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

Monday, May 31, 2004

Sony Lam-X1 stereo

Sorry been away on business again. Anyway, I've had the same stereo system for over 5 years now. That thing doesn't get used much but I guess when I was in Japan last month, I just got to thinking about new stereos when I saw all the different options. Sony has a new one, the Lam-X1. It looks really high-tech and very strange overall, but is still pretty cool. I think it has a MD, CD, and a MP3 functionality. Too bad about the model number though... can you say 'Lame Max". Ha ha ha.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 7:22 | 4 comments

Friday, May 21, 2004

Sony F88 Digital Camera

Sony continues to roll out new cameras built on some older designs. I think Sony knows more than anyone else that the market is filled with many different tastes, and that getting users to replace older digital cameras is part of the new marketing strategy. The F88 is designed after Sony's past "swivel" lens digital camera designs. These though get a cosmetic upgrade as well as a 5MP and other features. That may get someone with an older Sony swivel, who is used to the design, to upgrade. It's a nice shape, but I still think the T11 is the best new one out there.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:40 | 0 comments

Monday, May 17, 2004

Gadgetry meets Aromatherapy ... USB P@d

The USB P@d is a scent diffuser that is meant to "personalize your computer experience". Based on different inputs from your PC, you get different arometherapy scents. Strange for me, probably very very cool for the Mrs. And that means its a gadget worth considering.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:58 | 0 comments

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Sony new Portable handheld gaming machine -- PSP

I can't stop staring at this beautiful gaming machine from Sony. At E3, Sony gave us an incredible glance at this new machine. The PSP features a color 4.3" screen, Wi-Fi, USB 2.0, MS Duo slot, and many other features. It will use a strange new MD-like storage format called UMD (hence the similiarities in name and size to an MD) to read games from. Ok, so you'll spend a ton of money buying lots of games, but just look at the machine! It will blow away the GBA anyday. Nintendo better get cracking on something. I'm already lining up to get one! I can't wait even though its probably 6 months away. A definite must buy... wonder what premium I'll have to pay for it to get it in its early phase?

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:56 | 4 comments

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Sony Vaio TR5

Keeping in line with our look at all the new Vaio's, I noticed that Sony is introducing the TR5! There doesn't look like there's any major changes to the TR2 or the recent TR3. The big difference is of course the addition now of the DVD-RW drive. I also noticed two subtle changes from the Japanese specs -- the use of a 1.1Ghz Pentium chip versus the 1.0Ghz before, and the addition now of a/b/g wireless (versus b/g before). However, these are Japanese specs and the foreign Vaio TRs have never included bluetooth or the same wireless Lan spectrum so things could be different. Strange though. Most people are unlikely to upgrade their TRs if they already have one as the changes are still relatively small. And I suspect most people who've wanted a TR already have one. I think the TR needs a redesign!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:15 | 0 comments

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

New Sexy Mini-Vaio - U Series

Sony has a number of new Vaio's out, but none are more interesting than the new U-Series. It only comes with a relatively tiny 5" LCD screen, but it looks very impressive. It's definitely a mini PC, but it has the full capablity of Windows built into the device. It also comes with a foldable keyboard and stand. I guess the concept is similar to the Tablet PC which I still think is a great design but just needs to go further. It probably has all the same limitations that the Tablet PC had. But I can't help but want one.

I am waiting to see one up close and then we'll see if it looks as cool as it does in the photos.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:50 | 0 comments

Monday, May 10, 2004

New Music player -- the Vaio Pocket

Sony has announced a few new models for their Vaio computers in Japan. The most interesting device is the Vaio Pocket VGF-AP1. It's a 20GB MP3 player but has taken on a very different shape than other MP3 players. It looks more like a digital camera than it does an MP3 player. Not as stylish as I had hoped but I really like the color LCD screen. It's hard for me to get a sense of how big it is but it doesn't look too large. Interesting...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 18:57 | 2 comments

Wednesday, May 5, 2004

80GB MP3 player from DMC

So it's going to be really hard to beat the iPod on design. That's pretty much a given. It has so much charm and appeal you just can't help but want one. So instead, DMC has come up with the XCLEF 500 MP3 player which looks like a standard, regular MP3 player with a LCD screen -- except this one packs up to an 80GB storage option (one of the largest. That should excite some techies out there who just can't find enough room for their MP3 files.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 18:45 | 0 comments

Monday, May 3, 2004

Nokia Handsets

Nokia has launched several new models lately including the 6230. Initial reports seem to indicate that the market has responded pretty favourably to this handset. My opinion would be to the contrast -- its a boring Nokia phone that only has marginal upgrades versus other models. It still looks the same as other older Nokia models, still has a very small screen which isn't that user friendly, and doesnt' offer new features that would warrant an upgrade.

In contrast, Nokia's first clamshell model the 7200 created much more buzz in the market. Also, the upcoming 1 Mega-pixel 7610 looks interesting although the design is a bit strange. I'm still waiting for more SE or other Japanese-like models...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 20:20 | 0 comments

Sunday, May 2, 2004

Back from my holidays... Visit to Japan and gadgets!

Sorry all, I was away on a holiday and did not have Internet access. NOT HAVE INTERNET ACCESS? That's blasphemy. Well I didn't want to waste my time and more importantly money by paying for Internet access on the cruise ship that I went on. Anyway, I'm back.

At the end of the cruise though, I finished up the holiday with a few days in Osaka. What a lovely city. Definitely worth the visit. I also managed to visit a few electronic stores and the electronic town. I must say I was pretty disappointed. Nothing new to write home about. PSX-R's are almost nowhere to be found, highlighting their difficult sell. Digital cameras are still the key focus and any store puts these up front and lots of people are buying new models and looking at new ones. Japan has a few models that probably don't get seen as much like Kyocera, Contax, and Ricoh, but there was nothing new or exciting to write about. Sony's new T11 did get a lot of publicity and people were looking at it but not really buying it. Among users, many people did have the T1 though so the tepid T11 reception was not a surprise.

Mobile phones though there have continued to improve and we (the rest of the world) are certainly behind. I'm happy to report that I got 3G service in Japan (though I used it mainly for voice). The new phone models have amazing 2" screens with the sharpest, brightest, highest resolution screen I've ever seen. That plus many had 2 Mega-pixel cameras/video cameras built-in and we know that we're pretty far off. Nice.

Other than that, the usual array of nice gadgets from Japan-only laptops, to new plasma/LCD screens. I was happy though to go into the Sony Tower where they had a few exhibition halls. The best without a doubt is the Qualia showroom. You can just stare at those designs all day long. But the prices are pretty out there and though you get an amazing briefcase of items with the digital camera that is the size of a pack of gum, I just couldn't justify it.

I love Japan and its a fun place to visit if nothing else other than to gadget-gaze. Though there was nothing new, it was well worth the effort just to get to see it all.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 20:56 | 0 comments