iPod, iTunes, iPhone and more Gadgets

Apparently, Microsoft has plans for Sync that extend beyond the standard voice-activation scheme they’ve got going right now. The company wants to deliver a wider range of network connectivity for in-car use, and they’re debating the possibility of moving away from subscription-based services to an ad-funded scenario. What exactly does that mean? We’ll let Martin Thall, general manager of Microsoft’s Automotive Business Unit explain: “We know where you are and we know where you’re headed,” he says, seemingly unaware of the Orwellian implications. “We could target that advertising directly to your car.” You getting that? Targeted ads. In your car. While you’re driving. Apparently, execs don’t think you’ll mind being bombarded inside your vehicle because you’re, “used to advertising in the car. We hear ads on the radio and see billboards on the road.” Of course, this is speculation on future technologies, so nothing is set in stone — hopefully someone comes to their senses before our hovercar interiors glitter with holographic spam.

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A table of release dates dug up on Sony Ericsson’s own site suggests something powerfully depressing, which is that the XPERIA X1 has been pushed all the way out to February 10, 2009 (notice that the date is in European format — we’d just give up now if it were actually October 2, 2009). While the presence of the page on the company’s very own domain is pretty damning evidence, we’re still holding out hope that it’s a typo or an oversight; late Q2 of ‘08 was mentioned at MWC, and we really don’t see how it’s possible to push out a phone nearly three-quarters of a year just weeks after its initial announcement. Please tell us we’re right on this one, Sony Ericsson. Please.

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You can’t blame these guys for trying to milk the Eee PC, and Asus is doing just that with its new smorgasboard of Eee PC accessories. Most interesting is the Ai Guru U1 VoIP phone. It plugs in with USB, and in addition to letting you make calls to all your broke-ass friends, you can also use it to browse and listen to music stored on the Eee PC. Next up is the Eee AP, which acts as a 802.11g wireless access point and little else — think AirPort Express minus the sexy. The USB “3.5G HSDPA Card” is just as straightforward, with GSM900 / 1800 / 1900 and WCDMA2100 / 1900 / 850, and download speeds up to 3.6Mbps. The slim DVD-RW drive and the totally generic headsets aren’t spicing things up either, which you can probably tell is par for the course here. There’s no word on price or availability for any of these yet, but we’re guessing none of them will break the bank — they sure don’t look it.

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