMOI N810 Windows Mobile 6 Professional device, a black slider that looks like death incarnated, and an ultra-generic silver clamshell that looks straight out of the early part of this decade. The good news is that they're all unlocked and range from a very reasonable $169.95 to $499.95; the bad news, however, is that you may have to keep your thumb over the TSI logo to keep the public mockery to a minimum.
Read - Sharper Image 101TSI
Read - Sharper Image 008TSI
Read - Sharper Image 007TSI
Read - Sharper Image 005TSI
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Texting delays a given on New Years, celebrate accordingly
2008 - 12 - 31
Filed under: Cellphones
It probably doesn't come as much of a shock to you that
plenty of texting goes down midnight-ish tonight, and naturally the carriers are gearing up for just such an onslaught. Palm isn't so optimistic about the proceedings: according to a study it commissioned in the UK with lpsos MORI, 70% of people who send messages at midnight experience a delay in delivery, with places like London experience 77% delays, and 23% of Britons waiting over six hours for their text messages to arrive. Palm suggests an IM or email might be in order, and smartphone users will have better luck getting their messages delivered over the comparably unclogged data networks. Verizon seems more excited about the prospect, expecting the 284 million text messages sent last year on its network between 12pm New Years Eve and 4am New Years Day to rise to 300 million. Telstra expects to process more than 53 million messages across Australia, and will have a "small army" of techs on hand to monitor network performance. Canadians are expected to send 50 million texts this year, according to Virgin Mobile Canada, with the average canadian sending two text messages each -- double that of last year. However and wherever you party, stay safe out there -- friends don't let friends drink and text their estranged exes.
Read - Palm study warns of delays
Read - Verizon predicts 300 million
Read - Canada doubles in texts
Read - Telstra's small army in Australia
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Canon said to be developing own tech for SED TV production
2008 - 12 - 31
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
After being hampered by habitual delays both
legal and
technical, it looks like the
long-awaited über-tech of the display world may finally be on the cusp of reaching market, as Canon is reportedly developing a way to build surface-conduction electron-emitter display (
SED) TVs without using contentious IP. Specifically, Japanese newspaper Asahi is reporting -- without citing sources -- that Canon is working on a "non-carbon" method of producing the sets that bypasses the
Nano-Proprietary patents at the heart of that lawsuit. Still no hint on when we'll actually be able to install one of these models in our home theater, but the
promise of unrivaled black levels, brightness, and contrast could well have us drinking the SED Kool-Aid for years to come.
[Via
Bloomberg, thanks Dr. MORO]
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