Gadgets Blog News

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 17th 2008 at 9:19PMYeah, you definitely have our permission to be incredibly envious of someone who is actually going to be motoring about in both Europe and North America on a frequent basis, but in all seriousness, we’re betting Sneaker isn’t the only chap out there looking for the best GPS for intercontinental travels. “I’m headed to Europe in the near future and will be doing some extensive driving. Thus, I’m wondering which GPS units your readers have found to be effective for cruising on the back-roads of Europe, while still getting the job done in North America as well? Would appreciate some recommendations.” You’ll notice a budget is glaringly absent here, so feel f (Read the full post about ‘Ask Engadget: Which GPS rules both North America and Europe?’…)

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by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 18th 2008 at 1:48AM Not much to get excited about here unless you’ve got a thing for shooting 640 x 480 VGA video underwater. Shipping in May for a bit less than $500, Sanyo’s latest waterproof Xacti packs a 5x optical zoom and 8 megapixel CMOS sensor for stills and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video recordings at 60fps to SDHC media. It also carries JIS IPX5 and IPX8 waterproof ratings which means it’ll go to a depth of 1.5-meters for up to 1-hour without electronic seizure. (Read the full post about ‘Sanyo’s Xacti DMX-CA8 waterproof camcorder drips VGA weak sauce’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 18th 2008 at 7:57AM Seen enough of Sony’s 3-millimeter thin OLED TV? Nah, we reckoned not — and even if you’ve grown somewhat accustomed to that sleek 11-inch exterior, opening this pretty boy up gives you a whole new perspective. The camera-toting cats over at bunnie:studios managed to happen upon a live XEL-1 tear down while perusing the floor at the Embedded Systems Conference, and sure enough, they succeeded in capturing the momentous event and were kind enough to host up a smattering of high-resolution images to prove it. Anxious to see what Sony could possibly fit inside of this thing? You’re just one click away from finding out.[Thanks, Andrew]ReadPermalinkEmail this10 Commen (Read the full post about ‘Sony’s XEL-1 OLED TV splayed in high-resolution’…)

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The Sims Is A Global Cultural Phenomenon In 60 Countries And 22 Languages Thanks To Players of The Sims Everywhere That’s the headline of The Sims’ (a label of Electronic Arts) press release today, celebrating 100 million units sold around the world. As my little girl, Mackenzie, is addicted to Sims and owns EVERY game, starting with the first one sold in 2000, I figure EA could spread the joy and send us a royalty check. Sixty percent of gamers are girls, and EA was one of the first companies to clue into this. By allowing users to create their own characters and worlds, it’s created a wonderful virtual world for my baby. She loves designing new houses and cities for her lucky Sims family. (Read the full post about ‘Sims sells 100 million units — and owes me money’…)

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LapWorks has decided that its Futura versatile laptop cooler will look much better if it comes in a plethora of colors, and have promptly gone about by announcing the Painted Futura. Apparently this idea came about after LapWorks issued a clarion call for new colors a few months’ back, letting users vote their favorites to enter production. Guess this is where democracy on the Web comes in, although what the majority wants might not necessarily be what you like. Strangely enough, Painted Futuras aren’t painted at all actually, but printed using industrial grade ink that hardens when exposed to UV light. All Painted Futuras are custom made per order, and you can always return it for a full refund within 14 days if you aren’t too happy with it. (Read the full post about ‘LapWorks Painted Futuras’…)

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Just in case you’ve forgotten, AT&T launched its Experience Store on Thursday in San Bruno, bringing the Microsoft Surface to the masses. To refresh your memory, Microsoft Surface aims to offer an innovative and unique customer experience, opening up the possibilities of exploring and interacting with various devices simply by using the sense of touch. With Microsoft Surface, AT&T hopes that its Experience Store will offer something new and different to the masses, introducing a paradigm shift in the ways stores interact with customers. Other than San Bruno, other four locations that feature Microsoft’s Surface technology include New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco. (Read the full post about ‘AT&T launches Experience Store’…)

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Filed in archive Tutorial by jim on April 18, 2008 Composition is the art of arranging things so that a pleasing picture is the result. Obviously this is easier when the subjects being photographed are movable, such as people or small items, but what do you do when you can't reposition something, such as a tree or a mountain? Then, you have to move yourself, and try various angles in an attempt to "rearrange" the immovable. Of course with a digital camera you can afford to take many, many pictures, increasing your chance of getting a really good one, or two, and only pay for those you print. Here's a free course on digital photography composition that I think you'll find interesting and helpful. (Read the full post about ‘Free Digital Photography Composition Course’…)

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The Guardian is reporting that according to a study by the industry group British Music Rights, 95% of 18-24 years old engaged in what it calls “home copying” which refers to things such as making copies of CD’s and MP3 files. The study reported that 2/3rds of that group copied five CD’s a month for their friends. Is this something new? Not really. Anyone who grew up in the 80’s probably has fond memories of making mix tapes with their double deck boom boxes, or by using their stereo systems to copy LP tracks onto cassette, and when the VCR came out, people eagerly copied and traded tapes of their favorite shows and music videos.  Is sharing bad for the music industry? (Read the full post about ‘Illegal copying is nothing new to kids’…)

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by Joshua Topolsky, posted Apr 17th 2008 at 7:26PM Hong Kong always gets the good stuff first. Witness the SunView PMP Projector… or more handily known as a PMPP. The little silver box is the first commercially available pico projector — created in by Sunlink International in collaboration with iView Limited — and is currently trickling out in small quantities (though there are plans to ramp up production). The device is an integrated PMP running Windows CE, is capable of producing a 640 x 480 projection, has an embedded 3.5-inch LCD display, and utilizes an SD slot for additional storage. (Read the full post about ‘Meet SunView: the first commercially available pico projector’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 17th 2008 at 8:00PM
Although Panasonic’s HDC-SD9 is mighty, mighty small, reviewers over at CNET felt that it fell short in a number of key areas. For starters, Panny included a few quirky design choices; for instance, removing the battery requires the LCD cover to be open, but doing so can also turn the camera on unless you place it in a different mode. Granted, the minuscule size didn’t leave the outfit too much to work with, but if you’re easily flustered by these kinds of niggles, you can run far, far away right now. As for image quality, critics noted that still shots were marginally better than awful, but capturing full motion HD clips was something it did manage to do relatively well. (Read the full post about ‘Panasonic’s flash-based HDC-SD9 HD camcorder gets reviewed’…)

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