Verizon Wireless announces Motorola Droid Pro

Verizon Wireless does already have a slew of Android-powered smartphones in their arsenal, and they aren’t going to stop there just yet. Well, the latest device that is coming out from their stables would be the Motorola Droid Pro, being the first Android-based smartphone which is specially optimized for business use.

It will be available as a pre-sale order from select Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com from November 9th onwards, although there are some reports floating around the Internet that people have already placed a purchase order – and not a pre-order, so this oversight might be something that could cost a person his or her job. Well, on to the nitty gritty in the extended post then!

Available for purchase in stores from November 18th onwards, the Motorola Droid Pro can be yours for $179.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate – of course, at this kind of pricing, it will mean having to sign up for a new two-year customer agreement. Just what does the Droid Pro offer? It is a global-ready Android smartphone, enabling customers to enjoy wireless voice service in over 220 countries and data coverage in more than 200 countries, where more than 120 of them boasting 3G speeds. You also need not worry about the operating system since it will boast the latest Android 2.2 Froyo update right out of the box.

The Motorola Droid Pro will be able to handle both business and personal with aplomb, since it comes pre-loaded with Quickoffice Mobile Suite for all your mobile office document browsing needs,3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities, and a QWERTY keyboard that was specially designed for speed and convenience. If you happen to be a Verizon Wireless customer who purchased the Droid Pro will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card, where upon receipt, you can use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.

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Sanyo Taho set to conquer the wilderness

Do you have a wild streak in you that intends to go off on an adventure at every single opportunity? If that is the case, then apart from owning a nice four wheel drive to get you and your family to a faraway destination, chances are you will need a communications tool which will be able to keep up with you. Of course, an iPhone 4 is nice and all, but will it be able to last the distance when you’re busy tracking bears and living it out in nature? Those who are looking for a companion phone under such trying circumstances need not look any further, thanks to Kyocera churning out the new Sanyo Taho that not only looks good at first glance, it is also more than capable of taking a beating.

Don’t be fooled by its exterior that exudes calm, put it through its paces and in spite of all the harshest elements that it experiences, it will still work reliably enough for you to call for help should such a situation arise. Not only that, you can even take a nice 29 minute bath at the river with the Sanyo Taho fully immersed within and it will still work after that – just don’t wade into water that is more than a meter deep and the Taho will be all right, at least for half an hour. This fully submersible device can be yours for a cent shy of a Benjamin – we’re talking about $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and agreeing to a new 2-year contract. Of course, all of this won’t happen until January 9, 2011, when it hits the official market then.

This no-nonsense handset won’t come with the latest features though, so you will have to make do with its 2-megapixel camera with flash and camcorder capability, which is a far cry of what other smartphones can do these days. Apart from that, you will be well pleased with its military standard 810G certification, where it is able to stand up to dust, shock, vibration, extreme temperatures, blowing rain and water immersion. This clamshell phone also sports applications such as Sprint Navigation and Sprint Family Locator for added value.

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Hands on with the Kensington Pro Fit Washable Keyboard

Whenever I get a chance to try out a keyboard to review for a post, it is my tradition to write the article about it on the keyboard itself.

Most of these keyboards are all alike, and this one isn’t wireless like the Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750. It is USB and PS2 compatible, and it is good to go if you want to wash it. When I say washable, I mean that you can run the keyboard under a running faucet with soap, disinfectant, or bleach, and then air dry it. It’s all good, just keep the connector out of the water.

I would imagine that this would be the perfect keyboard to have around in a medical facility, where germs and other bloodborne pathogens are a job hazard. It even has built-in antimicrobial material for “continuous microbe resistance”.

I do have one complaint about the 104-key layout. The right Shift key is quite far away from where I normally rest my pinky finger. I suppose that I could adapt to that, but I don’t know how long it would take.

The device has a PS2 adapter, so you don’t have to worry about investing in one if that is your thing. You should be able get the Kensington Pro Fit USB/PS2 Washable Keyboard for $39.95 right here.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 fills a niche in the smartphone market

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X8 is one smartphone that is touted to fill the gap in the smartphone market, in particular, meeting the needs of consumers who are finding a slew of touchscreen smartphone handsets too large or too small for them. In other words, it fits your hand snugly, and work just fine for those digits of yours without getting in the way or creating an unsightly bulge in your pocket. Of course, another important factor to consider these days would be pricing, as these are economically trying times, so every penny saved is always more than welcome, and the Xperia X8 certainly does its part to make sure you do not spend more than you should even on an advanced smartphone.

Touting to bring the best of both worlds into one single device, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 will have features taken from both the Xperia X10 and mini. Already meant to be available globally from October this year, it is even tipped to attract all the more phone users to the smartphone market. One of its main strengths? The size which is highly appealling, as it is placed neatly in between the two aforementioned popular Sony Ericsson Xperia phones while sporting a 3 inch capacitive touchscreen display that translates to one-handed navigation and message composition on the virtual QWERTY keyboard in a jiffy. Just a note of caution though – typing with just one of your hands while driving is still a big no-no, no matter how proficient you think you are.

To put things in perspective, the Xperia X10 is 20mm longer and 9mm wider than the X8 and the X8 is 16mm longer and 4mm wider than the X10 mini and 9mm longer and 2mm than the mini pro. As for its 3 inch display, it sports 320 x 480 pixels (HVGA) resolution for you to enjoy excellent quality images and videos, while handling applications which require high resolution. Retailing for typically under 200 Euros, it is also the most affordable Sony Ericsson Android phone to date, boasting Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, Google Maps and GPS navigation among others. If you’re a Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 owner, how has your ownership of this handset changed your life – for better or for worse?

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Misa Digital’s Kitara is a guitar with a touchscreen for strings

I think we all know that RockBandand Guitar Hero has changed the way that we look at guitars. Considering that these guitar games are played with strumming bars and push-button frets, it certainly paved the way for Kitara.

Kitara from Misa Digital also has a very non-traditional way of making a guitar. As you can see from the video after the jump, they have abandoned the strings for a touchscreen.

The video also shows that the Kitara can do some very interesting things, and can make some very interesting sounds. In fact, there are some noises it makes that sound like a synthesizer, rather than a guitar.

This Kitara has about 28 frets as well. I’m wondering why Misa Digital didn’t just make a giant iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad accessory that could do what the Kitara could do. That way, there would be an App for these interesting things that it could do. It could be a “player guitar”!

I suppose the Kitara is an instrument of the future. I can’t help but wonder if we are looking at an age when all guitars will be like Kitara touchscreen guitars. This would most certainly change the sound of music, wouldn’t it?

The Kitara has a very steep price at about $850.

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iPad Lock is a long time in waiting

It is interesting to note that while there are so many notebooks and netbooks out there in the market, how many of said owners actually purchase a special kind of lock to make sure that nothing untoward happens to their precious devices whenever they are not around? I mean, take a look around you at Starbucks and all of those other coffee places, how many people actually leave their notebooks to chance whenever they go to the loo? Perhaps it is partly due to ego, where they don’t want to be seen as paranoid by the rest of the people there, but in either case, we’re sure the iPad isn’t going to be treated with such non-chalance, never mind that it is cheaper than some notebooks and hold a whole lot less sensitive data.

Enter the iPad Lock, where it is the first of its kind in the world. After all, you have already spent a small fortune on the latest Apple gizmo, so why not fork out a little bit more to make sure that all of it remains safe and sound whenever you aren’t around to take care of it in a public place? Heck, you will most probably use it more often than a regular netbook considering its portability, so getting the iPad Lock does make plenty of sense.

It will not slow down your mobility one bit, since you are able to lock and unlock it in seconds, where you can take it with you wherever you go. Of course, there is also another solution, which would be to mount your iPad to a stationary bracket, but then again that defeats the purpose of having an iPad in the first place.

It is also touted to be the best security solution for retailers, after all, stickers do leave residue while security cameras, theft detectors and security guards only come into action after events happen. Why not get the iPad Lock that virtually pays for itself many times over? Depending on the type of model you choose, the iPad Lock will retail anywhere from $39.95 to $79.95.

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8pen Android App helps you text really fast, with just one hand

Some of you might remember when we reported onSwype, a very fast way to do one-handed texting. Swype works by putting out the QWERTY symbols on the touchscreen, and then connecting the dots to spell out what you mean.

This 8pen takes the keyboard and completely reinvents it. It essentially uses one dot, and then responds to the user’s finger movements. Basically, you start dragging your finger off the dot in a certain direction, like you are setting an analog clock. Your finger always arrives at that same spot, but what letter you entered depends on what path you take.

There is a video of it after the jump if you want to see it in action. You can clearly see that you would have to utterly learn how to type again in order to text with this guy, but 8pen says that it would be “easy to learn”.

If it really is easy to learn, and it could improve texting speeds, then you might be looking at the next big thing in texting here.

8pen should be available soon as an Android app for version 2.2 (Froyo)or later. Does anyone know any other texting Apps that could help improve texting speeds?

For more details click: http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20101102/8pen-android-app-helps-text-fast-hand/

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