Gadget For You

What do you do if you are not among world’s major manufacturers but you have desire and ability to make something competitive on the market? Onkyo has picked up one of the all-time good solutions for its MX1007A4 netbook coming out in Japan next week - made one feature noticeable among all the others. This has 14.4 hours of battery life and no, it doesn’t weight a ton. In fact it’s barely over a kilo – 1.16kg (2.56lbs) to be precise. At this point I’m guessing that battery life this long is achieved not by a huge battery in first place, but by very economic power management. Which means the MX1007A4 does not have too many features to play with. I can’t blame Onkyo’s latest netbook for that. I think it makes perfect sense and featurelessness to it will make it cheap also. Mind you though that MX1007A4 has just enough of everything for everyday life. Check out specs we have scraped up together form Japanese press release.

Good news for Palm’s WebOS fans as today Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus were announced to come out soon. Apart from the fact of the announcement, which would have inevitably happened sooner or later, we want to bring in some details on what makes the difference between Palm smartphone models, and those with Plus in the name. Firstly, AT&T and Verizon are now also in the business. So you can couple services they provide to that. Then there is Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g added to Pixi’s feature list. This, I think, fills the most obvious feature gap between Pixi and other smartphones including Pre as well by the way. What’s about Pre Plus, it now has double the memory (16GB), a bit longer battery life and video capture. Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are priced $149 on AT&T, $179 on Verizon and $49 on both carriers respectively. To get one of these when they come out soon you will have to agree on a two-year plan and mail-in rebate.

Futuristic 48-core design of Intel’s latest processor concept may sound like company got involved into an arms race with AMD, especially since Intel Xeon 7500 designed for servers has 8 cores versus Opteron 6100’s 12 cores from AMD. But as it appears, limited edition of 48-core processors has come into this world only as a guinea pig and will most likely be sacrificed in the name of results it will achieve in the hands of lucky researches when they get it in late Q2.

Everyone who is in the know expects a lot form the experimental 48-core architecture. One of the advantages of rich core topology is low power consumption. Even first tests show that processor stays nicely between 25W when idle and 125W under load. These results are achieved at clock speeds similar to current Atom units, as we have it from Intel Labs.

Another advantage is getting round x86 architecture bottlenecks when it comes to data exchange with system memory. Every core has its personal buffer so that it could immediately communicate with the others. This, by the way, frees up some memory as well.

What’s more, cores can be easily shut off with the help of additional software which so far is in development. I have to say I am quite exited by this concept. Especially because Intel promises to bring some of the elements and ideas behind massively multicore server processors to desktop solutions, so we will keep an eye on what’s going on in Intel Labs.

Our mobile phones has become very important, I would say most important gadget when we work in office or travel.
I think we experienced situation when in different area the cellular signal can be strong or very weak. Many times I noticed that call drops as usual during important conversation. When my colleague bought Cell Ranger, I borrowed it and made a small trip in the most “dead zones”, my little experiment proved that this gadget really boosts signal and I can rely on it. My colleague uses it with another phone model – simple headset, and I found pairing with my Samsung instinct is simply excellent. It is really amazing how the same gadget work perfect with older and newest phone generation.

During first three months of use I did not drop even a single call. Stix gadget is innovatory system which ensure stable, reliable performance. Cell Ranger not only makes signal stronger, but also positively influence call clarity, increasing the signal from 2 to 3 bars. On the go it provide with 17 hours strong signal when is fully charged.

Remarkable features:
• Increase signal for any cellular phone or 3G cards (extra 2-3 bars)
• Experience double download speed (for 3G data cards)
• Improved call clarity, reduced quantity of dropped calls
• Easy to use and install (comes with 15ft antenna wire) and to use plug-and-play
• Smartly controlled by microprocessor amplifier
• Comfortable wireless connection to laptop card, cell phone, PDA
• Portable size and weight
• Compatible with all cell phones and laptops with following parameters: 800Mhz and 1900MHZ
• Do not interfere with Bluetooth gadgets
Pros: Excellent signal integrity, strength, even in cases when it is used with multiple devices, durability, quality, portability.
Cons: none
I use it in my car, on boat, when hiking and camping. Everything what I need – is to remember not to forget to remove it when I am parked. Great freedom to use your phone in the most notorious places.

Panasonic has come up with an idea of a micro small professional camera. However, its Micro Four Thirds sensor can be useful shooting some budget video clip for home cinema. The video quality will be pretty decent for such a small camera thanks to its suite of 4/3 lenses, adapters and filters.

The AF100 is suited up with one of the best video codecs today - AVC - H.264 which is very good for HD format videos, and this digital video camera does record videos in native 1080p resolution at 24fps. The codec has good compression/quality ratio and good speed. The videos shut can be stored on to two SD cards which can be not only SDHC but even the new SDXC. Audio quality won't let you down either with LPCM/Dolby-AC3 at 48 kHz.

As for the connectivity it has USB 2.0, HDMI, HD-SDI out. This camcorder will definitely not be enough for the Hollywood operators but it will perfectly do for some of the best home videos you shoot. Besides, it is shaped like a professional one.

It's not only the battle of two devices it is the battle of two cell phone services providers: Sprint and AT&T. These two phones will be their best and most powerful presenters that they have. iPhone 3G is not out yet but AT&T was successfully selling the previous versions of iPhone for almost a year now. So some people love AT&T and other love Sprint and it's their choice. What we are going to do is compare the features of the two phones.

First of all let's do the comparison of the exterior of Samsung Instinct and iPhone. Instinct is made mainly of plastic which is not that neat today; iPhone has pats made of metal and harden glass to prevent it from scratching.

As to AT&T vs. Sprint there are some advantages and disadvantages; but concerning these phones Sprint is giving very high internet speeds and music store from any point of coverage. AT&T's iPhone can only connect to iTunes store via Wi-Fi, which restricts it to the city limits. Besides, everybody knows about Samsung Instinct's and iPhone's GPS capabilities.

I personally liked the voice control on Samsung Instinct; however not sure if it would work as good as they demonstrate it, so train your speech to be able to control it.
I'm not sure if it was a good idea to have the keyboard only in landscape mode. My personal opinion is that I want to choose what mode to use because it really frustrates me that I need to turn it every time I want to input some text.

One more thing that I love about Instinct is its open platform. I really like to install and use the software I choose. iPhone has made a pretty good job on giving positive experience for the customers but it is closed platform.

Another good thing about Instinct is that they give an additional battery and an external battery charger, which can be very helpful during traveling.

iPhone should be twice as fast in web browsing as the old iPhone is. It supports Bluetooth, GPRS, GSM, EDGE, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, UMTS connectivity and that's what they are proud about. One of the biggest news: it will be able to give you 3G video talks with your friends.

One other big news is that Apple is going to allow third party applications on their iPhone but only those that are approved by them. Not sure how popular that will be. Apple has done a pretty good job on the user interface. And the question I have is: "Will the third party applications be free or they are going to charge the customers for that?" The platform it is running on is Mac OS X Mobile which should bring the customers best experiences.

In the rest of features the iPhone 3G will be just as its predecessor (one of the best phones out there.) It will roll out on July the 11th in 70 countries of the world. The 8GB version will cost $199 and the 16GB version will cost $299.

Back in November 2009 we previewed Intel Cedarview still to come notebook / netbook platform. The first thing we liked over upcoming at that time Pineview chipset and Pine Trail Atom processors was DDR3 support. Waiting a for more than year to get hold of one looked like too long. And it still is. So now there is a rumor saying Intel will add Atom-based N455, N475 and dual-core N500 processors with DDR3 support to its current lineup. This reportedly will happen in early June and already ASUS is preparing a netbook sporting dual-core Intel Atom N500 for under $600.

For those of you who have a limited budget but still want to buy a camera that has the maximum function, Genius G-Shot DV612 is the solution for you.

I can bet that most of us would like to watch TV on iPhone or iPod touch. And good news is that it is already possible.

Elgato - worldwide famous company for Mac based software that are easy in use and accessible. Elgato new product - EyeTV iPhone is not created to stream video records from PC to iPhone over 3G connection, but lately got a way how to allow users to do it.

Cool news for Mac folks is that now Elgato EyeTV software in tandem with new EyeTV iPhone app allows to stream TV directly or recorded to iPhone or iPod touch. Additionally, user got access to set of helpful functions as program guide, brief program info, possibility to set recordings. Useful feature is that EyeTV can stream high quality video with minimal battery use, due to used iPhone’s acceleration for playback.

Elgato claims that EyeTV iPhone through automatic search is finding Mac users via router that supports NAT-PMÐ or UPnP protocols. If router is not available, the same result user may obtain when dynamic DNS is running. When once connected, user can watch live TV at best streaming quality. When on the go, the EyeTV is the same functional via local network (Wi-Fi connection is required for live TV).

Possibility to watch TV anywhere is very attractive for many people. Now it is easy to experience due to new EyeTV and Bonjour technology. Owners of Mac computers with small effort, having Intel Core duo or higher processor, compatible TV tuner and Wi-Fi for live TV today can enjoy new perspective.

Ultra small, unique and delicately designed - this way we can characterize this gadget. Agent Cam HD Video Recording camera is a useful gadget in many situation when is necessary to have some memories recorded. Any records could be made and saved. Time with family, business meetings, sport events, outdoor activity, evidence collector,security aim - only are few useful clues where Agent Cam HD will be useful. This small high resolution DVR cam allows to record up to 6 hours of video. 

Micro Mini DVR cam is a universal miniaturized piece to carry it anywhere. Reliable construction made from metal and glass, with USB port and Led indicator. Plug and play option for Windows or later editions. Micro Mini Cam is compatible with Windows 98SE / ME / 2000 / Vista / XP. Gadget dimension: 50mm x 50mm x 15mm (LxWxD).
Specification:

- Model name: HS-WDVR01 Watch DVR
- Memory: 2 GB MicroSD in included
- Format: AVI (640*480), 15ÀÇÑ
- MIC: built-in
- Power source: integrated battery that is recharged directly via USB port or with charger.
- Display mode: Analog 12 hours (hour, minute, second)

This Micro Mini DVR cam is a universal miniaturized piece to carry it anywhere. Reliable construction made from metal and glass, with USB port and Led indicator. Comes with all necessary set of functions to record video.

Panasonic has let everybody interested know specifications of the VIERA G2 and S2 1080p plasma HDTVs coming out into mass availability on February 5th. Both, G2 and S2 series, represent steady improvement over current plasma technology sold under G1 series. Panasonic has equipped G2 and S2 with different sorts of panels so they have a bit different image quality and therefore price tags. the smallest and less techy 42" S2 will be available for 2,100 dollars while the biggest and the best 50" G2 will set you 3,530 dollars back.

In the meanwhile, price difference between equally sized G2 and S2 is a lot less considerable and that's weired because technological gap between them is. Let me explain: Panasonic engineers have designed a beautiful PDP Black panel technology for plasma TVs. PDP is lead-free and outputs 5,000,000 : 1 contrast ratio. VIEARA G2 has it, but S2 doesn't. It is unclear whether S2 has PDP at all, but 2,000,000 : 1 contrast is a nuisance next a G2.

Differences between VIEARA ranges doesn't stop here. G2 is also better equipped. It has three HDMIconnectors, four D4s, Ethernet, VGA. S2 has VGA only. Available sizes are 42", 46" and G2 only 50". My opinion here is that cheapest G2 will do better than the biggest S2.

Acer has announced a new Aspire One today. Japan, as always, gets its hands on it first. That will be on January 29th. Most of specs of the netbook are already known apart from MSRP. So, skipping over that, straight to hardware which I think should make a good value for money on whatever market Acer will eventually place the AO 532-h. Its specs are listed after the jump.

Acer Aspire One AO 532-h specifications:
• Chipset: Intel NM10 Express
• Processor: Intel Atom N450, 1.66GHz
• RAM: DDR2-533, 1GB
• HDD: 250GB, 5400rpm
• Display: TFT, 10.1-inch HD 1024 x 600
• Operating System: Windows 7 Starter
• Width x Depth x Height: 258.5mm x 185mm x 25.2mm
• Weight: 1.1kg
• Color options: Pearl Silver, Sapphire Black, Ruby Red

Windows 7 Starter will definitely cut some dollars off the price, but than the OS is the first thing you should consider when looking at AO 532-h. If it suits you well, then 1GB of memory should not scare you.

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