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

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Sony P150 7.2MP digital camera

DP Review is reporting that Sony has launched the P150 which is an upgrade to its P100 model but with a 7.2 MP lens. It wasn't on the Japanese site, but I found the press release on the American site. Interesting that the US is hearing about it first. Anyway, I was just wondering how long it will take for others to follow up to this resolution. My T1 is already outdated I guess, and now my D100 is as well. It's time for an upgrade!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:55 | 0 comments

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

MP3Blue - Hi-tech clothing

German firms Infineon and Rosner have come up with an electronic jacket that has an integrated built-in MP3 player. Under the brand MP3blue, the company will be taking orders on Aug. 1 for the jacket. It has a pretty cool integrated system that includes controls on the sleeve buttons. I like the concept. It's not cheap though at an expected 600 euros. But I hope more designers plan on these type of integrated clothing. I'm sure the Japanese have lots of prototypes in the works. The next item will definitely incorporate a camera/video function... it's just going to happen.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:23 | 0 comments

Monday, July 26, 2004

New iPods and Mini-iPod here...

Apple announced the upgrade, to their iPod line with an improved battery performance and a new feel. More importantly here in HK, the mini-iPods are finally available. But, Apple missed the boat again with theVooner. I wanted the mini-iPod 4 months ago really badly. Now, I'm back to my should I or shouldn't I debate about getting an iPod. Right now, I have no plans. Apple missed the boat again -- although to be fair, I give them a big thumbs up for dropping prices.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:00 | 0 comments

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Mobile phones in-flight soon?

As a telecom guy (my work is related to it), I found the recent news that Qualcomm successfully tested wireless services during a flight. That sounds really interesting to me. Imagine, in a few years, we'll all get to be annoyed when the guy/girl next to you gets a phone call while you're trying to sleep! Ringtones galore, SMS messages all over the place, should be fun. But I wonder how expensive it's going to be. Now when is WiFi coming to planes!

Interesting thought: if they successfully tested this, does it really imply that all that hogwash about cellular phones interfering with the airplane is just not true? I've accidentally left on my mobile and I'm pretty sure it didn't affect anything. Remember when CD players used to be banned because they were afraid the lasers would interfere with the plane?

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:30 | 2 comments

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

B&O Beolab 3 Speakers

Looking at my living room, I know I need more speaker power. Actually, I don't even have an amp (oh forgive me Audiophile gods). There has been some advertising here for the Beolab 3 speakers. Yeah, they are beautiful. I'm sure the sound is probably not as good as they look, but with these, you won't care as much. I had always looked at getting those Minipod speakers but I keep changing my mind. Anyway, the Beolab 3 speakers would complement that cool BeoCenter 2 system I spoke about some time back. I saw one again last night and it was impressive.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 21:52 | 1 comments

Monday, July 19, 2004

Sony Ericsson P910

Lots of new models are hitting the stores these days and Sony is set to unveil its update to the P900, the P910. Although it looks very similar, the P910 will offer a better screen (256k colors) and a slightly bigger screen size as well. The P910 also has a cool QWERTY keyboard on the underside of the keypad. Solid upgrades in memory and capabilities all around in a very similar package. Too bad they didn't upgrade the camera to a 1MP though. I still want the S700 when it comes out.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 19:22 | 0 comments

Saturday, July 17, 2004

Sony Ericsson Premini

A typhoon swept through Hong Kong yesterday so I was stuck scrambling around. But it gave me the chance to miss half a day of work so I got to do some work on a few other things. Anyway, check out Sony Ericsson Japan's new handset, the Premini! It looks like a high-tech version of the T610/T630 series phones. Is this the design that will replace it? Cool looking though...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:53 | 0 comments

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Samsung 3.2MP Camera Phone - SPH-S2300

I love the battle of technologies because it pushes vendors to do more. Samsung has again tried to outdo Japanese rivals by launching its own 3.2MP camera phone. The S2300 is still in testing stages but what makes it a nice addition to the market is that Samsung has done a reasonably decent job (versus the Japanese) in bringing these products to the rest of the world (outside of their home countries). Can a GSM model be far off? I hope not.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 18:51 | 0 comments

Monday, July 12, 2004

Panasonic Foma P900iV

Panasonic has a really nice 3G handset in the P900iV. Stealing the same model number as Sony Ericsson's P900, the P900iV is a very elegant clamshell with a twist screen. 2MP camera, MP3 capabilities, its a true high-end phone. I hope the rest of the world gets these kind of models soon. I'm on 3G and its nothing like this!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 21:22 | 0 comments

Friday, July 9, 2004

Sony Vaio U70 Review -- World's Smallest Laptop

"What the @#$% is that??" said the guy next to me on the plane. I told him it's the new Sony Vaio Laptop. That pretty much sums it up. I have currently the world's smallest laptop. Beating all the hype over OQO and Vulcan Flipstart, Sony actually has a working model that is available right now. Of course, I had to get it. Here's my review of it. Coolness factor: 10/10. Enough said.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:50 | 2 comments

Thursday, July 8, 2004

Docupen

The Docupen is a full page scanner that is small enough to be really portable. Finally a way I can plagiarize all those books without having to buy/borrow/carry them.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:46 | 0 comments

Wednesday, July 7, 2004

Philips iPronto

I've always been a fan of the Philips Pronto series' of remote control. The iPronto is currently the newest model, and its an amazing upgrade to past Pronto products. The iPronto is the ultimate Home Control Center, incorporating WiFi, an massive touchscreen color LCD screen, Internet access, and the list goes on and on. It's an amazing way to control everything in your house and when you have as many gadgets and devices as I have, you'll be thankful for this one device. I want one ... except for the price. I know it's a sophisticated piece of machinery but at US$1699.99, I just don't think its worth it. There is so many better things you can buy with that money that it just doesn't seem worthwile even though its amazingly cool.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 21:01 | 0 comments

Tuesday, July 6, 2004

Sony NW-HD1 Network Walkman

Sony has just announced the 20GB network walkman . While certainly not as nice as the cool Vaio Pocket AP1 with its color screen, the HD1 should appeal to some users out there as it does look really small and compact. Still, Sony's proprietary use of ATRAC3 and other software constraints will likely keep this a niche product. I've never had much fun uploading and downloading files to Sony Network walkmans.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:12 | 0 comments

Monday, July 5, 2004

Sharp 45" LCD

LCD has been making huge inroads into the TV market but thus far, the complaint has been that while they have better pictures, they have smaller screens. Sharp though is the pioneer in this area and they have continued to push the envelope. The new 45" LCD Aquos is a wonderful design and will probably challange the market. Now if only they can drop their prices to plasma...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 21:57 | 0 comments

Sunday, July 4, 2004

Sony Vaio Type V

I Just got back from Paris so sorry about being dark for so many days. Anyway, I wanted to highlight the Sony Vaio Type V. Its a sort of hybrid Laptop/Desktop. There is no CPU Tower because it's built into the back of the LCD screen. While this design isn't new, the Type V has a very cool model which has an amazing widescreen 20" LCD monitor (the VGC-V201). While I was picking up my new laptop, I had the chance to see it up live and it was amazing. I though a resolution of 1280x768 would just be inadequate, but Sony has managed to figure out a way to make the images and the screen ultra bright and clear. At first I wanted to get one of the new 17" Widescreen laptops. Now, I think this might actually be my calling although the price is pretty hefty at US$3200. It does use the letter V as the model letter though so maybe it's telling me something... Ha!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:35 | 0 comments