Cute & Adorable Gadgets!

Nintendo’s DS Lite is now available in pink, or as they call it “Noble Pink”. (What exactly makes a pink “noble”, I wonder?). This is probably an attempt to attract more girl gamers to the DS Lite.

The Pink DS Lite will cost 16,800 Yen ($144 USD) and will be released to overseas nations (nations other than Japan) on July 20th. The Nintendo DS Lite recieved a 8/10 from CNET and a 4.5/5 from PC Magazine.

As Cnet wrote “The good: Higher-resolution display than Game Boy Advance SP; backward compatible with older GBA games; Wi-Fi multiplayer capabilities.

The bad: Lack of third-party support for the system; susceptible to scratches and smudges.

I’m currently purchasing a white Macbook and a 30 gb Video Ipod. The Video Ipod started off shipping from Shanghai, China, and the Macbook is still in Suzhou, China. I didn’t manage to get a screen shot of my ipod in Shanghai, but I caught a screen shot of tracking details for my Macbook, showing that it’s shipping from Suzhou!

This is interesting in light of all the allegations of poor treatment of iPod sweatshop workers in China. Foxconn, a supplier for Apple, claims that they are paying the workers at least the minimum wage of 810 yuan (US$101) a month, and they are also constantly striving to improve working conditions. “The company also has been actively making improvements to workers’ living conditions, providing safe and well-equipped dormitories complete with free laundry service, sports facilities, libraries, and other facilities.” a spokesman said.

Paris Hilton would not settle for a normal Sidekick 3. Instead, she got it uniquely iced by Crystal Icing. She was quoted as saying, “I like my new sidekick! it’s hot!”. You too, can have your Sidekick 3, or any other electronic for that matter, iced out by Crystal Icing as long as you’re willing to pay exhorbitant prices (full Sidekick 3 icing starts at around $325).

I was seriously considering buying Sony’s new SZ ultraportable notebook computer.  However, when I was googling some specs, I came across an interesting forum. In this forum, the members talk about their lovely SZs, and how they are getting a bit of electric shock from the metal finished restpad.

A user called GlennOC stated:

“I thought I was crazy, but I could swear I was feeling an electric shock from my palms as I lay them on the metal surface of my new SZ laptop…

At first this felt like a vibration from the HD, but then I noticed when I glide my fingers gently over the brushed metal surface (palm rest area of the SZ) that I feel a tingle in my finger tips.

If you really want to feel a tingle.. hold the ground / shield of a USB cable from say an external hard drive that is plugged into a wall or touch a large metal desk, then try to softly glide your fingers on the metal area of your SZ.

If you feel a tingle.. you are getting voltage.”

 To prove his point, our friend GlennOC tested his SZ with a voltage meter. As he stated, “[A]s soon as you touch the palm rest area.. bam voltage jumps… above shows it at 1.5.. but it varies and sometimes spikes to 3 volts. this is’nt a huge voltage and I can live with it.. but it gets annoying sometimes if you rest on it plugged in for a while.”

Apparently, in order to feel the voltage, your Sony Vaio SZ must have a metal palm rest, and the AC adapter must be plugged in (you must also be propertly grounded). Also, this problem does not affect everyone; rather, it is thought to be a problem affecting only a small batch of notebooks. While the voltage (1.5-3 volts) is not a huge amount of electricity, but I imagine the slight shock might be mildly irritating. A similar article was posted at Geek.com. Will the slight “tingling sensation” stop Vaio lovers from buying the laptop? I think not! As one user commented, “This little tingle, doesnt matter to me…Im getting my SZ next week.”

Creative has created two new mp3 players, the Zen V and the Zen V Plus.

These mp3 players are clearly marketed in order to compete with Apple’s ubiquitous iPod nano, as they are very small (43.5 x 67.5 x 15.9 mm) and weigh only 43.5 g.  The Zen V is avaliable in 1 or 2 gb capacities, has a 1.5 inch OLED screen, and 4 different colour combinations.  The Zen V Plus is the same size, but comes in 1, 2, or 4 gb capacities, and also has a FM tuner and video playback. Both the Zen V and the Zen V Plus boast an impressive battery life of 15 hours.  You can buy the Zen V now for $179 (1 gb model) or $229 (2 gb model), or wait for the Zen V Plus to be released in August at reported prices of $130, $170, or $230 for the 1, 2, or 4 gb versions respectively.