World’s First Modular Phone
It may be a technology poised to cause a huge shift in the mobile handset industry. The modu is the world’s first modular mobile phone. A tiny mobile phone, the modu can be slipped into a wide variety of modu jackets — stylishly designed phone enclosures — and modu mates — modu enabled consumer electronics devices. This means that you can change the functionality of your handset and its look depending on your mood or needs.
Mainstream consumer electronics manufacturers have signed up to develop modu mates such as MP4 players, digital photo frames and cameras — enabling best of breed functionality coupled with modu’s personal communication experience. The modu (www.modumobile.com) will appear first in Israel, Italy and Russia.
Fast Browsing for Windows Mobile Devices
Japan’s ibis inc. has developed the ibisBrowserDX — the fastest full browser on the planet for Windows Mobile devices. The company claims the browser is five times faster than IE Mobile. Already popular in Japan, the company is offering an international edition to serve overseas users at http://ibis.ne.jp/en/browser/.
Other enhancements of the browser include vertical scrolling of a webpage that is at least seven times faster than in IE Mobile. In ibisBrowserDX, switching from PC View to Mobile View is performed in a moment and thanks to shortcut keys in the browser, expansion and reduction of a webpage (zoom) is instantaneous.
Google Launches Blogger in Arabic
Google has announced the beta launch of its blogging service, Blogger, in Arabic, enabling Arabic-language users around the world to connect and express themselves. Blogger (www.blogger.com) is a platform that allows any Internet user to start, customize and update their own blog.
It takes just a few simple steps to begin blogging, and upload images and videos to a blog. Bloggers can also get comments from their readers in an immediate, easy interaction.
Career Center for Chemical Engineers
An online career center has been launched for chemical engineers at www.che.com. The online feature complements the current classified section in Chemical Engineering magazine with a chemical job search engine and over 800 job postings in all sectors of the chemical industry. With the difficulty in the market currently for employers to find top quality chemical engineers and for those professionals to choose the right employers, the goal in taking the resource online is to make filling positions faster and easier.
Become a Mix Master
Whether you are a novice podcaster or an experienced musician, the Belkin TuneStudio for iPod lets you create high-quality digital recordings directly onto your iPod. This mixer allows the input of up to four different instruments or audio sources, and records the audio onto your iPod for instant playback. Bands can easily attach instruments and microphones to TuneStudio and record jam sessions directly onto an iPod.
Podcasters can also use this device to record their shows either in a studio or on location. The TuneStudio acts as an external USB sound card, allowing the input of audio from a PC source as well as output to a PC from any of its connector inputs. It records directly to an iPod in 16-bit, 44kHz quality. Each of the channels is equipped with 3-band EQ, pan and level controls. Phantom-power-enabled XLR inputs provide up to 60 dB of microphone gain while a high-quality stereo compressor with makeup gain enhances audio dynamics and keeps audio levels within recording limits of the iPod.
