The new Blackberry 9000 is known by a few names; it’s also called Blackberry Bold and most infamously the ‘AK’ (Apple Killer).

The latter was surely coined from within their own circle of followers since it’s not very likely to live up to it. This is mainly due to some blatant weaknesses caused by rigid adherence to unreasonable beliefs, such as the CEO of RIM and his aversion for touch screens.

It wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve even rigged the 9000 to scan and blacklist all fingerprints that come into contact with its screen. Although the display quality has gotten nothing but good reviews, it’s just too small. In fact, it’s one of the smallest of all smart-phones and a whole inch smaller than the iPhone. It seems that they could easily have removed a row of buttons (talk, end, scroll ball) by giving them touch screen support, this would allow the screen size to be increased quite easily. The full QWERTY keyboard turns out to be much more improved than the previous 8800 version, although it remains a little bulky and compromises the size of the display (as mentioned above).

If it’s interested in competing with the iPhone one of the first things to do would be to improve the camera, but according to the specs released, they stuck with 2 measly mega-pixels. The only noticeable advantage over the iPhone is that it includes 3G. So if the new iPhone is as near to being released as is suspected, it will leave the Blackberry with quite a bland taste in comparison. The Blackberry 9000 will be released sometime this summer as soon as it goes through carrier certification.

Li-ion batteries will be one of the key components in the next generation of hybrid and eco-friendly cars.  Nearly all portable electronics today are using Lithium-ion based batteries because of their light weight vs. high energy density - and several other reasons as well. As of now, hybrid and electric cars are lugging around nickel metal hydride batteries. Although they may be cheaper and more durable than the Li-ion models, they just don’t pack the same punch.

A lot of big names in the auto industry are now making deals with electronic manufacturing companies for the mass production of Li-ion batteries which will be used in their new car models. Toyota has already partnered with the owner of Panasonic, and Nissan has formed a similar deal with the Japanese giant NEC Corp. In an attempt to catch up with is competitors, Volkswagen will also be joining up with Sanyo.

But incorporating Lithium-ion batteries into cars will have to done with many improved safeguards – at least before I put one of them under my hood. For instance, Li-ion batteries are very dangerous if mistreated and are extremely sensitive to high temperatures (like next to a car engine). Plus, storing a lithium-ion battery in a warm place will cause it to degrade at a much faster rate and significantly reduce its life.  It is also known that a small percentage of li-ion batteries will surely fail and burst into flames, not exactly what we want to happen on the freeway – or at the drive-thru for that matter.

You can do pretty much do everything on the internet these days. You don’t have to go to the grocery store anymore and you can order pretty much everything you need to survive and have it delivered. Now for those of us who like to gaze off into the night sky and ponder the vastness of the universe, there’s no need to leave the comfort of the computer screen. And better yet, we don’t have to wait until it gets dark.  This new convenience was heralded with the launch of Google sky in august 2007. Similar to Google earth (a tool for visual exploration of the earths surface) but pointed in the opposite direction. The project was undertaken in coordination with the Space Telescope Scientist Institute and Hubble Space Telescope.

In response, Microsoft will be launching its own version of a virtual telescope called WorldWide Telescope by the end of May. Microsoft hopes to win some loyal Google Skiers with its attractive extra features. For instance the WorldWide Telescope offers relevant audio and video presentations so the user can get further information about the part of space that is currently being viewed.  In his announcement speech, Bill Gates alluded to the possible application of this kind of software to something like the genome project – it will be interesting to see how that turns out.

In terms of electronic devices, hard-disks have been the slowest to evolve. Relatively speaking, they are still in the stone-age in terms of technological development While Processors and Flash-drives are getting smaller and faster, hard-drives are still spinning disks like an old record player. Flash-drives are to hard-disks what mp3 players are to record players.

The new generation of hard disks, called Solid State Drives (SSD), is based on flash memory like that of USB memory drives. By utilizing this technology, data access speeds are dramatically increased while power usage, and operating temperatures can be kept to a minimum. This is great news especially for laptop users, because it means much quicker loading of programs while it can significantly extend the battery life. But the only drawback is the price. As of now a 32GB Flash SSD from Samsung runs a lofty £261.00.

High definition camcorders are also now coming equip with flash-memory storage as well. The new canon HF10 has dual memory capabilities – besides the expandable memory card it comes built in with16 GB of flash memory. That’s enough space fro six hours of footage on the longest play setting.

Canal phones are becoming more and more popular these days as a classy way to tune out.

Where people would previously strap on a pair of head-muff speakers to reduce ambient noise, the sleek canal-phones that are designed to do just that while remaining much less obtrusive.

Canal-phones are so called because they sit snugly inside the ear-canal, getting the listener more intimate with his music while distancing him from the noisy environment. Canal phones are much more inviting alternative to those bulky headphones since at such a small size they can retain the same noise canceling effect.

Denon has recently expanded its product inventory to include a variety of canal-phones. Although its prices are standard (and high at that), it has a foot in the door on its competitors when it comes to its tangle resistant cable.

Unlike similar models made by Sennheiser, the AH-C751 by Denon doesn’t turn into a birds nest after 5 minutes in your pocket. When put to the test, it measures up to its hefty £70 price tag in terms of craftsmanship and style - with firm aluminum casing and reinforcement fittings at the nodes to prevent the hair-thin wires from wearing down.

The package is more attractive since it comes with extra ear fittings of varying size and an extension cable for practical use with a cell phone.

AMD began to market its triple core as a sort of middle way for consumers. It seemed to provide a hopeful alternative for people who wanted more than a dual but couldn’t afford a quad. But now that Intel slashed the prices on their quads, AMD’s triple has little to offer.

One tends to wonder whether the triple cores came to be as a result of factory defects.  Anyone will admit it’s a little suspicious that AMD’s triple core is technically identical with a quad core except with one core disabled. Whether it’s disabled or defected, it’s reasonable to assume that in the production of quad cores, one of the cores malfunctioned and they decided to market it rather than trash it. In any case, you’re better off spending a little more to buy a quad. When tested, the triples just don’t perform worth a recommendation.

It’s difficult to find a new computer that uses a single processor anymore. Dual core has become the industry standard. But things have started to change since the release of triple and quad cores. A hefty price tag was the only thing weighing down the quad core, but now that it has become more affordable it’s sure to eclipse all competitors.

Since first introducing the quad core in late 2006, Intel has sold over 10 million. But keep in mind that quad cores represent only 3% of total CPU sales in that time period. Beware that some of Intel’s quad cores are actually dual dual-cores and perform more poorly than a proper quad core. Recent price cuts make the quad cores a little more worthy of consideration - you can get an Intel Q6700 quad-core @ 2.66GHz for $266. Nevertheless, the pricing is still a bit unreasonable, seeing as the cheapest quad costs more than twice that of a dual yet performs significantly less than twice as well. As is always true for processors, time will eventually bring the price down.

Power is limiting factor when it comes to smart-hand-held technologies. Everyone would love not having to worry about recharging their phone for a week, or being able to run their laptop off the battery for a whole working day. Fuel cells may be the panacea for portables, since they have a capacity 10 times greater than they types of batteries currently in use. In terms of raw power output, methanol fuel cells produce 40 times more wattage per liter than lithium-ion batteries.

In Sony’s latest prototype, 10ml of methanol sustained 14 hours of cell phone video play. But it’s a bit bulky and only a hybrid prototype - the new fuel cells aren’t stable enough to stand alone yet. That seems to be what’s got the FAA nervous as well. Although the Department of Transportation will allow the fuel cells to be taken on planes, the FAA is currently conducting multi-scenario ‘flammability-tests’ before giving the final approval.

Interestingly, methanol is environmentally friendly, also called bio-fuel since it can be made from organic waste products. A favorable alternative to the volatile lithium-ion batteries. On the other hand, researchers are looking for an alternative to methanol because it requires an expensive catalyst such as platinum. Such a limitation would keep the cost of production too high to integrate with modern devices, and lack of alternative materials has slowed research. Bringing fuels cells down to the nano-scale may be another solution to this problem since it can greatly increase the surface area of the catalyst exposed. Improved methods of manufacturing are bringing these nano-scale fuel cells closer to production.

The recent developments in fuel-cell technology seem to be the first step towards running things off water. In fact, Samsung is planning to have a cell phone that runs off of water by 2010.

This is a very interesting technology that could benefit everyone but nearly no one knows about it. In short it consists of subjecting each hemisphere of the brain to an audio tone of slightly different frequencies. The brain then finds the median between the two tones (usually between .5 and 12 Hz) and the brainwaves begin to slow down in resonance with that frequency.

It’s clinically proven to be useful for wide range of purposes; for instance, relaxation, meditation, lucid dreaming and attaining outer-body experiences (OBE). It is also used as an aid for concentrating (just the excuse students are looking for to wear headphones in class). In fact, this technology is being used to treat ADD and ADHD in students. Psychoacoustics has blown the mystical shroud off the topic of meditation as well. With this technology, beginning meditators can effortlessly achieve states of meditation that correspond to neural resonance at lower frequencies in the theta/delta range.

• Delta (0.5 - 4 HZ) - Associated with deep levels of relaxation, sleep and healing
• Theta (4 - 8HZ) - Associated with tranquil states of awareness in which vivid internal imagery often takes place
• Alpha (8- 12 HZ) - Relaxed nervous system, ideal for stress management, accelerated learning and mental-imagery/ creative visualizations.
• Beta (12-30 HZ) - Associated with waking/alert states of awareness k-complex (30 - 35HZ). Clarity and sudden states of integration, the “ah-ha experience”
• Super High Beta (35 - 150 HZ). Psychodynamic states of awareness

The big names in the industry are Brain-Sync and Hemi-sync, each have a website where you can preview and download their various products. Center-Pointe has done the most research in terms of the spiritual application of this technology and their site is well worth a visit.

Article Copyright © Florian Dobson

Environmentally friendly laptops have made their way to the shelves. In Japan, Fujitsu is taking the Kyoto treaty one step further with the production of two new eco-laptops.

The concept of a ‘green’ notebook was first released with the WoodShell, which was showcased by Fujitsu at the Japan Design Innovation 2008 convention in Milan. Since then, the wooden FMV-Biblo (pictured above) has made it to the shelves and is being bought up in a storm by environmentally conscious consumers. The FMV-Biblo is sheathed in a cedar case and the interior parts are made mostly of bio-plastics. Thus the amount of hydro-carbons released into the environment during production is significantly reduced.

Asus has followed the green trend with a new production concept ‘DIGIvision’. They aim to bring an environmentally sound balance to both the design as well as the hardware within. Asus is now showcasing their version of a wooden laptop, but it is not yet available for purchase. Time has yet to tell whether these sustainable designs will compromise their durability.

Copyright © Florian Dobson