Gadgets Blog News

by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 12:10PMWe’re not sure why Kodak saw fit to announce the EasyShare M1093 IS camera separately from the slew of new gear it dropped early this morning, but here it is, all $199 and 10 megapixels of it. Nothing too spectacular here apart from Smart Capture, which intelligently adjusts settings based on the scene, but you’re getting an image stabilizer, ISO 3200 sensitivity, and an optional HDTV dock for two bills, so it’s not a bad deal — just don’t expect your socks to be rocked. (Read the full post about ‘Kodak EasyShare M1093 IS camera rolls in late’…)

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by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 9:38AM We’ve all dreamed of wire clutter-free home theaters for years (admit it), and Belkin is about to make things a lot easier with the FlyWire. The new wireless transmitter and receiver can send 1080p video over a 5GHz band. Belkin promises little to no interference and no latency even for you gamers. As for connections, we’re looking at three HDMI ins, two component ins, one composite, and one HDMI out. Remote control is done via IR, which should be welcome news to those of you with universal remotes. FlyWire will come in two packages: The FlyWire AV69003 at $999.99 is meant for a whole-home solution with an IR backchannel for multi-room control, while the FlyWire R1 AV69000 at $699.99 is meant for a single room without the IR backchannel. (Read the full post about ‘Belkin’s FlyWire does 1080P without wires’…)

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by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 7:55AM A number of shots have surfaced of an upcoming Sidekick that we’ve alternately known as the Gekko and Gecco, but the rumor du jour on the naming front is that we’ll actually be calling it “Sidekick 2008″ by the time it launches (later this month if we’re lucky). The grainy photography shows a device looking roughly like what we expect the new model to look like — but more interestingly, it shows the phone wearing a variety of different shells, some of which rock as much bedazzlement as a Swarovski one-off. Pretty cool. (Read the full post about ‘Sidekick Gecco to be christened Sidekick 2008?’…)

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Kodak has announced their new point-and-shoot EasyShare Z1015 IS digital camera. Geared for the aspiring photographer who prefers to have both automatic and manual control, this camera boasts of a 10-megapixel resolution, a Schneider-Kreuznach lens with 15x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle lens, 3-inch LCD screen and high ISO mode from 60 to 3200. In addition, the Kodak Z1015 IS captures still images in high-definition quality at 16:9 aspect ratio and 720p videos at 30fps. Other features of this digital camera include optical image stabilization, face detection, perfect touch technology, text and sound tagging, and multimedia slideshow feature the runs on your camera’s LCD. (Read the full post about ‘Kodak intro’s the 15x zoom, 10MP EasyShare Z1015 IS camera’…)

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Kodak has announced their new point-and-shoot EasyShare Z1015 IS digital camera. Geared for the aspiring photographer who prefers to have both automatic and manual control, this camera boasts of a 10-megapixel resolution, a Schneider-Kreuznach lens with 15x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle lens, 3-inch LCD screen and high ISO mode from 60 to 3200. In addition, the Kodak Z1015 IS captures still images in high-definition quality at 16:9 aspect ratio and 720p videos at 30fps. Other features of this digital camera include optical image stabilization, face detection, perfect touch technology, text and sound tagging, and multimedia slideshow feature the runs on your camera’s LCD. (Read the full post about ‘Kodak intro’s the 15x zoom, 10MP EasyShare Z1015 IS camera’…)

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Net giant Google just revealed their plans to release their version of living in a virtual world with the online 3D social arena “Lively.” Unlike the program “Second Life”, Lively allows users to enter “their world” via IE or Firefox after the initial download and installation of the program. You can make use of integrating the Internet in several ways, bring in your photos or videos that you have hosted online, email your friends inviting them to join, or use the special pre-written widgets to embed your Lively area on your blog. Currently it doesn’t work with MySpace, they are still working on that one. “It’s integrated with the Internet. (Read the full post about ‘Google’s net reach broadens with their “Lively” take on “Second Life”’…)

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Net giant Google just revealed their plans to release their version of living in a virtual world with the online 3D social arena “Lively.” Unlike the program “Second Life”, Lively allows users to enter “their world” via IE or Firefox after the initial download and installation of the program. You can make use of integrating the Internet in several ways, bring in your photos or videos that you have hosted online, email your friends inviting them to join, or use the special pre-written widgets to embed your Lively area on your blog. Currently it doesn’t work with MySpace, they are still working on that one. “It’s integrated with the Internet. (Read the full post about ‘Google’s net reach broadens with their “Lively” take on “Second Life”’…)

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by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 2:48AM Nintendo has been tight with Wii accessories, allowing few — if any — third-party impostors while not being very forthcoming about plans for future first-party input devices. That’s all changed today (at least a little) with the Blazepro Wii Classic Controller, an alternative to Nintendo’s own dual-stick pad for your Nintendo 64 gaming goodness. Meanwhile, some snoops at Spong found an honest-to-goodness Nintendo patent for what looks to be an official classic controller attachment that combines motion control with the Wii’s iconic infrared motion control. As far as availability, the Blazepro can be had now for just $14, but the official Nintendo attachment is still in fantasy patent land. (Read the full post about ‘Blazepro ships Wii Classic Controller, Nintendo hints at first-party classic attachment’…)

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No middleman. Claims of paying their artists more than twice the royalty rate offered on commercial radio. Sounds pretty darn good for independent artists, doesn’t it? Last.FM is a music-streaming service that says they offer all of that and more.  The company actually launched in January of 2007, and has since been bought by CBS, so, they have some pretty strong backing holding them up. And they are starting to pass the longer running Sound Exchange even with the fact that royalty rates for music being streamed over the Internet has been raised; making it somewhat difficult for ad-supported start-ups to stay afloat. (Read the full post about ‘Last.FM, are they really music for the masses?’…)

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by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 1:56AM var Steve Jobs told USA Today that the Apple App Store will launch with “more than 500″ applications Thursday night for the iPhone and ipod touch. Of these, 25% will be free and 90% (of those for sale) will cost $9.99 or less. “This is the biggest launch of my career,” said Jobs. Analyst Tim Bajarin at Creative Strategies said, “When IBM introduced the PC, it was good, but it didn’t take off until people started discovering the software.” It’s these apps then, he adds, that will “dramatically differentiates the iphone” from Treos and BlackBerrys. (Read the full post about ‘Jobs: App Store launching with 500 iPhone applications, 25% free’…)

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