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Its name says Picto, DigiArt, and i90. The company used three different terms to identify this new gadget, and yet none of these is camera, digicam, or videocam. That’s because this new do-it-all can’t really fit into any one of those categories, seeing as how many different features it packs under the hood. It’s got an mp3 player, a voice recorder, a 30fps MPEG-4 video recorder, a 1GB SD memory card included in the retail package, and it’s a 7-megapixel camera with face detection and anti-shake technology. Currently selling for ₩179,000 (or about $185) in Korea, this is about as all-encompassing as a point-and-shoot digital camera can get. Although there haven’t been any details about when, or if ever it will be available in the US, we know one thing’s for sure: if the makers of this gadget were taught only three things during their childhood, these are the following: convergence, convergence, and convergence! Of course while it seems to do just about everything, we are not sure how well it will actually handle each of those tasks.

Via [Akihabara News]

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O2 has rolled out a new Windows Mobile smartphone known as the Xda Atmos. Smartphones of similar calibre are pretty much in the same boat these days when it comes to specifications and form factor - you find the hidden QWERTY keyboard when the unit remains closed, revealing itself by sliding outwards. The Xda Atmos is actually the HTC S730 repackaged, and has also seen action in Japan as the X03HT courtesy of Softbank. Some of the features are :-

• Processor: Qualcomm MSM7200 400MHz
• Memory: 64MB RAM, 256MB flash memory
• Display: 2.4″ display with 320 x 240 resolution
• Cameras: 2 megapixel camera, VGA-resolution camera
• Wireless: WAN: HSDPA/UMTS (2100MHz), GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz)
• 802.11b/g connectivity
• Bluetooth 2.0 with stereo audio capabilities
• Other I/O: ExtUSB (11-pin mini-USB and audio jack in one)
• microSD memory card slot

At its first international press conference in New York, Acer unveiled its second-generation Gemstone laptops. The Taiwanese company branded this product with a unique blue they named the “Gemstone Blue”. The price is great: from $900 to under $2000 for the high end configuration.

The Gemstone Blue Aspire 6920 G 16” and Aspire 8920G 18.4” notebooks’ features include:

• Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo processor
• Display: full HD 1080p (1920×1080), 8ms response time, native 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
• 512MB NVIDIA Geforce 9650 (only for the 8920G) or Geforce 9500
• Blu-ray drive
• Audio/video:
• BD playback done by the GPU
• Dolby headphone output
• Acer CineSurround: True 5.1 sound for the 8920G
• Battery life :
• about 2.5 hours (16”)
• about 3 hours (18.4”)
• Weight:
• 7.7 lbs (16”)
• 9 lbs (18.4”)

More specifications on the product page.

Some keen eyes have spotted what may be an icon for the next Sidekick ID in the Catalog. On the Sidekick LX, if you go into the Theme section of the catalog and look at the newest themes, you’ll see that the phone icon is different. (Or if you don’t want to open the catalog, compare the phone icon in the first image above to the familiar icon in the second one) It’s yellow around the edges as if it has bumpers, but it has a wider screen than the normal SKiD, one that looks more like a Sidekick LX screen. My first thought was, it’s just an LX with yellow plastic pieces. But if you look close enough (I know, we’re examining like 10 pixels) you can see that the yellow part does not match up where you would replace the pieces on a Sidekick LX. Could we be seeing a new version of the Sidekick iD coming out soon? Did someone slip up and take screenshots on a new iD since it would have the same resolution as the LX if it was sharing a theme? We’ll let you guys know what we find.

Samsung Electronics recently launched its new line of “SyncMaster 53-series” display for desktop PC. The new range start at 19-inch 1953BW (1440×900), expand to 20-inch 2053BW, 22-inch 2253LW , and 25-inch 253BW with resolution 1680×1050. Each display is designed to bring a kind of color quality and boasts a high 8,000:1 contrast ratio, indicator color number approx. 1,677 ten thousand colors, two-millisecond speed of response, brightness 300cd/ square m, contrast ratio 1,000:1, and angle of visibility top and bottom 160 degree or left and right 170 degrees.

Additionally, every LCD is supports to displaying Blu-Ray or other HD content via DVI Input with HDCP encryption. According to the company, these new LCD will be available next week and retails for $239, $299, $319, and $349 respectively.
[ Source ]

Posted Mar 13th 2008 12:13AM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Storage
32 and 64GB capacities aren’t all that impressive when it comes to SATA II 2.5-inch solid state drives, but OCZ’s new devices do claim 120MBps read and 100MBps write speeds which would put it up there on the ranks. Unfortunately, OCZ neglected to clue anyone in on price or release date for these puppies.

Posted Mar 12th 2008 10:20PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: HDTV, Home EntertainmentThere are spicy meatballs, and there are spicy meatballs — and now there’s a figure that will be tossed around for decades to come, one which will instantly represent the caution companies should take when embarking on another format war: a billion dollars. At least that’s what Nikkei is reporting that Toshiba’s losses on hd dvd totaled in 2007 alone: a ¥100b, or about $982m USD. It won’t drive Toshiba under or anything, but you seriously have to ask yourself, was it really all worth it? [Warning: subscription req’d]

[Via Reuters]

The Boy Genius Report received a tip that Deutsche Telekom (aka T-Mobile) might be spreading its reach into Canada sometime in the future. This is totally in the rumor category, so take it with a grain of salt of course. Here’s what they’re reporting:

* Deutsche Telekom has been pre-approved for a financing and protocol agreement which will allow them to introduce T-Mobile to the Canadian market (subject to restrictions in all provinces except Ontario during a 6, 12 and 18 month trial period that expires in 2010), and also pre-approves them for testing roaming, cell tower reception and international data agreements.
* The person heading up the Canadian division of Deutsche Telekom will be Canadian, in compliance with the Canadian Business Ethics law
* Deutsche Telekom already owns the name T-Mobile in Canada under a US Parent Office international exchange program.
* They plan to launch T-Mobile in Canada in 2009.
* Currently, as we all know, Rogers is the only GSM game in town. With T-Mobile’s entrance into the Canadian market, data rates are going to plummet quickly. DT also plans to introduce an unlimited blackberry plan to the Canadaian market to be priced at $75/month. Basically telling Rogers to go screw themselves.
* T-Mobz Canada is set to offer many of the devices we’re used to seeing here in the U.S. like the Sidekick line and T-Mobile’s HTC products. I guess that’s bye bye Fido Sidekicks?

article and image via The Boy Genius Report

If you want to be the resident pest, then I would strongly recommend picking up the Pokekara device - no, this is not some Pokemon-trapping gizmo but is actually “Pocket Karaoke” when mentioned in full. The Pokekara can be plugged into virtually any other audio device such as a TV, stereo system, car AV system, digital audio player and cell phone among others. Should those physical connections not be possible, Logitec has even included an FM transmitter to ease your task. The Pokekara is available in Japan only, so thank the heavens if you’re living outside of the Land of the Rising Sun as you won’t be subjected to aural torture by your neighbor who failed the American Idol audition.

Posted Mar 12th 2008 4:01PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Laptops
Acer’s never had an international press conference in New York before, but there’s a first time for everything, and the company used the occasion to launch the second generation Gemstone laptops. Coming in a special blue (”Gemstone Blue,” how wild), the new 16- and 18.4-inch machines feature 16:9 1080p screens, 1.5GHz Penryn processors, 512MB NVIDIA 9650m GS graphics, and those Blu-ray drives we heard about. The graphics chip is at the center of Acer’s new CineReal system, which offloads BD playback to the GPU and provides Dolby headphone output (and real 5.1 sound on the bigger model). Battery life is estimated at 2.5 hours on the 16-inch and three hours on the 18.4, but what’s really impressive here is the pricing: starting at $900 and up, with decently spec’d configs hitting around $1,700. Should be shipping in a month or so, according to Acer. Two more pics after the break.

Gallery: Acer unveils the second-gen Gemstone