Category: Top stories
Korea/Japan Week: LG’s concept NYX phone with a jog-wheel
At the end of my visit to the LG Demo Centre, they showed a quick presentation of another concept phone, called NYX. It has the slogan ‘Display Only Card Phone’, although that could be a way of saying ‘not for sale concept device’ I guess.
Anyway, it’s interesting, with a three-inch touchscreen and five-megapixel camera, and a big jog-wheel on the back of the device, which is used for everything from zooming while taking photos to altering the volume when listening to music.
LG Viewty: UK operators confirmed (including O2, despite iPhone)
O2 might have signed an exclusive deal to sell Apple’s iPhone in the UK, but the operator appears to be hedging its bets by also signing up to sell LG’s Viewty – one of the iPhone’s fiercest rivals.
However, O2 won’t be the only UK operator selling the Viewty – they all will. That’s what I found out during a visit to LG’s Seoul demo centre today, anyway. Besides giving a hands-on demo of the Viewty, LG said that it’ll be sold through Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and 3 in Europe, and showed a model that was branded as O2.
Who is the most web 2.0 savvy out of David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Ming Campbell?
Ashley Norris writes…
Sadly Gordon Brown has done the sensible thing/bottled out at the last minute (delete as appropriate) and put the general election on hold. Which personally I find a little disinegenious given that the Tech Digest team spent most of last week checking out the political parties’ online offerings so we could announce who we thought would win the web 2.0 election.
Well we can’t be bothered to hang on to this piece until May 2009 or whenever he pulls his finger out, so here is Tech Digest’s guide to how the UK polical hacks are using the web to combat the widespead political apathy which seems to have taken root in the UK.
None of the sites are anything near as whizzy or imaginative as Barack Obama’s online calling card, but there is some decent stuff out there including evidence that – get this – the Tories may have a sense of humour.
So do all these sites mean anything to anyone who is not a resident of Hackville? We got Tech Digest’s politically agnostic Deputy Editor Katherine Hannaford to find out.
Katherine Hannaford writes…
So the UK’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, announced on the weekend he wouldn’t be calling a general election this week. But it wasn’t because of David Cameron’s unscripted speech at the Tory party conference or the fact that he wants us to properly digest yesterday’s public spending review. It was because his minions couldn’t unearth a sex-tape showing an opposing MP in a compromising position in time. Ok, that was wishful thinking, admittedly.
Nope, the reason why ol’ Gord bottled it was because he hasn’t got his Facebook profile in order, he is still agonising about the poor viewing figures on his YouTube account and he hasn’t yet worked out what Digg is. Last I heard, he thought it was a gardening forum.
If only eh? Anyhow, instead of having a real general election in the UK, we here at Tech Digest are going to have a web 2.0 election – deciding which of the three main political parties have made the best web 2.0 efforts thus far. Read on below for the initiatives made by the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party, and we’ll give you a chance afterwards to elect a party to the Political web 2.0 Houses of Parliament….
Top five health-related gadgets for Lindsay Lohan now she's out of rehab. Sadly Madonna doesn't fit in a Chanel handbag…
Dear Lindsay,
If the word on the street is correct, you left rehab on the weekend after two months of detoxing and avoiding your court order of one day in jail taking care of your mind, body and soul. Now, we’ve seen how easy it is to fall off the wagon once you leave rehab (Britney Spears, Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse can surely attest to that), so it’s more important than ever to ensure you look after yourself, Lilo. That means no hard partying with Paris and Nicole, no more dangerous older men (unless you can snag Johnny Depp and pimp him to me occasionally), and please god, no more firecrotch flashes. I don’t think my stomach can cope with that anymore!
Surely you know how to use a mouse, so just click on the button below, saying ‘Continue reading’, otherwise get your assistant to do it for you, and read my top five gadgets for keeping healthy now you’re out of rehab. It’s for your own good Lindsay, and ours too – we’ve been rather enjoying reading about Britney’s downfall in the Metro newspaper every morning, and sadly there’s just not enough space for you anymore. Stop sobbing, and take a look below….
Sharp and Yahoo team up for HDTV web browsing
Imagine looking at websites in glorious high-resolution on your flat-screen telly? Sharp is doing its best to make sure you don’t have to imagine, with a new service called Yahoo! HD for AQUOS’, which was unveiled at the CEATEC Japan 2007 show this week.
Basically, the service upscales content from Yahoo’s Japanese portal to make the most of a 1920 x 1080 resolution LCD TV. Among the features being shown off by Sharp are mapping and picture books, with a keen focus on content that would be likely to “stimulate conversation” among the several people likely to be sitting in front of a TV.
Opinion: Why isn't Apple letting us share music too?
Stuart Dredge writes…
I’m genuinely excited about Microsoft’s plans for the Zune Social community, allowing Zune owners to subscribe to each other’s dynamic playlists, and embed their latest listening in their blog or social networking profile.
It’s certainly more interesting than the Zune-to-Zune Wi-Fi track sharing that debuted in the first Zune, anyway. Zune Social would actually make me buy a Zune, if Microsoft was selling it officially over here in the UK. Note to Bill: sort this out soon, please.
With the caveat that I’m not a Jobs-hating Microsoft fanboy (or, indeed, a Gates-stomping Apple nut), Zune Social has made me wonder why Apple hasn’t done more in the area of music sharing – or at least communities around the music stored in our iPods and iTunes applications.
Top 10 Web 2.0 strategies for the UK general election
Assuming Gordon Brown has the stomach for a fight, we could have a general election next month here in the UK. Normally, this would be cause for advertising agencies to lick their lips at the prospect of lucrative billboard and TV ads for the various parties.
But we’re living in a Web 2.0 world now. Just look at the US for proof, where campaigning is well underway for next year’s presidential election. The various candidates have their own blogs, they’re using YouTube, they’re holding debates using MySpace… It’s a thoroughly modern way of campaigning.
Microsoft's new Zune models: everything you need to know
It might’ve been the most poorly-kept secret in the consumer tech industry, but that didn’t stop Microsoft from giving its new Zune models the big reveal last night, as well as introducing new features for its Zune Marketplace store and debuting a new online community called Zune Social.
30 ways to tell you're Lost In Technology
I love gadgets. You love gadgets. We all love gadgets. But some people go TOO FAR. They’re Lost In Technology, cutting their ties to the world of flesh and blood in favour of a silicon-packed eLife at the bleeding edge of… well, something.
Worried that you, too may fall into this category? Here’s 30 ways to tell that you’re Lost In Technology.
1. Your partner cuts up your credit cards the day of any Apple product launch, just to be sure.
2. Seperate webcams mean you’re constantly streaming on three different lifecasting websites, in a bid to make Justin.tv look like a no-mark amateur.
3. You bought a PS3, Xbox 360 AND a Wii, just so you could pitch into online fanboy flame wars on whichever side you liked, according to your mood.
4. You checked a domain registry before choosing the name of your unborn child, just to make sure the URL wasn’t taken.
5. Not only do you own four AIBOs, but you’ve rewired them to cook, clean and bodypop on demand.
Cancer charity holding 'World's Biggest Coffee Morning' in Second Life
At last, a reason to log back into Second Life that doesn’t involve getting spammed by a brand. UK charity Macmillan Cancer Support is holding what it says is the ‘World’s Largest Coffee Morning’ this Friday within the virtual world, at its new virtual cancer information centre.
It’s been created for Macmillan by Second Life creative firms New Business Horizons and Phoenix Film & Television. Visitors to the centre will be served virtual coffee all day, while giant coffee cups are being placed around the Second Life world to attract donations, with every donor getting a free virtual t-shirt by way of thanks.
