Sony has a brand new high-zoom camera available for the masses this May - the Cyber-shot DSC-H50. Some of the features to-die-for include :- Carl Zeiss 15x optical zoom lens Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization 3″ tilting LCD display Scratch-resistant, UV hard-coat finish Advanced Sports Shooting Mode (up to 1/4000 of a second) Versatile, long-distance flash Extensive manual controls Smile shutter and face detection technologies with child or adult priority recognition NightShot technologyYou’ll have to wait till May for this puppy to hit retail stores. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 will retail for $400 at either online or at a Sony Style retail store near you. (Read the full post about ‘Sony Launches DSC-H50 Digital Camera’…)
Posted Feb 25th 2008 6:06PM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Portable Audio, Portable Video Apparently, video is all the rage these days. Just ask the folks who received a survey from Microsoft about services which may or may not be coming to the Zune. It’s possible your heart might skip a beat when you read questions like, “I would rather download a movies from an online service than buy a DVD,” or, “My friends and I regularly send each other links to online videos.” Though the question, “I’m willing to carry a larger mp3 player if it improves the quality of the display,” could just be suggesting a new Zune-XXXL is on the way. Regardless of what it you take away from these cryptic messages, remember one thing: just like that Netf (Read the full post about ‘Zune survey points to video downloads’…)
Laptops are becoming more the computer of choice considering their falling price. It’s not uncommon to see laptops with price points of US$500 or less. Of course, with more laptops, there is also more of a chance of a computer becoming lost or stolen. Sure, you can get insurance to cover the replacement cost of the laptop, but what about the replacement cost of your lost or stolen data or identity? Just consider what most people store on their laptops. Pictures, financial information, and tax forms are just some of the things that can make their way on to a laptop’s hard drive.
That’s why the folks at Phoenix Technologies have teamed up with Seagate to incorporate its FailSafe and SecureCore technology into Seagate Secure technology.
(Read the full post about ‘Laptop data security being built into Seagate hard drives’…)
Posted Feb 25th 2008 10:29AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Portable Audio, Wearables Oakley’s Split Thump mp3 player sunglasses’ fashion offenses are too numerous to mention, and we’re not sure this is helping matters. According to the folks over at Tech Digest, the wrap-around music players will be getting a very special 500-piece, 1GB Jamiroquai edition, replete with purple and white camouflage design and two new remixes from the disco-aping singer’s 1993 album Emergency on Planet Earth. (Read the full post about ‘Oakley’s Split Thumps: Jamiroquai style’…)
Posted Feb 25th 2008 2:42PM by Nilay PatelFiled under: GPS Multifunction PNDs are starting to hit the low end of the price spectrum, which is always welcome — check out G-Sol’s Marbella 8800 nav unit, which sports PMP functions, AV-in, and a 2 megapixel digital camera for a wholesale price of $160. That means the retail price will probably be around $200, but you’re actually getting a decent piece of kit — there’s a SiRF Star III GPS chip in there, which is pretty respectable. (Read the full post about ‘Marbella 8800 PND is cheap, versatile’…)
I spent several years of my life as a PC technician. I did many tasks which ranged from selling and building new computers to troubleshooting networks and general PC repair. One thing that you quickly learn is that the people that tend to have the most problems are also the ones running the oldest hardware. Needless to say, I worked on plenty of machines running Windows 95 and 98, which also meant I worked with a lot of floppy disks. I hated keeping a floppy drive in my computer, but sadly it was essential to my job. I don’t think I’d mind it quite as much if the drive served another purpose like reading multiple memory cards. (Read the full post about ‘A floppy drive that might actually be useful’…)
Posted Feb 25th 2008 9:58AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: cellphones Why is Nokia always trying to outdo everyone with its fancy-schmancy concepts and designs? Why can’t they just get in line and keep it simple? We may never know the answer to those questions, but what we do know is that the company is presenting a new concept device called the Morph that would be right at home… in the year 3000. The unit is included in the MoMA’s “Design and the Elastic Mind” exhibition catalog, and boasts the ability to stretch and flex to almost any shape a user could think of. The nanotechnology-based device would deliver transparent electronics, self-cleaning surfaces, and the malleability to transform into any number of configurations. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia’s nanotech Morph goes on display, signals melting devices in our future’…)
Posted Feb 25th 2008 8:59AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Digital Cameras Sony is no stranger to digital cameras, as the company has professed in its press release detailing the Cyber-Shot DSC-H50, a new 9.1-megapixel shooter that should have camera fans perking up their ears. The new model — a successor to the DSC-H9 “super zoom” camera — sports a Carl Zeiss 15x optical zoom lens, a 3-inch tilting LCD display, ISO to 3200, and a long-distance flash (capable of lighting subjects from 55 feet away). The DSC-H50 also has an “advanced sports” shooting mode which allows it to utilize ultra-high shutter speeds (like 1/4000 of a second). The camera is expected to go on sale in May, and will only slightly break the bank at $ (Read the full post about ‘Sony intros the Cyber-Shot DSC-H50 “super zoom” camera’…)
We’ve seen the Logisys Optical Finger Mouse, an ergonomic mouse that takes up no space except on your index finger, and is supposed to free you from moving your hand around unnecessarily as you switch from mouse operating to keyboard. The button is controlled with your thumb. I’m not sure how popular these are, but now usb.brando.com.hk, seller of all things USB, carries another finger mouse model, which appears to be a bit bigger than the Logisys model (and priced higher, at $38 - the Logisys model is just $19, and appears to be sold by usb.brando.com.hk also). My question is: Will this exacerbate the blackberry Thumb problem I already have and spread it to my index finger? (Read the full post about ‘USB Wireless Finger Mouse’…)
MobileBurn reviews the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic and writes, “The 2-megapixel camera on the 5310 churns out average quality photos, which is quite disappointing. Photo-taking is done in portrait mode, as the centre D-pad key is the shutter key. Unfortunately, the 5310 does not have a dedicated shutter/camera key like a lot of phones tend to have these days. There are, however, settings enabling users to take photos in various color modes – black and white, sepia and negative. The white balance was not exactly great during my tests, giving a bluish hue to all the photos taken. The end result is always good enough for candid shots, but never good enough for prints, which isn’t surprising for a fixed focus camera like the 5310’s.” Read more about the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia 5310 XpressMusic Review - MobileBurn’…)
