theVooner's weblog

A weblog for theVooner.com where the best cool gear and gadgets get reviewed.

last modified Jul 15, 2003 at 1:45

Saturday, November 29, 2003

Panasonic CF 3G data card

Sorry everyone that I've been away. With travelling so much, I didn't always have access to the Internet. Which led me to wonder... why isn't the Internet fully accessible everywhere yet? I mean, ok, there's GPRS but downloading at 14.4k just isn't going to cut it. And the costs... forget about it.

WLAN/WiFi is supposed to be growing, but let me tell you it's almost no where to be found in Europe. BUT, you do have 3G now in the UK and Italy. So I wondered, how long till we get data over 3G?

Well Japan is growing 3G pretty aggressively now that many of the technical details are slowly being resolved. Panasonic has a 3G CF card which is designed for laptops. The P2402 looks like something I could definitely use. Of course, most countries haven't gone 3G yet, but I'm desperately waiting for it. I hope it comes sooner rather than later.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 14:15 | 0 comments

Saturday, November 22, 2003

Gametrac

Hot on the heals of Nokia's N-Gage is the Gametrac system. It's a gameboy like device with some phone functions. This could be much better than N-Gage except it lacks the support of a corporation like Nokia. I mean, who wants to play games on a 4k color screen that is vertically oriented. Although the Gametrac looks like still very much in the testing stages, it's nice to see some other options coming out.

Sorry I've been on the road and in fact am still in Europe. Coming from you in London, it's interesting to see how different gadgets are over here. I'm having lots of fun with the P900 so we'll update all of you very soon.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 14:14 | 2 comments

Friday, November 14, 2003

Sony Ericsson P900... in my hands

Well... I just couldn't resist myself. It's been what 2 whole weeks since I got the Z600... yeah, that's about time to change!

I've gone nuts haven't I? But I just bought the P900. I don't know what it is. I just had to have one. It's actually very impressive. My first impressions are, the software and the functionality is pretty darn amazing. The screen is much improved but I wish we could turn up the contrast a bit more. It's more like the resolution/brightness of the T610 which I had gone through in my Z600 review as saying wasn't bright enough. Well the Z600 is brighter... but the P900 is definitely cooler.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:58 | 0 comments

Thursday, November 13, 2003

Sony Extreme Note 505 Laptop

Sony has come up with a redesign of its 505 laptop into what looks like one of the thinnest laptops available. The PCG-X505 appears to be an extremely thin and light laptop, at just 825 grams (there's even a lighter special Vaio version). Pretty cool. But the size/weight comes at the expense of a few things. Notably missing is the drive of course, but surprisingly, this doesn't have built-in WLAN (it comes with a PC Card WLAN instead). Designed for people who want it ultra thin and light. I hope all laptops move in this direction -- thin and light!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 0:34 | 0 comments

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Sony Ericsson P900

Well guess what's out. Before I even had a chance to see if I wanted the XDAII, I just saw the SE P900. If you don't mind a little bulk, this phone is absolutely stunning. It's got a very nice outer shell that really does make the phone stand out. I was only able to hold it for a little and it does seem much slicker than the P800 which I had. I could only see the screen behind a glass window (the demo I had did not have any battery power so I couldn't turn it on) looked pretty good, certainly much better than the P800. But at over US$730+ I'm going to have to think pretty hard about it. I just got my Z600! Still, its nice and calling theVooner...

Ahhhhhhhhh... temptation.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 4:08 | 0 comments

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

Sounds for mobile phone cameras

I just read in the newspaper that the Korean regulatory is going to make all domestic handset makers install an audible sound when a picture or video is taken from a mobile phone. The reasoning is to prevent illicit photos/videos from being taken and then later distributed or posted on the net. That's pretty funny. What is everyone doing with camera phones?

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 18:31 | 0 comments

Sunday, November 9, 2003

Review of Z600 is out...

Sorry everyone, I've been away to a wedding and only just got back. Anyway, my review of the Sony Ericsson Z600 is out. Great screen. Check it out.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 18:19 | 0 comments

Monday, November 3, 2003

Samsung Yepp Napster MP3 player

Samsung has teamed up with Napster (the reborn Napster) to produce an MP3 player. The YP-910GS is an MP3 player that is a not so nice knock-off of an iPod like device. I don't think its design nor its features are anything exciting. I wonder how teaming up with the name Napster will actually help sell this. Prefer the iPod or even the Creative Zen.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 8:13 | 2 comments

Saturday, November 1, 2003

XDA II

I have gotten a lot of e-mails about what I thought about the PDA/Mobile phone devices available. Palm and Handspring both have a number of options available. But I still think the best one is the XDA. I just got word that next week, the XDA II will be launched. I have never been a fan of these convergent devices. I have heard from some XDA users that the phone function of the XDA isn't very good. I prefer my own combination of a dedicated PDA and a separate mobile phone. But the XDA II does look very impressive. With PPC 2003, the XDA II is likely to be a good upgrade to the old XDA. The camera looks fairly impressive as well as its overall design and size. I certainly think its worth considering for some although I don't know if its the right product for me.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 5:44 | 0 comments