Gadgets

Dell touts printer deal

Dell debuted a thermal printer on Wednesday as part of its strategy to bolster its arsenal of non-PC products.

Even though the company entered the desktop printer business a few years ago, Dell initially relied on Epson point-of-sale printer products, which it continues to sell. Now Dell is hoping its Thermal Receipt Printer T200 will oust its competition at the checkout counter.

The dual-color standalone box connects through serial, USB or powered USB ports. Retailing at $299, the printer is also available as part of a bundle that Dell is pitching to retailers. The bundle now includes the T200, a … Read more

A keyboard for geeks only

So you think you're a good typist? Consider trying the new keyboard designed by programmer Daniel Guermeur. If you're alarmed by the fact that none of the keys are labeled, you may be closer to the hunt-and-peck category than to what Guermeur's Web site says is the ideal customer for the device: the "uber geek."

"If you are an elite programmer who can write sophisticated code under tight deadlines," the site says, "someone who makes impossible projects possible, or a silver Web surfer your colleagues turn to when they need IT advice: … Read more

Stop your iPod from snarling

Where there are iPod earbud wires, there are likely to be tangles. And where there are tangles, there's an inventor imagining yet another iPod accessory.

Enter the iDiddy, a "wearable and tangle-free" iPod add-on that integrates the MP3 player's earbuds into a synthetic leather "iLanyard" attached to a calfskin case. The adjustable lanyard, which encases the earbud wires, is worn around the neck; when not in use, each earbud slides into a clip on the lanyard to prevent snarls.

The iDiddy, in development and user testing for more than five months, according to press … Read more

Kodak's EasyShare-One delayed

Eastman Kodak will delay shipment of its highly-touted EasyShare-One digital camera, reports the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). The product will ship in October, rather than in June as planned.

The high-end 4-megapixel camera, unveiled in January, can e-mail pictures using Wi-Fi wireless technology, and will cost about $600. The camera has a 3-inch touch-screen display and 256MB of memory built in. It can store up to 1,500 pictures, as well as record video.

A Kodak spokesman declined to cite reasons for the delay, according to the WSJ. "This represents a significant technological advance in the digital camera … Read more

Embarrass your friends, win a camera

As if snapping humiliating pics of your pals wasn't fun enough, now you can score a camera phone for those embarassing shots.

As part of a campaign to launch its K300i phone, Sony Ericcson is sponsoring an embarrassing-photo contest, reports Softpedia.

Head over to Shame Academy to get the rules of the game: "Each picture shown on the site can be rated on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being dull (think graduation picture/photo of your gran's cat), and 10 being side-splittingly, rib-crackingly hilarious. Or shameful, painful or just plain wrong (for instance, a … Read more

Blu-ray disc hits 100GB

TDK has developed a prototype Blu-ray disc that can store twice as much data as current iterations of the next-generation DVD format--and record it twice as fast.

PC World reports that the 100GB disc, unveiled at a TDK exhibition in Tokyo this week, can record data at 72 megabits per second, double the 36 mbps rate of current Blu-ray discs. To achieve the higher capacity, TDK added two additional recording layers to the disc to take it up to four layers.

TDK's announcement comes on the heels of last week's news that Toshiba has created a three-layer … Read more

Stefani designs digicam for fans

Chart-topping pop singer Gwen Stefani, often described as a style icon, has gone and designed a digicam.

The limited-edition (only 3,000 produced) HP Photosmart R607 Harajuku Lovers Digital Camera by Gwen Stefani is turquoise and white with maroon-colored accents including hearts and Japanese kanji and katakana characters. The camera retails for $249 and features extras including a carrying case and charms designed by the singer, as well as a DVD with a Gwen interview, remix track, screensaver and images. The title of Stefani's solo debut, "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." adorns the gadget.

Needless to say, this … Read more

iPod cases for the preppy set

If you like to take your iPod sailing, you might want to know that preppy-clothing retailer J.Crew has come out with its own MP3 cases.

A cotton patchwork plaid madras case trimmed with leather runs $29.50. Another madras case--which one savvy blogger says looks "suspiciously like the pattern on the dishes my grandmother used to set out when company was coming"--goes for $24.

J.Crew has not yet come out with monogrammed cases or little argyle sweaters to tie around the iPod's neck.

Man sets texting record

Not that the guy has too much time on his hands or anything, but Deepak Sharma of Ludhiana, India, has gotten his name registered in the Guinness Book of World Records for sending 182,689 text messages a month, notes gizmo hub Engadget.

That would be, oh, something in the neighborhood of 6,000 messages a day, 253 an hour, 4.2 a minute or a new one every 14 seconds. Which leaves Sharma just enough time get in a quick wrist exercise every 12 hours or so.

Sharma aims to increase his messages to 300,000 in the coming … Read more