Palm Centro - First Clean Image

After days of looking at blurry pictures, here comes the first clean image (it’s a computer rendering) of the Palm Centro.

As we said before, the word on the street is that the Centro is a low-cost smartphone that would retail for $99 or so. It looks like a (small and) good phone for heavy SMS users and we’ll have to see what other functionalities are available before commenting further. I can’t wait for the upcoming leak of the user manual and/or the specs. I wonder if Palm organized the “leak” because they are under pressure right now…

Flexible displays created by stretching crystals

As researchers continue to forge ahead in their quest to create commercially viable flexible displays, a new team from Canada has apparently unearthed a breakthrough of sorts. Reportedly, the crew has been able to conjure up a full-color display which boasts pixels made from photonic crystals, and by "bonding them to an electroactive polymer that expands when a voltage is applied to it," the colors of the pixels change. According to André Arsenault of the University of Toronto, the newfangled devices "can be viewed just as well in bright sunlight as in indoor light," and if all goes as planned, we could be seeing a whole lot more of these promising units "in as little as two years" when the startup Opalux looks to fit these bendable creations into billboards, handheld gadgetry, and anything else it deems fit.

Netgear intros SPH200W WiFi phone with Skype

If you can reach back into the archives of your brain, you may be able to recall an elusive Netgear WiFi Skype phone that was previewed in May. Unless our eyes are seriously deceiving us, that very handset has now been launched, and it's been titled the SPH200W. Sporting 802.11b/g compatibility, around four hours of talk time (or 48 hours in standby), WEP / WPA / WPA2 support, and most importantly, the ability to take and make Skype calls wherever there's an open WiFi signal, this device also allows you to manage up to 500 contacts and touts a built-in speakerphone. Unfortunately, there's no word on how much this unit will cost you.

Sony PSP gets Go!Messenger

Sony has upped the ante when it comes to functionality of its PSP console, bringing Go!Messenger to the fore that empowers users with text, voice, and video chat capabilities. While chatting with your friends using MSN Messenger and the on-screen keyboard might be excruciatingly slow, there is always the option to use VoIP functionality over a WiFi network. After all, it sure beats navigating through the on-screen keyboard taking all 10 minutes to type out a sentence. Go!Messenger is free for all Sony PSP owners and comes with the next firmware upgrade.

Man With Titanium Heart Feels ‘Emotionless’

A man who became the first permanent recipient of the Jarvik 2000 left ventricular assist device, now claims that he’s cold-hearted.

Peter Houghton, 68, got the mechanical ticker back in 2000. Inside is a titanium turbine the size of a C battery embedded in his dodgy left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber. The only moving part is the ‘impeller’ that moves his blood and sounds like mini-washing machine through a stethoscope. Even odder, is the titanium jack in his head for charging the device.

All the same, despite having a life returned to him and leading an active life these days, he feels he can no longer bond emotionally, even with his relatives.

Conceptual UNI enables compartmentalized computing

Those who find difficulty in cracking open a typical tower to replace that aging DVD writer with one that burns in high-definition should adore Richard Choi's UNI concept, which exemplifies compartmentalized computing and takes the stress out of upgrading. Apparently, the "Think" module would act as the core computer and handle the essentials, while a variety of other plug-in modules would provide additional outputs (HDMI, DVI, optical audio, USB, etc.), hard drive space, and optical drives.

Logitech announces V470 mouse

The notebook toting fraternity definitely have far more peripherals to look forward to these days compared to a few years ago, and the Logitech V470 Cordless Laser Mouse is the latest to be announced. The V470 eschews RF in favor of Bluetooth connectivity, making it a snap to hook up to MacBook or Windows-based notebooks without the need for an external receiver. It uses Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology and features laser tracking for a higher level of accuracy. There is a battery life of 4 months, but I personally find that the figure is probably closer to 70% if you plan on using your mouse for at least 8 hours every day. Features include Side-to-Side Scrolling and an indicator light. The Logitech V470 will retail for approximately $49.99 when it is released early next month.