Verizon Gets HTC Ozone

Jun 28th 2009 Other Stuff No Comments

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By Shane McGlaun

HTC makes some of the most desirable smartphones on the market. In fact, it was the company that made the first Android-powered smartphone to hit the U.S. market — the T-mobile G1. HTC had an event this week where it introduced its Hero smartphone and now it has unveiled another phone bound for the States.

Verizon Wireless will be getting the HTC Ozone smartphone. The easy to use smartphone has a bargain price of $49.99 after a $70 mail-in rebate and new contract. Features of the phone include a QWERTY keyboard and multiple connectivity options.

The device will work on the Verizon 3G network and offers Wi-Fi connectivity as well. Ozone supports VZ Navigator, Visual Voice Mail, Email, and IM. Power for the Ozone comes from a 1500 mAh battery. The Ozone can be ordered online starting on June 29 and will be in stores on July 13.

[ Verizon Wireless ]

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Microsoft Outlines Windows 7 Upgrade Program

Jun 27th 2009 Other Stuff No Comments

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By Shane McGlaun

We talked earlier about pricing for Windows 7 now that its launch is getting closer. The OS will debut in October, which is only months away. Many are expecting great things out of Windows 7 and it better deliver where Vista failed.

Microsoft says that anyone who buys a Vista equipped PC starting on June 26 will be eligible for an upgrade to Windows 7 for free. The catch is that only certain versions of Vista are eligible for upgrade. That means if you buy a cheap computer running Vista Basic, you get no upgrade.

Microsoft will be putting 50% of sales into the upgrade program coffers and expects to put in as much as $300 million. Upgradable versions of Vista include Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate. They will be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Pro, and Windows 7 Ultimate respectively.

[ Microsoft ]

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SanDisk Whips Out World’s Fastest 32GB SDHC Card

Jun 24th 2009 Other Stuff No Comments

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By Shane McGlaun

One of the reasons that I bought my Nikon D80 a few years back was because it could use the SD and SDHC cards that I already had laying around. I liked the looks and features of the Sony Alpha line but didn’t want to have to go with MemoryStick for storage and the other available storage media for DSLRs was too expensive.

I had to give up some write performance for my choice, but it was better than the alternatives. SanDisk has now unveiled a new SDHC card that complies with the new Class 10 specifications that offer speeds of 30Mbps for reads and writes.

The 32GB of space can store 160 minutes of AVCHD video at 1920 x 1080 with a 24Mbps data transfer rate. The card is also capable of storing 2500 RAW format images. SanDisk says that the card will ship in August at an undisclosed price. The other SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards will also be bumped up to Class 10 specs.

[ SanDisk ]

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GE Shows Off New Digital Camera

Jun 24th 2009 Other Stuff No Comments

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By Shane McGlaun

When I hear the name GE, digital cameras are not what spring to mind. I think of light bulbs really. Still GE has a full line of digital cameras and other stuff that doesn’t have to do with lighting our homes.

The company announced its latest digital camera recently called the E1250TW. The cam sports a 12.2-megapixel resolution and a 28mm wide angle lens with 5x optical zoom. The most interesting feature of the camera is that the 3-inch LCD is touch sensitive.

Other features include auto scene detection HDTV out, face detection, blink detection, smile detection, an auto adjust LCD, and red-eye removal. A special mode allows users to shoot panoramic images as well. The camera is available now on HSN and on Amazon.com.

[ GE

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iPhone Gets Wireless Charging from WildCharge

Jun 24th 2009 Other Stuff No Comments

wildchargeiphone-ogBy Shane McGlaun

I hate to have to plug my iPhone in to charge. My wife keeps my office as dark as a cave to shave five cents off our electric bill so I usually can’t see where to plug my iPhone in. After over a year of use the charge port is rather lose as well. I really want an iPhone with something like the Pre Touchstone charger.

Today I got my wish with a new product form WildCharge for the iPhone that allows Pre-like charging by just sitting the iPhone down. The good news is that the charge system works on any iPhone from the original to the new 3GS.

The WildCharge Skin is a durable form fitting case that can protect the iPhone from drops and has a little part on the inside that plugs into the charge port of the phone. Then all you need to do is sit the phone on the WildCharger Pad to get power to your phone. The skin is available for $34.99 and a kit with the skin and the charge pad is about $80. The only downside I can see is that it appears you have to remove the case to synchronize your phone.

[ WildCharge ]

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Wallet Flash Drive Makes Keeping Storage on You Easy

Jun 24th 2009 Other Stuff No Comments

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By Shane McGlaun

I used to try to carry a flash drive with me when I had a real job and actually left the house on occasion. More often than not, I left it at home because I forgot to pick it up and put it in my pocket. I tried a small flash drive that could fit in my wallet once, but it was too thick and made sitting uncomfortable.

A company called TopTech Products has announced a new flash drive that is shaped like a credit card and appears thin enough to not be a pain in the rear when sitting. The drive measures 3.4-inches x 2.1-inches x 0.11-inches.

It has 4GB of storage space and supports Linux, Windows, and Mac computers with USB 2.0 or 1.1 ports available. Several colors are available including clear, gray, orange, red, and blue. Businesses wanting to give them away as promotional items can get custom logos on the drives as well. Consumers can buy the drive on Amazon for $24.99.

[ TopTech Products ]

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iLuv iPod Alarm Clock Shakes Sleepy Heads Out of Bed

Jun 23rd 2009 Other Stuff No Comments

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By Shane McGlaun

The iPod is the most successful and popular digital music player by a huge margin. With the raging popularity of the iPod a world of accessories are available from speaker systems to car chargers and all sorts of gear in between. iLuv is one of the makers of many accessories for the players.

iLuv has announced its latest iPod alarm clock that is compatible with all dockable iPods and with any other DAP using a 3.5mm headphone jack. The clock is called the iMM153 desktop alarm clock with bed shaker. The clock is offered in black, white, blue, and pink colors.

With the iPod docked users can wake to FM radio, iPod music, a buzzer, or the included bed shaker. The FM tuner uses PLL digital tuning technology and has ten programmable presets for your favorite stations. The clock LCD can also be dimmed through ten steps for comfort.

[ iLuv ]

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Shuttle Drops X50 All-in-one Barebone PC

Jun 23rd 2009 Other Stuff No Comments

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By Shane McGlaun

I like all-in-one computers, the compact designs that put everything inside the LCD of the PC make for less clutter on your desk. The only downside to an all-in-one is that they typically offer less power than a traditional desktop PC. Shuttle has an all-in-one PC called the X50 that it debuted a while back.

Shuttle has now debuted the X50 barebones PC that the buyer adds their own storage, RAM, and OS to. The machine comes with an Intel Atom 330 dual-core CPU tucked inside the 15.6-inch touchscreen chassis. Other features include a 1.3-megapixel webcam, memory card reader, gigabit LAN, stereo speakers, and a mic.

Power for the machine comes from an integrated 65W fanless power supply. The barebone rig lacks an optical drive so users will need a USB drive or external optical drive to install the OS. The X50 barebone will launch at the end of the month for EUR 361.

[ Shuttle ]

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Tele Atlas HD Traffic Service Now Available

Jun 22nd 2009 Other Stuff No Comments

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By Shane McGlaun

Live traffic services have been available on a variety of different portable navigation devices for a while. Using these services drivers can find where traffic jams are happening and get alternate routes to avoid the jams.

Tele Atlas has announced its new HD Traffic service that uses new methods of gathering real time traffic information for subscribers. Traffic data provided by the service uses information from GPS measurements submitted anonymously from other user’s navigation devices and mobile phones, road sensors, and journalistic data.

All of the traffic information is then combined and offered to the driver on their PND allowing them to be routed around traffic automatically. The way traffic data is collected makes for extremely accurate positioning of traffic jam info. Traffic info provided included road speed, length, and location. The HD Traffic service is available now for Tele Atlas partners.

[ Tele Atlas ]

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Navigon Turns iPhone into real GPS device

Jun 22nd 2009 Other Stuff No Comments

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By Shane McGlaun

I am still rocking the original iPhone so I don’t get that snazzy GPS location feature. Sure, I can find my general location with the phone using cellular towers, but have often wished for a full GPS device when I was on the road.

Navigon has announced a new application coming to America for the iPhone 3G and 3G S soon called MobileNavigator. The app is only compatible with devices running the 3.0 OS update. The app stores a full map database on the iPhone and offers turn-by-turn routing.

The App will be offered in Lite and full versions. The Lite version will not have the navigation capabilities, but will offer maps and a POI database. The full version will offer those features and driving directions. The maps rotate depending on the orientation of the screen. The app features Reality View Pro, Lane Assistant Pro, and Speed Assistant modes.

[ Navigon ]

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