DP900 PocketPC Phone from Dallab

The DP900 PocketPC Phone runs with the Windows Mobile 2003 Phone Edition. It's a tri-band world phone powered by a 300 Mhz CPU. It has 64MB of memory, one SD/MMC expansion slot and a rotating VGA camera. The screen resolution is 320x240 and the unit weighs 150g I would probably not want to use a device like that as a phone... brrrr. [Manufacturer website] [Product brochure (.pdf)]

Hitachi presents the "Pro Freezer"

Hitachi tries to make the fridge smarter. While every manufacturer was trying to add a screen, Hitachi doesn't. Instead they propose functions such as utility expense aim or door open/close count! I guess that the electric shock device for opening the door too often is not far away ;) I'm going to write an application that will allow one to maximize the use of the fridge door, lol. [Seen on TechJapan] [Product homepage]

Nokia 6230 available with Cingular

This mobile phone will draw interrest from people who want to use it as an EDGE modem to connect their laptops on the internet. The 6230 can communicate via Bluetooth and relay the EDGE internet connection to another device (PDA, laptop...) EDGE can, in theory, provide speeds comparable to a slow DSL connection. [Seen on Mobile Tracker] [Product homepage]

China develops new medical robot

Financed by China's high-tech, code-named Project 863, this project improves the robotic surgery field. To date the success rate is 100%, granted on a small number (21) of surgeries.

[Seen on China Economic]

Eclipse TD 712z speakers

Fujitsu Ten Limited is a high-end speakers manufacturer. I would expect that the Eclipse TD712z speakers provide a very good sound quality, along with the nice design. Damn, now I need to get a new TV to go with the speakers! Good design sells. [Press Release]

Excalibur 467 Coffee Master, the Coffee & Tea Guide

The Excalibur 467 Coffee Master will be your most appreciated source of information about coffee and tea. You can practice many recipes at home, then show off at the local Starbucks ;) [Buy it on TheBuzzElectronics] Price: 29.95

Rumor: Palm's Tungsten T5, out on Monday?

A new rumor about the Palm Tungsten T5 is popping up. It is said that the device might be announced on monday. It has been seen on Amazon recently. [Seen on Shiny Plastic] [Image: 1src Forums] Price: $400

Review: BenQ Joybook 7000

The BenQ Joybook 7000 is much more than an office application computer. With it's multi-media capabilities, entertainment and gaming will be part of the experience. [Tech Specs] [seen on HardwareZone]

The Motorola RAZR V3 on sale in U.K

The super-sleek looking Motorola Razr V3 is finally for sale! Unfortunately it's in the U.K. Here, in the U.S, we are still debating which carrier is going to have it first. The RAZR V3 is a Quad-band world phone, here are the basic specs:

Talk time: 6.67 hours
Standby: 250 hours (10.4 days)
Display: 176x220 pixels
Dimensions: 3.86" x 2.09" x 0.54" (98mm x 53mm x 14mm)
Weight: 95g



[Seller in UK]
[Product homepage]

Microsoft Optical Mouse by STARCK reviewed

We've talked about it in the past, but you might want to check this review before you buy the actual product. I like the fact that the major players are going very high-end in the design of their products. Good design sells! [EverythingUSB review]

Toodis Mpal 400 Ultra Compact Audio Video Player Review

AtrueReview has a cool review of the Toodis Mpal 400. It's a media player that plays many audio formats (Mpeg Layer3, WMA, OGG, ASF, WAV, BMP, GIF, PCX, JPEG,MMF). Unfortunately, for the video, you'll have to convert the movies to the MMF, a proprietary format. That's a real pain... Another downside, it's usb 1.1.



[Seen on atruereview]

Shopping: Garmin eTrex Waterproof 12-Channel GPS Receiver for $49.99

GPS units are getting pretty cheap. This gizmo will be a great companion for hiking. It is not suitable for road directions, though. [Seen on Bestbuy]

Shopping : DVD+/-RW Burner 8x for $49.99

8x4x12 Internal IDE DVD+/-RW Drive Manufacturer: Buslink Mfg Part #: DVRW812D Product Number: 308458 Price: $49.99 [Buy it]

Nokia 7710 photos leaked

A Chinese website has a bunch of photos of the Nokia 7710.

[PGCW.com (chinese)]

T-Mobile sidekick II for $199 on amazon (pre-order)

Amazon has the T-mobile Sidekick II available for pre-order. The Sidekick II is a smartphome equipped with a QWERTY keyboard and a large swivel screen.



[Seen on Amazon]

Go Video VR2940 DVD-R / VCR combo

If you want to copy your low-tech VCR tapes to DVDs, this might be very handy (well, if you have lots of tapes, lol). Otherwise, this DVD/VCR combo could also reduce the number of devices that's in your living room.

The easiest solution is to forget that VCR ever happened ;)



[Product homepage]

Watch DVDs in your rear mirror

If you think that using a cellphone in the car is bad, what about watching DVD movies in the rear mirror?. I wonder how long it's going to take before this gizmo gets banned. It's hard to argue that it's for the kids in the back. :) They should hook it up with a webcam on the back of the car and sell it as a "security feature"...



[Product homepage (with video)]

the Motorola MPx 220 soon on Cingular and AT&T Wireless

An AT&T Promotion information has popped up on Motorola's website. Additionaly, the Cingular mpx 220 has been rumored to be available at Best Buy for $349.99 in smartphone thoughts forums.

Sony Japan to stop Copy Protection on music CDs

Sony claims that it's customers are now more educated about the issues surrounding copies. The truth is that consumers just didn't like limitations that the copy protection had, such as not being able to use their CD on a PC. [Seen on The Register]

Lock de-icer

Winter is coming, some of you might have to deice your car before driving. This gizmo is powered by two AAA batteries. [Seen on BookofJoe] [buy it at RedEnvelope]

Cobra Electronics' NavOne 3000 navigation system

PC World has a review of the Cobra NavOne 3000 GPS navigation system. It's a bulky and expensive system ($1299) that not very fast. If you are ready to shell this much into a GPS, get a high-end PDA with an SD/CF GPS. IT's going to be faster, better and can also serve as a... PDA. [Review on PCWorld]

iRiver iFP Series

iRiver, a well-known Music Player brand is coming out with new models with capacity from 512MB to 1GB. The models are iFP-790, iFP-795, iFP-799, iFP-895, iFP-899 Price: $250 for the 1GB model [Product webpage]

It's official, Netflix & Tivo are joining forces

Netflix and Tivo are going to work togeter to bring movie on demand, using a broadband connection.
The details are not clear, but nothing will come out of this in the long term it seems.

[Yahoo News]

MacWorld free passes until 11/5

Free Passes are available if you use the code: B0201 You have until 11/5 Register now. (thx Joe for the link)

Sony MDR-NC6 Noise Canceling Headphones

The Sony MDR-NC6 Noise Canceling Headphones should give you a better sound if your environment is noisy, for example in the train. You can also use it without listening to music (in a plane). The headphones can be folded to be stored in a small volume. [Buy.com] [Twister Group] Price $40-$60

MotoSk8 motorized rollerblades

I'm rollerblading every week-end, and I have to say that it's pretty physical sometimes. I think that this gadget is going to help me big time :) Price: US$699.99 Availability: Oakdale, California BTW, how fast can you get this off your feet if it catches fire?

Nintendo DS retail package

The Nintendo DS retail package looks like this. Now you know what to look for, if you are a fan. Happy shopping Price: $150!

Photos of the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3

I have no idea about what the review (in some foreign language) says, but I think that the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3 looks good!

check out the DiMAGE Z3 review (if you can read it).

Shopping: Dell FP2100 1600x1200 20" LCD monitor for $689 (AR)

$899 - auto 20% off - $30 off $300 coupon HBTVJZKDLSN91$ = $689 shipped. This is an *excellent monitor* with VGA, DVI and video inputs. [Dell Home]

Turn your Windows XP into Mac OSX with "Win OS X"

Win OS X redefines completely the windows UI to turn it into a very close clone of Max OS X. If you are frustrated that Mac OS X looks better than your windows, You might want to check this out. [Win OS X]

Casio New Pocket PC DT-10 M50S

The Casio DT-10 M50S is powered by Windows Mobile Edition 2003 SE. The VGA screen has a size of 3.7". There's Bluetooth and Wifi. It comes with a 416Mhz CPU, 128 Mo RAM and 64 of ROM. The DT-10 M50S is also equipped of a SD port and CF type 2 This PDA is a bit bigger and the design is "stern" compared to his competitors, Toshiba or Ipaq. [Seen on Casio Japan]

Rumor: Dell Axim X50 pricing and release date

Axim X50 416: $299 Axim X50 520: $399 Axim X50 624: $499 Launch : October 10 Order Date: October 12 The model number refers most likely to the frequency of the CPU (in mhz). The Dell Axim X50 PDA will have a VGA screen, Wifi and most of the hi-end features that one can expect. [Seen on PocketPCThoughts]

NTT DoCoMo creates fuell cell "cradle" for mobile users

As devices are getting ever smarter and more powerful, users are using them all the time, with new services from download to payments. That sucking up all the juice they have, and pretty quickly. NTT is trying to find ways to help users stay connected (and paying for services).

They have developed this micro fuel cell "cradle" that recharges the mobile phone. The project is moving forward and NTT is expecting some results for 2005.

[Seen on geekzone]

L-MAIL: send a letter... online

Your grand mother is still not connected and you just dislike writing letters? L-Mail is a concept that might interest you. It's simple, you write your letter online, it gets printed as close as possible from the destination, it is then printed and sent by regular mail.

It is pretty expensive though, they'll have to work out this part.

[L-Mail]

Sharp's Mebius PC for the living room

The DVD player on the left looks like any other player, right? It's in fact a PC with a DVD burner, a 250GB hard drive, powered by a celeron 2.66ghz. The screen is a 26" LCD monitor.

But... Why didn't they install Windows Media Center on it ?!

[press release]

Sony Vaio VGN-S70B photo gallery

One of the editors at SorobanGeeks bought a Sony VGN-S70B. He made a photo gallery of it. It's in French, but, go and check it out.

[Seen on Sorobangeeks]

Friendzoo WITILGPOC-001 PCs for Kids in Japan

Funny computers for Kids in Japan. They are low-end PCs (Celeron, 256MB, 40GB, TFT 15"), but hey, at age 5, that's good enough ;)

[Product website]

Sony SNC Series Webcams

Sony has a pretty cool line of high-end (security) webcams. The ones below are the SNC-M1 / MW1. the MW1 supports Wifi, and both transmit the video stream using the Mpeg4 format. It's much better than previous generation of Web-Enabled webcams. It seems that you can also control where the camera is looking at.

[Product website]

Sanyo's Personal Video Recorder phone

TV phones are not really a new thing, but Sanyo's latest one can record the shows on an SD card. That would make it the first Personal Video Recorder (PVR) mobile phone :)

Size: 50x28x102mm

[Product Website (Japanese)]

Secure Digital (SD) memory cards to hold 15GB by 2007

Well, I can't wait to be in 2007 ;)

[Seen on TechJapan]

Sony announces the first Mercury Free "button" battery

This new battery will be much more environmentally friendly. We are talking about the type of batteries that you can find in your watch. It is well known that Mercury is toxic, and unfortunately, once in the body it never goes out. Worse, it stays in the food chain.

[Press Release]

Landscape PocketPC "Mio 188" with integrated GPS

Pocket PC thoughts has a story about the Mio 188. It's a Pocket PC with in integrated GPS. It is also designed to run in Landscape mode, which is first in the PocketPC world. [GPS Passion]

the Motorola A630 appears on Amazon.com at $99 (AR)

The Motorola A630 is available for PRE-ORDER. It has appeared on Amazon.com and will be available for T-Mobile and Cingular.



[Seen on amazon.com]
Price: $274.99 - $175rebate = $99.99

BenQ launches the DC E43 & DCE53 Digital Cameras

The DC E43 & DCE53 Digital Cameras are in the ultra-compact category. With a size of 88.5 x 54.5 x 24 mm and weights of 130g, there's no excuse not to have a camera in the pocket. They both have a 3x optical zoom and can capture photos in 4 and 5 Megapixels, respectively. A large (2.5") LCD screen is in the back of the gizmo. [Seen on PhotographyBlog]

Real gaming on your cellphone

I was pretty impressed when I saw the Might & Magic for mobile phones review on Gamespot. for once mobile gaming is not synonymous of "poor gaming". This has the potential of being really entertaining, easily beating most of mobile games. I'm not a big D&D fan, but I'm willing to give it a try when I can. Check out Gameloft's website for other games.

Shopping: Lexar 1GB Compact Flash card for $69.88 (AR)

LEXAR MEDIA CF1GB40278 High Speed USB Compact Flash Memory Card 1GB Memory CompactFlash / Up to 40x Speed for large, high-resolution files / For Digital Cameras, MP3 Players and more ... [Seen on J&R]

Walmart to retail Sirius Satellite Radio

At $149.99, it's still expensive, but as volumes ramp-up and competition heats-up, it's all downhill from here (price-wise). [Product webpage] [Seen on DesignTechnica]

Venturi Fétish: the (electric) sports car of the future, today.

While the words "electric car" dooes not make me think about "fast & sexy", the Venturi Fétish coudl change this perception a bit. It's electric engine is giving it an incredible acceleration (0 to 100km/h in 5 sec) and a top speed of 170km/h. Granted that's no Ferrari, but it's pretty good. It's has an autonomy of 350km. In my opinion, the issue comes when you want to fully recharge the car, it's going to take more than 2 hours. Ouch.

[Seen on AutoCorse]

Kyocera Koi/KX2

PCMag has a review of the Kyocera Koi/KX2 Swivel Phone. It's rather big, the photo quality is not very good and the swivel thing can't be practical when I'm driving... On the good side, users could appreciate the large, comfortable buttons and the colorful user interface. [Seen on PCMag] [Product Website]

Toshiba Unveils New Flat-Panel "SED" TV

SED, Surface Electron-emitter Display is using old-style Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) technology, but in a Flat Panel display form.

SED Panels are also better at power-consumption, using only 30% of the energy used by a Plasma TV and 66% of the electricity used by a LCD TV. It is planed to be in retail in Q1 2005.

[Seen on Yahoo]

Node Explore, the Tough PDA

If you plan to use a PDA-like device outdoors, this is for you. This ruggedized gizmo has a waterproof casing and can sustain shocks that regular PDAs wouldn't. The manufacturer says that it is "location aware", but I did not see the word "GPS" on their site. I don't know how it knows your position. It seems that it has a mapping software, with points of interest an all. Lastly, I dislike that fact that it runs on a proprietary OS, when PalmOS and WinCE have so many existing applications. [Product Webpage]

Blog from your Cellphone with Nokia Lifeblog

Nokia's Lifeblog service has just gone 1.0. Surprisingly, Nokia is selling the software for $29.95. I think that it's expensive, given that most customers will have to pay additional fees (to the phone provider) for sending data on the network. [Nokia Lifeblog page]

Toshiba will release 0.85" Hard Drives in Q4

Currently, devices such as the Apple iPod and other music players are using 1.8" Hard Disks. The arrival of a smaller hard-drive could spark a new stream of smaller devices. The miniaturisation could also lead to the appearance of Hard Drives in smaller devices such as PDAs or Mobile phones.

[Seen on the Resgister]

Palm Tungsten T5 seen on Amazon

Amazon.com is selling a PDA Case that looks like a Palm Tungsten T5 case... That could mean that the T5 gizmo is going to be released soon. [Seen on Amazon]

RIO SU70 Music Player

The Rio SU70 music player can be found with 256MB or 512MB of memory. It is compatible with the following formats: MP3, WMA (DRM), ASF and WAV. As many music players, it also has an FM-tuner, 3D sound and a whooping 35 hours of battery life. It is available in Japan only, for now...

[Seen on i4U]

Sony NW-HD2 20GB Music Palyer

This Sony NW-HD2 music player is very similar to it's younger sibling, the Sony NW-HD1, except for the color scheme. It's a nice, sleek design as we are used to with Sony. However, it has a serious drawback: it does not support the Mp3 format. It's very annoying to have to convert your songs in Sony's ATRAC format.

Sony has since announced their support for the Mp3 format. It did not make it in time for this gadget, too bad.

[Product webpage (Japanese)]
[Sony NW-HD1]
[Sony NW-HD1 review]
Price: Around $400

"Qool", a Palm-OS smartphone with a large screen.

The "Qool" smartphone is a very feature-packed gizmo. Designed by Qool Labs, a company from Singapore, it is powered by the Palm OS 5.4 "Garnet" and is very multi-media capable. It plays Mp3, Mp4 and is 3D gaming capable.

Specs:
Size: 57,7mm x 103,5 mm x 24 mm
Weight: 139g
CPU: Motorola ARM 9 Dragon Ball i.MXL, 200 Mhz.
Screen: Touchscreen LCD 2.8".
Expansion: SD/MMC Slot
Camera: 1.3 megapixels
Battery: removable
Wireless: GSM/GPRs class 10, tri-band
Com: USB & IRDA
OS: Palm OS 5.4 "Garnet"
Media: MP3, MPEG-4 3D games.
Misc: Word & Excel file viewer


[More on Mobinaute (French)]
Price: less than 500 Euros

Contax i4R 4 Megapixels Digital Camera

I did not know about Contax before seeing this cute i4R Digital Camera. It's a 4 Megapixel gizmo that can also capture movie clips at 640x480/30fps(NTSC). It's not visible on the photo, but there's a 1.5" LCD screen. An SD/MMC card is used as storage.

Weight: 90g
[Seen on Dpreview.com]

Play Doom3 and loose weight with the FP Game Runner

The Arcade video game industry could soon be reborn in local gyms. The FP Game Runner will make you "run for your life"... virtually. The principle is simple: Hook up a treadmill with a PC, plug a controller: you get a First Person (FP) game that makes you loose weight.

When are we going to see a multi-player version at Gold's Gym? ;)

[Product Webpage]

Voltaic Solar Backpack

For the high-tech hikers, this is a backpack that promises to charge your cell phone in 5 or 6 hours. The backpack has a fairly small size, but you have 2 pockets especially designed to hold gadgets to be charged. It will not power your laptop, but it comes with many adapters.

[Seen on cool hunting]
Price: $229 at voltaic Systems

Kenwood Fineline VRS-N8100

Kenwood's VRS-N8100 is a networked digital media receiver. It connects (by ethernet) to your existing home network and can stream media files over. It plays all sorts of media file (not divX) and should seriously lighten your wallet :)

It's very expensive what what it does... I'd rather by a whole Media Center PC for that kind of price. Plus I could use it as a TIVO. Price: $800 Avail: now
[Product home page]

Shopping: Kingston Technology 1GB Compact Flash Card for $57.99 (AR)

1 GB - CompactFlash Card Form Factor - CompactFlash Card Supply Voltage - 3.3 / 5 V Warranty - 5 years warranty

HP iPAQ hx4705 Pocket PC available for 649.99

The HP iPAQ hx4705 Pocket PC is now available from several online retailers. The hx4705 has a VGA (640x480) screen.

[Seen on HPshopping]

Up to 3 Years of Jail for File Traders

The house of Representatives has passed a Bill today to fight against illegal media file trading.  The record industry has sued thousands of people last year, but only the heaviest traffickers had cases brought against then by the department of Justice. Funny fact: Companies that are removing part of a movie content (sex, nudity) to make it more "family friendly" are protected from prosecution.

[Seen on Wired]

Forget your credit card, pay with a Casio G-Shock GWS-900

Paying using your gadgets is becoming big in Japan. Users can already pay with their cell phones, but Casio is introducing the G-Shock GWS-900 that lets you pay with your watch! Oh, by the way, it also gives you the time. It is water-proof and solar-powered. [press release] price: $250 avail:  Oct 04.

Soren SF1100 Pendant Aluminium MP3 player

Aluminum gadgets almost always  look cool. This Soren SF1100 is no exception. Very small, it measures only 56.4x56.4x16mm and weighs 37g. It comes in 256MB and 512MB. Besides MP3, it can also play FM Radio. [product page (Korean)]

DVDs could hold '100 times more'

Researchers in the UK say they have a way to store 100 times more data on a DVD disc. It's called "Multiplexed Optical Data Storage" or MODS. In current Optical storage media, each bit (1 or 0) is represented by light being reflected or not. The new technique would use an approach that is not so binary.

[Seen on BBC]

The Toshiba 37LZ150 LCD TV has a "MetaBrain"

Toshiba is pushing the networked TV concept to the limit with the 37LZ150. This is probably the most connected TV that I know of. Besides being able to connect USB, Firewire and Flash cards, it is also connected to your home network. You can browse the web on the TV, and also send an email to have it record a specific show. One practical application to finish: you can have the TV record directly on a SD card (in MPEG4), to watch your shows on a mobile device! [Seen on SorobanGeeks (French)] [Product Website - check it out!]

Epson Photo Fine Player P-2000

This Epson P-2000 gizmo is equipped with a 3.8" VGA screen that displays beautiful all your photos. It uses a USB connection to plug into your computer or directly to a printer. The Epson P-2000 also features a Compact Flash and a Secure Digital (SD) slot. This could be a very expensive addition to your digital camera. Finally, it also plays Mp3 and Mpeg4 :) It's out in Japan only for now. [Product Webpage (Japanese)]

RIM and O2 Introduce New BlackBerry 7290 Handheld in Europe

Blackberry is introducing this new 7290 gizmo in Europe. On the list of features, you'll find Quad-Band, Bluetooth, brighter back light, 32MB of memory. while i'm not very excited by those Blackberry models, I have to recognise that some of you might :) Given the form-factor, why don't they have a VGA screen and Wifi, by the way ? [Seen on Homebusinesswire]

NEC MP211, a Multi-Core Processor for mobile phones

Image processing, video, games and music. all those tasks require lots of compute power. Increasing a processor speed by increasing the frequency would lead to unwanted higher power consumption and heat. Nec's solution is to have one processor with multiple cores that could work together. They claim they processor can both increase speed, while using less power... They will demonstrate the new chip on Oct 5. [Seen on Physorg.com]

Microsoft Will Now Charge Annual $20 Fee For Hotmail-Outlook Connection

If you download your "hotmail" e-mails with outlook express (or a POP3 client), you might want to know that this service is not going to be free anymore. Microsoft says that they are taking this step to counter the frequent use of their hotmail system by spammers using the outlook/hotmail mechanism. Other e-mail providers such as yahoo are already charging a fee for POP3 e-mail access. [Seen on internet week]

Methanol Fuel Cell for power-hungry cell phones

Nowadays the phones are doing everything but the laundry. Seriously, between TV, Mp3, PDA, Voice Recorder it does many things. With more functionalities coming (Hard Drive, 3D...), we need a better energy storage than Lithium batteries. That's why many manufacturers are seeing a solution in Fuel Cells. In 2007, Hitachi and Toshiba hope to see cell phone users re-charge their handsets with methanol. Once in mass-production, this is going to open a new era of Gizmos ;) [Seen on CNN]

Adobe Proposes New Digital Photo Standard

If Adobe is successful in imposing it's new Digital Photo file format, it will enable a new level of photo storage and manipulation. Today, most digital cameras store the images in standard "jpg"  or "tif" files. Those files have been processed and the original light information from the sensor has been partially lost. Adobe is proposing a standard that would save the original information from the sensor, allowing more flexibility in later image manipulations. Don't hold your breath, it will take years... [Seen on crn.com]

Rumor: Star Wars DVD flashes Xbox BIOS!

It has been reported that "Star Wars Battlefront"(the game demo found in the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set)flashes the Bios of the Xbox game console. Note that this will happen only on Xbox console that already had a BIOS update. The real issue is that the BIOS is being flashed without the permission of the console owner. A BIOS update going wrong (powering off during the BIOS write) could result in an unusable console. [Seen on newsOr]

Lexar unveils Pro Cards with Encryption Technology

Lexar, a memory card manufacturer, has announced a line of professional Compact Flash cards that incorporate encryption technology. Many professionals are wary of the confidentiality of their files, and lexar intends to address that market. The new security should not degrade performance. It uses a 160-bit encryption that is approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

[Seen on photographic.com]

Olympus E-300 Digital SLR (EVOLT)

Olympus introduces a Digital SLR Camera that promises to get a very high photo quality, priced for the "masses". This 8 MegaPixels camera has a very good "full frame transfer" CCD sensor that will catch more light than standard CCD sensors. It is compatible with the complete range of Olympys E-system lenses, and an underwater case will be available in Q1 2005!

[Seen on DPreview]

Olympus AZ-2 Zoom

This very slick "point and shot" Digital Camera will please the users who just want to take pictures, and not worry about the secondary options.

Specs:
Four million pixels
A 2.5 inch sunshine LCD to present high contrast images – even when the sun is at its brightest
A 2.8x zoom which operates within the camera body
TruePic TURBO image processor
Camera shake correction function for movie shooting

[Seen on Dpreview]
Price: $399
Avail: Oct 2004

Rumor: Xbox2 to use "Virtual PC" software for backward compatibility?

According to AppleInsider, Microsoft's Xbox team has been assigned to the development of Virtual PC's native graphics card support. Virtual PC is a windows emulation software for the mac. It allows mac users to run windows in a window and use popular windows application. Because the hardware of the Xbox2 will differ so much from the Xbox, people are questionning whether microsoft can make it backward compatible. I have to Wonder if the sources are not mixing up the Xbox Team with the Direct-X team... [Seen on AppleInsider]

Sega Mega Drive 6-in-1 Plug 'n' Play

Just like Atari and Namco, Sega is also coming back to their past glory with this all-in-one console. Embedded in the intermal memory, you will find 6 games: 1- Sonic The Hedgehog 2- Golden Axe 3- Kid Chameleon 4- Flicky 5- Dr Robotniks Mean Bean Machine 6- Altered Beast

Just plug in on your TV and Play !

[Seen on FireBox]

Data Evolution's "Cathena" instant-on laptop

The Cathena is a PDA brain in a Laptop's body. This might sound unfair for the laptop, but one can imagine how convenient that would be to get an instant-on laptop. As a PDA, it runs on windows CE and is powered by an intel Xscale 400mhz processor (the same found in PockerPCs). It has a 800x600 12.1" screen, 64MB of SDRAM and wifi connectivity. It also has many classic I/O connectors.

For light applications such as office products, email and data entry it can probably do great.

[Product Website]

xD memory cards to reach 1GB capacity

If you are the owner of a gizmo that uses the XD memory card format, you'll be glad to know that they will reach the 1GB capacity soon. Today, it is possible to find 1GB SD cards under $70.

Sony PCS-TL50 Video Conference system

Sony strikes back in the world of teleconferencing. Their PCD-TL50 is nothing else than a monitor equipped with a webcam and speakers. However, that's the software and the connection options that makes it a high-end system. It is possible to connect with many many participants and see them all at once on screen, using a Picture-In_picture type layout. The UI seems to be really well done.

It's all nice, but given the price tag ($5500), I hope that you'll have some really important meetings...

  

[Product Website (Japanese)]
[Information in English]
Avail: Fall 2004
Price: $5500

Toshiba GigaBeat F10 / F20 / F60

Toshiba Continues with their "GigaBeat" Series, with the release of their F10/F20/F60. As their name hints, they hold 10GB/20GB and 60GB of storage capacity (1.8" ard drives). A nice 2.2" 320x240 pixels screen displays the information. The gizmo is compatible with many file formats: VMA/MP3/WAV. [Product Homepage (Japanese)]

nanotubes that change colors, form 'nanocarpet' and kill bacteria

Scientists of Pittsburgh University have created a molecule that self-assembles to form nanotubes. The particularity of this nanotube structure is that it can react to it's environment by changing color. Apparently, it can also be used to kill some bacterias. The researchers hope to create a paint that would change color (to warn) and kill bio-agents (to protect) in case of a bio-chemical attack. [Seen on Physorg.com]

A pentium IV Prescott beyond 6Ghz

The guys on Akiba-PC have successful over-clocked a Pentium to a 6Ghz speed. The fastest Pentium IV available currently is the 3.6Ghz!

To achieve that frequency, they used Liquid Nitrogen to cool the processor. Needless to say that you won't find a commercial product like that anytime soon... :)

[Seen on Akiba-PC]

Suunto D9 dive computer wristwatch

The Suunto D9 is the ideal companion of the high-tech diver. It gives the depth, time and can receive the oxygen tank pressure wirelessly! The wireless transmitter located on the tank is an option. The housing of the watch is made of Titanium, for it's resistance to corrosion and lightweight. The Suunto connect to your PC by USB. [Product's Website]

Robovie-M: a very agile robot.

You all know that Robots are very popular in Japan. The Robovie-M is the latest one that people are excited about. It comes as a kit and is about 1 feet high. It weighs 4.2 pounds and has 25mn of autonomy. This robot is capable of lots of motions. There are some quite impresive videos of the robot playing with a ball. [check out the movies] [Seen on Japan Times] Price: $4500 and weeks of assembly (sic)

Matsushita Electric to launch the TH-65DX300, the industry's Largest 65-inch Plasma TV

Matsushita's TH-65DX300 will be the largest Matsushita Plasma TV in retail when it hits shelves on Oct 1st. The TV has a native  resolution of 1366x768. The screen has a better color rendering than most Computer monitor. It's capable of displaying 1536 tones per component (red, green or blue), delivering a total of 3.62 Billion colors. With 60" DLP TVs selling for less than $5000, the competition is going to be tough. [Seen on neasia.nikkeibp.com]

Price: $15000

The Best of Last Week

wireless
Motorola A630 to be available very soon?
Mobile phone radiation 'helps children think' (?)
The Ring Tone that makes breasts larger
Siemens cell phone to detect bad breath
Sony Ericsson W21S
Nokia's Bluetooth HS-3W powered by a Fuel Cell
Qtek 9090

Misc
Spinach Powered Electronics
BMW "H2R" Hydrogen Powered Car Breaks Speed Records
Life-saving Rats
Pepcom Holiday Spectacular Press Event
Samsung shows next-generation memory. 16GB memory cards on the horizon
2.2" VGA (640x480) LCD demonstrated by Casio
Gaim: One IM Client to rule them all

Audio/video
Sony to support MP3
Sony shows skinny Playstation 2

Photo
Canon introduces 16.7 Megapixel EOS-1Ds MkII

Nokia starts shipping the Nokia 6260 Smartphone

Nokia is targetting the professional market with the 6260. Based on the Series 60, it is powered by the symbian OS. It offers push-to-talk, email, presentation viewer and Bluetooth. The design is very slick, with a foldable, swivel screen. It is also compatible with the Nokia Wireless Keyboard. [Product website] [Swivel screen in action] price: $400-$500

Motorola MPx for sale... $4448.88

Seen on the forum of Pocket PC thoughts : Cellulco.com has the Motorola MPx for sale. The catch is that it will cost you $4448.88. Ouch!

Granted this is a very cool gadget (Smart Phone with QWERTY Keyboard, GSM, Landscape & page screen modes...), but in general, waiting a few months to save a few 1000s would make sense :)

[Buy it (sic) on Cellulloco.com]
[PPC Thoughts Forum]
[More information on the MPx]
Price: $700-$900 when released

OQO mini PC pricing confirmed

After a very long wait, the OQO is going to be released in October for a price of $1899. The OQO is not a PDA. It is a full featured PC running a regular windows XP. it is powered by a 1Ghz processor and has a 800x600 screen. size: 124 x 86 x 23mm (4.9 x 3.4 x .9") weight: 0.397kg or 0.88lbs (14oz). [Review from Handtops.com] [Manufacturer's website]

Mac OS X "Tiger" released in January?

Apple's discount on Mac OS 10.3 (Panther) until the first day of the MacWorld expo in San Francisco is seen as a hint that the next Mac OS X 10.4, code-named "Tiger" could be released at the show, in January 2005. Stay tuned. [More info on Mac OS X "Tiger"] [Seen on MacMinute.com]

Shopping: Viking 512 MB Secure Digital (SD) Flash Card for $33.89 (AR)

[Seen on Amazon.com]

Shopping: Airlink Wireless 54Mbps USB 2.0 Adapter for $16.99

Airlink AWLL3025 Compatible 802.11g and 802.11b Wireless data rate up to 54Mbps USB 2.0  WEP encryption for security [Seen on Outpost.com]

Shopping: Seagate 200GB UATA100 8MB Buffer for $69.99 (AR)

Capacity: 200GB Seek Time: 8.5ms 7200RPM 8MB Buffer 5 Years Limited Manufacturer Warranty Limit 1 per customer/household/address [Seen on Outpost.com]

Update: OFFICIAL Metal Gear Solid 3 trailer (direct feed) available

Just a few days after it was presented at TGS (Tokyo Game Show), Konami is making the Metal Gear Solid 3 direct-feed video available to the fans. [View TGS 2004 trailer] [MGS3 website] [All MGS3 trailers]

Rumor: new Apple Powerbook G4 Series in the coming weeks

It is rumoured that Apple is going to upgrade their Powerbook G4 Series in three to five weeks. The main upgrade would concern the Processor (CPU). They would have speeds of 1.6Ghz (model 7447B) and 1.8Ghz (model 7448). The CPU's "cache memory" would also get a bump to 1024KB from 512KB. Cache memory allows the Processor to access data faster. Finally, the highest-end model will use the Dual Data Rate (DDR) PC3200 memory. That's the same specs than desktop machines. [Seen on MacPlus (French)]