Palm more consumer/jailbreak friendly?

While Apple has time and time again negatively talked about jailbreaking, even going as far as to saying that it is illegal, Palm it seems is taking a different approach. A recent statement from Palm says:

“We recognize that some developers will experiment in ways that cross official boundaries, but we believe that our formal offerings – and community efforts built around those offerings – will provide the best experience for the vast majority of webOS developers and users.”

That isn’t too hard to decipher and at least to me comes across as “Ya, it’s cool”. What’s your interpretation? This is one of the best stances and policies Palm could have towards hackers and “outside” developers. By not alienating these individuals who will truly be the innovative force behind the Pre, Palm can actually surpass Apple in this respect by allowing jailbreaking and not actively trying to cut it off. +1 for Palm.

Cigarette Lighter Camera

This reminds me of James Bond. Take this cool little cigarette lighter camera with you wherever you go or on your next mission to capture important evidence.

Disguised as a lighter (which does not work ofcourse so don't try to light a fire with it), it features 64MB SDRAM storing up to 104 images (640x480) or 30 images (1280x960). These images can be downloaded to your computer with USB.

So basically it's a decent digital camera inside a fake cigarette lighter. If anyone needs this spy camera, get it for $195.

The Light Pillow

This is one of those lamps you really wish you could afford so that you could place it in your child’s room. Then investing quite a bit in giving the room a highly whimsical theme and creating basically a dream land. Odd lighting that no one would ever expect to see always makes for a great way to change up a room. Even a normally plain room would be perked up with something like this.

It can be tossed onto the floor, placed on a table, hung on the wall or even used as a chandelier. It’s also easy to wash, so for those of you that would use this for a kid, it’d still be a great option. The cover itself is completely removable and made of 100% cotton, while the frame is made of powder-coated metal. They don’t actually give any indication as to what type of light bulb this would need or if it’s an LED light. You can purchase this Light Pillow, designed by Linus Kutavicius, for $189

iPhone software allows you to run a bath !

The Bath-o-matic software for iPhone is available free from Apple's popular App Store, but users must also pay £4,000 for the technology at home. They will then be able to select the temperature, depth and fragrance of the water and even how many bubbles in the bath. The software means the phone can send instructions to a set of high-tech taps on a bath tub that can control the temperature, pressure and draining of the water so that the bath will be ready when arriving home.

The software means the phone can send instructions to a set of high-tech taps on a bath tub that can control the temperature, pressure and draining of the water Photo: NEWS INTERNATIONA

Unique Automation, the London-based company behind the device, showed off its wares at a trade show this week. A spokesman said: "At the touch of a button, Bath-o-matic fills the bath to perfection - even adding bubbles and perfumes.

"Bringing full automation to the bathroom at last, this technological breakthrough offers energy and water savings plus flooding and scalding prevention."

Sharon Munday, a 27 year-old secretary, viewed the Bath-o-matic demonstration at the CEDIA Expo 2009 at the ExCeL centre in London. "It really shows off just how the iPhone is becoming the ultimate remote control for everything in the home," she said.

"If I had £4,000 spare I'd get one. It would be perfect for me as I have a 20 minute drive home from the office and could set it to run as I leave and hop in as soon as I got home. That would be absolute bliss."

A shower version of the software is coming soon.

HP Photosmart Premium Printer

HP has unveiled the world’s first web connected home printer, named the HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart web features.

Today, we tend to live in a digital generation and in a highly connected world with consumers relying on internet access to obtain the web content they require, be it stock quotes, local weather conditions or traffic reports.

The new HP all-in-one printer allows consumers to browse popular web destinations and access personal content using the TouchSmart panel. Once you’ve got the information you need, you can customize it and print the content in an easy to read format.

There are a number of popular web sites that will make their content compatible with the launch of the HP printer and some of these industry leaders include USA TODAY, Google, Fandango, Coupons.com, DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon, Web Sudoku and Weather News Inc.

The Photosmart Premium printer will retail this fall with a MSRP of $39