4:19 AM

Samsung Omnia



The Samsung Omnia is the latest in Samsung's TouchWIZ phones for the U.S. market, and also the most advanced, as that TouchWIZ interface here runs atop Windows Mobile 6.1 instead of a standard carrier OS. This idea of creating an overlay to improve Windows Mobile is all the rage right now, but instead of making things easier, the Samsung Omnia is more confusing and difficult to use. There are a few things this phone does well, including DivX movie playback and Web browsing, courtesy of Opera. But for the most part, there are better all-touch smartphone options for Verizon Wireless. All in all, we think the concept of TouchWIZ on multimedia phones works better than using the widget-based UI to turn a Windows Mobile phone into a multimedia powerhouse. There's no doubt about its potential, but eventually the overall experience left us feeling seriously annoyed. Release: November 2008. Price: $200.

Pros: Good Opera Web browser with cool 'upshifted' navigation. Fine camera with auto focus and loads of pixels.
Cons: TouchWIZ experience disappoints when running atop Windows Mobile. Confusing redundancies in the interface.

4:18 AM

iPhone 3G



With its faster networking, GPS for location-based services and, best of all, the App Store, Apple takes a significant step forward with the iPhone 3G as a consumer-centric device. This phone is special, and though it's not for everyone (hardware keyboard lovers need not apply), it is a great choice for consumers who wants a true convergence device. It's not only a decent phone, it's the best iPod on the market and the best portable Web browser money can buy. And with so many new apps coming to market in the near future, the Apple iPhone 3G will only get more exciting when it comes to entertainment and gaming. We're still bothered that Apple's iPhone 3G omits some obvious technology and solutions. Still, if you are looking for an entertaining phone, there's nothing that comes close to the iPhone 3G right now. Release: July 2008. Price: $200.

Pros: Faster networking. GPS for location-based services. App Store. New design provides better reception.
Cons: Camera should be better. Lacks some functions that even basic multimedia phones provide, like video recording. No removable battery.

4:17 AM

BlackBerry Storm


The BlackBerry Storm offers a surprising amount of innovation and usability for a touchscreen business phone, and it couldn't come at a better time for RIM or Verizon Wireless. The clickscreen navigation setup works very well, and deftly solves the problem of dealing with RIM's long menus on a touchscreen phone. The phone could use a bit of a power boost, as it was sluggish opening and closing apps, or moving between functions. But the screen was gorgeous and plenty responsive, and typing on the BlackBerry Storm's keyboard is better than typing on any other touchscreen. We still think there's room for improvement, especially polishing up the calendar and address book to make them look as crisp and modern as the main menus and media player apps. But even with these minor complaints, we have no trouble declaring the BlackBerry Storm the most compelling BlackBerry phone to date. Release: November 2008. Price: $200.

Pros: Great clickable screen helps add tactile feel to touch interface. Best software QWERTY keyboard we've seen. Solid set of messaging apps. Loads of features.
Cons: Interface is still sluggish, a bit buggy. Screen scrolls responsively, but everything else moves slowly, including response to hardware buttons. No Wi-Fi. Mediocre camera. Lousy Web browser.

4:15 AM

LG Versa


The LG Versa is a very nice phone, both unique and well-designed. The interface is snazzy and modern, with plenty of cool ideas and useful shortcuts that make it a pleasure to use. It's a definite step up from the problematic LG Dare. Unfortunately, it seems that while LG was doing so much work to create a great phone, Verizon Wireless sat on their laurels, and the phone is saddled with some of the worst messaging, navigation and music apps in the industry. It's too bad, as there is so much potential for the cool modular design. We're excited to see how far LG and Verizon Wireless can extend the selection of modules, and we're hoping for unique ideas that add value to the phone and push it beyond its competitors. But based on the Verizon apps we found on the phone, its more likely The Network will take the easy way out and end up disappointing early adopters. Our verdict: wait and see if this platform takes off or if VZW treats it like the magical phone that lives under the stairs. Release: March 2009. Price: $200.

Pros: Cool modular design works nicely. Excellent interface design with plenty of useful shortcuts. Flash-enabled Web browsing.
Cons: Screen can be unresponsive in some apps, especially the Browser. Pathetic selection of messaging apps. Mediocre call quality. No extra modules available at launch.

4:13 AM

Sony VAIO SZ


While we were disappointed to not see any brand-new VAIOs emerge during CES, Sony refreshed several models with Intel's latest 45-nm Penryn chip and dubbed them VAIO Premium. The SZ, Sony's 13.3-inch thin-and-light notebook, was updated with The Core 2 Duo T9300 and a whopping 4GB of DDR2 RAM. While usually more equals better, the consensus in the benchmarking community is that there are few if any real time performance gains north of 2GB of memory outside of certain commercial applications like AutoCAD or rendering 3D video. We're still fans of the SZ, but Sony is going to have a hard time convincing us to pay for 4GB. Release: February 2008. Price: $2500.

Pros: Powerful for a 13.3-inch notebook
Cons: For now, it's not worth paying for 4GB of RAM when 2GB will do

4:11 AM

MacBook Pro 17-inch


With processor speeds approaching 3GHz and up to 8GB of RAM, the new MacBook Pro 17-inch redefines Apple's high end.

The new 17-inch Apple MacBook Pro introduces some unique features to the Macbook Pro family, separating this beast from the recently updated 15-inch MacBook Pro. Foremost, the new 17-incher gets the best battery life of the family, with up to 8 hours of performance if you dial down some of the more resource intensive tasks and use the lower-powered graphics option.

To fit bigger cells into the body, which Apple claims is the thinnest 17-inch laptop around, Apple decided to use a "built-in" battery, which means you can't remove it or carry around a spare. There will be a replacement program, but this is sure to irk some Apple watchers.

In addition to the extended battery life, the MacBook Pro 17-inch also pulls away from the MacBook pack with improved specs all around. The processor maxes out at 2.93 GHz, faster than its smaller brothers. For memory, the 17-inch Macbook Pro can handle up to 8GB of RAM. In addition to the standard 320GB hard disk drive, Apple offers a 256GB SSD option at a $900 premium (or save $400 and get the 128GB SSD).

As a remedy for a common complaint about the 15-inch model, Apple now offers an antiglare widescreen display. This display, which Apple says is their best ever on a laptop, can drive up to 1920 by 1200 pixels, and uses LED backlighting. For graphics, the 17-inch model uses the same setup as the 15-inch MacBook Pro. An Nvidia GeForce 9400M card is integrated with the motherboard for low-power performance, while a GeForce 9600M GT with 512MB of memory provides, and draws, more power.

While these are some impressive specs, and the thin and light body makes this a truly compelling laptop, there are still a few features we wish Apple would stop ignoring. First of all, while DisplayPort is certainly a recognized standard, it's by no means popular, and until it's more widely adopted we wish Apple would retain the DVI port or at least bundle an adapter, as these are strangely expensive. Second, as long as Apple has their eggs in the GSM basket with AT&T, why not add a 3G modem to the mix? We've been hoping for iPhone tethering to finally make an appearance, but built-in 3G would be interesting as well.

The new MacBook Pro 17-inch will be available towards the end of this month, but you can already pre-order and configure one on Apple's online store.

4:10 AM

Samsung Instinct S30



Like the original, the new Samsung Instinct S30 is supposed to go toe-to-toe with the iPhone as an easier, feature-rich alternative. In some ways, it still holds up. Sprint's 3G network has been faster than AT&T's network in our tests. The Samsung Instinct S30 has great turn-by-turn GPS navigation, a feature the Apple iPhone 3G lacks. But while Apple's device has exploded with extra apps and possibilities, the Samsung Instinct family has remained stagnant, falling behind competition even from Samsung itself on other carriers. The Instinct S30 may look better than its predecessor, but it needed to see improvements in the camera, the music and video player, and even in the messaging apps to remain compelling. We like the Work E-mail app that let us check in with our Microsoft Exchange accounts, but this feature is a nice bonus on the Instinct, while multimedia is much more important. As the top of Sprint's multimedia phone range, the Samsung Instinct S30 is a good phone, but not as good as it easily could have been. Release: April 2009. Price: $130.

Pros: Snazzy interface in an improved body. Good calling features. Exchange support, even for calendars and contacts (kind of). Very good GPS performance.
Cons: No significant improvements to feature set or UI since the last version. Great Opera Web browser is hidden in the menus. Disappointing camera. Lacks any IM options.

4:09 AM

Canon Vixia HF S10

The wait is finally over for Canon's premiere Full HD camcorder beast. Check out our exclusive Canon Vixia HF S10 review here.

Review summary of the Canon Vixia HF S10:



Canon Vixia HF S10 Most of the frenzied camcorder hype seemed to be centered around the Canon Vixia HF S10 this year at CES. Could the HF S10 leap from building to building while solving world peace? We're here to tell you that Canon has made one prodigious stride with the introduction of this AVCHD monster, but we feel that the company sacrificed a lot of prosumer potential for the sake of the consumer crowd. That's not to say the HF S10 is destined for rich dads and soccer moms. Its arsenal of advanced features and dense menus would send newbies running for the hills. You can shoot commercials, short films and b-roll with the Vixia HF S10, but you'll have to find a killer external microphone and invest in a set of professional lights. If Canon added a little more radioactive slime to the vat, we think we'd be seeing a viable alternative to a prosumer cam. In the end, we have a compact camcorder that blesses us with one of the best video performances we've seen in the consumer circuit, but we were left licking our jowls, thirsting for more. Release: March 2009. Price: $1300.
Pros: Great video quality in bright and low light. Built like a miniature tank. Oodles of shooting features, including Cine mode and multiple frame rates.
Cons: Design has the potential to be more omnipotent. Certain low light environments are too noisy. Short battery life.

4:07 AM

Sony HDR-XR520V


Sony's HD bad boy is here! The 240GB camcorder kicked some low light butt and looked hot while doing it. Read about the rest of its fierce features in our comprehensive Sony HDR-XR520V review with lots of image samples.
Sony HDR-XR520V

At the end of our journey with the Sony HDR-XR520V, we were conflicted, as if we had just watched Terms of Endearment and couldn’t discern between joy and sorrow anymore. The HDR-XR520V is one of those camcorders that nails a few key features home and then phones in the rest from a booth down the street. No other HD camcorder could match its low light performance, and that’s a huge part of the HDR-XR520V’s success. The HDR-XR520V also rocks the largest HDD capacity at 240GB, in addition to supporting Memory Stick PRO Duo cards. But isn’t 29 hours and 20 minutes of continuous recording time in the highest quality a little excessive? The HDR-XR520V is also the most expensive HD cam on the market at 1500 bucks, and $200 of that is all hard drive. The step-down Sony HDR-XR500V has a 120GB HDD, and that’s the only difference between the two. We loved the HDR-XR520V’s super sized LCD with VGA screen resolution, and the Cam Control dial made manual adjustment a breeze. However, the HDR-XR520V lacked some significant manual controls, making it far less viable for budget filmmakers and serious shooters. Both the Canon Vixia HF S10 and Panasonic HDC-HS300 offer a lot more in terms of shooting options, including different frame rates and independent Shutter Speed control. The Sony HDR-XR520V is our pick for the #1 tourist HD cam, and Sony has a lot of work to do in order to make the next generation XR compelling to the advanced crowd. Release: March 2009. Price: $1500.

Pros: Excellent low light performance. Great LCD resolution and size. Cam Control dial makes shooting easier.
Cons: Inconsistent bright light performance. Limited manual controls compared to competition. Heavy and pricey.

4:04 AM

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G3





















The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G3 is a striking camera with a huge, 3.5-inch touchscreen dominating the entire back of the device. Sony does a nice job putting all that screen real estate to use, too. The camera features an impressive stable of shooting features, including smile shutter with anti-blink detection (getting a bit silly, now), an impressive array of in-camera editing features and more. But the icing on the cake is the Wi-Fi connectivity and the onboard Web browser. The Sony reps we talked to made it clear this is a stripped down, bare bones Web browser. It's meant for uploading photos, not browsing the Web on your commute home. In our hands-on test, we couldn't get the browser to find the CES Wi-Fi network, but we did get a chance to check out the tiny onscreen keyboard and the touch sensitive interface. We'd give a thumbs up to the interface, but the keyboard needs some work. Otherwise, the camera sports 4GB of internal storage, which should be plenty for most shooters to avoid the exorbitant cost of a Sony Memory Stick. The 10-megapixel, 4X zoom shooter is available now for $500.

3:42 AM

Samsung SPL-07 Wireless Digital Photo Frame


For camera phone buffs, this latest gadget from Samsung lets you wirelessly transmit images to a digtal photo frame. Plus, it doubles as a media player with support for MP3 and MPEG formats. The SPL-07 features a 7-inch LCD display, 32MB built-in memory, SD/CF memory card slot, USB port, and a speaker.

3:42 AM

Samsung SCH-B600 10-Megapixel Camera Phone

Samsung produces some of the best camera phones on the market, so we weren't surprised when they announced the 10-megapixel (with 3x optical/5x digital zoom) SCH-B600. In addition to the camera, it sports a 2.2-inch QVGA display, Bluetooth, DMB receiver (for digital TV broadcasts), video/music player, and a microMMC expansion slot.

3:41 AM

Samsung SL10D10 - Portable DirecTV Player

"Satellite TV On-the-Go" is what Samsung had in mind when it developed the SL10D10, a portable DirecTV player that's perfect for the kitchen and office. It sports a 10.2" LCD display, 16:9 aspect ratio, 250 available channels, 72 channels of XM satellite radio, and many other entertainment features. You can also connect other devices with the built-in AV input

3:40 AM

Samsung Q30 Solid-State Notebook

Samsung Q30 Solid-State Notebook

Samsung's Q30 is the world's first notebook to feature a solid-state hard disk -- 32GB NAND flash solid-state disk (SSD) running at 53MB/s (read) and 28MB/s (write) -- instead of the traditional hard drive. Other perks include an Intel Celeron M 753 (1.2GHz) processor and a bright 12.1-inch display. Prices will start at $3700. No word yet on availability.

3:39 AM

Lens Accessory

s

Lens Accessory makes taking 3D pictures a snap

Jan 09, 2008
Have you watched something that breathtaking as a 3D format movie? You know, those amazing special effects that make you sweat. Would you like to feel the same while taking shots with your camera? Just say you do.

The new Loreo 3D lens attachment in a cap is a cool accessory that takes 3D pictures faster than you say "Cheese". This new gadget can be a real discover for photographers all over the world. It is very easy to use and it comprises a matched pair of F11 focusing lenses with a 38mm focal length and a focusing range from 1 meter to infinity.

Though the set up is quite small, the f-stop rates 11, which is just enough for a device with two lens elements that expose the camera's CCD chip to the same image. Plus, the whole result can be viewed with a 3D viewer or on a computer monitor thanks to Loren's 3D software. Know what else? Printing 3D pictures is also possible.

This 3D device is now available for Nikon, Canon EOS and FD, Olympus, Pentax, Minolta MD and AF. It will possibly also work on Sony Alpha models as well.

Comparing its price of 55.95 USD to the emotions you are going to get using this lenses.

3:39 AM

Sony Ericsson C510

Sony Ericsson C510

Sony Ericsson tends to overprice its mobiles, but that's not the case with C510. The price is right and the features are similar to those on more expensive models. This is a decent prepaid option for those who rate cameras high on their mobile shopping list.


Design

Sony Ericsson knows sexy, though we don't remember the company nailing the design of a prepaid model as well as it has with the C510 since the S500i. The C510 looks as much the part of a premium Cyber-shot camera phone as the more expensive C902. In fact, if you're familiar with the C902, released halfway through 2008, then you'll see the similarities with this newer, cheaper model immediately. The candybar form with a triple band of coloured trim around the edges make us again think of a liquorice all-sort. This isn't to say the C510 looks or feels cheap, we think it's quite the opposite.

The titular Cyber-shot camera is located on the back of the handset, under a slick-looking sliding lens cover. This protects the lens of the 3.2-megapixel camera and a dual-LED photolight. The lens cover has a faux wood grain finish which again brings us back to the point of this appearing to be a more expensive handset than it actually is.

While the keypad doesn't depart from the other attractive elements of the phone's aesthetic, it is a bit too cramped for our liking. Below the 2.2-inch colour display is the standard slew of nav-keys above a numeric keypad, but the space these keys fit into is too small to accommodate them all, and the left and right selection keys suffer most, being extremely difficult to press without pressing the keys immediately around them.

Though the C510 isn't part of the Walkman family we'd have loved to have seen a 3.5mm headphone socket somewhere. The most recent Walkman, the W705 has a similar combined charging and headphone socket on the handset, but includes a headphone adapter in the box. The C510 doesn't include this handy extra, basically leaving you to use the dodgy, cheap headphones Sony Ericsson bundles with the phone.

Cyber-shooter

For all the fuss Sony Ericsson makes about its Cyber-shot series, the pictures they take so often fail to justify the hype. Yes, we know the camera phones are put through the same rigorous testing procedure as other full-fledged Sony Cyber-shot cameras, but the results speak for themselves, and in previous phones we've been a tad disappointed. The C510's low-spec Cyber-shot camera should, by rights, be worse than its high-specced siblings, but our tests suggest its on par with phones costing twice or three times as much, though certainly no better.

The camera's software looks identical to previous releases with no noticeable functions or features missing. The 3.2-megapixel optics do a decent job of capturing your off-the-cuff photos, the digital shutter fires quickly after the auto-focus locks on the subject, though some subtle motion blurring was evident in the pics we took, even when we concentrated on holding the camera still. The C510 doesn't include the digital image stabilisation available on other Cyber-shots.

Close inspection of photos taken with this phone reveal obvious pixelisation, particularly in dark areas of the image. Also we found that the colour reproduction tended towards a greenish hue with all settings on automatic. Still, for a camera phone at the lower end of the pricing scale, it punches above its weight, outperforming cameras on more expensive phones from competing manufacturers.

3:38 AM

Bluetooth is now built in watches


Bluetooth is now built in watches

Oct 02, 2006
There are two accessories that most people have and those two accessories have one common function. These two accessories are: the watch, and the cell phone. Both can show you the time and both are necessary to wear, I think.

However, there are some watches that have the cell phones built in, but my opinion about them is not that good. They do not have as many functions and as much memory.

On the other hand, if you do not wear any watch and you want to know what time it is you have to take your cell phone out of your pocket. It is annoying dragging your cell phone in and out all the day long any time you need to know the time. The Fossil and Sony Ericsson companies have decided to combine these two accessories and make them work together.

They have created this new gadget watch that has the Bluetooth technology built in. Having this watch you will not need to take your phone out of your pocket at all. Why? It is because of some features that this watch has.

The MBW-100 gadget watch has a small LCD display and is Bluetooth enabled it has functions like Caller ID which will help you know who is calling you without taking your cell phone out. Besides, it will notify you if you get a SMS message.

If you also have a Bluetooth hands free accessory you will not need to take your cell phone out of your pocket at all because you have everything you need on your watch and Bluetooth hands free. I think that this is a very good plus.

This watch has another feature that might be very useful for people who like listening to the music. It can control the multimedia on your cell phone. This gadget watch has some buttons for multimedia control and you can use it as a remote control.

Now the disadvantages: One of the biggest disadvantages that this watch works only with Sony Ericsson phones. Besides it works not with all of them but the most sophisticated ones. The other thing is that I am not sure about the battery because having the Bluetooth on all the time needs a lot of energy and I am not sure if you can charge the battery of this watch. Well, you can of course buy a rechargeable one and charge it every day.

Generally, I think that this is a very useful gadget especially for a businessmen because they do not have time to waste. This gadget helped me too: Once I was driving my car in the downtown and did not want to talk with my wife. So whenever somebody called I had to look who is calling. Fortunately I did not have to look at my cell phone every time because it was in my pocket. All I was doing is that I was looking at my watch. So it saved me from a car crash or something like that. If you are a really modern guy I think that you should buy a watch like this.

3:38 AM

Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphones



As Christmas season is approaching we all are looking for the perfect gift to offer to our families and friends. Depending on what their preferences are, it is always possible thanks to nowadays technology to satisfy their wants. There is indeed a wide variety from which we can choose, but we need to keep in mind whether the gift we offer is something of value and importance for further use. For family members and friends who like listening to music a lot and who travel quite often, the Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphones can be a useful and good Christmas gift.

As it is known, Sony is not a stranger when it comes to the market of headphones, and the MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphones is just a confirmation of their innovation techniques in this certain field. The Digital Noise Canceling Headphones offer a high-quality structure, many features, and a good-quality sound. Overall, these headphones have some imperfections but they do offer a considerable advantage of eliminating up to 99% of the unwanted external noise.

3:37 AM

Sony RHTG800

Surround sound is one of the greatest inventions in home entertainment -- nothing involves you in the on-screen action more than an immersive soundtrack rumbling out from all around you. The problem is, if you have limited space, or simply don't want to run speaker cables all over your living room, surround sound really isn't an option.

Enter all-in-one speaker systems, designed to produce a virtual surround effect from a smaller number of speakers. These systems range from very good to utterly useless, but offer a decent solution for those not prepared to turn their front room into a gigantic ball of wire.

Sony has taken an interesting approach to the problem by building its virtual surround-sound speakers into a TV stand, the RHT-G800, which is available online for AU$1500. Can it succeed where others have failed?

Design
We like the styling of this stand, finished in a nice dark black and covered with a glass top, on which you place your TV. Concealed under this glass is a simple display that allows you to set up the basic menu options and displays information about the current settings.

The two HDMI inputs and one output mean that this stand will also act as an HDMI splitter. This is particularly useful if you're running out of HDMI sockets on your TV. The stand even comes with an HDMI cable, which is unusual.

Putting the stand together is easy, as it comes pretty much in one piece. The only job you have to do is fit the middle shelf and hook it up to your Blu-ray or HD DVD player and any other inputs you might have.

Features
There are both coaxial and optical digital inputs for DVD players, as well as analogue RCA inputs for older equipment, and the Sony will extract Dolby Pro Logic sound from these connectors.

There are speakers at the sides and front. The subwoofer is at the bottom of the unit, and when you stand back you can just about see the woofer air port. The speakers at the side are intended to bounce surround effects off the walls, which should envelop the listener, while the front speakers take care of speech and stereo effects.

Performance
The real strength of this system is that, if used to replace the shoddy speakers you find on most LCD and plasma TVs, it will provide an immediate and enormous performance boost.

While there was mostly enough bass and high-end sound, the G800 lacks something in the midrange. During movies, this means speech can sound a little muddy, and when listening to music it can make the bass and treble a little too overpowering.

From the surround-sound perspective we weren't overly impressed with the virtual sound separation. Sometimes we got the distinct impression there were things happening behind us, and at other times the sound field didn't really envelop us. Sony claims it doesn't use reflected sound to create the impression of rear effects, instead using technology that delays certain parts of the sound, to fool us into thinking it's coming from behind us.

While we're happy to see this stand handle HDMI signals, we are slightly put off by the fact that it will only pass through 1080i. This means if you own a 1080p TV, you won't be able to send a full HD signal to it from your Blu-ray or HD DVD player via this stand.

Finally, you have to pay for having an elegant speaker set-up -- it costs as much as a good 32-inch LCD TV.

Conclusion
The G800 will suit people who would like a proper cinema-style experience at home, but don't want to sacrifice the clean lines of their front room. Decent styling makes it a good place to plonk your TV, but bear in mind you won't be getting the best possible sound that's out there. Before you make a choice, consider Yamaha's YSP-900 or Philips SoundBar -- you may find they suit your needs better.

3:36 AM

Sony SNC P1 Security Network camera


Sony SNC P1 Security Network camera

Jul 31, 2008
Sony Security Network camera introduces its new SNC-P1 MPEG-4/JPEG network color camera, opening unlimited possibilities to an extensive range of IP monitoring applications. Responding to the growing demand for an affordable and easy-to-use network camera.

3:35 AM

Sony Rolly



What is the easiest way to update an electronic gadget to make it more wanted right before the Christmas? On practice, many manufacturers decide to release firmware updates to their products at this time of year. Especially if they have suffered from scanty losses before. Earlier on this week we were reviewing Nokia N96 firmware update, and it turned out to have many disappointed users, but what we are looking at now is Sony Rolly media player firmware update, which is quite unexpected. Rolly seemed to be doing all fine since the last 1.01 firmware was released and some more colors added to the body and flappers. However there is a fact that gives me a clue that it is not just only about Rolly's straight up firmware update.

3:34 AM

Sony HDR-TG5V Slim Camcorder with GPS and HD Resolution



Summer approaches and we need new gadgets that will help us to impress in our memory the most interesting moments of our life. According to the Sony company representatives they created an ideal camcorder for travelers, which features the characteristics mostly needed during journeys. HDR-TG5V camcorder can boast of embedded GPS that automatically geo-tags each picture, Smile Shutter and Face Detection. These options are designed to make the videos and photos more realistic and true-to-life. Additionally, it offers 1920x1080 high-definition video and four-megapixel photos.

3:33 AM

Sony DVE7000S DVD Walkman

Sony DVE7000S DVD Walkman

The DVE7000S is a very portable player -- as long as portable doesn't mean "in-car". Read our Australian review of Sony's latest portable DVD player.


Design
Sony's had a number of cracks at the portable DVD player market, and its latest spin on the phenomenon attacks the market from a completely different angle -- as far as we can tell, it's designed almost entirely for the public-transport-minded consumer, whereas most other portable DVD players position themselves as in-car units with the odd bit of deskbound playback thrown in for good measure.

The two main components of the DVE7000S are the display screen, which measures in at 193.4mm by 136mm by 27.9mm with a carrying weight of 775 grams. From a design viewpoint, it's pretty much a PSP that's eaten all of its Weet-Bix, and then some more; this means it's a glossy and elegant looking unit that's also a magnet for fingerprint smudges. The other part of the DVE7000S is the speaker stand, which measures in at 285mm wide, significantly expanding the width of the overall unit. It's this factor, along with the fact that the player simply sits, rather than slotting or locking into place, that makes it a less than ideal in-car unit. There aren't many vehicles with that much clearance between the front seats, so unless you want to utilise twin pairs of headphones and put up with lots of grubby fingerprints from the back seat, you'll be stuck placing the DVE7000S at an angle and praying that it doesn't fall off while you do so. A car charger is included in the box, as is a thin remote control, standard wall charger and carrying case.

Features
The DVE7000S features a 7-inch 480 x 234 pixel LCD screen. In multimedia terms, it'll handle standard DVD discs, which load in at the back of the unit, along with DivX material, normal audio CDs, MP3 files and JPG picture CDs, so it can also double as a somewhat chunky picture frame. Sony rates the internal battery on the DVE7000S as being capable of up to 3 hours battery life when watching video material, and up to 7 hours with the display off -- presumably that's either for music listening only, or for if you really hate the visual part of movies.

Performance
We tested the DVE7000S as a standalone player in both stationary and moving environments. On a playback front, the DVE7000S performed acceptably well, although there were instances where we found it a little sluggish resuming playback on some discs, especially if we'd either added or taken away power sources recently. The screen itself is bright and very clear, and while we weren't all that enamoured of the speaker stand on stability grounds, it's certainly loud enough for most environments without being invasive.

As noted, the extreme width of the docking station -- which also forms the unit's speakers -- makes it a poor choice for in-car rear seat entertainment, as it precariously wobbles on its stand, and for most cars will be too wide to fit in a straight way regardless. It fared much better as a handheld device with headphones, which is why we'd say it's a good fit for those who use a lot of public transport. Our tests matched up the rough three hour battery life pretty exactly, which should be good for most people's daily commute, and you could always recharge it on the sly in the office. Whether you're willing to risk a AU$429 DVD player on public transport is entirely up to you.

3:31 AM

Epson Ensemble HD

epson-ensemble-hd

Epson’s got a soft spot for home theater systems, and they have just come up with yet another option for those who are thinking about getting one for their respective homes. The Ensemble HD Home Cinema System is now available to the masses, featuring a selection of projectors for you to choose from in order to fit into most budgets. A couple of the projectors in question are the PowerLite Home Cinema 6100 and Home Cinema 6500 UB. We suppose that once you have the Epson Ensemble HD Home Cinema System installed in your pad, you will find very little excuse to go out once you’ve returned home from work. After all, you might as well take advantage of all the technology on offer before it gets obsolete, right?

3:30 AM

Apple Ipod In ITies

itie

Guys are stuck wearing ties and frankly they’re a pointless accessory. They just look uncomfortable and they just sort of hang there. Chicks all the time have the perk of hiding small amounts of cash in their bra, but guys are stuck using boring pockets designated for that sort of thing. Well now you can have an extra hidden pocket behind your tie. It’s specifically made for small MP3 players like the iPod Nano, but it could be used for plenty more than that. Hopefully an iPod wouldn’t put too much weight on your neck though.