Dan Wu
Articles by Dan Wu
LG VX8000 review
PC Mag reviews the LG VX8000, the first Vcast-capable phone, which serves up Verizon's EV-DO video-on-demand to your cellphone for $15 a month, and finds the content watchable, but not too thrilling, as they quickly lost interest in the sparse clips (from CNN, Sesame Street, and NBC News). It's unfortunate that the phone is still stuck in WAP-only mode (no web browser or using it as a modem for your PC) because they found the speeds on the EV-DO quite speedy (as we did with EV-DO PC cards) and found it was a waste just for faster WAP. The VX8000 performed well capturing video (at a resolution of 176x144 pixels and 15 frames per second) and the photo quality of the megapixel camera was good outdoors, but there is no memory card to offload pictures or video (and no Bluetooth, though that's coming with the VX8100) so you're stuck with uploading via Verizon picture messaging.
Axion AXN7200 20-inch LCD TV/DVD combo
We think Axion has quite a little combo unit in their AXN7200, a 20-inch 4:3 LCD with a built in top-loading DVD player which also plays music CDs, VCDs, and MP3s and incorporates a TV tuner. It has component and S-Video inputs, stereo speakers, includes a IR transmitter for optional wireless headphones, and should be available within three months (no price announced yet).
Amazon UK lists PlayStation Portable March 18 release date
Though not confirmed by Sony themselves, Amazon UK has begun taking pre-orders for the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) with a ship date of March 18, something which falls in line with the rumblings we've been hearing of a US launch in mid to late March. They list the price at £180 (a whopping $337 US), but UK gamers have been used to the unfriendly prices of consoles for years (an Xbox is still $182 US with no games included).
Sony Qualia 001 Creation Box for clearer TV
Sony has created a new device called the Qualia 001 Creation Box which promises to improve picture quality on even high definition televisions, making colors more vivid, clearer, and flicker-free and allows you to project hi-def images from a standard definition source. They promise to add the Creation Box technology to future TVs (we're betting Qualia TVs get first dibs), but for now, the only way you can utilize it is by buying the Qualia 001 black box which comes with a remote. We're not quite sure who's going to pony up $4800 for such a box (Japan only of course), but we'd love to see how much better the over-the-air analog picture improves on our old 13-inch Sony Trinitron from 1987 by using it.
D-Link AirPlus G DWL-G730AP pocket WiFi router
Currently the smallest WiFi G router available, the D-Link AirPlus G DWL-G730AP Wireless Pocket Router has good range and throughput using 802.11g and can easily switch between being a router, access point, or Ethernet client. While there are no Ethernet ports onboard, the DWL-G730AP can be powered by a USB port and has 128-bit WEP and WPA-PSK security.
Epson L-500V review
Epson's L-500V adds a new twist to the digital photography home market, adding fast continuous mode shooting (three frames per second) and user-choosable picture frames to their five megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom, a 2.5-inch LCD display, and an SDlO memory card slot. It's available for around $400 and Steve's Digicams says it produces good shots and is perfect for the traveler. [via PhotographyBlog]
Executive High Tech @ CES - Water Symphony Musical Rain Drops
We spotted Executive High Tech's Water Symphony Musical Rain Drops ($150) on the show floor at CES and was totally mesmerized by the water drops falling onto individual keys to create random music. Of course, after we snapped this picture they called us a mofo, so like, whatev.
Epson 1080p 3LCD rear projection TV
Epson displayed a prototype for a 1080p 3LCD rear projection TV at CES, which of course we had to check out at their booth. The TV won't be out until fall of 2005 at the earliest, but Epson claims that using 3LCD gets you darker black levels and more accurate colors than you'd get with a regular digital light projection display (peep the comparison picture above, which pits DLP on the left against 3LCD on the right).
XAct Communications @ CES - Hands-on with the XTR1 portable Sirius Satellite receiver
The first (of our knowledge) portable Sirius satellite radio comes from XAct Communications, in their XTR1 Sirius Satellite Plug and Play Receiver, which will be available for just $100. The XTR1 lets users search for music, has an 18 channel preset, built-in wireless FM transmitter, and remote control. While there were several time-shifting XM satellite portable receivers announced during CES, the XTR1 is sadly without such a feature. When we played with it, the channels changed as fast as any other regular tuner, but the unit got a bit warm to the touch (though to be fair we're sure the unit had been on all day before we got to it).
Linksys 802.11g 8x-speed SRX line
The Speed and Range eXpansion (SRX) line of 802.11g WiFi products from Linksys will expand the wireless range three times and increase the speed eight times of normal WiFi-G products. Using Multiple In Multiple Out (MIMO) technology from Airgo Networks allows the boost, with the Wireless-G SRX PC card ($129) and the Wireless-G Broadband Router SRX ($199) available in stores now.
Maxtor to use Broadcom NASoC storage processor
Maxtor would like everyone to know that they will be using Broadcom's Network Attached Storage on-a-Chip (NASoC) processor in their new home office network storage devices, which will allow users to easily share files and add storage space to the network. The BCM4780 NASoC processor won't add too much to the cost of the devices and will allow for a simple installation process.
Syntax @ CES - Hands-on with Olevia 32- and 37-inch HDTV LCD TVs
The bargain-priced Syntax Olevia LCD HDTVs were in full display at CES, with the 32-inch ($1999 retail) and 37-inch (above, $2999 retail) not looking like they are low-priced models, with sweet color and sharpness (just look at Bloat). Both sets have a 1200:1 contrast ratio, 1366x768 WXGA resolution (for full 720p hi-def viewing), 16:9 widescreen, SRS Surround Sound speakers built-in, component, and DVI inputs. We're hard at work trying to land one of these for a full review.
Klipsch @ CES - iFi iPod 2.1 speaker system
Klipsch showed off their high-end 2.1 system (two Reference Series RSX-3 satellite speakers with one subwoofer) built specifically for iPods, with a simple iPod dock, a tiny RF remote (works through walls), and a nice silver finish. The system sounds absolutely great (as we have been accustomed to from the premium Klipsch offerings), but with that quality comes the price, which comes in at $400 (the same price as a 40GB iPod).
Sakar @ CES - iPod case with speakers
Sakar is showing off the SPC-100 iPod case with speakers built-in at CES. Retailing for 30 bucks, we'll just say that we had higher hopes for their product, as the sound output was just passable and nothing more. Interesting enough, the rep may have forgot that he was at CES and didn't want us taking pictures of their bulky (it looks way thick) case, so here's the rogue pic.
Samsung @ CES - Hands-on with MiniKet X pocket camcorder
Samsung displayed the MultiKet X multifunction device which packs in a 10x optical zoom, a 2.5-inch 123k color LCD screen, Firewire and USB 2.0 connectivity, 32MB of onboard memory, and a Memory Stick slot. This baby is pretty tiny (wait'll you see it next to the iPod mini), yet it still takes 1.3 megapixel pictures, plays MP3s, and does voice recording. It should retail for $600 (with a bunch of accessories) come March.
Dell W2600 26-inch LCD TV review
Dell's been working hard on getting the design aspect of their products right, and it shows with the W2600 26-inch LCD TV, an eye-pleasing silver television with black accents and speakers on the side. The W2600 has a 1280x768 native resolution, allowing for full 720p hi-def display, SRS TruSurround XT speakers, DVI, component, S-video, composite, SCART (Europe only we imagine) connections and picture-in-picture capability. Bios found the picture quality to be decent, but they really harped on the fact that it doesn't work so well as a computer display, with a laggy 25ms response time that resulted in artifacts and blurring.
Personal cellphone booth
If you just can't keep your yapping to a respectable sound level, then do the rest of us a favor and hook yourself up with this portable personal phone booth to isolate yourself from the world while talking. Created by Nick Rodrigues, the booth is foldable and can quickly be slid by the user over their head. We can't wait until it becomes popular on airplanes.
Beyond Bread Maker
Normally we wouldn't report on a bread maker, but the Beyond Bread Maker (retails for $150) automatically bakes any bread or cake mix by just scanning a UPC barcode—there's no need to set times here with this little contraption. Cooking by UPC code—now that's something we like hearing.
Blu-ray Association @ CES - EA and Vivendi Universal Games join and Philips prototype
With the Sony Playstation 3 release looking to be within two years at the latest, and since the PS3 will only support Blu-ray and not the competing HD DVD, it comes as no surprise that two of the leading game publishers, Electronic Arts and Vivendi Universal Games have joined the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). Blu-ray is the hi-def media format which has 25GB of storage space on single layer discs, and 50GB of capacity on dual layer ones allowing up to 9 hours of high definition video content. Philips has a prototype Blu-ray PC recorder that pulls triple duty and burns CDs and DVDs as well. The prototype OPU81 has three separate infra-red, red, and blue lasers to write to the different types of media. When we asked the Blu-ray association directly if they were actively courting Microsoft to use Blu-ray in the next generation Xbox 2 system, they told us to go ask Microsoft (yes, that puzzles us too, so it may provide a hint of the way Microsoft is leaning). We've just got to say, Hero absolutely rocks in HD (we think that's 1080p in the Blu-ray demo pic, sorry it's bit blurry). Click to see more pictures of prototype Blu-ray recorders
DirecTV @ CES - Home Media Center and new channels
DirecTV gave details of their Home Media Center (scheduled for 2006), which allows subscribers to access content (video, photos, and music) from anywhere around the house via a main central server unit. The current DTV receivers will not be able to work as servers and stream the data around, but they may work as clients. Live and recorded content can be sent around the home, and recordings can be scheduled for central server storage from any room with a media center client. They were sketch about whether any of the current TiVo DirecTV receivers could co-exist and work with the Home Media Center. DirecTV will offer three Mix Channels (available now), which is one channel showing six similarly themed channels at once (great for the sports junkies we're sure). News Mix will be on channel 102, Sports Mix on 104, and Kids Mix will be on channel 111. Interactive features to be available in Feburary to all customers will give users personalized news and weather forecasts, horoscopes, and lottery results (yee haw). Click for larger pictures