SideKick 4G - Overview

Sidekick 4G by TMobile

Sidekick is back again after being dormant for a few years. They're attempting to attack the smartphone market with their new Sidekick 4G. Many people are thinking this kind of release is something that can help save T-Mobile. For those of you who didn't hear, T-Mobile lost around 471000 subscribers last quarter and a big time release might just be exactly what they need.
Being an old Sidekick LX user, I was pretty hyped when I heard there were plans to rebirth the famous phone series. And after some review, I believe it definitely lives up to its forefather's standards.

Basic Specifications:

• Display: 3.5" TFT Display, Touch Screen
• Connectivity: Available 4G service via T-Mobile
• Sound Quality: Average
• Features: Full QWERTY keyboard, Removal of the trac-ball, Android 2.2 Operating System, Android Market, 1 GHZ processor, GPS, T-Mobile TV, customizable appearance
• Camera: 3 Megapixel front and back facing Cameras (No Flash), Video Recording

The Sidekick 4G isn't the best smart phone out there. It doesn't have the fastest processor, best camera, best display resolution, or battery life. This phone is basic. But it does its job well. It's great for social butterflies. The messaging capabilities on this phone are ideal for the chronic texter (who isn't nowadays). It's also a solid phone for someone whose new to smart phone technology.

Weekly Flash: Angry Birds

Y3.com - 9500+ Free Games

Y3.com - 9500+ Free Games

Robot of the Week: CeNSE

CeNSE is a true marvel to behold. It's not just any one robot, it's really the connection between a bunch of strategically placed robots and the people monitoring them which gives CeNSE its wow-factor.

CeNSE featuing HP's new state of the art accelerometer

CeNSE stand for Central Nervous System for the Earth and is currently being researched and produced by HP. It's a series of billions of small, tough, and wireless sensors placed practically all across the globe. It's being used currently by Shell to help search for cost-effective and the least environmentally detrimental drilling areas for oil. CeNSE is able to virtually paint a picture of the topography of the earth below it. It constantly records seismic data. We are able to use the seismic data to map the ground beneath us, search for things underground (like oil fields), and pin point epicenters of strong seismic activities like earthquakes. 

Senior Researcher Peter Hartwell invisions CeNSE's ability to be placed on bridges and buildings to help detect structural damage from weathering or whatever else. This ability will help maintain the infrastructure of cities across the globe. Even more than that, they could be scattered road side to monitor the conditions of the roads or even traffic. But there's so much more, from weather, to even tracking hospital equipment to even monitoring the air for dangerous quantities of gases or whatnot. 

CeNSE's projections for success are very high. The reason being that the value is immense, the possibilities are endless, and the price is rock bottom. That's why this robotic sensory system wins our robot of the week for this, the third week of May.

For more about the specifics on what makes CeNSE ticks and future applications, check out this page about CeNSE's mission here and watch the video below.

Greetings!

We are not, I repeat ARE NOT, dead. As some of you may have noticed, Blogger was down for a day or so. During that time span, we were working non-stop in our research to bring you the best of the best from the tech world. On top of this site down time, we also observed a holiday this weekend as our founder celebrated his birthday. We will be alive and kicking, so to speak, tomorrow. Until then, stay tuned folks. Take care.

3D TV: Pro's, Con's, and More

Astor Theater, NYC

The whole idea of 3D TV isn't a new phenomena. Actually, believe it or not, 3D film was patented in 1890 by a British fellow named William Freise-Greene. His method, when viewed stereoscopically, tricked the brain into giving you a 3-D image visually. It wasn't tested on an audience until June 10, 1915 in the Astor Theatre in New York City where people we're shown a compilation of scenes including but not limited to Marie Doro, John Mason playing passages from Tim the Penman, and oriental dancers.

3D TV- Panasonic

Fast forwarding to today, 3D TV's are catching on with an estimated 6.2 million sold in the US and an estimated 33 by 2012, according to Today 3D. 3D movies are also more popular than ever before with the instillation of Imax premium 3D movie theaters across the country making it possible for everyone to enjoy. The top 5 movies of late would be Avatar (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), Alice in Wonderland (2010), and Despicable Me (2010).

3D TV set's of today are pretty cool for the average person with a little extra change in their purse. They provide the same awesome 3D projections as a movie theater but in the convenience of your own home. However, they do come with a couple cons:

1. Primarily, the cost. The average 3D TV will run you anywhere from $900 to upwards of $2500 and even more for those who seek true a more true cinema experience.
2. Secondly, the lack of content. Though 3D technology has been on the market for about 2 years consistently, the rest of the tech world hasn't quite caught on 100% and many companies are not ready to invest money into 3D products because its not clear how well this phase will stick. The limited amount of 3D channels, topped with the only 3D movie format being the pricey Blu-ray and PS3's high cost, scares away many potential buyers.
3. And lastly, the tacky glasses. Look, you can sugar coat it any way you want, but these glasses are UGLY. You could be wearing the old school multi-colored glasses or the new more modern looking glasses, it's still a hassle to anyone who wants to just sit down and watch, especially if you already wear glasses. Also, if you're anything like me, you're CONSTANTLY losing the remote whether its tangled up in your sheets, fallen under the bed, behind the couch, or whatever. Imagine losing those glasses once a day and not being able to watch anything. Bit of a drag, huh?

Panasonic's 3D Glasses

Some of the top name brands in the market for 3D TV would be Samsung, Panasonic, Sony, Sharp, and LG. I did a little research into the customer reviews and this is what I came across with so far:

• Samsung- lower quality sound, suffers from some bad glare, incredible HD and 3D TV image quality, easy to set up and use, internet connection with Netflix, and overall best quality for price.

• Panasonic- high picture quality, internet connection with Netflix capability, but a known glitch in the brightness that engineers claim to "know about" and "are currently working on it", as well as reduced sound quality.

• Sony- high picture quality, lower sound quality(seems to be a trending issue with 3D TV's), and top internet capabilities with both Netflix and Pandora.

• Sharp- no reported cons, just a high picture quality, internet with netflix capabilities, high price, but the sound quality was ranked a tad bit lower than the picture quality, keeping it even with the rest.

• LG- suffers from low sound quality, slacking picture quality when watching HDTV, and colors are not vibrant and do not pop when watching any form of TV.

If you're looking for anything more, like 3D gaming, you'd have to look into the PS3 and Nintendo 3DS' which are being mentioned in a follow up post coming soon.

Any other questions? Perhaps something I didn't answer here, contact us and we'll be sure to help.

Credit to:
Box Office Mojo
Wikipedia

Weekly Flash: Chaos Faction 2

Check out Chaos Faction 2! Kind of Super Smash Bros.-esque gameplay, customizable characters, story line gameplay, and you can even edit the levels! Worth your time, no doubt.

Y3.com - 9500+ Free Games

Y3.com - 9500+ Free Games

Robot of the Week: OptoFidelity

Angry Birds Loading Screen

Angry Birds is an app on the Android and iPhone market right now where your objective is to launch birds, using a slingshot, into structures to knock them down and subsequently destroy the evil green pigs. The app has hit the market like wildfire and its incredibly addictive (but in a healthy way).

According to an article I read at TechCrunch, a company by the name of OptoFidelity has created a robot which can not only manage to play Angry Birds, but outplay some of the best human players. Now, I'm not sure that this is 100% legitimate and after researching a little bit onto the only actual trustworthy source, their website, I've come to two conclusions:
1. I can not speak Finnish
2. Yes this is 100% legit (which was determined after a little help from Google Chrome's translater)

After reading through an article on OptoFidelity's website here, it seems that they pulled this off with equipment they already had laying around. OptoFidelity does a lot of automated touch screen testing with their robots. They simply wired the robot to be able to use the touch screen precisely enough to play Angry Birds. They had this to say about the task,

"The hardest game of the robot's development Tuulkarin was to play the game man power levels through the full three-star result. Programming the robot's task then was then already relatively easy."

The video below shows an advertisement for OptoFidelity where their automated touch screen robot was able to outplay one of Finland's fastest Angry Birds players. Check it out!



Credit to:
TechCrunch's article: Click Here if You've Never Seen a Robot Play Angry Birds Before (Videos)
OptoFidelity's article: Can match the angry birds-SM-race winner OptoFideltyn robot? (copied word for word from translated page)