Archive for October, 2007
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
Merely months after cranking out the P5000, Nikon apparently felt the need to up the ante rather hastily with the Coolpix P5100.
Unfortunately, it seems that this unit is yet another shining example of why stuffing a 12-megapixel sensor into a compact camera isn’t exactly the greatest of ideas. Granted, the image quality here was noticeably better than that produced by the Fujifilm FinePix F50fd, but performance was sorely lacking when using any ISO greater than 400. Despite that shortcoming, reviewers were quite enthralled by the on board controls and overall ergonomics, and it was also noted that most shots could be brought “under control†with a bit of tinkering. Overall, the crew went ahead and awarded the shooter four out of five stars, suggesting that its reasonable pricetag was much to thank. If you’ve been eying this one from a distance, you owe it to yourself to check out the full review before pulling the trigger or just blowing it off.
Posted in Digital Cameras | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
Meet LG’s latest DAP, the UP3. That name gives a hint as to the device’s objective to double-up as both a USB drive and MP3 player.
Of course, the vast majority of all MP3 players already do this — something apparently lost on LG’s marketing department. The all metal UP3 shares the stylings of their FM37 touch-screen player and comes packing 1GB, 2GB, 4GB of storage; an FM radio; MP3, WMA, and OGG audio and ASF video support; and an itty bitty OLED display of unspecified dimensions supporting 65,000 colors. 4GB will cost you just 84,000 (about $92) whenever these pop for retail.
Posted in Mobile News, Music | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
Everybody’s favorite IP duplication engine is back in the news. Meizu’s M8 Mini One iPhone clone just received an iPod touch makeover in a bid for protection from Apple’s lawyers.
See, the M8 is a phone, the touch is an MP3 player — so toootally different your honor. They’ve also bumped the display from 3.3- to 3.4-inches with pricing still pegged at about $265 / $320 / $400 for the 4GB / 8GB / 16GB models if they ever make it Stateside… or locally to China for that matter. We’re at 10 months and counting since it was announced.
Posted in Mobile News, Music | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
The TomTom ONE XL-S was officially announced today, the XL unit gets a bump with the addition of Text-to-Speech (TTS). On the heels of the TomTom ONE 3rd edition which added the ver. 7 operating system, MapShare and TMC traffic (optional) skipped the text-to-speech, but a nice little up-version itself. Text-to-Speech is quickly becoming the must-have feature in GPS units, with recent market entries at or below $200 with Text-to-Speech, the market pull is there.
The TomTom ONE XL-S will include the version 7 operating system, which includes MapShare capability, Help ME! Button and a slightly improved interface.
Expect the TomTom ONE XLS to ship soon (Officially by the end of October) and be list priced at $399.
Press Release Follows…
TomTom, the world’s largest navigation solutions provider, today reveals the TomTom ONE XL•S. The new TomTom ONE XL•S is the first product in the TomTom ONE XL range to offer text-to-speech technology, enabling street names and places to be read aloud as part of the spoken navigation instructions. The TomTom ONE XL•S also offers the exclusive TomTom Map Share™ technology and unique ‘HELP ME!’ features on a 4.3 inch screen.
TomTom Map Shareâ„¢ is a proprietary map improvement technology that enables users to easily and instantly improve maps. Via TomTom HOME, TomTom’s free desktop software application, Map Shareâ„¢ users can share map improvements made by the community of Map Shareâ„¢ users - so that they always have the most up-to-date maps available in the industry. Map Shareâ„¢ users can also respond in real time to changes in the road network and, with just a few simple taps on their screen, can correct the maps on their device accordingly.
The extensive ‘Help Me!’ menu includes information about the nearest car repair service center, police station, or hospital, and allows users to either locate or call the closest emergency service provider no matter where they are. It also allows users to quickly identify their exact location, so that they can provide this information to emergency assistance providers and receive help more quickly.
‘The TomTom ONE XL•S brings two great technologies, text-to-speech for spoken instructions and TomTom Map Share™ for the most up-to-date maps, to our ONE XL platform,’ said TomTom Inc president Jocelyn Vigreux. ‘The TomTom ONE XL•S complements our portfolio and gives our customers even more products to choose from.’
Pricing and Availability TomTom ONE XL•S will be available starting at the end of October for $399.95 at major retailers across the US and Canada.
Posted in Technology | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
For most, the thought of spending $500 or more on a phone conjures one of two images: a high-end, do-it-all smartphone, or for 98 percent of the populace, insanity. There’s a rare breed out there, though, that’ll gladly shell out serious dough to get that ultimate, well executed, gorgeous, glossy phone delivered from the furthest reaches of the globe. Notice we said “phone” — not smartphone — and that’s a key distinction here. The Sony Ericsson K850i blurs that line in some respects, but at the end of the day, you’re paying some serious dinero for a powerful piece of kit that’s still fundamentally tied down by its closed, proprietary platform. Yep, that’s right, the K850i’s a dumbphone — albeit one of the hottest dumbphones we’ve ever seen or used, complete with triband HSDPA. So is the price justified? Does Sony Ericsson have any business stuffing this much power into a non-UIQ handset to begin with? We’re pretty sure it’s “yes” on both counts; read on to find out why.
Posted in Mobile News | No Comments »
