Kodak announced a number of entry- to mid-level point and shoots at CES and the Z1085 IS is one of the higher-end monsters. It is just now shipping and I got the chance to sit down with some Kodak folks to discuss what makes this model better than the rest. Basically, the camera performs considerably more post-processing on the pictures than competitors. We tested it a few times in backlit scenes and the effects were sometimes startling. For example, this shot of PHa was taken against a window. What initially appeared to be a fairly dark, blown out scene was instantly modified by the on-board software to a rather nice shot of a young blogger in the wild.
Expect a full review coming up but right now this model has a 10-megapixel sensor, 5X optical zoom, HD video recording, and it costs $249.95 online.
Hit the jump for a nicely repaired backlit photo. This was taken in auto mode without editing.
Read More
How often has this happened to you? You’re trapped in the trunk of a Lincoln Continental and the emergency trunk release has been snapped off. You have a document on your home PC detailing how to escape from such a situation but all you have is your WinMo or Blackberry phone with you. You do a frantic Google search to no avail, and your captors take you to a cornfield and beat you with a baseball bat. Bummer, huh?
Well, now SugarSync can get you out of those occasionally sticky situations we all find ourselves in occasionally on occasion. The service syncs your desktop to a website and allows you to view and download files on portable devices.
Read More
Today in the CrunchGear test labs we’re benchmarking the Penryn-based MacBook Pro. And just for fun we’re also benchmarking the Merom-based MacBook and a Mac Pro. For this test we’re using Primate Labs Geekbench 2. The baseline for this test is 1000, which represents a 1.6GHz Power Mac G5. For all intents and purposes we’re only focused on the overall score and the MBP did quite well compared to the Mac Pro. Without a previous gen MBP in the mix the numbers don’t mean as much, but we will be adding a 2.16GHz Core Duo MacBook Pro into the fold later on today so that should give some of you a better indication of what’s going on with the Penryn-based MacBook Pro. For your geeky pleasure we’ve added all numbers for each machine in a ginormous gallery for you to peruse.
Read More
I had no idea that Office Depot had an in-house team of product developers. Whoever told the folks over there that I like burritos and hot sauce is forever in my debt. It’s not every day you get a package with something wrapped in tin foil. And after setting up my Razer/THX Mako 2.1 speaker system, I definitely need a cord managemeny system. The Burrito features a cable winder that holds up to 18-feet of USB cables with built-in suction cups, magnet, and velcro strip that sticks to just about anything.
The Burrito was also a CES Innovations Award winner in the Unique Computer Accessories category. It’s available now at your local Office Depot for $7.99.
Product Page
So I’ve been trying to get Skype to work on my Darth Vader PSP all morning and for some reason the headset that was included doesn’t want to transmit my audio. During my test, I pinged Biggs and I could hear him loud and clear. There are no visible switches on the headset and nothing in the tools section to allow me to adjust the volume. I’ll keep fiddling with it and update later when it’s completely up and running. it works! Just tested with Doug and he was impressed by the voice quality. Hell, I’m impressed by the whole thing, too. i even ordered lunch and the fella on the other end didn’t have any problems hearing me. Sweet. Now, can someone tell me why Sony decided to let loose the Mylo 2?
First up we have Uncle Walt. His views and opinions on technology astonish me.
If you value thinness, and a large screen and keyboard in a subnotebook, and don’t watch DVDs on planes or require spare batteries, the MacBook Air might be just the ticket. But if you rely on spare batteries, expect the usual array of ports, or like to play DVDs on planes, this isn’t the computer to buy.
Couldn’t have said it any better myself, Walt.
The Skinny on the MacBook Air [Newsweek]
MacBook Air: The sexy kind of skinny but with some flaws [USA Today]
Pogue is mysteriously missing for some reason.
So you’re ready to try Linux but you don’t have a DVD burner or the ability to download large files. What’s a body to do? Well, you can try the Zonbu notebook, a fairly inexpensive Everex laptop with 1.5GHz VIA C7-M and 512MB and 60GB of hard drive space and running Zonbu OS, a Gentoo Linux variant with a full set of open source productivity and gaming apps.
Read More
What would a week of “Smartphones Now” be without a review of a smartphone? A terrible one, I’m sure. So what are we going to look at today? The Duo from Pantech for AT&T. Not exactly the hottest smartphone on the market, but it does have a few qualities that are quite endearing. I’m also jaded and hate all phones to begin with. Heh. That’s not entirely true. I just hate the iPhone. That one’s for you, dwalk.
The most significant feature of the Duo is its dual slider design, which it borrows from its bigger brother over at Helio, the Ocean. The main difference and unfortunately the biggest pitfall for the Duo is the lack of spring assist for the QWERTY. You see, the Ocean has spring assist in both directions. You may not think it’s necessary but it is. Sliding the Duo to get to the QWERTY is painful and gritty. Of course, if you’ve never touched the Ocean then you wouldn’t know any different. It’s something you can get used to, though.
Read More
Rain Designs had and I instantly fell for the mStand. It’s made from a solid piece of aluminum and my only regret is that I don’t have a MacBook Pro for the matching anodized look. It looks almost exactly like the iMac stand doesn’t it?
Read More
The Phosphor E Ink watch costs about $250 and features the same e-ink technology found in the Kindle. You can choose one of 14 different face configurations, including white-on-black, and can potentially support two time zones because the analog and digital watches aren’t synced. The best thing is that the battery should last for years simply because of the low power consumption of the e-ink face. There were also some complaints:
That said, the Phosphor E Ink watch is probably not the last or only watch you’ll ever need. I found the analog quartz movement and digital modules to be merely adequate, and the lack of any type of illumination system, including luminescent paint, is a blatant omission. However it’s a very nice looking, reasonably comfortable, extremely unique watch and high-tech fashion accessory which is certain to amaze almost everyone you know.
No lume = bad.
Product Page
Review of the Phosphor E Ink Watch [WatchReport]
So, of Logitech’s Big Three mice, I don’t know which is the sexiest. The MX Revolution is certainly a looker, but this G9’s understated profile and swappable shell is also pretty nice. The MX Air is like a critter out of Halo, but since I’ve never touched one we’ll leave it out of the rest of this review. In any case, it’s safe to say that Logitech has some good-looking mice, and this one is no exception. But when you’re laying out 100 clams for a mouse, it better perform well too, because although Logitech has been the big dog of the mouse world for a while, they can’t afford to be complacent; Microsoft and smaller competitors like Razer are always nipping at their heels.
Read More
How often have you hit the running trails and found that your iPod is really interested in Kenny G. No matter how many times you fumble for your iPod you keep coming back to “Eastside Jam” and “By the Time This Night Is Over.” Now, however, you can just tap your wrist and watch as Kenny is relegated to the deep pits of hell where he belongs. Besides, what are you doing with Kenny G on there anyway?
Read More
I must warn you that this will be the shortest review of a phone we’ve ever done at CrunchGear. Why you may ask? Because we’ve already covered it extensively and filled you in on the specs. So I’m really only going to cover the touch interface and voice quality. That’s all there really is to write about. No need to get into the Verizon features as they haven’t changed.
Read More
It’s been a few years since Wi-Fi became essentially ubiquitous but there are still a few areas where the average consumer isn’t served. Sure, there are lots of great routers and Wi-Fi cards of all stripes, including beasts that run at 802.11n speeds and have ranges of five billion miles, give or take a few billion. But there are are a few places — high-quality USB adapters and Wi-Fi-to-Ethernet bridges, for example — where where the Wi-Fi market is under served. The Wi-Fire from hField stops up at least one of those holes.
Read More
New York is a city of contradictions. On one hand you have great hot dogs, the Met, and Central Park. On the other hand you have urine, other people’s urine, and bad wireless reception. Due to overwhelmed switches and line of site issues, you either have great reception or no reception. There is rarely a happy medium.
Wi-Ex makes cellular boosters. I reviewed a beefier version of this same repeater almost a year ago and I was very, very pleased. In house that was essentially a wireless dead zone I was able to get full-bar reception just by turning on a box. I’ve recommended Wi-Ex to a number of folks already and was very interested when the folks at the Repeater Store told me they had a brand new version that was much smaller and didn’t require a massive can antenna mounted to a radio tower.
Read More
I’ll be the first to admit that e-books suck. They’re great in theory, but they’ll never catch on. There’s nothing that screams dork more than an e-book. E-books are the future. Apparently there is some miscommunication going on and some are under the impression that I think e-books are not the future. I, like many others, enjoy the real thing. There’s just something comforting about having a paper book to carry around, to bunny ear, scratch notes on, highlight words/phrases and whatever else you may like to do. The refresh rates suck and you just want to pull your hair out while waiting for the next page to load. You don’t know how far along you are in the book. Those are just a couple reasons among a slew of arguments to hate e-books. Although, part of me thinks it’s a waste of resources even if it’s made from recycled paper. Traditional books have their pros and cons, but e-books are just janky and stupid, right? Well, yes, they are, but the Kindle from Amazon is a different beast.
Read More
After checking out B&W’s 685 stereo speakers for more than a month, I’m truly impressed. These mid-size speakers are perfect for a roomy bookshelf or on speaker stands, and they handled all the music I could throw at them with precision and superb richness. Movies still benefit from a decent subwoofer, but most acoustic music lovers can do without one in a small living room. At $600 a pair, these are definitely one of the best speaker values ever.
Read More
Why the name Kindle? Well, according to the definition on the Kindle box, “2. inspire, stir up.” Amazon is certainly making a buzz today. The form factor of the Kindle is nice. The textured backing is quite nice and the graphics are pretty neat. So far I like the Kindle. It’s very easy to use and the UI is clean. It’s sort of sluggish when jumping from screen to screen, but e-paper is much better than anything else out there. Refresh rate is wicked fast. Maybe it’s not that slow. I’m writing this as I’m playing with it so bear with me.
The store is nicely laid out as you can see from the above photo. The scroll wheel is just a scroll wheel, but it works. Monthly subscriptions to newspapers will cost you $13.99 and a single issue is $0.75. Magazines are $1.49 a month and $0.49 per issue. The search functionality works across the Web, Wikipedia, dictionary and the Kindle Store. Wikipedia looks great. The Web looks pretty good. The only thing I don’t like so far is the keyboard. It’s not ergonomically correct because the keys are all the way at the bottom. I don’t like the split in between. It takes a bit of time for text to pop up and deleting anything you type is frustrating because you may hit delete one too many times. So far that’s it. Once I download some books and all that jazz, I’ll have a more in depth review up. Enjoy the pics.
Update: A few more details after the jump.
Read More
This guy needs to get laid.
Does it suck? Will it kill the iPod? Will you buy one? Do you care? The general consensus seems to be that Microsoft is at the cusp, but they’ve fallen short once again, though, it’s a vast improvement over the first gen Zune. It takes Microsoft a bit of time to catch up, but once they do, I think the Zune will be a worthy opponent. We’ll see how my Zune does tomorrow with the firmware update. I just wish the software didn’t suck so bad. No EQ settings certainly sucks a big one, too. And the fact that I have to run BootCamp. Look for the CG review later today, I think. Biggs?
Wired
PC World
CNET
Yahoo! Tech
Tech Talk
Laptop Mag
Give me your virgins!
Back in the olden days, when toy engineers had little to work with, transforming robots were pretty stationary. You always wanted them to transform automatically. In fact, you even added your own sound effects.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Now, however, you can have your own freaky transforming robot that actually transforms — and does the Hustle — by itself.
Read More
