Philips medical tablet PC

Although the tablet form factor hasn't exactly taken the consumer market by storm, they're ideal for specialized applications like medicine, and Philips' Cliniscape "Mobile Clinical Assistant" is the latest device to target the hospitals. Designed by Intel's Digital Health Group, the Cliniscape features a 10.4-inch touch screen, a custom installation of Vista Business running on a Core Solo processor with 1GB of RAM, a 60GB disk, 802.11n, RFID and Bluetooth radios, barcode scanner, a 2 megapixel camera, 3.5-hour battery and a single USB port, all contained in a sealed "medical-grade" enclosure that can be wiped clean with disinfectant and withstand a 1 meter drop. When docked in the "grab-and-go" base station, the Cliniscape can be used as a desktop machine with three additional USB ports and an Ethernet jack. Philips says software vendors are working to optimize their patient-care apps for the MCA platform, and that the Cliniscape should be on sale in Spring 2008.

citizen and bluetooth watches

Truthfully, we've no idea whether Citizen really did replace its VIRT design team or if they all just had an epiphany, but whatever the case, the outfit's latest lineup of Bluetooth-enabled wristwatches actually look... marginally wearable. The i:Virt collection, which comes in four colors along with a metal-banded sibling, is capable of playing nice with your Bluetooth mobile, and moreover, they all boast a battery life of up to five days with BT turned on. Furthermore, the units are water-resistant and feature a color LCD, phone battery meter, caller ID, signal display, call history list and email viewer. Unfortunately, it seems as though the watches all sport the elusive "open price" for now, but feel free to take a closer look at the gang after the jump.

Nokia N81 update...

Nokia's N81 is now, at this very moment, "available globally" according to Nokia. Pre-tax, pre-subsidy €360 / $515 for the 2GB microSD model or €430 / $615 for that full 8GB of on-board flash experience. Since the revamped N-Gage platform isn't online yet, the N81 comes pre-loaded with three playable demos of FIFA 07, Asphalt 3: Street Rules, and Space Impact Light. Those same games will be available for free download-and-preview over HSDPA when the service goes live sometime "later in 2007." Still, while Nokia touts a global launch, the fact that this quad-band GSM phone only sports 2100MHz WCDMA will limit its effective use in North America -- even if it is FCC approved.

Ferro electric RAM?

If you've fantasized about how wonderful your life could be if the merits of DRAM, SRAM and Flash memory could all be mixed harmoniously into one "dream semiconductor," listen up. You may not be up to speed on all the advancements in ferroelectric materials, but we're pretty sure even the technological newbie could appreciate a new discovery by Korean researcher Dr. Shin Young-han. Reportedly, this fellow has "succeeded in figuring out the operational mechanism of ferroelectrics," which could potentially lead to FeRAM -- a technology that could "store data ten times faster than Flash memory and keep it for longer than ten years." Kudos to you, Dr. Shin, now let's get this stuff on the production line, shall we?

Palm Centro , what would you change?

Palm's Centro hasn't exactly lit the world on fire, but might it have if it were simply tweaked in a few key areas? As we've done a number of times before, we're presenting to you yet another Palm device that could probably use some refining, and we're curious to know what alterations you would've made if given the chance. It's been an interesting past couple of months for Palm, to say the very least, and while the firm's CEO has shockingly responded to an open letter, saddened us all by announcing yet another OS delay and inexplicably (okay, maybe not so much) nixed the Foleo during that period, it still found time to officially introduce the sub-$100 Centro at an admittedly underwhelming DigitalLife press conference.

We're not setting out to beat a proverbial dead horse or anything -- after all, you know precisely how we feel about the device -- but there's nothing like a healthy dose of criticism (or adoration, to be fair) from the masses. So, here's your chance to let loose and tell the rest of us Earthlings exactly how you would've re-engineered the Centro. Are those keys a tad too diminutive for your liking? Is the whole "Sprint-only" thing cramping your style? Or is Palm's latest darling exactly what your heart desired? Rant away.

Wimax officiall part of 3G

We remember when WiMAX was just a twinkle in a wireless engineer's eye, and now it's all ready for the big time, as the ITU officially approved the spec as part of the 3G standard today. That's doubly special since WiMAX is the first non-cellular tech to get approval as 3G, but with services like Sprint's Xohm blurring the line for consumers, we can see how it's easier to just lump it all together. Of course, Sprint confusingly says Xohm is "4G," but it looks like they may need to tone it down now that the ITU has spoken. Either way, the ITU's decisions usually get enacted by governments, which means carriers with 3G spectrum will soon be able to start building out WiMAX networs without additional regulations. It's so bittersweet when they grow up, isn't it?

Nokia N810

The Nokia N810 was launched this week, and among the main details, I've got a few more impressions for you. (What few impressions I could draw from the quirky device.)
• Screen is A+ in sharpness, color, brightness and res (800x480). It's not multitouch, though, and you'll need a stylus.
• The keyboard's clicks are a bit shallow and the space between each is not so well defined, but it is something you could get used to.
• The Linux apps were not readily available yet, and some.
• An app I missed in my video walkthrough is that Gizmo has video conferencing support using the front-mounted cam. (And there is no app for using it to take straight- up photos.)
• Would I buy it? I'm not sure I need it. But the dev community for Nokia tablets is pretty popular (although not as popular as s60) so I'm sure there are untold uses for many inside of this thing.
• When WiMax hits, an upgraded device like this could be very useful. Right now, it's a Wi-Fi or tethered over Bluetooth device.

The best home theatre display?

We're a bit short on reader-submitted questions on Ask Engadget this week -- speaking of, send your questions to ask at engadget dawt com and you've got a good shot at getting it some air time -- but it's alright 'cause we've got a question of our own:

A buddy of ours is setting up a home theater, and has decided to really go all out. Unfortunately for him, there's no clear choice between display technology. DLP claims this, plasma claims that, LCD claims another, and there's always some dang projector floating around promising the bliss of unlimited screen size. So, assuming price is no object -- in the sense that he's willing to really invest here, not that he just likes flinging his money around -- and our buddy is looking for the best possible quality in his 42-inch+ display that will be situated in a moderately sized, fairly glare-free living room, what would you pick for him?

Hopefully that's enough to go on, but if not you can always resort to calling the DLP kids cheapskates and making fun of the LCD fans' refresh rates.

PS3? PS2?

While we're not going to complain about the launch of the cheaper 40GB PS3, we are still kind of miffed that it isn't backwards-compatible with our huge library of PS2 games -- especially since newer PS3s retain compatibility through software emulation and not specialized hardware like earlier models. Not to worry though, because Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack "Daniels" Tretton is here to dazzle you with mathematics: according to Jackie, the consumer actually benefits from Sony's move to cut emulation, because now you have the opportunity to buy both a $399 PS3 and a $129 PS2, for a grand total of $528, which is -- wait for it -- less than the original 60GB PS3's price of $600! Of course, what Mr. T here is forgetting is that most people would prefer a single, $399 PS3 with backwards compatibility (and rumble, for good measure), but really, once you get spinning that fast it's awfully hard to stop.

blu-ray burner

Nah, Panasonic's LF-PB271JD couldn't hold a candle to Sony's BWU-200S in a runway competition, but when it comes to performance, we'd say the two are practically neck and neck. This unit fits snuggly within any Windows-based machine lookin' for a 5.25-inch optical drive, and it has no problems burning dual-layer BD-Rs at a furious (ahem) 4x pace. Additionally, you'll find a SATA interface along with backup software bundled in, and just in case you're not working exclusively with BD-R, it can also toast BD-RE at 2x, DVD±R at 16x, DVD±R DL at 8x, DVD-RW at 6x, CD-R at 40x and CD-RW at 24x. Of course, you'll be paying through the nose for the luxuries presented when it lands on November 10th, but the ¥55,000 ($468) asking price is still a good bit lower than what Sony's demanding.

iRobot's new machine

It looks like those that found iRobot's earlier Warrior robots a tad lacking could soon have some of their demands answered in the form of the new and improved Warrior X700, which the company recently took the wrap off. Weighing in at a hefty 250 pounds, this one promises to carry a 500 pound payload with ease, and lift upwards of 150 pounds with its robotic arm. Of course, with a name like "Warrior," it'll also be doing more than just carrying supplies, with it just as capable of firing a machine gun or some 40mm explosive rounds, the latter of which can be done at 16 rounds a second. The bot's apparently not ready to be put into service just yet, however, with it currently only able to muster up a top speed of ten miles per hour, although iRobot says it'll be able to do a four-minute mile by the time it ships out in the second half of next year.

185K for a cellphone?

If a burglar with exquisite taste somehow managed to snag a million dollar Goldvish, asking for just $185,000 for its safe return wouldn't be too far-fetched. Apparently, the mobile in question wasn't of the princely variety, as this particular thief managed to lower his asking price to a rock-bottom $200. The suspect, known initially through police paperwork as "Baby Boy," was lured into a trap after police tagged along for the exchange and arrested him at gunpoint. When Mr. Boy (later found to be Randy-Jay Adolphos Jones, which is only slightly better) was questioned, he just couldn't put a finger on why he blurted out the $185k figure versus something more reasonable, but hey, not everyone can be right on top of current market conditions, right?

circlelending becomes virgin money

Peer-to-peer lending service CircleLending has been taken under the wings of Richard Branson’s Virgin empire and rebranded as Virgin Money USA.
Virgin’s US investment firm recently bought a majority stake in the Waltham, Massachusetts company, which acts as an online middleman for friends and family who want to loan each other money. The exact amount of money invested by Virgin has not been disclosed.
Virgin Money USA differs from other online lending services, because it focuses on loans between people who are familiar with one another. Prosper, Lending Club, Kiva, and Zopa, on the other hand, facilitate loans between relative strangers.

ancestry.com buyout!

Spectrum Equity Investors has led a $300 million investment to acquire a majority interest in Provo Utah-based The Generations Network (the parent company of Ancestry.com, MyFamily.com and other sites) according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
The Generations Network competes with a number of new Internet startups that we’ve recently covered. Its Ancestry.com site competes with Geni and MyHeritage. MyFamily.com competes with Story Of My Life, Our Story and others.
Geni’s last round of financing valued the company at $100 million. But none of those competing sites, or even all of those sites aggregated, have caused any financial pain yet for The Generations Network. The company is pulling in $150 million or so in yearly revenue and is hugely profitable according to our source.
This is a liquidity event for many or most of TGN’s shareholders, although it is apparently not a complete buyout. Employees and possibly some outside shareholders still have equity in the entity, which is almost certainly preparing for an IPO or other larger liquidity event.
The most recent Comscore data says TGN had 8.2 million unique worldwide visitors in August. They’ve raised $95 million to date, although the last round of financing was closed in 2001.

Social .Fm sign Microsoft deal

Social.FM (formerly Mercora) has released a new version of its social music service platform for Windows Mobile and announced a new distribution deal with Microsoft.
The new Social.FM features improved application screens, sliding menus with transition effects, and an new white and green color scheme that is claimed to be “extremely fun-to-use for Windows Mobile customers.”
Social.FM announced that starting immediately Microsoft will provide a free lifetime subscription to Social.FM for all Microsoft employees worldwide. Under the deal Social.FM has joined the Microsoft Mobile2Market Program which promotes “Designed for Windows Mobile” logo-certified applications for Windows Mobile-based Smartphones and Pocket PCs to mobile operators, e-tailers, retailers and consumers.
Social.FM will announce its first Symbian platform client at the Symbian SmartPhone Conference in London later this week.

HTC with google OS

Another day, another Gphone rumor. This go 'round, a UBS analyst is reportedly confirming that HTC "will ship about 50,000 cellphones running on a mobile operating system made by the Mountain View, California-based search giant by the end of this year." If you'll recall, this definitely isn't the first time we've heard these two names mentioned in the same sentence, but interestingly enough, analyst Benjamin Schachter actually suggested that the first batch wouldn't "be for sale" -- rather, they'd be used exclusively by developers "to understand how the software works." These reports also help substantiate the belief that Google will likely be focusing on software, and furthermore, Mr. Schachter insinuated that he wouldn't be too awfully shocked if another handset maker (such as LG, imagine that) also jumped in to provide hardware. Whatever the case, we'll be waiting in tense anticipation for a developer-led unboxing -- if this hubbub proves legitimate, of course.

iPhone hack

The industrious rebels of the iPhone Dev Team have joined in the iPhone unlock chess match today, with the release of AnySim 1.1, a free unlocking app that enables iPhones with both firmware version 1.02 and 1.1.1 to operate on any GSM network. The hack only works with "virgin" iPhones right now, and unlocking a 1.0.2 phone and updating to 1.1.1 will result in a bricked device, but the team says they'll be releasing a "revirginizer" for locked 1.1.1 phones soon. As always, hack at your own risk -- and don't expect future updates to go smoothly.

2007 OS war

2007 is definitely shaping up to be the year of the desktop OS: between Vista's much ballyhooed and better-late-than-never launch (and subsequently pending SP1 release), Apple's behind-schedule but super hyped release of Mac OS X Leopard, and unlikely upstart and fan fave Ubuntu's forthcoming Gutsy Gibbon launch. So, what's it gonna be?

Google maps on a symbian phone

The iPhone-less among us can still get some Google Maps love with the recent Google Maps Mobile release. The updated version for Symbian devices is faster and less prone to connectivity prompts than the previous, and some smartphone users even get GPS abilities with GMaps.

Ad ready post

Display ads have generally been the purview of larger brand name companies who can afford the cost of creating highly visual or dynamic ads. However, Aaron Finn and his team at AdReady want to bring banner advertising to even the little guys.
AdReady is an application for managing a display advertising campaign, from creating the ads all the way to managing and tracking their progress on three main ad networks: Google, RightMedia, Advertising.com. In exchange, AdReady takes a 20% cut of your ad budget. Aaron got the idea for the site while managing a $100 million a year in ad campaigns for Classmates.com.
While normal display advertisements can take a week or two to make and cost a couple grand, AdReady lets you pick a basic set of ads (skyscrapers, banners, etc) from their library and customize it to your specifications. Ads vary by customization, but often let you place your own message, images, or logo on the units. Some are even interactive, like car ads that let you change the color of the cars in the ads. It’s like a more practical version of the Flickr photo Ad Generator we covered back in January.
But not all ads are created equal. AdReady incorporate all the best practices for ad design as well as sort the wheat from the chaff by tracking and ranking the click through rate on each ad in their inventory as customers use them. Though I imagine an extreme reliance on the data will produce a lot of generic advertising. Although a lot of the ads are rather generic to begin with by the virtue that they have to be a one size fits all solution.