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

Sunday, January 30, 2005

Olympus Mju Mini Digital

Back in the days when we all used to tote 35mm compact cameras, I remember that the Olympus Mju cameras was one of my favorites. It was compact, light, and took pretty good pictures. Ever since the move to digital though, I've never looked at the Olympus line. Maybe because they didn't appeal to me from a design perspective. Olympus tried to keep most of the same shapes as their 35mm cameras for their digitals -- hoping to capitalise the on the popularity and similarity of the 35mm. Or maybe it was the specs which just weren't as advanced as the others. I was in the store the other day and the person next to me was playing around with the Olympus Mju Mini Digital. Well, Olympus certainly went outside the box when they designed this machine. Talk about funky, this camera is certainly a breakaway in design. It's a small camera, with 4 Megapixels, but nevertheless its definitely a novel shape. I like innovative designs and though this isn't for me, I like that it offers variety.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:14 | 0 comments

Saturday, January 29, 2005

What ever happened to ...

Virtual Reality Glasses. I was cleaning out my place and came across a set of virtual reality glasses that I bought a long time ago. I think it must have been 6-7 years old at least. At the time, I thought Virtual Reality glasses were the coolest thing. It was right around the time of movies like Johnny Mnemonic (remember that Keanu Fans??) which had cool looking VR stuff. Unfortunately, head display sets today have not gotten any better. In fact, they still look very similar to the glasses I had 6-7 years ago. I guess the technology never caught on and as a result, product innovation hasn't really occured. I remember that companies like Sony released headsets designed to watch DVDs and movies from DVD/video players. But they never caught on and as a result, those machines are long since gone. Part of the problem may be that I kept getting headaches while using a head display. Still, I always thought it was cool.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 6:29 | 0 comments

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Olympus M:Robe Picture/Music Player

Olympus has a really cool picture/music player that by design and function would easily outdo the iPod photo. The m:robe, as it's called (a funny name) looks like any of the new multimedia players. However, it's designed more for music with the ability to playback photos as well which puts it more in competition with the iPod Photo. Although it may not get much traction compared to the popularity of the iPod, and most likely won't be released outside of Japan anytime soon, it looks well made and with plenty of function (check out its impressive color screen). It was announced a few months ago but I haven't seen anything about it through any marketing or promotions. I'll keep my eye out for it to see what it's really like.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:04 | 0 comments

Monday, January 24, 2005

The Beast!

In addition to high-tech gadgets, theVooner also likes all kinds of other gadgets. Flashlights are just one of those things. I can't get enough of them. I have 3 SureFire lights because they are so small yet powerful. Well SureFire has introduced The Beast (cool name) the "most powerful flashlight SureFire has ever produced for civilian sale". Wow! 2000 lumens, no filaments to break/burnout, and a high-tech Xenon-fill arc lamp. My SureFire uses two of the CR123A batteries and it's already really bright. This one uses 20! Pretty impressive. At US$2900 and limited to just 85 units, this is sure to be a pretty cool collectors item.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:50 | 0 comments

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Toshiba Laptops -- New AV notebooks, new brand Qosmio

Toshiba is launching a new brand called the Qosmio which will introduce new laptops in the market. For a long time, Toshiba was one of the leaders in the laptop market but in the past few years seem to have lost ground to the other players. THe Qosmio seems to be their idea to regain some foothold. The Qosmio is aiming for the higher end market with what they call AV PC. The models available seem to be larger (15"-17") screens, and seem to be predominantly geared to desktop replacement PCs. Toshiba has stated that they were aiming at new Product Designt Concept and Marketing Concept in relaunching their notebooks with a new brand. We look forward to see if Toshiba can come up with neat designs to win laptop junkies like me over...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:22 | 0 comments

Friday, January 21, 2005

Contax i4R Digital Camera (bubble gum digital)

Contax has an extremely small, compact digital camera called the i4R. Shaped like a bubble gum stick, this 4 megapixel camera looks extremely sleek and compact. Judjing by the size, I suspect they are catering to women and to crazy techies like me that want something super small. Still, it's very cool, comes in three colors, and has a great lens. Something to watch out for.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:02 | 0 comments

Thursday, January 20, 2005

iDog... more wacky iPod accessories

The iDog is Sega's wacky attempt at creating a fun speaker that actually moves with music. Shaped like a dog, this "speaker" moves and blinks to the beat and sound of music. Very Japanese and oh so CUTE! Technically it can be any hooked up to any device, but the iDog is pure white and it's called iDog so you know what they are catering for...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 21:35 | 0 comments

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

LG 8138 - Another 3G upgrade for this phone

The popular LG 81XX 3G handsets has introduced another upgrade, this time with the introduction of the LG8138. This handset looks and feels exactly the same as the LG8130 except for the fact that it has a big COLOR sub-display on the front. Very nice. I've been tempted to buy the LG handset as an upgrade to my existing (very lousy NEC) handset, but haven't done so for a number of reasons. In addition to nice models out by Nokia and Sony Ericsson, I've also been bothered that the LG have not been tri-band, dual mode but dual-band, dual mode phones. I just want that extra GSM spectrum. I walked by the 3 store earlier and had the chance to test out a demo model in the shop and its exactly the same as the past model (hence the similarity of their model numbers). Not a bad option and a worthy upgrade considering a good introductory price of around US$430 with up to a 50% rebate based on a 3 contract.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 21:42 | 2 comments

Monday, January 17, 2005

IP Camera - Linksys

I've been fooling around with the concept of getting a wireless IP camera. There are certainly a lot of different models out there, but this one by by Linksys looks pretty hi-tech and yet not too obtrusive. There is a B and a G version and I'm contemplating getting one if I can only be sure that it would work with some degree of consistency. Hmm... is it worth a try?

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:34 | 0 comments

Sunday, January 16, 2005

True iPod Fans -- an in-wall docking system (iPort)

A company called Sonance has launched an in-wall docking station for the iPod called the iPort. The idea is that it could potentially connect to the rest of your AV system so you could listen to all your iPod music in the comfort of your home on your own AV system. Sounds cool. I'm not a diehard iPod user, but I like the idea. Hopefully, it will support all the upgrades and changes that will come over the next years.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:37 | 2 comments

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Sony T33 Digital Camera

To be released next week, Sony is rolling out the T33 as a sort of replacement for the T11. The design is similar though the T33 has 4 colors to choose from. I saw a mock up yesterday of it and it looks nice, though very similar to the T11. I wonder why Sony was so eager to rollout the T3 and the T33 without much of an upgrade from the previous models. Kind of makes me wonder if there was something wrong with those ones (the T1 and the T11). I would have preferred to see a 7.2 Megapixel version with a nicer screen, better lens, or something. Meanwhile, I still think my Panasonic FX7 is the best of the small cameras at the moment.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 19:44 | 0 comments

Friday, January 14, 2005

Minolta Waterproof Digital Camera - DG-5W

Minolta has introduced a cool 4-megapixel digital camera (the DG-5W) that is waterproof (to 1.5m), dust proof, and somewhat shock proof. For those of us prone to accidents, like watersports, or just want a camera for extreme situations, this is probably a good choice. I know you can get water casings for many models today, but this one doesn't look as bulky or as problematic as those casings. As a result, you'll feel more comfortable taking this around and using it. Great for those beach vacation days!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:09 | 0 comments

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

iPod Shuffle

iPod has gone low-end by the recently announced ultra-mini Shuffle. Looking more like a nice USB Flash Drive, the iPod Shuffle comes in 512MB and 1GB versions. Interesting. I always knew they would end up with such a product as it was the missing ingredient and everyone here seems to have a "small" mini MP3 player strapped around their neck. I must admit it's very well designed and looks nice, but I'm not sure if it's as cool or as desired as the mini iPod. However, at US$99 for the 512MB and US$149 for the 1GB versions, I'm sure it will have takers. I could always use it just as a flash drive for my work files... Hmm...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 16:50 | 4 comments

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Motorola RAZR V3 Review

It took me some time and I'm sorry I was so late, but here it is -- my V3 review. Overall, I liked it, it was small, but just too pricey...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:57 | 3 comments

Monday, January 10, 2005

USB Golf Simulator

The Golf Launchpad is a small little golf simulator that is supposed to give you the ability to hit balls indoors as if you were on a course and connect it to your PC for either game play (Tiger Woods 2004 is included) or for analysis. There's supposed to be some "sophisticated" math for real analysis. I've always wondered if this things were accurate. Most of these machines never have the right feel of hitting a ball nor did they ever have the proper sophistication to give a real reading of the swing. But this site seems to address lots of my concerns with real answers. I'm tempted to buy one! After all, it's golf!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 21:29 | 0 comments

Sunday, January 9, 2005

Sony Vaio Type F

Sony has launched a new widescreen Vaio, the type F. It's a new widescreen, laptop designed more as a desktop replacement. With its 15.4" screen, it's definitely for those wanting a larger screen. They even have one with a nice WSXGA screen with 1680x1050 resolution. However, you don't have to worry about it being too big because it was designed to be super slim and light (well relatively light)! At 2.9kg, and just 25.4mm thick, those are some really nice specs. Vaio's are getting smaller and lighter all the time. I like that trend!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:26 | 0 comments

Friday, January 7, 2005

3G PC Card -- Internet on the go

I was shown a demonstration yesterday of a 3G data card from a wireless provider. I was totally impressed by the speed of the downloads. Web pages loaded effortlessly -- it was almost like broadband! Finally the dream of 3G is starting to take shape. There are a few data card models out there, like this one fromNovatel . My only concern is that pricing is extremely expensive. For the most parts, operators continue to still put limits on downloads and the costs are still really high. So WiFi is still not under threat, and I can't help but feel that wider deployment of WiFi zones is a huge threat to 3G.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 0:36 | 0 comments

Tuesday, January 4, 2005

The LCD challange -- Sharp 45" Aquos

LCD has always lagged behind Plasma TVs (in terms of size and price) and is likely to continue to do so. Sharps Aquos 45" LCD is one of the largest available today and having just seen one yesterday, I must say it is very good. I never liked the LCD screen much. While I thought it was very good for computer and movies, it was horrible for TV. Well, it still isn't that great and to me, not as good as Plasma, but the newer technology is actually really good. Picture clarity has improved quite a lot. With China/Korean makers getting more aggressive in LCD TVs, prices are falling and anything smaller than 32" belongs to the LCD world. Still with a 45" LCD costing about US$9800 while 42" Plasmas go for as little as US$2000 up to US$6000, it's still going to be tough to argue for LCD. 50" Plasmas cost between US$5000 to US$10000 which is the market this LCD is positioning itself against. Technology will continue to improve.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 20:57 | 0 comments

Monday, January 3, 2005

Sony Ericsson 802E

I might have mentioned it before but this 3G dual mode (i.e. 2G GSM as well) mobile phone is finally available. A mobile phone store I walked by had the 802E on display. This Vodafone handset is supposed to be SE's top entry into the 3G market. Unlike the ghastly Z1010, this handset was small, light and had a lot of appeal. I think it's going to be a real winner among users and just might get me to switch over to Vodafone since they are now partnered up in my market. FYI, the shop was asking US$660 for the phone and YES it does come in Japanese but has a language option on the handset for English, which means all the menus/options are in English.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 21:05 | 0 comments

Saturday, January 1, 2005

Happy New Year!!

In this wonderful, celebratory time, I hope everyone will have a fantastic New Year and prepare for a great 2005. Although many of us have our minds on other bigger things, I hope everyone still had a good time. I will continue to bring you more reviews and blogs in 2005. Best wishes.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 6:42 | 0 comments