VTech Push-to-Talk DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone System
VTech has rolled out their first Push-to-Talk DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone System, bringing a walkie-talkie experience to your home without breaking the monthly budget at a sub-$100 price tag for all of its 2010 models. The LS6325 series offer instant communication for large households and small offices, where you get Push-to-Talk (PTT) functionality which enables instant voice delivery through the handset speakerphone. This does away with the need for mom to shout or clang some pots and pans to attract the attention of her kids for dinner, while offices will reduce unnecessary shouting or raised voices, helping prokect a more professional image to outsiders. Capable of working within a 1,500 foot radius, this ought to work for most homes unless you live in a sprawling mansion. [Press Release]
Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Speakers Look Great and Sound… Expensive Speakers
Just because I could never afford this high-end 800 Series Diamond speaker from Bowers & Wilkins doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy looking at it, and giggling at the phrase "diamond dome tweeter."
The seven new speaker sets are all pricey, so we may as well talk about the flagship 800 Diamond, which is apparently the latest generation of the speakers used at Abbey Road Studios. That doesn’t necessarily tell you anything about how they sound, but for $24,000 per pair you should expect a good conversation starter or two thrown in. The bass is "significantly improved," thanks to a new voice coil and bass realignment, and the entire range of new Diamond Series products are outfitted with diamond tweeter technology. Read more…
EV Mini Sport Is Powered By Electricity
Japan’s Tajima Motor Corp has unveiled its latest electric vehicle, the EV Mini Sport. It might look like a mini Formula One car, but its top speed of 43 miles per hour ensures that you won’t be winning any races with it anytime soon. Of course, this car was designed mainly for city use, and with that in mind, it should do rather well, not to mention that its small size should allow you to fit it into those tight parking spots. The EV Mini Sport will be going on sale this month in Japan for 2,079,000 yen ($23,018, without a battery).
Come March 30, eBay Listing Fees Will Be Gone Or Lower For Some Sellers
eBay this morning announced that it will introduce free auction listings and reduced listing fees for fixed-priced items in the U.S., starting March 30.
The e-commerce giant says the ’success-based’ pricing is similar to changes implemented by eBay in Europe, changes that have self-reportedly driven strong growth for sellers in markets such as the U.K. and Germany. Read more…
JDContextMenu Enhances Windows’ Right Click Menu
Windows: JDContextMenu is a small application that adds a variety of useful shortcuts to the right-click context menu in Windows.
None of the shortcuts are things you couldn’t do within Windows with a few extra clicks or with a small 3rd-party app, but JDContextMenu bundles them together into a small menu with one-click ease. You can copy the full filename to the clipboard, alter the time and date stamp of a file, run an MD5 checksum to verify file integrity, and create new folders—the new folder tool allows you to create a variable number of numbered folders in a series. Read more…
Google Voice Arrives on iPhones with HTML5-Powered Webapp
iPhone/Palm Pre: Apple and/or AT&T don’t want the Google Voice service to have its own iPhone app, and we think that stinks. Google is finally releasing the next best thing: a mobile site that basically replicates a dedicated Google Voice app.
The big advantage of Google’s new Voice app (which is already showing up for Voice users at Lifehacker HQ) is the direct contact access. Rather than having to store secondary numbers or use the somewhat old-school-looking Voice mobile site to pull up your contacts, Google Voice’s new webapp provides super-quick, as-you-type access to your Google Contacts. The interface is similar to what you see when you visit Voice in a full browser, with the same mobile look and feel as Gmail, Reader, and other products have recently received. Read more…
Frequent Flyers Rejoice: TripTracker Automagically Brings Your Travel Details to Your iPhone
Pageonce has quietly built a solid business by aggregating its user’s various online accounts into one place. They’ve got over 1.3 million registered users and recently raised a $6.5 million Series B round. And though Pageonce hardly gets neither the fame nor the fortune of its competitor (Mint), it is still a very solid way to manage your online accounts. Unlike Mint, which focuses on personal finances, Pageonce’s goal is to provide you with a one-stop view of all of your online accounts, including financial, travel, e-mail and social networking. Read more…
CyanogenMOD 5.0 Beta 2 Available for Nexus One
If you’re an adventurous Nexus One owner who would love some USB tethering, and a possibly faster phone, Android hacker extraordinaire Cyanogen has released a full ROM package for Nexus One phones, giving you root access and a few goodies.
This is not for the faint of heart, or those worried about warranties—for newcomers, rooting and installing CyanogenMOD requires a "wipe" of your phone data, as well as the flashing of some third-party firmware. You’ll be making a backup of your working phone, and you’ll get back all your Google apps, but know the risks before you jump in. Read more…
Rumor: Apple’s TV subscription plans stall on “tablet eve”
With less than 24 hours to go before the tablet’s likely introduction, the New York Times is reporting that the TV networks are resisting Apple’s proposed subscription model of distribution. For $30 per month, Apple would supposedly allow customers all-you-can-eat access to their library of television content. However, TV execs fear Apple’s recent stance on individual song pricing in the iTunes Store, which spurred track sales but dampened sales of albums.
AppleInsider suggests that there’s a contingency plan in place, in which Apple asks* the networks to change the price of an individual TV episode from $1.99 to $0.99, which jibes with a story on Financial Times this morning. Read more…
Aluminum Keyboard Firmware Update 1.1 available
Earlier this month, we reported on an issue with the Magic Mouse and Apple’s aluminum Bluetooth keyboard. Specifically, users were reporting that the mouse was draining the keyboard’s batteries at an alarming rate. Now, Apple has released a fix.
According to Apple, Aluminum Keyboard Firmware Update 1.1 "…improves battery performance of the 2007 aluminum Apple Wireless Keyboard when used in combination with other bluetooth devices (eg. Magic Mouse, some bluetooth headsets) and addresses an issue with the 2007 aluminum Apple Keyboard and the 2007 aluminum Apple Wireless Keyboard where a key may repeat unexpectedly while typing." You’ll find full installation details here. Read more…
