Tech news, gadget reviews and how-tos on just about anything and everything.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

HP Pavilion HDX (HDX9160EA) Review


When you happen to come upon the web ad of the HP Pavilion HDX9160EA, it would literally make you stop and take a second look at this notebook. The design alone would make you do a double take.

SPECIFICATIONS:

The HP Pavilion HDX9160EA is completely customizable. You can choose from Intel Core 2 Duo Processors T7500, T7700, T7800 or the more powerful Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor X7900. The HP Pavilion HDX9160EA has a 20.1 inch screen, 256MB Mobility Radeon HD 2600XT graphics card and a choice of 240GB or 500GB SATA dual hard drive.

ADVANTAGES:

The HP Pavilion HDX9160EA is a very powerful laptop and media center. Though this won’t be a good laptop due to its weight, it would be a great portable media center as you can easily transfer it around the house or take it with you on short trips. There’s a remote control on the left side so you can easily control your windows media center, plus with the option of choosing a 1080p screen and HD-DVD drive, the HP Pavilion HDX9160EA is your complete home entertainment media center.

DISADVANTAGES:

The only disadvantage I can see with the HP Pavilion HDX9160EA is that it should just remove the notebook on its name or brochure because frankly, at 15 pounds, you can’t exactly use this on your lap. As a Blu-ray fan, I don’t like the fact that HP is sticking with the HD-DVD drive option only, however, you can always get yourself an external Blu-ray drive but that would probably cost you.

Related Posts:

HTC Shift Review

Thursday, December 27, 2007

ASUS EEE PC with Internal aircard

Now I know that the ASUS EEE PC doesn't have a lot of expansion options however, someone has recently posted a video over at youtube wherein he showed the step by step process of installing an internal 3G aircard on the ASUS EEE PC.

Pretty cool. The person was also able to install a touchscreen on his ASUS EEE PC. Talk about a wizard, anyways, this would actually would probably be easy enough for those with mechanical knowledge.

Via: Pinoy Reviews

The Ring of Kerry

Another word from our sponsors;

Ireland is one of my most favorite places. I know I haven't actually been to Ireland but from what I've seen in the movies, TV, travel shows, I think it's a beautiful country. My sister lives in England and one of these days when I get the chance to visit her, I would definitely pester her to take me to Ireland.

One of Ireland's most famous scenic drive is the Ring of Kerry. The picture alone on the websites' banner would make you want to take a long walk along this scenic route. It's like visiting a place in the Lord of the Rings. Anyways, I think Ireland has one of the most beautiful countryside in Europe, well, next to France that is, but France's countryside is another topic altogether.

There are several towns along the Ring of Kerry that you might want to visit when you take this scenic route. According to the WalkingInIreland.Org, there are also several towns along this route that offers spectacular ocean views. There are probably a lot of castles and forts along the Ring of Kerry but the most notable is the Staigue Fort which is the largest and finest example of a circular stone fort in Ireland.

Sony CYBER-SHOT S730: New entry-level digital camera from Sony


Sony Europe has recently announced the new Sony Cyber-shot S730 which is for the entry-level market. The Sony Cyber-shot S730 features 7.2 mega pixels effective resolution, 2.4 inch LCD screen, up to 1250 ISO, and 3x optical zoom.

According to Sony's Press Release, the high sensitivity function of the Sony Cyber-shot S730 allows shooting at faster shutter speeds to reduce the risk of camera shake. Hmm, I don't know, in my experience, shooting at high levels of ISO usually result in crap images. Anyways, since the Sony Cyber-shot S730 is for the entry-level market, expect it to be cheap but since it's from Sony, not THAT cheap.

Sony hasn't announced any pricing for the Cyber-shot S730, however, it is expected to be available in the European market in mid January 2008.

How to get rid of Bed Bugs

And now a word from our Sponsors:

Have you ever heard the saying: "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"? I don't know if its a saying or more of an overused sentence. Anyway, when I was a kid, I wondered what bed bugs are. I thought it was a metaphor or something but it was only when I saw something in Discovery Channel that bed bugs are actually bugs creeping inside your mattress. You won't see them as they usually come out at dawn and bite you. Anyways, if you ever wake up with bites on your body that doesn't look anything like mosquitoes, you might have bedbug infestations. For more information and guide on how to get rid of them, visit Bedbugsguide.com

Back to our posts.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Exemode DC500 Hello Kitty Digital Camera



Hello Kitty is really big in Japan, it can be found on almost every gadgets from laptops to digital cameras and now another Japanese company, Exemode, is releasing another version of their Hello Kitty Digital Camera, the Exemode DC500. This time, it is available in red, previous version of the camera is only available in pink.

Now I don't know why the sudden change in color, it's not like releasing a red version of the Exemode DC500 Hello Kitty digital camera would make it appeal to men, I mean, most Hello Kitty fans prefer their Hello Kitty merchandise in pink.

Anyways, the Exemode DC500 Hello Kitty Digital Camera has a 5 mega pixel resolution, 4x digital zoom, 2 inch display and SD memory card compatible. Selling price in Japan is 12,800 yen.

Via: Aving.net

Suzuki Makai Concept Car


The Suzuki Makai Concept car would surely catch the eye of beach goers. The Suzuki Makai is part of Suzuki's LIVE Series concept cars and it got its looks from the 2008 Suzuki SX4 sport except the Makai is an open air vehicle rather than a sedan.

Aside from its eye-catching orange colors, the Suzuki Makai has a custom surfboard mounting rack, shaved windscreen, targa rear hoop, al fresco cabin, an integrated Garmin navigation system, Kinetik Power Cell battery, StreetWires audio/video install kit and cabling, Momo Sport steering wheel and color-keyed interior accent lighting are some of the features of the Suzuki Makai that would sure appeal not only to beachgoers but outdoorsy types as well.

Heck, I want one just for its sunset orange color alone.


Suzuki Press Release

Cydcor

And now, a word from our sponsors:

Cydcor, a company specializing in outsourced face to face sales has just announced its new president through a press release shown below. Cydcor aims to increase sales for its client through face to face and direct approach to marketing rather than telemarketing or direct sales as they believe this will generate long term client relationship.


Cydcor Names President

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (December 11, 2007) – CYDCOR, the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams, recently named Jim Majeski President of CYDCOR. Prior to this role, Majeski held the position of CYDCOR Senior Vice President of Business Development.
“Over the course of the past 13 years, Jim has played a central role in making CYDCOR the success it is today. His leadership, ability to forge long-lasting client relationships and fuel the growth of our network of sales offices, has contributed to CYDCOR in innumerable ways. As President, he will lead CYDCOR at an even more significant level,” CEO Gary Polson said.
Majeski joined the company in 1994 and is credited with taking CYDCOR global, leading business development in Germany, Spain and the UK. He oversees all client relationships which include Fortune 500 companies, some of which became clients more than a decade ago. In addition, Majeski has continued to meet clients’ needs through increasing CYDCOR’s network of independent sales offices from zero to more than 200 today.
“We have built an outstanding reputation with our clients and in the industry. The biggest and best global brands are choosing CYDCOR and our network of sales offices to represent them. As President, I look forward to the explosive growth CYDCOR will experience in the near future,” said Majeski.
Most recently, Majeski and Polson obtained additional capital from institutional investors to fuel business expansion and the pursuit of channel and geographic opportunities. Both Majeski and Polson have financial as well as ownership stakes in the company.
Prior to joining CYDCOR, Majeski served as director of business markets at MCI and president of the International Marketing Group. Majeski has more than 20 years of experience in corporate sales, management and strategic brand marketing, and is currently on the Board of Directors of Pennsylvania State University and St. Thomas University.
About CYDCOR, Inc.
CYDCOR, Inc., is a leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams to a diverse client base of companies in a range of industries, including telecommunications, office products, retail energy and financial services. CYDCOR works with a network of independently owned corporate licensee (ICL) sales offices providing clients with access to more than 2,500 sales professionals and 200+ offices in North America. The privately held company is based in Westlake Village, California.
For more information about CYDCOR, log on to www.cydcor.com.


Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hope you got everything on your gadget wishlist!

Monday, December 24, 2007

Playstation Emulator for the iPhone


The iPhone just got cooler. A Playstation emulator for the iPhone called psx4iphone has just been released and is at version 0.1.0

I don't own an iPhone and I don't really know how this would work since I thought all of the iPhone's application runs on the Safari browser, however, it seems that there's an installation needed so this won't run on the Safari Browser. For more information, the developer's website is http://zodttd.com/wp/. You can find the download link and updates here.

Via: iPhone4world

2009 Subaru Forester Crossover SUV


Here is the first picture of the new 2009 Subaru Forester Crossover SUV. Subaru recently released the official photos of the Forester Crossover SUV which will make its debut at the 2008 North American International Auto Show.

Some extras on the 2009 Subaru Forester includes navigation system, pre-wired
for XM or SIRIUS Satellite Radio, auxiliary audio input jack for connection to your iPod or favorite MP3 player.

See Press Release

Baby Slings



And now, a word from our sponsors:

Slinglings is a maker of stylish baby pouch. There are numerous baby slings in the market but only Slingling's baby pouch would not make you look like a walking stroller. Slingling's baby pouch is made from padded and unpadded fabrics and are suitable for babies that weigh up to 35 pounds. They even have a doll pouch for your youngsters.

Thanks to Slingling for this post, and now, back to your regular blogging.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R Review


The Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R is a member of Sony's CR series which means it has a 14 inch screen. A lot of you may be confused by how Sony names their VAIO models. For one, I've noticed at the Sony Style stores that their VAIO CR series now has CR290xx models but I think the difference between the Sony VAIO models in the CR series lies mainly on the colors and the processors.

SPECIFICATIONS:

The Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R has an Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 processor which means it runs at 2GHz speed, 14.1 inch wide screen, 2GB DDR II memory, 200 GB Serial ATA hard drive, 5.5 pounds, DVD RW optical disk drive, Intel GMA X3100 graphics card, built-in memory card reader, built-in camera, modem, WiFi, Ethernet, ExpressCard slot, and Windows Vista Home Premium.

ADVANTAGES:

What I like about the Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R as well as other Sony VAIO notebooks is that the screen is very bright and clear thanks to Sony's XBRITE technology, it has a 1280 x 800 resolution which is good for watching DVDs. The A/V controls also lets you watch your DVD movies without having to boot up the operating system so it's like having a portable DVD player with you. This is perfect for those entertainment fanatics. The hard disk on the Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R is also considerably very large. At 200GB, it's larger than most laptops in the same price range. The 2GHz processor and 2GB memory would let you do a lot of tasks on this machine plus, the processor doesn't get too hot after extended use.

DISADVANTAGES:

Even though the 2 GHz processor and 2GB memory on the Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R would allow you to multi-task and do a variety of tasks on the go, gaming isn't one of them. Sure, casual games maybe but the Intel GMA X3100 Graphics card won't let you enjoy the graphics on your favorite high end PC games plus it's a shared only memory so it could slow your system performance. There's no finger print reader on the Sony VAIO VGN-Cr220E/R but I really don't consider that as a must-have. Also, there's no integrated Bluetooth but Bluetooth dongle comes cheap nowadays.

LOW-DOWN

The SONY VAIO VGN-CR220E/R is the perfect laptop for those looking for performance and portability. The 200GB hard disk drive, brand name, and color is enough to pay for a little premium over other competitors.

Related Posts:

HTC Shift Review

iTablet T221 from Amtek


The iTablet T221 is the newest Ultra Mobile PC from Amtek, the OEM manufacturer. The iTablet T221 features a 12.1 inch screen with 1024 x 768 resolution, 1.2 GHz Intel Core Duo Processor, 60GB Hard disk drive, and a maximum memory of 2GB. The iTablet T221 also features an Intel GMA 950 graphic chipset and supports I/O-802.11a/b/g.

This looks sweet however, I'm never really a tablet person. First of all, you get a 12.1 inch screen with no keyboard to type on. If that's the case then I'll just get a 12.1 inch laptop which probably is cheaper.

Via: Aving.Net

How to get back your Pagerank

I was one of the lucky few whose PR shot up during Google's last PR update. Frankly, I was surprised since I really didn't do much optimization on my site, just some that I felt like doing. I was glad and thankful for the PR4, however, very recently, my pagerank dropped from PR4 to PR0. I thought it was just a glitch on my Google toolbar but then my searchstatus firefox plug-in also showed a PR0. I thought there was another PR update but there was no news in the blogosphere so most probably, somebody reported my site as having paid links.

As you might notice, from the very prominent disclosure policy tag on the right, I'm a member of Payperpost. I don't have a lot of traffic on my blog so Google Adsense doesn't really work for me. I have to pay my internet bills as well as the gadgets that I so adore and my tuition fee for law school so my other bread and butter is Payperpost. Some people might call me a shill but hey, we're not all rich.

So what did I do? I did my research or should I say, I googled my problem and the fact is, getting back your PR is pretty easy and straightforward. According to some sites, Google isn't really against paid post, just the sharing of PR. If you have paid posts on your blog, there's two things that you have to do: First, label all your paid posts as "Sponsored reviews" or disclose it on every post, not just a site wide disclosure policy, Second, put the "nofollow" tag on the sponsored links in your post which should look like this: <a href="sponsor's link" rel="nofollow">Sponsor's anchor text</a>.

If you have done the above, log in or join Google's Webmaster Tools. On the right side of your dashboard you will see a request reconsideration link. Press that, submit your site, and explain that you have already made changes on your site so that it conforms with Google's Quality Guidelines, a little pleading might work too. After two to three days, Lo and Behold! Got my PR4 back.

Thanks to Admin Aaron, JHL, Robbo, and Wysz over at Google webmaster help for helping me out.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Panasonic SC-HT40 Review


If you're looking for a very affordable and branded Home Theater System in a Box for your dorm room or loft which has a good sound quality, then the Panasonic SC-HT40 will probably be the right choice. The Panasonic SC-HT40 only cost less than $200 dollars but delivers good sounds if you're going to use it in a small room.

The Panasonic SC-HT40 consists of an AV receiver, right and left channel speakers, satellite speakers, center channel speakers, and subwoofer speakers. The Panasonic SC-HT40 has a total of 800 watts output and 5.1 Channel Surround Sound. There's no DVD included with the Panasonic SC-HT40 which is probably a plus for those who already own a DVD player. The Panasonic SC-HT40 has built in DTS, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Pro Logic II audio decoders, since the Panasonic SC-HT40 is only under $200, input options is pretty limited. You will get two analog stereo inputs, one analog stereo output, a coaxial digital input, three digital inputs and two optical digital inputs. There's also no video inputs and outputs so you're limited to using your TV for your video connections.

The set-up is pretty simple, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to set-up the Panasonic SC-HT40.

Continue Reading...

Friday, December 21, 2007

LA Criminal Defense Lawyers


So, you've just been on a wild party at one of LA's infamous bar, you've had too much to drink and you even had the audacity to brink a couple of bottles with you on your way home. Naturally, you get caught and get slapped with DUI charges. You're no Britney, Paris Hilton, or Lindsay Lohan and you probably won't get out of this with just a slap on the wrist.

What you need is a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney | California Felony Misdemeanor DUI Specialists. Though it's not a guarantee that the can get you out of any criminal charges, it is still your right to have an attorney. But next time, just remember to NEVER drink and drive.

Thanks to KEG Lawyers for this post.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III introduced in Korea


The heft but powerful Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III has just been launched in the Korean market. The Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III has a whopping 21 mega pixel 35mm CMOS sensor, dual DIGIC III processors which allows you to shoot up to 56 frames.

The Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III also has an auto focus, 19 cross type sensors, 26 focus assist points, ISO 100-1600 (expandable to L:50 H:3200), and a 3 inch 230K pixel LCD.

Now that's a powerful camera for a stalker to have!

Via: Aving.net

Guide to Web Hosting

Okay, so I've been thinking of transferring my blog to my own domain, but apparently, there's a lot of web hosts to choose from. There are a number of web hosting reviews online but it’s still a mess to sort through I mean until now I still don’t know what web host to choose.

http://www.webhostingchoice.com also has a directory of web hosts to choose from but unlike me, if you already know what you want from your web hosts, ie, monthly cost you’re willing to spend, you’re required disk space and bandwidth, you can easily search through webhosting choice’s directory.

They have a quick web host search wherein you can fill in your minimum requirements in a web host. Anyways, good luck and if you did find a good web host, do inform me.

Conference Call Widget on the iPhone


Talkster is a simple application for the iPhone that lets you easily make conference calls on your phone. The widget generates a single phone number and distributes it to the list of people you want to talk to via text message. After the initial phone number registration, you can now use this number to call the same group of people anytime. Plus, according to Talkster, when you can use this number to add your friend's phone number anywhere in the world and the price is only for a single local call! Now that's a cool feature.

You can access the Talkster on your Safari browser by entering: http://i.talkster.com/

Plynt.com

This is the first time that I’ve come across a website that offers penetration testing. Apparently, penetration testing, according to Wikipedia, is a method of evaluating the security of a computer system or network by simulating an attack by a malicious user known as a hacker. Now, I have heard of ethical hacking before, and penetration testing seems to be in the realms of ethical hacking.

Plynt.com offers penetration testing so you can make necessary changes on your network’s security. Now there are individual persons who also offer similar services, however, the problem with IT professionals who offer such services is that if they have a very good reputation, their price is WAY to expensive, and if you do come upon someone who’s not yet well known, there’s the problem of their “trustworthiness”.

If a company does your penetration tests, there’s the added illusion of reliability as you can always take them to court if anything goes wrong or if your system is breached. Whether you want an individual or a company to do your penetration tests, it is always a good idea to do a background check, after all, you’re basically handing over the reins of your network over to them.

*This is a sponsored post

Motorola RAZR2 V9m also available at Cricket


Motorola's stylish new line of Razr phone, the Moto Razr2 V9m is now available at Cricket Wireless. Check out my Motorola Razr2 V9m review if you're interested in purchasing one.

Cricket offers the Motorola Razr2 V9m for $399.99, a little bit higher than Verizon's Moto Razr2 V9m which only costs $249.99, however, according to Cricket, you won't be tied to any contracts when you avail of their service and their services include: unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited U.S. long distance, unlimited text and picture messaging, and unlimited Mobile Web access.

RELATED LINKS:

Vodafone iPhone Tariff

Cricket Offers Samsung SCH-r500


Although Cricket is a new player in the mobile phone carrier market, it's phone line is expanding rapidly. The newest phone on their line-up is the Samsung SCH-r500.

Notable features on the Samsung SCH-r500 are: stereo speakers, stereo Bluetooth, and a 1.3 mega pixel camera with video recording function. For the fashion conscious, the Samsung SCH-r500 features a removable face plate and it also caters to music-loving fans with its MP3 playback capabilities. The Samsung SCH-r500 also has a large 2.12 inch screen with 262k colors.

Downside of the SCH-r500 is that the external display is only 1.2 inch and only supports monochrome colors. Internal memory on the Samsung SCH-r500 is only 23MB but can be expanded using microSD card.

Cricket offers the Samsung SCH-r500 for $199.99 and it will be available starting December 24th, right in time for Christmas.

Sony's LCD Touch Panel


Sony has announced that they have developed an LCD panel with touch functionality. Sony's LCD touch panel has multi touch capability (similar to that of the iPhone's) and has a screen size of 3.5 inch with 640 x 480 resolution.

So we could probably expect the next generation LCD TVs to be capable of multi touch capability. Hmm, I better hold off buying an LCD HDTV for now.

Via: Tech-on

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Toyota to premier the 2009 Toyota Venza at 2008 North American International Auto Show


Toyota has announced that the 2009 Toyota Venza crossover sedan will make its world premier at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

According to Toyota's press release, the 2009 Toyota Venza is both a sedan and sport utility vehicle that offers seating for five people. Edmunds.com says that the 2009 Toyota Venza is inspired by the Toyota FT-SX concept car (See picture) featured during the 2005 Detroit Auto Show.


RELATED POSTS:

2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8: The ultimate muscle coupe

Samsung SPH-M4650 ships in Korea


Marvell and Samsung announced that the Samsung SPH-M4650 PDA phone is now available in Korea. The Samsung SPH-M4650 features Marvell's PXA 300 processor making the SPH-M4650 run at a speed of 624 MHz! That's faster than the iPhone's processing power!

The Samsung SPH-M4650 features a 2 mega pixel camera, 2.8 screen, 256MB RAM, and Bluetooth. Unfortunately, there's no WiFi on this device. Well, I hope that when this reaches the States, it will eventually have WiFi.

Sharp to release W61SH mobile phone


Now I'm a little bit torn about Sharp's W61SH mobile phone. While at first glance it looks cool with its design and color, a closer look at it had me thinking that it looks more of a remote than a mobile phone.

The Sharp W61SH supports 1-Seg, the audio/video mobile broadcasting service in Japan. Expect to see clear and sharp pictures on this since the Sharp W61SH supports up to 2000:1 contrast ratio and a super vivid engine. It's like HD on your mobile phone! The Sharp W61SH is expected to be released in Japan in January 2008, no news if it will ever hit the States.

Via: Aving.net

EA Releases New Casual Games for Mobile Phones

EA Mobile has just announced 3 new mobile phone games: ESPN Darts, Pictionary, and the Sims.

Contrary to what most people believe, the gaming scene is not limited to the PC, Wii, Xbox, or Playstation, there are some mobile phone gamers out there.

These three new games would be a great fun when you're waiting for someone or if you just ever get tired of playing with your PSP (right, like that would happen.)

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Treo 755p now available on Verizon Wireless


Verizon Customers who might want a new smart phone may want to give the Palm Treo 755p a look.

The Palm Treo 755p smart phone that will be released by Verizon Wireless comes in a deep blue-green color and runs the Palm OS 5.4.9. Customers will have different input options with the Palm Treo 755p since it has both a touch screen and a large QWERTY keyboard. Other features include a 1.3 mega pixel camera and a external miniSD slot.

The Palm Treo 755p has an integrated Google Maps and can run on Verizon Wireless' EV DO network so you can experience fast over the air music downloads.

The Palm Treo 755p is already available online for $399.99 after a $50 mail in rebate and of course, you have to be tied to Verizon Wireless for two years.

Palm Press Release


Related Posts:

Palm Treo 755p Review

Monday, December 17, 2007

Sony Ericsson patents mobile phones with wipers


Okay, I could understand that some companies lose a lot of money by letting ideas go unpatented and having other companies patent it first but I really cant' understand what Sony Ericsson finds so patentable about a mobile phone with wiper.

The wiper would just sit on the screen and move with the closing and opening of the clam shell phone.

Novel idea, however, it's just another mechanism that may be broken and would add to the headache of replacing phone parts when your phone is no longer under any warranty. Let's just hope that Sony Ericsson tries to make the PSP phone a reality first than focus their attention on this one.

Via: Pocket-lint

Overview: Ricoh Aficio SP C400DN

Okay, so Ricoh just announced their latest color laser printer, the Ricoh Aficio SP C400DN. Print speed of 26 pages per minute on both colored and black and white print outs, 600MHz controller, warm up time of 10 seconds for black and white prints and 15 seconds for colored prints, up to 1200 x 1200 dpi and 1,750 sheets paper capacity are some of the features of the Ricoh Aficio SP C400DN.

Also, the Ricoh Aficio SP C400DN can be expanded with a Ricoh IS200e Image Scanner, if you want a multi-function colored laser printer. Another notable feature is the Unauthorized Copy Control which can embed special messages on printed document to prevent unauthorized copying. I wonder who would need this except the FBI but, it's still a cool feature.

The Ricoh Aficio SP C400DN is the least expensive amongst Ricoh's color laser printer series with a price of $999.

Square Enix Announces New Game Line-up for 2008


Square Enix, a game publisher best know for its Final Fantasy Game series announced its new game lineup for 2008 with titles for the Wii, PSP, Nintendo DS, and PS3.

Amongst the games that Square Enix will release for the Nintendo DS platform are: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates and The World Ends with you, both have release dates of around March-April of 2008. Square Enix also announced the release of DRAGON QUEST SWORDS: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors for the Wii Platform which will be shipped starting February 26, 2008.

PSP fans don't have to feel left out as there's also a title for our PSPs: CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- which will be released on March 25th, 2008.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Toshiba unveils Portege M700


Toshiba recently unveiled its first tablet PC with touchscreen LED backlit display, The Toshiba Portege M700 Tablet PC.

The Toshiba Portege M700 can recognize both fingertip input or the traditional stylus. It has a 12.1 inch display, Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo Processors, and Intel's 965 Epress chipset. The Toshiba Portege M700 also has a very cool Ultra Slim Bay which you can use for an optical DVD drive or slip in a secondary hard drive or just lose both altogether so you can lessen its weight. I really like the Slim Bay option.

The Toshiba Portege M700 also has an antiglare so you can use it outdoors even when it's bright and shiny outside and all you could see on standard monitors is your face.

The Toshiba Portege M700 is now available with a starting price of $1,699.

Drug Rehab Center

If your child, partner, or any of your loved ones has an addiction problem, it’s time for them to get help. It’s not enough that they promise you that they will try to change, sometimes, promises are not just enough and addiction is something that someone cannot combat on their own. It’s time to get them into a drug rehab center.

The Stone Hawk Rehabilitation Center is located in south central Michigan, and from their website’s pictures, their treatment facility doesn’t seem to look like a rehabilitation center, more of a resort or some sort of a camp, so your loved ones wouldn’t feel like they’re being carted off to a “center”. Try visiting their website to know more about their program.

Thanks to Stone Hawk for this post.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Toshiba HD-A2 Review


If you still don't know which side to take on the format wars but want to test the waters without spending too much then you might want to try the Toshiba HD-A2 when you want to see how HD-DVD feels like.

The Toshiba HD-A2 is a step up from the previous Toshiba HD-A1 player and though there are other newer HD-DVD players that are out in the market, the Toshiba HD-A2 is the cheapest and with rumors that Best Buy and Walmart will be selling the Toshiba HD-A2 for under $100, then this is probably the player that you should get when you just want to see for yourself what HD-DVD is all about.

The Toshiba HD-A2 has very standard features. You get 720p and 1080i HD output, 480p, 720p, and 1080i SD Upconversion, backwards compatible with DVD Video, DVD VR, DVD-R, DVD-R DL, DVD-RW (video only), CD, and CD-R/RW. The Toshiba HD-A2 supports 5.1 channel Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, DTS, and DTS HD core. Terminals on the Toshiba HD-A2 are: Video Composite, S-Video, and component outputs, 2 channel analog audio output and digital optical output, HDMI output, Ethernet 10/100 base port, and 2 extension terminals.

If you're wondering what's an Ethernet port doing on an HD-DVD player, it's for downloading additional content provided by studios such as trailers, soundtracks, and other media and also for updating the firmware of your Toshiba HD-A2. Speaking of firmware updates, as you can see from the specifications, there's no DVI input, however you can use a HDMI output with DVI connector. The Toshiba HD-A2 previously had a problem playing 1080i pictures using the HDMI-DVI connector but the firmware update fixed the problem.

Read Full Review...

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Friday, December 14, 2007

Orange Box now available for Playstation 3 (PS3)

Originally available for the Xbox 360 Game System, EA has announced that The Orange Box, a five in one action game is now available for PS3 owners. The Orange Box has been one of the top rated games in 2007, according to EA.

Games included in The Orange Box Half-Life 2, Half-Life Two: Episode One, Half-Life Two: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.

The Orange Box for Playstation 3 will be available during early 2008, according to EA.

Verizon Phone Cases from Paul Frank


Here's another accessory to match your pink or gold plated cellphone, a Paul Frank Phone or PDA Case from Verizon Wireless.

These phone cases or PDA case are available in Paul Frank's classic characters such as Julius the Monkey or Skurvy patterns.

The Paul Frank PDA or Phone case costs $24.99 while the pouches cost $14.99.

New Ricoh GX2500 color printer


Ricoh Announced its new GX2500 color printers for small office use. Specifications of the Ricoh GX2500 boasts of a 1200 x 1200 resolution, claimed print speed of 28 pages per minute for black and color pages and less than 35 seconds warm up time.

According to Ricoh, The GX2500 is one of their first pritners with GelSprinter technology which allows printouts to be waterproof and fade resistant. Another notable feature is the Level Color Mode which, according to Ricoh, allows the GX2500 to reduce the cost per page of colored printouts by utilizing less ink but still maintaining the image quality and graphics.

The Ricoh GX2500 is now available for $169.

RELATED POSTS:

Overview: Canon Pixma MX850

PayPerClick Advertising

Payperclick advertising is a good way to drive traffic from your website and while advertising in Google and Yahoo may deliver clicks, the advertising costs alone far outweighs its benefits for smaller websites. But there are other least expensive payperclick advertising on the web like Adknowledge. Adknowledge’s text ads are 30% less than the cost of Yahoo or Google and they offer $50 in FREE PPC Advertising for new members.

Adknowledge has an email and banner network wherein they could distribute your text-based listing. Adknowledge’s BidSystem.com also allows advertisers to bid for traffic in display, email and smaller search engines.

Adknowledge also has a Click Scoring technology which will protect advertisers from click fraud. Their Click Scoring Technology uses special algorithms that can identify click fraud and automatically removes links identified as such. You only pay for clicks that have the highest probability of converting. Though Google’s click fraud detection system is rated as the best, they also are more prone to click frauds since most web publishers uses Adsense, with Adknowledge’s BidSystem, there’s a lesser chance that you would pay for fraudulent clicks. Adknowledge also offers advertisers free tools to help them track their ad campaigns. Adknowledge’s $50 free clicks is only available for a limited time.

Thanks to Adknowledge for this post.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S Review


In terms of compact cameras, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S is a basic entry-level compact camera that delivers great image quality. If you don’t know squat about manual settings when it comes to digital cameras, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S is your perfect companion since it can produce great shots in auto mode, unlike other entry level digital cameras out in the market.

ADVANTAGES: Great image quality for a point and shoot digital camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S is almost comparable to some Digital SLR cameras out in the market and you’re almost always guaranteed of a near perfect shot that doesn’t require any Photoshop editing. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S also has a 6x optical zoom which is quite a lot of zoom on a camera at this price range. Optical image stabilizer on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S is also great, if you’re the type who has shaky hands, the image stabilizer on this camera would be a great plus.

DISADVANTAGES:
Though it is under “compact cameras”, it’s not really that quite compact and the size is bulky, this could be good thing for those with large hands but for those looking for a slim compact camera that can fit on their pocket without showing, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S’s size might be a turn off. It uses 2 AA batteries, I don’t know why I’m writing it on the disadvantages but I feel that AA batteries are somehow, a thing of the past. There’s no viewfinder on this camera but if you’re just going to use this for casual occasions, there’s really no need for one. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S also cannot zoom when recording movies which is a bad thing if you’re cheap and you’re going to use this as a backup camcorder.


RELATED POSTS:

Overview: Panasonic DMC-LS80

Thursday, December 13, 2007

New Mazda Concept Car: The Mazda Furai


I just love concept cars, their design is SO futuristic. Take this Mazda Furai which looks something like a jet. Furai means "the sound of the wind" and according to Mazda, the Furai aims to fill the gap between supercars and professional racing cars.

The Mazda Furai will run on BP Plc's E-100 which is 100% ethanol fuel and has the Courage C65 chassis that has a three-rotor rotary engine with maximum output of 331 KW or 450PS.

The Mazda Furai will be featured at the 2008 North American International Auto Show.


RELATED POSTS:

2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8: The ultimate muscle coupe

Gadget Vending Machine


Okay, I know that ZoomSystems has been around for some time now but now that Christmas is days away doing your Holiday shopping through a vending machine seems like a pretty good idea. Don't expect cheap imitation gadget from ZoomSystem's vending machine, you can actually get an Apple iPod, Sony headphones, Canon digital cameras, and even celebrity fragrances.

This is a great way to avoid the long lines when you're doing your last minute shopping but if you're from the suburbs, expect to drive a long way since most ZoomSystems can be found in airports or hotels. If you're near a Macy's department store, chances are there might be a ZoomSystems there. For a list of their stores, you can visit, ZoomSystem's store locator.

Toshiba to postpone making OLED TVs

While Sony is already taking pre-orders of their OLED TV, Toshiba announced that they will be postponing the commercialization of OLED panels. Toshiba initially planned to release a 30 inch OLED TV in 2009 but during their press release, the president of Toshiba announced that it would postpone its plans.

According to TMD, the company that is developing the panel for Toshiba's OLED TV, on a 30 inch TV, the power consumption of an OLED panel is larger than an LCD panel and it would take them a little more time to make an OLED's power consumption less than the LCD.

Now, this I don't get, I've heard that OLED TVs require less power since they don't need backlight and now Toshiba is saying that it requires a lot more power, so which is it, really?

Guide to Bad Credit

Though having bad credit have some benefits, like getting the iPhone without a contract, let's face it, it's really a pain in the A** specially since you can't get a credit card to buy your gadgets on installment. But if you really have that eye on that latest HD TV, you can always get bad credit loans. There are a number of bad credit lenders on the net, most you can come by through Google, while some would hound you to death. If you're looking for more information, BadCreditOffers.com has a lot of information about bad credit and even some info on how to fix it.

Zebra Blu-ray and HD DVD optical drive


It seems that more and more company are not taking sides on the format wars, the latest one is Addonics, a company known for making PC peripherals. Addonics announced the availability of the Zebra Blu-ray and HD DVD optical drive for desktop PCs.

The Zebra Blu-ray and HD DVD optical drive, however, cannot burn Blu-ray disc and HD DVD, it can only read them though it could burn on DVD±R/RW and CDRW discs. The Zebra Blu-ray and HD DVD will come in two models, the ZBH63DES with eSATA and the ZBH63DEU which will have eSATA and USB 2.0 connections.

Both the ZBH63DES and ZBH63DEU models will feature Blu-ray, HD DVD, and DVD playback, DVD and CDR burner, and stereo ear phone jack.

The ZBH63DES is priced at $409 while the ZBH63DEU costs $429.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Cowon A3 Portable Multimedia Player Now Available


Cowon has just released the successor to their A2 PMP. The Cowon A3 is a shiny new PMP that comes in 30GB and 60GB models.

Whoa! 60GB! That's a lot of storage compared with iPod Touch's 16GB model. I guess the large storage space is needed since the Cowon A3 has the capability of directly recording from external A/V devices like your TV, camcorder or VCR. The Cowon A3 also sports a 4 inch widescreen display capable of displaying a 16 million colors. The Cowon A3 supports can display the same colors as the iPod touch but its display is .5 inch larger, also, I think that the iPod touch has a screen resolution of 640x480 while the Cowon A3 has 800x480 resolution, not really much of a difference since the Cowon A3 has a larger display so naturally, it has to have a bigger screen resolution.

Another feature that the Cowon A3 has that the iPod touch lacks is an FM radio. The Cowon A3 is available at Jetmall.net for $399.99, almost the same price as the iPod touch. I think that the Cowon A3 has a lot of multimedia features compared with the iPod Touch but let's face it, the iPod touch has more style.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

"Black Hole" Signal Blocking Phone Bag


Well, this is the first time I've heard of this, the Black Hole Phone bag claims to block signal from your cellphone when placed inside a signal blocking slot. It actually contains two slots, the normal slot can receive signals while the signal blocking slot, of course blocks signals.

Never actually tried it but if it works, this would be great for those who don't want to be disturbed in meetings and who hates turning on the silent profiles on their phones. If it doesn't work, it is still a spiffy looking phone bag.

The Black Hole signal blocking phone bag costs $12 at Gadget.Brando.com.hk

Cellphone signal Extender


If you own an iPhone, chances are your indoor signal sucks, thanks to AT&T, well, this might be the answer to your signal woes, a cellphone signal extender. You can get a 2500 square feet of signal strength when you hook up this baby.

The cellphone signal extender comes in different models to support different wireless carriers. There's the 800MHz model for AT&T, Verizon and Alltel, the 1990 MHz for T-Mobile, Metro PCS, Cricket, Suncom, and Sprint, and a dual band model that supports all networks.

The Cellphone signal extender is available at Thinkgeek.com and costs $249.99-$359.99 depending on the model.

Dell introduces the Dell Latitude XT


Dell has a gorgeous new table PC, the Dell Latitude XT. According to Dell, the Dell Latitude XT is one of the thinnest and lightest 12.1 inch tablet PC and features a capacitive touch technology that can sense the touch of a finger without any pressure required.

The Dell Latitude XT has a starting price of $2,499 and pre-orders will start at the end of the year.

Notable features on the Dell Latitude XT includes: Optional media base for docking and optical media, Full-size keyboard with dual pointing, optional battery that can provide up to 9.5 hours of battery life. The Dell Latitude XT also features a solid state hard drive which means faster boot up and an Intel Core 2 Solo and Duo ULV processors. Graphics option on the Dell Latitude XT is an ATI Radeon X1250 UMA integrated graphics.

LG Venus now available in pink


Why is it that if it's not gold plated, it's in pink? The LG Venus will now be available in pink and like the black LG Venus, it will only be exclusive to Verizon Wireless.

Features of the LG Venus includes a 2 mega pixel camera, expandable microSD card slot that can support up to 8GB of additional memory, and dual screen display. The LG Venus is compatible with Verizon's services such as VZ Navigator, V CAST Video and V Cast music.

The LG Venus pink and black version costs $199.99 after a 50 dollar mail in rebate and the standard 2 year contract from Verizon.

Related Posts:

The LG-KF510

iPod Nano Giveaway

So, Trusted Tours and Attractions is giving away a free iPod Nano if you sign up for their Trusted Travel eNewsletter. Seems like a no frills way to get an iPod Nano. Their offer ends December 31, 2007.

If you want one, you should sign up but also be careful and read about their privacy policy in case you don't want your mailbox to be filled with spam.

They offer different city tours, if you're going to travel I would recommend St. Augustine, been there before, beautiful city. Trusted Tours and Attractions offers different packages if ever you decide to tour St. Augustine. They have an Old Town Trolley Tour which shows you America's oldest City, St. Augustine is a great place to shop for antiques. They also offer a scenic boat tour or if ghost hunting is what you're looking for, they also offer a Ghost and Gravestone Tour of St. Augustine. Pretty creepy for me but I know a lot of people who might enjoy it. If you're a history buff, you can also consider visiting their museums and if you're the party type, there's a different event Every Saturday night at St. Augustine.

Anyways, signing up for a newsletter is the easiest way you could win an iPod Nano, nothing to lose, just be sure you have a lot of luck.



Cricket to offer Motorola ROKR Z6m Phone


If Verizon Wireless has the Motorola Zc6, Cricket has the Motorola Z6m. The Motorola ROKR Z6m has basically the same specifications as the Motorola Z6 and the Motorola Z6c, only the carriers differ. Also, I don't think that Cricket's Motorola Z6m is capable of working on GSM 800/1900 networks since that would be exclusive to Verizon's Motorola Z6c.

Specifications of Cricket's Motorola ROKR Z6m: 2 inch QVGA display, 2.0 megapixel camera, a 3.5 mm headset jack connection, USB 2.0 high-speed connectivity, video capture and playback, integrated Bluetooth Class 2 wireless technology, and Bluetooth stereo support of A2DP and AVRCP.

Cricket's Motorola ROKR Z6m is slightly expensive than Verizon's Motorola Z6c, the latter costs only $179.99 after rebate while Cricket's Motorola Z6m costs $299.99.

iPhone alternative: LG-KS20


If you want an iPhone running on Windows Mobile 6, then the LG-KS20 is a good alternative for you. The LG-KS20 has the same form factor as the iPhone although some might argue that LG was the one who first introduced the “iPhone” concept through the LG Prada but let’s not get into that argument.








ADVANTAGES:
One thing that you would like on the LG-KS20 is that it is HSDPA capable, never mind that the iPhone will be running 3G next year, HSDPA is better than 3G which will allow you to have download speeds of about 3.6MBps on your LG-KS20, of course, HSDPA is all network dependent. I don’t know whether to put Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 on the advantages or disadvantages mainly because many people have mixed reactions on WM6. Since I listed it here on advantages, it means that the LG-KS20 will have the capability of running third party applications without the need of a web browser. You can edit MS Office documents on the go using the built in applications such as word mobile, excel mobile, and PowerPoint viewer. The LG-KS20 also has Bluetooth A2DP profile which will allow you to listen to music using stereo Bluetooth headset.



DISADVANTAGES: The LG-KS20 only has a 2.8 inch screen, about more than half an inch smaller than the iPhone’s screen. The color screen also only supports 18 bit of colors which when compared to the iPhone’s 32 bit display, it would probably dwarf the LG-KS20’s display capabilities. The processor on the LG-KS20 is only a 400MHz Qualcomm processor, so expect it to lag when running multiple applications; however, I think the 128MB of RAM may be able to compensate for that.



Related Posts:

The LG-KF510

Other Reviews:.

Motorola U9 Review
Vodafone iPhone Tariff

Monday, December 10, 2007

Insure your Gadgets?

I wonder if there could be insurance on gadgets? I mean, there are the standard life insurance, car insurance, and house insurance but I've also heard about some wacky things being insured such as J-Lo's butt or some movie star's breast or something, seems like everything could be insured this days so why not gadgets?

Gadgets have a riskier chance to be stolen specially cell phones and laptops, I wonder if they could be covered by the standard insurance. Some people wouldn’t actually be wasting money insuring their gadgets but still, if you have the money, why not, right? I mean, you’ve invested a lot of money on your cell phone or laptop and it would be a shame to lose it. Besides, insuring your gadgets would mean that you can get yourself a new one with the insurance company footing a portion of the bill (insured value). Seems like a good idea to me.

LG BH200 Super Blu Player now available


LG Announced that its dual format HD-DVD and Blu-ray player, the LG BH200 Super Blu Player is now available in its partner retail stores.

The LG BH200 Super Blu Player is another dual format player that won't take sides in the format wars. Seems fair enough however, like most dual format players in the market, the LG HB200 Super Blu Player comes at a steep price, $999.

The LG BH200 Super Blu Player has the capability to upscale standard DVDs to full 1080p resolution, making it more enjoyable to watch on your HD TV. Other notable features on the LG HB200 Super Blu Player includes: advanced video processing, improved noise reduction and consistent color precision with advanced per-pixel motion-adaptive 3D
de-interlacing for HD and SD video.

OPC-10 Health Drink

OPC-10 is the newestOPC3 antioxidant health drink in the market made from ingredients such as Grape Seed, Red Wine, Pine Bark, Bilberry, Green Tea, Lycopene, Cranberry, Olive Leaf, Citrus Bioflavonoids and Vitamin C. Other OPC products only contain 25mg of the potent ingredients such as Grape Seed Extract, Pine Bark Extract and Red Wine Extract but according to the manufacturers, OPC-10 contains 50 mg of each, which would make it the post potent OPC3 drink out in the market.