by Techno Witch on February 27, 2009
Panasonic has announced that it will offer a new line of DivX Certified HDTVs from Panasonic that are available in Europe (why not in other parts of the world?), and they will consist of the Panasonic VIERA Z1, V10 and G15 series that boast cutting-edge 1080p full-HD flat panels to enable consumers to easily playback high-quality DivX video straight onto the television. I guess there is much more reason to get those terabyte-class external hard drives and storage solutions now, while keeping your computer on all night long to download full HD movies (just make sure these are legit copies and not bootlegs – we don’t condone piracy here at Coolest Gadgets) in DivX format for viewing later in the living room.
Despite these times of economic hardship, some of us would still find that upgrading a TV to keep up with the Joneses (or just to have a better home entertainment experience) is at the top of the priority list, and Panasonic hopes to have a HDTV for every budget with their new VIERAs. The Z1, V10 and G15 series will consist of nine different models, and all of them will incorporate its next-generation plasma display panels (PDPs) known as NeoPDP technology to offer superior picture quality, higher efficiency and thinner dimensions. Thinner dimensions are good – as the world’s population continues to grow, urban areas get more and more crowded, so the lack of breathing space among the populace will indirectly result in smaller living room for all, so thin displays are more than welcome. Not only that, the VIERA CAST online content service will also be made available in Europe for the first time ever.
In order to view your favorite DivX video, all you need to do is load up your SD/SDHC memory card with the said video, insert it into the SD/SDHC memory card slot directly on the VIERA HDTV and you’re good to go. A 4GB SDHC card is able to store more than six hours of high-quality DivX video (not High Definition, mind you). Not only that, DivX content can also be streamed directly from a network as long as you have a DLNA server. This makes life much simpler for folks who prefer to playback their entire library of favorite videos straight from the PC to the TV without going through the hassle of transferring such content to the SD/SDHC memory card.
Press Release
by Techno Witch on February 27, 2009
It’s always great when modern design can have a slight geeky twist. This edgy lamp may be called the Joker, but it definitely has a Batman type feel to it. Which apparently it was meant to come off that way judging from the kid sitting under the lamp with a batman mask pinned to the top of his head. It is nice that it could still look perfectly natural in any home and still remind you of your comic loving side.
Despite that the lamp looks so modern and new, it was actually created in 1970, when it won 1st prize at a Scandinavian Lighting fair. It was created by Christian Raeder and despite that he created it in 1970, it’s still worth a great deal to purchase brand new. It comes in white as well as black, black of course will appeal more to those that like the batman style look. The light is currently up for sale on Morba’s online shop for $285.
Source: CraziestGadgets
by Techno Witch on February 27, 2009
I?m not really a fan of the Sony PS3, I?m more of a Wii guy. I guess I like the simplicity of the Wiimote compared to the button munching, finger cramping PS3 controller.
It appears that someone has developed some new controllers for the PS3 that are a little less burdensome on the digits. The first is the mLani Wireless FPS Controller. This is designed for those players who love PS3 games like Fallout3 and other First Person Shooter games, but would rather play them like they would on their PC. There is a mouse and what looks like a tiny joystick.
The second is a concept called the DualShock Vortex. This is simply your average PS3 controller, with a twist. The twist is that hinge in the middle there.
I?m not certain why, but someone designed the Dual Shock Vortex who the user can control it by twisting. I suppose this is for Hang On type games where the controls are like motorcycle handlebars. I?m not certain how this would come in handy for the aforementioned FPS games.
Maybe you should keep both controllers on hand for both types of gameplay. Unfortunately, none of my sites have any word on price or availability, for now.
Source 1 and Source 2
by Techno Witch on February 27, 2009
This isn?t the first time that I have reported on the Pocket Album by Digital Foci, and I am glad the company gave me the opportunity to try out the Pocket Album Deluxe.
The Pocket Album Deluxe has an OLED 2.8 inch screen, which brings out the beauty of digital photo files with a contrast level of 10,000 to 1. Downloading the pictures to the Pocket Album Deluxe was simple, as the frame comes with special software that the user needs no CD for.
This program works right out of the box. All a user needs to do is simply plug in the Pocket Album Deluxe into his or her computer via USB to mini-USB cord, and the software program can be downloaded from there.
I couldn?t find any way to get the pictures to the frame without downloading the program. This is different than most picture frames, which are often recognized by the computer as a thumb drive.
The Pocket Album Deluxe has some other interesting features such as a calendar and various slideshow options. While it may not be used as a keychain like the original Pocket Album, it is easily portable, and comes with a carrying case and stand.
For more information on the Pocket Album Deluxe, feel free to read a related article here. If you want to go and purchase it, feel free to go over to the Digital Foci site and lay down $89.00.
by Techno Witch on February 27, 2009
We?ve reported on Personal Stress Relievers like the emWave before. Considering the stress levels some of us live at, I?m surprised there aren?t more products like it to help us keep our collective stress levels down.
I got to chance to try out the emWave at CES, and I was surprised that it worked so well. It would appear that someone has invented a personal stress reliever, or meditation device, that can connect directly to the user?s computer.
The HIMS Brain HUBI biofeedback device can take a readout from your fingertips and then displays a graph that shows your state of mind. I?m guessing that the user is going to need to breathe or somehow relax to keep their numbers on healthy levels.
So, is this the beginning of PCs that give a digital readout of your brain? I don?t see why not. In fact, could someone design a meditation device that is put into a mouse, then you would always have a mental readout of your stress levels. You would then learn how much stress your job really gives you.
The price of this device is about $206, which might give you more stress. Yes, I just can?t seem to escape the irony that much of our stress is invariably caused by technology. It?s nice to know that someone is making tech to bring our stress level down.
Source
by Techno Witch on February 27, 2009
It’s not uncommon to see designers pushing the barriers of design, to see what they can come up with. A lot of times it’s with luxurious items that even if they became available the general public, it wouldn’t benefit them. With this new design, it’s highly possible the general public won’t benefit, but you have to appreciate the designer looking out for those in zero gravity conditions. It’s pretty obvious that any liquid would be difficult to deal with in zero gravity, well with this mug astronauts could ditch the heated aluminum bags and straws and drink coffee like it was meant to be.
The designer is technically Travis Baldwin, however, it comes straight from the brain of Donald Petit who was an astronaut during the mission STS-126. Travis Baldwin offered up his services to help turn the design into an actual product. By giving astronauts back one of the luxuries they give up while in a spacecraft, that luxury being their morning cup of joe. They admit that it is difficult to predict how the cup would fair in zero gravity, but it should work. The coffee is held by surface tension in the narrow bottom of the cup, the deep groove then acts as a wick that draws liquid up as it is removed. The lip depression should hold the bead of the coffee in place at the top of the groove. The entire thing features thin walls making it possible for this to be made out of disposable materials.
Source: Uberreview
by Techno Witch on February 27, 2009
You might actually recognize this tripod, it was shown here a couple years ago after being featured at CES. However, at the time there was zero purchase info and not much general information. What’s great about this tripod is when you go on vacation either alone or with your significant other, it always bites that you can get no shots of you posing in different areas (if you’re alone) or pictures of you standing affectionately with the significant other. It always seems like everyone has those couples pictures while they were out traveling, but it just doesn’t seem feasible. Either you brave trusting some random stranger to hold onto your camera or you attempt to set up a tripod and timer. Most tripods are bulky and would be difficult to set up in a busy area. Now with this Monsterpod it’d work out great even in the most busy areas.
The Monsterpod is said to stick to virtually any surface (over 1,000 different surfaces), it can even hang upside down. The stand can then tilt and rotate to get the angle you want and is waterproof and dirt resistant. If it does get dirty though it can be washed with water. It will hold any camera up to 20oz, so you’d have to know how much your camera weighs. Likely the larger cameras are going to be pushing it a bit, since a Nikon D70 Digital SLR weighs 21oz. As long as the camera is under that weight it will stay in place for 1-10 minutes and sometimes even longer than that. You can purchase it for $30 from Photojojo.
Source: Geeky-Gadgets
by Techno Witch on February 27, 2009
Not so long ago we posted an article on Skype being preloaded on Nokia N Series mobile phones, well it appears O2 and Orange have got the grumps over it as they aren?t too happy about Skype taking a chunk of their voice revenues.
The word going round is that should the Skype Nokia deal go ahead then O2 and Orange will consider pulling their N97 stock and maybe even pull other Skype enabled Nokia handsets.
So we?ll just have to wait and see if Orange and O2 can force Nokia to forget preloaded Skype, or if indeed O2 and Orange stop selling Nokia mobile phones.
by Techno Witch on February 27, 2009
The Apple iPhone 3G and China, the big debate continues and had been going on ever since the Apple iPhone 3G was launched, but there is now a whisper that maybe Apple has finally cracked the Chinese market.
According to Shanghai Daily a deal between Apple and China Unicom is close to being finalised. China Unicom is China?s 2nd largest carrier that will have a functional WCDMA network operational in May.
Apple had originally negotiated with China Mobile to bring the Apple iPhone to China but negotiations failed. Still only a whisper at the moment but if China Unicom does launch the Apple iPhone it will be made available to in excess of 130 million potential customers.
by Techno Witch on February 27, 2009
Research In Motion had been working hard to get a pseudo BlackBerry operating system into Windows Mobile, but as they say two are better than one anyway, so why not have both OS?s running at the same time by utilising VMware.
We have a video demonstration of Windows CE and Google Android running concurrent on a Nokia N800 with no real noticeable lag. VMware has one added bonus and that is it can extract and back up handset data regardless of operating system.
No announcement is forthcoming as yet but VMware is working across all major OEMs and platforms, but one has to wonder who will be the first to adopt and support this.