Gadgets Device

Tiny projectors might be the next step in portable displays, but until their manufacturers figure out how to embed them into one of the popular media players, it looks like they’ll test out the market through stand-alone players. The first one of these to come out (by late ’08 in Asia and early ‘09 in the U.S.) might be the DLP-chipset enhanced Pico projector from Optoma, since they’ll be the first to put their unit on the line at this month’s InfoComm 2008. The company joins other Pico makers Microvision and Explay in trying to establish the new category as a must-have. The LCD projection will go up to 100 times the size of the tiny screens, without losing much detail. (Read the full post about ‘Optoma Joins The Pico Derby, Promises Tiny Projector By Year’s End’…)

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by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 7:00AM -his one slipped pas- but i-’s wor-h a back-rack -o -he glory days of celes-ial ba-hing. No, no- Roman -imes, bu- -he firs- week of June, when Sega -oys in-roduced i-s Homes-ar Plane-arium Spa Edi-ion -o -he rubby-ducky infes-ed wa-ers of -he home ba-h. -he wa-erproof orb projec-s -he nigh- sky on-o -he ceiling or pa–erns such as roses and man-a rays on-o -he -ub below. $65, -ha-’s how much. Oh, damn -his bone disease! [Via Environmental Graffiti, thanks guest-editor Dr. (Read the full post about ‘Sega’s HomeStar Spa: Plane-arium edition’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 10:23AM Hmmph. Outside of Samsung’s blisteringly hot SP-A800B, we’re fairly certain Panasonic’s latest duo are the most impressive at InfoComm. Putting those XGA / WXGA units to shame, the PT-DZ12000U packs a drool-worthy WUXGA resolution (1,920 x 1,200) and 12,000 lumens to boot. The PT-D12000U checks in with the same three-chip DLP engine and lumen count, but eases up on the pixels with just 1,400 x 1,050. Furthermore, both units boast a System Daylight View to keep things visible even in well lit rooms, and the built-in Ethernet port enables remote monitoring and control through a web browser. Just one problem with all of this, though: the $69,000 (PT-DZ12000U) / $59,000 (PT-D12000U) price tags. (Read the full post about ‘Panasonic reveals new DLP projectors: 12,000 lumens and pixels galore’…)

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The Skype Mouse Phone proudly touts itself to be the first sliding cover USB VoIP mouse in the world, featuring an integrated microphone and speakers that won’t be picking up accolades anytime soon. Sure, they might be adequate for YouTube clips, but anything more than that will betray the lack of quality within. Other features include an LCD display and a keypad so that you will be able to call your family and friends via Skype by dialing the number directly. Tags: games, plasma, pvp, audio (Read the full post about ‘Skype Mouse Phone’…)

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This portable photo printer looks like a Sanrio lunch bucket for kids, which is perfect actually, as it gives off the impression of something light and easy to carry (which it is). The compact Canon SELPHY CP770 photo printer is one of the newer additions to Canon’s SELPHY line of compact photo printers, and seems made for that person who is just so impatient to print photos that he/she must print while the party is still going on. The actual printer is the top part of the bucket; the basket space is used to store your paper and other supplies. Comes with an A/C cable, but with an optional Canon battery pack, you can take this anywhere. (Read the full post about ‘Print photos during your picnic with Canon SELPHY CP770 printer’…)

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Auzentech has rolled out its Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 sound card which caters to serious PC enthusiasts, as ordinary folk who are fine with on-board audio can probably give this a miss. The Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 is one mean peripheral, capable of accepting video from either an internal or external connection, mixing it with digital audio, and output the combined video and lossless multichannel audio through an individual HDMI 1.3 port. Interestingly enough, the internal connection will support upcoming NVIDIA products on an exclusive basis, resulting in what they claim to be the “ultimate in audio and visual entertainment.” There is no word on pricing, but the Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 will be released later this September. (Read the full post about ‘Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 Sound Card’…)

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Huawei lays claim to the world’s slimmest HSPA USB stick modem - the e180. This diminutive device measures a mere 10mm thin, and is capable of supporting both HSPA/UMTS and GSM/GPRS/EDGE network technologies. This translates to superior uplink speed rates of up to 5.76Mbps and a downlink of up to 7.2 Mbps. Features include a rotatable USB connector, making it the perfect plug-and-play device for mobile broadband users. Since the USB connector can be turned around, you don’t have to worry about losing a cover while keeping the connector protected. Interestingly enough, the E180 is also equipped with a microSD memory card slot that can support up to 8GB of additional memory, turning this into an impromptu USB flash drive. (Read the full post about ‘Huawei E180 HSPA USB Modem’…)

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Back in the 90’s when cassette tapes were all the rage (and people said things like “all the rage”) it was common for people to keep a blank tape in their boombox so as to catch their favorite song playing on the radio. That seemed fairly harmless, and it’s doubtful that the MPAA ever considered taking action on anyone for doing that. However, using this radio to record music might land you in some hot water. This radio has a very cool function, which will record the most-played tracks from an FM station to an SD card in MP3 format. I’m not entirely sure how it determines which songs have been played the most, but it will apparently clean up the track and chop out any commercials or DJ talk. (Read the full post about ‘Record music from the radio with an Intempo Rebel’…)

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Apple’s iTunes marketplace has achieved its latest milestone, smashing the 5 billion songs mark - just four months after it surpassed the 4 billion songs in terms of sales. This is definitely a phenomenal achievement, adding more weight to the argument that traditional CDs are definitely on the wane, and artists who want to make money had best hop onto the digital virtual bandwagon instead of relying on record sales at stores. This huge shift in sales is also attributed to the phenomenal success of the ipod from Apple. The 5 billion mark was reached after the iTunes store opened for business back in 2003 - who wants to wager when the 10th billion song will be sold? Sometime in 2009? (Read the full post about ‘Apple iTunes hits 5 Billion Songs Mark’…)

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With little surprise, Sprint has officially released the Samsung Instinct. Although an anticipated phone, they have kept few details secret and even surprised us at the last minute with that price drop. So for those who could not wait, head on over and grab your Instinct today. Just one small catch, that $129.99 price tag comes in the form of both instant savings and a mail-in-rebate, which means if you forget to send in your rebate form, your phone will be $100 higher. Otherwise you can not argue against a price like that when you have such a full feature list, Sprint has even included a nice accessory package that includes a 2GB microSD card with adapter, a spare battery and more. (Read the full post about ‘Samsung Instinct officially available’…)

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