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Tech Toys

Copyright 2010 by Stephen Vermeulen
Last updated: 2010 Jul 22		Television





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  • 2010-Jul-22: I wonder why Apple never put an infrared receiver and transmitter in the iPhone/iTouch, as with it they would make very nice universal remote controls. You can "fix" this problem with the RedEye base which the iPhone talks to via WiFi and the base then sends the appropriate infrared controls to your home theater system. But still, its not a portable system and it costs nearly $200, to provide functionality that was standard in earlier PDAs like the Palm and probably costs about $0.25 to manufacture. An IR dongle type attachment (along with a universal remote application) has been announced, of course this probably makes more sense for use with the iTouch. The L5 iPhone IR dongle was shown at CES 2010. Logitech has released an app for the iPhone that turns an iPhone into a wireless trackpad or keyboard - this might make the iTouch a rather nice HTPC remote controller. The New Potato's FLPR IR dongle is another IR controller for about $80. The RedEye mini will bring the IR remote dongle down to about $49, it gets reviewed here. The i-Got-Control IRB1 is another entry into this market. [8816]
  • 2010-Jul-09: An article on resizing cell phone SIM cards and changing the phone's APN when traveling. [9286]
  • 2010-Jun-26: The Zoom H2 SD from Samson, is a rather high-end voice recorder that used SD flash cards. And a couple of years later the Zoom H1 Handy Recorder is due to be released for about $99. [1302]
  • 2010-Jun-22: The Bliptronic synthesizer from ThinkGeek is the poor-man's Yamaha TENORI-ON. [9221] [1]
  • 2010-Jun-17: Xtreamer makes a couple of media players, including one with built in storage capability. It gets mentioned here, so probably works well with unRAID. [9208]
  • 2010-Jun-11: Engadget discusses how to stay connected when traveling internationally. Probably the best option is to buy a prepaid SIM card when you get to the country you want to visit, companies like Mr. Simcard specialize in doing this. [9196]
  • 2010-Jun-06: USB flash drives concealed in cufflinks, wow! Perhaps one of them should be some sort of personal data recorder, like a GPS unit or small camera? [9179]
  • 2010-Jun-06: This article calls for combining device data plans into a single user-plan. Sort of like how some cell phone calling plans can combine minutes from several family members into a single plan. Right now (2010) it appears the least expensive data plans are about $30 per device, and this is going to be an obstacle for adoption of new mobile devices. It would make a lot more sense to be able to purchase a single 2GB/month data plan and then share it across a number of devices (phone, iPad, photoframe and netbook) according to your own needs. It would be even better if this could be shared across any number of devices so that you could afford to give a smart phone to other family members. [9175]
  • 2010-May-27: The Kodak PlaySport Zx3 is a little waterproof HD camera. [9134]
  • 2010-Apr-07: A real nice remote-controlled excavator model, with a few more attachments this could make weeding the vegetable patch child's play. I want one! [9057]
  • 2010-Apr-06: A Xacti ICR-XRS1020MF Sound Recorder from Sanyo that looks rather nice, it can record direct to MP3 or Linear PCM formats. [9052]
  • 2010-Mar-13: Hollow spy coins continue to be made today, in fact a US Nickel (a 5 cent coin) is the perfect size to hide a Micro SD card in. [9021]
  • 2010-Mar-11: The ASUS Cine5 is a compact five-channel speaker for smaller rooms. [9011]
  • 2010-Jan-15: The Korg Kaossilator Pro - I don't know what it is and I wouldn't know how to use it, but I want one! Knobs, buttons, flashing lights, MIDI, USB, audio jacks, SD cards, wow! [8921] [1]
  • 2010-Jan-12: The Light Tough from Light Blue Optics is a laser projected, touch screen system that can project a computer display onto a flat surface (such as a desk top) and then track touch interaction with it. [8917]
  • 2010-Jan-08: The Popbox is a follow on from the Popcorn Hour media player. [8889]
  • 2009-Dec-28: Looks like 2010 will be the year of the HiDef PMP, the iToos M6HD will output at 1080i (and has a 1360x768 4.3 inch display) for less than $90. [8876]
  • 2009-Dec-24: Finally, a way of working an iPhone from a Bluetooth keyboard - right now only for jailbroken phones. [8864]
  • 2009-Dec-21: The Cowon V5 HD is a 5-inch PMP with 720P video playback and output to HDMI and composite video. [8857]
  • 2009-Dec-13: The Lisse H10 from MyRacer is a 5-inch PMP with a 1280x720 display and an HDMI output. [8840]
  • 2009-Nov-22: The GoPro HD Hero Naked is a 1080P HD camera capable of 30 and 60 frames per second, it comes in a protective waterproof housing for first person perspective action photography. It also has a time lapse still photography mode that can be set to capture photos from once every 2 to 60 seconds until stopped (which would be useful for documenting a wilderness trail). [8780]
  • 2009-Nov-20: The Viewsonic VPD400 and VPD500 are PMPs with 4 and 5 inch screens. These have some component video hidef output capabilities. [8772]
  • 2009-Nov-18: The HD8800 is a PMP with a 4.3 inch display that has 1080p output capability as well. [8758]
  • 2009-Nov-18: Patriot's Box Office is a 1080p media player with LAN support for about $130. [8757]
  • 2009-Nov-06: The O!Play HDP-R1 is a hidef media player from ASUS. The second version of it is called the HDP-R3 and adds in WiFi and a card reader. [8063]
  • 2009-Nov-05: The VMP70 from ViewSonic is a 1080P capable media player (without network support) for less than $100. [8714]
  • 2009-Oct-27: The GlideTV Navigator is a remote control touchpad device aimed at HTPC use, though at $150 its pretty pricey. Another approach might be to use an iPod Touch running a remote control app to do the same sort of thing. [8675]
  • 2009-Oct-23: Netgear's EVA2000 Digital Entertainer Live is a network connected media player that can output to HDMI and composite video. It gets reviewed here, one drawback is it is only 720P capable. [8498]
  • 2009-Oct-22: Toshiba is finally releasing its Dynario fuel-cell battery replacement and charging device. This is a direct methanol fuel-cell system. [8641] [1]
  • 2009-Oct-13: The WD TV HD Media Player from Western Digital is a small media player box that you hook up to a TV via composite or HDMI (1080P supported) cables and then hook up a USB hard drive (or flash drive) and use it to play the media files from the drive onto the TV. It has appeared at Buy.com and BestBuy. A little video review is here. Another short review is here including some pictures of the insides. Western Digital now has some pages about it here on their site. Some people are now hacking the firmware of this. WDLXTV is a user-enhanced version of the firmware that adds support for networking and other features. A new version of this which includes a network port, should be appearing in late 2009 (starting to show up on Best Buy in Oct'09). [7129] [1]
  • 2009-Oct-09: Slashdot discusses various exercise monitoring devices and how accessible their data is for additional processing. [8604] [1]
  • 2009-Oct-04: Gyroscopes are showing up everywhere, now you can replace the training wheels on a kid's bike with a special front wheel that contains a gyroscope. Well its pretty simple really, its just a wheel with another wheel inside of it (covered for safety) that is kept constantly spinning by an electric motor. All it really does is to replicate the normal gyro stabilization that bicycle wheels produce once they are turning quickly enough, but it does so at a low road speed allowing the novice rider to stay upright more easily at low speeds when they are learning to ride. Heck, the Steam Punks could build one of these with a clock work, coil spring driven, mechanism and you'd use a big brass key to wind it up before each use. Now that would be awesome! [8598]
  • 2009-Oct-04: Engadget talks about using a wireless PMP for audio streaming. Of course that's going to be hell on its battery, and a number of commenters suggest that the better approach is to leave the streaming up to a PC and use the PMP to control it instead. Apparently the combination of iTunes and an iPhone or iTouch running remote control software will do the job well. [8596]
  • 2009-Sep-30: The NMP-1000 from QNAP is another network media player. It appears to have reached North America in Oct'09. [7685]
  • 2009-Sep-21: MSI's MT-V656 will be a 3 inch PMP unit that should hit China at about $50, will MSI be making more variations of this with larger displays and WiFi? [8535]
  • 2009-Sep-10: The new (Sept'09) iPod nano 5G gets dissected. [8502]
  • 2009-Sep-04: The Garmin Edge 500 GPS brings a lot of power to the bicycle computer system, including heart rate monitoring and (if you can afford the sensor package) real time power measurement through something like the Quarq CinQo [8469]
  • 2009-Sep-04: brite-View's CinemaTube is a network capable media player that can do 1080p output. [8465]
  • 2009-Aug-31: Protective wrappers for your tech toys, do you really need them? This article about the use of non-Newtonian goo in a product called iBand, while I don't believe that the small amount of material they are using in the iBand could really do much to protect something, the test video they have of an iTouch being thrown against a wall and dropped about 10 feet onto gravel is pretty impressive. The skeptic would suggest they just stopped the video and switched the shattered device with a good one... Still, if you can get your friend to demo it to you. Some more info on the d30 orange goo. [8438]
  • 2009-Aug-13: The Samsung YP-R1 portable media player has a composite video output, though if the new Zune HD players will do both composite and hidef video output (and it looks like this is the case, but that you need to buy the optional $90 dock kit or $49 dock without cables kit to do so, raising the price to at least $270) Samsung is going to have a problem. [8391]
  • 2009-Aug-07: For the security conscious geek, DIFRwear makes wallets that have built in shielding to protect cards with RFID chips from being snooped on. [8379]
  • 2009-Aug-06: A small wooden speaker with a built in MP3 player that can play from SD flash card or a USB drive. It even has a battery so it can act as a boom box. [8370]
  • 2009-Jul-24: The SPOT personal GPS tracker, a portable OnStar for the outdoor adventurer, lets your next of kin know where to find your body... A new version is being released in fall 2009, with basic service at $99/year (with a few options like progress tracking at $49/yr) its not too pricey. An alternative to this is to get a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) which is an international rescue service and does not require an annual subscription, but the devices cost considerably more than a SPOT (say about $600) and do not have the ability to send intermediate progress reports. In Canada the PLB needs to be registered at the National Search and Rescue Secretariat. [1329]
  • 2009-Jul-24: The M2TV from MediaGate is a media player that has 1080P output over component and HDMI. It looks to be going after WesternDigital's HD Media Player. [8315]
  • 2009-Jul-24: Viewsonic is going to get into the media player market (and also offer some netbooks and nettops too). [8313]
  • 2009-Jul-02: The Mvix Ultio is an HD media player which can take an internal drive and has LAN connectivity for $179. Mentioned here on PhotographyBLOG as this sort of device would be useful as a digital slide projector. [8195]
  • 2009-Jun-16: The PowerMate USB Multimedia Controller is a rather long name for a "USB knob", but it sure is a neat idea. Of course at $45 I might be tempted to hack an old USB mouse with a scroll wheel and replace the scroll wheel with a knob somehow. Either that or just wait for Brando to produce a range of these, big knobs, small knobs and even panels with lots of knobs. Another fun idea would be to optionally allow the USB cable to be attached through the bottom of the knob, this would allow one to mount knobs to a convenient flat surface and run the cables to them through holds hidden under the knobs. [8149]
  • 2009-Jun-15: Brando's SATA HDD Multimedia Dock adds a card reader and a media player (with composite and s-video outputs) to a SATA hard drive docking device. After a year Brando added an HDMI output to this dock. [6607] [1]
  • 2009-Jun-09: The LaCinema Classic Bridge is a media player from LaCie that can play media from a USB attached hard disk or from an internal (user-supplied) hard drive at 1080P resolutions. Priced at $99 it has HDMI and composite outputs but no component or S-video and no networking capability. [8082]
  • 2009-May-27: The Hantech Siso Tablo (reviewed here) is a small, digitizer pen add-on that will transform any laptop display into a digitizer tablet. It will also work on a flat surface, allowing one to actually draw with pen and paper too. [8045]
  • 2009-May-26: A tiny Hi-Def photo and media player from Hi-Den Vision, just add a USB drive of some type and hook it up to a display through HDMI and you are set. Inexpensive too at only $43. They also have a larger device with component and HDMI output and a built in card reader. [8039]
  • 2009-May-15: The Sonix7 Media Pro PMP is made in England and beats the iPod Nano for features. [7975]
  • 2009-May-08: Engadget discusses what is the best small camera with good video. [7956]
  • 2009-May-05: A very small MicroSD card reader from EagleTec. Should be easy to loose or leave behind! [7943]
  • 2009-Apr-23: More cheap PMPs for China, this time from MSI and even one with 720P TV output. [7901]
  • 2009-Apr-21: The H100HD PMP from Cube has both 720P and 1080i video output capabilities, which seems amazing for a media player that may cost under $100. [7891]
  • 2009-Apr-12: The CUBE B52HD is a PMP with 1280x720 video output capability. Wow, just the ticket for some portable slide show action. [7866]
  • 2009-Apr-10: The Sansa Clip gets a lot of recommendations for being a good choice for an MP3 player to use for workouts. [7858]
  • 2009-Apr-03: Engadget readers discuss the best solution for Bluetooth stereo audio. I find the Jabra BT320s to be pretty good. [7824]
  • 2009-Mar-31: Samsung has introduced the HT-WS1 soundbar. [7812]
  • 2009-Mar-30: The Garden Video Camera is designed to be planted and take months-long time lapse videos of your plants growing (or being eaten by bugs). [7808]
  • 2009-Mar-23: A short sampling of companies that are designing continuous monitoring systems for the human body. [7762] [1]
  • 2009-Mar-20: Elgato's Turbo.264 HD is a video conversion accelerator housed in a USB stick. This is a MAC product. From the product sheet it is hard to say if it would still work (at increased speed) for transcoding between MPEG2 and H.264 without dropping the resolution. Given that it's power consumption is quite small (less than 2.5W for USB power) it is hard to believe that this really would out perform a fast desktop CPU. [7752]
  • 2009-Mar-19: The ThumbTack microphone from SwitchEasy is a neat way to add the microphone that should have been built into your iPod in the first place. [7747]
  • 2009-Mar-16: This Bluetooth GPS Watch looks like it could function as a club in a pinch. Still, at only $85 for what Garmin charges a couple of hundred for, it might sell well. [7733]
  • 2009-Mar-13: The Toshiba Camileo S10 at a $200 price point could put 1080p into everyone's pocket. [7724]
  • 2009-Mar-06: The Peek is a remote email device that does nothing but email and requires a $20/month T-Mobile service fee. This device has been recognized as being quite innovative, but can it survive with a $20/month service fee? Peek has been performing an experiment, they have been selling two versions of this, the "cheap" $44 (plus monthly fees) version and a $399 (lifetime subscription) version at Costco and have found the lifetime version was outselling the cheap version. This is rather like what Tivo found with the popularity of their lifetime subscriptions too. Now if only they could add some web browsing to the device they would really sell a lot. [6752]
  • 2009-Feb-23: Chumby's widgets may be appearing on HDTVs and other network connected display devices soon. [7627]
  • 2009-Feb-13: In 2009 the Sanyo Xacti HD2000 arrived. This can shoot 1080p at 60fps as well as being able to do slow motion work at up to 240fps. [7569]
  • 2009-Feb-11: The LBA-D300 Bluetooth mini-keyboard from LG is intended to give you a portable QWERTY keyboard for use with a cell phone, but maybe this could also be used with an HTPC? Its a pity it does not include a pointing device as well. [7555] [1]
  • 2009-Feb-10: Green Plug is an attempt to create a universal charging standard for electronic devices. They have signed up Westinghouse as the first potential producer of products using this. Slashdot's coverage of this has a good discussion of the limitations of doing this sort of thing using USB (including that USB devices must negotiate for more than 100mA to a maximum of 500mA). After a year this universal power adapter initiative is struggling for support. [6203]
  • 2009-Feb-09: The Panasonic HDC-HS300 gets some good reviews as an HD camcorder. [7545]
  • 2009-Feb-04: A portable one-shot espresso making device. Pity they missed the obvious and did not add the ability to use it as a bicycle tire pump as well. Two main objections: why limit it to a single shot and why not have a reusable filter system like a regular machine (those little packets are going to be expensive). [7538] [1]
  • 2009-Jan-22: Kodak's new (Sept'08) Theatre HD Player is a disk-less media player with HDMI and component video outputs for playing media from your LAN, flash cards and USB devices. Looks pretty nice, but at $300 might be a bit pricey. It also might only do 720p and be more limited in the range of media file formats it supports. This gets reviewed here, the remote for it is very nice - perhaps better than the Wiimote. [6505]
  • 2009-Jan-21: The MYKA TorrentTV is a small media player with built in hard drive that it fills via BitTorrent downloading. It supports HDMI, Component, S-Video and composite video for play back. Prices start at $299 depending on how much hard drive space you put in it. This has reached production, so possibly shipping around the start of March 2009. [5318]
  • 2009-Jan-21: A USB digital microscope from Brando, for about $75. [7463] [1]
  • 2009-Jan-20: The KanaMicro digital audio player is packaged like a USB thumb drive, you really can't get an MP3 player much smaller than this. [7461] [1]
  • 2009-Jan-17: Blockbuster is going to be selling the 2Wire MediaPoint set top player which delivers an HDMI display connection, USB ports, an SD slot and network connection for $99. The questions are: is this only available with a subscription and can it be hacked? Apparently it runs Linux, so as soon as someone figures out how to re-flash it the hacking will commence. This has received a rather scathing review. [7256]
  • 2009-Jan-10: The new (summer 2008) Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics (RF4CE) standard aims to replace infra red with radio control. Hillcrest Labs will be making some devices for this. [7431]
  • 2009-Jan-10: The Polk SurroundBar SDA includes sub-woofer that has a wireless audio connection. [7430]
  • 2009-Jan-10: Seagate's Free Agent Theater HD (available in a few versions) is another hard drive media player solution, starting at $129. The demo video gives an example of the use of the device for showing photo slide shows, performance looks pretty good. [7429] [1]
  • 2008-Dec-14: United Keys is producing a lower cost OLED display keyboard and keypad, at $200 it is still rather pricey but it is a significant reduction in cost from the previous attempt at this (the Optimus). [7340] [1]
  • 2008-Dec-11: The Netgear EVA9000 might be a good set top box media player. It has all sorts of video output, wired and wireless ethernet and can take a SATA hard drive. Looks like this will be in the $400 range. [7275]
  • 2008-Dec-02: The MovieStation pocket c.uc portable hard drive from TrekStor can output video to composite and component TVs and also has a built in memory card slot. [7286]
  • 2008-Dec-01: SageTV has launched the HD200 media streamer which is a set top box media player with integration for use with a SageTV server. This is about the third device Sage has put together to do this and it appears this model may have the ability to play from locally attached media that the previous versions did not have. [7283]
  • 2008-Dec-01: The ISTAR Mini is a media player set top box device that can play from a variety of sources (network, USB, SATA) and output at resolutions up to 1080P. [7282]
  • 2008-Nov-28: Delkin makes a USB Bridge which allows you to copy files between USB attached devices without the aid of a computer. [7271] [1]
  • 2008-Nov-12: The Flip MinoHD, at $229 will probably bring HiDef recording to the pockets of a lot of people. It gets reviewed here [7201]
  • 2008-Nov-08: The Mikey iPod microphone. [7171]
  • 2008-Nov-07: A LP turntable that interfaces with your computer through USB. The Engadget articl seems to have moved, perhaps this TTUSB05 from ION is the device? [1246]
  • 2008-Nov-07: A couple of odd video camera announcements: the MovieStick from Swann, is an integrated camera and storage device about the size of a packet of gum, might be useful for extreme sports recording or attaching to your dog. The USB Digital Endoscope, perhaps the less said the better. [7163]
  • 2008-Nov-06: Pico is a pocket sized projector, perhaps the start of a new gadget trend? [7161]
  • 2008-Nov-04: Slashdot discusses portable solar chargers for gadgets. [7148]
  • 2008-Oct-29: Finally! A robot that can do some household chores. [7115]
  • 2008-Oct-29: The Cowon O2 looks like a rather nice PMP. This is now available in the US, now how about Canada? [7014]
  • 2008-Oct-24: Slashdot asks the question: what are the best electronic kits for adults? In the discussion are a number of suggestions, including:
    • NerdKits are based on a solderless breadboard and an Atmel micro-controller and can include a 24x2 character LCD display and USB interfacing.
    • HeathKit
    • AdaFruit Industries which has the Arduino controller. The DC Boarduino is quite neat, it plugs into a standard solder-less breadboard for easy prototype work and is less than $20.
    • MakerSHED
    [6390]
  • 2008-Oct-21: Denon's DP-200USB is a turntable that can rip vinyl to MP3 files which it can save to a USB attached drive. [7059]
  • 2008-Oct-20: Ear buds shaped like angels and devils (just be careful with the horns), they also made a set shaped like pigs... [7055]
  • 2008-Oct-14: The Crammer from LeapFrog, puts electronic flash cards into your pocket. [7024]
  • 2008-Oct-04: The HD-0310 is a 1080P digital photo viewer, made by PIE United. It has an HDMI output for connection to a TV and has card slots for regular flash media and a USB socket for thumb drives or portable hard drives and can display both photos and movies. Engadget notices it here. [6968] [1]
  • 2008-Oct-01: Panasonic's EZ Touch remote control puts the buttons on your TV screen. [6958]
  • 2008-Sep-28: The SuperKid 4-port USB hub, Gumby hits the new world age. [6939] [1]
  • 2008-Sep-28: The Korg nanoSeries are a few small, USB-attached and powered, input and control devices for working with music on a laptop. Really cute and if reasonably priced are bound to be very popular. Would go great with an ASUS Eee... The UK prices for these are in the £49 to £59 range, which probably means US$99 and they are expected in Oct'08. I wonder if you can add multiple keyboards to the same PC so that you can build the organ of your dreams? A preview of these appeared in late Sept'08. [6340] [1]
  • 2008-Sep-17: The Canon SX1 IS will offer a 20x zoom, 10M pixel sensor and the ability to shoot true 1080p video. [6869]
  • 2008-Sep-12: Now you can read your morning news paper and eat it afterwards, just burn the headlines onto scrumpy hot buttered toast. Beats a Talky Toaster any day. I really cannot see a USB port actually powering the toasting element. [6840]
  • 2008-Sep-12: Engadget asks: which digicam takes the best video, which is an interesting question since some of the flash-based camcorders are more expensive than most digicams and combining the two devices into one might be a good way to cut some clutter and weight when traveling. [6837]
  • 2008-Sep-11: The LP 2 FLASH from ION is a LP turntable that records music from vinyl directly to flash cards. [6828]
  • 2008-Sep-09: Tikitag is producing an RFID tag system for the home. Though they don't seem to be small enough to implant in Barbie Dolls or Lego bricks. They should have a key-fob tag so that you could at least sweep your house for missing keys. [6819]
  • 2008-Sep-04: The Sanyo Xacti 1010 will shoot 1920x1080 (30fps progressive) onto SDHC cards. It also has a 300fps slow motion mode. [6794]
  • 2008-Sep-04: The Sanyo Xacti E2 (and here on Engadget)is the second waterproof standard definition camcorder from Sanyo. This records to H.264 MPEG4 on SDHC cards, so can fit 8 hours on one 8G card. [6793]
  • 2008-Aug-31: The Panasonic HDC-SD100 and HDC-HS100 are HiDef camcorders which use a three CMOS sensor design to achieve greater low-light sensitivity and reduced noise levels. The SD100 unit records to SDHC flash cards, while the HS100 unit has a 60GB hard drive built in. The HDC-SD100 gets a review here. [6366]
  • 2008-Aug-30: A home RFID reader from Nabaztag Violet. [6767]
  • 2008-Aug-14: The JMRI project provides tools for computerized model railroad control. [6687]
  • 2008-Aug-13: The Popcorn hour networked media player is now shipping in limited quantities at $179. This supports up to 1080p (both component and HDMI) as well as composite and S-video. It also has two USB ports for adding devices as well it supports an IDE internal drive for more storage. It supports a pretty wide set of CODECS. There's more information on this on the Networked Media Tank support wiki. In May'08 this started to ship in volume, comments from early adopters are pretty positive. A very good review of the Popcorn Hour with some internal pictures, this review has been updated a number of times as the author has worked with different firmware versions. Engadget asks its readers how they would change the Popcorn Hour. The next generation of this (the A-110) went on pre-order in Aug'08 and they are also making a mini-ITX motherboard called the B-110 for home theater applications. CNet takes a look at the A-110. [5143] [1]
  • 2008-Aug-12: Looking a bit like Snap Circuits these littleBits are little circuit fragments that can be easily snapped together to prototype electronic circuits. [6673]
  • 2008-Aug-12: The SLIMstage40 is a surround sound bar from soundmatters. [6668]
  • 2008-Aug-07: Canon updates its HiDef camcorders, including the flash-based HF11 which also gets reviewed here. [6646]
  • 2008-Aug-07: The TASCAM GT-R1 is a nice little flash-memory portable audio recorder aimed at musicians. [6644]
  • 2008-Aug-06: The Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link is a small media player that does HDMI, component and composite video output at up to 1080i. The press release makes it sound like it might not actually play HiDef media as it talks about achieving 720p and 1080i output through upscaling. [6640]
  • 2008-Aug-04: The ZvBox from ZeeVee takes an alternative approach to the problem of streaming media from your PC to you HD TV for viewing. This box connects to your VGA port (with a pass through so your monitor still works) and it then makes a HiDef RF signal which can be sent through regular cable coax to your TV(s) for viewing. At $499 it sounds rather expensive for what it's doing, but who nows what the market will think? Engadget HD gets their hands on one. [6360]
  • 2008-Aug-01: The Fuji FinePix S2000HD is a 10MP digicam with a 15x zoom (with image stabilization) that also has HiDef (720P MPEG-4) movie capability, for $299. It also has some high speed still modes, which operate at a lower resolution (up to 13.5 frames/sec at 3M pixels). [6621]
  • 2008-Aug-01: The Sanyo DMX-HD800 is a new entry in their Xacti line. This is a combined 720P video and 8MP still camera which stores recordings on SD/SDHC flash cards. [6618]
  • 2008-Jul-15: The Mobile Digital Scribe from IOGEAR is another digital note taker, an alternative to just scanning your pages of freehand notes. The Switched On column takes a look at this here. [5219]
  • 2008-Jul-09: The GejBox has been renamed the "Connected". This is a network media player unit. [6498]
  • 2008-Jul-09: The DSM-330 is a new HD media player device from D-Link that will play DivX encoded media at 1080i resolutions. In Dec'07 it was in beta test. This started shipping in July'08 for $299. [4543]
  • 2008-Jun-20: The Onada VX777+ touch screen PMP has a TV ouput. [6399]
  • 2008-Jun-20: The Engineer's Mini Notebooks, by Forrest Mims, are supposed to be good introductions to electronics. He also worte: Getting Started in Electronics which has been suggested by some on Slashdot. [1251]
  • 2008-Jun-20: The Yamaha Tenori-on could be described as Lite Brite meets a music synthesizer. I'm sure kids of all ages will love it. These finally went on sale in the US in June'08 for $1200, guess I'll wait for someone to do this in software on a PSP or dual screen. [5751] [1]
  • 2008-Jun-17: Engadget gets to play with the Samsung SC-HMX20C full 1080p flash camcorder. Engadget HD has a short review and sample clips here. [6319]
  • 2008-Jun-13: The RF4CE consortium is attempting to develop an RF standard for entertainment center controls based on IEEE 802.15.4. [6334] [1]
  • 2008-Jun-12: A review of five of the current (2008) sound bar speaker systems. [6327]
  • 2008-Jun-12: The Grab'n GO media streamer from Conceptronic is a media player device with support for 1080p HDMI and component video output. Looks like this might be about 200 euros. [6322]
  • 2008-Jun-11: While the video quality probably won't match a Canon the Aiptek HDV21X is breaking ground by bringing 1080p HD video to Wal-Mart for $199. [6318]
  • 2008-Jun-09: A wireless input pen from SMK that communicates with Bluetooth and does not need special paper. [6305]
  • 2008-Jun-07: The Flip Video Mino is a very small camcorder designed for those who want to be able to carry something in a pocket all the time. As it only has a 2x digital zoom it will be pretty limited, so maybe a compact digicam that has a video mode would be better? Creative's Vado is competition for this. [6293]
  • 2008-Jun-06: SanDisk is working hard at figuring out more ways to increase the demand for flash memory, their new TakeTV is an 8GB USB drive that enables video playback. Apparently it has a docking station that provides video output (though why you need such a bulky memory stick for this is still unclear - perhaps they have put the video chips into the same package as the flash drive rather than putting them into the docking station)? Engadget takes a more detailed look at it here. I think they are still missing the best market opportunities by not including support for hi-def playback and by not including support for playback on DVI-D LCD panels (then this could be used to make a large photo frame out of an LCD panel). Switched On discusses the TakeTV.

    Well it didn't take long for this to die, it lasted from about 30-Oct-07 to 15-May-08. Let's hope SanDisk learned something here and come back to the table with something capable of playing HiDef. [3477]

  • 2008-Jun-06: The Sanyo Xacti HD1010 is another full 1920x1080 hi-def digital camcorder, this adds a 300fps slow-motion mode and a 7 frame per second rapid still mode to its 4MPixel digital camera mode. [6292]
  • 2008-Jun-04: A new media (and web) player from Verismo Networks has been announced here, it is supposed to have HDMI output and sell for $99. [6281]
  • 2008-May-23: The Archos TV+, announced in June'07 might make a good replacement for a PVR, it looks like it does not have a cable tuner built in and that, while it has an HDMI output, it does not go beyond 720p. This became available in Jan'08, starting at $229. FutureShop carries it at a rather inflated price. [1312]
  • 2008-May-17: The G2 portable fuel cell power source from Angstrom power, still made from unobtainium - maybe available in 2010. This sort of thing would be handy for running electronic gizmos on long trips. [6180] [1]
  • 2008-May-15: The Movie Cowboy is a 2.5 inch drive enclosure and media player docking station with video (HDMI, component and composite) outputs. This can do up to 1080i resolution. [6166]
  • 2008-May-10: Get a view from the cockpit of your remote controlled plane or helicopter. [6090] [1]
  • 2008-May-07: Lessons In Electric Circuits, By Tony R. Kuphaldt, are a free series of textbooks on electricity and electronics. The is some mention of this site here on Slashdot along with some other suggestions for similar material. [1252]
  • 2008-May-06: The WALL-E robot toy looks pretty neat, I wonder how many home robotics projects will start with one of these? Perhaps it can be taught to weed the garden? A short video clip that demonstrates a lot of what it can do is here, unless you want to have a few of these around the house, best to not let your kids see this movie! [6017]
  • 2008-May-04: High-strength magnetic ball bearings (from TheNeoCube.com) could make for a fascinating toy. [6045] [1]
  • 2008-May-02: The SONY HDR-TG1 Handycam (which will be the HDR-TG3E in Europe) is a very compact full 1920x1080 HD camcorder that writes to memory stick flash media (needing about 4Gig/hour in LP mode). It can also act as a 4M pixel still camera. Discussed here on Engadget. An unboxing and quick look at it in video form are here. Engadget starts to take a look at one. [5381]
  • 2008-May-01: A mobile DJ MP3 mixing station, lots of buttons, knobs and sliders, looks like great fun. And only $99. [6020] [1]
  • 2008-May-01: A mini wireless video camera that can be easily added to your toys (or pets) to get a different perspective on life. [6018]
  • 2008-May-01: The MV-2500U HD multimedia drive from Mvix lets you turn a 2.5 inch hard drive and TV set/monitor into a media player. [6016]
  • 2008-Apr-25: monoprice.com has a lot of video and computer cabling and they will ship outside the USA using the postal service. [5959] [1]
  • 2008-Apr-22: In Feb'08 MediaGate announced their MG-450HD media player, which updates the MG-350HD to add HDMI output, should be available for $249. This started shipping in late April'08, along with a price drop to $229. [5171]
  • 2008-Apr-18: The Panasonic HDC-SD9 HD is a SDHC flash card hidef camcorder with a 3 CCD sensor. The individual sensors each have an effective resolution of only 520,000 pixels which seems way to small for a camera that is supposed to record at 1920x1080 (which is 2M pixel) so either the review is wrong, or there is some serious extrapolation going on (effectively they are doing a 2x digital zoom to go from 520K to 2M: since each sensor will record one RGB colour channel you put the three sensors together to get the equivalent of a single 520K pixel RGB sensor to start with and then you need to expand that 4 times which is twice in width and twice in height - hence a 2x digital zoom) and this is really not much better than S-video. [5845]
  • 2008-Apr-18: The Sanyo Xacti DMX-CA8 is a waterproof (up to 1.5m depth), SD flash video recorder, it gets reviewed here. [5844]
  • 2008-Apr-11: The AgfaPhoto DV-5000Z 720P HD flash video camera looks a lot like some of the Sanyo models. [5765]
  • 2008-Apr-10: A Micro SD Card video projector, at $99 it'll probably not be much good, but maybe a more serious manufacturer will do this sort of thing with better quality parts. [5759]
  • 2008-Apr-09: The Iomega ScreenPlay HD 500GB multimedia drive has HDMI output (as well as composite and component video) and run at 720p or 1080i resolutions for $219. [5756]
  • 2008-Apr-08: IOGEAR is introducing a new Portable Media Player which comes with a remote and various TV outputs (no built-in display) including component video to 720p. Although at $350 they are up against a number of less expensive, similar, solutions. [5741]
  • 2008-Apr-04: So far the e-book market is very small, perhaps about 0.1% of the publishing market, but it appears to be growing now. [5541] [1]
  • 2008-Apr-01: Buffalo's LinkTheater HD is an hi-def media streamer for use with a wired ethernet, supposed to be about $199 and had HDMI and component video outputs. [5370]
  • 2008-Apr-01: The Sony HDR-SR12 is a hard-drive based hi-def camcorder (reviewed here) with a 5M pixel CMOS sensor which is supposed to bring a significant improvement to low-light noise levels. [5366]
  • 2008-Mar-31: ControlThink is in the Z-Wave business, and have USB adapters that are firmware upgradeable. [5361]
  • 2008-Mar-12: The KORG DS-10 synth meets the Nintendo DS - result: cool music device. [5264] [1]
  • 2008-Mar-12: The Logitech diNovo Mini Bluetooth keyboard and mouse emulator is finally shipping, a cute but rather expensive small wireless keyboard for a home theater PC system. There are a number of less expensive alternatives including: a wireless RF keyboard with joystick and this Adesso WKB-4000US [5263] [1]
  • 2008-Mar-07: Sarotech makes (or OEMs) a number of multimedia player units, the DVP-570s (abigs Multimedia Player) takes a 3.5 inch SATA drive, has LAN and USB interfaces, and outputs to composite, S-video, component and HDMI video. Their DVP-260 takes a 2.5-inch drive and outputs composite and component video and is aimed at in-car entertainment. [5237]
  • 2008-Mar-01: MviX MV-5000U is a nice media player enclosure for use with a 3.5in hard drive, it gets reviewed by Toms Hardware, it is available from ThinkGeek. The MX760-HD can connect to a LAN and output at up to 1080p. The MX-780HD is another model. [1234]
  • 2008-Feb-26: The Celrun is a networked media player and recorder with HDMI and component output. [5169]
  • 2008-Feb-24: The haptic input device, this is a "braille-like" touch pad that is located on the back of a hand-held device (like a PDA). You can then use it to operate the device one-handed by touching this pad with a finger from the hand that is holding it. A rather interesting idea, I've always found the few direct access buttons that Palm devices have to be a quick way of doing a few things, and by virtue of them being near the edge of the device they can be used one-handed (though it is a bit awkward). The Sony Clie Palm devices had a scroll wheel and a button that were situated on the side at the top left allowing one to control some functions with the thumb if you were holding it in the left hand. This worked quite well, except support for the scroll wheel was rather limited. I would think that a row of small buttons down one side would also work well. [5150] [1]
  • 2008-Feb-16: Now there's a kid-ridable triceratops, when does the backyard play-raptor make an appearance? [5103]
  • 2008-Feb-13: The Annoy-a-tron, from ThinkGeek, possibly the world's worst stocking stuffer. [5092]
  • 2008-Feb-13: The utimate 56-inch LCD display, with 4K x 2K resolution, one of these days this will be affordable. [5089]
  • 2008-Feb-12: While not a true photo frame the Cowon A3 PMP has slide show capabilities as well as component video output so it could be used as a portable presentation tool for showing slides on a large screen TV instead of using a laptop computer. [5086] [1]
  • 2008-Jan-31: MythBusters asks why so many devices have custom battery packs and incompatible chargers. Just try traveling with a computer, a cell phone, a PDA, a digital camera, a PMP and see if you have any room left in your carry on after packing all the chargers for them. [5026]
  • 2008-Jan-31: Sony's GPS-CS1KASP device (picture on Engadget) can log GPS coordinates every 15 seconds for geo-tagging purposes. [5023] [1]
  • 2008-Jan-29: This PMP/Game handheld from Chinavision has a built in solar charger that is quite nicely done. Personally I would have thought it would make more sense to put the controls and screen on the inside (like a Nintendo DS) and put the solar cells on the outside (i.e. on the top and bottom surfaces) then the cells would be capturing energy all the time, even when you are using the device. [5011]
  • 2008-Jan-27: The Maha MH-C9000 WizardOne is an intelligent AA/AAA battery charger. This has four independent charging circuits, so different sizes and capacities can be charged at the same time. It also has a number of special cycles, including a discharge, a refresh (combined top-up, discharge, recharge) and a break-in cycle (for batteries that have lost their full capacity). It is reviewed here and here. In Calgary it is available at MemoryExpress. [5000] [1]
  • 2008-Jan-25: Denon's DHT-FS5 X-Space soundbar is a new competitor to Yamaha's soundbar speaker systems. [4992]
  • 2008-Jan-23: The SPOT Satellite Messenger is a GPS device crossed with emergency satellite communications. This looks like the first product version has some serious flaws, but could still be useful to a number of wilderness trekker types. [4980]
  • 2008-Jan-18: If you don't have your DVD collection list loaded on your PDA then maybe one of these Groqit bar code scanner devices might be the solution to your memory problems while shopping for more DVDs. [4956] [1]
  • 2008-Jan-12: In the photos that follow this Engadget CES'08 article there are some interesting things, this item appears to be the swappable GSM radio module (which looks like you put your GSM SIM card into it and then put the module into whatever device you want to activate with GSM). An e-book reader, and another view. And another of these unobtainable Korean more than a dictionary devices that might function as a small webpad (it may be something like this model: MD8500). Some sort of net TV viewer with WiFi support. The company doing this is apparently GroupSense. [4660] [1] [2]
  • 2008-Jan-11: In the first picture of this IRiver tease-fest series there is a rather nice looking micro laptop or webpad type device. The other pages have a number of interesting looking devices, probably made from unobtanium. This video clip demonstrates what one of these devices is all about, basically a small stereo/media player integrated with web phone and browser along with remote webpad-style display and control of media and a little keyboard that is concealed in a WiFi phone - but not until 2009. [4644] [1]
  • 2008-Jan-10: Actiontec's zControl home automation gateway, this uses Z-Wave wireless control technology to control household electronics. [4640]
  • 2008-Jan-09: The Spykee robots from Erector, not sure why they need iPods though. [4623]
  • 2008-Jan-07: The SDR-SW20 is an SD-based camcorder from Panasonic that is waterproof to 5 feet. [4595]
  • 2008-Jan-06: Westinghouse is going to produce a wireless HDMI adapter based on Pulse-Link's technology. [4587]
  • 2008-Jan-05: The LaCinema Premier from LaCie is a media player USB drive that has composite, S-Video and component outputs at up to 1080i. Unfortunately it does not output on HDMI and it does not have a USB input to allow devices like a flash reader to be attached. [4582]
  • 2008-Jan-05: The FlyWire from Belkin will be a wireless high definition TV interface device allowing content to be sent from one device to another via WHDI at up to 1080i. At about $500 per device it sounds rather expensive. [4581]
  • 2008-Jan-05: The Forerunner 405 is a watch-sized version of the Forerunner 305. While many people are enthusiastic about the smaller size I would actually prefer something that provides a larger display than the 305 - so it is easier to read when running. Consider the original 201/205 form factor was pretty good (its only slightly larger than the 305, now if they installed a display that covered the whole of the surface of a 201 then that would be much more useful. [4580]
  • 2008-Jan-05: The D-Link MediaLounge PC-on_TV DPG-1200 mirrors your PC's display onto you TV, so you can couch-surf or do other remote computing at 1280x720. [4579]
  • 2007-Dec-31: SportTracks is a replacement for Garmin's TrainingCenter software, it is thought by some to be much better (and after playing with it a bit, I would have to agree). It includes a view of your workout routes superimposed over Google street maps or satellite images and it has easy to use integration with Google Earth. [4542] [1]
  • 2007-Dec-30: SageTV has added a HI-DEF media extender, this allows you to watch content stored on your main media server and to control that server remotely across the LAN. Multiple media extenders can be installed as well. [4539]
  • 2007-Dec-30: The ClearStream CS615 HD media streamer from Ziova, this has HDMI, component, s-video and composite outputs. It also has two USB ports for hooking up removable storage and a bay for a user-installed 3.5 inch hard drive. [4538]
  • 2007-Dec-20: A rear view monitor for your bike. [4476]
  • 2007-Nov-18: Sanyo's Xacti DMX-HD1000 is a 1080i HD video camera which records to SD flash media using an MPEG-4 codec. More pictures of this are here. TrustedReviews takes a look at the Xacti VPC-HD1000, it records 1920x1080i and 1280x720i at 12Mbits/sec using MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression (so about 5.4GB per hour) and can also record at lower sizes. They think the video quality is lacking compared to Canon or Sony and there is noticable grain in lower light situations. [1335]
  • 2007-Nov-14: The PXIO C2 is a universal recharging system with many device-specific adapters. [4145]
  • 2007-Nov-08: Philips' AJL308 is a clock radio combined with a photo frame. From the product brochure and owner's manual it appears that you can select a song to wake up to. [4053]
  • 2007-Nov-07: Buffalo's new Link Theater HD media streamed support output to HDMI and composite, but do not do DivX. [4045]
  • 2007-Nov-02: Engadget discusses What's the best Bluetooth stereo headset out there? [3913]
  • 2007-Nov-02: The EZfetch (mentioned here on Engadget) is a LAN (wired or wireless) connected media player for your big screen TV. It has DVD (includes a DVI to HDMI adapter too), S-Video and composite video output. It can obtain its material from either a server on the LAN or a USB-attached device, such as a flash drive. [3911]
  • 2007-Oct-31: A USB to DVI adapter from Sewell, this is mainly aimed at allowing laptop users to add another monitor (or a monitor with DVI input) but it could also be used to add a second or third monitor to a desktop system without installing an additional graphics card or changing the existing one. [3906]
  • 2007-Oct-20: The Xs-DriveBox is a hard disk based media player, it has composite, S-Video and component outputs plus the ability to record composite video. It also has an SD flash card slot and a USB port, but no LAN connectivity. [3474]
  • 2007-Oct-18: CTSolar makes a range of portable solar power products, so if you need to take your laptop on an expedition this might be the place to look. [3463] [1]
  • 2007-Oct-17: The Garmin ForeRunner 300 series training GPS units are getting some competition from Pyxis new GPS watches. [3460]
  • 2007-Oct-16: The MagicJack USB to phone to VoIP adapter is discussed along with the competing V Phone from Vonage. [3451]
  • 2007-Oct-12: The Sony e-Book Reader PRS-505 is shipping now. [3332]
  • 2007-Oct-12: The Networked Media Tank from Syabas has HDMI, composite and component outputs at up to 1080p, can display media that is hosted on a PC (through a LAN connection) and also can display media from a built in (optional) hard drive. It also has a number of media server functions that are activated when the hard drive is installed. [3254]
  • 2007-Oct-09: HDTV Supply has a lot of video cables and converter devices. [3049]
  • 2007-Oct-07: The YSP-500 compact sound projector from Yamaha is a smaller version of their single-speaker sound projector speakers. [2798]
  • 2007-Oct-04: The new PSP Slim can output video to composite or component TVs, apparently games can only be played in component mode. This might make it a useful photo slide show device. [2532]
  • 2007-Sep-30: Some pictures of the Slingbox SOLO from Sling Media. [2413]
  • 2007-Sep-30: The Sanyo DH700 camcorder, does 720p video and 7MPixel stills onto SD flash cards. [2411]
  • 2007-Sep-30: DigitalLife is selling a number of tween-targeted tech toys: photo frames, clocks and cameras. [2410]
  • 2007-Sep-30: A new wireless messenger from Zipit, the Z2. [2409]
  • 2007-Sep-30: This curiously named Blog Tang A+ PMP personal media player even has composite video out - but when are these going to have component or HDMI outputs? [2377]
  • 2007-Sep-21: GE's DECT 6.0 phones will get the ability to display internet content via its InfoLink service. [2236]
  • 2007-Sep-14: How to configure your phone to do the wireless web thing with Fido.ca. [1889]
  • 2007-Sep-14: RealNerds has a set of amusing binary clocks (some of which you can find elsewhere) including an LED hour glass. [1888]
  • 2007-Sep-13: The Savit Micro Cinedisk CD26HD is a media player built around a 2.5 inch drive, it can output to 1080i, though only over component video cables not HDMI. [1882]
  • 2007-Sep-10: OPPO's LT-201 is a 20 inch LCD panel that includes a built in slot loading DVD player and Card reader and a USB port. While it is only 800x600 resolution this would do for a lot of applications. As well, with the card reader it will probably be the least expensive large photo frame on the market. They also make some DVD players with card readers and USB to attach hard drives. [1876]
  • 2007-Sep-10: Prolink's new PixelView PlayTV media box will be able to play and record video and other forms of media. It has a built in flash card reader and it does not have a built in drive (you add whatever you want with a USB interface which is a great idea). It might (the docs are a bit sparse) only have composite video output, which would be a real dumb move. [1875]
  • 2007-Sep-08: Jr. Engineers sells a variety of introductory electronic and robotic kits for kids. Some of these are solderless. [1640]
  • 2007-Sep-08: The BlackBox from Gear4 is a big black (and a small black) portable powered speaker system that can be driven through a Bluetooth connection. [1639]
  • 2007-Sep-07: Is creative bring out a PMP with full screen HD video output capabilities? If so, this might be a neat way of taking a slide show of photos along with you. [1631]
  • 2007-Sep-03: Specifications on the new Sanyo Xacti HD1000 1080p camcorder and a price of $800 in Sept'07. If image noise is not a big issue for this (and they have added a fast F1.8 lens to help) then this might be a very nice unit. One innovative twist is that their docking station allows you to attach regular external USB attached hard drives and then you can transfer movies from the camera through the docking station into the hard drive without needing a computer, this could make the unit a lot more travel friendly. [1628]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Network-connected TVs from Loewe, their "Connect Series" [1334]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Samsung will soon be selling a pair of small, flash memory based, HD (720p) camcorders (VP-HMX10 and VP-HMX10A), these look like being in the $800 range. [1333]
  • 2007-Aug-31: IOGEAR's Digital Scribe (GPEN100C) is another pen with a digitizer that does not need special paper or a special clipboard to function, though it looks like this must always be attached to a PC to work (so its not as versatile as the digital pen from EPOS Technologies) [1332]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A notepad with built in digitizer, the G-Note 7100 from Genius. [1331]
  • 2007-Aug-31: EPOS Technologies have a digital pen that uses utrasonics to track the movement of the pen as it writes on regular paper and record this to a small USB stick device that you clip onto the paper. I wonder if this would work on a larger surface, say a white board? Then you could just tape the sensor to the white board you're using, and tape their digital pen to a white board marker and doodle away. They are also offering a version of this to laptop builders so that it can be integrated directly into a laptop, and then what you write on a sheet of paper near the laptop can be directly received by the laptop. [1330]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The VholdR wearable camera from Twenty20, a mini video camera for sports recording [1328]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Teq WID110 is a receiver/gateway that allows a standard VGA monitor/panel to be used as a remote display. They also make the VPX110 Qiksign Media Player, which looks like a dedicated small form factor computer to drive digital signs. These sort of things could be used to make nice, high-end, large size digital photo frames for the home - though as they don't list any prices and are declaring these to be "corporate solutions" they are probably quite expensive. [1327]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A 4-port HDMI switch from IOGEAR [1326]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Panasonic HDC-SD5 is a 3CCD, full 1920x1080 resolution camcorder that uses SD flash cards for video storage. The Panasonic HDC-SD7 is the smallest (Aug'07) HD camcorder [1325]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The DSM-510 from D-Link looks like it might be a good media player to bridge the gap between PC and TV, this will do 1080i output over HDMI and has both wired and wireless LAN capabilities. [1324]
  • 2007-Aug-31: While not really a toy, it certainly is tech, HP is releasing a vastly updated version of its HP-35. What a blast! [1323]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Freecom's MusicPal is a WiFi radio that can play tunes from internet radio stations and your own collection - it also can act as an alarm clock, it even has an RJ45 connection for hard wired networks and a line out so that you can connect it to your stereo. [1322]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Stewart Jewelry Designs, has a range of Geek Girl items, such as earrings made from ICs and bracelets made from resistors. [1321]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Sega Toys is making a clock called the Private Ocean which looks rather neat, if it could act as an alarm clock and as a digital picture frame it could be quite a good device [1320]
  • 2007-Aug-31: SavitMicro's cineDISK CD36HD is a LAN attached video media player that can output at up to 1920x1080i and has component and DVI outputs. Pictures of it are here. They also make the CD26HD which is based on a 2.5 inch hard drive and does not have the DVI output. [1319]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A portable universal solar charger to keep your toys juiced up on the road (or trail), this also has a built in battery that the actual recharging is done from (the solar cells charge the battery and then the battery is used to charge your device), and a 110-240V AC power adapter which (presumably) can be used to charge the device when wall power is available. [1318]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Toshiba's Camileo Pro is a 7MPixel still camer combined with a digital video camera that will shoot 640x480 video in MPEG-4 onto SD cards [1317]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A component video to HDMI encoder from Gefen, hopefully these drop in price soon [1316]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Gefen is going to sell some PVRs capable of 1080p recording [1315]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Slashdot discusses subscription-free DVRs [1314]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The QSTARZ BT-Q1000 GPS data logger, a GPS without built in display [1313]
  • 2007-Aug-31: To carry your gadgets there is now the hipHolster from Urban Tool. What I really want is the gadget bandolier, instead of a series of small loops for ammo it would have a series of small pockets for PDA, cellphone, DAP, multi-tool... [1311]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Fly pentop computer may be reworked into an adult version; afterall, why should kids have all the fun? [1310]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Marantz's OPSODIS ES7001 looks like a competitor to Yamaha's YSP speaker series [1309]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The TVIX Box M-4100SH is a hard drive based media player with networking capability that can output at up to 1080p on component or HDMI, mentioned here on Engadget [1308]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Samsung's YV-150 a voice recorder crossed with a DAP [1307]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A classic, analogue alarm clock which you load its ringer sounds via a USB connection [1306]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Looks like you can use an Xbox for digital video playback [1305]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Viewart 1000 is the Swiss Army Knife of personal electronic gadgets, combining camera, video camera, media player, radio, game player, text viewer (poor man's e-book?) and a calendar (but it looks like it does not have any PDA capability). [1304]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The MovieStation maxi t.u from TrekStor is a external hard drive with component video output capability [1303]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The blow light, a little wind-powered LED toy, though at $20 a pop its pretty expensive, now if they were a few dollars each they would make fun garden ornaments. Still they could be fun on a birthday cake... [1301]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The RJ Tech RJ-2200DVRX DVD / HDD recorder is unique as it is sold without a pre-installed hard drive so you can buy and install a drive of suitable size. Can you say 500GB PVR? [1300]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Yamaha's RX-V861 Digital Home Theater Receiver has up conversion to 1080p from S-Video, component video and HDMI input [1299]
  • 2007-Aug-31: In Mar'07 the Canon PowerShot TX1 became available, at $500 its an interesting meld of very portable still camera and video camera. Perhaps its greatest flaw is in the video, where Canon chose not to use a modern compression system, and as a result, the camera can only record 14 minutes of highest resolution video on a 4GB card. Compare that to the Sanyo Xacti which can record 3 hours on a 4GB card (though not at such a high resolution) and you can see how Canon messed up. A very good review of it is on DCRP Review. [1298]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Parrot's Boombox is a 60W aplified speaker that can be driven either by A2DP Bluetooth or by a wired RCA connection to give your digital audio player some kick. I've found that 5W or more computer speakers actually work quite well for this sort of thing. [1297]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The GHDMIAS2 from IOGEAR is an automatic 2 into 1 HDMI switch box, just gotta wonder why these people don't release something more like a 4 into 1 unit. [1296]
  • 2007-Aug-31: TransTechnology's DVX-700 a media player (both wired and wireless) that includes a DVD drive and a removable 3.5in hard drive. [1295]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Gefen's HD Mate Scaler and video switch, allows for scaling ina switching of two component and one DVI input to one DVI output at up to 1080p. At $349 its a bit out of the inpulse buy range - still that's probably less expensive than most of the other competing products. [1294]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Sanyo Xacti DMX-CG65 is a 6MPixel digicam with a 5x zoom that also does H.264 video recording (so up to 6 hours at the high quaity setting on an 8GB card). [1293]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Finger Beats, like a mouse pad, but with groove. Sure to annoy your co-workers. [1292]
  • 2007-Aug-31: For the world traveler the Talk Abroad global phone from National Geographic might be useful, discussed here on Engadget. [1291]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Recharge your tech toy while on the road (or on the beach) with Solar Technology's Freeloader. This is solar (or USB) powered and has its own lithium battery on board and includes about 10 different power connector adapters so it can charge a lot of different devices. [1290]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Panasonic DMW-SDP1 (appeared in Feb'07) is a photo player with 1080i component video output, this allows display of your digital photos from SD cards at full HTDV resolutions. Now if they only made a version with VGA, DVI or HDMI output I could hook it up to more things. [1289]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Dragonfly from Wowwee, I want one! Reviewed here on PC Magazine. [1288]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Team Xtender has announced a component video to VGA adapter box. This is intended to allow you to view your game console on a standard VGA monitor. [1287]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The GH-615 GPS watch from Globalsat [1286]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The iRiver S10 is getting a Bluetooth connection and will be available in a bracelet form factor for a nice wireless MP3 experience. It would be nice if they made a version in stainless steel with a link-style watch strap which a man could ware as a watch [1285]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The RCA JetStream is an MP3 player with wireless earbud headphones which are unique in that they don't use Bluetooth (apparently allowing them to run at 1/10th the power consumption) and they don't need a cord joining the two earbuds. [1284]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Rapsody N35 from IGS is another media adapter device, this one can take 3.5 inch hard drives up to 1TB in size and has both DVI and component video outputs [1283]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The D-Link DSM-750 MediaLounge is another media adapter device [1282]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The MediaGate MG-35, MG-25P and MG-350HD are all media adapter devices [1281]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Hauppauge MediaMVP is an older media adapter, there is an open source replacement project for its firmware at mvpmc.org. [1280]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The SlingCatcher (discussed on Slashdot) is another digital media adapter, supposed to be about US$200, here are some more pictures. [1279]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000, is a digital media adapter from Netgear [1278]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The PC2TV EchoView FM is a set top box that receives content from your computer via a WiFi or wired network and then displays it on a television through composite, component or DVI connection with up to 720p resolution. Supposed to be available in Feb'07 for about US$199. [1277]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Would you dare to replace the hard drive inside you Sony HDR-SR1 in order to upgrade its storage? I wonder if anyone has done this with any hard-drive based PVRs to upgrade them above the usual smallish 80-160GB drives they ship with? [1276]
  • 2007-Aug-31: South Korea and China are going to mandate the cell phones must use standard chargers and data cables. This is a very good move, now if only others would follow with PDAs and digital cameras. Imagine being able to carry only a single charger when on a trip instead of a pile of 3 or 4! [1275]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The MX-760HD supports streaming HD from hard drive or over the LAN or WiFi to your TV. It provides video output over: composite, s-video, component and DVI ports. [1274]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The SanDisk V-Mate is a device that records from composite video sources directly onto flash media [1273]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Vex Robotics System is going to partner with Revell [1272]
  • 2007-Aug-31: iPod Killers for Christmas 2006, there probably isn't one yet, but there are some alternatives that offer a better feature set [1271]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The USBACH01 charges your USB gadgets from an AC wall power [1270]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The KNC HR-2800, is a PMP device with camera and an NES/GBA emulator for only $130 (Oct'06) [1269]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The DB-MRC100 video recorder from Evergreen, records directly to flash media. [1268]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Yamaha Network Receiver (HTRN5060), at FutureShop, has a USB jack on the front (for playing MP3s) and a ethernet jack on the rear for playing MP3s from your LAN. [1267]
  • 2007-Aug-31: SanDisk's V-MATE records video onto flash cards [1266]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Novation has a small Synth that is equipped with MIDI and USB [1265]
  • 2007-Aug-31: USBCELL batteries, are smaller batteries that contain a concealed USB plug that is used to recharge them, then they can be used in place of a regular AA type battery. [1264]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A battery pack for charging USB devices on the go. [1263]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Two very small video recorders are due to arrive before Dec 2006. The Magenetox V120 and another from Vosonic. [1262]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Sondigo Sirocco wireless audio bridge device. [1261]
  • 2007-Aug-31: AC sockets of the world, WikiPedia has a good writeup showing the various plug types to be found around the world. If you are going to India, take note that it uses a plug that is only used in a few other countries, so was not included in any "world travel adapter" sets that I found. [1260]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Zing music player, connects via WiFi and has a built in microphone and speaker so it can act (currently) as a walkie talkie (perhaps it will grow up and do VOIP later?) [1259]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Review of the G-sat BTH-820 and BTH-830 Bluetooth audio headphones. [1258]
  • 2007-Aug-31: IBM is working on a voice recorder with built-in speach recognition capabilities [1257]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Unicon Systems MBridge, seems to be a device that allows one to move files between various types of USB connected devices and over wireless LANs. [1256]
  • 2007-Aug-31: HP is building an interactive coffee table based on a large LCD or plasma display [1255]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Hornby will be introducing digital control of model railroads [1254]
  • 2007-Aug-31: LTB Audio Systems makes a pair of wireless headphones that use the 2.4GHz band that got mention here on Engadget. Available here from TigerDirect. [1253]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Art of Electronics, by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill is supposed to be a good book on designing electroic circuits. [1250]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Denshi block is a similar building block approach to building basic circuits out of snap together parts [1249]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Snap Circuits from Elenco look like a good way to introduce kids to electronics. The kits are also "upgradable", they appear to sell a "delta-kit" that contains the parts you need to take your current kit and upgrade it to the next level in the series - they have even set up the manuals this way, so when you buy the level 2 kit you get two manuals the first contains the experiments that the level 1 kit can do and the second contains additional experiments that are unique to the level 2 kit.. and so on... There's even a computer interface in the higher level kits, but I'm not sure what its based on (parallel, USB or serial). Actually according to this page its probably using the microphone port on your computer's sound card and it includes some basic oscilliscope software to allow one to see what is happening. [1248]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A collection of odd USB devices for the desktop [1247]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The ROBOTS modular robot system looks pretty neat [1245]
  • 2007-Aug-31: USB activated, air propelled, darts for use at work [1244]
  • 2007-Aug-31: An MPEG-4 recorder that writes to compact flash and memory stick [1243]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Portable, person powered, recharger [1242]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Put a PC in your wall, well into a typical electrical wall box - make that a "fat" electrical box, looks like this may become real later in 2006 [1241]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Creative HN-700 noise cancelling headphones [1240]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Stream audio throughout the house using power line LAN technology. [1239]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Novac's NV-HV355 Mobile Video HDD, is an external 3.5in hard drive case with the media playback features, including composite and component video output. [1238]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Iomega's ScreenPlay is a 60GB 2.5" drive equipped with video output [1237]
  • 2007-Aug-31: LED cuff links, suitable formal attire for a geek [1236]
  • 2007-Aug-31: ePaper production costs could be below $70 per square meter [1235]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Another portable media player based on a 2.5in (or even a 3.5in) hard drive, this is from Conceptronic [1233]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The AivX is a portable media player based on 2.5in hard drives, which outputs video in up to 1080i resolution [1232]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A working gauss pistol. [1231]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Engadget discusses the NexConcepts Mobile Note Taker, which is reviewed here. Also reviewed on Popular Mechanics and PC Mag. Also discussed here. This tracks your pen as you write and stores the result for later download over USB to a computer. Unlike some other similar products, it does not require special paper. They also have a version that must be permanently attached to a PC, to facilitate hand written input. [1230]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Engadget discusses a portable, hand crank powered, recharger device [1229]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Lots of portable media players from MSI [1228]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Suntech Bibio Jukebox, (also see Engadget) is a mini-stereo MP3 player and Internet-Radio Tuner component that attaches to your LAN and stereo (it also has a 40GB drive inside). [1227]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Speaker wire in tape form, great for attaching to walls in an invisible fashion. Now if only someone did this with CAT-5 network cables! [1226]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Apparently Women control the DVR, a fact which I can personally attest to. So if your male tech toy shopping lusts crave a DVR to replace the old VCR (as well they should) you had better plan on buying a pair of these right from the start! [1225]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Logitech's Harmony 520 universal remote control, a bit less expensive than the previous versions. A review of it is here. [1224]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A rollable display for eBook type use [1223]
  • 2007-Aug-31: GPS tools for athletes, such as the Garmin 201. Here is plenty of additional information on the Forerunner 201 and 301, including the rather hard to find instructions on doing a hard reset (in case it locks up on you). To do a hard reset you hold down the RESET button and while keeping it pressed you press and hold the POWER button. Garmin's Edge series is targeted at cyclists. There is also a Yahoo Group for these Garmin devices. Use your Garmin to go on a geocache run, search for targets here. If you are using the Training Center application with your Forerunner, then the database for this is probably located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\GARMIN\Training Center\ inside this directory you will find a file called Users.bin (which most likely contains the names of the users for the various garmin units you have attached to the computer) and for each of these there is a numbered sub-directory like: 3305683801, in this you will find a few files which contain all your workout data. If you have to reinstall the software, perhaps because you are moving to a new computer, you can install the Training Center, then shut it down and stop the "G" icon on the tool bar, and then replace the whole "Training Center" directory tree with a copy from your old machine. Then when you restart the Training Center application you should have all your workouts back. If on restart you still are seeing just the most recent few workouts (check the map data) that were re-loaded from your Garmin's memory, then you did not shut down all the Garmin software, look in your system tray for any Garmin applications and shut them down and try again. [1222]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A memory-stick based video recorder [1221]
  • 2007-Aug-31: BlueTooth-based, stereo ear bud headsets reviewed [1220]
  • 2007-Aug-31: How to walk on water, with the SeaJogger [1219]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Pixi digital pendant [1218]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A 7-day alarm clock [1217]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Radio controlled model helicopters [1216]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Gemini iKey is a portable digital audio recorder deck that uses external USB drives (flash drives or hard drives) to store the audio it digitizes. Its similar to the Edirol R-1. [1215]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A pen-top computer for "kids". The down side of this is that it requires special paper to work. [1214]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Another competitor to the Roomba, the Robo Maxx robovac. [1213]
  • 2007-Aug-31: A competitor to the Roomba may be sold in Germany [1212]
  • 2007-Aug-31: In-ear noise-cancelling head phones [1211]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The case of the missing Roomba [1210]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The SoundBridge Network Music Player connects to your stereo via RCA cables and your LAN via a wired or wireless connection and allows you to play your MP3 (or other formats) collection in the living room. RadioShack (in Canada this became "The Source by Circuit City") has the Roku M500, its announced here, the M1000 is reviewed here. The device needs some sort of music server application to be installed on the machine that hosts the MP3 files (rather than just accessing a SAMBA file share), which may limit the operating systems that can be used. [1209]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Great Gadget Smack Down, an overview of the battle for the embedded (gadgets!) market share between Linux and WindowsCE [1208]
  • 2007-Aug-31: eBlocks, discussed here on Slashdot, are not a toy, but might make building devices to control the real world a lot of fun [1207]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Wage war against your fellow Cubites with this tank (not for kids) [1206]
  • 2007-Aug-31: PrincetonTec sport lights makes some LED flashlights. I picked up their LED-4AAA-BL that uses 4 AAA batteries to drive a lamp made of three bright white LEDs. Its a nice, compact unit, waterproof to 500ft (not that I'll ever test that!) that turns on by twisting the lens mounting. They claim that by using LEDs the burn time is about 150 hours (rather than the 6 or so hours a conventional bulb will give you). While I can't find this model on their web site (perhaps its already obsolete) its similar to this unit. [1205]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Things to settle cubicle disputes with, or maybe a way of getting that annoying testing department to stop filing bug reports against your perfect code [1204]
  • 2007-Aug-31: The Bio Bugs robotic toy [1203]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Using WinAmp to control Christmas lights for a musical display [1202]
  • 2007-Aug-31: IT (made by SegWay) is another electric scooter, except with a built in gyroscope and the wheels mounted side-by-side, instead of inline. [1201]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Timex, the watch people [1200]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Casio, the watches and tech toys people [1199]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Fish tank submarine, better than a rubber ducky! [1198]
  • 2007-Aug-31: the gizmocopter, a computer controlled 4 rotor copter [1197]
  • 2007-Aug-31: desktop rover, now you can spy on your fellow cube dwellers. [1196]
  • 2007-Aug-31: More competition for Garmin, the GH-601 and GH-602 GPS Wristwatch from Globalsat (looks a lot like the Garmin Forerunner 201) [1195]
  • 2007-Aug-31: Casio now has a GPS unit in a watch [1194]
  • 2007-Aug-24: Extracting data from Garmin GPS devices using Python, via the PyGarmin toolkit. [490] [1]
  • How about a remote control mixed in with an MP3 player? [5898]
  • Griffin Technology makes a high powered remote control module for Pocket PCs [5897]
  • Remote controls, discussed on Slashdot [5896]
  • Home appliance networking at havi.org. [5895]
  • Chumby, the bedside computer, a WiFi equipped alarm clock on steroids. [5736]
  • TurtleBeach makes the AudioTron, a home stereo component that can play MP3 files from your computer's hard drive. [5735]
  • This blaster fires fog rings, use it to settle disputes at the office. [5734]
  • More on micro radio controlled cars [5733]
  • VTech Phusion is a little organizer and black and white digital camera combined in one. [5721]
  • Garmin is opening up access to their APIs [1475] [1]
  • A Slashdot discussion of low voltage power adapters, why are these not standardized? It certainly would make a lot of sense to have a low power DC plug standard so that you could plug any of your portable electronics into the same wall power adapter - making travel with gadgets a lot simpler! [1407] [1]


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