Sony unveils lots of USBs

Sony unveils not just another USB range

With *so* many USB sticks out there, it’s hard to even garner a cheerful woohoo when someone releases another one (been there done that). Contrary to that (almost) is Sony’s new MicroVault Click and Click Excellence. This new range of USBs boast advance performance and a neat ‘click’ design to retract the connector for swift and easy use.

The MicroVault Click, the smaller and lighter device, comes in a range of sizes from 2GB to 16GB. The Excellence range, slightly more expensive, has a capacity size of between 2MB and 8MB, and up to 31MB read and 11MB/s write times.

Check em out HERE

(Via Shiny Shiny)

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Snowflake Portable USB Microphone!

Portable USB Microphone Is A Snowflake

A new portable microphone from Blue Microphones has been released. It’s called the Snowflake due to its small frame and portability and works as a USB-powered plug-and-play device that will be compatible for both PC and Mac users.

At the base of its sleek case is a slot to hold the USB cable; the whole microphone folds up to easily fit in any laptop bag. And, because it’s from Blue, you already know the sound quality is superb. For just only $80, other microphones will be left in the dust.

To see more pictures of Snowflake, check out the jump…

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(Via GEARFUSE.)

How to Fully Erase all the Info on your iPhone

How to Fully Erase all the Info on your iPhone

I talked about how a recipient of a refurbished iPhone was able to uncover sensitive data from the past user with a little searching.  I also talked about how there is currently no known way to actually clear the info on your iPhone.  Turns out I was wrong.  Read on to find out how to actually clear the memory.

Although this method reported by Securosis isn’t perfect, it’s definitely better then having someone finding out your PayPal password.

1. Restore the iPhone from within iTunes.
2. On the “Info” tab, un-check all options so you don’t synchronize calendars, email, bookmarks, and contacts.
3. On the Photos, Podcasts, and Video tabs, uncheck “Sync …”.
4. Create 3 big playlists with at least as many songs as the storage capacity of your iPhone.
5. On the Music tab, select the first of your 3 playlists to sync. Make sure the storage bar at the bottom looks full after syncing.
6. Sync your iPhone, change to the next playlist, sync again, and repeat one last time.

Using this method, all the sensitive info should be overwritten by the new music so when you send it in to Apple for the refurb program, all they will be deleting is music.  Now you can sleep easy and wait with baited breath for the 3G iPhone.  I haven’t had an iPhone to test this on, so if you do end up using this method, please tell us how it went in the comments.

Read [Securosis]

Full Story » | Written by Mark Rowland for Appletell. | <a href=”http://www.appletell.com/apple/comment/how-to-fully-erase-all-the-info-on-your-iphone//#respond&#8221; rel=”bookmark” title=”How to Fully Erase all the Info on your iPhone”

(Via Appletell.)

Touch Diamond – increase shipments by 50%

HTC ups Touch Diamond shipments by 50%
HTC is boosting its shipments for the Touch Diamond based on a sharp spike in the likely demand for the device, company chief Peter Chou has said at a Tokyo conference. The Taiwan-area phone creator now plans to increase shipments of the Windows Mobile phone from its earlier two million-unit forecast to about three million, or a full 50 percent higher than before. Where it took the original Touch 11 months to reach three million, the Diamond should only take the 7 months of June through December to reach that goal, according to Chou.

The HTC leader doesn’t explain why he believes the goal possible, though the Diamond is known to have a wider release schedule that will start with Europe in June but quickly spread to other areas, including the US by the second half of this year. Upgrades to the Diamond also increase the accessibility of the device, as 3G support enables the new Touch to work in Japan, Korea, and other areas where the 2G-only GSM original is incompatible.

Most other handset designers typically don’t release shipment forecasts for individual models, though Apple has publicly stated since 2007 that it expects to deliver 10 million iPhones in 2008. The American company reports shipping 1.7 million iPhones in the first three months of the year and is widely predicted to cross the three million mark by the end of June.

(Via MacNN.)

No love for Zune!

GameStop to stop selling Zunes
Microsoft is in for more bad news regarding its Zune personal music players, as GameStop on Thursday announced it decided to stop selling the flash-memory digital music player in its stores. The video-game retailer said lack of consumer demand and the device’s ill fit with its existing offerings prompted the decision, which was made about a month ago. The retail chain is made up of hundreds of stores across the US, and will not order new stock, clearing out existing inventory exclusively on its web store.
“We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated,” a GameStop spokesperson said. “It did not fit with our product mix.”

Microsoft recently revealed it sold 2 million Zune players since the device launched in 2006, which is a fraction of the 10.6 million iPods Apple managed to move in just the last quarter. Losing GameSpot’s distribution network is seen as a further setback in the software giant’s attempt to boost the device’s sales. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced it will launch the Zune in Canada by the middle of June, expanding the Zune’s potential market. [via TheStreet]

(Via MacNN.)

AT&T plastic bag… Delivered.

AT&T: Your plastic bag. Delivered.

A great story from TUAW:
I purchased an iPhone during the refurb sale that AT&T had last week. In two working days I got my 16 gig iPhone, times two. Two identical boxes, two identical iPhones and two identical charges on my debit card. Given the good deal, I decided to keep both (yes, despite the impending update). Imagine my surprise when my wife called me at work the next day to report that a third box had arrived from AT&T via DHL 2-day shipping, and that it was twice the size of either of the iPhone boxes. Given the previous day’s spoils, I couldn’t wait to get home.

Arriving at my house, I located the box and sat down with it on the couch. It was very, very light, but I’ve become accustomed to good things not weighing much. Pulling out my trusty Swiss Tech Utili-Key, I carefully sliced open my unexpected delivery. Inside was a packing slip with a single line item:

75011 MISC iPhone PPA BAG … $0.00

Yes, it was an unsolicited, rush delivery, plastic iPhone bag. This is definitely not a first for AT&T and the monetary waste involved in packing and shipping a completely unnecessary plastic bag is, I assume, passed back to the consumer. Next time you look at your AT&T bill, you can think about my MISC iPhone PPA BAG … which I’ll be cherishing forever. Or at least until the novelty wears off.

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

Indiana Jones Office Supplies!!!

Indiana Jones Prop Replica Desk Accessories Hold Your Office Supplies

Today is the day my friends! Celebrate the opening of the new movie by decking out your desktop with some fun and useful prop replica desk accessories from the Indiana Jones movie series. The Ark of the Covenant doubles as a business card holder, the Holy Grail with hold your paperclips and the fertility idol will handle your pens. Get them all HERE.

(Via Nerd Approved – Gadgets and Gizmos.)

Indiana Jones Desktop!

Indiana Jones and the Mac Desktop of DOOM!

Today is a day that many people have been waiting 19 years for. Today, the 4th Indiana Jones film, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” officially hits theaters.

In conjunction with Lucasfilm, the Iconfactory has produced a set of icons for each of the 4 films, and I have to tell you, the ones I’ve seen so far are simply some of the most beautiful icons I’ve ever seen.

You can download the icons for the first 3 films right here, with the “Kingdom” icons coming soon. If you use Iconfactory’s Candybar application on your Mac, you also get a customized Dock for each film as well – allowing you to completely trick out your Mac with Indy flair.

To top if off, the Iconfactory has also produced a fantastic desktop wallpaper for your desktop and iPhone called “Indy’s Desk“.

When you combine them all you get the ultimate Indy desktop experience!

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(Via Apple Gazette.)

Eject button in the menu bar – Very Handy!

Mac 101: Eject button in the menu bar
If you’re using a keyboard without an eject key, say a non-Apple keyboard, an older Apple keyboard or (in my case) a really old Apple keyboard, you’re probably missing that eject button. Sure, you can launch iTunes and select “Eject Disk” from the Controls menu, but there’s a much easier way.

Navigate to the CoreServices folder, which lives in your system’s Library. There, you’ll find “Eject.menu” in the Menu Extras folder. Simply double-click that sucker and presto! An eject button is now in your menu bar.

To remove it, simply click it and drag it onto the desktop while holding down the Command key. You can also re-arrange menu bar items by dragging with the Command key depressed.

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

iPhone 2.0 beta gets geotagging?

iPhone 2.0 beta gets geotagging?

Here’s a nice little tidbit: word on the street is that the most recent version of the iPhone 2.0 beta has added a “Location Services” feature that encompasses what appears to be GPS-based Google Mapping, along with geotagging for the phone’s camera app. Sure, even if these shots are legit, Apple is late to the party here — other featurephone users have been geo-tagging their shots for years — but that doesn’t mean we can’t condescendingly congratulate Apple for these “achievements” while simultaneously pinning screenshots to the fridge alongside that 3G preferences pane and the hand-traced picture of a turkey in crayon.

(Via Engadget.)