Hop-on is planning to release a new open Android phone at CES early next year. It will reportedly sell for less than $200.

“Hop-on is committed in bringing the latest technology to the market, the Android open platform makes Hop-on competitive in the high end mobile phone market. This will create market value for our share holders,” stated Peter Michaels, Hop-on’s CEO.

It’s nice to know he doesn’t have the consumers as his top priority. I looked high and low for any more information on the phone, and found nothing. I guess those kinds of details are saved for the shareholders.

If they release this phone like they released their disposable phone, you’ll only be able to look at nice shiny mock pics of it on their website. While the site states it’s available, there doesn’t appear to be any way to buy it. Do I smell vaporware?

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Sprint is diligently patting itself on the back today, having forever changed the way we consider canceling cellphone contracts. Starting on November 2, for every month you stay faithful to your Sprint contract after the sixth month, the company knocks $10 off the early termination fee. The fee, which is $200 at the outset, […]

Sprint is diligently patting itself on the back this day, having forever changed the way we think about canceling cellphone contracts. Starting on November 2, for each month you stay faithful to your Sprint contract after the sixth month, the company knocks $10 off the early termination fee. The fee, which is $200 at the outset, is allowed to drop to as low as $50.

This new policy does not apply to contract entered into before November 2. If you’re already a Sprint customer, you can renew your contract after that date and then you’d qualify for the deal.

Now, what phone in Sprintland would be compelling enough for you to switch over there, I have no idea.

Via [crunchgear]

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NYC’s new “Rat Information Portal” is being billed as “a one-stop resource website for New Yorkers’ rat prevention needs.” In addition to tips on how to control rat populations, the website also supplies an interactive “Rat Map” with data on inspections, violations, compliance, exterminations, and cleanups for any property in the city going back three years. Basically, it is a hotspot map for creepy vermin within the city. The idea is to put pressure on property owners who are slow to address their growing rat problems and give everyday citizens the tools they need to fight back. That’s right folks…NYC has declared war against the rats. [Rat Information Portal via SFGate]

Via [Gizmodo]

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On one hand. robots have come a long, long way in the last 25 years. On the other, 3/4 of the Gizmodo staff is still wiping their own butt. Regardless, Carnegie Mellon is hosting an excellent gallery documenting 25 years of their Field Robotics Center robots. This guy, called the “Terragator,” was built in 1984 to navigate roads and map mines. And if you like him, there are plenty of others on CM’s site, each packing a palatable one-sentence description. So hit up the link for more robot fun. [The Field Robotics Center via bbGadgets]

Via [Gizmodo]

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E no princípio era o sopro, leve e seco, para afastar as partículas de pó, seguindo-se do som do poisar da agulha sobre o vinil. Deixar-se levar e, até chegar o loop, esse bem precioso enquanto base para experimentação, oscilando entre as noventa e as cem batidas por minuto, para a desconstrução do que se conhece como canção para chegar a génese da mesma. Nos últimos meses es…

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In London, public trash cans are hard to come by, as they’re an easy receptacle for bombs. Which makes it hard to throw things away properly! Now, the city is going to bring trash cans back, but they’re going to be huge, hulking masses, totally bomb-proof and equipped with LCD screens to tell you the days news as you throw away your coffee cup.

The city intends to install dozens of the fancy waste receptacles in London’s financial district next year. And boy, do they sound expensive!

The technology reduces the shockwave of an explosion — which usually creates devastation by destroying nearby objects such as windows — and because most of the bin is made of steel, it can contain the heat and shrapnel generated. He said that the technology “reduces the peak pressure of an explosion and extinguishes the fireball”.

The green bins will double as an information service called Renew, with big screens on each side of the device relaying the latest news.

Traders walking past on their lunch break will be able to check the latest share prices, but on their way home the screens will display travel information and other news. The authorities will also be able to use the screens to relay important security information.

Is it just me or does it seem like each single decision the British government makes hinges on the threat of terrorism? You guys are starting to seem a bit obsessed over there. [Times Online]

Via [Gizmodo]

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The previously Japan only Mugen Puchi Puchi bubble wrap toy is now available in the US for $5.99. It’s available in four colors: cold sore pink, pea soup green, dying of exposure blue and cadaver grey. It’s fun, yes, but the sound effect unfortunately doesn’t sound all that much like the *POP* of a real bubble wrap bubble and more of like a generic sound effect speaker noise from a handheld game you played in 1985. You do get a fart, barking dog or door chime sound every 100 pops, which is worth something, I think. It comes in keychain form so as to prevent your keys from flying away, Mary Poppins style. [Amazon]

Via [Gizmodo]

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After the T-Mobile G1 reviews made their way out last week, it seemed that a complaint common across the majority of them was the lack of an onscreen keyboard. Yeah, yeah - it has a fully functional physical keyboard, but when you’re just trying to blast out a quick “lol” response, sliding the screen open seems a bit extraneous. When a member of the xda-developers managed to get a dump of the G1 ROM , it certainly seemed like a software keyboard was tucked away in there somewhere (See screenshot.) So where’s it hiding?

Turns out, it’s just not quite ready yet. According to this recently updated Android Roadmap, the first quarter of 2009 should bring a new input framework, which will grant for all sorts of input methods - most notably (and given as an example), software keyboards. Also noted is a new input engine, which will make typing on the onscreen keyboard a bit easier by way of “a dictionary of suggestions, and a suggestion algorithm”.

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean the G1 will be getting an on-screen keyboard. That decision is really up to HTC and T-Mobile. It does, however, pave the way for sans-keyboard, full-touchscreen devices.

[HTC Source Via Giz]

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Several months ago, a variety of legitimate publications got word of a PS3 Wiimote-like device that could split in two. We dubbed it the “DualMotion.” Today the patent for the DualMotion has been uncovered and while it uses accelerometers and LED-based tracking (similar to the Wiimote), the DualMotion also deploys ultrasonic frequencies to determine absolute xyz position (based upon controller distance from other controllers and your television). Oh, and two DualMotions can assemble to make one huge DualMotion. Just check it out in what we believe is the craziest patent diagram ever:

What’s so one-of-a-kind about the DualMotion doesn’t appear to be that it splits, but that it joins. In the leaked shots of the patent app, we see two different joined configurations. One puts them side by side, like a dual-wielded pistol, and the other attaches them butt to butt, like a dog bone or Requiem for a Dream.

[NeoGAF via PS3Fanboy]

Via [Gizmodo]

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An early gadget video.

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