The Daily Slash: July 5th 2010

It's now been a day since the festivities of your Fourth of July adventures should have ended, but considering today was a "bank holiday," we wouldn't be too surprised to hear that you're still pretty preoccupied with other activities. But, if you're reading this, then you must know what's really important. Right? Right. So, with that out of the way, welcome to tonight's edition of The Daily Slash. In the Best of R3 Media, we've got a Charm from Motorola, a Gravity Phone, and some good news for one lucky customer who Intercepted a device. And then in the Dredge 'Net, we've got quick chargers for electric cars on the horizon, fingerprint sensors going into photocopiers, and Sony's cut down on their eReader prices.The Best of R3 MediaBack to School Sale Gets you a Motorola Charm: When you're on your back to school, there's plenty of folks looking for the next great deal. That's why those back to school sales exist. This time around, from T-Mobile, you'll be able to get your hands on a brand new device from Motorola. Featuring Android 2.1, MOTOBLUR, and a physical form factor dangerously reminiscent of a BlackBerry, the Charm is one device that will definitely turn heads, one way or another. It's also cheap, even without contract, so the free price tag isn't that surprising. [via Android Community]Gravity Phones Makes Things Heavy: In the ever-changing world of the smartphone market, seeing concepts of upcoming devices (whether that's just in a designer's head or not) is one of the highlights of our week. And when things like the Gravity Phone come out of nowhere, well, you can see why. From the front, you see a giant glossy HD-resolution display. And then on the back, a strange designed that looks like an iPhone and a Zune HD combined, making some weird X-thing. It's definitely interesting looking. Especially with the HDMI port, and a display that features 1080p, we can't pass it up. [via SlashGear]Lucky Customer Gets a Samsung Intercept a Week Early: A Sprint customer went into a Sprint store, asked for a Samsung Intercept, and the employee was happy enough to provide him with his wish. That's probably not what happened, exactly, but we can dream. In any event, a Sprint customer really did get a Samsung Intercept a week early. It features a landscape slider with a physical QWERTY keyboard and Google's Android mobile Operating System. It's an "entry level" device, so don't think it's your next superphone or anything. It doesn't look half-bad, though. [via PhoneMag]The Dredge 'NetQuick Chargers for Electric Cars Exist — and They're Fast: As of right now, quick-chargers apparently only charge an electric battery to roughly 80% of its capacity in about a half hour. That's not quick enough for some people, and that's why the company JFE Engineering is coming in to save the day. According to them, they've created a quick charger that can charge a battery to 50% of its capacity in just three minutes. If that's not enough, just leave it on there for about two more minutes, and you'll get 70% of your battery's charge. So, super fast, basically. JFE plans on having these chargers installed at convenience stores all over Japan by March 2011. [via CrunchGear]Canon Japan Puts Fingerprint Scanners on Photocopiers: Apparently, Japan has a real problem with people using photocopiers to a ridiculous amount. Like, too much. And while some companies have badges that get used at work, those can be passed around way too easily, and therefore that defeats the whole purpose. So, fingerprint scanners are the next best step. You won't be able to make as many copies as you want — unless you've got someone there with the access. We think this is probably one of the greatest inventions in the world, and we would love for this to get passed around to more international markets. Just because it's fantastic. [via OhGizmo!]Sony Finally Cuts the Price for Their eReaders: So, Amazon did it for their Kindle, right after Barnes and Noble did it for their nook. And even some other eReaders out there in the world followed suit. And finally, Sony's done it, too. The Pocket Edition (the bare bones version) is now only $149. As for the Touch Edition, you'll get that for $169.99. And finally, at the top of the Sony eReader hill, you get the Daily Edition for a whopping $299.99. Many would still consider that a bit too pricey, but obviously Sony's got a plan. Right? [via Gear Diary]