USB flash drives are now coming in various sizes, shapes, forms and are here to serve more than just the basic purpose of storing data. They are now pendants, key chains and stylish accessories that have evolved a long way in the past decade or so. Now it is the time for the world’s smallest USB-flash active Wink to make its appearance on the stage. Coming in the dimensions of 30,5 x12, 7×2, 5 mm and weighing no more than a breezy 1.5 grams in weight, the USB drive can fit in almost anywhere and is perfect in case you wish to hide your data from prying eyes.

The ultra-mini USB drive has a storage capacity that ranges from 2 GB to what is a staggering 16 GB for its miniscule size, depending on the model you chose and the amount of cash that you are willing to part with. The range of these tiny wonders starts from $ 7.95 and in case you are wondering how durable these tiny little ones can be, then think again. Coming with a waterproof module and wrapped in high-strength polymer that prevents damage, the smallest USB drives on the planet can hold their own even under the roughest circumstances.

techno-internet

You are guaranteed that you will not find another pair of Jordans like this anywhere else on the planet and in that sense, the ‘Junk Dunk’ Nike-styled pair of shoes offers you exclusivity that even Nike themselves might struggle to offer. Designed by artist Gabriel Dishaw, this very special piece of footwear is crafted from metal scraps and discarded parts of old computers making it the perfect showpiece in the home of any tech-geek. Though not very comfortable to sport and walk around in, this art piece would surely make for a great conversation piece and maybe even an inspiration when it comes to professing the message of recycling.

With each year global electronic waste growing exponentially and landfills vanishing at a fast pace, recycling and reuse are the only ways of saving our planet from an impending doom. This symbolic masterpiece by Dishaw both advocates the ‘green’ philosophy and also adds a very cool and trendy edge to it. Wish to promote ‘eco-friendly’ ideology among the young sports fans? Then it might be hard to find a more compelling piece of work to get them initiated on the green path than these Jordans… Up for sale, grab a pair right now!

Gabrieldishaw

The mindboggling violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the past ten years has seen more dead bodies than the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur and Iraq combined. At the heart of the conflict are the so-called ‘blood minerals’ or ‘conflict minerals’ whose unregulated trade has been ruling the country, enriching its politicians and their crony elite, as well as plunging the Congolese people into the deepest depths of poverty and degradation.

These minerals are the ‘ores that produce tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold.’ They find their way into the world’s cell phones, iPods, computers, and sundry other gadgets and gizmos. They have also fueled ‘a war that has left more than 5 million dead.’

The lucrative path from conflict minerals to western consumer electronics companies starts in eastern Congo. Men and children are ‘forced to pay arbitrary “taxes” to various armed groups and live on slave wages, carving uncertain tunnels into mountains with iron picks, hammers and their bare hands. Deep underground, they sift through mud and rock for valuable ore, much of which is smuggled across the border into Rwanda or Uganda, taken by truck to ports in Tanzania and Kenya, and loaded onto cargo ships bound for Asia, where it is smelted into metal, sold and used by electronics companies to make the microprocessors that power your favorite gadgets.’

About half a dozen armed groups vie for control over the lucrative trade in black market minerals, mined by the so-called artisanal miners whose lives are literally endangered by the mining operations.

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Via The Root

The 21.5 inch LCD has great quality with an 83 percent color range and a 50,000:1 contrast ratio. You get a widescreen display with its full HD 1920 by 1080 dimensions. Its 1080 p-native screen has its own two-megapixel webcam and it also takes either DVI or VGA for video input. Besides, the LCD has a 2 mp webcam and dual microphones for your video chats.

The touch and the webcam signal are pushed to the attached computer through a built-in four-port USB.
The latest of innovations by Dell will cost American buyers $469.

Via: Electronista, Dell

These days books are expensive and they consume a lot of space in your library as well. Hence, many prefer to opt for eBooks to actual books. Earlier visiting the local library was a common practice followed by a large number of people but nowadays many prefer to plunk themselves their computers and catch up on some e-Books instead.

 A recently conducted survey on the eReader market reveals that eReaders find the eBooks expensive, reports Forrester. The online survey was conducted on 4,706 US consumers in order to find out what value they place on eReader devices. The Surveyors used a Van Westerndorp Price Sensitivity Meter methodology to ask consumers the following four open-ended questions:
1. At what price would you consider an electronic book device/eBook reader a bargain?
2. At what price would you consider an electronic book device/eBook reader expensive but still purchase it?
3. What price would be so inexpensive that you would question the quality of an electronic book device/eBook reader?
4. What price would be so expensive that you would not consider buying an electronic book device/eBook reader?
Much to the surprise of the surveyors, the consumers rated eBooks to be anywhere between $50 and $99. This is way too less as compared to the current eReaders in the US, of which the Sony Pocket Reader is priced at $199 and the Kindle DX at $489.

Around 25 million consumers (approximately 14%) of the total 181 million US consumers believed that the current eReaders priced at $199 were expensive. However, they were still ready to purchase the eBooks at that price. I wonder if this means bring down the importance of eBooks.

Via: Forrester

As the time goes by, most people are depending on their computers for almost everything. Once library visit was a tad common at least amongst the avid readers but now many of them have turned to their computers to even read books. Much to the delight of the modern day readers, COOL-ER, a famous electronic book reader had tied up with Google in order to distribute books through digitalized library Google Books on its coolerbooks.com web site.

The good news is that the books will be available for free. So, you can simply download the text files of the books and read them. Besides, coolerbooks.com will also package the books in 19 different file formats so the readers can easily access. Interestingly, the e-reader by COOL-ER is available in different wacky colors like the bright ones. Quite an interesting and a cool concept it is. I really like this.

I guess I will soon become a voracious reader with the COOL-ER’s e-reader is easily accessible. I am sure this will encourage a lot of others to inculcate the habit of reading. Some of us really do feel lazy to visit the local library. So, this will work best for people like us.

Via: CoolerBooks

If you planning to splurge a huge sum on a Tablet PC, then just hold on and take a look at what DUO offers you. By incorporating the next generation technology, DUO converts almost any laptops or computers 17 inches smaller into a touch screen with full tablet functionality. It is a small device, which acts as a “base station” clips onto the top of the monitor. The DUO is a must have for any business professional, student, graphic designer, artist, and for everyone.

It comes with amazing features. It allows you to write, type, draw directly on documents or your desktop. You can also highlight important information by using a variety of lines, shapes and colors of your choice. You can also capture your personal hand writing or automatically convert it to ASCII characters for clear and easy reading. The pen is very smooth and, if you want to draw or write with varied line texture and brush strokes, the use the pressure sensitive tip.

For easy touchscreen typing, you can use the virtual keyboard. This will be very useful for your business meetings or class lectures. If you wish to, you can email the meeting or lecture notes to your friends or colleagues. The coolest feature is that you can write in eight different languages like Korean, Chinese, Japanese, English, French, German, Italy and Spanish. You can buy this cool device for $111.95.

Via: Cnet

That is the big question that is doing rounds out with a Finnish blog called Puhelinvertailu, managing to unearth a number of Nokia trademarks for possible upcoming handsets and devices. The names obviously show a long list of ‘X’ and ‘C’ device mobiles that the company is going to bring out not too long from now and that is something that we expected. But the exciting news is that apart from Nokia applying a trademark for ‘Nokia Money’, there was a trademark name application under the category of Computers, laptops, smart phones; accessories for computers, laptops and smart phones. This probably means that Nokia is indeed very serious about their Netbook launch sometime soon and it could be sooner than later.

The launch of a Nokia Smartbook could really revolutionize the market and bring about a change like none else before it. Considering both the technology and resources Nokia has at its disposal, this is a product that the consumers could line up for. But in the entire excitement one must remember that companies apply trademark for lots of names that they end up never using. We just hope that with the Nokia Netbook that is not the case… Fingers crossed.

Via: netbookchoice / liliputing

Singapore is bargain paradise for electronic and IT products. Sim Lim Square has over 400 stores that offer great deals in IT and electronic products, audio equipment, digital cameras and camcorders, and every imaginable accessory to all these products. This IT mall has a Star Retailers Programme where every registered mall shop tenant gives full refund to any of its purchased product that was sold at a cost higher than the recommended retail price.

The 24-hour Mustafa Centre has over 100,000 IT and electronic products on display. Most of these items are on sale everyday. The mall has a GST refund center where amiable staff are ready to assist every buyer.

Funan The IT Mall is Asia’s leading IT shopping mall. It is a one-stop electronics and IT haven that offers the widest range of genuine value-for-money IT and electronic gadgets. The entire mall has free unlimited Wireless Internet access. A Downtown Cash Refund counter within the mall provides instant tax refund for tourists.

The coolest and latest Sony products are available at the two Sony Galleries in Wisma Atria and Bugis Junction. These shops offer a wide variety of the newest Sony compact digital cameras, lightweight laptops, and complete home theater systems, among others. A Sony consultant is one hand to give you free expert advice. The specially designed Sony Digital Workshops are also popular among shoppers.

The Canon Digital Media Hub in Singapore is the only one of its kind in Asia for Canon, being the official Canon digital camera and video center. With a single Canon digital camera purchased, a free 4-hour training session by professional filmmakers and video editing experts is offered. These workshops teach valuable skills in moviemaking and turning films into DVDs and VCDs.

Headquartered in Singapore, Creative Technology is the worldwide leader in lifestyle digital entertainment products for the PC. MP3 players, speaker systems, web and digital cameras, the NOMAD jukebox, the MuVo MP3 players, and the Sound Blaster sound cards are readily available at this IT and electronics store.

Apple enthusiasts will find the widest range of Apple computers, peripherals, software, digital camcorders, scanners, and PDAs at the AppleCentre@Orchard located in Wheelock Place. The shop offers a three-year international warranty on portable items, an in-house service center, and free delivery to hotels in the vicinity of Orchard Road.

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Via singapore expats

Owing a netbook is a sure sign that you are not below the poverty line, that is if the netbook truly is yours and is completely yours. However, with the increase in the interest in providing to every class of society, you may own a laptop made especially for the poor man.

Daniel Spalding designed the Poor Man’s Netbook which turns out to be a netbook in a rugged suitcase and cost much more than a normal netbook to build. Since that was so bulky and people complained about how bulky it was, Daniel decided to build something better and came up with the smaller but faster version of the Poor Man’s Netbook and titled it the Poor Man’s Notebook. This sleeker better version has an 8 inch touch screen with 1024×768 resolution. Other specifications of the Poor Man’s Notebook include 2.5GHz dual-core E5200 CPU, 4GB of DDR2 RAM and 64GB OCZ solid state drive. The notebook also offers WiFi and Bluetooth connection and has a GeForce 7100 graphics set.

The Poor Man’s Notebook may not work like the really sleek stuff that is available for the elite but it is called a Poor Man’s gadget, after all. I wonder how poor, though.

Via: EnGadget