Video editing keyboard costs $272 – that’s one expensive jog wheel

The jog wheel. A must for anyone who edits video on a regular basis. Well, maybe not a “must” but definitely handy. They’re expensive, though, as evidenced by this otherwise normal keyboard that costs $272 thanks to the attached jog wheel.
You’ll have to order it from far, far away, too. All the way from Japan. As for specs, it’s a 105-key USB keyboard with a built-in three-port USB hub and the aforementioned jog wheel flanked by commonly used video editing shortcut buttons. It comes with configuration software as well, so you can remap the buttons according to your particular project.
[Geek Stuff 4 U via Akihabara]

SIMFi Transforms Any (SIM) Phone Into a Wi-Fi Hotspot [Cellphones]

First, the Eye-Fiadded Wi-Fi to any camera with an SD card. Now, the Sagem Orga SIMFi does something similar. It's a SIM card that adds Wi-Fi capabilities to cellphones...Wi-Fi hotspot capabilities, that is.
Just like the Eye-Fi, the SIMFi runs its own integrated software, meaning there shouldn't be any special setup on your phone. You pretty much just plug it into a phone and you're good to connect a laptop, or any other Wi-Fi device, to the internet at 3G speeds.
But whether or not the SIMFi is coming to market under its own branding is unknown. For the time being, it may just be a proof of concept that's being shopped around to interested entities like AT&T or T-Mobile. You know, so someone can charge you an extra monthly fee for the thing.
[Gizmodo via Sagem Ogra via SlashGear]

Garmin-ASUS intros the nüvifone A50 and M10

Any smartphone worth a darn has GPS capabilities, but some are more adept at finding their way than others. After getting a reputation for a company that takes it sweet-ass time launching a handset, Garmin-ASUS today announced two new handsets in the nüvifone A50 and nüvifone M10. First up is the A50. An Android device with a 3.5″ HVGA touchscreen display, 3 megapixel camera, HSDPA connectivity, 4GB of internal memory and accelerometer, the A50 is said to be one heck of a pathfinder thanks in part to its e-compass and GPS chipset that draws location signals from satellites as well as network and terrestrial sources. Add in not apps like Google Maps and cityXplorer but Garmin’s very own pre-loaded turn-by-turn navigation software and one no longer has any excuses for getting lost while driving to the in-laws new country cottage. Moving on we have the M10. Running Windows Mobile 6.5.3, it isn’t as spec’d out as the A50 GPS wise, but it still can take on any other smartphone and even many dedicated GPS units with one hand tied behind its back. Physical characteristics include a 3.5″ WVGA display (resistive), Wi-Fi and HSDPA radios, 512MB of RAM and ROM and 4GB of in-built memory. Consumers and procrastinators should note each handset features support for just about every location-based and social media service under the sun, while corporate types will be pleased to note that Microsoft Exchange is fully by both phones. And yes, the A50 does have a multi-touch WebKit browser. Barring any unexpected delays, both devices will go on sale by the end of Q2.

Product: nüvifone A50,  nüvifone M10
[BGR]

Coming soon: Postage stamp-sized 1TB SSDs

SSDs haven’t found their way into the mass market yet, but a team of Japanese researchers is already trying to make them more worthwhile. The team claims it has developed a technology that helps to shrink the size of SSDs by no less than 90%, makes them cheaper and boosts energy efficiency by 70%.
The research group is comprised of people from a handful of different institutions, i. e. Toshiba or Keio University in Tokyo (where Professor Tadahiro Kuroda is the main person responsible).
The new technology makes it possible to produce 1TB SSDs that are as small as a postage stamp. The current prototype (pictured) is sized just like that and made of 128 NAND flash memory chips and one controller chip. It boasts a data transfer speed of 2Gbps and is based on radio communication, which (according to the researchers) leads to lower production costs.
A practical version is expected to be ready by 2012.
[CrunchGear via The Nikkei]

WiLink Crams Wi-Fi, GPS, FM Transmission and Bluetooth Into a Single Chip [Wireless]

Texas Instruments says that their WiLink 7.0 is the first chip with four wireless radios in one: FM transmission and reception, GPS, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. What does this mean for you, gadget lovers? In theory, a wholalot goodness.

Texas Instruments claims that mobile gadgets using this chip would be able to do all those four functions for less money—30 percent less—in less space—50 percent—and consuming less energy than the current alternatives.
[Gizmodo via PR Newswire]

The HTC Scorpion may pack 1.5Ghz processor, Android v2.2, and WiMax – if it exists

HTC cranks out Android handsets like candy corn – and we love that. The only downside to this, however, is that each new leak has us drooling before the last leak even has time to become a real product.
Our salivary glands were just warming up for the HTC Incredible and the HTC Legend, but now we’ve got the HTC Scorpion (possibly codenamed “Olympian”) to dream about. According to the very-latest of leaks, this thing might pack a scorchingly fast 1.5 Ghz processor and the as-of-yet unreleased Android v2.2.


[MobileCrunch]

Hands-on: UMID mbook BZ

The original UMID mbook M1 is a mixed bag of results. On one hand it’s a very pocketable Windows XP clamshell with a 4.8-inch touchscreen, but the battery life and computing power isn’t that great. Well, I’m checking out the new mbook BZ right now and it seems that the BZ model addresses one of those issues while offering a few new tricks.
I just unboxed the mbook BZ minutes ago but here’s what I like and dislike so far about the portable. More to come shortly.
Pros

• My first words were “Damn, it’s small.”
• Feels very solid
• Screen looks fantastic
• Touchscreen seems accurate enough
• Reported 7 hour battery life over the M1’s 5 hour battery
• YouTube and Hulu run great (best I’ve ever seen on a small Atom-powered device)
• This model much-needed small optical mouse pad, but…

Cons

• Optical mouse is wonky
• Keyboard is really mushy
• Windows is still a bit sluggish
• The mbook BZ tends to rock on its round battery when the screen is open making it a pain to type on

Product Page

[CrunchGear]