(Credit: Logic Instrument) Logic Instrument got FCC approval nearly two years ago for its "Tetra T-Pad" rugged smartphone, but not much has been heard about it since then. Perhaps the French manufacturer thought better of trying to sell a phone that costs about $2,600 on the American market.

That's the price tag Lussorian quotes for this steroidal handset, which it says has met U.S. military standards that require 25 tests involving the harshest conditions. Weighing just under 1.3 pounds, the T-Pad is dustproof, waterproof, and can withstand shock, vibration, and subzero temperatures. As for the phone specs, it has a 4-inch touch screen, a 400MHz Intel processor, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.

Features aside, it's difficult to see how the price can be justified--especially when there so many other tough phones being produced, some of them bearing the National Security Agency's seal of approval. Those handsets, by the way, are made in the U.S.A.

Sitting beween the budget Inspiron and high-end XPS, Dell's new Studio line is personified by the Dell Studio 15. This desktop replacement is a colourful and customisable option for those looking for a good mix of features and reasonable performance without paying the Earth.

Parsing the intended markets for Dell's ever-shifting in-house brand names requires some tea-leaf reading. It's been easier lately, with the company stripping down its consumer brands to just the Inspiron and XPS lines.

Now the company is adding a new line between the budget Inspiron and the high-end XPS. The new Studio line, as personified by the 15.4-inch Studio 15, has the same tapered shape, slot-loading optical drive and rounded hinge as the Dell XPS M1530, but a similarly configured Studio system costs roughly £350 less than a similarly outfitted XPS.

The base model of the Studio 15 costs around £479. We've reviewed a model that includes an upgraded CPU, which costs around £540 from Dell. All prices were correct at the time of writing. » Read the rest of the entry..

Panasonic is the latest player to join the Mobile Internet Device (MID) market with something that looks like a giant PDA.

The ToughBook CF-U1, as it is to be known, is a handheld unit with a 5.6-inch, 1,024x600-pixel touchscreen. Below that, there's a full Qwerty keyboard, which looks like it will be difficult to type on while holding the device in your hands.

The face is littered with shortcut buttons and status LEDs, the most important of which are the zoom buttons -- given how high the screen resolution is compared to the size of the screen, we think you'll be getting plenty of use from these. » Read the rest of the entry..

If the question "Where am I?" is a recurring issue for you, Ricoh has added a feature to its GPS-ready digital camera that you may want to check out.

The Ricoh 500SE GPS camera now includes something called an SE-3 GPS module, a three-axis compass developed by Honeywell that nails down the position and direction (azimuth), then displays it on the camera's LCD.

The data, in the form of point coordinates, is embedded into an image as it is captured.

This gives the user a 3D "cones-of-view" perspective, indicating the direction the camera was facing. It comes ready to use with mapping applications such as Google Earth and ESRI's ArcGIS (PDF.) » Read the rest of the entry..

The Samsung R410 desktop replacement could be an excellent choice for anyone on a budget looking for a second laptop or even a student with shallow pockets. Kitted out with a good core specification that rivals more expensive machines, the R410 is great value for money.

The Samsung R410 -- not to be confused with the r410 mobile phone -- is a budget all-round laptop with a 14.1-inch display. It's the smallest in Samsung's R series, so in theory, it's ideal for anyone that wants solid performance in a chassis that doesn't weigh the Earth. More importantly, however, it's dirt cheap at around £499. Let's see what you get for your dough.

Design The R410 is very ordinary in its design. We've lost count of the number of times we've seen laptops with glossy black lids and matte black interiors -- particularly from Samsung -- so forgive us if we yawn momentarily. As with all laptops with this sort of design, the lid is prone to collecting smudges, so unless you're willing to carry the bundled felt cloth everywhere you go, it'll be permanently dirty. » Read the rest of the entry..

It certainly is hard to keep a secret in this industry. After leaks, leaks and more leaks, Dell has officially announced the new Studio line of laptops, sitting somewhere between the budget Inspiron line and high-end XPS line.

The two new models are the Studio 15 and Studio 17, which as you might expect, have 15- and 17-inch screens. They have a tapered design and large side hinge that's similar to the XPS M1530, although the Studio models curve the screen down at a sharper angle, while the XPS has a more rounded look (see pic below). » Read the rest of the entry..

As consumers are deluged with GPS products, manufacturers are continually looking for ways to expand the market--and that includes non-humans. Tracking technologies for pets (and kids) are hardly new, but Garmin is trying to stay ahead of the pack, literally, with more powerful devices. » Read the rest of the entry..

Sony has just confirmed the rumor we all heard back in April: video downloads will be available on the PS3 this summer. Details right now are scarce, but we do know the service will first be rolled out in the United States, followed by Japan and Europe later in the year. As we mentioned before, we would like to see a service tied in with Netflix since everybody and their mother seems to use the service, or even a Hulu type service, which offers TV shows from Fox and NBC, broken up by short 15-second ads. Our best guess though: iTunes-esque pricing, the most expensive of all three choices. Rent a movie, pay a high premium, and lose it . We can't see how this will be successful, considering Sony's quirky history with digital media downloads (see: Sony Connect and ATRAC3). » Read the rest of the entry..

Most new TVs have three or four HDMI sockets these days. But what if yours has fewer than you need? That's not as uncommon as you might think, especially if you have an older TV or even something like the Hitachi ultra-thin screen we reviewed recently. With Blu-ray players, games consoles, satellite, and media streamers, it's not a stretch to believe some people might desperately need more HDMI inputs. Happily, there are solutions for you, including this Lindy HDMI switch, with four HDMI inputs and one output. As it features what Lindy proclaims is a "high-quality Sony chipset," you shouldn't have any problems with compatibility or signal corruption. Happy days, as you'd be rather narked if you bought something like this only to discoverer it made a mess of everything you sent through it. » Read the rest of the entry..

ArchPort Shoes offers a hideaway wallet feature tucked into the sole of its "radically innovative" patented sandals and athletic shoes, with space for cell phones, GPS transceivers, wireless MP3 players, batteries, heaters, and other gadgets soon to follow.

Company founder Matt Potts came up with the idea back in 1989 while playing tennis. "It's just not comfortable to carry stuff in your pockets, especially a wallet," Potts told GPS Daily. » Read the rest of the entry..