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In this week’s Gadget Lab Podcast, Dylan Tweney and Jose Fermoso talk about the 2008 CTIA Wireless conference, highlighting the next step in cell phone technologies like improved haptic technology and five-megapixel cameras.

In addition, they go over one of the most surprising trends from the conference: companies are actually using unique names for their products again (like Alias and Instinct), rather than the usual model number gibberish. No more 33465huv-u40!

Finally, they discuss the sublimely tacky existence of David Beckham’s golden iPhone, and why it provides the Gadget Lab team with many laughs and inspiration.

Thanks again for listening. Remember, you can subscribe to the podcast feed right here. And you can find the twenty-two previous podcasts after the jump.

The Podcast (above) requires Quicktime (you can download it at Apple’s page here).

The last few Gadget Lab podcasts are below:

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #22: Motorola’s Split, The Sony Crapware Saga, and More

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #21: The Wireless Spectrum Auction, HTC’s Googlephone, and Evil Keyboards

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #20: Exploding Batteries, Lost gadgets, and the Week’s Best Reviews

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #19: From the iPhone SDK Release to Microsoft’s TechFest

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #18: From Nokia’s Phone of the Future to the DIY-Friendly Chumby Gadget

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #17: The Bankruptcy of The Sharper Image and Insider Info on the Death of HD DVD

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #16: The End of the hd dvd Format, 1080p Projectors, and More

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #15:Technologies from Orwell’s 1984, Cool Gear From the Super Tuesday Primaries, and More

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #14: From Garmin’s Nuviphone to the Linux-based Haier Ibiza Rhapsody mp3 player

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #13: Macworld 2008 Review and macbook air First Impressions

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #12: CES 2008, with Pioneer’s Project Kuro, the Dystopian Life Wall, and More

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #11: The CES 2008 Preview with Touchscreen TVs, Wireless Phones, and More

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #10: Last-Minute Holiday Gifts for Geeks and Wired’s 2007 Vaporware Awards

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #9: All Around Smackdowns Between the ipod and Zune 2 Media Players and Kid-Friendly Laptops

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #8: From Dell’s New Retail Strategy to the Film vs. Digital Deathmatch Controversy

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #7: From the Blu-ray/HD-DVD Wars to the Exploding Battery Mystery

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #6: From The Microsoft Zune 2 Release to Warner Music’s Surprising iTunes About-Face

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #5: From Google’s Android Alliance to the iphone’s iBricking Firmware

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #4: From Wal-Mart’s Early Black Friday To NBC’s Word War With Apple

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #3: From the CTIA Trade Show to the Leopard Launch

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #2: We’re Giving Away Good Times (Nokia N810 Tablet and iPhone Apps)

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #1: Listen and Be Amazed (Microsoft’s Zune and the Gateway One PC)

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Wind-up Workout
A workout without sweating! Considering our New Year's Exercise regimes last, ohh about a week, we had to find a way of having a really good gym session without actually expending any effort whatsoever.

You can have this for ?5.95

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Panasonic isn’t giving up on plasma screens just yet. With many shifting away from plasma TVs and embracing LCD, Panasonic is going small and will bring plasma screens to the cellphone. Wait. You’re thinking that a plasma display might burn a hole in your pocket? Nope. They will be both cool and cheap.

Mark Balsama spoke to the press on Tuesday and revealed a secret plot that rival’s Apple’s iphone obfuscation:

For nearly a decade, Panasonic’s engineers have been secretly working on a thin, lightweight low-voltage compact plasma display.

According to Balsama, not only will the screens “rival OLED displays for brightness, contrast and thinness”, they will also be cheaper. Now that the secret is out, Panasonic is moving fast. The mini plasma displays will start showing up in phones the fall.

Press release [PR Newswire]

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Griffin’s new polycarbonate iPhone case promises to not only protect your precious Stupendabrick but to boost the cell reception too. The ClearBoost makes the iphone look quite ridiculous in the process, adding a retro-style external nub housing the antenna. Griffin seems to be suffering from some kind of “Emperor’s New Clothes” syndrome, as the product blurb claims the antenna is invisible:

This clever case conceals a built-in booster antenna.

[emphasis added]

If you want to make your beautiful glass and steel slab look like something used to read the gas meter, Griffin will sell you a ClearBoost for $30.

Product page [Griffin]

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Colour Phasing Sphere

You can have this for ?24.95

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Intel has announced plans to release an anti-theft initiative for laptops by the end of the year. The rate of data hacked from stolen or misplaced laptops has been increasing, and Intel has planned to release this technology to help prevent your vital data from being widely misused.

“It basically locks the system, lock the disk, so people cannot be maliciously using and getting the data,” stated executive vice president and general manager of Intel’s Mobility Group – Dr Dadi Perlmutter at his presentation.

Based on what Dr. Dadi had elaborated, The Intel Anti-Theft Technology is apparently a method to lock a laptop down to the component level, and prevent any access to data. But information about this technology is still limited. As for Intel, they said that Intel would announce more details when it’s nearing the release. So let’s just sit back, and wait for the good news

Via [InfoWorld]

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eMusic, together with the Music Intelligence Institute, presents this Music Intelligence Quiz developed by experts in the music field. It consists of 30 multiple-choice questions covering many genres and eras of music. The maximum number of points is 180, and there are 5 levels of music intelligence: Top 40 Radio Listener, Air Guitarist, Birthday Party DJ, Mix-Tape Master, and Musical Magician.

What’s great about this test is that, unlike other assessments out there, you are not obligated to provide a name or email address or register in order to see your results, although after you view your results eMusic invites you to check out some music suggestions based on your music intelligence level, but that’s fine. You can provide some demographic info (year of birth, gender, location) which is no big deal, but that would be cool if you could see some sort of results breakdown by these factors, or if you could get a badge to post on your social networking profile. Perhaps in the next version. Anyway I feel that this test is fair and accurate, as my music IQ turns out to be 126 which makes me a Mix-Tape Master. Try it yourself, but no cheating and no taking it over and over again to try to improve your score!

Read [Seen This]

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While most of us up here are busy about Web 2.0, iphone 2.0, et cetera, et cetera, the folks over there in the far east introduced a new device that, well, kind of ushers in Home Improvement 2.0. Actually, Seoul Commtech has just introduced the EZON SHS-5200, which also has the nickname Luce. It’s a lock for your door that’s like no other. It’s slim, made mostly of gas and shiny metal, and best of-all, it’s digital and has a touch-sensitive face. So this is the next generation of home security, eh?

The Luce is only 2.1cm thick, and is made of special aluminum that makes it stronger than most ordinary door locks. Its face is made of tempered glass to accommodate all the touching you’re going to do with it. And with it being as sexy as this, I’m sure you’ll be spending a good bit of your time just “locking and unlocking” the beautiful little thing. And no, the slew of features does not to stop there. The Luce also offers a built-in fire detector, that measures the indoor heat for signs of a fire. When the indoor heat rises above 55 ℃, the Luce will automagically unlock itself so that any persons left in the house will have an easier time escaping through the door. I’m sure Bill Gates, or maybe even Steve Jobs, would love to have this inside their own humble homes.

Via [Aving USA]

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Had enough of the usual gang here on Gadget Lab? Think you can do better than the multitalented (but inescapably British) Rob Beschizza? Now’s your chance to show us what you’ve got.

We’re looking for an enthusiastic, eager, tech-savvy blogger to join the Gadget Lab team and help cover the most interesting and compelling daily tech news for Wired’s most popular blog. We’re not just shoveling press releases onto the web here, unlike some blogs we could mention. That’s why we want someone who can bring an intelligent, informed and entertaining perspective to our gadget coverage.

In return, you’ll get unparalleled exposure on Wired.com, plus the chance to test out, play with and write about all kinds of new gadgets long before your friends do. Oh yeah, and we pay money too.

If this sounds like your dream job, send me an email with your resume, links to 3 recent blog posts you’ve done, and a sample Gadget Lab post on a tech news item from the day you send it. Resume not up to date? Fine, just tell me what jobs you’ve worked lately. And please keep your sample post to 150 words, tops.

Photo: foundphotoslj / Flickr

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This new Chinese PMP called the AOC X600, comes with a pretty unique feature which allows it to play RMVB files on the player itself, or you can use TV-Out option to play them on your big screen TV.

Aside from playing RMVB, it’s pretty much your average PMP, but it is actually pretty cheap considering what it comes with. Beginning with its screen, it sports a nice 3-inch display with a 400 x 240 resolution, and 16:10 aspect ratio. Additionally, it can also play FLV, AVI, MOV, ASF, MP4, WMV, 3GP, MGP, MP3, WMA, APE, FLAC lossless, and TXT files. No matter what audio or video format you have on your computer, you are almost guaranteed to be able to play it on the AOC X600. I think this PMP player looks really cool the way the whole device is basically the screen, kind of like the ipod Touch.

Unfortunately, no word on exact availability, but expect it to be only for sale in the Chinese market selling for 599 yuan (around $85).

Via [PMP Today]

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