The UMPC (Ultra Mobile Personal Computer) has never gained enough momentum with mainstream users. This is of course a factor of affordability versus need, and for most people, no immediate task can be worth the thousands of dollars that a normal UMPC demands. The Asus Eee PC is the solution that changes this status quo.

                                             Asus Eee PC design is nice but minimalistic. There's something missing..
 

In the category of “almost-useful, but highly-desirable” things, the “Maxblaster” ranks nearly at the top, behind the Segway transportation device and the Eazzzy~! mini camera. Just how far do you wana see anyway?

                                             As long as you don't hit someone staring out of an airplane seat...

Specifically, having a screen bigger than your device and at the same time maintaining the oh-so-in-vogue slimness that’s so important in today’s portables has always been a matter of compromise – getting a device with a bigger screen inevitable meant getting something that was heavier or bulkier than what you’d strictly prefer.

                                               Sure tiny is good, if it didn't include the screen.

Picture this: your old man takes a picture of you when you were a kid. Of course the camera used was a film camera with a viewfinder that enabled the shooter (in this case your dad) to compose the shot before actually committing the scene to film. A steady hand and some experience were essential for a photographer in those days not to end up with a lousy picture; you only got one chance to shoot a good picture per frame.

                                              I can't help but think that the Asus Eee PC had something to do with the naming of this device..
 

You won’t see them in the world of superhighways and wide avenues in the highly developed countries of the world, but in countries like ours, and in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and the like, the three-wheeled vehicles clogging the side streets and the by-ways are both indispensable and irritating. The Philippine version is of course the tricycle; the Vietnamese version is called the tuk-tuk, while the bajaj makes its home in Indonesia.

Definitely a risqué title, if a bit misleading. Sega, best known for their early success in the game console wars and their game productions, is now segueing into the almost – neglected “adult” toy market – “toys” in the most common meaning of the word that are meant to be sold to adults and not kids.

The arms race continues, but only in more subtle, gentle ways than before. While nuclear weapons and “Star Wars” Space Defense Initiative lasers are already out of vogue, an enterprising British hobbyist with a lot of time on his hands created the ultimate weapon for one-upmanship – the DISINTEGRATOR.

                                             What's a mini gun without some kind of tripod?

Boys and their toys – what could be more…. lucrative? The boys at Detroit and in car makers in particular seems to know this by instinct, and the products coming out of their design labs are slowly becoming more “fanboy-centric” than ever.

                                             Depending on your age, this could be futuristic or game-centric.

It’s a never ending cycle: new product comes out; people get to see how it works. People buy the product and make it successful, and not a moment too soon, a lawsuit on whatever kind of infringement comes out of the blue to beat up on the company’s lawyers from here to six ways from Sunday.

                                            An eight-year old video showing remarkably similar dynamics to Nintendo's Wii.

An interesting trend related to Nokia’s newly released cellular phones has been emerging recently to both fascinate and befuddle the common consumer. I am referring to the increasingly common “fake” cellphones that’s been cropping up around tiangges and electronic stores.

                                             No, there's no official PDA version of the N95.

In another example of reverse – influence content coming from the game industry, a company called the Music Wizard Group has releases a piece of educational software and corresponding guitar and MIDI pickup devices which they claim will be able to teach the user how to play a real guitar as opposed to one with only 5 colorful, plastic buttons. It’s called the Guitar Wizard, and its rockin’ strings instead of buttons.

                                             Seems almost like a game-screen.
 

Is there such a thing as a “friendly” war? “Safe” violence? Complete balderdash perhaps, but if there is any one thing that makes such things possible, it would be the little device pictured below.

Happy New Year! We start of the year with our customary gentle poke at the ludicrous ways technology is implemented in our ever – increasing desire to techno-fy everything in our paths.

It’s almost Christmas! If we were to follow the popular song’s instructions everybody would be getting golden rings right about now. As it is, I’d prefer five modules of DDR memory, preferably 1GB in size. Are you listening Santa?

We’ve been encountering news of a number of flexible screens based on “e-ink” and plastic substrates, but flexible color displays have been on the scene only a few months. The examples available are still nowhere near the color gamut and performance of standard LCDs, but improvement is constant, plus cost doesn’t seem to be a problematic factor.

                                             Imagine bringing this along somewhere. I can't.