A protective earplug is a double-edged sword by itself – it not only blocks out the loud, harmful noises, it will also stop you from hearing peoples’ voices. Of course, this is where the QUIETPRO+ Intelligent Hearing System steps in to help – it comprises of a couple of regular-looking in-ear plugs that are wired to a small electronic control unit. Whenever it detects a fairly loud noise which could affect your ears in a dangerous manner, noise-canceling sound waves will be sent to the headset automatically. Should things quiet down, sounds like human voices will be amplified, augmenting your hearing abilities. Meant to be used in the armed forces such as the U.S. Army, the manufacturer is now working on the next generation of the device for oil rig workers. When will we see a commercial grade version?

Permalink: QUIETPRO+ Intelligent Hearing System saves your ears from Ubergizmo | Hot: iPhone 4 Review, iPad Review

I’m all for taking care of one’s toys, but even I have to wonder if these MouseGuards from Moshi are a bit overkill. They’re a form-fitting thin film that not only protects the surface of the mouse from everyday wear and tear, but they also apparently have a bit more texture than the Magic Mouse’s glossy surface, providing more of a tactile feel. With a price tag of $69 Apple’s mouse is definitely something you don’t want to have to replace often, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you’re willing to spend an extra $15 for a MouseGuard to keep it looking as good as new.

[ Moshi MouseGuards ] VIA [ The Gadgeteer ]

The folks over at Lumigon seem to be rather capable at designing some pretty looking mobile phones, and now the company has posted a notification on its Facebook page, promising users that its T1 phone will be unveiled on October 20th, with pre-orders for the device being taken from the 20th of September. If what the company claims is true, the device will offer specifications such as:

Permalink: Lumigon To Launch Its First Smartphone On Oct 20th from Ubergizmo | Hot: iPhone 4 Review, iPad Review

It might be a no-brainer for many folks, but it’s surprising to note that the original Netflix streaming application for the PS3 didn’t offer a search feature, and the only way for users to browse movies outside of the Netflix queue was to dig through specific genre categories and recommendation lists. Fortunately this has been sorted out, as the application has received a useful little update that enables the user to search the entire Netflix library by typing out the title of a movie. A similar function should be reaching the Xbox 360 version of the Netflix app sometime this November.

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Laparoscopic gastric banding is a surgical treatment for morbid obesity, and apparently the most important factor in the success of this operation is the hands of the surgeon. He’ll need plenty of proficiency and skill to do the necessary inside the patient’s body. Now researchers have recently won a $2.3M federal grant in order to develop a touch-sensitive virtual reality simulator that can realistically replicate how performing a gastric band operation feels like, thanks to the magic of haptic technology (or touch feedback). With this in place, surgeons will be able to practice and refine the surgical skills needed to perform a laparoscopic procedure in their own virtual operating theater, without having to worry about hurting someone and inviting a lawsuit.

Permalink: Haptic Feedback Tools To Help With Laparoscopic Surgery Training from Ubergizmo | Hot: iPhone 4 Review, iPad Review

The folks over at Sprint seem pretty confident that they’re able to refer the applications that you’re looking for, as the carrier has recently replaced the “Download” tab in the Android Market for their devices, replacing it with a “Sprint” button, which offers applications recommended by the carrier. Sprint users who are using Android devices might want to give this a try and see if anything useful crops up. Users will still be able to access the Downloads section by heading to Menu->Downloads.

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This is probably just a sloppy mistake by a designer out there somewhere, but an eagle-eyed person noticed a poster showing the Nokia 5230 and X6 over at Oxford Street, sporting Google’s Android interface. It doesn’t look like Android will officially be used by Nokia anytime soon, but it does get your mind thinking what it would be like. It’s an interesting idea, though it doesn’t seem likely as Nokia seems to be banking rather heavily on its Symbian 3 powered N8 phone.

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We heard whispers about it before this, but now it has been confirmed that Yahoo Japan is planning to team up with Google to use Google’s search engine technology in Japan, giving Yahoo Japan and Google a massive, near-monopoly share of the Internet search market in Japan. It’s worth noting that despite its name, Yahoo Japan isn’t controlled by Yahoo Inc., rather Softbank Corp has about 40% stake in the company, while Yahoo Inc. has a 35% stake. According to this deal, Yahoo Japan will also be using online advertising and distribution systems developed by Google, though an exact date as to when the switch will be carried out has yet to be determined. It’ll be interesting to see if such a move with have any detrimental effect on Yahoo’s many partnerships with Microsoft and its Bing search engine.

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While many consumers and businesses out there enjoying Google’s services, the search engine giant hasn’t forgotten about the Government sector, as the company has just announced its Google Apps for Government, which according to them, is the first cloud computing app suite to receive the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) certification, making it easier for agencies or groups to evaluate and adopt Google Apps. To further ensure that governments will have confidence in this product, Google plans to have Gmail and Google Calendar data for this service segregated into data centers that have been earmarked exclusively for government users in the continental US.

Permalink: Google Introduces Google Apps For Government from Ubergizmo | Hot: iPhone 4 Review, iPad Review