Techmate 7000

Thursday, January 6, 2011

BlueAnt S3 Speakerphone targets yakking drivers





We all know that talking on your phone while driving is a definite no-no, and unless you have a hands-free kit with you, doing so will only endanger your life as well as that of others on the road. Why take the risk when you can always do your part in being a law-abiding citizen (and treasuring your life as well as that of others) with the BlueAnt S3 Speakerphone? This latest release from BlueAnt Wireless comes in the form of a visor-mounted car speakerphone which will draw upon the company’s extensive experience with voice-control features, such as voice answer/ignore, caller name announce and text-message readout, all without breaking the bank – sweet words in these economically challenging times, eh?
The S3 will definitely not tarnish BlueAnt’s heritage of delivering products with superior voice quality, outstanding wind, road and background noise reduction and superior call clarity. To make matters more enticing, the new BlueAnt S3 will come with a useful auto reconnection function that makes sure the device is more than ready to handle the user’s voice commands without sacrificing battery life. It does so by reconnecting the speakerphone to the driver’s phone automatically courtesy of built-in vibration sensor.
The S3 was specifically designed for drivers who want a fully featured, value-priced speakerphone that boasts simple voice prompts, where it will be able to utilize text-to-speech technology which reads out text messages via a free, downloadable application. Not only that, the S3 is capable of announcing the caller’s name from a list of up to 2,000 mobile phone contacts whenever the phone rings.
A bunch of other standard features on the BlueAnt S3 Speakerphone will comprise of true multipoint technology for connecting and conducting calls on two mobile phones simultaneously and A2DP for audio streaming of music, podcasts and turn-by-turn directions from a GPS navigation application. It offers up to to 20 hours of talk time; and 600 hours on standby, where $79.99 will net you the S3 in the first quarter of the year alongside a two-year replacement warranty. What you see above is the S3 Compact just for reference’s sake.

RedEye Mini Universal Remote



The £49.99 RedEye Mini Universal Remote for iPhone and iPad is something that couch potatoes who thrive on iDevices might have been waiting for, as this pretty interesting gizmo can be plugged into the iPhone or iPad’s headphone socket, giving you instant control over the TV, stereo system, Sky/digibox, DVD player or virtually any other device that receives its command from IR signals. Boasting a range of up to 30 feet, it ought to be more than enough for just about any kind of living room unless you live in a palatial mansion, that is. The RedEye Mini doesn’t need batteries since it acts as a parasite to your iDevice when connected, resulting in one less charger to tote around on your travels. With its online IR code database, you can even gain control of devices even if you don’t have the original remote to hand. Could this be perfect to pull off another Gizmodo-like TV prank at this year’s CES?

Fujifilm FinePix XP30 camera sports GPS capability





Fujifilm wants to keep innovation flowing with the FinePix XP30, where this latest addition to the FinePix range will sport GPS capability, with the company touting it to be the first in the world for an outdoor compact camera. How about its performance, you ask? Well, the Fujifilm FinePix XP30 will come with a 14.2-megapixel sensor alongside CCD-shift image stabilization, a 5x optical zoom, fact detection and automatic panorama functionality among others. Sounds like a pretty good deal to us, considering all you need to fork out is $239.95 from next month onwards, while the non-GPS version (FinePix XP200) is $40 cheaper just in case you need a techy yet useful gift for the coming Valentine’s. Not only does it have GPS capability, it is also pretty tough being waterproof up to 5 meters, dust proof and sandproof while shrugging off drops of up to 1.5m.

Wowwee Cinemin Slice on display at CES 2011



Wowwee has done much with projectors, like the Cinemin Swivel, and they put their best foot forward on display at CES Unveiled last night with the Cinemin Slice.
The Slice is a portable pico-projector that is designed for Apple products such as the iPod, iPod Touch, new iPod Nano, iPhone and iPad. It comes with the docking trays for them all. It also has a Mini-HDMI and AV ports for other Personal Media Players (PMPs), as well as a VGA port for a PC, laptop, or netbook.
For those that want their content on the big screen, it can do this. It is able to make a 60-inch image from about 10 feet away, with a viewable range of 125 inches. The resolution is WVGA at (854 x 480), a 16:9 aspect ratio, and it is very bright at 16 ANSI lumens.
I have used projectors before, and have found that most of them are weak when it comes to sound. This doesn’t seem to be the case for the Cinemin Slice which has 6 watt stereo speakers.
Other features include a headphone jack as well as an infrared remote control. The Cinemin Slice is available for pre-order and should ship sometime in the first quarter. The price is pretty up there at $429.99.

The House of Marley rocks some new products, including the Roots Rock Speaker Bag



Last night at CES Unveiled, the House of Marley was on display. For those who have not heard, the House of Marley want to bring consumers premium quality and eco-conscious products that embody Bob Marley and the Marley family’s values of equality, unity, sustainability, and charity.
On deck was Rohan Marley, son of the Reggae music legend, and I got to see him and this Roots Rock bag that you see here. The Roots Rock is a speaker bag, for lack of a better word. I have never seen anything like it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I see a lot of imitators of it, assuming it is original.
The Roots Rock Speakerbag is designed to put an iPhone/iPod inside for docking and charging. It will blast your music with 4-inch speakers with 1-inch tweeters for 36 watts of sound. The Roots Rock is also designed for portable and permanent playing. It is battery powered or AC powered, and comes with a 3.5 mm cable and Aux-in cables.
I don’t have a release date, but the Roots Rock Speakerbag will sell for about $249.99, and the bag is interchangeable. So if you don’t like the pattern, you can switch it out with something like it for accessorizing.

Diving into the Kindle 3’s alternate features



The Kindle has several features you may not know about ....
The Kindle 3 was one of the hottest selling ebook readers of the holiday season. And for reading books, there’s really nothing better to curl up on a cold winter day next to the fire. But not many know that the Kindle has other useful features which may turn this eBook reader into a serious internet device.
Under the “experimental” option in the main men, the Kindle offers three pet projects they have added to the ebook reader for real world testing – Web Browser, MP3 player, and Text to Speech.
The web browser works just like your basic browser, only imagine that you’re trying to use it and your mouse is broken. Now you have to navigate with keys instead of pointing and clicking. This is the web browser experience. Not very great for every day use, but if you find yourself reading a passage of a book and you want to share it on Facebook or fire off an email to a friend, it’s certainly useable.
Next is play mp3. This is a nice feature in that users can load the Kindle with some of their favorite MP3s, and then listen to them while reading. Excellent if you find yourself on a bus or train for a few hours and just want to pass the time.
A useful feature for disabled readers or kids who just want a bed time story and mom or dad aren’t around to read. Users can start Text-to-Speech in the “text menu.” Press the Text key to enable (Aa button, right of the space bar) and the SYM key together to turn on/off. The Kindle will then begin reading to you.
In addition to these, users can also download PDF files free to their kindle by emailing them and tagging them with @ free.kindle.com in the email address. Finally, users can manage their social networks. Going into the settings feature under the menu button, users can log into both Twitter and Facebook and share thoughts.
If you’re new to the Kindle experience, check out these useful features.

Joby unveils two new iPad Accessories at CES 2011



Most of you are familiar with Joby, and they are most famous for their Gorillapod accessories. These are tripods with some very flexible feet for cameras, flashlights, and even the iPhone 4. At CES 2011 Unveiled last night, the company revealed that they have two new iPad related products.
The first is the Yogi, and it is a case for the iPad with those famous Gorillapod legs (seen on the left). Not only can the user take these two legs and twist them around to mount the iPad in many places, but it makes the iPad so it literally stands on two feet for viewing in portrait and landscape mode, perfect for those who like to watch iPad vids.
The second iPad product is the Ori, and it doesn’t have the Gorillapod feet. It does allow the iPad to stand up by itself. Not only can it stand it up in portrait or landscape mode like an easel, but the case itself can fold up and around the iPad, giving the user an extra layer of metal protection for their favorite Apple tablet.
I wasn’t able to get the release dates, but I do have the prices. The Joby Ori will sell for about $79.95 while the Yogi will go for about $49.95.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

EyeFi Mobile getting cooler and cooler with apps and direct transfer



Eye-Fi to release new cards to transfer directly to your mobile device
First came wifi capable SD cards. Then they added GPS. Now, Eye-Fi is turning it up to 11 once again with a cool bevy of iPhone and iPad apps, and a direct transfer capability for easy backup.
With the idea of making it easier and easier to share photos people take, EyeFi has created Direct Mode transfer so that your camera can transmit photos directly to a mobile device, beit smartphone or tablet. This makes it far easier to upload to photo sites like Facebook and Flickr. The Apps will also allow for simple one touch integrated sync with online storage sites.
Genius. I know that when I want to share something on Facebook, I tend to go for a my lower res iPhone, rather than shoot with my camera and have to jump through a few hoops to transfer to my PC and upload. This new direct mode transfer will enable me to easily shoot a shot and have it up on Facebook within seconds.
Look for it to appear later this year, with Direct Mode being an upgrade for all Eye-Fi X2 cards.
   

Kodak Adds two more HD cameras to its pocket line



Kodak's new ultraslim Playful HD Pocket Camcorder
I love CES. So many new announcements for new toys. And this one is great for those loving to capture the moment with a pocket video camera. Kodak is adding two new HD cameras to it’s line of great pocket camcorders.
The first is a very slim PlayFul, which will sport the usual autofocus and image stabilizaiton, but also smart face tracking and full 1080p HD video. And the dedicated SHARE button sends video directly to media sites like Facebook, Youtube and Flickr via USB and your PC. It’s available in silver, blue-silver, purple-silver and blue-black.
Kodak has upgraded it's rugged Playsport camcorder
The next is an upgrade to the Playsport camera. In addition to similar features in the Playful, the Playsport also has low light performance, shock and waterproof (to a depth of 10 feet) design, and a cool feature on it’s LCD which adjust automatically to the lighting conditions it faces. The Playsport is available in Black, Red, Green, White and Aqua.
Both cameras record to SDHC up to 32GB. Look for them in the Spring with a cost of $150 for the Playful and $180 for the rugged PlaySport.

AutoVue Lane Departure Warning System – Because we need all the help we can get





I don’t know about anyone else, but every single time I get in my car to go anywhere, I feel like I am risking life and limb. I guess I really am. I know that each time I arrive at my destination in one piece, I feel like I’ve won the lottery.
I’m pleased that someone is working to make our roads a little safer, Iteris’ AutoVue Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system consists of a camera, an on board computer and image recognition software that can detect when a commercial or passenger vehicle starts drifting off the road or out of a lane, when an unintended lane change starts to occur, the unit automatically emits an audible warning sound, similar to a rumble strip noise, alerting the driver to get back to the business of driving.
In addition to its lane departure system, Iteris sensors also offers forward Collision Warning systems and blind spot warning systems. Now if they could just make an idiot warning system that would stop some folks from driving altogether, we could all breathe a collective sigh of relief.
The system is available as both an OEM and aftermarket option and can be easily installed within a few hours. Almost anything that improves vehicle safety is worth a try in my book.
AutoVue is already available as part of an option package on selected Infiniti vehicles