We're heading for a completely wireless world, and Imation is helping it
along with the Imation Pro WX USB hard drive. This 1.5TB drive comes
with a USB dongle that plugs into your computer; the drive
itself can be placed anywhere within a 30-foot range.
Going wireless doesn't mean sacrificing speed, as this drive offers a 15MB-per-second data-transfer rate. It works with both Windows and Macs, and comes with Memeo Instant Backup software. That means you can set it up, place it far away from your computer so you don't hear it working, and know that all your data is constantly being backed up without you having to think about it.
The Imation Pro WX includes a built-in stand so you can set it horizontally or upright, and features a one-touch backup button. It's not the cheapest model around at $449.99 (list), but wireless convenience is worth paying for.
Tamrac Velocity sling bags let you carry a digital SLR camera with lens and a couple extra lenses. Choose the most useful model in the line, the Velocity 9x ($90 street), and you've also got the perfect insulated bag for carrying three bottles to that BYO restaurant. The Velocity 9x bag measures 13x11x7 inches (HWD). Others in the line range from camera-only plus a couple accessories bag (Velocity 6x) on up through two DSLR cameras with lenses (Velocity 10x, $100) that is the size of most backpacks. The Velocity 6x ($45) or Velocity 7x ($60) would be good for carrying a video camera even if that's not its intent. Both the Velocity 8x and Velocity 9x do the three lenses (plus one camera body) trick. All the Velocity bags ride on your back, then slide around front for easy access. All have three compartments formed by padded movable dividers and spacers so you can stack accessories or lenses; a hidden waist strap; and a bunch of front and top compartments for cellphones, MP3 players, memory cards, and keys.
The Lowepro Versapack 200 AW may be the most versatile combination yet of backpack and camera bag for photo enthusiasts who do other things with their lives. The removable divider flap between the bottom photo compartment and the open upper compartment comes out to allow this $100 (street) bag to be a full-depth backpack. Think of it like the folding rear seats on some sedans that merge the trunk and back seat into a single bigger storage area. Same idea here, but only two color choices: black or teal.
This one's for you, Tim Burton fans: GelaSkins, maker of attractive skin covers for all types of gadgets, has announced four new designs created by dark and quirky director Tim Burton. The artwork was all taken from Burton's book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories, and features the characters Oyster Boy, Stain Boy, Toxic Boy, and the Pin Cushion Queen.
The site features Tim Burton designs for 15- and 15.4-inch laptops, as well as iPhones. You can create a skin for any supported device, however, by selecting a design as a favorite and then clicking the "Create Your Own" link.
If you're looking for something a little more grown-up, consider the three Bettie Page images that were also just added to the site and bring some retro hotness to your favorite gadget.
Maybe it's the recession; maybe it's the realization that not every gamer has an unlimited amount of money to spend on gear. Whatever the case, preeminent gaming peripheral company Razer has introduced the Abyssus mouse, a simplified version of its high-end products with a more reachable price tag.
The Abyssus was designed to give gamers the tools they need, but not the extras. It offers a 3500-dpi infrared sensor, on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments, and three programmable buttons. This mouse can be used by either left- or right-handed users and glides on Ultraslick Teflon feet. A seven-foot cord lets you sit as far from your PC as you'd like. All this will cost you $49.99, which isn't bad for a premium gaming mouse.
"Less is more," said Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff, the president of Razer. "We've taken our ambidextrous three-button mouse design and loaded it with our industry-leading technology without the added cost of too many bells and whistles."
At Gearlog we tend to focus on mainstream consumer gadgets (oh, and weird ones too). But cutting-edge technology is being incorporated into more than PCs and mobile phones. Take the 3M Littmann Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200 with Zargis Cardioscan: It beams a patient's heartbeat sounds via Bluetooth to a doctor's PC, which uses software to scan them for abnormalities--and might eliminate the need for over 8 million echocardiograms and cardiologist visits a year. [Note that the stethoscope was developed by Bang & Olufson Medicom.--Ed.]
The high-tech stethoscope is the Grand Winner in the Health category in Popular Science magazine's story, "Best of What's New: 2009." 100 innovations in 10 categories are featured, ranging from WolframAlpha to Microsoft's Project Natal to the NASA Keplar Space Telescope to X-Flex Blast Protection System, "the world's toughest wallpaper." Very cool stuff!
Like so many of us, I spend a minimum of 8 hours a (work)day in front of a computer screen. Any product that promises to relieve some of the attendant aches and pains is worth a try, right? So when I got the Kensington Orbit Trackball with Scroll Ring to try, I connected it up.
This new trackball device from the accessories company has a big improvement over older models: the addition of the scroll ring. Just hover over whatever part of a page you wish to scroll through and go, no clicks needed. The ball itself rests in an indent precisely between the right- and left-click buttons, making the Orbit usable by both right- and left-handers. (Those are the only two buttons, by the way.) And it's large enough to rest your hand comfortably.
I've never used a trackball controller for any length of time before; it did take some getting used to, but after a day or so it felt natural and comfortable. The optical tracking is very fast and precise, and scrolling can really fly. I like that I no longer need a mousing surface on my desk, though I kind of miss the wirelessness of my old mouse.
The Orbit Trackball with Scroll Wheel comes with a detachable wrist rest; it's made of the same hard black plastic that the trackball is made of, which was too tough on my wrist, so I swapped it out for my trusty Ergo Beads wrist rest. LIst price is $39.99, but you can find the Orbit for less from a number online retailers.
A few weeks ago booq announced the Boa flow, an ingeniously designed backpack for toting your laptop and lots of other gear, too. At $199, it's not cheap. But in this case, if you have the money, it's well spent.
We got a Boa flow to try out. My first impression? I've rarely encountered such a comfortable bag! It's contoured in back, the outside padding is super comfortable and breathable, and the wide padded straps never once slipped off my narrow shoulders. The bag also has optional chest and hip straps (I rarely used either, but they're there).
The flow is very well constructed of hardy black ballistic nylon, and has a water-repellent coating. Stretchy side pockets can hold your phone, water bottle, and even a collapsible umbrella. On the front at top is an inset pocket with several compartments, a key clip, and a unique ID tag; you can subscribe to a recovery service called Terralinq that uses that ID number to get your lost bag back to you.
Worldwide PC micro-processor shipments jumped a record 23 percent in the third quarter, according to Monday data from IDC.
That represents an all-time high for a single quarter, driven largely by mobile PC processors for Atom-based netbooks, and particularly those made and sold in China.
"Compared to where the market was at the beginning of 2009, PC processors have come back remarkably strong," said Shane Rau, director of semiconductor and personal computing research at IDC.
Unit sales were up 23 percent, but revenue was up only 14 percent, due to the low average selling price of netbooks. However, "since PC processor shipments overall just slightly exceeded shipments in 3Q08 - which was itself a record quarter at the time - we know that the processor market is recovering," Rau said.
Unit sales for mobile PC processors, including Intel's Atom processors for netbooks, grew 35.7 percent compared to the second quarter. Desktop processor sales grew 11.4 percent, while x86 server processors jumped 12.2 percent quarter over quarter.
Windows 7 has been out for a couple of weeks now, and it's both received largely glowing reviews and sold up a storm
compared to its predecessor, Vista. But we've been hearing some
rumblings about the 64-bit version of the OS not being compatible with
some devices. PCMag.com's editor-in-chief, Lance Ulanoff, reported that
it didn't recognize a Sony DCR-TRV140 camcorder he tried to plug in.
It's been common knowledge for a while now that 64-bit versions of Windows require digitally signed drivers, so mismatches aren't unheard of, but given the traction 64-bit gained during the Vista years, it's kind of surprising.
We'd
like to find out the scope of this, and you can help us out. If you've
had trouble getting any of your hardware to work with 64-bit Windows 7,
leave a comment on this post and tell us what sort of device you tried
to connect and what happened when it didn't work.
Best Buy is teaming up with Sonic Solutions to provide customers on-demand access to streaming movies and TV shows.
Best Buy will embed Sonic's Roxio CinemaNow technology on a number of devices, like web-connected TVs, portable media players, PCs, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, and mobile phones. This will include a variety of manufacturers, Best Buy said, but the store did not reveal any specific companies at this time.
The multi-year agreement allows Best Buy to license Sonic's technology to make its on-demand digital content delivery a standard feature on connected devices. As part of the deal, Best Buy purchased an undisclosed number of Sonic common stock.
When the service is in place, Best Buy customers can buy or rent from the CinemaNow catalogue, which includes access to new movies, TV shows, independent films, and older catalogue films. Some of those movies will likely be available on the same day as their DVD release, Best Buy said.
Both companies said they also plan to work with movie studios on "new service and content offerings" but did not elaborate.
On Tuesday, Monster Cable held a mini-conference to discuss the future of connectivity, including its bread and butter, HDMI cables.
Monster representatives told me Friday that the company has also announced the next step in its collaboration with Hewlett-Packard, although the details have yet to hit the Monster Cable Web site.
The original partnership was launched at this year's Consumer Electronics Show; now, it has come to fruition.
The HP Monster partnership includes a number of cables, as well as a few of its GreenPower power-extension solutions. The full list is after the jump.
Do Microsoft's new storefronts look eerily family to you? The company's new mall-based retail locations seem to have taken more than a few aesthetic and spiritual cues from Apple's successful stores.
The company opened up its first location in Scottsdale, Arizona this week, and PCMag sent a photographer with a last name rather similar to our own consumer electronics managing editor. You can check out a slideshow of the company's new Windows 7-centric location at PCMag, Surface computer included.
Microsoft opened up a second location in Mission Viejo, California, to what was apparently a rather enthusiastic reception. According to the OC Register, over 1,000 people crowded into the Orange County Mall, in an attempt to check out the new store.
Maybe it had something to do with the gift bags that Microsoft was handing out, which included a $25 Zune Pass gift card and lip balm, among other MS swag. Times are tough and lips are chapped all over, I guess.
If you want an eco-friendly bag that can protect your laptop as well as the environment, check out the Eco Casual Tote by Mobile Edge for Her. The tote, which can fit laptops up to 16 inches, has a natural cotton exterior and a color-accented satin interior lining. In addition to the tan color shown above, the tote comes in black, chocolate, and blue; also included is an optional extra-wide shoulder strap.
The 17.5- by 14- by 7-inch tote has a detachable phone pocket made of the same satin interior fabric, and a removable computer compartment that converts to an all-purpose tote. Inside the bag, there's plenty of room on both sides of the laptop compartment for personal items and accessories.
For more storage, the Casual Tote features two large, deep pockets on the outside and one has additional smaller pockets on the inside for all your personal items and accessories. On the side of the bag is a hidden mesh pocket for your water bottle.
Some things never change--especially at at Sony. The company is recalling a whopping 69,000 AC adapters over concerns of short circuiting and shock hazards. The announcement comes a year after the company recalled some 100,000 notebook battersa and nearly half a million notebooks.
So far no incidents have been reported in the US, and none of the incidents that have been reported outside the country have resulted in injury. The recall applies to adapter number VGP-AC19V17, which shipped with Vaio models VGC-LT, VGC-JS240, VGC-JS250, VGC-JS270 and VGC-JS290. All of the units shipped after September 2007.
The company is also recalling the following docking stations: VGC-LT, VGC-JS240, VGC-JS250, VGC-JS270, and VGC-JS290. If you need more information, you can call Sony at (877) 361-4481.
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