Archive for December 30th, 2007

Talking e-book reader coming next year

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

talking_ebook

Watch your back, Kindle. According to reports, an Iranian inventor named Ramin Sedighi has created a “talking” e-book, which utilizes a stylus that can be moved across words and then pronounce them out loud. The system can also apparently “explain” pictures, though it’s unclear whether or not it uses image recognition or some type of embedded data. The device includes a USB port, audio out, the aforementioned stylus, 512MB of memory, and an SD card slot. The laptop-sized unit is aimed at educational applications for children 4 through 16, and will be available sometime in early 2008. No word on manufacturer or pricing.

[Via The Raw Feed]

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S730 compact shooter pre-announced for CES

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

sony-dsc-s730

Sony’s got a new basic camera in the works to flesh out its line of compacts. The Cyber-shot DSC-S730 brings 7.2 megapixels of resolution, a 2.4-inch LCD, ISO 1250 and 3x zoom. The high-ish ISO is ostensibly there to fight camera shake, but we’d rather Sony sprang for some image stabilization — we get the basic specs, but why not toss in some extra silicon to sweeten the package? As it stands, we’ll need a bit more info before we can really differentiate this new camera from Sony’s DSC-S700 from last year, but we’ll be finding out soon enough when Sony debuts the S730 in January. So far only a Europe launch is confirmed.

Via Akihabara]

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Netscape finally bows out, browsers no longer supported

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

Netscape

Although Netscape was once a mighty pioneer in the world of internet browsers, it didn’t take long for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer to overtake it and squash its dreams of market dominance. Granted, we highly (and we stress “highly”) doubt any viewers reading this now are relying on Netscape Navigator as their primary browser, but seeing it finally bow out is a bit surreal. According to a post on the Netscape Blog, support (and subsequent updates) for it will no longer be provided by AOL (disclosure: AOL is our parent company’s parent) after February 1, 2008. Sure, old versions will still be available for those who just hate to move on, but the team is suggesting that any remaining Netscape users (a show of hands, anyone?) make the leap to Firefox, and they even point you in the direction of a Netscape theme should you find yourself uncomfortable with change. Rest in peace, dear Netscape — it’s about time that last heap of dirt was finally flung.

[Via BlogRunner]

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Gear Live posts followup iPhone v1.1.3 video

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

In this season of rumors, we were trying to take it with a pinch of salt; we ended up with enough salt to make some Margaritas here at TUAW HQ, such was our skepticism — and we were, it would seem, quite wrong to have doubted.

Thankfully Gear Live’s Andru Edwards & Nate True decided to show us all what we can expect, with a full-blown video of the latest firmware, embedded after the break (all 8 minutes of it) with their permission. There’s a tonne of exciting stuff shown off — saving of pins on Google Maps, cell-tower triangulation with a single click (sweet!) and the long-missed hybrid Google Map (my preferred view). Throw in the re-arranging of the home screen and multiple SMS recipients (something we’d quite like to use over the holiday period) — my iPhone is feeling very inadequate already.

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