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

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Sharp Mini Laptop Mebius CV

Sharp has a really small laptop called the CV which from the photos looks like an Apple G4 Powerbooks. Instead, this Transmeta based Laptop is a tiny, portable PC with only a 7.4" screen. The highlight of Sharp's new laptops are that they are designed by notable designers which pay special attention to aesthetics and design rather than worrying about features. At the end, these turn out to be pretty nice looking laptops.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:40 | 0 comments

Monday, May 30, 2005

Palm LifeDrive

I've just started to see more promotions about Palm's new LifeDrive mobile manager PDA. It's an interesting concept. With 4GB of memory, it's souped up to be a MP3 player, video player, WiFi means Internet possibility, and have all the PDA functions as well. Not bad. That's actually kind of cool. I would love to have all this AND a phone functionality as well. If the XDA or Treo could incorporate these features, that would be neat. On it's own, the LifeDrive is a compelling PDA with nice options, and all from the "founders" of the PDA. The market for PDA has probably past its heyday, and it's likely that while the idea may be to tap into some of that great MP3 growth, it will be hard. Still I like it and while I have grown away from the Palm OS, I still keep an eye on these pioneers to see what they are up to and this is not a bad product. It's the kind of product that I would probably want instead of just a PVR or a PDA. AT least with the PALM, you know the software should be reasonably easy to use.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 21:26 | 0 comments

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Samsung @ Cebit - 82" LCD TV, 3GB phone, and 3MP camera phone

Samsung has rolled out a number of impressive new products. Among the impressive line-up is the largest (so far) LCD TV at 82". Wow! That's massive- projection size almost. They also showed two cool phones which hopefully will hit the market soon so that other vendors will be forced to push the technology edge. A 3GB HDD embedded mobile phone which has drawn comparisons as an "iPod" Phone. Also, a 3 megapixel UMTS (3-G) phone was isn't the highest as some Japanese models are touting 5 Megapixels (but not for UMTS) but is still a very cool upgrade for 3G.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:12 | 0 comments

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Nintendo Gameboy Micro

After reporting a fall in earnings recently, Nintendo is clearly against the ropes, especially with its core Gameboy system now that the PSP is widely available. It's no comparison really. Nintendo though is launching a small Gameboy Micro which is only 5cmx10cm (about 2"x4"inches). I must say it's really cute but what is their target market really? Most teenagers/adults will have a PSP and a GBA/DS already and more importantly have other devices like a mobile phone or PDA on which they can already play games on. And no adult will want to buy something so tiny for a kid because the screen will be way too small (and we don't need them squinting or being forced to wear glasses) and probably too delicate for them. Anyway, neat design, but I wonder about the appeal.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:50 | 0 comments

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Nokia Internet Tablet

Nokia has launched a Linux based Internet Tablet that really isn't meant to be a phone. This device is meant to browse the web/check e-mail without having to buy a new/full PC/Laptop. I think if priced correctly, this could really be a good product. Many people have asked me what I would buy to browse the web. I recommend things like the XDA IIs/Mini XDA/PPC PDAs but in truth, these just don't do the web justice. So it will be interesting to see what this is going to be like. To keep the price down, I think they deliberately excluded mobile phone functions and is meant to connect via Bluetooth to a mobile. I think eventually, they will have one with mobile functions built in. But I like the concept.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 19:50 | 0 comments

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Nikon Coolpix S2

I recently saw the display for the new Coolpix S2. This ultra small camera from Nikon is similar to the older S1 camera but features a splash proof design for more weather conditions. This digital camera would probably be better in the beach than your typical digital camera. It's sliding front screen is reminiscent of the Sony designs. I remember my older Nikon Coolpix (which was later stolen!) and have good experience with the photos and the quality of images. Battery life looks very good too and this model will certainly allow Nikon to compete (albeit a bit later) with popular models from Sony, Casio, and Panasonic in this form.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:01 | 0 comments

Friday, May 20, 2005

Sony Ericsson Bluetooth Media Center

So you want to show off your 100 pictures from the club where you threw up on yourself? Well Sony Ericsson has a Media Center which hooks up to your phone via Bluetooth and allows you to stream pictures to a TV. The MMV200 can also stream music and video files to a TV or Stereo. In addition, it can also play or memory cards (like SD, MMC, CF, etc) and use your mobile phone as a remote to control the MMV. Neat connectivity but not really for me.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:20 | 0 comments

Thursday, May 19, 2005

iPod Shuffle Review

Long overdue, but finally out, the review of the Shuffle. No surprise, I love the size and function but wish it had a smallish screen (which Apple said they were toying with initially). Positive recommendation though I suggest just getting the smaller 512MB version.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 0:13 | 6 comments

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Altec Lansing speakers

Altec Lansing has nice table-top speakers for the iPod. I particularly like the Black model they have which is designed for the "special" U2 iPod version. This model, which I have only seen in Japan, really has a nice finish to it. I still like the JBL speakers for the iPod but these are pretty good too...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:19 | 0 comments

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Panasonic FX8 Digital Camera

In another upgrade, Panasonic has also announced an upgrade to their popular FX-7 digital camera. The FX-8 for the most part looks and has much of the same details as the FX-7. 5MP, Image stabilization, etc. The key difference of note is the extended battery life which Panasonic says can last twice as long as the original. That's a very important factor because battery life has become a very important factor and many people attribute it as their key factor in their decision. Panasonic says there are some other upgrades in modes, the picture engine, etc. but it looks all quite similar to me.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:42 | 2 comments

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Minolta X60 digital camera

Minolta has updated it's X-series digital camera with the new X60 which replaces the X50. The key difference is the 2.5" screen. I was actually considering the X50 earlier primarily because of its cheap price. The X60 brings their camera line to more closely resemble the Sony T-series and the Casio Exilims. I don't think that's necessarily a good thing. I think that Konica-Minolta should have gone with a much more different look so that it can truly standout. They are a decent brand (my first digital camera ever was a Minolta a long time ago) and they do make good products. But they might just get lost among the different choices.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:56 | 0 comments

Monday, May 9, 2005

Sony Vaio Type H

Sony has announced some of its Summer 2005 line-up for the Vaio collection, among them the desktop Type H. The Type H is another desktop Vaio product for the Japanese market that has its emphasis on design, and over all multimedia capabilities. It's first and foremost a PC of course. But more than that, it's an AV unit with TV/DVD functions and all the other typical multimedia functions (digital photography, video editing, etc.) With a 300GB hard-drive, the Type H is really meant to be a part of your multimedia experience (including recording TV programs like a TiVo). Too bad it's only for the Japanese market right now... my DVD recorder just died on me and I need a new AV system.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:32 | 4 comments

Sunday, May 8, 2005

Speakers for my Laptop

I've never really complained about the speakers on my Vaio T-series but after using them for sometime now, I must say that they are actually quite poor. Sounds are garbled, music tends to screech, and movies/videos have echos. I don't know why they can't put better speakers in these laptops nowadays. Anyway, I have been looking into small speaker systems for my Mini iPod because I have given up trying to listen to music from this laptop. Along the way, I have run into some alternatives for laptop speakers including a very cool product by Creative. The TravelSound Notebook 500 actually attaches to the top of your notebook screen and provides you with a much richer, better sound. Cool. Just might be the kind of product I will want for the office without investing in a whole set of speakers.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:26 | 0 comments

Thursday, May 5, 2005

Siemens SK65 twisting mobile phone with keyboard

Siemens has a new mobile that offers a twisting keyboard function similar to Nokia. The SK65 has an interesting twisting function that opens up to a full sized keyboard. Better yet, it has Blackberry built in so this could be a Blackberry replacement. Pretty interesting. I never thought that keyboards would be so important, but lately, more and more people are telling me that they love mobile phones with keyboards because they use it so much.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:36 | 0 comments

Wednesday, May 4, 2005

Toshiba Premium Mini Libretto U100

Toshiba hasn't given up on the mini-laptop space. It recently launched the Premium Mini Libretto series, which updates its past line of Libretto laptops. With some fairly impressive finishes/colors along with half decent specs, the Mini Libretto certainly looks very small and portable. Having only a 7.2" screen, it's true to the small size of past Libretto products. There is a docking station for a DVD drive which might seem inconvenient, but the Libretto is only 999 grams without it making it incredibly portable!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 21:54 | 0 comments

Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Reware Power Bags -- charging your gadgets on the go

This has got to be the most unique product I've seen. Reware has made these backpacks with built in solar panels. The purpose of these is to charge your gadgets on the go. They even mention the PSP, so it's a pretty new device. Basically, the solar panels will help charge mobile phones, GPS units, MP3 players, whatever on the go. I guess that can be usefully. Why you would have your PSP player hiking through the mountains is a different argument but I could see its use. Eventually, this will get integrated into other clothing and then you might get unlimited power from your ski-jackets, hiking gear (for walkie-talkies, etc.) would be pretty cool.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:39 | 0 comments

Monday, May 2, 2005

JNC SSF-8100

Korean MP3 maker JNC has what they claim is the smallest MP3 player in the world. The ultra tiny SSF-8100 is a square shaped MP3 player with up to 1GB of storage. Weighing in a mere 18 grams and even more impressive, with a small OLED display, this will certainly be an interesting device to look out for.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 19:20 | 0 comments