Reaching Through the Net to Touch. Scientists are developing devices that let people share their sensation of touch with anyone connected to the Net. It's perhaps creepy, but the technology could have wide applications. By Daithí Ó hAnluain. [Wired News]

NTT DoCoMo's hot new phone. Further depressing those of us subject to the continually disappointing offerings of the US cellphone market, NTT DoCoMo's new cellphone, the Mova N505i, comes with a built-in dual speaker surround sound system, a scanner for "convenient reading and storage of URLs, mail addresses and telephone numbers appearing in magazines and other printed materials," and, we assume given the rest of the phones in the series, a 1.3 megapixel digital camera. Read... [Gizmodo]

2.4GB Microdrives. Remember Microdrives? With Flash memory cards hitting 4 gigabytes, we'd all but forgotten about Microdrives (those incredibly small mechanical hard drives that fit into a CompactFlash card slot), which had maxed out at 1GB ages ago. While we wait for Hitachi's 4GB Microdrive, which is supposed to surface sometime around the end of the year, Colby Systems already has a 2.4GB Microdrive coming out which is expected to sell for about $279. Read [Via PocketPCThoughts]... [Gizmodo]

Gesture Control for Automotive Peripherals. j-rock nowhere writes "An article in Automotive Design and productions' Field Guide to Automotive Technology describes a possible future method of controlling ... [Slashdot]

Sony Invades Martian Territory. Sony to offer $600 Wi-Fi fileserver with 20 Gb storage (in German): The folks at Computer Woche (Computer Week) report that Sony should be offering a 20 Gb Wi-Fi fileserver with an optional $60 Ethernet cradle, and the ability to support 250 Wi-Fi users. (That is, the ability to feed out 250 NAT-provided addresses, but not necessarily the networking capacity to handle that.) Oddly, this is clearly Martian territory: the folks at Martian offer the nearly identically featured NetDrive Wireless for $399 (40 Gb) or $479 (120 Gb) as well as in no-drive kit form ($379). Of course, theirs includes Ethernet in the basic model, and offers Rendezvous-based options for Mac users, including iTunes music sharing. Full disclosure: Martian has sponsored this site twice. [via Lockergnome]... [Wi-Fi Networking News]

The Register on MyOrigo's motion-controlled cellphone. The Register takes a first look at the MyDevice, one of MyOrigo's motion-controlled cellphones, which lets you navigate by tilting and moving the phone in different directions:Dial up a page and MyDevice displays its top-left hand corner. Tilting the device to the right scrolls over to the top-right hand corner; tilt it in another direction and the page flows past accordingly. It's a little odd at first, but it works. And it's far better than every other PDA or cellphone based browser since you don't have to press buttons or tap and hold with a stylus to move around the page...The screen's touch-sensitivity allows MyDevice to dispense with a keyboard - up pops a virtual QWERTY layout or numeric pad whenever you need one or t'other. And you can navigate through the UI by touching on-screen panels too. It's more fun - and quicker - to use motion control. MyDevice's... [Gizmodo]

Wearing Wires.

I recently wrote here about clothing that changes color to match your mood (more details here).

Now, Newsweek is carrying an article called Wearing Wires.

Here are some quotes from an analysis written by ACM TechNews.

Perhaps the biggest barrier to the adoption of electronic clothing is its fashion value, but that may change thanks to the work of Georgia Institute of Technology engineer Sundaresan Jayaraman. Jayaraman's breakthrough electronic fabric, which melds natural fibers with extremely thin wires and optical fibers, is the basis of the SmartShirt, a product from Sensatex that will be initially marketed for medical applications, such as monitoring vital signs and transmitting them to nearby computers, or alerting medical centers or emergency services if the wearer is suffering a heart attack or other medical episode.

Jayaraman explains that the e-fabric acts as a sort of wearable motherboard that conducts electrical and optical signals to devices the wearer clips on externally. He says the fabric itself should only contain basic components--a power source, some memory, and a central processing unit.

Marketing the technology for consumers will be especially challenging: Jayaraman notes that the key to wide consumer appeal is making the technology invisible as well as simple to use. The Georgia Tech engineer terms such technology interactive textiles (i-textiles), and foresees networks of e-clothing that communicate with each other.

[Smart Mobs]

Sub-$100 video walkman for Christmas. A silicon valley startup is promising to ship a $100 personal video walkman, built with flash memory and a small LCD. Gizmodo points out that this is pretty vaprous-seeming, but hell, I'd probably buy one.

The new PVP, which will be released by HandHeld Entertainment in time for Christmas 2003, will be the first PVP of its kind priced under $100. Roughly the size of a personal digital assistant (PDA), the PVP includes a full-color screen, uses external media and is targeted to eight- to 25-year-olds.

Link Discuss (via Gizmodo) [Boing Boing Blog]

Japan's hot summer gadgets. PC World on the gadgets that are hot in Japan this summer, like Canon's 3.2-megapixel Ixy Digital 30 digital camera (known as the Elph Powershot SD100 elsewhere), Sharp's Zaurus SL-C760 and SL-C750 handhelds (pictured at right), Toshiba's RD-XS31, a combination DVD burner/digital video recorder, and anything from Sony's new Qualia line of high-end electronics. Read [Via PocketPCThoughts]... [Gizmodo]

WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS digital camera. Well, Ricoh's new digital camera just totally one-upped that WiFi-capable digital camera from Sanyo we blogged about last week. The 3.24-megapixel Caplio Pro G3 has optional cards for adding WiFi, Bluetooth, or GPS (so you can stamp each photo with its exact coordinates) to the camera. Read... [Gizmodo]

New PacketVideo recorder enables consumers to create multimedia for videophones.

 

New PacketVideo recorder enables consumers to create multimedia for videophones

3G News -> New PacketVideo recorder enables consumers to create multimedia for videophones

"The increasing availability of new video-capable phones has intensified consumer demand for video content. To enable consumers and service providers to encode video for their mobile phones, PacketVideo has released a new content creation tool called PacketVideo Recorder that accepts input from USB webcams, digital video cameras, and other popular video file formats and converts them to the industry standards-compliant .3gp file format for delivery to videophones. The new product is available for download from www.pv.com/shop, PacketVideo’s new web-based retail store. The purchase price is $29.99, and a 30-day free trial is available. "

[Audioblog/Mobileblogging News]