Motorola has confirmed that they are shipping their polished MING multimedia smartphone to distributors in Hong Kong. This svelte new phone carries a 2MP camera, a 2.4" touch-screen, Bluetooth, FM radio reception, microSD slot, and an "outer-space transparent cover," which I can only assume means it's made from technology discovered in space. The MING runs a Linux-based OS with document viewer, POP3 email support, scheduler, and Realplayer. You can also use the MING's camera as a business card reader. Imagine, each scan of a successful friend's business card will remind you just how much of a failure you really are. Thanks, Motorola!
Japanese company, nay, musical savior Vestax has managed to pick up the torch that the Keytar dropped in the 1980s. Feast your eyes upon the S-1 Premium, a CD player/mixer with looping, sampling, and cross fading capabilities that also lets you make an ass of yourself on the stage. Vestax states that DJs from around the world have been begging for this for the past 10 years, which proves that even DJs secretly dream of rocking out on a guitar. Be wary before you decide to smash your S-1 over the head of a concert attendee or set it on fire, the production run is only limited to 20 units, and they might already be sold out.
European computing firm Eurotech has announced the WWPC, a "wrist-worn PC" that runs either Windows CE or Linux. The WWPC is made for occupations that are extremely mobile, like emergency rescue, healthcare, security, and probably Civil War reenacting. Input for the WWPC is through the touchscreen LCD or microphone, and it has support for GPS, Bluetooth, and WiFi. The WWPC weighs seven ounces without the battery, so it's safe to say that it's going to be pretty heavy. If you were planning on buying this to wear around and calculate on the fly how many girls you will impress, you should probably just write "zero" on a piece of paper and carry that around instead. It will be a lot lighter.
Between messing with your GPS, your iPod, your in-dash video player, and your cellphone, you probably have a ton of free time on the road. Why not spend some of that time frying up a nice egg or two? Thanks to RoadPro's 12-volt frying pan, you can have a nicely cooked egg anytime, even while you're barreling down the highway at 80 mph. RoadPro offers other appliances for your car as well, so prepare to haphazardly take your eyes of the road for minutes at a time. Now that these devices have arrived, I'm left wondering how previous generations lived without roasting up a nice pizza on the way to work.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) allows transfer of data such as passport, transportation card, and (eventually) credit card information without actually touching the passport or card to a reader. While RFIDs have the ability to ease cheeseburger purchases and other important transactions, anyone nearby with a reader can simply pluck your information from the air. In order to combat this, DIFRWear is now selling a wallet and a passport case with layers of RF shielding that block the ability to read any RFID tags contained within. Until DIFRWear starts selling a neon orange wallet with velcro, I'll just just keep warding off evil "RF" spirits with prayer and sacrifices.
Japanese research institute Riken has developed a robot that will save you the trouble involved in carrying your elderly relatives off to the woods to abandon them. Japan is expecting a major increase in demand for elderly care as a declining birth rate and strict immigration control are leaving Japan's elderly with less young people to listen to their stories. Enter RI-MAN, a 220 pound robot with soft silicone skin that can sense the position and weight of a person in its arms. RI-MAN also has the ability to see, hear, and smell, allowing it to relentlessly track down the elderly no matter where they hide. RI-MAN can currently only carry around 26 pounds, so you will have to convince your grandmother to diet before you can hire a terrible mechanical man as her caretaker.