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, March 30, 2005

Sony MegaVision Hi-Def screen

Sony has this amazing 50 meters by 10 meters High-Definition screen that could the new generation of movie screens to come. The MegaVision screen is a spectacular view of the type of quality of images we can expect. I'm excited because the image quality should be phenomenal and the technology doesn't look like it's far away.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:48 | 0 comments

Sunday, March 27, 2005

JAVOedge clear cases

A company called JAVOedge was kine enough to call me to offer a sample of their Sony PSP clear cover to try out. I already had one installed but I went to their website and looked through their different products. I've been buying these kind of protective covers for all my products for a long time and I think clear protective films for LCD screens, whether their your mobile, iPod, Sony PSP, digital camera, etc. are an essential add-on.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 20:06 | 0 comments

Friday, March 25, 2005

Pendrive Adam & Eve MP3 Player

USB flash drive maker Pendrive has two nice MP3 players, one called Adam, the other called Eve, appropriately enough for different styles. The Adam is a short, fatter player, when the Eve is a long, thin player. Hey, what are they saying about genders? Anyway, they look pretty nice.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 19:37 | 0 comments

Monday, March 21, 2005

NEC N923 Ultra Small mobile phone

With the largest mobile market in the world, China is now getting all the newest mobile handsets well ahead of any market. Hong Kong is a close second but there are a lot of handsets that you just can't get anywhere else (well not yet anyways). The NEC N923 is an example of such a small phone. This ultra small mobile phone is shaped like a credit card and is extremely compact and light. It replaces the N900 model that NEC introduced over a year ago. Very neat and high-tech. It certainly looks as appealing if not better than the V3. But, as it's new and definitely on the high-end, it's extremely expensive (over US$750). Still, it's pretty neat and I can imagine it having plenty of appeal especially for women that want an ultra small mobile phone.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 3:47 | 0 comments

Saturday, March 19, 2005

D-Snap Audio

Panasonic has launched a series of new MP3 players. The D-Snap Audio SV-SD100V/90V is a very small MP3 player shaped like a square matchbox. It has a really nice black, crystal reflective coating. The neatest thing is the ultra small LED display just below the surface. Although its a monochrome display with simple lettering, it does add an element of high-tech. While I like my iShuffle a lot, I did sometimes wish there was a display on it. This simple design from Panasonic is definitely the way ahead.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:37 | 0 comments

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Samsung New MP3 Players

In another bid to try to go after Apple's runaway lead in the MP3 market, Samsung has introduced a host of new MP3 players. The YH-925GS (gee that's easy to remember and sounds so cool -- Not!) is a 20GB Color Screen MP3 player competing against the iPod Photo. Unfortunately, the iPod Photo has a larger hard drive, a nicer design, and from my experience, a better interface. I like the YH-999 Portable Media Center with its large color screen which would make a bigger challenge to the iPod photo. But it's pretty pricey (US$499) and doesn't look that great either. None of the other players look exciting either compared to the Apple or even the upcoming Sony lineup. I'm not sure this is going to help them win over market share.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:41 | 0 comments

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Universal Remote Control

Universal Remote Control has a number of universal remotes for the home. There is the massive MX-3000 which looks like a giant gameboy or something similar. The Aurora MX-950, to be coming soon, looks like a really cool integrated remote. With so many devices in the house, I know the value of good universal remotes.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:31 | 0 comments

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

NEC N840 2MP camera Phone

It's got a relatively ugly/boring design, but it does have a 2 mega-pixel camera, a very nice screen, and its available now. The NEC N840 is a flip design phone just introduced by NEC. Having used their 3G phones, they are a huge disappointment but the NEC brand is very big in Japan. The N840 is a very old-fashion designed flip phone that probably won't catch too much attention, but underneath, it certainly does pack a lot of features and functions.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:10 | 0 comments

Monday, March 14, 2005

Samsung 7 megapixel Camera phone

Samsung has announced a 7MP camera phone that is certainly at the top end of the technology envelope. But, if you look at the camera phone, it's a massive device -- not really that portable. It's also a CDMA2000 1x EVDO model so it's not going to be made for the GSM market anytime soon. It's also fairly on the heavy side for a phone at 180 grams. I like the other interesting features like a business card reader and hope that we'll see many of these functions and higher technology pushes in more phones to come.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:33 | 0 comments

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Sony MD w/ camera

An interesting blend of technology, Sony has introduced a new MD with a built in Camera. I guess it will appeal to some people that want a music player and a digital camera. It makes some sense given the idea/appeal of the iPod Photo.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:24 | 0 comments

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

New Sony Digital Camera T7

Sony has unveiled the T7, a super thin 5 Megapixel version of the T series cameras. It looks much thinner on a side-by-side comparison with the T1. Sony claims 180 shots on a single charge and a super fast reaction. They also say they have a nice LCD screen which they call a "clear photo" LCD screen. It's still 2.5" though I had hoped it would have a slightly larger screen than the past T-series, similar to the new Exilim. It will be available in Black and Silver, the usual Sony colors. It will be out in mid-April and I'll keep any eye out for it. I'm curious to see how small it is -- probably quite similar to the Exilim S100.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:30 | 0 comments

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

New Sony MP3 Player NW-E505/507

Sony has introduced a few new MP3 players, probably to fight back against the iPod launches. The NW-E505/507 series of players look similar to the idea of the iPod Shuffle. The biggest selling point though is the really amazing screen. It's a simple display, but seems to be integrated into the front panel of the unit. The display looks pretty cool as it can display the track information, the time, etc. all in a neat LED color. While the iPod Shuffle may win for design and looks, the Sony looks like a technology leader. Although it won't be out for another month, I'd like to see it.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 0:48 | 0 comments

Monday, March 7, 2005

Sony Ericsson Premini II

Sony Ericsson Japan has launched it's latest handset, the Premini II. This is probably a preview of the type of handset we're going to be seeing for the rest of the world. Nothing too bold or new in design, but the LED lights are really sharp and the QVGA screen looks very good.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:34 | 0 comments

Thursday, March 3, 2005

Sony Ericsson W800 Walkman 2MP mobile phone

The Sony Ericsson W800 Walkman is a simple but impressive new mobile Handset. The design is similiar to older Sony Ericsson brickstyle phone, but what makes this phone unique is some of the new features. First is the "Walkman" feature as it is called. Trying to give MP3 devices a run for its money, SE has built-in MP3 functions and included a 512MB MS Pro Duo stick with the handset. The W800 also has a 2 megapixel camera with video functions as well. I like the new features. I can't wait to see one up close, and I'll certainly consider it when it comes out.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 18:36 | 0 comments

Wednesday, March 2, 2005

Creative Zen Micro - Price drop, new models

I would guess that the Creative Zen players are the second or third most popular MP3 players in the market. It's probably a big difference in market share between Apple and the rest of the world, but it's nice to see that there's some competition out there. However, Creative is merely reacting to the price cuts that Apple recently introduced for its iPod products. In response, Creative is rolling out new 4GB and 6GB Zen Micro models at reduced prices meant to compete against the iPod mini. It's definitely an uphill battle as the Zen Micro isn't exactly the prettiest thing, but it's an alternative.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 6:53 | 0 comments

Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Blackberry 7100 series

I had the chance to try out the 7100g Blackberry yesterday is part of the new Blackberry 7100 series of phones. It's a decent looking phone with a few PDA functions built in. I like the ability to get messages via Blackberry and I always wanted to get the service but didn't want to lug around the big Blackberry machine they had. This is a decent compromise. I wish the screen were a little bigger, but then the device would be bigger so I guess I can't have everything. Blackberry has a bunch of other models as well and I like the black looking 7100x which appears to be only available for 02 customers in Europe. I'm sure they'll port it over here soon (probably a parallel import).

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 19:27 | 0 comments