The Gadget Information: 17 December 2006

22 December 2006

What's GPS ?

The Global Positioning System (GPS), is the only fully-functional satellite navigation system. More than two dozen GPS satellites orbit the Earth, transmitting radio signals which allow GPS receivers to determine their location, speed and direction.

Since the first experimental satellite was launched in 1978, GPS has become indispensable for navigation around the world, and an important tool for map-making and land surveying. GPS also provides a precise time reference used in many applications including scientific study of earthquakes, and synchronization of telecommunications networks.

Developed by the United States Department of Defense, it is officially named NAVSTAR GPS (Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging Global Positioning System). The satellite constellation is managed by the United States Air Force 50th Space Wing. Although the cost of maintaining the system is approximately US$400 million per year, including the replacement of aging satellites, GPS is free for civilian use as a public good.

In late 2005, the first in a series of next-generation GPS satellites was added to the constellation, offering several new capabilities, including a second civilian GPS signal called L2C for enhanced accuracy and reliability. In the coming years, additional next-generation satellites will increase coverage of L2C and add a third and fourth civilian signal to the system, as well as advanced military capabilities.

Source : www.garmin.com

20 December 2006

XDA O2 Stealth

Making a choice has never been easier

Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 5.0 and full-phone functionality mean that the Xda Stealth is the only device you'll need for work or pleasure. Enjoy easy access to applications such Word, Excel and Windows Media Player. One sleek sliding movement reveals a full-sized alphanumeric keypad that gives you the familiar phone interface for easy messaging. In addition, with the eZiText® application, text input with keypad or stylus will be effortless.

Stay connected anywhere

The Xda Stealth comes equipped with WLAN 802.11b/g to give you wireless connectivity at speeds of up to 54Mb/s. Chat with your contacts, reply to emails, and download applications in hotels, airports or even from the comfort of your bed. Work and enjoy yourself free of cumbersome wires.

Picture perfect memories

The 2 Megapixel camera with Auto Focus ensures that your memories stay sharp. Capture and share photos with loved ones via MMS or Bluetooth. The Strobe Flash aids photo taking in less than perfect lighting conditions, while image editing tools allow you to add that personal touch.

More room for you

A spacious 192 MB ROM and MiniSD expandable memory means the indispensable bits of your life goes along with you, anywhere. Bring your music, photos, and documents with you; enjoy work and play while out and about.

Predictably intuitive

O2 Phone Plus, pre-loaded on the Xda Stealth, helps you to do more in less time. Predictive number input lets you get to your contacts faster, while its IDD/calling card profile management automatically adds IDD pre-fixes and calling card prefixes to your dialled numbers. But you'll still have to speak to your mother yourself.

Source : www.seeo2.com

What's iPod ?

iPod is a brand of portable media player designed and marketed by Apple Computer and launched in 2001. In addition to the full sized models, there is the iPod mini, which was discontinued with the introduction of the iPod nano, and the iPod shuffle, so called because it has no screen and was marketed with the ability to shuffle songs. Recent iPods are designed around a central scroll wheel — although the iPod shuffle has buttons only. The full-sized model stores media on an internal hard drive, while the other models use flash memory, allowing for a physically smaller size. The most expensive iPods can hold audio, photos, movies, and games, though most are used primarily as music players, which is the originally intended design function. Like many digital audio players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices, holding any file type.

Apple focused its development on the iPod's unique user interface and its ease of use, rather than on technical capability, which has been criticized for not including certain features such as radio. For simplicity, media files are not managed on the iPod itself but instead take advantage of Apple's jukebox application, iTunes. The software now runs cross-platform on Apple's Macintosh computers and competitor Microsoft's Windows operating system, as do recent iPod models, and is available as a free download from Apple. It stores a comprehensive library of music on the user's computer and can play, burn, and rip music from a CD, and serves as a browser for the iTunes Store, all of which can be done without an iPod. However, iTunes is required to sync media files to an iPod.

The iPod is currently the world's best-selling range of digital audio players and its worldwide mainstream adoption makes it one of the most popular consumer brands. Some of Apple's design choices and proprietary actions have, however, led to criticism and legal battles.

What's Smartphone ?

A smartphone is any electronic handheld device that integrates the functionality of a mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA) or other information appliance. This is often achieved by adding telephone functions to an existing PDA (PDA Phone) or putting "smart" capabilities, such as PDA functions, into a mobile phone. A key feature of a smartphone is that additional native applications can be installed on the device. The applications can be developed by the manufacturer of the handheld device, by the operator or by any other third-party software developer. "Smart" functionality includes any additional interface including a QWERTY board, a touch screen, or even just secure access to company mail, such as is provided by a BlackBerry.

It is increasingly difficult to define exactly what qualifies as a "smartphone". Nearly all new mobile phones have some rudimentary PDA functionality such as phonebooks, calendars, and task lists. Furthermore, BREW and Java ME devices allow for the installation of additional applications but are still not considered smartphones. There are many BREW devices with PDA functionality, the ability to run third-party applications in native code and sporting displays as large as 240x320 pixels; yet they are not considered "smartphones". The elusive definition seems loosely tied to the particular operating systems listed below. A non "smart" mobile phone may be referred to as a Feature Phone, a Dumb Phone, etc..

Fundamentally, these seem to be the common traits: Smartphones are voice-centric devices (voice is the primary function, data is secondary) that offer PDA-like capabilities, whereas PDAs or Personal Communicators (such as most BlackBerries) may offer voice capabilities, but they are data-centric. Smartphones are generally capable of one-handed operation, while PDAs generally require use of both hands. But it can be argued that this definition based on the device's "focus" may fail, as devices integrate more features [1]].

Smartphone features tend to include Internet access, e-mail access, scheduling software, built-in camera, contact management, GPS navigation software and occasionally the ability to read business documents in a variety of formats such as PDF and Microsoft Office. In the CTIA conference held in Atlanta, Georgia in March 2004, incorporation of television into the smartphone was among the topics discussed.

The first smartphone was called Simon designed by IBM in 1992 and shown as a concept product that year at COMDEX, the communications industry trade show held in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was released to the public in 1993 and sold by BellSouth. Besides a mobile phone, it also contained a calendar, address book, world clock, calculator, note pad, e-mail, and games. Customers could also use a stylus to write directly on its screen to create facsimiles and memos.

As of 2004 smartphones were an increasingly large part of the mobile telephone market. According to the analysts, Canalys, smartphone shipments increased more than 50 percent from the second quarter of 2005 to the second quarter of 2006 with nearly nineteen million devices shipped in the latter period [2]. It is expected that in a few years most phones sold (except for disposable phones) will be considered "smart". Smartphone is usually used as a term contrasting "regular phones". Various terms exist for non smart phones, including Feature phone

What's Notebook ?

Notebook or Laptop is a small mobile personal computer, which usually weighs 2.2-12 pounds (1-6 kilograms), depending on size, materials and other factors.

While the terms laptop and notebook are often used interchangeably, "laptop" is the older term, introduced in 1983 with the Gavilan SC. "Notebook computer" is a later coinage, which was used to differentiate smaller devices such as those of the NEC UltraLite and Compaq LTE series in 1989, which were, in contrast to previous laptops, the approximate size of an A4 paper sheet.^[1] The terms are imprecise: due to heat and other issues, many laptops are inappropriate for use on one's lap, and most notebooks are not the size of typical A4 paper notebook. Although some older portable computers, such as the Macintosh Portable and certain Zenith TurbosPort models, were sometimes described as "laptops", their size and weight were too great for this category.

Laptops usually run on a single battery or from an external AC/DC adapter which can charge the battery while also supplying power to the computer itself.

As personal computers, laptops are capable of the same tasks as a desktop PC, although they are typically less powerful for the same price. They contain components that are similar to their desktop counterparts and perform the same functions, but are miniaturized and optimized for mobile use and efficient power consumption. Laptops usually have liquid crystal displays and most of them use different memory modules for their random access memory (RAM), for instance, SO-DIMM in lieu of the larger DIMMs. In addition to a built-in keyboard, they may utilize a touchpad (also known as a trackpad) or a pointing stick for input, though an external keyboard or mouse can usually be attached.

What's PDAs ?

Personal Digital Assistants are handheld devices that were originally designed as personal organizers, but became much more versatile over the years. PDAs have many uses: calculating, use as a clock and calendar, playing computer games, accessing the Internet, sending and receiving e-mail, use as a radio or stereo, video recording, recording notes, use as an address book, GPS and use as a spreadsheet. Newer PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones (smartphone), web browsers or portable media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi, or Wireless Wide-Area Networks (WWANs). One of the most significant PDA characteristic is the presence of a touch screen.

What's Gadget ?

A Gadget is a device that has a useful specific practical purpose and function. Gadgets tend to be more unusual or cleverly designed than normal technology. In some circles the distinction between a gadget and a gizmo is that a gizmo has moving parts, whereas a gadget need not have them. For example, a nifty digital watch would be a gadget, while an analog watch would be a gizmo.

In contrast, a device of clever design that has no practical purpose is called a novelty item.

The etymology of the word gadget is disputed. Some sources say it was "invented" when Gaget, Gauthier & Cie, the company behind the casting of the Statue of Liberty, made a small-scale version of the monument and named it after their firm. Other sources cite a derivation from sailors' terminology; the French gâchette which has been applied to various pieces of a firing mechanism; the French gagée, a small tool or accessory; the French engager, to engage one thing with another; or even a diminutive of the Scottish engineering jargon gadge, a form of measuring device. The spring-clip used to hold the base of a vessel during glass-making is also known as a gadget.