The Zone

As accidents and deaths from texting while driving arises, someone somewhere has gotten bored of cleaning up after the victims and produced the video above as a deterrent. Its rather real and graphic, and as such, the shock value will definitely hit drivers for the first few months when the ad is shown, although its long-term effects are still debatable. Somehow, our own road safety ads are much more artistic than this gore-fest, don't you think?

In a move to bring touchscreen smartphones to the masses, Samsung recently launched their new Star S5233 touchscreen smartphone. Featuring everything that a full fledged smartphone can do complete with fingertouch user interface, the Star is retailing below RM1K. Trying to boost awareness, Samsung have also launched an idol type contest in conjunction with the launch called the Be a Samsung Star and Shine challenge. For more info on the Samsung Star smartphone and the contest, check out  the full report in our latest issue of HWM.

Above - DiGi and AIG General Insurance executives posing for a photo - complete with safety helmet

Below - DiGi's Albern Murty announces the plan details to members of the media

DiGi has announced some good news for its mobile subscribers; free accident insurance coverage by AIG up to RM10000 which also covers disability and loss of limbs. Its a 24-hour worldwide policy available to all DiGi subscribers which have been with the company at least for three months. To start your free insurance coverage, SMS 'INS YES' to 2000!

Howdy folks. HWM was recently invited to a regional product launch in Beijing courtesy of HP Malaysia and we sure liked what we saw

Need.to.buy.new.phone!

Mobile phones are evil, I tell you. New models are coming out so fast that that not a month goes by without me contemplating to change my trusty 'ol RAZR to one of these new fangled beauties on the market today. The urge is just too hard to resist.

I have my eyes set on several models (some available now, and some coming soon), but I'm not planning to give in anytime soon. I hope I don't, at least not until my RAZR dies.

So, here are some of my poison. What's yours?

Via digg

If you can't stand anymore of the irritating fingerprints on your treasured black DS Lite, do what this guy did - sand it down with sand paper! Madness! Absolute madness!

Link

Last weekend saw Nokia displaying its full N-Series range to the public at MidValley Megamall at its Centre Court. The extravagant booth, which has two themes in one, showcased the capabilities of each N-Series model, be it in their music, video or data communication capabilities. The public could also check out the music playback capabilities of the N91, as specialized booths were set up for visitors to toy around with the phones.

Other than music playback capabilities, the N-Series also have high-speed data features that allow you to upload your media to web pages like Flickr and even use the mobile for podcasting and other online services such LifeLogger and Yahoo! Go.

More pics after the jump

Not just another silicone 'condom' for you iPod owners out there, the Podstar range of iPod silicone casings is well-built to the fact that they might be the best silicone casings ever! We bring you the unboxing of two of these babies; just in time for Christmas!

Yeap, these things made the seven deadly sins look like wussies 

more after the jump!

Samsung has hinted that it has produced a so-called 'fusion memory chip' that allows mobile phone makers to boost performance at half the current DRAM sizes. Running at a mere 133MHz and having a total of 512MB onboard memory, it is also touted to =

"reduce power consumption by 30 percent, lessens the number of chips needed and minimizes area coverage by 50 percent, resulting in a five-fold increase in the speed of cell phone and gaming console operations, longer battery life and slimmer handset designs."

All that from a chip containing both DRAM and SRAM? Cool! We can probably see Samsung's own nGage in the near future, I guess, but then again, mobile game developers should stop making rehashes of Mario in the first place!

 images are copyright of Samsung

 for more information click me *link opens in new window

Kontron, a maker of tough computing devices that could possibly take a direct hit from a hydrogen bomb has released its latest tough portable computer - the NotePAC.  To quote from the site:

 "NotePAC™ is completely sealed from intrusion by water, salt laden air, and blowing dust and dirt. It combines a high-strength cast-magnesium case and shock mounted components to form a portable platform that can withstand a 15g ¬operating shock load–as might be experienced during rough transportation. For example, NotePAC can operate continuously in high vibration environments, such as found in rotary winged aircraft and off-road vehicles."

Now, before you people come to the conclusion that this is just another notebook that offers maximum security but has minimal performance advantages over, lets just say, a Sony VAIO ultra-ultra portable, you're wrong.

Maximum specs include a dual-core Intel processor, Wireless-G, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, super-shock resistant hard drives up to 160B, 3D audio and even a touch screen! If only it wasnt so thick and heavy at 16 pounds. *sigh* 

Although we primarily eschew Macs for their mice, we can't simply resist the temptation of the new iPhone, which was unveiled last night at Macworld. stunningly thin and ultimately gorgeous, we think that it's the device that's currently the closest to perfection (until communication brain implants are developed). Although there is a slight disappointment in the choice of finish (we want apple white!), us Asians will only recieve stocks in 2008 (and hopefully the bugs will be ironed out by then)

*image from Apple Inc. 

Juicy specs include:

super-big 3.5" touchscreen @ 320 by 480 at 160 ppi

"multi-finger" input 

runs on OS X 

is also a widescreen iPod (hence, no new iPod video we guess)

comes in 4GB or 8GB flavours

connectivity options include quad-band GSM, WiFi b/g, EDGE, BT v2.0 with A2DP and uses the 'iPod connector' for charging and data connections

has a 2.0 Megapixel camera 

Its going to be offered with a 2-year plan from Cingular at USD499 for the 4GB model, and USD599 for the 8GB model. Better save those pennies now!

The Sony PSP may not be flying off shelves but they're still undeniably sexy and attractive, especially if they keep making new models like this latest Champagne Gold PSP color. Very sweet-looking PSP. For now, it's only on sale in Japan. No word when it will arrive in North America or on our shores. 

Nokia launched its N93i, a smashingly sexay mobile that also records videos in near-DVD like quality. To commemorate the launch, they also launched the 'You make it reel' campaign which gives the average Joe the opportunity to win up to 10000 greenbacks (that's USD to you, matey), and a chance to create Greyskull's (we dont know who's that, either) second MTV!

 Before that, you can also direct a music video for one of the 10 Malaysian artists that are supporting this program. They are OAG, DJ Fuzz, Jason Lo, Pete Teo, Gerhana Skacinta, Disagree, Joe Flizzow, Samir, Sasi The Don and One Buck Short.

Check out web-youmakeitreel.nokia.com.my (link opens in new window) for more details!

Not contented with all the iPhone knockoffs (or rather was knocked-off by the iPhone) out there, Mobile Review got a whiff of Asus' concept phone which does resemble the iPhone, somewhat but packs in more connectivity options and a sliding navigational bar that is oh-so-sexy. Did we mention the slide-out QWERTY keyboard? More pics after the break.

Normally we don't blog about the products that we're going to review for the magazine but this new Asus notebook that we just got for our test labs this month is worth mentioning. What's cool about it? It supports Windows Vista Sideshow, so there's a little lid on the top to quickly view little details and info like time, battery life, the current song playing and mini image slideshow. Pretty neat stuff. Read more to see a few more pics of the Windows Sideshow in action.