Lets me begin this workweek ’s installment of Gadgetbox byclearing the air(wihout the help of any insidious purifier ) . Last workweek I alluded to find myself in the back of a squad car , so I just require to take this opportunity to observe that I may have confuse two separate event , to witticism : a ) walking by a patrol railway car near my household and seeing an iPod deep down and b ) watching an military action movie where the hero ( Bruce Willis ? Jason Statham ? I ca n’t keep these things full-strength ) was locked in the back of a police automobile . An understandable mistake , I think you ’ll harmonise . I confound myself with balding action heroesall the clip .
On to the gadget parade . It ’s been a fussy week in Gadgetistan ( a midget former Soviet Republic bordering Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan ) , so allow me to tell you all about the bunch of fresh phones Motorla ’s been pimping , the latest in universal — or at leastplanetary — translation , and a result to those “ who ’s been steal my snail mail ” woes .
Motorola says “In Soviet Russia, the iPhone is afraid of us ”
Ask Motorola CEO Ed Zander about the iPhone , and he ’ll smile and tell you that — ha!—Motorola is n’t disquieted .
Ooh , answering a question with the same questioninverted . look that ’s what they teach you on first Clarence Day of CEO 101 . Smooth , Ed . Real unruffled .
This week , Motorolathrew a shindig to introduce a unexampled card of phones for the year . Given that Apple ’s much - bombinate about French telephone garnered a yoke of point digs during the presentation , Moto is clearly looking to maintain their ( self-)perceived berth as King of the Cellphone Hill .
The models shown off this week include theQ8 GSM and Q9 HSDPA , both free-base on Motorola ’s Q smartphone . The Q8 is merely a GSM version of the be Q , while the Q9 contribute the 3 G wireless applied science ( HSDPA is primarily offered by Cingular in the US ) and a slender redesign to the political party . During the presentation , Motorola claimed the data point transfer rates of the Q9 would beat the pants of the iPhone , which at present only features the dull 2.5 gee bound standard . Much ado was also made about the Q9 ’s QWERTY keyboard , a gibe sure enough intended at the iPhone ’s novel multi - touch user interface . Motorola also touted their new MOTOZ8 slider phone , which we’vediscussed before , and the newROKR Z6 musicphonethat works with Windows Media thespian .
But the hotshot of the show was clearly theRAZR²(pictured ) . Me , I ’d intend that theKRZR(code named Canary ) was mean as the second - gen RAZR , but clearly that ’s not what Motorola had in mind . The RAZR² reduces the heaviness of the iconic telephone bytwo millimeters , playing into Motorola ’s diabolical plan to eventually buildactual razorsinto the RAZR personal credit line . The young manakin also answers one critique of the original RAZR by increase the phone ’s sturdiness . Motorola brags the RAZR² can hold out 180 pounds of pressure , a fact demonstrated by Zander banging the phone on a table , and after tear the RAZR² with a shotgun at head clean range ( well , not really , but it would have been cool ) .
In addition , the RAZR² ( and yes , I ’m go to toss off them for making me use that stunned ² tag every time ) boast a 2 ” outside filmdom and a 2.2 ” internal concealment and comes in GSM , EVDO / CDMA , HSDPA , and cooky n ’ cream flavor . It corroborate up to 2 GB of computer storage , has Bluetooth , a 2.0 megapixel tv camera , and some interpretation will feature a young Linux / Java - based OS ( call it a hunch , but I ’m guessingnotVerizon ’s CDMA modeling ) . you could even video group discussion with the work up - in photographic camera ( which , in my opinon , is one of those functions where a crappy implementation is definitely worse than no execution at all ) .
The original RAZR is , of line , one of the most iconic and popular telephone to engagement , and Motorla clearly hopes to capitalize on that , whilst simultaneously gravel it to the iPhone . Will it act upon ? The RAZR² does n’t run into me as competing in the same niche as the iPhone , but I would n’t be surprised to see it outsell the iPhone , at least ab initio . While the new modeling will start launching in July , with rollouts to various carrier do throughout the summertime , the one thing we do n’t know is the RAZR² ’s pricetag — a figure that , I imagine , will solidify whether or not many find it a true competitor to the iPhone .
“Sir, I think he’s saying he likes your sheep”
Just last week we were talking aboutStar Trek - esque replicators perhaps being merely a few years away . This time another revered gadget from the sci - fi classic , the Universal Translator , also mystify a mod day parallel in the form of the $ 2,000 VoxTec Phraselator P2 . While it might vocalize more likeTrekweaponry , the P2 claims to be “ themobile phrase translator . ” Just look at these fabulous slug full stop fromVoxTec ’s site :
Alright , so I may have added that last one . Anyway , the P2 was designed especially for the US military , whoapparentlyrun into situations that could potentially call for < understatement > misunderstandings . The 5”x7 ” P2 is ruggedized for working in the field , able-bodied to withstand pelting , sand , heat , and six animal foot drops onto concrete , which is good than I can say for myself . Its lithium battery is range to last up to 20 60 minutes , and it supports backup AA batteries .
Best of all , the P2 does n’t take to be trained : you could just speak and it ’ll interpret it into the language of your choice . Additional languages can be download over the mini - USB connector or loaded on the removable SD placard , though despite its “ kinship building ” claims , I ’m not certain it will be able to explain to your wife why you ’d rather clean out the garage than go to your in - laws for the weekend .
While the P2 sound fantastic , I wonder how well it really works . Having taken a variety of languages in the past , I know that very few people actually speak the way textbooks distinguish you they do — even a particularly estimable instructor may not be aware of all the different emphasis , idiom , and idioms that exist in a language . Then again , possibly I ’ve just been overly conservative ever since that time I ended up trade a cow for some magical beans of dubious origins . [ viaGizmodo ]
Neither snow, nor rain, nor insidious mail thieves threaten the Secure Mail Vault
Whenever I think about the US postal system — the idea that you may send off aphysical object3,000 knot across the country to another person — I’m shoot down between outright awe and shaking my top dog and laugh softly at our antiquated ways . What chutzpah ! To go all that style onponies ? Insanity !
But while we concern a lot about the protection of the bits that we trade back and forth via electronic mail everyday , we be given to pay less tending to the genuine corporeal box that nurse our bits of newspaper publisher — mine does n’t even have a lock on it . No , you ca n’t have my reference .
If you ’re concerned about people sneak your mail - order Saint Brigid or — god disallow — your former way out ofMacworld , or you come up yourself waste with envy over the drop curtain boxes at Blockbuster and your local library , perhaps thisSecure Mail Vaultis for you . The top slant expansion slot lets the postal common carrier well deposit your mail while making it as difficult for unwanted party to get admission to your precious letter as snagging a free Snickers from a pitch machine . Then you pop launch the bottom door , type in your 4 - digit pin , and recall your mail ( and , potentially , the severed hand of your would - be mail theives . And a Snickers bar . ) .
The mail bank vault will run you $ 299 ; buy now and you could get free shipping within the contiguous US . That only leaves one question : where do they deliver your Secure Mail Vault so it wo n’t get stolen?Blast![viagearfuse ]
That ’s it for this hebdomad ’s episode of Gadgetbox . In the words of the proud Aaron Sorkin , if you ’ve had one-half as much playfulness reading this as I ’ve had writing it … well , I ’ve had doubly as much fun compose it than you have read it . See you next week .
