Sony DCR-DVD201 Handycam

Sony DCR-DVD101 Handycam, the Sony DCR-DVD201 Handycam's new design is smaller and lighter than last year's model, the DCR-DVD100. For just $100 more than the DVD101, however, the DVD201 is a much better camcorder, producing quite good video and taking much better stills. It's our Editors' Choice for DVD camcorders.

The DVD201 has the same 3.2- to 32-mm Carl Zeiss 10X optical zoom lens as the DVD101, though its 1/5-inch (690,000 effective pixels) CCD is slightly larger. The controls and design are the same.

The quality was on par with most of the DV camcorders we've looked at, though it fell short of the Canon Optura 400, the best DV camcorder in this roundup. Dynamic range and exposure remain similar to that of the DVD101, and it was still hard to determine detail in shadows, but the overall image appeared sharper and in better focus than the DVD101's output. On the other hand, this sharper video made artifacts more visible on the DVD201. Our low-light test video on auto settings revealed a dark but less noisy picture. The DVD201 has the same infrared capabilities as the DVD101.

In our high-action scene, autofocus performed quite well, maybe even a bit better than that of the Canon Optura 400. Some motion artifacts showed up in the form of jagged edges, due to the MPEG compression, but they weren't much of a disturbance. Video of our Gretag-Macbeth color chart revealed realistic colors that were more saturated and vibrant than those shot by the DVD101, though the grayscale remained a tad warm. Detail was crisp and sharp with no anomalies when we viewed our recorded video segments through a set-top DVD player on a TV.

This unit's still-image capture quality is a vast improvement on the DVD101's. The DVD201's pixel-transition ratio averaged 6 percent—generally considered unacceptable in a still camera, but fine for e-mailing and printing in small formats for posting on the fridge. Our resolution results, however, averaged a quite decent 525 lines. The daylight still-life capture was a bit soft overall, with some jagged edges. The exposure and colors were fine, but we detected some graininess in the shadows. The camcorder has no built-in flash, though you can use the hot shoe to attach an external flash.

This DVD camcorder can't quite match the video quality of the Optura 400, but there's no denying the appeal of shooting straight to DVD. If that simple-to-use format is the way you want to go, this camcorder is the one we recommend.

Sony Mylo: Media Player With WiFi, Skype, Browser, and Messaging

Compared to most Sony gear we've seen over the past few years, the mylo is a breath of fresh air. The media player does MPEG-4, digital audio, and pictures. But it also has a WiFi connection and a QWERTY keyboard, for chatting on Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger (No AIM support, sorry.) Wait, wait, wait! It also works as a wireless Skype phone! And it has an Opera browser. And it can wirelessly stream music to other mylo owners in the area, ala iTunes. Without cellular connectivity, its not going to best a Hiptop, but we love the open standard support. Full Stats and a video review after the jump.

The mylo has 1GB of flash memory, backed by a Memory Stick Pro Duo slot. Its screen is a 320 by 240 pixel 2.4-inch LCD. It'll retail for $350 when it hits the shelves in September.

Sony HDR-HC3 HDV 1080i Handycam

Sony's HDR-HC3 sets the bar very high, letting consumers film home movies in stunning HD quality.

Pros
Incredible video quality. Excellent sound. Performs well in extreme lighting scenarios.

Cons
No included software. Instructions should feature more about the benefits and details of high-definition video. Menus are still not very clear. Cheaper than its predecessor, but still pricey.

Spec Data

Weight: 1.2 lb
LCD size: 2.7 inches
CCD Resolution: 2.1 megapixels
CCDType: Single CMOS Chip
Video Recording Format: DV Tape
Still Image Recording Format: Memory Stick Duo type / MB
Battery Life: 55 Min
Optical Zoom: 10 times (X)
Image Stabilization: Digital
Focal Length (Wide): 5.1 mm
Focal Length (Telephoto): 51 mm

Source : http://www.pcmag.com/

Send Unlimited SMS Worldwide

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Just need internet connection only

Go this website http://www.gofreesms.com/

USB Shaver: Rechargeable, Less Crappy

A bit like the other USB Shaver, this second horseman improves on the first in both price and functionality. Instead of being tethered to a USB port, this shaver is battery powered and rechargeable, which means you don't have to get shavings all inside your laptop because your USB cable is only 3 feet long. Good news for the poor Dell repairman who has to refurbish your machine.

Other improvements: $22 instead of $30, straight-foil instead of dual-heads, and a light-up USB port so you know when it's plugged in. Not bad for a razor you're not afraid to accidentally leave behind in your hotel room. – Jason Chen

Rechargeable USB Shaver [Brando]

Exploding PowerBook Surprisingly Not Sony's Fault

Most consumers unassumingly trust the technicians that a cable company or any other kind of service provider sends to their door, but this incident is a flametastic reminder that just because they're wearing a badge doesn't mean they know what they're doing. A tech for Comcast showed up at this woman's house to install her cable modem, but wound up detonating her Powerbook after plugging the coaxial cable from the modem into a "similar-appearing" electrical cable while the Powerbook was still connected to it. Results?

Everything on the desk was blackened with soot and burned either partially or completely. Three external hard drives, a digital camera, videotapes, papers, CD's, etc. The floor, wall, and radiator cover were burned, along with the tabletop.

Every cable that was connected to the laptop, Ethernet, Firewire, Power, and USB, was forcibly shot out of each portal, and each portal covered with the black soot. Metal bits and electronic debris from the power cable hub and other cables was scattered around the room and some wires had split apart into copper shreds. Molten silver metal flecks are still lodged in the windowsill.

Ouch. While Comcast took responsibility and paid for the damages as well as data recovery services for the hard drive, it's a harsh way to learn that techs don't know everything

Telescopic Lens For Camera Phones

Itching to get in close with your cameraphone? Check out this telescopic lens attachment, which turns your Nokia or Sony Ericsson into a zooming machine.

Slightly more conspicuous than just snapping off a shot normally, the lens pops onto the back with a mount, and gives you up to 6x optical zoom.With something like this, you can turn plain old upskirt photos into a full blown gynecological exam.

Buy Here

BluOnyx Digital Campfire For Phones, PMPs

One of the many problems with using a cellphone as your sole media device is the lack of storage space. A one or two gigabyte SD card just doesn't hold enough music or movies to be used as a full-time mobile entertainment center. Enter the BluOnyx Mobile Content Server. With USB, SD, and upcoming Wi-Fi, BluOnyx allows you to stream data to your cellphones for on-the-fly playback, just like the data was on the device. The Digital Campfire holds anywhere from 1GB to 40GB of data, which can be streamed to any nearby device as long as it's been authenticated. The price will range from $99 to $250, and it seems like an interesting solution for carrying around with you on your commute. Quite useless for us, however, seeing as our commute consists of getting from our bed to our desk, with a slight detour to drop off some goods at the bathroom.

Product Site

IBM eServer xSeries 335

The IBM eServer xSeries 335 has a solid combination of features and top-notch management tools, though its performance was not at full steam. The performance degradation was due, in part, to its inclusion of the 3.06-GHz Xeon processor with 512K of L2 cache instead of the more recent, more popular Xeon with 1MB of L3 cache. Yet the eServer is still a competent system.

The server is an object lesson in doing things IBM's way—which is not a drawback. For example, there are no video port or PS/2 connectors, which all the other servers have, and which are important for accessing servers locally. But IBM offers C2T (Cable Chaining Technology), which connects each pair of IBM servers in a daisy chain with a single cable, eliminating the need for separate keyboard, video, and mouse cables; thus there is no need for the additional ports.

Unfortunately—and surprisingly— the eServer's power supply is not redundant, as on the Dell and HP servers; the eServer has only one power supply. It does have five user-replaceable fans, which (as on the Dell unit) will compensate if one should fail.

Apple iPhone

It seems like Kevin Rose isn't the only person with "insider" knowledge of the iPhone. Morgan Stanley analyst, Rebecca Runkle, has come forth with further details on the infamous phone. (How she got the info is anyone's guess). Unlike Rose, Runkle says the phone will cost $599 for the 4GB model and a whopping $649 for the 8GB version. She also claims it'll be wider than an iPod Nano, but narrower than the 5G iPod. It'll have a nice 3.5-inch display and will come in multi-colored aluminum shells like the Nano. As always, I'd take the news with a grain of salt. I especially hope she's wrong about the pricing

First Overclocked GeForce 8800 Cards From XFX: X-Rated Speeds

As if Nvidia's GeForce 8800 cards weren't already fast enough, XFX is taking it upon themselves to be the first company to overclock them, sending them into hyperspeed territory. At the head of the pack is the 8800 GTX XXX Edition which is overclocked from 575MHz to 630MHz. Meanwhile the core clock on the 8800 GTS XXX Edition gets a kick up from 500 MHz to 550MHz. Pricing on the cards isn't out yet, but you can expect to pay a nice premium for them when they do come out.

Leaked Sony Ericsson AI W880

Here are more of those next gen Sony Ericsson phones. But for the first time, the photos are sharp enough that we'll consider em real. The rest of the facts are, well, not very forthcoming. But the source speculates the phone will be dubbed the W880, a follow up to the competent W850 and W810 Walkman phones: the cellies I credit SE's turnaround with. We spy a very 3G video conference cam on the front, too. This means we'll likely have to beg and plead for a US model.

A shame, because the backside is as nice as the front:

LG Choclate Bar MP3 Player

LG has some of the hottest phones on the market currently with the Chocolate line and they are looking to cash in on those not willing to replace a phone, but want a cool MP3 player to go with an existing phone. To try and grab these buyers LG has introduced the LG UP3Flat Chocolate MP3 player. About the size of an iPod Shuffle, the LG device is feature packed and has full featured controls and voice recording. Battery life is ten hours and capacities include 512 MB, 1GB and 2GB sizes. The silver buttons you see in the image are the actual navigation buttons and the red are LED's that illuminate when the buttons are pushed. The player connects to your PC via USB, but the cool part is that the UDB cable retracts into the player so it is always with you.

Minox Armband Keeps You from Baking in the Sun

Worried about frying in the sun? The Minox Armband helps you monitor your sun exposure so you know when it’s the right time to seek shade.

We all know spending too much time in the sun is a bad thing, so the last thing we want is a gadget to nag us about it. Yet that's pretty much what the Suntimer does. When it senses you've gotten your fair share of UV rays, it sounds an alarm to tell you to head indoors. Maybe if it had some extra features we'd consider strapping one on, but we'll stick with the sunblock for now. And besides, we prefer our skin like we prefer our chicken. Extra cripsy

Source : Minox Suntimer

World's First 300 GB 2.5" SATA Hard Disk Drive

Fujitsu Limited recently announced the development of the world's first 2.5" hard disk drive that offers storage capacity of 300 gigabytes (GB) with a Serial ATA interface. The new hard disk drive "MHX2300BT" will be available in late February 2007. Featuring the highest storage capacity in the 2.5" class, it will be available on a global basis for use primarily in multifunctional mobile PCs and digital TVs.

Fujitsu began selling hard disk drives with perpendicular magnetic recording in October of this year. It has been an industrial leader in introducing high-capacity 2.5" hard disk drives, launching products with 160 GB in September 2005 and 200 GB in May 2006 that garnered high praise from many customers.

MHX2300BT marks the commercial introduction of second generation of perpendicular magnetic recording technology. The new hard disk drive will be offered in 300 GB, the highest storage capacity available in 2.5" hard disk drives, and 250 GB versions, offering the capacity needed to store terrestrial broadcasting digital TV videos. This level of capacity makes these hard disk drives suitable alternatives to the 3.5"drives typically found in desktop PCs, and their small size makes them especially well-suited to flat-panel TVs with built-in recorders.

The new hard disk drives are the RoHS compliant and have read/write power consumption requirements of just 1.6 W, among the lowest in the world, making them environmentally-friendly products. They are also exceptionally quiet, emitting just 2.1 bels of noise at idle.

Source: Fujitsu

PS4 In 2010?

The Vice President of Technology Paul Holman (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe), states that “a PS4 will be launched by Sony but not until at least 2010.” He said that “Sony will introduce a series of firmware upgrades that will give the PS3 more media centre capability while allowing for the introduction of third party applications and hardware “Such as interactive controllers” similar to the Nintendo” Speaking to consumer site Gamespot, SCEA communications boss Dave Karraker said, "Following the launch of the PlayStation 3 just a few weeks ago, and witnessing the huge consumer demand for the product, I think it would be rather short-sighted for anyone to predict there might not be a next generation of PlayStation product."

Via = smarthouse.com.au

Nissan Pivo – Concept Car With Spinning Cockpit

Check out thie Nissan Pivo. The Pivo is a tiny car that features a spinning cockpit and electric sliding doors. It also features several video cameras which help reduce blind spots.

It is a user-friendly three-seater commuter with future electric powertrain technologies. The cabin can be rotated 360 degrees thanks to drive-by-wire technologies, eliminating the need to reverse. Advanced technologies such as "See-through Pillars" and "Around View Monitor" help reduce blind spots. New human-machine interface (HMI) "IR commander" allows driver to control audio and navigation systems and air conditioner by pointing finger(s) to the dash-mounted infrared camera. The electric powertrain matches the Nissan-developed compact lithium-ion battery and Super Motor achieving zero emissions and enabling a compact vehicle packaging.

Source : Nissan-Global

Luxury Terminal - Exclusive Quatar Terminal for 1st Class

At the end of November, Qatar Airways opened its brand new luxury air terminal at the Doha International Airport in Qatar. The terminal, which serves only first and business class passengers, is over 10,000 sq. meters and will handle as many as 800 passengers per hour, passengers who will have to opportunity to enjoy spa treatments, Jacuzzis and saunas, as well as "exclusive check-in areas, duty free [shops], conference rooms, a nursery [and] a clinic." The terminal is only scheduled to be in operation until 2009, when a large portion of the Doha Airport will be reopened after extensive remodeling. "In the new international airport, we will have first-class facilities, so this structure will not be necessary anymore," said a spokesman. Until then, however, it will definitely be a big selling point for the airline.

Free Charging Stations - Charge Your Electric Car for Free

Free charging stations for electric cars are now available in Westminster, UK. The city has the highest level of air pollution in the UK, caused by the high amount of daily traffic coming in and out of the city. Councillor Alan Bradley said: “Putting free charging points on the street where people need them most is a simple concept which we hope will help galvanise broader appeal for electric car use. London, and particularly Westminster, has well documented problems with air quality and electric cars are an excellent way to start dealing with that.” Agreed!! I wonder when Malaysia will have those..

Source : bbc.com

Samsung - Ultra Slim TV Phone

Slim TV phone: A model shows Samsung Electronics' new digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) TV handset, which is only 12.9-millimeters thick. It is the slimmest TV phone with a sliding screen, the company said.

Organic Display - LG Electronics Environmental Friendly Laptop

LG Electronics develop a laptop called “ebook”, as a replacement for the existing LCD (liquid crystal display) panels, it uses OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panels which are more proficient in terms of energy consumption and manufacturing processes (like the one used in LG’s Chocolate Phone) and a transparent cylindrical hinge as storage for clean fuels. South Korea’s second largest electronics maker said Thursday that it was selected as one of the 12 “best of the best” design concept winners by Red Dot Award, for its futuristic laptop PC design, which has a wide screen and operates on eco-friendly alcohol power.

Source : times.hankooki.com

Playstation 3 (PS 3)

Sony officially unveiled the PS3 to the public on May 16, 2005 during an E3 conference. A functional version of the console was not present at E3 2005 nor the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005, although at both events demonstrations were held on devkits (e.g. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) and comparable PC hardware, and video footage based on the predicted PS3 specifications was also shown (e.g. Mobile Suit Gundam). It was not until E3 2006 that games were shown on actual PlayStation 3 systems. At E3 2005, Sony claimed the PlayStation 3 would have two HDMI and three Ethernet ports, which were later reduced to one of each.[10] In preparation for launch, Sony demonstrated 27 playable PS3 titles during the Tokyo Game Show in September 2006 on final hardware.

The basic configuration of the console has a 20 GB internal hard drive. The "premium" version of the PlayStation 3 comes with an internal 60 GB Serial ATA 2.5" hard drive, IEEE 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity, and multiple flash memory card readers, and features a brighter silver-colored trim. Both consoles now feature a silver-colored logo. The hard drive is upgradeable, using the standard Serial ATA interface. Memory card support can be added to the basic configuration through adapters, but there is no official Wi-Fi adapter. However, as both models feature wired gigabit Ethernet capabilities, wireless networking could be added through the use of an external third-party wireless LAN adapter. Sony announced that the HDMI cable will not be included, instead Composite video cables will be included.

iPod

iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Computer and launched in 2001. Devices in the iPod range are primarily music players, designed around a central scroll wheel — although the iPod shuffle has buttons only. The full-sized model stores media on an internal hard drive, while the smaller iPod nano and iPod shuffle use flash memory. The random-play capability of the iPod shuffle is reflected in its name. Like many digital audio players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices. Apple focussed its development on the iPod's unique user interface and its ease of use, rather than on technical capability.

As of October 2005, the lineup consists of the video-capable fifth generation iPod; the smaller iPod nano; and the display-less iPod shuffle. These models were updated in September 2006.
The bundled software used for transferring music is called iTunes. As a jukebox application, iTunes stores a comprehensive library of music on the user's computer and can play, burn, and rip music from a CD. It can also sync photos and videos.

The iPod is currently the world's best-selling range of digital audio players and its worldwide mainstream adoption makes it one of the most popular consumer brands. Some of Apple's design choices and proprietary actions have, however, led to criticism and legal battles.