Specials, Discounts, Bonus Offers

It’s that time of year again — End of Year!

With that brings the dread of doing your tax, find your receipts, getting your affairs in order (of the financial type).

Amongst that though, is the excitement of retail shopping at discounted prices (Yeh, the prices we should pay all year…?!).

Well, things are no different at FunkyCoverz.

End of Year Sale

Check it out: Products on Sale.

We’ve reduced heaps of our stock to get it out of the door.

Some items heavily reduced. Some bonus 2-for-1 offers. All good bargains…

Members Discount

As well, our newsletter members receive a further discount at checkout. Not a  member? Join now: Funk-eList

You’d be silly to miss it. 

Just saying…

Google homepage logo “doodle” turned interactive

Google doodles, famous for celebrating anniversaries of all sorts of things created a stir last week.  On 21 May, Google released a version of the all-time favourite Pac-Man game, to mark it’s 30 year anniversary.

Simple, fun and harmless one would think.  However, it is estimated that release of Pac-Man caused approx $145m in lost productivity that day, before it was pulled down. How one estimates that loss, I’m not sure.

What did Google have to say?

“We’ve been overwhelmed, but not surprised, by the success of our 30th anniversary Pac-Man doodle,” Google vice president of search products and user experience Marissa Mayer said in a blog post on Monday.

There was even talk Google’s homepage may be banned by some companies, as IT depts received calls saying their Google page was doing strange things, and as other corporate companies recognised extremely high usage and reacted to breach of their Internet Policies.

Did you get to play Pac-Mac?

Did you miss it? You can play a different version here online, or check out the quick CNET related video.

Although, it’s not the first time teenagers running around in dark rooms chasing pills has been the topic of news…?!

Skinput – putting your skin in touch!

With Skinput, your smartphone, iPod, iPhone or iPad is not the only ‘touchscreen’ you might own…

Microsoft researchers, led by PhD student Chris Harrison, have developed technology that can turn your skin into a touchpad or touchscreen, using acoustic signals that travel through your body.

The device is worn strapped around your bicep and projects an input interface onto your hand or forearm.

By tapping your fingers, palm or arm (depending how it’s set up), it causes mechanical vibrations through the body, which in turn can be interpretted by the Skinput. Different parts of the body create different waves – and therefore different responses/actions.

For eg, you’re out for a run in the rain – and have your iPod or iPhone strapped to your arm under your jacket to keep dry. Using the Skinput, you could change your playlist, answer the phone or whatever else, simply by tapping .

I know…  What the?

Yes, it sounds a little hard to comprehend (and even harder to explain… I’m certainly not doing it justice!), so why not just watch the Skinput video.

More info:

Microsoft: Skinput – Computational User Experiences

It’s mind-blowing stuff!!

Mobile World Congress: Microsoft introduces new mobile phone platform

Live from the 2010 MWC, Microsoft’s CEO and Senior Executives keynote launched the new series of Windows mobile phones – 7 Series.

Completely starting from scratch with the Microsoft Windows Mobile software… and the look.

A stylish streamlined design, with just three buttons on the front (start, search, back) and the rest for the capacitive touchscreen. With an interface similar to the new Windows 7, with features such as pinch to zoom, and an advanced browser also based on the current desktop IE version, with Bing and Bing maps as the default search and maps.

Graphic tiles arrange pieces of information on each page, but not in small icons. Instead in large colourful tiles.

Your personal data is organised into “hubs”, with real-time data intergrated and updated, for eg:

• People – with combined details of all your special peeps at your fingertips – their contact details, facebook and other social networking pages etc. Constantly updating. Contacts etc also sync over the air.
• Pictures – categorised into existing library, recently synced and what’s new (again, from social networking arenas). Also has a Facebook picture upload built-in.
• Office – integrating One Note, SharePoint, Recent Docs etc, plus a new look easy to read Outlook.
• Music and Video – all 7 Series will have a Zune onboard, partnership with Pandora Radio and easy syncing for your music and videos.
• Games – wait for it… Xbox LIVE as a built in part of the 7 Series, but not much mention of games as yet (see more info below)
• Marketplace – similar to iTunes? Inforamtion sketchy at this stage but guess more will be know far before the launch.

“What else is coming for the 7 Series?”

Microsoft apparently recognises the need for more hardware consistency and plans to work closely with hardware manufacturers to make sure there is commonality in devices.

“There are more than a billion phones sold every year, and a massive shift over to smartphones. Partners can meet the diverse needs of customers. One size does not fit all. People want different phones, different form factors.” “We want to strive for synergy where the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts.”  Andy Lees, Senior Vice President, Mobile Communications Business.

Hardware partners? Deals struck with Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC, HP, LG, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Toshiba.

Next a review of the Service Provider partners.  Among others, Telstra is listed.

“Available when and where?”

Windows Phone 7 Series will be available the 2010 ‘holiday season’. Where though, as usual, is anyone’s guess.

… The PC, now mobile. We hope 7 is our lucky number!” Steve Ballmer, CEO

Get More Information

• CNET: How Xbox Live will work
• Gizmodo: Windows Phone 7 Series