The Consumer Electronics Association or CEA has decided to award Ken Kutaragi among others with the CE Hall of Fame award. The ceremony is scheduled to take place this coming October in Las Vegas. Alongside the PlayStation father are 11 others who were trailblazers in the electronics industry. Know more after the jump!

Greenpeace has released their "Guide to Greener Electronics" which scores the 18 top manufacturers of gadgets and devices according to their policies on toxic chemicals and recycling.

Apple, which was under Greenpeace's black books for the iPhone, got a better score this time around. Among the three console manufacturers, Sony scored the best. Microsoft was third to the last and Nintendo was in last place (because both are new entries to the guide).

 

Now, why can't we get our phones to do that? We've just picked up word on an interesting creation being featured over at the PhoneDaily site, labelled the Robot E6. As you've guessed from the name, it's a replica of the  Motorola ROKR E6 mobile phone, built to fold out into a robot, Transformers-style. Check out the enclosed screenshots to see how it looks.

in case you're wondering, no, it doesn't function as a real phone, although it makes for a really cool toy. Based on the (very rough) translation we're reading from the site, the builder spent about 4,000 yuan, and half a month to build this project. And dare we say it - we're just happy it's not packing a mini-gun between its legs, as did its ill-tempered Nokia counter-part in this year's Transformers movie. 

 

In a move to focus on manufacturing PC products, Dell has decided to quit making LCD televisions, according to Taiwan media.

Dell will cease their LCD TV production starting this month. Known for having a diverse range of electronic products, Dell entered the LCD market in 2003 despite strong competition from companies such as Motorola.

Many electronics equipment providers buy the products from third-party manufacturers and apply their brand names on them, but have gradually receded their LCD business in favor of applying most of their resources in manufacturing their core products.

Parents, this may be the ultimate solution to your problem.

Wireless tracking systems to trace objects and even people are now being developed by Siemens and Motorola, two of the leading names in wireless communications technology. Both companies presented the possibility of using wireless networks in conjunction with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) at The Wireless Event, held in London.

RFID may sound alien to you, but you probably have encountered it many times in your day-to-day life. Certain major retailers use RFID tags on their products, although RFID can only permit tracking and identification on a very limited range, just enough to track items within the store premises (so there is no cause of any worries for privacy issues...for now). Many countries also use RFID technology in passports as well as transport payments, such as toll collection. Some libraries even use RFID tags on their books, CDs and DVDs, and VHS tapes.

RFID tags alone are passive - they do not have their own power source, and thus only transmit a response when read by a scanner. However, when coupled with current wi-fi technology, RFID can be used for tracking stolen laptops, phones, and even teenagers who managed to sneak out of their windows.

The possibilities are endless: Students can be tracked whenever an emergency - such as a fire or earthquake - arises, and even make retrieving lost items much easier. Employee activities can also be monitored in much more detail, "You can record movements over a period of time. You can see if the security guard in the night makes the right rounds, for example," said Mr. Marcus Birkl, head of wireless at Siemens. He adds, "It's very useful for the health care industry - where there are highly expensive pieces of mobile equipment that move around a hospital...At every point in the day health staff need to know where it is." Indeed, the use of RFID with wi-fi would spare a lot of headaches, especially for people working in Facilities Management.

Of course, this has prompted mixed response from the public. Some consumers have expressed concerns regarding the possibility of using RFID and wi-fi in consumer spending trends, as well as increased likelihood of breach of privacy. Majority of the respondents of a recent pan-Europe consultation about RFID have even agreed that regulations should be put in place to monitor the use of tags.

Mr. Birkl agrees on the regulations issue. "There needs to be standards put in place so the data is not abused for other purposes," said Mr Birkl. "But there are clear benefits to keeping people safe."

Sorry, kids. Looks like you won't be able to sneak out of the house anymore.

The buzz over Apple's new product - the iPhone - and the recent pullback in the equity markets make investors feel encouraged about buying Apple stocks. But analysts warn: buying the stock now solely on the faith of this new product could come back to haunt investors' portfolio later in the year.

Apple plans to sell as much as 10 million units by the year 2008, a goal considered conservative. Analysts insist, however, that a closer look at the handset market may prove that such a goal may be too lofty even for a consumer electronics powerhouse like Apple.

The iPhone is considered a smart phone due to its high price and multifunction capabilities. Although smart phone sales increased by 42 percent since 2004, smart phone sales represent only 10 percent of the total number of handsets sold last year.

The way that the iPhone is only available through AT&T's Cingular Wireless service is also limiting for iPhone sales. Other factors that may not make the iPhone sell as well as planned are its high price, and the credibility of the competing smart phone makers such as Nokia, Palm and Motorola.

Analysts advice to avoid Apple’s stock until it is certain that the iPhone will sustain a high level of growth.

Business PC manufacturer Dell was notably mustering a workforce for their consumer product unit from other industries, most specifically the handset and electronics manufacturing industry. After their acquisition of Alienware, these new moves became apparent after former CEO Kevin Rollins resigned.

With founder Michael Dell back at the chair of CEO, Dell recently recruited Ron Garriques, head of Motorola's handset group, and Michael Cannon, former CEO of Solectron. Garriques will run a new consumer product unit while Cannon will lead the unit's manufacturing operations.

Michael Dell said:

We are asking Ron to create a new global consumer organization that will set new standards for innovative product design, leadership in providing the best customer experience, and flexibility in how we build and distribute products and services to meet the evolving needs of our customers around the world.

After providing business catered solutions, this surprising move for Dell might have something to do with the new mobile game device they mentioned some time back.

Whatever they do have planned, it's now focused more on the consumer market.

Pretty soon, you won't need to bring your assorted electronics chargers to work because in the near future, the only charger we'll need could be found at your office desks. Office furniture maker Herman Miller Inc. has obtained a license from Fulton Innovation for a thingamajig called eCoupled - a system that eliminates the need for dedicated chargers because it could charge just about anything - Smartphones, mp3 players, PDA...You name it, it could give it life.

How does this nifty contraption work? eCoupled transfers power through a magnetic field which means that the eCoupled device itself needs electricity. Herman Miller is embedding eCoupled in desktops and they are considering other uses for it. Aside from Herman Miller Inc., Visteon Corporation and Motorola Inc. are also working with this wonder device.

eCoupled was recently showcased in the concluded CES 2007 held at Las Vegas.

While some of us look for energy sources at the nearest 7-Eleven or wall socket, some people simply look up. The sun. The energy's free and it's everywhere. You just have to harness it.

This solar charger from Solar Style is handy and, of course, useful for those who are trying to save energy and those who are always on the go. The SC002-Charger FK can handle standard mobile phones, smartphones, PDA's, MP3 players, and other devices with the same or less energy demands.

There are two kits available with seven connectors each, depending on what gadgets you want to connect. Both kit versions come with SA019 AC Charger and SA202 Car Charger. The full set retails for US$ 55.99.

• Version 1 - SA002 Motorola, SA003 Nokia, SA004 Samsung, SA008 Sony Ericsson, Mini USB, Game Boy, 4 pin X connector
• Version 2 - SA002 Motorola, SA003 Nokia, SA004 Samsung, SA008 Sony Ericsson, SA011 Motorola, SA013 Palm/Treo, 4 pin X connector

  

When it comes to PSP II or PSP Phones, Sony dismisses them as mere rumors, leading David Perry, a veteran of the industry,  rasing his own ideas on how to improve the PSP. There are a lot of talks, a lot of hullabaloos, but has anybody given thought on what the Chinese say about it?

We had a hard time determining the exact name of the company for the the whole site is heavily in Chinese. Fortunately, numbers, figures and pictures wouldn't lie and we got  few information regarding this mobile phone. Dubbed as V191, the PSP-looking phone shouldn't be mistaken for Motorola V191. Although the two are distantly the same.

Also, we found out that the cool-looking gadget comes in with a Micro SD slot with a 256MB card included, which is actually next to the SIM slot, a 1.3M pix camera, and of course a gaming picture. It is being priced for HK$ 5,400 or roughly US$ 693. Well, we don't know if in the future this would result to intellectual property rights issue. As we all know, our friend Sony is so keen on keeping friends happy.