Dan Wu
Articles by Dan Wu
Sharp Notevision XR-1S review
Weighing just 3.2 lbs (lighter than our subnotebook), Sharp's petite new Notevision XR-1S DLP projector (~$1200 street) utilizes Carl Zeiss optics to display a 800 x 600 SXGA picture, supporting 720p and 1080i resolutions at 1100 lumens and a 1500:1 contrast ratio. The portable XR-1S has a fairly bright picture, with S-video and composite inputs, but includes a tinny internal speaker, which is pretty much expected for a projector this small size.
Samsung SCH-A815 slider phone
As usual, not a whole heck of a lot of details are known about the SCH-A815, a new slider-style cameraphone that is due out from Samsung at some point in the near future, except that it's probably going to be available from Verizon (it's a CDMA phone, so it's either them or sprint), it can record video clips, and has built-in voice command software.
Speakeasy rolling out WiMax for downtown Seattle
WiMax, which is sort of like a long-range version of WiFi, is finally getting real deployment, with Speakeasy getting ready to test out WiMax Internet service before the end of the year in downtown Seattle. Unlike WiFi, this isn't gonna be one of those maybe-I-can-find-it-free-at-a-coffeeshop kinds of things. They're going to be charging roughly $650 per month for a 3 megabits per second wireless connection.
Keyspan Airport Express remote
We always felt something was lacking about Apple's AirPort Express, but we think Keyspan has filled that void with their Express Remote, which allows you to wirelessly control your iTunes playback by plugging in the USB remote receiver into a PC, Mac, or even the AirPort Express itself (hence our enthusiasm). Available next month for $60, the remote should also help you control Quicktime, Powerpoint, and other multimedia programs as well. [Thanks, Sage]
Mitac's Mio 8390 Smartphone review
The Reg has a review of the Mio 8390, Mitac's new tri-band GSM/GPRS Windows Mobile 2003-powered Smartphone (retailing for ~£330) packs quite a bit into it's clamshell design, including a 2.2-inch 176x220 display, Intel's 200MHz XScale processor, a VGA digital camera with a self-portrait mirror, 28MB of available user memory, and an SD memory card slot, and two batteries in the package. It's a decent little phone, but it's lacking Bluetooth support (which is usually included in a Smartphone of this price range) and there's no bundled Word and Excel document viewers from the factory.
Navman iCN 650 2GB portable GPS
Usually handheld GPS devices are hindered by storage size, but Navman's iCN 650 packs in 2GB of space, enough space to store maps and location information for both the entire US and Canada at once. It uses a 3.8-inch, 320 x 240 resolution LCD screen, runs on SmartST version 3 mapping software (which we hope is loads better than SmartST 2, which we tried and disliked), and is enclosed in a magnesium case. Retail price: 1200 bucks. Don't hate us, but you're probably better off buying a Pocket PC with built-in GPS for $500, spending $150 for a 2GB CompactFlash card to store all your maps and data, and then treating yourself to something nice with the $550 you'll save.
Buffalo Technology 1TB TeraStation
If you really need a terabyte of network storage in a box, Buffalo Technology has the solution for you in their TeraStation NAS server. Bundling in 4 250GB hard drives, the TeraStation works with both Mac and PC platforms, and has RAID-1 or RAID-5 capabilities, Gigabit Ethernet, and a USB 2.0 port if you want to connect directly to your computer rather than access it over the network.
South Korea's 43 megapixel camera phones
While we're just slumming along with barely a handful of cameraphones that shoot at one megapixel or more, the studly South Koreans have an astounding 43 models to choose from, including seven of 2 megapixel cameraphones, and five with a resolution of 3 megapixels or more. Hello, Japan? South Korea just replaced you as the object of our cellphone envy.
HP Bluetooth Keyboard review
We don't exactly like the fact that it puts the Pocket PC off to the side rather than closer to the center where it belongs, but Dave's iPAQ reviews HP's new foldable portable Bluetooth Keyboard, and they mostly like what they see.They say that it's easy to setup for use with your Pocket PC, that the keyboard is comparable in size to what you'd find on a laptop when unfolded, and that it measures in at only 5.72 x 3.9 x .8 inches (or slightly longer than an iPAQ 4700) when folded up. [Via Pocket PC Thoughts]
Aiptek Pocket DV4500 multipurpose MPEG4 video camera
Maybe the name Aiptek doesn't exactly equal quality, but it does equal inexpensive, and their latest is the Pocket DV4500, a low-cost $150 multipurpose video camera that encodes video in MPEG-4 format, while also doubling as a 2 megapixel digital camera (which interpolates up to 4 megapixels). This small handheld unit utilizes SD memory cards for storage (up to 512MB), doubles as an MP3 player, has a 1.5-inch LCD screen, and is powered by just 2 AA batteries. [Thanks, James]
Bluetooth's three-year roadmap
With lots of competition from Ultrawideband (UWB) Zigbee, and even 802.11n on the horizon, the Bluetooth folks want to ensure their spec doesn't go the way of the dodo, so they're nearing completion of the Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) spec for 2005, which will boost speeds up to 3 Megabits-per-second (up from the current maximum of 1 Megabit-per-sec of Bluetooth 1.2). Also scheduled for implementation within the next three years (i.e. sometime after we stop caring) are security updates, power optimization, greater range (have they not seen Extreme Bluetoothing?), and multicasting, which would allow a Bluetooth device to communicate to seven devices at once. They say they'll be able to maintain backwards compatibility for all this, of course.
HP iPAQ rx3715 review
Tom's Hardware Guide takes a thorough look at the HP iPAQ rx3715, which uses a Samsung 400MHz CPU (with Dynamic Voltage Scaling, like Intel's Speedstep, slowing CPU clock speed when little power is needed), packs in a 1.2 megapixel camera, 152MB of ROM memory, Bluetooth, and WiFi. We've mentioned it before, but HP's spin on the rx3715 is that it's a "Mobile Media Companion", and thus it comes pre-installed with Nevo software so it can double as a universal a remote control, as well as some other programs that'll allow you to stream videos from your computer (though the software is a bit rough at this point and you can't stream MP3s). But besides all that, the most astonishing aspect of the rx3715 is the battery life, which lasts a whopping 8.5 hours with wireless off and doing basic tasks, and still some 7 hours of use with WiFi on, definitely top marks in the Pocket PC world.
Traxdata 11-in-1 memory card reader
Since it's nearly impossible to get by with just one card format for your PDA, cellphone, digital camera, and MP3 player, Traxdata has created the 11-in-1 reader, which is noteworthy because it supports RS-MMC and miniSD, two of the tiniest new formats, as well as Compact Flash I and II, Microdrive, Smartmedia, MultiMedia Card (MMC), SecureDigital (SD), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, and Memory Stick Duo. Still missing is T-Flash, but this USB 2.0 PC/Mac/Linux-compatible reader is only about $30, so it's still a pretty good bargain.
Intel integrates WiFi into Pentium 4 CPUs
First Intel was going to integrate WiFi into their i915 and i925 Pentium 4 chipsets (so your desktop PC could pull double duty as a wireless access point), then they dropped it because WiFi prices dropped so low that it became a liability in the marketplace. Now comes word that they've reversed course again and now will be outting WiFi into their next-gen P4 chipsets (though there's no word whether it will be as a WiFi client or access point), code-named 'Grantsdale' and 'Alderwood', which will bring a speedy 1066MHz front side bus speed and 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM support to the table (which in plain English means "freaking fast").
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 review
DPReview takes a look at the 5 megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 (a replacement of the FZ10), with it's 12x optical super-zoom, improved image-stabilization system, and Panasonic's proprietary Venus II system, which is equivalent to shooting up to 4 shutter speed steps faster. They found the Venus II system to work great, always able to keep up with fast action photography; the only dislikes were some noise at ISOs above 100, a relatively small LCD screen, and slow startup and shutdown times. We like that the FZ20 can shoot widescreen pictures at 1920 x 1080 pixels, which is the same resolution as our hi-def TV.
The Zoom-X Digital camera 12x zoom add-on
So you bought a digital camera and you're happy with the images it takes, but you say you wish you had a bigger zoom? Have no fear, Zoom-X is here to rescue you from your zoom-envy! This $65 accessory works with any cam with threaded holes on the bottom (pretty much all do) and adds a 12x zoom while still letting you use your camera's built-in one, though it is a bit odd looking when attached.
Megapixel cameraphone comparison
Cellphones with cameras might be outselling regular digital cameras, but MobileBurn would like to remind you that not all megapixel cameraphones are created equal. They take a look at three different models, the Siemens S65, the Sony Ericsson S700i, and the Motorola V710, finding the S700i to be the winner with sharper focus as it uses a CCD sensor, allowing it to produce less blurry images than the other two despite having the same number of raw pixels.
NY Times gets around to checking out options for offloading digital camera images
That new 8 megapixel camera sure takes nice pictures, but with that quality comes a price, which is a large filesize per image, as big as 9MB for in RAW format and up to 4MB for JPG images. Fortunately the NY Times takes a look at a couple of new ways to offload those pictures from your memory card, most notably the Epson P-2000 (apparently it's coming to the US very soon), which has a 3.8-inch VGA LCD, a 40GB hard drive and can also play MP3s and MPEG-4 video files, and Nikon's CoolWalker (at right), which uses the same 2.5-inch LCD as their best digital cameras, a 30GB hard drive, but uses the slow USB 1.1 protocol for file-transfer.
Nokia teams up with Ford & Nissan
Besides introducing the 7710 and a couple of new cameraphones, and announcing that they're planning to release as many as 40 new handsets next year, there was another bit of Nokia news this week, that they're teaming up with Ford and Nissan on better integrating cellphones into car consoles. First up is the Nissan Premera (pictured at right), a European model which utilizes Nokia's N-FORM system that allows users to dock their phone, and then automatically upload their phone book into the car's computer while utilizing the car's 7-inch LCD and buttons as a control system. Their system for Ford automobiles will be availble near the end of 2004, allowing hands-free use with Bluetooth connectivity, and also allowing phone information (such as caller ID and reading/sending text messages) to be shown on the car's display.
Cellphone pictures into postcards
For a small fee, PictureTrail's new service, mobile2postcard, takes a picture you snapped with your cellphone, lets you personalize a message, then sends it off as a postcard to whomever you choose in the US. Just remember though, before you send off that postcard to Grandma, that if she has Internet access, you could just direct her to your moblog. Er, forget it.