by Techno Witch on August 29, 2008
Sony wants more and more people to adopt the High Definition lifestyle (presumably so that they can sell even more of their lovely BRAVIA line of HDTVs, but that’s another story for a different day), and their latest offering would be the Sony Cybershot DSC-T500 digital camera that does more than capture lovely looking still images – it is also able to record video in both wide and full-screen mode at 720p at 30 frames per second. In addition, this 10 megapixel shooter allows one to zoom in while recording, and is equally at home for high sensitivity shooting for natural or low light conditions.
The Sony DSC-T500 will rely on a Memory Stick media card to store all your photos and videos recorded, where a 16GB capacity Memory Stick is able to hold hours of digital memories. I don’t really like the cap Sony imposed on the DSC-T500 though, allowing each video clip to be up to 10 minutes’ in length only, which means you’ve got to learn how to space out your video recordings accordingly. Well, at least that’s what the press release led me to believe. One good point of the DSC-T500 is its ability to capture still images despite being in video recording mode, ensuring you won’t miss out on even a single moment while fiddling with mode switching.
Other features found on the DSC-T500 include a widescreen format (16:9) 3.5″ TFT touch sensitive LCD display, a Carl Zeiss 5x optical zoom lens with a wide field of view, optical SteadyShot image stabilization and high sensitivity settings of up to ISO3200 to capture even the fast moving objects without suffering from the dreaded blurry shot effect. You will need an HDMI cable which is sold separately to view your images and videos on a HDTV, so do make some leeway in your budget for that. The Sony DSC-T500 will ship sometime later next month for approximately $400.
by Techno Witch on August 29, 2008
Who’d know that Sony would actually delve into the world of GPS navigation as well? I thought that the consumer electronics giant were pretty happy with their line up of flat TVs, high definition gaming consoles, Blu-ray players, but a Personal Navigation Device (PND)? Word has it that Sony recently announced four new PNDs under the model numbers NV-U94T, NV-U84, NV-U74T and NV-U44. In addition to helping you get around, these PNDs will include more brand icons, search functionality as well as photo viewing features so that you won’t get too bored while locating where’s the next rest room while you’re on the freeway.
What do you expect from these? I suppose you can always purchase a GPS add-on if you already own a PSP, but if you don’t find gaming to be your primary pursuit, then any of these four PNDs sound like pretty solid purchases. First of all we have the flagship NV-U94T that comes with new features such as a photo viewer, audio and video playback, and stereo Bluetooth technology that makes it a snap to stream audio wirelessly while carrying out hands-free conversations with a compatible cell phone. The Memory Stick slot is there, ready to receive photos always.
The GPS satellites broadcast signals can easily be distorted by tall buildings, very dense foliage, or blocked altogether when underground. When this happens, GPS devices can easily give a false location. Sony developed POSITION plus to address the issue. POSITION plus is a unique, hardware-based solution that consists of an acceleration sensor, a pressure sensor and a gyro sensor that together can calculate the vehicle’s current position based on the last known GPS location. The result is a more consistent and accurate position that helps provide interruption-free guidance under the most difficult of GPS reception conditions. Gesture command comes with all new nav-u devices and lets users jump to commands with one touch on the display. The new gesture command feature for forwarding photos lets users advance to the next picture, music track or video clip with a swipe of the finger from left to right across the screen. Other gesture commands include take me home, zoom in or out and call home.
You will be able to bring home the NV-U94T, NV-U84, NV-U74T and NV-U44 nav-u personal navigation devices from next month onwards for approximately $400, $350, $300 and $250 respectively.
by Techno Witch on August 29, 2008
Brother isn’t exactly the number one name that you would normally associate with printers, but then again they do have some pretty decent offerings in the past and currently. This time round, Brother has rolled out a couple of models under the Professional Series banner, featuring all-in-one color inkjets. Those seem to be the most popular type of printers these days, since everybody wants convenience in a single device. Of course, the downside would be, having the printer break down equals to disaster since you would be devoid of the other functions and features as well. The two printers we’ll look at today are the new MFC-5890CN and MFC-5490CN models.
The MFC-5890CN expands the line-up initially introduced by the MFC-6490CW, which was the first and flagship model launched in the Brother “Professional Series.” The MFC-5890CN’s ability to produce up to 11-by-17-inch ledger size documents can significantly increase the visual impact of everyday documents. The larger size allows for more content on the page and helps increase readability. Impressively, this unit offers the ledger printing feature and still boasts a small footprint when compared to similar, more expensive products. It also comes standard with Ethernet networking, fast print speeds and a flip-up, 3.3-inch, color LCD display.
Another addition to the Brother “Professional Series” color inkjet all-in-one line is the MFC-5490CN, which offers many of the same features as the MFC-5890CN such as fast print speeds, direct photo printing from a camera’s media card and an easy-to-read, two-line LCD display. The MFC-5490CN prints up to legal (8.5-by-14-inch) paper size but not ledger (11-by-17-inch) like the MFC-5890CN.
If you want to lay your hands on either of these puppies, the MFC-5890CN and MFC-5490CN will retail for $199.99 and $129.99, respectively.
by Techno Witch on August 29, 2008
If you have a thing for retro design you’re going to love this USB microphone. It features of course a retro inspired microphone. Which yes is a little more bulky than it needs to be, but it’s worth it to get the overall retro look. It uses radio-frequency identification, so you can move about the room with it as long as you’re within three meters. As you’re wandering you won’t have to worry about tripping over any wires, you can make a fool of yourself anyway though by singing into it.
It will support Windows XP, Vista and Mac OSX. It also does not require drivers for either XP or Vista. The microphone measures 80 x 80 x 160mm and has a On/Off button directly on it. Likely this microphone will probably make you want to listen to music along the lines of Fred Astaire as opposed to the more recent artists. To pick one up it will cost you $29 over on Brando.
by Techno Witch on August 29, 2008
Seems like Canadian carrier Rogers has let slip the pricing on the BlackBerry Kickstart 8220, and this image show the marketing material for said mobile phone.
Research In Motion?s BlackBerry Kickstart 8220 is a flip-able handset, and as this advertising material states, the BlackBerry Kickstart 8220 is listed with a price tag of $149.00 with a minimum $35.00 plan that is of course on a three year contract.
Seems a tad expensive, and there is no word on whether Rogers intends adding further price plans, rebates or deals. Maybe Rogers will drop this price a little later on, as a below $100.00 might be just enough incentive for people to actually consider the BlackBerry Kickstart 8220.
Although if you are intending on spending your hard earned cash on a BlackBerry, at that price maybe you may just give the recently launched BlackBerry Bold a thought.
by Techno Witch on August 29, 2008
For years, way-to-conservative Christian groups have been saying that rock and roll music is ?of the devil?. I suppose that would mean that games like Guitar Hero would be playing with the devil, correct?
Fortunately for these conservative groups, there is a ?spiritualized? version of Guitar Hero, which has appropriately been named Guitar Praise.
I?m not certain how to play Guitar Praise, but it looks like the rules are the same as Guitar Hero. The guitar even looks to be the same model, and has the five frets. I?m sure the object is the same as Hero, as you must hit the buttons at the proper time. The only difference is it looks like you?ll be playing along with Christian rock instead of Aerosmith or the Rolling Stones.
Some of you may not be familiar with Christian Rock, but I still remember the glory days of such artists like Petra, Michael W. Smith, and Amy Grant. Perhaps this Guitar Praise will have some of their greatest hits.
So maybe this Guitar Praise could be the biggest Digital Christian thing since Veggie Tales. Of course, I know some Christians that are against Christian rock and Veggie Tales, so they probably won?t warm up to Guitar Praise. Well, they are missing out on a lot of fun.
Guitar Praise is available at the Digital Praise site for about $99.95, with an additional guitar for about $69.95.
Source
by Techno Witch on August 29, 2008
If you are looking for a rugged tough mobile phone, the toughphone from Sonin is one tough cookie, but a new challenger for the toughness title has come to light which promises to be hard enough to withstand a real good beating along with some extra features as well.
The new tough guy on the block is called LM801, a rather garishly coloured yellow and black mobile phone which is water and dust proof, rugged and apparently quite capable of handling being thrown about.
Spec wise the LM801 incorporates an electronic compass, a barometer, a thermometer, an altimeter, FM radio and MP3 player. There is also a torch, which would seem this is a superb mobile phone for the camper, or even adventurer.
The LM801 dual-band mobile phone isn?t currently available in the UK, but the company has states it is looking for an outlet.
by Techno Witch on August 29, 2008
I?ve got to hand it to the company who made the G4 Slim mouse. It can?t have been easy to make the world?s thinnest laptop mouse, or at least the world?s slimmest so far.
The G4 is a 5mm piece of plastic and metal that can fold up into a very flat slot. In fact, it is so flat that it can fit inside the PCMCIA slot of the laptop, which is one that I don?t use while the laptop is being transported.
This makes the G4 one of the most compact computer mice, and it comes with a retractable USB cable as well. This has a touch scroll pad in the middle of two left and right mouse buttons.
The G4 slim mouse is a plug and play feature that is compatible with both PC and Mac laptops. Not only that, this G4 Mouse is an optical mouse that is state of the art.
Oddly enough, this is not the first Slim Mouse that we have reported on. The first we did was about the size of a finger, and had a scroll wheel on the side.
The G4 Slim mouse comes with a leather pouch and mouse pad, and is available for about $69.99 on the Slim mouse site.
by Techno Witch on August 29, 2008
If you have a thing about sleeping in all that spooky darkness, you might need something to add a glow to your room. Sure, you can pretend it’s for a your kid or a niece or nephew, but we know the truth. This tubby little hippo sits on your bedside table, munching away on some cookies which of course only make him fatter. Although, that’s probably best since a skinny hippo would be the slightest bit creepy. Some things should never be scrawny and hippos are one of those things.
The hippo uses a 15 watt bulb, which is indication that he’s not going to be very bright. That makes him perfect for a bedtime lamp. It is attached to a 130cm cord, which is where the on/off switch is located. That type of switch can get obnoxious, because then you have to go searching along the cord for the switch every single time. The lamp is a bit more pricey than I had hoped. It’s being sold for £29.95 or about $54 on Kesterberry.
by Techno Witch on August 29, 2008
It appears that Apple is beginning to catch up on the backlog of demand for the Apple iPhone 3G, at long last; well in the United States anyway.
According to analyst Ben Reitzes of Lehman Brothers has revealed that as of Tuesday evening all US Apple retail stores had 16GB iPhones in black and white ready to sell the following morning, something Apple hasn?t been able to accomplish since the launch.
As for the 8GB iPhone, it too shows to be 99 percent available across the electronics giant?s network, and the 8GB is usually the one that is out ok stock first.
Ben Reitzes says: “We have seen a major improvement in iPhone availability in the US throughout August. It appears as though supply has met demand entering September (as expected).”
All well and good, but what about overseas demand, is Apple managing to supply all the countries it has launched in? Maybe someone will come up with some worldwide figures on just how well stocked all outlet really are.