Some News Bits

Just a quickie, a trio of articles gleaned from Slashdot yesterday. (Trying a new format with it...)

Linux Cell Phones Coming Q1 2007

Prepare to salivate. D-Link has announced plans to put an unlocked Linux phone on the market in early 2007. Some features: Dual-mode WiFi and GSM/GPRS. Up to 24 MB of memory for user file storage, such as music and videos. 2-inch, 176 x 220-pixel color display. Opera browser. Email client. 3.4 ounces (95 grams). Tri-band (900/1800/1900) GSM radio - meaning it should work with any GSM-GPRS SIM card, including pre-paid SIM cards as well as those from traditional GSM service providers. Will it really be this easy to wean myself from the Microsoft mobile teat?

The phone is expected to list for $600. Even at that price, this would just be cool as anything if it would only work with my Verizon service...

Top Ten Geek Wallets

Productdose.com has a rundown of the the top ten wallets for geeks, including an RFID blocking wallet and a wallet made out of Tyvek designed to look like dot-matrix paper. Its an entertaining read that even includes a DIY illuminating wallet.

Very nice, though I don't see my Ducti wallet on there... it does have a nice stainless-steel one (made of soft fibers tho), and I've admired the Tyvek ones before...

Google Gadgets Come to You

Yahoo is reporting the release of "Google Gadgets", 1,220 dynamic applications for use on your web pages, without needing to connect to Google. 'Google Gadgets range from a miniature look-up for Google Maps or Google Calendar to independent applications ranging from financial information to sports to communication tools and jokes, horoscopes or geometric puzzle game Tetris.'

OK, so apparently it's really Reuters reporting this, Yahoo is just syndicating it (though perhaps the poster was going for the irony factor?), and such widgets have been around for awhile on the personalized homepage on Google. And though the article seems to imply you can stick these up on regular websites, looks like for right now it's still just the widgets you pop up on the personalized Google homepage. So, not as much a big deal right now, but would be nice to geek up my own web site with some of these...

UPDATE: OK so I did a little more digging around, they sure don't make it easy to find... but yes you can add content directly to a third-party site.