Thinkpads are known for their reliability, but recently there was an issue found in Thinkpad batteries. An incident in Ohio may not be IBM’s fault though. It is reported that an Ohioan resident purchased a replacement battery from Shentech for his ThinkPad, which caught on fire and damaged his machine. Once discovered that the faulty cell was actually a counterfeit, IBM brought it to themselves and ordered a dozen batteries from the Flushing, New York-based company, and it soon discovered that all twelve received were actually counterfeit. Because of this IBM has filed a suit against Shentech and has asked to be given all fake batteries, profits made from selling the fakes, and a million dollars “per counterfeit mark per type of item sold.”

Last month a study showed that there were 2.68 billon mobile phone subscribers in the world. A new study performed by Informa shows that there are really 3.3 billion subscriptions. That number is important considering that it is about half of the world’s population. Researcher came to the conclsion that 59 countries had over 100% use of mobile phones. Showing that many people had more than one account.

Cool fact:
More than 1,000 new mobile phone customers are added every minute.

Eystar has just introduced a bluetooth GPS receiver, making GPS available to anyone with a Bluetooth-enabled cellphone, PDA or laptop. The GPS receiver features a battery that holds a 15 hour charge and a 20-channel all-in-view tracking SiRF Star III GPS receiver. The EyStar Bluetooth GPS receiver will retail for $100 when released in early 2008. Microsoft Street and Trips navigation software is also required so keep that in mind.

Ramos has stepped up in design quality. Displaying this with the beautiful design of their new RM970 PMP. The 2GB device features a 3-inch, 480 x 272 screen, a dual 200MHz ARM7 processor, and an iPod style operating system. The dual 200MHz processors make this player friendly to many formats. The RM970 features support for MP3, WAV, WMA, Ogg, FLAC, AAC, APE, MPEG4, Real and AVI. Price is unknown, but most likely between $75-$150.

Online video host, Brightcove, has decided to no longer let users submit videos. Brightcove is shutting down the submission of videos on Brightcove.tv today. From now on Brightcove will host only professional videos.

We actually have never viewed Brightcove as a place for internet users to host videos, but mainly for businesses. We think this is a good choice for Brightcove. This will help them focus on partnerships with companies. Brightcove really did not have a chance at hosting users videos, mostly due to YouTube.

Tom has done it again. But this time he tries blending a Guitar Hero 3. Gamers will cry watching this video.

There have been many iPod ripoffs that have caught our eye. But this one is just plain ugly. Look at it. The MP4-21 from Shenzhen Sietek Industrial a knock off that went wrong trying to copy the clickwheel but instead streching it out. The device supports MTV videos, WMA, MP3 and WMV audio files and JPEG images, and has seven EQ modes.

It features a 2.4-inch TFT screen that displays 262,000 colors, a usb port, and a miniSD slot. The MP4-21 comes with built-in games, which look to be somewhat like Nintendo. Support for Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP.

 

Amazon’s Kindle, the latest e-book reader. Will this become the iPod of e-books? In our opinion Amazon has some work to do. First appearances revealed that the Kindle is the best e-book reader available. Amazon was looking to create an eBook that anyone could use. Users will have access to 88,000 book titles at launch. One great feature that the Kindle has is the ability to connect directly to a Sprint-powered cellular network called Whispernet and lets you download directly from the web for no additional fee.

The question on everyones mind is the screen. Kindle uses the same display technology that the Sony Reader uses, called E-Ink. The screen looks like a piece of paper which allows for long battery life since, once a page is loaded, the device requires no additional power to keep it displayed.

With everything there is something bad. The flaw with the Kindle is in the design. It is plain ugly. The funny shaped gadget is not elegant like the iPod but seems a bit odd. We believe that Amazon will take the design into consideration more on the next version.

Weighing in at only 10.3 ounces, the Kindle is lighter than most books, which will make it easy to hold for some time. Users will be able to store hundreds of titles on its built in memory and are able to add SD cards for additional space. Books are backed up on Amazon, so if users have to delete one, users can download it later. The Kindle also allows blogs, newspapers and more for an additional fee.

Will the Kindle be a hit? Those who don’t mind the design will probably complain about the price. It will take about 60 purchases for the Kindle to pay for itself at the rate of $10 per download. Also look at the Sony Reader which has had success in sales.

The Verdict: If you don’t mind the price or the design go ahead and buy it.

 

Ok to be honest we thought this was going to be junk. A home appliance company making an MP3 player? Thats right. The 2.5-inch PMP supports MPEG4, WMV, M4V, AVI, and H.264, and offers wireless access to Rhapsody’s streaming Channels anywhere using WiFi and allows users to save songs to the player with one click. Features also include A2DP support, a wireless podcast directory, and support for AOL Wireless video. This has to be the most complete MP3 player that we have seen. The design looks a little funny and the touchpad controller is a bit ugly but overall we like it.

• 2.5-inch QVGA display with 320×240 resolution
• Internal, nonremovable 3.7 Li Polymer battery
• 1.8-inch HDD
• Supports A2DP/AVRCP stereo Bluetooth
• Dual ports: USB 2.0 High Speed mini-B and proprietary connector
• Package includes noise-isolation earphones, AC charger/adapter, USB cable

All of us techies love a gizmo that is small but serves a great purpose and thats why these usb chargers are awesome. These usb chargers do one thing, which is to charge from the AC outlet into any USB-connected device. The usb chargers are available in green, orange, pink and yellow, 30-grams each and are available to buy next week. Price is unknown at the moment.