May 9, 2008

May 7, 2008

A PIG OF DEATH

HTC Touch Diamond officially unveiled



HTC Touch Diamond
(Credit: HTC)
As expected, HTC officially took the wraps off the HTC Touch Diamond at a press conference in London Tuesday and great googly moogly, does this thing look hot! Not only does it look sexy from the outside with its sleek, black casing, but the Touch Diamond also features a revamped TouchFlo 3D interface that gives you a more animated and easier way to access your contacts, messages, and other content. You can do all this via the Diamond's gorgeous 2.8-inch, 680x480 VGA (yes, that's right, VGA) touch screen; plus, there's a new touch-sensitive control below the display to help you out.

The Touch Diamond is a lot more than just looks, though. The quad-band smartphone runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and has integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, and HSDPA support. HTC also noted that it will ship the Touch Diamond with a customized mobile Web browser that provides an optimized view of pages and lets you zoom and pan sites with one hand. In addition, the page orientation will automatically go from portrait to landscape mode when you turn the device sideways (hmm, sounds familiar. *cough, iPhone, cough, cough*) Other goodies include a 3.2-megapixel camera, 4GB internal storage, 256MB flash memory, and 192MB RAM.

The HTC Touch Diamond will start shipping in European markets this June, and then later in the quarter for Asia and the Middle East. As for us, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that we're actually getting our own version but unfortunately, we, as well as Latin American markets, will have to wait till the second half of 2008. Now, while the Touch Diamond certainly looks like a gem (sorry, had to do it), we're hoping it's more than just flash. And we couldn't help but be reminded of a similar-looking smartphone from Velocity Mobile. Mmm hmm, things just got interesting. Check out CNET UK's hands-on examination and our photo gallery of the HTC Touch Diamond.

May 4, 2008

CHUB CITY


Interactive toy vehicles which dance to your tunes! Simply plug in your CD/MP3 players and listen to the music flowing through the inbuilt speakers. The sleek looking cars also provide entertainment - they actually move up and down and dance to the music. I personally loved the look and feel of these cool cars - they are great to look at and are sure to be a hot item with the boys and girls of today. If you're looking for a gift this holiday season for someone who likes music and who is into cool stuff, whether young or old, these Chub City Playaz cars from Jada Toys are perfect. You can pick up a VW Beetle or a Chub City character, sit back, relax and ENJOY!Jada Toys - Chub City i-Playaz "HYPE" Interactive figure

STARBUCKS BACK TO BASICS



(Photo: Powerbooktrance via Flickr)
After 37 years, Starbucks has gone back to its roots with their new "Pike Place Roast" and redesign of the iconic cup. The retro logo showcases a modified version of the original "siren" logo designed by Terry Heckler. (You'll notice that this one is a bit more PC).

Although, is it still a redesign if it's an old design? The design is part of a back to basics campaign focusing on the history of the brand, and establishing their place as coffee experts - but is only a temporary move. So if you're a fan of the green logo, have no fear, it will return.

So what do we think? I personally like the return to their roots. I like the brown color-scheme and the historical reference. If nothing else, it really makes you look twice, as we're so conditioned to seeing the Starbucks green. It's no secret that Starbucks sales have been down lately... they've rapidly opened stores, created drive-thru windows, and have started offering all kinds of food and beverage options, that have diluted their original brand. They also have a lot of competition from the likes of Dunkin' Donuts and McDonalds, which all now offer coffee and espresso drinks. Perhaps this marks the beginning of a return to what Starbucks does best - good coffee.

Click here for a brief history on the Starbucks logo.