PC World reviews the HTC Touch and writes, “The Touch’s camera was a tad slow to snap photos–I noted a 4.5-second shutter lag per shot at the high-resolution (2-megapixel) quality setting–but I appreciated being able to change the camera settings (resolution, effects, and so on) via the touch screen. Call volume and sound quality on the Touch were adequate, though I (and the people I called) noticed slight background noise through both the earpiece and the speakerphone. In our lab tests the Touch’s talk-time battery life was a poor 5 hours.” Read more about the HTC Touch. (Read the full post about ‘HTC Touch Review - PC World’…)
Creative seems to be making an attempt to offer the best value on a portable media player, with a few recent price cuts they are now offering the 4GB Zen for just $99 and the 8GB Zen for $149. In the recent past we also saw the 32GB Zen drop to $299 and the 1GB Zen Stone going for as little as $30 bucks. Product [Creative] Via [Engadget] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed → Tags: hdtv, wireless, gear, dvr (Read the full post about ‘Creative drops Zen pricing, again’…)
1301 glowing fluorescent tubes, powered only by magnetic fields produced by overhead powerlines, stud fields somewhere in England. Gallery [Richard Box via JWZ] Tags: gadgets, mobile phone, camera, technology (Read the full post about ‘Fluorescent Light Bulbs Lit By Magnetic Fields’…)
In the fight for the living room, many companies are skipping the optical disc battle altogether and are instead focusing on downloading or streaming services. One of these companies is Matrixstream, which is based in San Mateo, and it offers instant live TV and video on demand streaming in 1080p over low bandwidth, through the PC and a new IP set-top box. Matrixstream offers services to large businesses, mostly in Europe so far, but there are two main ones for regular people to check out: The new Matrixstream MX-1 set-top box and their XMS PC HD service, which is best represented through the Joost-type player MyTVPal that has been around awhile. (Read the full post about ‘Matrixstream Set-Top Box Offers 1080p Video On Demand, Lacks Content’…)
The U940 is dead. Long live the GLYDE! Samsung’s change of name for its forthcoming smartphone doesn’t make it any better, of course—only a hands-on thrashing will tell us if it’s up to snuff—but it certainly demonstrates that human-readable branding is a hot trend in technology. Even if the branding you choose might be more appropriate for a scented lubricant than for a gadget. The phone will appear at the end of March, courtesy of Verizon. Specs follow below. (Read the full post about ‘Samsung Glydes in With New Name for U940′…)
Fiber: it’s a major part of communication. Google: a super search engine that is a part of most everyone’s life. Combine the two and what do you get? A Pacific subsea fiber optic cable with the ability to transfer up to 7.68 Terabits of data per second between the United States and Japan. In a press release, Google announced that, along with six international companies, a $300 million undersea fiber-optic cable is going to be routed from the West Coast, including Los Angeles, to Chikura, located near Tokyo. “The Unity cable system allows the members of the consortium to provide the increased capacity needed as more applications and services migrate online, giving users faster and more reliable connectivity.” -Jayne Stowell, a Unity spokesperson The Unity Group includes Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, KDDI Corporation, Pacnet. (Read the full post about ‘Google lays down fiber, capable of 7.68 terabits per second’…)
Vtech’s V.Smile gaming consoles are aimed at kids so squarely that you might never notice how interesting the technology is. Take, for example the handheld V.Smile Pocket. That it uses the exact same cartridges as the standard set-top V.Smile console is a neat touch that parents will appreciate. That it’s basically a handheld $40 SNES equivalent is an even neater one. There’s even a 3D-accelerated version called the V.Flash, sold for about $60. Of course, the games you can actually buy aren’t of much interest to mature gamers: they’re kids’ stuff, like alphabet learning games and basic platformers with movie tie-in themes. (Read the full post about ‘Hands-On With VTech’s V.Smile Kids’ Game Console (I’d Like Homebrew)’…)
Posted Feb 27th 2008 12:46AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: HDTV, Home EntertainmentWhen CES 2007 came around, a good portion of the US stopped and thanked their lucky stars as MediaGate’s fairly well-spec’d lineup finally came stateside. Now, the same firm is introducing the MG-350HD’s (pictured) successor, the MG-450HD. Said entertainment server enables owners to wirelessly stream HD video, music, and other media to an HDTV or stereo from their PC, and it also fetches content from networked hard drives and locally attached USB drives. Unfortunately, this one caps out at 802.11g, but it does include HDMI, optical / coaxial digital audio outs and Ethernet to boot. (Read the full post about ‘MediaGate announces MG-450HD entertainment server’…)
Posted Feb 27th 2008 7:32AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: cellphones We’ve seen a lot of phones float our way over the years, and some of them have had emulation capability, but it’s rare when you see a mobile phone-maker actually advocating that you pirate ROMs for their device. Of course, that’s exactly what Fly Mobile is doing when it comes to its MC100 handset. The phone has all kinds of regular features we’re sure you’d be interested in, like a 240 x 320 display, AAC, MP3 and MPEG4 playback, a microSD slot, and that handsome, “noble” dark brown finish. It all sounds good, but we know there’s only one set of qualities you’ll be laying down cash for: the phone’s ability to play SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and NES ROMs. (Read the full post about ‘Fly Mobile intros the MC100, doesn’t mind how many laws you break’…)
Google has joined the Unity consortium, which will build a $300 million fiber optic cable linking the US and Japan. The 7.68 Tbps, 10,000 kilometer (6,200 mile) will increase capacity for ever growing internet traffic between continents.Google seems to be taking a keen interest in the infrastructure of the internet, first with the auction of the 700Mhz radio spectrum, and now undersea cables. And no wonder. The search giant needs always on, unfettered connectivity, and having to rely on tiered-internet happy ISPs for that connection is doubtless a big worry. (Read the full post about ‘Google Sinks Cash into Undersea Cable’…)
