Archive for October 23rd, 2009

Shenzhen Zgiem Technology passed some blurry photos of their 1210 netbook through the FCC today.  While there’s not a whole lot to see, the manual does report that the device will rock a 1.6 GHz processor from VIA, 1GB of RAM (max), a 10.2” TFT LCD, and WiFi.

This seems like a pretty basic netbook to me.  And since Shenzhen Zgiem isn’t exactly a household name in the US, I’d suspect the 1210 gets rebranded before (and if) it makes its way to the States.

If you get arrested for a DUI or are forced into some sort of court ordered rehab, you’ll likely have to wear a SCRAM Bracelet (pictured above, right on Lohan) from Alcohol Monitoring Systems, LLC.

This is actually a pretty novel system that detects the amount of alcohol in your system by measuring ethanol emitted through skin.  The SCRAM Bracelet then communicates to the SCRAM Modem, pictured above left, which sends this data to the authorities.  The Bracelet samples your alcohol level every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day, and holds this data in memory until you are in range of the SCRAM Modem.

It’s a good way to keep track of people’s alcohol consumption, I suppose.  There are tests to see if drugs are in your system, but there’s not really a good way to keep track of alcohol consumption.

However, I’m not sure why you can’t just slip something between the alcohol detector and your skin, or cover your skin with vaseline or something.

Either way, Alcohol Monitoring Systems LLC has a good idea going here.  You know you have a good businesses when courts are forcing celebrities to wear your product.  Take that, Nike.

Nokia announced their entry into the netbook market back in August with the unveiling of the Nokia Booklet 3G.  The device rocks a number of impressive features, like GPS, HDMI out, WiFi, 3G and a sweet 12 hour battery life.

The Booklet 3G passed through the FCC today, hopefully on its way to an AT&T store near you.  The announced release date for the netbook was supposed to be yesterday (October 22), so Nokia’s cutting it a bit close here.

It will be interesting to see how successful Nokia is with the netbook-through-wireless-carrier model.  It’s tough to commit to a 2 year, $60 a month contract for a netbook, particularly when you still have to pay $300.  I think the better option would be to just buy a USB WWAN modem, rather than putting all your eggs in this netbook, which will probably be obsolete within 6 months.

The MSI U123 has been out for a while, but today a few interesting internal pics of the device showed up on the FCC.

Among other things, the pics reveal a Huawei WWAN modem that rocks a Qualcomm MSM6290 processor.  I also can’t help but feel that the wiring of the U123 is a bit haphazard.

Research in Motion passed the RCM71UW through the FCC today.  This device is also known as the BlackBerry Bold 9700, according to a user manual that showed up on scribd (now removed, but the Google cached version is still there).

RIM announced the Bold 9700 this week, and today’s FCC filing suggests that we may see this device soon.  According to Engadget, the device bears T-mobile trim, although I’d suspect that it will also show up on AT&T as well.

The FCC filing doesn’t give us a lot of information – all you see are label pics.  But the manual shows a wealth of features, such as 3G, WiFi, GPS, and a video camera.

It’s bad to talk on the phone when driving a car, but even worse to talk on a phone when riding a motorcycle.  Ningbo HD Powersports solves this problem with the VTCS3500 Super-Range Bluetooth communication system.

The VTCS3500 consists of a boom mic with earpiece, Bluetooth transmitter and charger.  You and your fellow riders install the boom mic into your helmets, and this connects to the Bluetooth transmitter.  You can also pair the Bluetooth transmitter with a mobile phone, GPS system or MP3 player for more handsfree fun.

Interestingly, the VTSC3500 uses “Super-Range Bluetooth,” which boasts a talking range of 500 meters while moving at up to 120 kilometers per hour.  That range is stunning for Bluetooth, and I’m not sure how they achieve it.

No word on the release date of the VTSC3500, but my guess is that Ningbo HD Powersports will shop the VTSC3500 to a US distributor, hopefully brining it to the states soon.