|
|
I4u have reviewed X-Arcade Tankstick Arcade Controller here is what they have to say:
"In addition to the dual joysticks there are the one and two player buttons along with eight buttons arrayed near each joystick and a trackball that feels like it came right out of a Millipede game. There are also pair of buttons on each side of the Tankstick that are ideally suited for flippers if you are into pinball games."
The Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (for some reason listed as the Nokia 5310b XpressMusic in the manuals) mobile phone got approval from the FCC. Featuring an aluminium finish, it is 9.9mm thin and weighs in at just 71 grams.
Nokia claims an 18-hour music playback time (of course, this doesn't include talk time). The phone can take in microSD memory cards up to 4GB in capacity - good for up to 3000 songs. There's a 2 megapixel camera on board. The Nokia 5310 XpressMusic also features a 2 inch QVGA screen that offers 16 million colors.
Thanks to the FCC approval, the phone is on target for its Q4 2007 release. Priced at €225 before taxes and subsidies, there's no info on when it will hit the US markets.
Sennheiser, that revered Danish audio company, announced its new FLX 70 wireless mobile headset with FlexFit design for an easy, personal wearing comfort. Designed with a turnable speaker for optimal fit to your ear canal and an optioanl ear hook for over-the-ear wearing, you can wear it on either ear. The included three sizes of speaker silicone covers allow for a more personal fit. In addition, a semi-open acoustic system keeps your ears from feeling plugged.
As for the speaker itself, it boasts the usual Sennheiser quality and has its own unique ventilation. The integrated DSP optimizes speech intelligibility and reduces noise. It is targeted for a November 2007 release. No word on the pricing yet, though.
Sony today announced the availability of two new Series of digital media players in Europe – the WALKMAN A Series and S Series. The NWZ-A810 & NWZ-S610/S510 Series will support an open platform and include support for Windows Media technology, providing greater choice for downloading and managing music, video and photo collections.
The players support security-enhanced Microsoft Windows Media Audio (WMA), as well as non-secure AAC and MP3 music formats, plus JPEG files for photos, in addition to the AVC (H.264/AVC) Baseline Profile and MPEG-4 video codecs. Users can download movie trailers, music videos, podcasts and clips from a variety of website destinations. As long as the videos are compressed in the appropriate codec, resolution and size they will work with the new WALKMAN players.
With these new WALKMAN players, Sony has widened its digital music environment to support Windows Media technology. The company will be moving towards a more open system that gives customers flexibility in their music software approach. As a result, Sony will be phasing out the CONNECTTM Music Service based on Sony’s ATRAC audio format in Europe. Specific timing will vary by region depending on market demand, but will not be before March 2008.
TomTom, which jumped to second spot in the US GPS market, unveiled its latest high-end models, the TomTom GO 920 and TomTo GO 920T. With bundled maps of the US, Canada and Europe, the gadgets feature 4GB on-board memory. Curiously, they also feature something called the Enhanced Positioning Technology. One of the neat things about the 920 and 920T is that they handle voice-prompted address entry. Simply speak the address to which you want to drive - including city, street name and address number - and the device will calculate the route.
The 920 and 920T are major updates to the TomTom GO 910/510 devices and feature 4.3 inch touch screen and high quality graphics, including building footprints. Extras include the ability to exchange positions via SMS and recording your driving instructions. Powered by a Lithium-polymer battery, TomTom claims an operational duration of up to 5 hours.
The GO 920 is compatible with RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver for the latest news on traffic in your area. As a bonus, the GO 920T includes the RDS-TMC receiver plus one year subscription to the service. The GO 920 also comes with a Bluetooth remote control for safe operation of the device when driving.
The TomTom GO 920 is priced at US $599.95 and the GO 920T at US $699.95.
Garmin has recently presented its new GPS navigation system called nuvi 770, which is one of their most expensive systems with a price tag of $1,000. It features a WQVGA TFT screen with 4.3-inches and a 480x272 resolution.
Besides the usual bluetooth, the nuvi 770 also features MSN direct for the US, and FM radio with traffic information. On the multimedia section, the GPS can play MP3s, it has an audio book player and is able to display images via the picture viewer.
Additional features include 3D map view, the ability to add new POIs (points of interest), providing information to avoid traffic, therefore giving the best route possible, and also a world travel clock + calculator + tools to help with the currency and measurement conversions.
Kodak has presented new digital camera models today, the devices will be added to the EasyShare line and have the following codenames: V1233, V1253 and Z812 IS.
The EasyShare V1233 features a 2.5-inch screen and is capable of recording video on the 720p-spec HD format at 30 frames per second. It has a 12-megapixel sensor and a 3x optical zoom ( Schneider-Kreuznach style) with face detection. The EasyShare V1253 has similar specifications, with the only difference being a larger display screen that measures 3.1-inches.
On the other hand we have the Kodak EasyShare Z812 IS, which only has 8-megapixels but a bigger zoom than the others – 12x Schneider-Kreuznach optical zoom lens. Other features include ISO settings of 3200 and a response time of 0.23 seconds with image stabilization technology.
Opera mini has a new version which includes special features made for BlackBerrys. The version 4 was released today and makes the whole browsing-on-BlackBerry experience more enthusiastic.
Two of the new features for the BlackBerry owners include:
- Landscape mode so you can view more content when browsing. Much like what happens with the iPhone.
- New multi-search Start Page in which you can add the personal favorite search engines to the Start Page.
Sanyo has launched its newest camcorder Xacti DMX-HD1000. The special characteristic about the new camcorder is being up do date with the latest technologies, meaning that it is Full HD compatible.
Besides the ergonomic design that makes it easy to use, it has an adjustable grip that can be rotated 135 degrees. The camera measures 90.0x112.6×54.5mm and can be considered lightweight – only 286 grams.
It supports SDHC memory cards with storage capacities up to 8GB, and can record 1 hour and 25 minutes of video content on full HD. The final format is MPEG-4 AVC codec, and the videos have a 1,920x1,080 resolution.
Panasonic has presented their latest digital camera on the SLR (single-lens reflex) category, called LUMIX DMC-L-10, coincidentally , this is their first SLR camera with face detection. It comes with a 2.5-inch LCD screen that can be rotated by 270 degrees, which creates the possibility to have versatile shooting options, be it of high or low angles.
It has a 10.1-megapixel Live MOS sensor, and an useful feature that doesn't ruin the photo quality – a Supersonic Wave Filter system that doesn't let dust get in contact with the sensor.
The camera can detect up to 15 human faces at the same time, and in the meanwhile there is no problem of capturing other objects at best quality. In the end you'll have blur-free images like you always wanted.
Certicell, a company that provides services related to the acquisition, repair, and redeployment of mobile phones, have announced that George Hotz, the smart kid that “unlocked” the iPhone, will be presented with one of the reward items - its new car Nissan 350Z - on Friday at the Certicell headquarters.
Hortz, that spent the whole summer developing an easy way to unlock the iPhone which is suppose to work only with AT&T, finally made the big break last week. The good news for iPhone lovers means that with the new unlocking process, the cellphone can be used with other US carriers (such as T-Mobile) and in other parts of the world that use the GSM network, like most part of Europe.
SanDisk Corporation, the second largest seller of MP3 players in the United States, today introduced the colorful Sansa Clip. It is a tiny MP3 player that boasts an array of cool features, as well as distinctively big sound for its small size.
The Sansa Clip supports many music download and subscription services, including Rhapsody To Go, Napster, eMusic and others. It’s designed to work seamlessly with a wide range of popular music formats such as MP3, WAV, Audible (for audio books) and Windows Media Audio (WMA) in both unprotected and protected files (such as those WMA files purchased from music stores).
The player is expected to be available from retailers in the U.S. and Europe in September 2007, with other regions to follow shortly thereafter.Its suggested retail price is $39.99 for a 1 gigabyte (GB) player and $59.99 for the 2GB unit.
Garmin, now the #1 personal navigation device seller in the US, announced two new devices in its Onto Fitness series for cyclists. The Garmin Edge 705 (left) and Edge 605 (right) both feature a 2.2" color screen and offer turn-by-turn directions. The usual add-ons include detailed street maps and topography of the region. Both devices can display climb/descent, altitude, speed, distance and time. With the recent Garmin ANT+Sport technology incorporated into the Edge navigation devices, they can seamlessly interface with other fitness devices such as a heart rate monitor or even other Edge units. This lets cyclists share courses, workout data and saved rides.
The Edge 705 improves upon the 605 by incorporating a barometric altimeter to accurately record altitude data, letting cyclists match their altitude profile with their speed/heart rate for a etter post-ride analysis. It also features a heart rate monitor that uses new wireless technology to eliminate cross talk and interference and delivers real-time heart rate data onto the user's device.
By pairing your Garmin Edge 605 or 705 with Garmin Connect, an online training site, you can network with other cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts, log their workouts and share yours.
The Edge 605 carries a price tag of US $399.99 while the Edge 705 starts from US $499.99. Add on a heart rate monitor and speed/cadence sensor to bring it to US $549.99. Throw in an ANT+Sport bundle for $649.99. Everything will be available in December 2007.
The VAIO TZ18GN weighs just 1.15 kilograms and boasts a very formidable battery life of 11.5 hours on a single charge. They say that this is about a half hour more juice than the HDD notebook. On the downside, you'll be sacrificing a fair bit of storage, because this laptop only comes with a 32GB SSD, rather than the 100GB HDD you would normally get.
Other vitals include an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 8x DVD-DL burner (no Blu-ray), Windows Vista, and 1GB of RAM with the (heavily recommended) option of upgrading to 2GB. The price is a little out there at US$4,299, which works out to be a $700 premium over the model with a 100GB HDD.
Electric Pocket's Ringo Mobile, the leading ringtone manager for Pocket PC Phones and Windows Mobile Smartphones, now supports Windows Mobile 6.0. Along with this comes other features and more options for identifying incoming callers.
This new feature lets users identify who is calling with an MP3 or a glance at a picture on the screen. Among the new features of Ringo Mobile is the ability to quickly and easily associate a picture or other graphic to appear when incoming calls arrive.
Ringo has long been the best selling ringtone manager for Palm's Treo smartphones, such as the Palm OS-based Treo 755p and the Windows Mobile-based Treo 750w, with features such as playing MP3 tunes as ringtones and assigning ringtones to individual callers or groups of callers.
Ringo Mobile is available from the Ringo web site at ringomo.com for US$24.95.
Nokia 5610 XpressMusic is the upgraded version of the 5310 model, besides having higher specifications, it is also more expensive when comparing to the low-end version. As it happens with the 5310, it also has dedicated media buttons to make the usability easier for everyone, meaning that you don't need to actually slide the cellphone to control the music – it is all controlled via a slider key.
The new 5610 comes with a 2.2-inch QVGA display, a 3.2 megapixel camera, Symbian Series 40, the usual FM radio, bluetooth, and a way to expand the storage capacity by using a microSD memory card, once again it has a maximum limit of 4GB.
On top of the Nokia N95 with 8GB, and the two new versions of the Nokia N81, the giant mobile phone company from Finland also introduced the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, which is made specially for the music lovers to enjoy.
It has a sleek look with its rounded corners and red plus black combination of colors, only weighing close to 71 grams and an impressive 9.9mm of thickness.One of the important details is the battery life, since music lovers like to listen to music non-stop for long periods of time, the Nokia 5310 can handle 18 hours of music playback.
Other features include a 2-megapixel camera, a microSD memory card slot with a maximum capacity of 4GB, a QVGA screen that measures 2-inches and offers 16 million colors, and last but not least, special keys located on the left side which are dedicated to control the music.
Close on the heels of the new Nokia N95 8GB model, Nokia announced the new Nokia N81 and N81 8GB models. The N81 features dedicated keys for gaming and music and offers a 3.5 mm headphone connector. Compatible with 3G networks, the phone also offers wireless LAN connectivity. Nokia is touting a new 3D multimedia menu on the N81, but I'll believe it when I see it.
The Nokia N81 lets you access the Nokia Music Store and N-Gage games services, allowing you to search, buy and manage your music and games. Expect the Nokia N81 to be priced at €360, and the 8GB model at €430. Both mobile phones will hit the markets in Q4 2007.
Finally, the big bad version of the Nokia N95 tumbled out of Nokia's stables. The Nokia N95 8GB - that all-in-one multimedia powerhouse - is now available with more storage than ever, featuring the same 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss optics, integrated A-GPS, WLAN and HSDPA support. This Nokia N95 also features a new luminous 2.8" QVGA display, making it convenient to watch videos or when using the navigation functionality of the device.
With 8 GB on-board, you can store 20 hours of video or as many as 6000 songs. This baby is not out yet, with Nokia announcing a shipping date of some time in Q4 of 2007. It will carry a price tag of €560 (excluding taxes/subsidies).
PCMag has reviewed the Gateway DX430X Desktop Computer which came out with 4 starts out of 5, not bad at all.
The system that costs between $1,344 and $1,454 comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 2GB of memory in the RAM department, a graphics card provided by nVidia – GeForce 8800 GTS, a hard-drive containing 500GB of storage capacity, and a 19-inch widescreen LCD monitor which is probably the aspect that makes the price a bit high.
On the good side we have the new style combined with a good performance, many inputs + outputs, and also a praised removable hard-drive bay.
The last and first time in which LG KS20 was cited, it was kind of a rumor and there wasn't any certainty if the phone was actually going to be released to the public. But it seems like LG has made it reality and will unveil the 3G smartphone during IFA 2007.
The LG-KS20 comes with a 2.8-inch touchscreen that provides full browsing capability so you can surf the internet and the menus easily. In terms of dimensions it is pretty small, its thickness is only of 12.8mm.
It runs on Windows Mobile 6.0 and has the following impressive list of features:
- 2megapixel camera
- mp3 playback
- bluetooth
- video calls
The Sony Walkman A800 portable media player that we covered in February and that was launched in Europe and Canada, has now been introduced in the US under a new name, the Sony Walkman A810 series.
The player features a 2-inch LCD screen and it can play all the multimedia files that you really need, including:
- H.264 or MPEG4 for the video
- JPEG for the photos or images
- AAC, MP3 and WMA for the audio files
In terms of battery life, the A810 can be used for 33 hours straight in case you are listening to audio files, and 8 hours if you are into video.
LG doesn't only make good looking phones (like the chocolate one), they are also into the DVD burner business and the product they launched today is the Slim Portable Super Multi. A very small DVD burner made specifically to be used with laptops.
It is called GSA-E50N and as the name suggests, its dimensions are as small as possible, that is why it only measures 21.4mm wide, and its weight is only 380 grams. The device is compatible with the latest Microsoft OS (Windows Vista) and is able to read + write in the 3 standard DVD formats: DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW and DVD-RAM.
Verizon Wireless and MediaFLO have reached a deal to broadcast many full-length college football games during the 2007 season, including over 100 matchups, in which 20 of them are bowl games.
The games can be seen on the V Cast Mobile TV which is part of Verizon Wireless, more exactly on the following channels: CBS Mobile, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile and NBC 2Go:
- ESPN Mobile TV has plans to display over 75 live games and up to 20 bowl games.
- NBC 2GO will air 7 Fighting Irish games
- CBS mobile intends to show 15 Southeastern Conference games, and two bowl games: Sun Bowl and Gator Bowl
- Fox Sports Mobile will some display Big 12 games
An important list of games can be seen on the list below:
