(Credit:
Mimo)
One of the compromises frequent travelers have to make is the limited screen size that comes with an ultraportable or thin-and-light laptop. This is a difficult transition, especially if one is used to large 20-inch-plus screen real estate in the office or home. Fortunately, USB monitors provide an easy way of extending the display without bringing in a separate power supply.
Mimo's new 710-S 7-inch USB monitor ups the portability ante by coming in a clamshell form factor. This protects the screen when the unit is not in use. The 800x480-pixel resolution isn't great, but works well as a secondary monitor for instant messaging and e-mailing. The screen can be rotated to portrait mode as well. Its 350cd/m2 brightness level and 400:1 contrast ratio make it suitable for use in most indoor environments.
The Mimo 710-S is available now for international preorder and costs $149.99 at Mimo's online store, excluding shipping.
(Credit:
Mimo)
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
MacCase)
The original MacCase is back. Nine years after releasing its first case, which had an unusual rounded shape that matched the contours of the iBook, the company is reissuing the clamshell briefcase.
Owing its success to the "'anti-status quo' element within the Apple community," MacCase calls the new version the "Classic Case" and pretty much kept everything from the first design, though it adds some practical elements such as rubber corners and a mesh lining to help the laptop cool down. It comes in five colors that read like a menu from Jamba Juice, including tangerine, blueberry, and key lime. And to weed out any poseurs who might dare carry anything else inside, the case has a window strategically placed to display the Apple logo.
Apple could be embracing the clamshell aesthetic for a future iPhone.
Unwiredview.com found an Apple patent application for a "dual-sided trackpad device," which resembles the current iPhone redesigned into the clamshell format so popular with many mobile phones. The key to this design is having touch-screen capabilities on both the top and bottom of the phone when it's open.
Could Apple be working on a clamshell version of the iPhone?
(Credit: Unwiredview.com)This design goes a step further, as well, in that the closed cover of the iPhone could also have trackpad capability. PC makers have experimented with this, adding some basic buttons and capabilities to the covers of closed notebooks. Apple's patent application describes how you could use the closed iPhone as an iPod, with controls for advancing to the next track, adjusting the volume, and so forth.
It's quite possible that Apple could be considering other form factors for future generations of iPhones, but I wonder how the touch-screen keyboard and the video player would work on a clamshell model where the one big screen is now divided across two panels. Patent applications aren't necessarily indicative of product plans, but they often provide hints of what companies are thinking about down the road.
(Credit:
Crave Asia)
The Korean mobile phone maker has just announced a clamshell version of the Soul handset at the CeBIT tradeshow in Hannover, Germany. Named the G400, the handset's most interesting feature lies in its dual 2.2-inch QVGA LCD displays. That's right, it comes with a 2.2-inch internal screen as well as a 2.2-inch external touchscreen panel. The G400 will also offer a customizable interface, much like the Soul.
As with most of Samsung's recent high-end imaging handsets, the HSDPA-enabled G400 comes with a host of strong camera features including a 5-megapixel sensor (with autofocus), face detection, and image stabilizer. Also noteworthy on this dual-screen clamshell are Bluetooth connectivity, microSD card slot, onboard multimedia player and FM radio, and haptic vibration feedback for the touch screen.
The G400 is expected to make its way to Asia by summer. More information on that here.
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
GE)
Category: Going from bad to worse.
One of our many standard rants has centered on the tech industry's inability to come up with a truly universal remote that even a Geico caveman could figure out. But some manufacturers insist on going in the opposite direction, creating subcategories or developing remotes that seem to use far more technology than the products they're supposed to control.
The latest act of genius? Making one that closes up like a flip phone. Rather than simplify and actually reduce the size and number of buttons needed (unthinkable!), GE apparently just decided to make it foldable because remotes are so unwieldy. As Engadget notes, the press release for the so-called universal "GE Flip" doesn't have a whole lot to say other than its yoga-like design.
If they really wanted to be different, they should just make something like a karaoke remote. We've said it before, and we'll say it again (and again and again): The only solution is telepathy.
The latest phone from Sony Ericsson may not be gold, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. (In fact, it's a good thing, in our opinion.)
(Credit:
Sony Ericsson)
The "Z310" clamshell does have a "mirror finish," but it's still more tastefully designed than so-called luxury phones we've seen recently--and even though pricing isn't yet known, we'll go out on a limb and guess that it'll cost considerably less. Its asthetic sensibilities continue inside, according to I4U News, as the phone includes "lighting effects" that allow you to color-code and personalize contacts.
Other features include a VGA camera, speakerphone and MP3 ringtones. It also has a small screen on the outer shell that can display the time, which we appreciate for those many occasions when we lose our watches, among other things.
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