June 25th, 2007

 The Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam takes your video shooting experience to a new level. With its USB 2.0 connection1 and built-in Memory Stick Duo media slot you are able to show to your friends and family the video you have captured right after you have taken them. The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens with 40x optical/2000x digital zoom helps any amateur user get into the action as if he’s very near. The quality of the resolution is undoubtedly superb with its Super SteadyShot technology and Super NightShot feature.

Among its special feature are:

• 1/6-inch Advanced HAD CCD imager
• Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens; 40x optical/2000x digital zoom
• 2.5-inch touch-panel SwivelScreen LCD
• Super SteadyShot Image Stabilization
• DVD-R/-RW/+RW and +R DL (Dual Layer) compatible

June 25th, 2007

 Garmin Forerunner 205 took me through my first half marathon in under 2 hours and later helped me hike the Grand Canyon Rim-2-Rim in May 2006. I bought this after a friend, who is an avid adventurer as well as an ultra runner, recommended it to me. He told me that it helped him keep track of his pace, download and analyze run statistics, and overall improve his running as he was now able to measure and compare everything little aspect of his running.

Garmin Forerunner 205 Wrist-Mounted GPS - My observations.

Note: This is Work-In-Progress. I will update this review as and when I test out additional features of this awesome running gadget !

Form Factor:The form factor is the best I have seen so far, and definitely beats its predecessor, the Garmin Forerunner 201 Wrist-Mounted GPS Navigator. The Forerunner 205 is also very light weight; you barely notice that it is on your wrist when you are running.
Satellite Reception:I am undecided on the verdict on this. When I ran my Avenue of the Giants half marathon, the satellite reception on my way to the half-stop at 6.5 miles was very accurate and less than .1 miles off the expected distance. However, on my way back on the same route to the finish line, I kept losing reception, and the dial showed a distance of 11.3 miles when in reality, it was 13.0 miles. I also noticed - when I could - that the Garmin Forerunner 205 prompts you to hit Enter whenever it loses satellite signals. From my experience, I think that if you don’t hit the Enter, the distance measurer stops even though it may have reconnected to a statellite after initially losing the signals.
Battery Life: During my Grand Canyon Rim-2-Rim hike, I found that a fully charged battery lasted about 10 hours or so. I wish that it either comes with more battery life in future versions, or Garmin provides a replacement battery that you can separately charge and carry with you for the really long distance ultra runs and hikes.
Display:Some hard-core runners have expressed some dislikes about the display. I on the other hand, totally love the display on the Forerunner 205. Why ? Because the default display shows the things that matter to me the most; the total time, total distance, pace. The pace is probably the single most important metric because it lets you decide whether you should increase your speed or decrease your speed in order to meet the deadlines you set for yourself at the beginning of your run.
USB Cradle / Battery Charger:I am also pleased with the USB cradle/battery charger that the Garmin Forerunner 205 comes with. I seems faster than its predecessor, from what I have read other people say about this.
Wishlist - #1: It would be nice if the Forerunner 205 had some sort of real-time GPS tracking, i.e. something that can be used to trace a device if the person wearing it gets lost  or goes missing. I think this would be useful for runners and hikers who get into the remote / inaccessible areas of National Parks, where emergency phones are sparse and cell phones don’t have reception.

June 25th, 2007

Pros cool motion sensing, has speaker and even a rumbleCons strap can break, requires batteries.The Bottom Line Wiitards: people who break there TV’s because of the wii remote.

I got another wii mote for Christmas and decided to sit down and write about the Wii remote which makes the Nintendo Wii so unique. When you look at the Wii mote it looks remarkably like a TV remote control, despite its odd look don’t underestimate what the Wii mote can do.What it looks like. As I said it looks like a TV remote control it’s rectangular, and long. The control pad and A button are located at the top of the controller. While on the bottom of the same side of the controller rests the B trigger. In the middle of the remote there is a speaker and 3 more buttons the + and – buttons which kind of act like start and select and many games. And then the home button in the middle of the two, this lets you bring up the main menu in Wii games and returns you to the Wii channels home page. Finally at the very end are the 1 and 2 buttons which do different things.At the end of the Wii mote you will also find a port to plug in accessories like the nunchuck and Classic controller. There is also the wrist strap which is used to tie your hands to the wii so you won’t go sending it flying around the room.How it works. The Wii comes with a sensor bar that you put in front of your TV. The Wii remote reacts to the inferred light that comes out of the sensor bar and uses it to track your distance and movement from the sensor bar. Clever people have been able to use flashlights and even candles to get the Wii mote to react. In order to get a new Wii mote to work on your Nintendo Wii you have to hit both the red synch button on the Wii controller located under the battery cover plus the synch button in the Nintendo Wii located by the SD card slot. What you can do with the Wii. The Wii’s remote can do a lot of things. First off it’s a nice pointer you can point and manipulate objects around the Wii main menu and many other games like Trauma Center use this feature of it as well. But there’s more the Wii mote can also sense tilt and speed which has also been used in a few games. For an example of speed you only need to look at Wii sports in order to tell. The faster you twist your wrist or swing your arm the faster you can throw things like base ball or harder you hit tennis balls. For tilt in games like Trauma Center twisting your arm can sometimes twists objects around. Since it can sense distance as well things like pushing and pulling also come in play, to push in some games you have to push the Wii mote out in front of you, and to pull you have to pull it away from the TV set. The Speaker. An unique new feature in the Wii mote is the speaker found in the middle of the controller. While the sound it generates isn’t the greatest sounding stuff it gets the job done and adds to some of the realistic offering made by the Wii. When you hit the ball in baseball you’ll hear a crack of the bat depending on how good you hit it. In Zelda you’ll hear the sword clash comes from the Wii mote as well has the thwack of the arrow giving you a more realistic experience. Virtual Console. Since the Wii can download and play old games from the NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis, and Turbo Grafix where does the Wii mote fit in. It can play 4 out of the 6 game systems the NES, Sega Genesis, and Turbo Grafix. On the VC you hold it sideways like you would an NES controller and because of this it feels an awful like the NES controller. It fits NES games perfectly with the 1 and 2 buttons filling in for the A and B B buttons. Turbo Grafix it does ok depending on the game if it requires Trubo you have to use the A and B buttons on the opposite end of the controller. And finally your better off with the classic controller or Gamecube controller on Sega Genesis games. Does it have enough buttons yes but you have to use buttons on the opposite side of the controller in order to get it all done right and that can get confusing sometimes. Bad things on the Wii controller. Only 2 bad things I can think of. First off it uses double A batteries rather then having any type of docking or plug in station for charging this if you’re a hardcore gamer can mean a little bit more extra money in order to get it to work. All though a good battery charger and a pack of double A recharger will only set you back 20 bucks. But the worse is the strap breaks instances. What happens during these instances is people get to carried away and swing too wildly that they let go of the wii mote with such force the strap breaks and the Wiimote goes flying. Into TV’s, walls, and even other player. The Wii controller like all Nintendo controllers is pretty durable and it comes out unscathed, the things it slams into don’t do so hot, things that have suffered Wii mote damages have been documented on a web page called Wii have a problem. Nintendo is doing a strap replacement program for this problem and the new Wii Remotes that are being sold come with an extra thick strap. Final Recommendation. The Wii remote is a nice piece of hardware and I can’t wait to see what kind of games Nintendo and other 3rd party developers can develop for it. Despite it’s two big cons the strap and needing double A batteries I recommend buying a 2nd wii mote party games like Mario Party 8 and Wario Ware are going to need it. It’s going to be worth the extra 40 dollers for these games. Recommended: Yes

June 25th, 2007

Introducing the nüvi: A versatile travel assistant that’s approximately the size of a deck of playing cards.

The nüvi is a portable GPS navigator, traveler’s reference, and digital entertainment system, all in one. Combined with detailed maps, the nüvi provides automatic routing, turn-by-turn voice directions, and finger-touchscreen control—making it easy to find your way anywhere.

Travel Kit™

The nüvi also offers a travel kit of useful travel tools to help keep any journey fun: MP3 player, audio book player from Audible.com, JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, and calculator. In addition, optional software packages such as the Language Guide and Travel Guide (sold separately on SD Data cards) can be added for language and content support.

Language Guide™ software (optional)

Users can access an optional Garmin Language Guide, with data provided by Oxford University Press. This software suite contains a multilingual word bank, phrase bank, and five bilingual dictionaries. The multilingual word bank and phrase bank supports nine languages and dialects, including American English, British English, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, European Spanish, and Latin American Spanish. The Language Guide lets travelers look up and translate more than 17,000 words or 20,000 phrases per language. Through the unit’s text-to-speech interface (offered only on the nüvi 350) , users can get a spoken pronunciation of each entry in the word bank—along with gender and part-of-speech information.

Travel Guide™ software (optional)

The new Garmin Travel Guide is loaded with information provided by Marco Polo. These guides put in-depth travel information—such as reviews and recommendations for restaurants, tourist attractions, and more—at the user’s fingertips.

Travelers can use the nüvi to navigate to an address or search points of interest (POIs)—places like hotels, restaurants, shopping, and tourist attractions. The nüvi automatically calculates the fastest route and provides voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions along the way. Thanks to the nüvi’s text-to-speech functionality, the unit audibly announces the name of upcoming streets—letting drivers keep their eyes on the road while navigating through busy traffic and tricky roadways. If users stray off course, the nüvi automatically calculates the quickest way to get back on track.

nüvi 350
The European version contains full European mapping right off the shelf. North American versions include pre-loaded City Navigator NT maps of the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

The nüvi 350’s unique “text-to-speech” feature calls out turns by street name. In addition, this text-to-speech interface, gives users the spoken pronunciation of each entry in the word bank—along with gender and part-of-speech information.

The nüvi 350 is compatible with the GTM 10 FM TMC traffic receiver, which allows users to avoid traffic tie-ups by simply pushing a button that will calculate a new route.

The nüvi 350 also comes with an A/C charger and approximately 700 MBs of internal memory for storage of supplemental maps, MP3s, and audio books (available from Audible.com).

Features and Benefits

Back to Top

• Retail
• Receiver: high-sensitivity WAAS-capable GPS receiver by SiRF
• Display: 2.8” W x 2.1” H (3.5” diag.), 320 x 240 pixels; bright, TFT display, 64K colors, with white backlight and touch screen
• Unit dimensions: 3.87″ W x 2.91″ H x 0.87″ D (98.3 mm x 73.9 mm x 22.1 mm)
• Weight: 5.1 ounces (144.6 grams)
• Battery: built-in lithium ion battery — between 4-8 hours of battery life depending on use
• Supports FM TMC traffic alerting
• Voice announces streets by name (nüvi 350 only)
• Preloaded maps for all of North America or Europe (nüvi 350); preloaded maps for one European region (nüvi 310)
• Fingertip touch-screen interface
• Look up addresses and points of interest
• Choose 2D or 3D map perspective
• Upload custom POIs, including alerts for speed zones and safety cams
• Built in Travel Kit includes MP3 player with sample MPs, audio books, picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters, calculator and more
• Add optional software such as Travel and Language Guides to personalize nüvi
• SD memory card expansion slot
• USB interface for loading data
• Package Includes:
  nüvi™
  Vehicle suction cup mount*
  Carrying case
  12-24 volt adapter cable
  Dashboard disk
  USB interface cable
  Sample Language Guide content
  Sample MP3s
  Quick-reference guide

June 25th, 2007

Realize this heat…Big Daddy is here, the massive Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler is here to spank that naughty heat right out of your system. If your blistering hot CPU is in dire need of some extra cooling and case space is not an issue, then this cooler is for you.The CNPS9500 features 100% copper construction for maximum heat transfer. A unique curved heat pipe design packs the heat transfer capabilities of six heat pipes using only three. The CNPS9500 is actually relatively light for its size and all copper construction, utilizing a 0.2mm ultra-slim fin design to reduce weight and airflow resistance.The included FAN MATE 2 rheostat allows you to control the speed of the 92mm Blue LED CNPS Fan that is installed in an aerodynamically optimized “tunnel” design. The CNPS9500 is naturally compatible with today’s hottest processors, and is designed for the utmost reliability and longevity. So slip Big Daddy in your box, ’cause you won’t regret the results that the Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler provides. Heat…consider yourself spanked!

Features:

• 100% copper heatsink with aerodynamically optimized “tunnel” design for maximum cooling efficiency
• Innovative and patented, curved heat pipe design for a heat transfer capacity of up to six heat pipes with the use of just three
• Optimized heatsink layout for maximum cooling efficiency with minimal materials
• 0.2mm ultra-slim fins for minimized weight and reduced airflow resistance
• Ultra quiet CNPS 92mm opaque fan with blue LEDs
• Aerodynamically optimized heatsink for smoother airflow and minimal noise
• Adjustable fan speed controller (FAN MATE 2) enables control of noise and fan speed

Specifications:

• Base Material: Pure Copper
• Dissipation Area: 3,698cm2
• Compatibility:
  • Intel:
    • Pentium 4 LGA775
    • Prescott LGA775
    • Celeron D Socket 775
    • Pentium 4 Socket 478
    • Celeron Socket 478
  • AMD:
    • Athlon 64 Socket 754
    • Sempron Socket 754
    • Athlon 64 Socket 939
    • Athlon 64 FX Socket 939
    • Athlon 64 FX Socket 940
    • Opteron Socket 940
• Weight: 530g
• Dimensions: 85 x 112 x 125mm (L x W x H) 

June 25th, 2007

New Curve is Sleek! 

We have been testing a pre-release version of the 8300 for a short while now. We hope everyone appreciates that due to NDA we have to sit back tight lipped while the speculation and grainy leaked photographs make their way around the internet, but we’re convinced that the new BlackBerry 8300 will have been worth the wait.

BlackBerry Design
The photographs answer the obvious questions here – the 8300 is a full QWERTY device that utilises the new navigation standard for BlackBerry devices, the trackball. The keys are arranged in an oval shape across the body of the device, and as a result the BlackBerry 8300 is narrower than other full QWERTY models. Also, unlike the 8800, the BlackBerry 8300 keyboard has spacing between each key (similar to the 8700), making for very comfortable use.

On both sides of the casing you’ll find fully programmable Convenience keys, Send and End keys on the main body of the device and on the top a volume mute key.

So comparing this to the recently launched BlackBerry 8800, you’ll find that everything on the new 8300 is in pretty much the same place.

In addition to the standard miniUSB port you expect to find on the left side of the body, you’ll also notice the headphone jack – the first new enhancement. Closer inspection of the headphone port will reveal that the old 2.5mm headset jack is actually now a standard 3.5mm headphone socket which means you can plug in any headphone set.

In terms of size comparison to other devices, the BlackBerry 8300 is actually shorter than both the current 8700 and 8800 models is also narrower than both. In terms of thickness, the 8300 measures in almost identically to the ultra thin 8800 and Pearl devices.

Looking at the overall build quality we would have to say the BlackBerry 8300 has come on leaps and bounds. The case feels solid, not at all flimsy and the sides of the casing are also rubberized which is obviously there to enhance durability. Some Pearl owners have claimed that the device is a little flimsy and the back case slides off too easily – none of those complaints are expected on the 8300 which we think is the most rugged BlackBerry yet!

Under the back cover you’ll find a C-S2 battery (so expect a similar battery life to that of the 8700) and underneath that the microSD card slot. It seems that in this model (like the Pearl) you must remove the battery to change the memory card. RIM overcame this with the 8800 so we’ll assume that it was design constraints which prevented them making the BlackBerry 8300 the same.

Technical Detail

The GPRS/EDGE enabled quad band 8300 is another device utilising the Intel chipset. Moving through the menu screens and applications is nice, quick and smooth with next to no lag at all – booting times are also comparable to the 8800.

The firmware code on this model is version 4.2.2.67 (Platform 2.4.0.29) running Kernel 3.8.4.47, although this may alter slightly on the final release as our device is pre-launch.

In terms of OS enhancements there is now a built in spell check utility with the ability to create custom words in your own dictionary. Anyone who has used BBCorrector will find RIM’s own spell checker very similar. Once you have composed an email, click the trackball and in the submenu you will see ‘Spelling’. Clicking on this will check the entire email, highlighting any suspect words with suggestions underneath. In the Options screen you will also find the ‘Spelling’ application where you can configure your custom dictionary.

Also in the Options screen you’ll find a ‘GPS’ icon, but this is for pairing to an external GPS receiver – there is NO built in GPS as found on the BlackBerry 8800 so don’t be confused about this.

The Media Player has seen something of a facelift and now has a very ‘Apple Inc.’ feel to it. This coupled with the new headphone jack shows that RIM are trying hard to get the media users on board with this model.

The media player supports a variety of audio and video formats, and to compliment the media section you’ll also find a 2 megapixel camera with flash. While we’re on the topic of cameras, the 8300 (like the Pearl) will only take still images, not record video.

One of the many speculated features which our pre-launch device doesn’t have is Wi-Fi. This is either not happening at all, not happening on O2 (who kindly supplied us with this pre-launch device), or it simply isn’t on our pre-launch model and will feature on the final release.

We would love to have taken some screen images of the new BlackBerry 8300 but unfortunately we have been unable to get any of the screen utilities to work with devices running this version of the handheld firmware, including BBScreenShooter, JL_Cdmer, BBScreen or Idokorro BlackBerry Viewer. No doubt it’s just a matter of time.  

June 25th, 2007

The Sony DSC S650 is a seven megapixel starter digital camera. It has a standard three times zoom lens. It is easy to use and likely to appeal to anyone looking for a less expensive camera from one of the leading brands. The DSC S650 is on the large side to fit into a pocket, but is compact enough to be carried around without a problem.
 

Image Quality

click for larger test photo	click for larger test photo	click for larger test photo	click for larger test photo
click for larger test photo	click for larger test photo	click for larger test photo	click for larger test photo

The DSC S650 produced quite a strange set of test photos. For once I was more impressed by the indoor shots in poor light than with any of the other test photos I took.

My biggest gripe about the outdoor scenic type shots is the focusing. The pictures are simply not as sharp as I like to see. This is not just towards the edges of each shot but even towards the centre I feel the shots could be sharper. This is true of all three shots, one with the zoom lens half extended, one with the zoom not used at all and the final shot with the lens fully extended.

Another issue I have is that many of the test shots could have been brighter. This is true of all the outdoor test shots to some degree, but especially the second test without the zoom in use.

The glare of the sun also causes the camera a problem. The shots were taken on a very sunny day, but there is still a level of detail lost that I think could be improved on.

Colours are strong. This can be seen in the skies and with the darker green foliage in the outdoor shots. The test shot for colour shows the strength of the blue, but unfortunately areas that should be white have a blue tinge and areas that should be yellow have a green tinge as the blue mixes in.

Next up is the outdoor portrait. This is another photo where I feel it could have been brighter. I have no problems with the skin tones, but I would like to see the entire photo lightened up a notch or two.

Oddly the two lowlight photos are the best. Perhaps the camera works at its optimum with the flash on. The indoor portrait is well focused although it could also be lighter. There is no evidence of red eye in the shot.

In extreme lowlight the camera is able to focus well again. In this test the camera is fairly close to the beer bottles and the camera is able to lock onto the subject and focus successfully.

Focusing is not a problem with the macro shot. Again the problem is a lack of light.

Looking at the two test shots taken with higher ISO settings they are a big disappointment. Whilst it is rare for a camera to do well in this test the results show a lot of noise and deterioration even at ISO 400. At ISO 1000 the photo hits the dreadful mark.

---

 Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
The shutter lag delay for taking a single photo was 0.41 seconds. This is just above average. For five photos it took a respectable 8.30 seconds. Turning the flash on and repeating the tests is a whole new ball game. Times increased dramatically to 2.21 seconds for a single photo and 22.67 seconds for five photos. Sometimes it seemed to take an age to get the camera to focus with the flash turned on. 
 

June 25th, 2007

The good: The Motorola Razr V3m adds an integrated music player, VZ Navigator (Verizon’s GPS navigation service), and a Micro SD card slot. Like the V3c, it has a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, EV-DO support, and access to Verizon’s 3G service.

The bad: The Motorola Razr V3m suffers from poor speakerphone quality, a low-resolution display, and no analog roaming. You also have to remove the battery to access the Micro SD card, which is a bit of a pain.

The bottom line: The Motorola Razr V3m is the same as the Razr V3c in many ways, except for the addition of the music player, the Micro SD card slot, and support for VZ Navigator.
Motorola RAZR V3m Features
Exclusive steel grey anodized aluminum shell with a distinctive ultra-thin profile

• Innovative nickel-plated copper-alloy chemically-etched keypad with illumination panel
• Built-in music player and Stereo Headset Support via EMU
• Large internal and external color displays
• Integrated 1.3-megapixel camera with 4x Zoom, video recording, and photo album application
• Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free connectivity
• Speaker-independent voice recognition with full-duplex speakerphone
• WAP 2.0 compliant browser with EV-DO technology for high-speed data access to Sprint TV or Verizon Wireless’ VCAST Video and Music Stores