Allen's TechToys

Canon EOS 50D

2008-09-14T18:04:00.003+12:00

On 26 August 2008, Canon New Zealand has announced the brand new Canon EOS 50D digital SLR camera locally. No surprises to hear, but still very exciting news. The EOS 50D is the replacement for EOS 40D that was announced August last year. EOS 50D is the model sitting between 450D and 5D. It’s not as expensive as 5D, but definitely has better performance than 450D. Why am I excited? Because this is the model that I’m going to upgrade to.

Let’s take a look at the highlights of the Canon EOS 50D and my comments:

15.1 Megapixel CMOS (APS-C sensor) – It’s the highest resolution APS-C size sensor DSLR on the market. Although I don’t really care about pixels now, still the higher the better
DiG!C 4 Image Processor – Wow, it’s already 4th generation of the Canon’s DiG!C processor and 50D is the first model to use it. Why DiG!C4 is good? Because they always say the new version is faster processing, producing finer detail and natural colour reproduction. But who knows? It should be better though
ISO speed 100 – 3200, expandable to 12800 – Do you hear it? Up to 12800! But don’t know how good the image quality is at this rate
6.3 frames per second with continuous shooting up to 60 shots in a single burst – I’m not a sports shooter, so don’t really care about shooting speed, but of course, the faster the better
3.0” Clear View VGA LCD with Live View Mode and Live Face Detection AF Mode – Most DSLRs now carry Live View and many compact digital cameras have Face Detection function, so no surprises here
9-point wide area AF
HDMI output in full High-Definition for high quality viewing and playback on a High Definition TV
Tough magnesium alloy body, with environmental protection
EOS Integrated Cleaning System including the improved Self Cleaning Sensor Unit with a new fluorine coating
New Creative Auto mode and Quick Control screen – What’s this? Well, it’s not something groundbreaking. Just for users don’t know technical terms such as aperture and exposure to adjust settings and shoot images as they visualise them. For example, you can adjust images to be a little brighter or make the background more blurry in Creative Auto mode, rather than by understanding how to change the exposure or aperture
Automatic image correction technologies including:
Auto Lighting Optimizer – analyzes brightness and contract automatically before making adjustments to achieve optimal images
Auto correction of lens peripheral illumination – lens peripheral illumination fall-off is automatically corrected to suite each lens when shooting in JPEG mode
Full compatibility with Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites
Software – the EOS 50D should come with the following software package:
Digital Photo Professional Software – provides processing of lossless RAW images
EOS Utility – provides essential support for Live View remote shooting, camera configuration and image transfers
Picture Style Editor – allows users to create individual Picture Styles that fit with their personal requirements

OK, are you ready to get one? I’m pretty much ready to sell my current camera and go to grab one when it hits retail stores late September in New Zealand. The price is still TBC at the time of writing, but I think it will be close to 40D’s price tag. It will be available in Body only, as an Enthusiast Kit with EF-S17-85mm lens, and as a Premium Kit with EF-S18-200mm Lens (this is the kit I’m going to grab!).

Nikon D90

2008-09-14T18:02:00.001+12:00

Honestly speaking, I’m a Canon guy more than a Nikon guy. However, I have to admit that Nikon has been doing some decent jobs and have some really impressive models. My friends who bought the D300 all said it’s a brilliant camera and super happy about it. My dad is using a D3 which is sponsored by Nikon and likes it very much, although he also bought the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III for lens compatibilities. OK, what does Nikon bring us this time? It’s the D90, which is the successor to its popular D80. It’s the world’s first digital SLR with a movie mode. Let’s take a look at what it offers:

Newly designed Nikon DX-format CMOS image sensor with 12.3 megapixels
Wide ISO sensitivity range of ISO 200 to 3200
D-Movie – the world’s first D-SLR movie mode allows you to shoot HD720p movies
Scene Recognition System integrated with Face Detection System
3” LCD with Live View mode
11-point AF system
Continuous shooting at up to 4.5 frames per second
Compatible with HDMI output

SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC

2008-09-14T18:00:00.002+12:00

In the digital photography age, we don’t need films anymore. But memory cards become essential. SanDisk is always the brand I trust for memory cards. Recently, it has introduced the Extreme III 30MB/s Edition line of SD High Capacity cards. As the name states, it can read and write up to 30MB/s, which is 50% speed boost from the previous fastest 20MB/s cards. This world’s fastest SDHC is helpful for complementing the new range of fast speed DSLRs.

The new cards are available in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities. The RRP for the 4GB card is US$65 (NZ$100), 8GB card is US$110 (NZ$165) and the 16GB one is selling at US$180 (NZ$270).

Netconcepts Searchme Stack

2008-07-09T10:15:00.004+12:00

Searchme

Maximize stack view

The stack concept from Searchme for sharing your favorite sites is quite cool.

BBC Launches Mobile Version Website

2008-03-18T23:24:00.002+13:00

Have you ever used your mobile phone to access websites? I do use it quite often and love it, although there are not many good mobile websites yet. But I believe the mobile world will definitely be the future of Internet sooner or later.

BBC.co.uk has just launched a new version of its website for mobile devices, including a new section for BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat with all the latest entertainment news and pictures.

The BBC's mobile website attracts 2.7 million unique users each month to its News, Sport and Weather content. It is currently the No.1 mobile site in the U.K.

Check out BBC.co.uk on your mobile devices or http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/web/index.shtml for more information.

The New High-end - Nokia N96

2008-03-16T21:53:00.005+13:00

The Nokia N95's successor has gone official - the all new Nokia N96. Although the N95 is still powerful, the N96 has gone further by having 16GB internal storage in addition to a microSD slot. The 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss auto-focus camera is still on N96, but now it has two LED lights doing flash and video light separately.

The Nokia N96 has a 2.8" QVGA display with integrated DVB-H mobile TV tuner and 3.5mm headphone jack. Other features include Wi-Fi and A-GPS. It works on HSDPA, but unfortunately the first version only supports 900MHz and 2100MHz. It has 128MB RAM and 256MB system memory for operating system and dynamic user data. Battery life is up to 150 minutes talk time and up to 200 hours stand-by time.

It will be available from third quarter of 2008 for about 550 euro (US$870 or NZ$1,100).

Check out more Nokia N96 product images.

Sony Launches Cyber-shot W300 Compact Digital Camera with 13.6 Megapixel

2008-03-16T21:05:00.005+13:00

Sony launches the Cyber-Shot DSC-W300 digital compact camera with 13.6 megapixel, 2.7" LCD screen, scratch-resistant titanium-coated body, HDTV output and all Sony's new intelligent technologies including the "Smile Shutter" and Dynamic Range Optimization.

The new DSC-W300 is expected to be the industry's most pocktable, high-resolution digital compact camera with high performance. The camera has ultra-high 13.6 megapixel CCD with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 3x optical zoom lens, 2.7" LCD screen with 230k pixels and an eye-level viewfinder all in a compact size. I like the body - the premium look and ultra-hard titanium coating makes it highly-resistant to scratches and messy fingerprints.

The intelligent shooting features include Face Detection, Intelligent Scene Recognition Mode, 9-Point Auto Focus, Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization, Sony Double Anti-Blur Solution, Dynamic Range Optimization, Convenient Photo Modes and Burst Mode.

The Cyber-shot DSC-W300 and accessories will be available in May for about US$350 (NZ$430) in the US market. But I guess it may be around NZ$600 when it launches in the NZ market.

Check out more Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 product images.

Intel will Release Quad-Core CPUs for Laptops in Q3, 2008

2008-03-16T20:24:00.006+13:00

Intel confirms that it will deliver quad-core chips for laptops later this year. The quad-core laptop CPUs are most likely for desktop replacement notebooks, will be based on the Core 2 Duo micro-architecture and will ship in Q3 of 2008. The new CPUs may use the new 45-nanometer technology.

The quad-core laptop CPU will be released after Intel's Centrino 2 platform, which will be launched in Q2, 2008. The Centrino 2 platform is code-named Montevina and is an upgrade to the current Centrino mobile platform with WiMax and Wi-Fi on a single chip.

The initial launched quad-core laptop chip won't be small. So it won't fit in super-slim laptops like MacBook Air, and will require more power than dual-core chips. The target will be mobile gamers and office workers who need heavy processing power. If you're hunting for a powerful desktop replacement laptop and don't mind to wait for 6 more months, then you may want to wait for the quad-core beasts.

Top 20" Wide-screen LCD - ASUS PW201

2008-02-26T00:15:00.004+13:00

Looking for a new LCD monitor? If you have enough budget, a 24" model would be good to have. But if you don't want to spend $1,000+ on a monitor, then look at 20" models which have the best combination of performance and price at the moment. Among all those 20" LCDs on the market, the ASUS PW201 would be a good one to consider.

ASUS PW201 has good picture performance, smooth adjustments and selling for around NZ$725 (US$540). Its resolution is 1680x1050 and contrast ratio is 800:1. It also comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera and picture-in-picture function. Connectivity wise, it provides composite, S-Video, component inputs as well as DVI, earphone jack and USB ports for connecting your business and entertainment devices. Overall, the ASUS PW201 is a fine choice for work, play or both.

All New Sony Digital Photo Frames

2008-02-25T23:36:00.004+13:00

Digital photo frame is a very popular product now. It's a perfect gift to anyone and also looks great when put in your own bedroom or living room. I have bought one for my mom last year as a Christmas gift and she liked it very much. At the moment, we have the choices from Philips and Samsung and some other brands. But Sony is releasing its digital photo frame products as well. Let's have a quick look at what Sony offers.

The upcoming Sony DPF-D70 digital photo frame has a 7" 800x480 resolution and 15:9 aspect ratio LCD screen. It comes with 256MB internal memory and supports most memory card formats. The price will be US$140 (NZ$175).

Apart from the basic model DPF-D70, Sony will also release two advanced models - the 7" DPF-V700 and 9" DPF-V900. Both models come with 512MB internal memory instead of 256MB and also have an HDMI output for viewing photos in high definition on an HDTV. The 7" V700 will cost US$190 (NZ$235) and the 9" V900 will be on sale at US$250 (NZ$310).

All the models will be available from April this year.

Two New Sony DSLRs - Alpha A300 & A350

2008-02-25T00:58:00.003+13:00

Looking for a new DSLR camera? Of course, we can choose a Canon or Nikon. But don't forget Sony. I'm currently using a Sony Alpha A100 which works fine. While I'm looking at the replacement model A200, Sony has unveiled the new 10.2 megapixel Alpha A300 and 14.2 megapixel A350.

The A300 is an entry-level DSLR and has a nice price US$799.99 (NZ$988) for the A300K bundle, which comes with a 18-70mm zoom lens. The A300X bundle, which comes with 18-70mm standard zoom and 55-200mm telephoto lens will cost US$999.99 (NZ$1,235).

The Alpha A300 DSLR uses Sony's Bionz image-processing engine and the ISO is up to 3200. It also has a sensor-shifting image stabiliser - that makes very clear shots in low light. It equips with a tilting 2.7" LCD display and two levels of anti-dust protection for the CCD. The A300 has the Live Preview feature as well which is almost standard for any DSLRs this year.

The A350 has almost the same specs as the A300, but it has the resolution up to 14.2 megapixels. The A350K bundle with one 18-70mm lens costs US$899.99 (NZ$1,115) and A350X with two lenses will cost US$1,099.99 (NZ$1,360).

The A350 will be available in March this year and A300 would be coming in April.

Sony Ericsson + Windows Mobile = XPERIA X1

2008-02-11T22:05:00.000+13:00

Sony Ericsson has announced a new Windows Mobile based smartphone - XPERIA X1. This will be the first Windows Mobile device from Sony Ericsson. It also means that four of the top five phone makers in the world now are producing Windows Mobile phones.

The new XPERIA brand will focus on multimedia and mobile web communication. The X1 looks very cool and has both QWERTY keyword and touch screen. Let's have a quick look at what it offers:

Fully functional QWERTY keywobard
Touch screen with finger touch navigation
3" wide WVGA TFT display (800 x 480)
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA/EDGE
3.2 megapixel camera
aGPS
Windows Mobile 6
WiFi
microSD

Is this the perfect smartphone to get? But it won't be available until the second half of 2008.

Top Digital Camera - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3

2008-01-22T23:50:00.000+13:00

Looking for a digital camera that fits your pocket, fits your performance requirements and also fits your budget? Then the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3 is definitely a good choice. The little brother of the Sony Cyber-shot H9 offers:

10x optical zoom (38-380mm)
8.1 megapixel (1/2.5" CCD)
2.5" LCD display
BIONZ engine for wider dynamic range and face detection
Double Anti-Blur (Super SteadyShot and High ISO) for blur free images
HDTV video output

It's a direct competition to Panasonic TZ3 and Canon SX100IS. Overall, Sony has done a great job to pack a 10x zoom lens and 8 megapixels into a tiny body, but the image quality at higher ISOs is a lit lacking. The price of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3 is NZ$550 (US$299).

Check out more Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3 photos.

2008 Cadillac CTS Wins 2007 Tech Car of the Year

2008-01-22T23:18:00.000+13:00

CNET has given the 2007 Tech Car of the Year Award to the 2008 Cadillac CTS. The 2008 Lexus LS 600h was also a strong competitor. Although the Lexus has one over-the-top feature - self parking (yes, it can park by itself), the CTS wins with two features: the ability to pause live radio and a weather feed through its satellite radio. You can hit the pause button while listening to the live radio and the car will buffer the live radio to the hard drive for up to an hour, so you can pick up listening where you left off.

Both cars have an in-dash music server and live traffic reporting system. The music server of Cadillac CTS has a 40GB hard drive. So yo can rip your CDs onto the hard drive. If you're driving down the motorway and there is traffic jam ahead, the traffic system will let you know well ahead of time.

The starting price of the 2008 Cadillac CTS is US$33,490 (NZ$45,000).

Nokia 5610 XpressMusic

2008-01-22T01:13:00.000+13:00

If you're looking for a brand new mobile phone and wanting a MP3 player at the same time, the coming soon Nokia 5610 XpressMusic will definitely be worth a look. Let's have a quick look of what it offers:

3G for fast downloads and video calls
Music Slider key for quick access
3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash
2.2" 16-million colours scratch-resistant screen (240 x 320 pixels)
20MB built-in memory, option to expand up to 4GB with microSD card
Dedicated DAC33 audio chip for superb sound
Music playback up to 22 hours
Watch videos at 30fps
S 40 user interface, 3rd edition
Bluetooth 2.0
Talk time up to 6 hours, standby time up to 13.3 days
Package contains 512MB microSD card, wired headset and USB cable

BTW, it looks very good. I have seen it from last year's Big Boys Toys. You can already buy it from parallel importers at the price of about NZ$570. But the Vodafone version may take a little bit longer.

Apple Time Capsule

2008-01-21T00:10:00.000+13:00

Using Mac OS X Leopard? If you're, you know that Time Machine in Leopard requires an external hard drive for backup. Now Apple comes out with its own device - Time Capsule.

Time Capsule includes a wireless 500GB or 1TB hard drive designed to work with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard. After the initial backup, only changed files are backed up and it all happens automatically, wirelessly and in the background. Having multiple Macs in your house? Time Capsule can back up and store files for each Leopard-based Mac on your wireless network.

More than just a wireless hard drive, Time Capsule is also a full-featured AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n. It also works as a printer hub. Plug in your USB printer to the Time Capsule and share it with your family members.

If you don't have Mac OS X Leopard or you're a PC user, you can still access Time Capsule as a standard external hard drive.

The 500GB model costs NZ$498 (US$299) and 1TB is NZ$799 (US$499).

Comprehensive Review of Apple MacBook Air – The World’s Thinnest Notebook

2008-01-20T22:56:00.000+13:00

Apple has introduced the all new MacBook Air in the 2008 MacWorld. The ultrathin and ultraportable design makes it the world’s thinnest notebook. How thin is it? It’s only 0.4-1.94 cm in height and weights only 1.36 kg. If you can’t imagine how thin 0.4-1.94 cm really is, let’s put it in Apple terms. The depth of the latest 160GB iPod Classic is 1.35 cm. So the thickest part of MacBook Air is only 0.59 cm more than an iPod. With the sturdy anodised aluminium body, it looks really stirring.

Before we go into any detail, let’s have a quick look of what we can get for the price of NZ$2,999 (US$1,799), the starting price of MacBook Air.

Display: 13.3”
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz
Memory: 2GB
Hard Drive: 80GB 4200-rpm PATA
Wireless: Built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Operating System: Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
Applications: iLife ’08 suite, Front Row, Photo Booth

OK, now it’s time to dig into the thinnest laptop on the planet and find out if it really worth the investment. I’ll also assign a points out of ten rating to each of the following areas which reflects my personal thinking which hopefully will help you a little bit when deciding if you want one or not.

Display

The MacBook Air uses 13.3” widescreen LED backlit display with 1280x800 resolution. It also includes a built-in iSight camera that is handy. 13.3” is my personal favourite screen size, because it’s not too big to carry and also not too small to use. As we know, Apple’s display always looks good. So I’m giving this a 10/10 point.

Keyboard

The MacBook Air uses full-size keyboard which is great. They keyboard also comes with backlit key illumination, making it easy to work in low-light settings such as airplanes and conference halls. In addition, a built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts keyboard and display brightness for optimal visibility. Of course, 10/10 point for the keyword.

Trackpad

The MacBook Air includes an oversize Trackpad with multi-touch technology. You can pinch, swipe or rotate to zoom in on text, advance through a photo album or adjust an image. It uses the similar technology as iPod touch. Although it’s innovative enough, not everyone will value this feature as top of the list due to personal preferences. I give the Trackpad 8/10.

Wireless

802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR...what else can we expect? 10/10.

Wireless Migration Assistant

You can transfer your files from your old Mac to the new MacBook Air wirelessly and easily using the Wireless Migration Assistant. It’s a good to have feature, but not essential for everyone. 8/10.

Remote Disc

For a notebook this thin, we can't expect a built-in optical drive. Although you can buy the external DVD writer called Apple MacBook Air SuperDrive for NZ$159 (US$99), Apple provides an alternative solution. A new feature called Remote Disc lets you wirelessly use or borrow the optical drive of a Mac or PC in the vicinity. How does it work? Firstly, you set up Remote Disc on a nearby Mac or PC. And then insert the software disc you want to install into the Mac or PC. Finally, you’ll find the remote drive on your MacBook Air and install the software. It's as if you’re using a local drive. Good eh? I’ll give Apple 10/10 for this feature.

Ports

For a super thin laptop, we don’t expect a lot of ports. But can it be this few? The MacBook Air only has one USB 2.0 port, a headphone jack and a micro-DVI port that supports DVI, VGA, composite and S-video output. But wait a minute, where is the Ethernet port? Sorry, if you don’t have a wireless network, you have to buy the extra Apple USB Ethernet Adapter at the price of NZ$48 (US$29) in order to connect to wired networks. No more than 5/10 for the ports.

Performance

Last but not least, the performance issue, which is the part I care most about. MacBook Air comes with a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor at the starting price (NZ$2,999 or US$1,799). You can also choose the 1.8GHz processer by spending extra NZ$500 (US$300). One thing to note, the chip was custom-built to fit within the compact dimensions of MacBook Air. It’s much smaller than the standard Intel Core 2 Due chip.

It has 2GB of RAM built in. It is kind of OK but it would be good to have 4GB though. However, because of the size there’s no chance to upgrade.

The standard model uses 80GB 1.8” hard drive, the same hard drive used by iPod classic. At 4,200 rpm, it’s really slow. You can upgrade to the 64GB Solid State Drive at the price of NZ$1,640 (US$999). If I was a millionaire, I’ll definitely upgrade. But unfortunately I’m not...yet.

In terms of video performance, I’m not too happy about it. It uses Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with the main memory.

The battery life is five hours which isn't bad. Overall, I’m a little bit disappointed about the MacBook Air’s performance. But considering its size, I won’t go so low as it 4/10, 6/10 point is my final thought.

Shall we buy it?

It depends on how we define “we”. If we’re millionaires, we’ll definitely buy the ultimate configuration at the price of NZ$5,139 (US$3,098) with no qualms and use it as the third, fourth or fifth computers. If we’re super-Mac-fans or rich-gadget-lovers, we’ll buy it, because the starting price is not that bad for such a cool toy. If we’re normal users who are looking for a laptop right now and can afford several thousand dollars and aren't that fussed about the performance too much and use it outside of home or office most of the time, then the MacBook Air is a good choice. On the other hand if we’re a power user of computers and use the laptop a lot at home and in the office, I certainly won’t recommend the MacBook Air, unless it's your second computer. Of course, it doesn’t matter what kind of user you are, you have to be familiar with the Mac OS X or you're willing to learn.

Check out more Apple MacBook Air photos.

Web Browser Market Share of November 2007

2007-12-04T22:07:00.000+13:00

Well, we have looked at the operating system market share in the last post. Now let's have a look what's happening in the browser war. Not surprisingly, Internet Explorer 7 continued to grow and reached 37% last month. IE6 has fallen more than 14% since the beginning of 2007 and now at 40.2%. IE's main competitor, Firefox, had 16%, that's up from 13.7% since the beginning of 2007. Apple's Safari held 5.1%, up from 4.7% at the beginning of the year.

Operating System Market Share of November 2007

2007-12-04T21:48:00.000+13:00

Windows Vista has hit the market for almost a year now. You may be wondering how it goes. Not bad actually. According to Net Applications' research, Windows Vista's market share was 9.19% in November, up from 7.94% in October. In contrast, Windows XP fell by about 1% to 78.37% last month. Mac continues to grow and reached 7% already. Linux was using by 0.6% PCs worldwide.

Star Wars USB Drive

2007-11-30T00:54:00.000+13:00

Love Star Wars? You cannot missed out the Star Wars USB Flash drives by mimobot. The 2GB models are around US$80 (NZ$105).

Hello Kitty Bike Tire

2007-11-29T00:43:00.000+13:00

Why do you want to spend US$25.99 (NZ$35) on a Hello Kitty bicycle tire? Ask girls...

2008 Laptop Shopping Guide

2007-11-25T14:42:00.000+13:00

2007 is almost gone. There were so many products caught our eyes in the year. But 2008 is coming! Anything we buy now will be used in 2008 mostly. So let's recap some of the hottest products of 2007 and look forward to 2008!

We'll start with some laptop products because it's always on the top of the Christmas tech shopping list. In 2007, we don't really have any killer laptop products. Most notebooks are still using Core 2 Duo processors (not quad-core yet), but we do have a lot of good products.

One of my personal favorite is the Dell XPS M1330. It's one of the world's thinnest laptops with 13.3" screen and relatively powerful performance. By only spending NZ$2,499, you can get a Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7500 (2.2GHz/800 FSB/4MB Cache), Windows Vista Home Premium operating system, 3GB DDR2 RAM, 250GB SATA hard drive, 13.3" UltraSharp widescreen TFT display (1280x800) with webcame, 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, 8x DVD double layer writer, 802.11 a/g wireless card and 2 year XPS Premier Service.

If you're a gamer and want to play games anywhere you want (on the top of Sky Tower for instance), or looking for a desktop replacement laptop, you may want to check out the Dell XPS M1730. It's world's first notebook with an optional AGEIA PhysX processor and available in 4 colours (Blue, Red, Gray & White). If you have NZ$4,099 in your pocket, you can get a Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 (2.4GHz/800 FSB/4 MB Cache) processor, Windows Vista Ultimate operating system, 4GB dual-channel DDR2 RAM, 400GB 7200RPM SATA RAID 0 hard drive (2x200GB), 17" UltraSharp widescreen TFT display (1920x1200), dual 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT graphics with SLI Technology, 8x DVD double layer writer, 802.11a/g wireless card and 2 year XPS Premier Service.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not from Dell. The reason I like Dell is because of the value Dell delivers for each dollar you have. But my favorite laptop brand is still - Sony VAIO! Unfortunately, Sony doesn't really have any very exciting products this year, although it does have lots of good products. For example, the Sony VGNSZ58GNC SZ Series Notebook is the one I'd like to consider. But again, comparing with Dell, you'll get much less for the same money. In return, Sony will offer you the build quality, great looking and the brand power.

I have talked about Dell and Sony (my personal favorites). But none of them are really the market winner of 2007. HP is! HP is now the biggest PC manufacturer in the world and also the best seller in NZ. There must be a reason for that. HP really has some good models with solid performance and sharp price. For example, the HP Compaq Presario B1201TU offers a Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 (1.67GHz), 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, 12.1" WXGA widescreen display, Windows Vista Business operating system, DVD writer, webcam, 802.11 a/b/g wireless card, Bluetooth and 1 year international warranty, all at the price of NZ$2,000.

When it comes to value, no one can really beat Acer. Acer also made itself the world's third largest PC manufacturer recently by purchasing the US PC maker Gateway in a US$1 billion deal in September 07. Acer's Aspire and TravelMate series have many value for money models. The Ferrari models from Acer are also very appealing. When we're talking about Acer Ferrari, don't forget ASUS's Lamborghini VX2 as well. That's the most affordable "Lamborghini" in the world, of course, very good performance.

Oh, did I say that there was no ice breaking technology for laptops this year? I'm wrong. The Solid State Drive (SSD) is definitely one. It uses Flash drive technology and largely eliminates seek time, latency and other electro-mechanical delays and failures associated with a conventional hard drive. In other words, SSD brings the laptops better performance, takes less room, has lower failure rate and most importantly, it uses much less than power consumption than a conventional hard drive. In short, SSD can make the laptops smaller, lighter, faster and safer. But it's still expensive (like most new technologies when it first came out) and not yet as big as hard drives in terms of capacity. Although it's not yet to replace the current hard drives, some laptop makers have already rolled out some new models with SSD. Toshiba is one of them made a very good SSD model! As we know, Toshiba is always the pioneer for laptop products, like the Tablet PCs. This time, it came out with the super slim Portege R500. The flagship model at the moment is the Portege R500 (SP105C). By throwing NZ$5,000, you'll get a stunningly light notebook which is the world's first in many ways. It has a Intel Core 2 Duo processor ULV U7600 (1.2GHz), Windows Vista Business operating system, 1GB DDR2, 12.1" WXGA (1280x800) display, DVD double layer writer, 64GB Solid State Drive!, 801.11a/g/n wireless, Bluetooth and 3 year international warranty. Do you want to know the battery life? Up to 12.5 hours!

Apple fan? Don't worry, I didn't forget Mac. Although I'm not a Mac user yet, I do like Apple products a lot. However, Apple didn't have any brand new laptop products in the year of 2007. It did update MacBook twice in May and November of 2007 respectively. Plus one MacBook Pro upgrade in June 2007. If you want to buy a MacBook, it's may be a good time. Thanks to the November 07 update, we can now get a Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz CPU, 1GB memory, 120GB hard drive, double layer SuperDrive and Leopard at the price of NZ$2,199!. But if you want to buy a MacBook Pro, you may want to wait for next year. According to some rumors, Apple will release a new slim MacBook Pro early next year with a 13.3" screen and may use SSD as well.

BTW, if you're a business shopper, Lenovo, HP and Toshiba may be the best options.

First Look of the i-mate Ultimate 8502 Smartphone

2007-11-03T19:06:00.000+13:00

i-mate, one of the most popular smartphone brand in the world and NZ, has revealed a few new QWERTY packed family members - including the i-mate Ultimate 8502.

The candybar-shaped Ultimate 8502 uses Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional system and includes WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0, 256MB ROM, 128MB ROM, 2.0 Megapixel fixed focus camera with LED light, MicroSD card slot, 2.6" QVGA Touch-Screen. We want to see more and more smartphones to have integrated GPS, the i-mate Ultimate 8502 doesn't disappoint us. Not only GPS, it also has a direct video output for projectors & displays. Of course, it's a 3G phone and works on HSDPA and HSUPA.

Price is not yet available. For more information, check out i-mate Ultimate 8502.

YouTube NZ Launched

2007-10-24T23:28:00.000+13:00

Today (24 Oct 07), YouTube has launched local channel in New Zealand.

The YouTube NZ page features localised search and homepage and will highlight videos relevant to the NZ market.

It's great news for kiwis. Not only because we can access local content more easily on YouTube,
but also shows the global brands are paying more attention on localisation rather than US centric.

Check out - http://nz.youtube.com/

Intel to Ramp Up Online Ads

2007-10-11T23:19:00.000+13:00

Intel starting next year, will require its “Intel inside” marketing partners to devote to online marketing at least 35% of the ad dollars Intel provides to computer makers through its co-op program. Among the companies in Intel’s program are technology giants like Dell, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Sony and Toshiba.

Intel is also changing the media outlays for its own ads to more than 50% online in another two years, from about 15% two years ago. Intel spends about $300 million a year worldwide on its own advertising. So about $150 million will go online every year from Intel.

The reason, according to Intel executives, is that research shows consumers are already turning more to the online media when they consider buying products like those with Intel CPUs, which include desktop and notebook computers.

A survey of how consumers are influenced in their buying decisions, which Intel undertook this year, showed that three or four out of the top five sources have something to do with the online media.

Spending on ads in the online media in the United States has been growing rapidly as Americans alter the way they consume media. In the first half of 2007, Internet ad revenue totaled almost $10 billion, the IAB and PWC reported last week, an increase of nearly 27% from the same period a year ago.

Sony PlayStation 3 40GB vs. 60GB

2007-10-11T00:30:00.001+13:00

Sony is launching a new cut-down version of PlayStation 3 in Europe, US, Australia, Japan and some other countries in Asia and Africa (haven't heard about New Zealand yet). The price for the 40GB cut-down model will be JPY39,980 (NZ$446). The 60GB PS3 will also drop to JPY54,980 (NZ$614).

What're the differences between the cut-down version and the current one? Obviously, the cut-down model has a 40GB hard drive instead of the current 60GB one (40GB will be big enough for me). The 40GB PS3 cannot play PlayStation 2 games (I won't play PS2 games on PS3 anyway). The number of USB connectors has also been halved to 2 (it doesn't matter to me).

The 60GB PS3 package with 2 games and 2 controllers is still selling at NZ$1,199 in New Zealand. I'm waiting for the price to drop. But if the 40GB version arrives here, I'll definitely opt for it.

Check out more quality photos about the PlayStation 3 40GB.

New Microsoft Zune MP3 Player [video]

2007-10-03T21:18:00.001+13:00

The first generation Zune MP3 player didn't come to New Zealand, hope the new one will.

First Look of the Sony XEL-1 OLED TV

2007-10-02T01:05:00.000+13:00

Sony will announce its 11" OLED TV on 1st December 2007. It's only 3-mm thin and has 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio! You're right, it won't be cheap. The price will be US$1,740 (NZ$2,275) - that's about NZ$207 per inch of the OLED.

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X

2007-10-02T00:59:00.000+13:00

Tired of computer toys? Let's have a look at a bigger toy - the official photo of the new Lancer Evolution X.

Check out more quality photos of Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.

Acer + Gateway = The New Picture of Global PC Market

2007-09-30T00:09:00.000+12:00

As you may know already, Taiwan PC manufacturer Acer has bought the struggling US PC maker Gateway in a $1 billion deal. The sale will change the ranking of the global PC market. Let's have a look of the global PC market in 2006 first:

Dell - 17.1% market share
HP - 17%
Lenovo - 7.3%
Acer - 5.9%
Toshiba - 4%
Fujitsu/Siemens - 3.7%
Apple - 2.5%
Gateway - 2.2%
NEC - 2.2%
Sony - 1.7%

With Gateway, Acer will be the third largest PC vendor next year and overtake Lenovo.

In New Zealand, we have a different view of the market. According to IDC, HP toke 36% of the market share in Q2, 2007 and Acer was already the No. 2, followed by Dell.

What's your preference? However, I'm using a Dell desktop and Sony laptop at the moment. Will I buy an Acer, may be not.

Top 5 Search Engines for August 2007

2007-09-26T18:22:00.000+12:00

According to Nielsen//NetRatings, the top search engines for August 2007 were (US data):

Google - 54% market share, 4.2 billion searches
Yahoo! - 20% market share, 1.6 billion searches
MSN/Windows Live - 13% market share, 1.0 billion searches
AOL - 6% market share, 435 million searches
Ask.com - 2% market share, 137 million searches

The New Zealand data is not available, but Google has usually high market share in NZ and AU, around 90%.

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

2007-09-24T12:03:00.001+12:00

It's a very cool video illustrating the web world.

Will It Blend? - iPhone

2007-09-18T13:17:00.001+12:00

The PRADA phone by LG arrives New Zealand

2007-09-15T00:30:00.000+12:00

Are you sick of waiting the iPhone? Are you a big fan of PRADA? Do you want a phone that not many people have? The LG PRADA phone is here - in NZ. Vodafone NZ has brought in 420 units and only available from Vodafone online store. The price is NZ$1,299 (although you could buy it from parallel importers at a much cheaper price). Will I buy it? Not really, I'd rather wait for the USD$399 iPhone.

All New iPod Product Line

2007-09-06T18:44:00.000+12:00

As we all knew (you should know already), Apple has released all new iPod product line today. Let's have a quick look of their features and prices.

iPod shuffle

Capacity - 1GB
Price - NZ$129
Display - none
Battery life - up to 12 hours

iPod nano

Capacity - 4GB, 8GB
Price - NZ$239 for 4GB, NZ$329 for 8GB
Display: 2"
Battery life - up to 24 hours of audio, up to 5 hours of video

iPod classic

Capacity - 80GB, 160GB
Price - NZ$399 for 80GB, NZ$549 for 160GB
Display: 2.5"
Battery life - up to 40 hours of audio, up to 7 hours of video

iPod touch

Capacity - 8GB, 16GB
Price - NZ$479 for 8GB, NZ$649 for 16GB
Display: 3.5"
Battery life - up to 40 hours of audio, up to 7 hours of video

TEMPO USB Recycle Bin

2007-08-28T09:43:00.000+12:00

It's a hard drive storage device that intent to protect your accidentally deleting files. The led's light lights up from the bottom to tell you how much space is available.

Philips-Swarovski Active Crystals USB Memory Stick (FMO1SW80)

2007-08-21T23:51:00.001+12:00

Philips-Swarovski Active Crystals Headphones (SWS6000)

2007-08-21T23:49:00.000+12:00

Philips-Swarovski Active Crystals Headphones (SWS2000)

2007-08-21T23:47:00.000+12:00

Philips-Swarovski Active Crystals USB Memory Stick (FMO1SW40)

2007-08-21T23:43:00.000+12:00

Philips-Swarovski Active Crystals USB Memory Stick (FMO1SW60)

2007-08-21T23:36:00.000+12:00

Philips-Swarovski - 2

2007-08-21T23:30:00.000+12:00

Philips-Swarovski - 1

2007-08-21T23:23:00.000+12:00

Philips and Swarovski has partnered to deliver a range of innovation fashion accessories. They will definitely catch the eyes of many girls. Let's have a look what they are.

Top 10 Worldwide Online Properties

2007-08-07T23:47:00.001+12:00

comScore has released worldwide rankings of top web properties for May 2007. There were 772 million people online worldwide in May 07. The top 10 online properties are:

Google sites - 771,997,000 visitors
Microsoft sites - 536,401,000 visitors
Yahoo! sites - 469,826,000 visitors
Time Warner Network - 266,609,000 visitors
eBay - 258,768,000 visitors
Wikipedia sites - 217,464,000 visitors
Fox Interactive Media - 151,369,000 visitors
Amazon sites - 141,578,000 visitors
CNET Networks - 121,423,000 visitors
Apple Inc. - 120,982,000 visitors

Canon PowerShot S5 IS Digital Compact Camera

2007-08-02T00:25:00.000+12:00

Canon PowerShot S3 IS was one of the most popular digital cameras. Now it has a new brother PowerShot S5 IS. Here are some top features:

8.0 Megapixels
Canon 12x optical zoom lens with Optical Image Stabilizer (36 - 432 mm equiv)
High speed, silent zooming operation with ultrasonic motor (USM) drive
Super fast DiG!C III Imaging Processor with ISO 1600
Canon Face Detect Technology with Auto Focus (AF), Auto Exposure (AE) and Flash Exposure (FE)
2.5" wide view vari-angle LCD screen
Accessory shoe for Canon Speedlite EX series flashes

Powershot S5 IS vs. Powershot S3 IS - Key changes

Higher resolution sensor (8MP vs 6MP)
Digic III processor (S3 IS was Digic II)
Larger, higher resolution LCD screen (2.5 inches vs 2.0 inches)
Hot shoe flash connector
Higher top ISO sensitivity (1600 vs 800)
Increased movie clip limit (was 1.0 GB, now 4.0 GB)
Couple of new features (including red-eye removal, face detection AF)
Reduced continuous shooting (burst) speed
Slightly heavier

The PowerShot S5 IS will definitely be another big seller in the market. Who'll buy it? People who want a more than point-and-shot camera, but don't want to spend that much on a dSLR.

Click the link to check out the latest price - Canon PowerShot S5 IS Digital Compact Camera.

CCD vs. CMOS - who'll be the next winner?

2007-07-31T22:59:00.001+12:00

CCD has been fighting with CMOS since last decade. As we know, CCD has almost won the competition. Most of our digital cameras nowadays are using CCD, except large CMOS sensors in some digital SLRs (mostly Canon). In short, CCD has better image quality, but CMOS use less power and has the potential to deliver higher pixels.

Recently, Sony and Canon seem to have a battle of investment in the development of higher quality CMOS sensors for compact digital cameras. Canon is investing NZ$600 million in a new CMOS production factory and Sony is to invest NZ$660 million on CMOS. We'll see in the next few years how the market will change.

Inside of an iPhone

2007-07-02T18:26:00.000+12:00

As we all know, Apple's iPhone has revealed last week. Already tired of iPhone news? I won't post more, but check out this link if you really want to know how the inside of an iPhone looks like - iPhone Live Disassembly.

Top Ultraportable Laptop - Dell XPS M1210

2007-06-24T18:57:00.000+12:00

Looking for a light weight laptop, but has reasonable performance? The Dell XPS M1210 notebook will be perfect for work and play on the go. I have tried to configure one on Dell New Zealand website and want to share with you:

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7400 2.16GHz, 4MB Cache, 667 MHz FSB (will be good to go for the T7600 2.33GHz if you can afford the extra NZ$560.25)
Operating System - Windows Vista Business
Warranty - 1-year XPS Premier Service
Display - 12.1" Wide Screen XGA display with TrueLife (1280x800) & 1.3MP Web Cam
Memory - 2GB 667MHz DDR2 (will be good to have 4GB, but the extra NZ$994.50 will be too high)
Audio Solution - Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio Software
Video Card - 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 TurboCache
Hard Drive - 100GB SATA 7200RPM Performance Hard Drive
Internal Optical Drive - Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Combination Drive with dual layer write capabilities
Primary Battery - 9-cell 85Whr Lithium lon Primary Battery (NZ$189 for an extra 9-cell battery)
Bluetooth Module - Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module
Wireless Network Solution - Dell 1505 Wireless-N Mini-Card
Dell also offers a free 20" LCD monitor at the moment

By having the above, the total price is NZ$3,197.25. Not a bad price to have such a good and portable system.

Top Smartphone - RIM BlackBerry Curve 8300

2007-06-24T02:07:00.000+12:00

The BlackBerry Curve 8300 is an impressive device for people seeking a smartphone with strong e-mail and multimedia features. It is also the smallest and lightest BlackBerry smartphone ever to come with a full QWERTY keyboard. Let's have a quick summary of its pros and cons:

Pros

Most compact QWERTY BlackBerry yet
Improved media player

Cons

Productivity applications still thin
No high speed or Wi-Fi support

Overall, I'll say it is a superior smartphone!

Top Budget Digital Camera - Canon PowerShot A460

2007-06-22T00:12:00.000+12:00

Looking for a budget digital camera? I'd recommend the Canon PowerShot A460 which was announced January this year. Let's have a quite look of its features:

Max. megapixels: 5 megapixels
Optical Zoom: 4X (38mm-152mm)
Media slot: SD Card
Price: US$130 (NZ$175)

It offers controls such as exposure compensation, and has a super macro mode, though it's limited to ISO 400. Basically, you can get everything you want for that price. Unfortunately, we don't have it yet in New Zealand. We currently only have the A450 here which uses 3.2x optical zoom instead of 5x. The price for A450 is NZ$245 (yes, we don't have a good price here).

Top 100 Best Products of 2007 - #4 Verizon FiOS

2007-06-19T23:25:00.000+12:00

Internet service, price:

US$40 (NZ$53) per month - up to 5 Mbps
US$50 (NZ$67) per month - up to 15 Mbps
US$180 (NZ$239) per month - up to 30 Mbps

Verizon's FiOS internet service is supplying enough bandwidth to offer IPTV plus Internet access at up to 30 megabits per second, fiber is the way of the future. 30 Mbps/s!! How good that will be! (But not cheap for 30 Mbps option)

Top 100 Best Products of 2007 - #3 Nintendo Wii

2007-06-18T23:30:00.001+12:00

Game console. NZ$499

Don't need to say much about it, do I? It's the best-selling game console currently. With motion-sensitive controls and a slate of fun games for all ages, Nintendo really has something with the Wii.

However, I won't buy one personally. I still think it's for kids, with the less powerful graphics compare with PS3 and Xbox 360. But the NZ$499 price tag sounds very attractive for family shoppers.

ViewSonic PJ258d Video iPod Projector

2007-06-17T14:09:00.000+12:00

What's the greatest thing about iPod? It's not only in millions of people's pockets, but also creates an industry around it, including all the iPod accessories, speakers, services and even an iPod monitor made by ViewSonic. Is that enough? No, ViewSonic comes back with the iPod projector PJ258d - the world's first iPod projector.

It's capable of projecting images and videos directly from an iPod. Simply dock your iPod into the projector to view your content, no computer necessary. It will even charge the iPod while it is being used. Of course it's a projector, so you'll be able to connect to PCs, DVD players and game consoles.

The NZ$1,899 price is not too bad for a projector. The question is how many people will buy a projector just for an iPod. However, if you're looking for a projector anyway, it's a good choice if you own a video iPod.

Sony NWA800 Series MP3 Walkman

2007-06-16T16:41:00.000+12:00

Sony has released the new iPod nano competitor - the NWA800 series MP3 Walkman. It has a very slim body and a big 2-inch LCD screen compared with nano's 1.5-inch. Sound quality is excellent and also can play video (iPod nano cannot). You can enjoy up to 30 hours music playback and 8 hours video playback time. It's also better than iPod nano's 24 hour music playback and 5 hours slideshow playback time. The price is also not bad:

NWA805 (2GB) - White or Violet - NZ$260 (iPod nano 2GB NZ$228, Silver)
NWA806 (4GB) - White or Pink - NZ$330 (iPod nano 4GB NZ$318, Silver, Green, Blue, Pink)
NWA808 (8GB) - Black - NZ$399 9 (iPod nano 8GB NZ$399, Black)

In my opinion, the Sony NWA800 is sexier than the iPod nano and has better performance and functionality. The price is also acceptable, especially the 8GB model. It's definitely a great option for people who want to buy an iPod. But I'm still happy with my current 4GB 1st generation iPod nano, not time yet to change:-)

Free YouTube Uploader

2007-06-14T23:24:00.000+12:00

What does the program do? You can say from the name - it will upload videos to YouTube for you. Run the program and enter your user name and password, and it logs you into YouTube. Then select your video, and write a title and description, and add tags, and walk through the simple steps of uploading your video, including selecting a category.

It does more than just automate the process of uploading your videos, though. YouTube has a limit of 10 minutes or 100 MB per video, so the program includes a simple, easy-to-use video trimmer that lets you trim the video to size before uploading it.

It only works with Windows XP. Download free from here.

New Apple Leopard Features - 13

2007-06-13T18:38:00.000+12:00

Time Machine

We've known about Time Machine, the automatic backup feature built into Leopard, for a while now. Connect an external drive, and Time Machine will offer to begin automatically backing up your files.

If something goes wrong and you'd like to retrieve a previous version of a file, simply fire up Time Machine and use its timeline interface to zip back to the last time you edited the file.

Apple has said that Leopard has over 900 new features, but I don't want to list them all here. The 13 new features I highlighted should give us a good indication of what's coming.

New Apple Leopard Features - 12

2007-06-13T18:36:00.000+12:00

Stationery

Support for stationery lets you jazz up your e-mail with HTML-based templates.

New Apple Leopard Features - 11

2007-06-13T18:34:00.000+12:00

Mail RSS

Apple has also built in the obligatory RSS reader, but searching and Smart Mailboxes make finding things within your feeds easier.

New Apple Leopard Features - 10

2007-06-13T18:31:00.000+12:00

Mail Notes

The latest update to Mail supports handy little notes that get synced to your mail server, so your reminders can follow you everywhere.

New Apple Leopard Features - 9

2007-06-13T18:29:00.000+12:00

Front Row

Leopard's updated Front Row interface looks much more like Apple TV.

New Apple Leopard Features - 8

2007-06-13T18:27:00.000+12:00

iChat Theater

Collaborate with other users or just have fun sharing files in iChat Theater. You can share any file that works with Quick Look while chatting.

New Apple Leopard Features - 7

2007-06-13T18:25:00.000+12:00

iChat Backdrops

New backdrops and photo effects let you spice up your iChats. Add in the appropriate backdrop, and you can make it look like you're chatting from Paris.

New Apple Leopard Features - 6

2007-06-13T18:23:00.000+12:00

Spaces

Virtual-desktop fans will want to check out Spaces, which lets you build multiple desktops for different projects or activities.

New Apple Leopard Features - 5

2007-06-13T18:21:00.000+12:00

Reflective Dock

It may not be the most useful feature, but the reflective dock in Leopard sure looks nice. Drag an application window down toward the bottom of your screen, and you'll see its reflection in the dock background.

New Apple Leopard Features - 4

2007-06-13T18:19:00.000+12:00

Quick Look

View files without opening them, using Quick Look. Apple promises that this file viewer will work with nearly any format on your system, including videos and multipage documents.

New Apple Leopard Features - 3

2007-06-13T18:16:00.000+12:00

Preview Icons

Even the normal icon view for files should look a bit more detailed. The same attractive thumbnails that drive Cover Flow appear here as well.

New Apple Leopard Features - 2

2007-06-13T18:13:00.000+12:00

Cover Flow Is in Finder

Leopard's reworked Finder now permits you to flip though your documents and images using the same Cover Flow interface that iTunes employs to let you browse thorugh album covers. You can flip through multipage documents or play videos right in Cover Flow.

New Apple Leopard Features - 1

2007-06-13T17:57:00.000+12:00

I'm not a real a big Mac fan myself, but I do like it. Apple showed off lots of new features of its upcoming Leopard release of Mac OS X this week. Here's a look at some of the highlights.

Stacks

Leopard's new system for eliminating desktop clutter is called "Stacks." Click any stack you've created, and the images, folders, applications, and other files you've added to it fan out from its icon in the dock.

If a stack contains many items, it appears in the grid view. Files downloaded in Safari or Mail automatically appear in a downloads stack.

Safari is on Windows now!

2007-06-12T23:32:00.000+12:00

Apple has released the new Safari 3 Public Beta which can work on Windows XP or Vista. It's the first time that Safari works with Windows. Is this related to the meeting between Bill and Jobs :-)?

According to Apple, there are 12 reasons you'll love Safari:

Blazing performance (Apple said Safari is twice as fast as IE7, don't know whether its' true or not, at least I didn't feel it)
Elegant user interface (It does look good. Apple is good at it, isn't it?)
Easy bookmarks (not that special, I think)
Pop-up blocking (everyone does this)
Inline find (very handy feature, even better than Firefox, much much better than IE7)
Tabbed Browsing (both Firefox and IE7 do it)
SnapBack (could be useful)
Forms AutoFill (others do as well)
Built-in RSS (others do as well)
Resizable text fields (could be handy)
Private browsing (I won't care this too much, but some people do)
Security (hard to say)

What's my experience with Safari so far?

Feels like working in an iTunes (I'm not a Mac person at all)
It works fine on my office computer which runs Windows XP
Not very well on my home computer which runs Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit, every time I maximum the window, it disappears.
Overall, nice try. But I won't use it as my main browser, still prefer Firefox 2 70% of the time, and IE7 for the rest 30%

Download free from here

Two New Zealand News

2007-06-11T23:48:00.000+12:00

1. For the first time in New Zealand, Samsung is showcasing all its products at the Aotea Centre on the evening of 4th July 2007. The show will be open to the first 250 people who register online at www.artofsamsung.co.nz

2. Want to buy something cheap each day - check out 1-day (www.1-day.co.nz). Knew this kind of US site, but just got to know we also have one in New Zealand.

Top 100 Best Products of 2007 - #2 Intel Core 2 Duo

2007-06-10T23:38:00.000+12:00

Desktop CPU; US$150 (NZ$200) and up

It's superfast, it's not too expensive, and it uses less energy than its predecessor does. But could Core 2 Duo be too good? Unless AMD can respond to its startling success, the absence of competition could drive up desktop PC prices. That's how terrific this CPU is.

Top 10 Camcorders

2007-06-09T21:24:00.000+12:00

1. Sony DCRDVD608E DVD Handycam

Sony's chunky, DVD-based DCRDVD608E (NZ$900) is the current Best Buy. It has a 2.5" LCD touch screen and is easy to operate with just one hand, plus 40x optical zoom and Super SteadyShot.

2. Canon DC51

Canon's DVD-based DC51 (NZ$1,600) gives you a viewfinder, a video light, and optical image stabilization.

3. JVC Everio GZ-MG155

The compact JVC Everio GZ-MG155 (US$600, NZ$785) was the top-performing hard drive camcorder. It provides a one-touch backup button, a 32X zoom, and extra controls on the LCD bezel. It's not available in New Zealand yet, the MG145 is sold for NZ$1,300 (we really don't have a good price here compared with U.S.).

4. Panasonic VDR-D310GN-S

Panasonic's VDR-D310GN-S (NZ$1,200) burns footage to DVD and has three CCD sensors. It offers optical image stabilization, a viewfinder, and support for DVD-RAM.

5. JVC Everio GZ-MG555

At US$900, the JVC Everio GZ-MG555 is expensive. It has dedicated buttons for DVD burning and copying files, as well as supplementary control buttons on its LCD bezel, but video quality was subpar. We don't have MG555 in New Zealand, but we do have the MG575 for NZ$1,800.

6. Panasonic SDR-H200

Panasonic's hard-disk drive SDR-H200 (US$720) offers optical image stabilization, but it doesn't have a viewfinder. Again, we don't have it in New Zealand, we have the H250 for NZ$1,500.

7. Sony DCRSR42 HDD Handycam - 30GB

The DCR-SR42 Handycam (NZ$1,300) comes with a powerful 40X zoom, an LCD touch screen, and offers long battery life, but it lacks a viewfinder.

8. Canon DC210

Canon's low-priced DC210 (NZ$800) offers a powerful 35X zoom, a viewfinder, and many controls, but lacks a USB port.

9. Hitachi DZHS300A

The hybrid Hitachi DZHS300A (US$570, NZ$750) lets you dub video from its 8GB hard drive to a mini-DVD disc without a PC. It uses a viewfinder and electronic image stabilization.

10. Panasonic VDR-D220GN-S

The Panasonic VDR-D210 (NZ$900) has a low price, and includes optical image stabilization.

I'm using a Sony miniDV Hanycam DCRHC30EL at the moment which I bought 3 years ago. Sony is still my favourite brand for video camera personally. If I pick one from the list for myself, I'll probably go for a hard drive model - like the Sony DCRSR42E. But for the first time buyer, the first Sony DCRDVD608E will be a great choice. If you're going to upgrade your existing camcorder, like me, I don't think it's a good time yet. I'll wait for a really good high-definition hard-drive model. The coming Sony HDRCX7EK will be interesting to watch, which is the World's Most Compact AVCHD Handycam, said by Sony. It records on Memory Stick.

The 100 Best Products of 2007 - #1 Google Apps Premier Edition

2007-06-09T01:35:00.001+12:00

Web applications; US$50 (NZ$67) per user per year

Google is much more than just a search engine, and with its invaluable Google Apps suite, the company is well on its way to challenging Microsoft for productivity-suite supremacy. Google's Docs & Spreadsheets (soon to be joined by a PowerPoint-esque presentation application) already makes for an interesting alternative to Microsoft Office. Combine it with Gmail, Google Talk, and Google Calendar, and suddenly nearly all of your basic productivity programs and data can be available online.

For small businesses that need more than the free versions offer, Google Apps Premier Edition adds capacity, support services, and tools for integrating existing infrastructure so that all your employees can use Google's powerful Web apps - no matter where they are. Printouts may never die, but if Google has its way, the office-less office may become a reality long before the paperless one does.

Click here to find out more about Google Apps.

Apple iPhone TV Ads

2007-06-07T23:21:00.001+12:00

Lots of you may already know, Apple iPhone is coming 29 June in the U.S. Apple has released some new TV ads. With 2 years contract, the 4GB iPhone will be sold at US$499 (NZ$666) and US$599 (NZ$800) for the 8GB version. Not too bad, lucky American.

Links below for the new ads:

Turn on Remote Desktop in Windows Vista

2007-06-07T00:03:00.000+12:00

With Remote Desktop, you can connect to your work computer from home and access all of your programs, files, and network resources as though you were actually sitting in front of your computer at work.

Remote Desktop is disabled by default in Windows Vista, but it's easy enough to turn it back on. If you need to access your Vista PC from another location, it's an essential thing to turn on.

Note: The Remote Desktop Connection only feature in Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions.

First, go to the configuration page. You can either right-click the Computer icon and choose properties, or you can type in "system" into the start menu search box.

Now you'll want to click the Remote Settings link on the left hand side:

Now you can finally turn it on:

To connect from another Vista PC on the same network, click the "Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication" radio button. If you need to connect from a Windows XP or Windows 2000 machine, click the "Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop" radio button.

Vista will set up firewall rules for you automatically.

Sure Delete

2007-06-06T21:46:00.000+12:00

If you delete a file, it isn't really gone because Windows just marks the space they occupied as being available. And anyone with a program such as Restoration could probably recover them, meaning that personal data could get into the wrong hands. The author of Sure Delete says that this free program deletes the file, then wipes and removes the data left over.

Operating Systems: Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 9.x, Windows Me, Windows XP

Free Download

Toshiba's 1kg Portege R500 Laptop

2007-06-06T21:11:00.000+12:00

Toshiba's sleek ultraportable laptop is an attention-getter that packs a ton of features into its compact package. Let's take a closer look.

Airy Portable

The Portege R500 weighs just 1.09 kg, including its 2.5-inch, 120GB (5400 rpm) hard drive and its optical drive. The notebook carries an estimated street price of US$2150 (NZ$2860) for the R500-S5002 (with Windows Vista Business), and US$2000 (US$2660) for the Windows XP Professional flavors, the R500-S5001X/S5002X. According to Toshiba, the R500 is the first notebook PC with a 12.1-inch wide-screen WXGA transreflective LED backlit display. A button below the screen lets you turn off the display's backlight--useful if you're outdoors, where the ambient light can go into the screen and be reflected back.

Sleek Lines

The R500 is slim and compact: It measures about the size of a sheet of paper--11.1 by 8.5 inches--and stands at just 0.77 inches deep (not including the feet). In its chassis, Toshiba fits a small motherboard with components on both sides. The guts of the R500 include an ultralow-voltage processor, Intel's 1.2-GHz Core 2 Duo U7600 processor (64-bit), 1GB of memory (1.5GB maximum supported), a 120GB SATA hard drive, and the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 graphics core (the R500-S5002 adds dynamically allocated shared graphics memory).

No Ports at Back

Since the R500 has a drop-hinge design for its display, the unit has a clean presentation from the rear; it has no ports on its back. Instead, all of the notebook's ports are distributed along its sides. The chassis is made of what Toshiba describes as an advanced magnesium alloy that helps dissipate heat away from the notebook's components.

Drop Hinge

Like the Portege R200 before it, the R500 features a drop-hinge mechanism for the notebook's screen. The hinge is an extension of the back left and back right of the chassis; this design let Toshiba reduce the thickness of the notebook (it is 0.77 inches thick).

Attractive Touchpad

Toshiba paid attention to subtle design points, too: Here, you can see that the touchpad has the same matte silver finish as the rest of the notebook's chassis.

Ports and Slots at Right

At the right rear of the R500, a slider switch lets you enable or disable the wireless radio. The R500 offers Bluetooth 2.0, as well as 802.11 a/g/draft-n wireless connectivity (great! 802.11n is included). Also seen here: one of the notebook's three USB 2.0 ports, a gigabit ethernet port, and, cleverly tucked away beneath these ports, a PC Card slot.

The R500 crams an optical drive into its superslim, superlight form factor. The unit is the first with Matsushita's 0.7mm DVD Super-Multi drive; the drive supports a slew of disc write formats, including 24X CD-R, 10X CD-RW, 8X DVD-/+R, 4X DVD-/+RW, and 3X DVD-RAM. Unfortunately, the drive handles writing only to single-layer DVD media.

This model is not available in New Zealand yet. But we do have the Toshiba Portege R400

For more Toshiba laptop models in NZ market, you can visit www.mytoshiba.co.nz

YouTube in deal to offer local television programming

2007-06-06T20:50:00.000+12:00

Hearst-Argyle Television and YouTube have announced a joint effort to add news, weather and entertainment videos and original Hearst television programming in five local markets to YouTube.

Beginning Monday this week, Hearst TV stations in Boston, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Manchester, N.H., will begin posting local video to dedicated YouTube channels.

The deal marks the first distribution agreement between Google subsidiary YouTube and an independent television broadcaster, according to YouTube and Hearst. YouTube last week announced a deal with EMI Group to begin showing music videos and performances on the site.

For Hearst's part, the deal fits within its overall strategy to distribute its content on TV, the internet and mobile phones, says executive vice president Terry Mackin.

As part of the deal, Hearst will also use YouTube as part of its new digital video project and will broadcast high school football and basketball and local amateur entertainment on YouTube.

Websites operated by Hearst television stations nationwide generate 1 billion page views each year and provide Wireless Application Protocol content, podcasts, web-based newscasts, web videos and blogs in various markets.

Sony HDRHC7E HDV Handycam

2007-04-24T11:28:00.000+12:00

Are you looking for a digital video camera? Is your pocket deep enough? Do you want to record all your important moments in HD? If your answers are “yes” to all questions, the Sony Handycam HDRHC7E HDV will be a good option.

The Sony HDRHC7E has high performance features include Optical Super SteadyShot, 6.1 Mega Pixel still image capture and HDV video recording. The video quality is excellent and photo quality is satisfying as well. It has a decent set of manual controls for leisure shooters and bundled FireWire cable (very helpful!). Some people don’t like the touch screen interface, but if you do like it, this video camera will be perfect for you.

Let’s have a look some of its features:

High resolution 3.2 Mega Pixel ClearVid CMOS Sensor and Enhanced Imaging Processor for low picture noise, wide dynamic range and smear free images with vibrant colours
Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens
Super SteadyShot Optical for stable recording and superior image quality for both video and still images without loss of data quality
2.7inch Wide Clear Photo LCD Screen with Touch Panel
HDV/DV Compatible
x.v.Colour a new international colour standard delivers true to life colour reproduction
Easy Handycam mode to simplify operation for first time users
Active Interface Shoe for easy connection of accessories
6.1 Mega Pixel still photo capable
Memory Stick Duo slot for Still Photo storage
Dual Record feature enables simultantous recording of high resolution photos without interupting your video recording.
Smooth Slow Record with audio to capture motion that is faster than the human eye. Ideal for sports training and action shots captures 3 seconds and plays it back over 12 seconds
HDMI connection for highest quality HD video and audio transfer
Picture Motion Browser software and i.LINK cable included

Click the link for more information and pricing – Sony HDRHC7E HDV Handycam.

SanDisk Sansa Connect

2007-04-24T10:15:00.000+12:00

SanDisk has just introduced the new Sansa Connect MP3 player. It’s a well designed MP3 player with lots of features and advanced wireless technology (the most interesting part). The Wi-Fi capability lets you access Internet radio for free and the entire Yahoo! Music catalogue with a subscription (of course, you have to be in the Wi-Fi network). You can also browse Flckr’s online photo catalogue on the go.

Apart from the wireless feature, it’s a high-quality MP3 player by itself, with user-friendly interface, good audio quality and 2.2” TFT colour screen. It even offers MicroSD card expansion slot and a built-in external speaker (although I personally don’t really think a tiny external speaker helps).

There must be something imperfect about this little device. Yes, it cannot communicate wirelessly with your PC and it cannot get past certain open Wi-Fi networks' "Terms and conditions" pages. The Wi-Fi battery life is also not very impressive.

The RRP is US$249.99 (NZ$340) for the 4GB model. However, it’s not here yet. We currently have the following SanDisk Sansa models in New Zealand market, if you don’t really need the Wi-Fi function:

Click the above links for more information and the latest pricing.

VAIO Digital Living System

2007-04-13T16:43:00.000+12:00

It looks like a stereo receiver, but it's a PC from Sony. The rack-style new Sony VAIO Digital Living System (VGX-XL3) is a full high definition 1080 Media Center PC with Blu-ray Disc technology and DVR capability. It's designed to integrate with your living room entertainment system and has a wireless keyboard and remote control, HDMI for single-cable connectivity and Windows Vista Home Premium. Apart from the normal PC functions, you can use it as a HD player and video recorder which records directly to the hard disk or Blu-ray discs.

Here are hardware specs:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6400 2.13GHz
Memory: 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 (3GB max.)
Hard drive: 500GB 7200rpm SATA
Optical drive: Blu-ray drive
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GTL with 527MB Video RAM
Networking: Gigabit Ethernet and IEEE 802.11abg
Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium

It will be available in the U.S. market from mid-April with the price tag of US$3,300 (NZ$4,500). The closest one we have here is the new Sony VAIO Lifestyle Panel PC.

Adobe Creative Suite 3

2007-04-02T19:28:00.000+12:00

Adobe has announced the new Creative Suite 3 family last week. It's the biggest release ever for Adobe with all the new CS3s. The family now has 6 different editions and let's have a look what they are:

Adobe Creative Suite 3 - Design Standard - RRP: NZ$2,462.20

Adobe InDesign® CS3
Adobe Photoshop CS3
Adobe Illustrator® CS3
Adobe Acrobat® 8 Professional
Adobe Bridge CS3
Adobe Version Cue® CS3
Adobe Device Central CS3
Adobe Stock Photos
Adobe Acrobat Connect™

Adobe Creative Suite 3 - Design Premium - RRP: NZ$3,688.66

Adobe InDesign® CS3
Adobe Photoshop® CS3 Extended
Adobe Illustrator® CS3
Adobe Acrobat® 8 Professional
Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional
Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3
Adobe Bridge CS3
Adobe Version Cue® CS3
Adobe Device Central CS3
Adobe Stock Photos
Adobe Acrobat Connect™

Adobe Creative Suite 3 - Web Standard - RRP: $2,053.38

Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional
Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3
Adobe Fireworks® CS3
Adobe Contribute® CS3
Adobe Bridge CS3
Adobe Version Cue® CS3
Adobe Device Central CS3
Adobe Stock Photos
Adobe Acrobat Connect™

Adobe Creative Suite 3 - Web Premium - RRP: $3,279.84

Adobe Photoshop® CS3 Extended
Adobe Illustrator® CS3
Adobe Acrobat® 8 Professional
Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional
Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3
Adobe Fireworks® CS3
Adobe Contribute® CS3
Adobe Bridge CS3
Adobe Version Cue® CS3
Adobe Device Central CS3
Adobe Stock Photos
Adobe Acrobat Connect™

Adobe Creative Suite 3 - Production Premium - $3,484.25

Adobe Photoshop® CS3 Extended
Adobe Illustrator® CS3
Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional
Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional
Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3
Adobe Soundbooth™ CS3
Adobe Encore® CS3
Adobe Bridge CS3
Adobe Version Cue® CS3
Adobe Device Central CS3
Adobe Stock Photos
Adobe Acrobat Connect™
Adobe Dynamic Link
Adobe OnLocation™ CS3 (Windows only)
Adobe Ultra® CS3 (windows only)

Adobe Creative Suite 3 - Master Collection - RRP: $5,119.53

Adobe InDesign® CS3
Adobe Photoshop® CS3 Extended
Adobe Illustrator® CS3
Adobe Acrobat® 8 Professional
Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional
Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3
Adobe Fireworks® CS3
Adobe Contribute® CS3
Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional
Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3
Adobe Soundbooth™ CS3
Adobe Encore® CS3
Adobe Bridge CS3
Adobe Version Cue® CS3
Adobe Device Central CS3
Adobe Stock Photos
Adobe Acrobat Connect™
Adobe Dynamic Link
Adobe OnLocation™ CS3 (Windows only)
Adobe Ultra® CS3 (windows only)

New Camera Report - Nikon D40X

2007-03-19T18:44:00.000+12:00

According to Digital Photography Review, just under four months since the D40 and Nikon has announced an upgraded tenmega pixel version of the camera. The new Nikon D40X is essentially identical to the D40 apart from its ten megapixel CCD, a lower base sensitivity of ISO 100 and faster continuous shooting (now up to 3.0 fps). The D40 is 6 megapixel and starting from ISO 200. Obviously the competitive target for this camera is the Canon EOS 400D, and it is clearly priced to achieve that at US$799 (NZ$1,145) including the 18-55 mm kit lens.

Adobe will announce Creative Suite 3

2007-03-07T11:03:00.000+13:00

Adobe will announce Creative Suite 3 on 27 March 2007 from New York city. Adobe said that this would be the largest software release in Adobe's 25 year history. They didn't disclose any details about the suite, but it may include the new Photoshop CS3. I'll keep you updated on this exciting event.

The PRADA Phone by LG

2007-01-23T17:28:00.000+13:00

Waiting for Apple iPhone? Here is one more choice from LG.

LG Electronics and PRADA, one of the world’s leading brands in the luxury goods industry, unveil the first completely touch screen mobile phone.

The PRADA Phone by LG (KE850) uses advanced touch interface. The phone is ultra thin (just 12 mm), nonetheless it hosts an array of additional multimedia functions, including an MP3 player and a music multitasking function for messaging. It also boasts an external memory slot.

The PRADA Phone by LG will be available with prices starting from 600 Euros (NZ$1,150) in mobile dealerships as well as selected PRADA stores in the UK, France, Germany and Italy as of late February, 2007, followed by countries in Asia such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore from late March, 2007. The Korean version of the phone is scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2007.

Features

Capacitive Touch Screen
Music Player (MP3, ACC, ACC+, WMA, RA)
Music Multitasking (Messaging)
Video Player (MPEG4, H.263, H.264)
Macromedia Flash UI
Document Viewer (ppt, doc, xls, pdf, txt )

Specifications

EDGE Tri-Band (900/1800/1900)
98.8 × 54 × 12 mm
2M CMOS Camera / LED Flash
External Memory Slot (Micro SD)
Innerpack Battery 800mAh
Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, USB Mass storage

Who're the Top PC Vendors Worldwide in 2006?

2007-01-19T16:21:00.000+13:00

The third week of 2007 has nearly gone. It's time to look at some stats of 2006. One of the most interesting questions is "who's the biggest PC vendor worldwide in 2006?". The answer is - Dell. According to IDC, although HP caught up in the last two quarters, Dell was still the biggest one for the entire year of 2006 by having 17.1% market share. HP was in the second position with 17.0% market share (yes, very close to Dell). Lenovo was the third one with 7.3% market share. Acer and Toshiba are fourth and fifth by having 5.9% and 4.0% market share respectively.

The overall PC market has increased by 10%, lower than the forecast of 10.4%. The delayed Windows Vista may be one of the reasons for the slow increase. Another noticeable trend is the ongoing transition in demand from desktop PCs to laptops.

Note: the PC sales figures include desktop, laptop, ultra portable PCs and x86 servers, but not PDAs.

Search Engine Market Share in the U.S.

2007-01-17T17:08:00.000+13:00

According to comScore Networks, Google is still the No.1 search engine in the U.S. with 47.4% market share and 0.4% growth in December 06. Yahoo! was the No.2 with 28.5% market share and 0.3% growth. MSN is on the third position with 10.5% market share (decreased by 0.5%). Ask.com's market share has dropped by 0.1% to 5.4%.

Top Inkjet Multifunction Printers – Canon PIXMA MP960

2007-01-17T10:54:00.000+13:00

Last time, we have introduced the Canon PIXMA MP600 All-in-One printer. Today, let’s have a look of the Canon PIXMA MP960. The MP960 is quite similar to the MP600, the main difference is the addition of film scanning capabilities. You can scan images up to 4800 x 4800 dpi.

The MP960 has all the functions of MP600 (refer to my last post about MP600). The other differences are the 7 individual ink system and the bigger 3.5-inch colour TFT screen.

Overall, if you’re a photographer who work with both film and digital cameras, the MP960 will be perfect for you. Otherwise, we may want to stay with MP600. But, the MP960 does look cooler than the MP600, doesn't it? Click the link for more information and pricing – Canon PIXMA MP960 All-in-One

Top Inkjet Multifunction Printer - Canon PIXMA MP600

2007-01-17T10:40:00.000+13:00

The Canon PIXMA MP600 is a solid multifunction machine, which combines a printer, scanner and media card reader at a reasonable price. Although it doesn’t have a built-in fax and cannot scan film, it’s very easy-to-use and delivers high-quality prints and copies at fast speeds.

The MP600 has two paper trays. The cassette in the base is suited for plain paper, while the feeder at the rear is convenient for different sizes of photo paper. Each of them can hold up to 150 sheets. The built-in duplexer lets you print two-sided pages. The maximum resolution of printing is 9600 x 2400 dpi.

You can use the MP600 to scan images up to letter size at up to 2400 x 4800 dpi. But the scanner lacks an automatic document feeder for scanning several pages at once.

The new easy-scroll wheel works well with the 2.5-inch colour TFT screen for viewing images stored on your memory card and navigating the menus. Before printing an image, you can also edit your photos, such as red-eye removal and cropping.

The two media slots accept most memory cards. The IrDA port lets you beam photos from your camera photos and PDAs that have infrared transmitters. You can also use the optional BU-20 adaptor to print via Bluetooth. However, it doesn’t support printing from USB flash drives.

The MP600 uses 5 individual ink system which produces sharp text and precise image details. The print speed is also outstanding with 30 ppm black and 24 ppm colour. You can print a borderless 6” x 4” photo in around 28 seconds. In addition, it can print on CDs and DVDs (you’ll need the printable discs).

Overall, if you don’t need a fax, an automatic document feeder and film scanning, the Canon PIXMA MP600 will be a perfect machine for all your printing needs. Click the link for more information and pricing – Canon PIXMA MP600 Multifunction Printer

Top Advanced Digital Camera – Canon PowerShot S3 IS

2007-01-17T10:37:00.000+13:00

If you’re looking for an advanced digital camera with big zoom and lots of manual controls, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS will be a very good option. It offers lots of features, including 12x optical zoom (36-432mm) with Optical Image Stabilizer, 6.0 megapixel CCD, a swivelling 2” LCD screen and fast maximum shutter speed (1/3200 sec). It also has plenty of control buttons for quick access to manual settings such as ISO, macro mode and manual focus.

The image stabilization is quite effective at countering minor camera shaking. The overall image quality is very impressive. The battery life is average. You can get approximately 331 shots on a single charge.

For more information and pricing, click the link – Canon PowerShot S3 IS Digital Camera

CES 2007 Best in Show - LG BH100

2007-01-16T17:16:00.000+13:00

The format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD has been there for a long time. We're looking forward to a player which can play both formats. Now it finally comes to the CES 2007 show - the LG BH100. It can play both formats up to 1080p. The launch date will be February 2007 in the U.S. with the price tag of US$1,199 (NZ$1,730).

Apple iPhone - 8

2007-01-12T12:40:00.000+13:00

Apple iPhone - 7

2007-01-12T12:39:00.000+13:00

Apple iPhone - 6

2007-01-12T12:29:00.000+13:00

Apple iPhone - 5

2007-01-12T12:26:00.000+13:00

Apple iPhone - 4

2007-01-12T12:22:00.000+13:00

Apple iPhone - 3

2007-01-12T12:13:00.000+13:00

Apple iPhone - 2

2007-01-12T11:59:00.000+13:00

In addition to my last post, the battery life of the Apple iPhone is 5 hours for talk or video and full 16 hours in music mode.

Apple's iPhone, finally unveiled.

2007-01-10T12:21:00.000+13:00

Apple has unveiled its long waiting iPhone yesterday. The iPhone brings together the features of iPod, digital camera, smartphones, portable PC and an innovative input method.

The Apple iPhone uses the input technology called “Multi-Touch”. It only has one Home button. You can control the phone by touching the 3.5” display (320x480).

The iPhone runs Mac OS X operating system, has full iTunes integration and can synchronize with a Mac, PC (yes, the PC!), or Internet service. Therefore, you can transfer your music and video from iTunes, contacts, calendars, photos, notes, bookmarks and email accounts easily.

The phone is 11.6mm thick and weights 135g. It has a 2-megapixel camera, 3.5mm headset/audio jack, speaker, microphone and a 30-pin iPod dock connector. It works on quad-band GSM network and has 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities. The 3G version will come soon in the future.

The iPhone equips with a few sensors, to shut down the display and touch screen when the phone is held to the ear, to automatically adjust screen brightness to save power and to let the phone know whether to display in landscape or portrait.

Apart from the hardware, the iPhone is strong on software applications as well. Here is a summary of its features:

A visual voice-mail feature allows you to skip directly to voice mails you want to hear
An easy-to-use conference call feature allows you to connect two calls with one touch of the screen
The text-messaging feature is similar to Apple’s iChat.
Yahoo! will offer free push e-mail to all iPhone customers (similar to the email system on a BlackBerry).
The iPhone uses Safari web browser and can view standard web pages, not only WAP websites.
The iPhone integrates Google Maps for looking up maps and view satellite images
It also supports Dashboard widgets, including weather and stock widgets
Of course, it can play photo, music and video.

The iPhone has two versions, the 4GB and the 8GB. In the U.S. the price with 2 year contract is US$499 (NZ$720) and US$599 (NZ$865) respectively. However, it won’t come to Europe until the fourth quarter of 2007 and to Asia in 2008. So I guess it won’t arrive here until the mid of 2008.

For more images of the Apple iPhone, please click the following links:

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2006-12-21T17:13:00.000+13:00