I’ve covered OQO news in the past, anticipated the OQO Model 02+ which was to come with their first Intel processor but somewhere along their timeline to come out with that model, OQO went out of business. Or did they?

From out of nowhere, OQO.CC has come forth with news about how they are/were the Chinese arm of the American OQO firm that went out of business officially in April of 2009, before the release of the OQO Model 02+. There are even official sounding specs on the device:

Operating system: Windows 7
Processor: 2.0 GHz Intel Z550
Memory: SSD 128GB
Memory: 2GB
LCD: 4.8-inch bright LCD screen (supports 1024X600)
Touch mode: Multi-touch
Graphics: Intel GMA500
Sound Performance: Built-in speaker and microphone
Communication: Wireless LAN, Bluetooth 2.0 chip, 3G, Ethernet (optional), etc.
Computer Interface: High-speed USB2.0 port headphone jack DC power input port HDMI port
Interface expansion slots: Power input port VGA port Ethernet interface (optional)
Input Devices: Built-in keyboard pointer keys
Battery Type: Polymer lithium battery
Power adapter: V AC 12 V DC/100-240
Supplied Accessories: Standard Battery Double the battery power adapter
Price: 31,888 yuan

While it looks very official and even has an official release date of Q3, 2010… that price is a killer. 31,888 Yuan translates to about $4700 USD. Ouch!

Guess my old OQO 01+ will have to wait to get replaced after all.

[ Links: OQO Chinese ]

PowerA just announced their latest iPhone accessory, the iPhone Universal Remote Case. Much like the Red Eye and L5 you can control your IR based products just using the iPhone, that is assuming you’ve also downloaded the accompanying PowerA app. What makes it different from the competition is the form factor, a case that can always be attached to the phone no matter the scenario. The L5 on the other hand is rather impractical because it’s a small dongle that attached to the iPhone’s 30 pin connector and juts out, making it less than pocket friendly. The Red Eye on the other hand is stricken to one room, unless of course you buy additional boxes.

Available from Apple.com website in accessories for $60.

[ Links: Gadget Review ]

Cowon launched its Windows 7-based MID Cowon W2 in the Korea market. It comes with a 4.8 inch wide LCD screen with 1024×600 resolution, utilizes an Intel Atom processor for low power consumption. Features include full browsing, high-performance virtual keyboard and Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR.

Designed with metallic body, it supports up to 10 hours of battery life and 230 hours of sleep mode time. Other features included two USB ports, D-SUB, SKYPE support, JetToolbar and voice recognition function.

But I don’t see a forward facing camera and you know this is probably never coming to the US.

Link to the original article…

Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch has finally announced what many people had already assumed months ago… that the Crunchpad, an internet tablet that allowed for quick access to the web in an inexpensive gadget that offered 12 inches of capacitive touch screen goodness is finally dead. Gone. Vaporware like the Infinium Labs Phantom.

t was so close I could taste it. Two weeks ago we were ready to publicly launch the CrunchPad. The device was stable enough for a demo. It went hours without crashing. We could even let people play with the device themselves – the user interface was intuitive enough that people “got it” without any instructions. And the look of pure joy on the handful of outsiders who had used it made the nearly 1.5 year effort completely worth it….

And then the entire project self destructed over nothing more than greed, jealousy and miscommunication.

Ouch. Here’s to what it could have been…

[ TechCrunch ] [ PC World ]

Callpod has introduced the Callpod Fueltank Uno, a small rechargeable battery that allows users to charge their devices some 3-5 times off of one Fueltank Uno Charge.

The Fueltank™ Uno can charge one small electronic device without the use of an outlet. It contains a rechargeable lithium ion battery. The Fueltank Uno has more than 4 times the capacity of a standard mobile phone. The Fueltank Uno uses device-specific adapters covering more than 3,000 different devices from all major manufacturers including: Apple, RIM/Blackberry, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony, Jawbone, Plantronics, Nokia and many others.

The Callpod Fueltank Uno costs $39.95 at Best Buy [ view product here ]

[ Callpod ] [ Related: iPower Apple iPhone Battery Case ]

First up is Norman Phartephant [ site here ] which once you read its last name out phonetically, you will know exactly what it does. Just imagine this as the non-iPhone version of the iFart app. Priced at $21.95 it’s definitely a pretty inexpensive way to surprise some co-workers.

Next up is Active Media Products Penguin BLU USB Flash Drive. Seriously… who doesn’t want a USB flash drive that looks like Chilly Willy [ Wikipedia ] but cooler? With prices from $11.95 to $42.95 for a straight USB drive or with a bootable Linux partition on it, it’s definitely cooler than your average USB Flash drive. Tweaktown [ site here ] [ review here ] just reviewed them and they agree… this is one cool animal gadget.

It has one eye, more fur than Chewbacca, and serves no purpose other than create conversation that might end as awkwardly as it started. And I want one. Enter Furilla [ site here ], the oddest non-gadget, perhaps non-animal listed here so far. But priced at $25, it’s worth the addition to your cubicle space.

And the final one… I had to do it. It’s a bird that has wings with speakers in it, that connects via USB to your computer… and it has a camera. Seriously… that’s a level of animal + gadget I wasn’t expecting to find all in one. Uxsight’s 3.0 megapixel camera + bird + speakers gadget [ site here ] is priced at $15.69 and definitely makes my desktop safari complete.

If I missed some, let me know.

I’ve been avoiding covering this because I actually wanted to get the new OQO Model 2+ to replace my OQO Model 01+ that I’m using right now to post this. For the first time, there was going to be an actual Intel chip inside as well as (on the higher model) an OLED vibrant screen and upwardly to 2gb of RAM. Compared to my lowly OQO 01+, it would have been the worthy update.

But something went wrong. Stories about the company possibly “not doing too well” to how their “innovative products were just not enough” to even how the current VP has stated that “production is unlikely“… it’s starting to look like I’ll never get an OQO 2+ at all. And I was so excited just mere months ago.

The form factor of the current “netbook” generation leaves far too much to be desired and the need to run Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight is very high on my list. And most of the MIDS out there now, just plain suck.

Anybody want to buy a perfectly working OQO 01+ so I could get a Sony Vaio P instead perhaps?

[ gizmodo ] [ wired ] [ engadget ] [ oqo ]

Besides looking for the newest in gadgets and phones, I’m also always looking for a new way to save money. Always. I’ve seen and used a lot of “deal” and coupon sites and I’d like to pride myself with the thought that I budget my money quite well. But we all need help. My biggest problem though is that I’m not always aware of the best bill plan or how I could save a few dollars despite being quite aware of what’s new hardware-wise.

Enter BillShrink.com.

I had the lucky chance to quickly ask a few questions to the co-founder of BillShrink, Samir Kothari about the two biggest things going on in communication at this moment: the T-Mobile/Google/HTC G1 and the Apple iPhone 3G and how you might save a few dollars and his expert opinion about the iPhone 3G versus the G1.

A lot of users already own an iPhone 3G, if not the first generation iPhone. The total cost of ownership for these phones is much higher than the advertised, subsidized costs. What are the total cost of ownership for each for the subsidized two year ownership of an iPhone 3G versus a T-Mobile G1?

Samir: We agree whole-heartedly with your statement on the total cost of ownership (TCO) for these phones being much higher than just the initial price of the device.Thanks to the expanded subsidy from AT&T with the launch of the 3G iPhone, the prices of the devices themselves are pretty comparable ($180 vs. $200) with the slight edge going towards the T-Mobile G1. But the overwhelming factor in TCO is the cost of the service plan that the user has to pay each month over the typical 24-month contract term.

Generally speaking, the T-Mobile G1 also has the advantage in this regard, because T-Mobile pricing tends to be lower than AT&T.

To illustrate by example, a G1 data plan providing unlimited data and text messaging will cost $35 per month, whereas an iPhone data plan with unlimited data/messaging will cost $50 per month. A $15 per month differential works out to $360 over the course of a 2 year contract, and that is pretty significant compared to the cost of phone itself.

But the above statements are generic; in reality the true cost of one service plan vs the other is very dependent on a user’s specific usage pattern. For example, if I happen to use a lot of minutes calling friends who are also on AT&T, since those minutes are free mobile-to-mobile calls when using an iPhone from AT&T but would be charged as “anytime minutes” on a T-Mobile G1, it could very well be the case that AT&T is the better deal for me.

It can get pretty complicated to make the right choice, which is exactly why BillShrink offers a service to help users find the best plans for their individual usage. To compare personalized plan choices for the iPhone and G1, users can use this resource:

AT&T iPhone Plans vs. T-Mobile G1 Plans

Does having a physical keyboard versus the virtual keyboard make that much of a difference? How did you find the comparison between the two?

Samir: Well I think this is really a matter of personal preference, but in my opinion the physical keyboard does make a big difference. Any new keyboard takes awhile to get used to, but I feel more comfortable manipulating the physical keys with tactile feedback rather than tapping on the iPhone screen.

Again, really depends on personal preference, but especially for heavy mobile emailers, the G1 has an advantage.

The speed of the UI is a major factor. Would you say that the T-Mobile lags or “keeps up” or surpasses the Apple iPhone 3G UI?

Samir: In our testing thus far, I think the T-Mobile UI keeps-up with the iPhone.

Bluetooth tethering and A2DP… iPhone allows neither. What about the G1?

Samir: Same as the iPhone, the G1 doesn’t support those features.

Camera functions – could you describe if the camera in the Apple iPhone in terms of quality and speed from selecting the camera to actual being able to snap a picture?

Samir: Using the cameras on both phones is pretty comparable in terms of ease-of-use. The camera is one particular feature where the G1 outshines the iPhone, with a better resolution (3.2 megapixels vs 2 megapixels) and better focusing as well.

Build quality… the pictures make it look very “plasticky”. True, false?

Samir: Feels like it is pretty well built. It has more moving parts than the iPhone (with the slider) which makes it less “solid” but still quality feels fine.

Reception – the iPhone has been vilified for it’s reception. Care to compare it’s reception with the G1?

Samir: We haven’t had enough talk time around town with the G1 yet to fully compare its reception, but so far, both phones seem comparable. Our feeling is that the most important factor is the quality of your carrier’s network where you live, as that tends to be more impactful than the device itself.

So when deciding between these phones, be sure to review the respective signal strengths between AT&T and T-Mobile on BillShrink.com. You can view a detailed map in many areas around the country that show a visual comparison of network coverage, and even identify potential dead spots on your daily commute path.

What about Mobile Chrome versus Mobile Safari? Which one to you personally “feels” better and why? Flash support up to date? Or is it a workaround like Apple’s H.264 enabled YouTube converted videos?

Samir: Actually both browsers feel about the same, which is not surprising because they are both based on the same WebKit foundation, and therefore the page rendering is quite similar. One notable difference is that you can’t pinch to zoom on the G1 because there is no support for multi-touch like there is on the iPhone.

I think the G1 uses the same H.264 codec that the iPhone uses to play YouTube instead of supporting true Flash.

Ok… copy and paste. Please let it be there… is it?

Samir: Yes, there is copy/paste on the G1, much to the dismay of iPhone fans everywhere!

Any little issues with the G1 that annoy you that you think are invariably going to be addressed in forthcoming updates? The virtual keyboard is already coming. What else do you think is upcoming that’s going to make people want to go out, run get this phone? GrandCentral connectivity perhaps?

Samir: I think the key to the G1 success is the vision for a big, vibrant marketplace around Android applications. If Google is able to get the developer community excited about building apps and contributing to the Android marketplace, that could go a long way to getting users talking about new and cool applications that drive them to get the phone…

So… where are the other Android enabled phones?

Samir: So lots of speculation about where the next Android phone(s) will be coming from, but nothing confirmed as far as we’ve heard. LG, Motorola, and Samsung are already part of the Open Handset Alliance, so perhaps expect to see some activity from them. And perhaps another offering from HTC as well…

Do you feel as if Google got this one “right”?

Samir: The Android Platform is a pretty interesting and ambitious initiative for Google. And I think they are on the right track. Google has been quite successful in getting developers to build upon their APIs (think about the thousands of apps out there using Google Maps) and I suspect they should be able to leverage that experience in building a community around their mobile platform.

Open tends to beat closed in the long run, and having a deep-pocketed sponsor like Google, give Android a good chance of changing the game.

For the uninitiated…

BillShrink is a unique, free online service that saves consumers money by making continuously updated, personalized, usage-based recommendations on everyday services with very complex bills and offerings that change frequently.

BillShrink’s patent-pending technology automatically monitors millions of rate plan/feature combinations, and matches them against individual consumers’ usage patterns, providing simple, apples to apples comparisons and updated money saving recommendations on an ongoing basis as changes occur.

And about BillShrink’s co-founder:

Samir is a co-founder of BillShrink and manages product development by maintaining a constant dialogue with users and tailoring the product to meet their needs. He previously led product management and strategy for TrialPay, a fast-growing company at the intersection of online advertising and digital payments.

Samir had previously worked at BEA Systems, where he headed product marketing for WebLogic Workshop and played a key role in launching the WebLogic Platform. He also worked as a product manager with Microsoft. Samir also spent several years working as a venture capitalist with Battery Ventures and Summit Partners, focusing on investments in software and consumer Internet companies.

Samir graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Computer Science and an AB in Economics. He also received an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Millar Scholar.

I want to thank Samir for taking the time to explain not only his expert opinion about the T-Mobile G1, but also about BillShrink.com. Found out tonight that I could actually be saving a few dollars on my plan.

Awesome.

I exercised my God given American right to justify using this weekend to get as close to as many explosives fireworks as I possibly could without triggering Homeland Security alarms.

Hope that you guys had as much mayhem fun as I had… gadget previews and updates will resume shortly; including a review on the Dymo DiscPainter.

yee-haaaw!

And for years, I’ve tried to locate sites that give the best deals as well as pull in the best gadget deals and post them on the site. However the following is something that’s pretty darn cool in itself.

Love to find a good discount? The explosion of e-commerce Web sites in recent years has introduced an abundance of sites devoted to bargain hunting. CouponWinner.com stands out from the crowd by offering a cutting-edge cross merchant comparison tool that helps users expedite bargain hunting and achieve top-notch savings.

CouponWinner.com, a project of SurfMyAds.com, Inc., is an online shopping Web site based in Santa Barbara, CA that works with over 2,500 merchants and provides thousands of free coupons and promotional codes from top brand-names. Shoppers can find bargains in practically every category, from travel, beauty, health, home/garden, pet supplies, sports and fitness to computers, electronics, office supplies, finance, food, entertainment, automobile and more. And newly optimized category selections further ease the search for promotional codes and online coupons. For example, to better distinguish the various women’s apparel retailers, subcategories have been created for “designer” and “junior” fashions.

The Web site’s new comparison tool, CouponScout, makes it quick and easy for users to find a coupon or bargain. This new feature, which allows users to select multiple retailers and displays each of their deals in vertical, side-by-side columns, appears on most category pages of CouponWinner.com. Shoppers can align and compare the promotions or coupon codes, in a clear, easy-to-read manner. For example, CouponScout can compare discounted laptops from all of the top retailers to help users find the best value on a new computer.

“The team at SurfMyAds.com understands that every penny counts, and we want to help customers save money and streamline navigation,” says Lenka Keston, Product Manager SurfMyAds.com. “That way, they can really enjoy the items they spend their money on.”

Look for more information shortly…

As a present owner of a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, I found this news to be real interesting.

ReQuest, the preeminent manufacturer of hard disk music servers and server-based whole-house media systems, has released a version 4.6 update to its Serious Play™ Media Manager software for the company’s full range of music servers, the N.Series, F.Series, and S.Series models, as well as the iQ Intelligent Media Server whole-house system. Serious Play 4.6 delivers significantly improved Media Manager performance, and incorporates several important new capabilities. Most prominently, it delivers an exclusive new Classical Mode and makes ReQuest’s unparalleled Freedom handheld wireless touchscreen controller available to every ReQuest system owner.

In addition to the Freedom touchscreen wireless controller, which runs on Nokia’s inexpensive N800 handheld tablet.

Read more at the ReQuest website.

The guys over at Ubergizmo caught a frame that all-but-confirms that Skype is indeed coming for the Sony PSP – Playstation Portable.

Maybe that means that the US gamers will finally get the Chotto Shot camera attachment that just never quite materialized in the US. Same with the GPS Receiver attachment as well.

Heck… that means that my Nokia N810 won’t be the only gadget in my pocket with Skype.