Jenny Levine: Gadgets

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 06:01:58 GMT

Gadget snapshots from Cebit. Good article at BBCi called Gadget snapshots from Cebit which details some nice offerings including 3D screens, a 1.3 MegaPixel camera phone and even something creative from Microsoft:) Thanks to Phil. "Here is an example of why the manufacturers of digital cameras are starting to get worried - the new Sony Ericsson S700 with a 1.3 megapixel camera. They are calling these handsets "Dual Front", as one side looks like a mobile and the other like a... [PDA 24/7]

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 03:52:09 GMT

The Second Sight wearable display. We know people use them, but we don't think we've ever spotted anyone sporting a wearable display in public, something which probably bodes poorly for their future prospects. Or it could just mean that people who own them are simply reluctant to wear them outdoors. Either way, Interactive Imaging Systems has a new one coming out called the Second Sight M2100 that can connect to laptops and Pocket PCs and make it appear as if you're looking at a 17-inch monitor from three feet away. [Via Pocket PC Thoughts] [Engadget]

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 03:50:53 GMT

Cellular Jewelry, A Real Life Blink Tag. JOEL JOHNSON -- Cool in a gimmicky, Hot Topic sort of way, Cellular Jewelry is a $20 bracelet that lights up whenever the wearer (or anyone else one to three feet away) receives a phone call. What's more, the bracelets (they also have watches and a pen) continue to flash... [Gizmodo]

Wed, 09 Apr 2003 04:51:39 GMT

Nokia 3300 review.

Review of Nokia's new 3300 cellphone, which is designed to double as a portable MP3 player and also has an FM tuner, a digital voice recorder, an MMC memory card slot for storage of audio files, and a 128x128 pixel color screen. The 3300 is also one of the first cellphones to support True Tones ring tones:

True Tones are created with real music and allow the user to use songs, natural sounds, special effects and mechanical noises as ring tones in order to announce an incoming call. Nokia has also announced that once the Nokia 3300 is available on the market, True Tone ring tones will be part of the vast range of mobile music services from Nokia.

No Bluetooth though, which would have been nice for grabbing MP3s from a PC.
Read

[Gizmodo]

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 04:02:35 GMT

Bluetooth MP3 player/cellphone headset.

And one more from Sony Ericsson: a Bluetooth MP3 player that comes with a built-in microphone so it can double as a headset for any Bluetooth-enabled phone. When a call comes in, the HBM-30 automatically mutes the music so you can decide whether or not to take the call, and uses Sony Memory Stick PRO for storage.
Read

[Gizmodo]

Thu, 23 Jan 2003 03:58:09 GMT

The proliferation of digital media receivers.

Sean Captain of PC World notes that at CES no fewer than eight companies introduced devices like HP's Digital Media Receiver which let you wirelessly stream audio and video files off of your PC and on to your stereo or television. One name that's gone largely unnoticed: Cd3o with its Network MP3 Player (pictured at right) that lacks a display, but instead talks to you via a synthesized voice. Now that's one futuristic gadget!
Read

[Gizmodo]

We'll Probably Never See This in the U.S.

Wed, 22 Jan 2003 04:04:34 GMT

Sharp Unveils Well-Connected Home Server

"At its heart, the HG-01S is a hard drive-based video recorder with an additional photo album feature but what differentiates it from some of the other digital video recorders or home servers on the market is the inclusion of a Web server and networking functions that allow recorded video to be viewed from other computers across the Internet.

It has a 120GB hard drive and records in MPEG-2 at 720-pixel by 480-pixel resolution at either 8 megabits per second, 4 mbps, or 2 mbps. This translates to 30 hours of video in the highest quality mode, 60 hours at medium quality, and 115 hours at low quality. It can also transcode MPEG-2 video into MPEG-4, which is a newer and more efficient video compression system.

At home and in front of the television, accessing the device is much like any other hard drive-based video recorder. A graphical menu offers quick access to recorded TV programs.

Away from the living room, there are a number of options. Around the house, a built-in wireless LAN (802.11b) adapter offers access to any suitably equipped computer while the Internet can be used to access and view recorded programs and images when away from home--if the device is hooked up to a broadband connection via its Ethernet port.....

From a personal computer, it is possible to view recorded TV programs and it is here that the MPEG-4 transcoding function becomes handy.... The MPEG-4 data stream is much lighter. This can also be viewed on some PDAs.....

Another function of the device is its family photo album feature which collects and can display snapshots. These can be transferred to the server directly from a memory card via a PC Card slot on the front of the device. If the user wishes, some can also be published on the Internet for other people to view either from a personal computer of cellular telephone. Members of the family can also send images taken with camera-equipped cell phones back to the server which will store them in its memory.

The HG-01S will go on sale in Japan on February 15 and cost around $848. Plans for overseas sales of the device were not announced." [PC World]

New Desktop/Tablet PC Combo

Mon, 20 Jan 2003 04:54:10 GMT

Live From Gadget Central

"Let the record show that CES 2003 finally put the CRT monitor in the grave. Flat panels practically wallpapered the place. Samsung and Philips continue to dominate in LCD industrial design. What stood out for me were Philips's DesXcape wireless touchscreen monitor and keyboard that turn any desktop into a portable tablet PC (out in February for $1,500), and what may be the industry's first home-theater-in-a-box, also from the Dutch electronics giant, with a DVD recorder that will launch this fall for $1,300. Samsung had so many gorgeous new displays, I just stood there with my jaw on the ground. But stay alert: More than one major brand will be introducing liquid-crystal-on-silicon screens and next-generation HDTVs this year." [Business 2.0]

I'll Trade You a Star Wars for Your Lord of the Rings....

Fri, 17 Jan 2003 04:31:10 GMT

Credit Card-Size Hard Drive Can Hold 5GB

"Take a look at one of those credit cards in your wallet. That's the exact size and thickness of an upcoming, revolutionary removable storage device called StorCard.

Created by a company with the same name, StorCard can contain from 100MB to more than 5GB of data on a plastic card. At first glance, it looks like a credit card, and even has a magnetic strip like a credit card, for potential use in standard credit card readers.

The hard disk data, however, is accessed on a tiny spinning disk inside the thin card....

A spinning wheel made of Mylar is engaged when the card is inserted into a StorReader, a USB-connected drive or PC Card that reads and writes to the StorCard. The reader is expected to retail for under $100 and the cards for under $15 each, Heil says.

The StorCard and StorReader are scheduled to become available in the second half of 2003. The company is talking with media producers, and a partnership announcement with a widely recognized producer of blank media is expected in the next month, Heil says.

Amazingly, within the card is an on-board processor containing integrated software controls that can encrypt data securely in real time....

StorCard promises the tiny hard drive will provide high performance to quickly handle large amounts of data. It will support a volume sufficient to stream media files, for example, according to Heil. As a result, the StorCard could store even material that previously would fit only on a DVD." [PC World]

This gives "trading cards" a whole new meaning! And you thought the iPod was slim! I sure hope that's USB 2.0....

Fri, 17 Jan 2003 02:29:31 GMT

From the PC to the stereo.

PCWorld on the ever-proliferating number of ways you can wirelessly connect your stereo to your computer so you can listen to the MP3s trapped within.
Read

[Gizmodo]