Dom Joly eat your heart out! Forget anorexic, stylish, blinged-up fashion phones – what you really need is a brick phone from the 1980s.
Thankfully, this retro brick phone has shrunken in size considerably for use in the Noughties. This is the mini MOB handset and for some out there, you will recall [not all that fondly] the early adopters of mobile phones walking around with giant black bricks, shouting all of the time.
The mini MOB though measures just 11cm tall and 3.5cm across. It also has some new fangled features including support for music and video playback and an in-built camera. This is what you get:
* Head phones
* 2 x Batteries
* 30 days stand by 3 days non stop conversation
* USB cable and Charger (Charger requires a UK converter)
* Works with all major networks. T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone & O2
* Camera and MP3/4 Player and also comes with a 128 mini sd memory card.
Somewhat oddly, the phones sport a BMW logo on them, which probably helps explain the £160 price tag. Jump for another photo.-Martin Lynch
[Gadgets Arcade via Geek Alerts]
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We’ve been hearing about players that will handle both Blu-ray and HD DVD movie formats for some time now but I’m happy to report that Samsung’s first effort will launch next month in the US for $800 (c. £400). It's a few months later than originally expected but it will still probably sell out quickly.
The BD-UP5000 is now listed on Amazon’s US site for delivery on January 15 but there is also a listing for the player here on Amazon's UK site, to pre-order for £485 – although no delivery date is given.
LG was first out of the blocks earlier in the year with its phenomenally expensive LG BH100, which failed to fully support all of the HD DVD interactive features. Its new and improved dual-format player, the BH 200, is expected to hit the US in the next month or so for around £400.
The Samsung BD-UP500 supports the interactive technologies of both formats, namely HD DVD’s HDi and Blu-ray’s BD Java, so all those funky extras on movies should play fine. The other key features include:
Blu-ray and HD DVD playback at content native HD resolution of 1080p/1080i/720p
HQV video upconversion processing (720p/1080i/1080p)
1080p 24fps playback on Blu-ray and HD DVD
Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, dts-HD Master Audio support
HDMI version 1.3, Component Video, S-Video and Composite video outputs
With any luck UK shoppers will be able to stop worrying about which format will win in a few months time – as long as they don’t mind spending the guts of £500.-Martin Lynch
blu-ray movies HD DVD samsung
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Just a week or so after the BBC Trust gave the green light to the BBC’s plans for a HD channel, the new channel has launched.
BBC HD went live officially on Saturday December 1st for cable and satellite users. It can be found on 143 on Sky and Channel 108 on Virgin Media. That said, it's not the full 9-hour per day version that's coming in 2008. The programmes tend to run in the evening only for the moment and tonight’s’ line-up includes a Bleak House double bill, Silent Witness, Monarchy: The Royal Family At Work and Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky.
Over the Christmas, the channel will be running HD movies like Kill Bill, Sin City and The History Boys while other programmes will include The Tales Of Beatrix Potter With The Royal Ballet, Lessons And Carols From King's College Cambridge, Carmen and Jools Holland's Hootenanny.
Jana Bennett, Director of BBC Vision, said: “I am delighted that BBC HD, the UK's first public service HD channel, is officially launching tomorrow, after the BBC Trust gave its approval last week. HD is the next generation of television and a real opportunity for programme-makers to reach out to the audience in ways they have never done before. HD is a real creative enabler making our programmes even more powerful and outstanding.”
TV BBC HD HDTV
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Most Gizmodo readers – and people in the UK for that matter - agree that the iPhone is too expensive, which is why initial sales have been sluggish. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have one because a new UK company is offering people the chance to rent one for a day or a week.
It may sound bizarre, but online rental company erento thinks there’s a market for people who'd like a temporary brush with desirable products and hi-tech gadgetry. Already, some early UK iPhone adopters have put their iPhones up for rent for £29 a day or £99 per week. Not exactly a bargain but the rental market never is.
“Having coughed up quite a lot of money for this beautiful gadget, I heard about this new online rental site and figured that I could make my money back in a just a few weeks,” comments Steve Morrison, an enterprising iPhone owner and rental supplier on erento. “It is perfect for someone looking to impress at a party and is a really effective way of trying before buying.”
erento is new to the UK but has been running in Germany for four years and has more than 1 million items for rental, including 600 Ferraris, 2,500 motor homes, more than 1,000 bouncy castles and an ice skating rink.
“Society has traditionally been very obsessed with ownership but we think this is beginning to change,” says Volker Wohlfarth, Director of International Operations at erento.
I still think £29 for 24 hours playing with someone else’s iPhone is a bit steep. Now, a Ferrari on the other hand….-Martin Lynch
[erento]
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
