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Microsoft announces two Live-optimized webcams
Xbox 360 owners aren't the only ones who have a Microsoft-brand webcam to look forward to later this summer, as Redmond will also be gifting Windows Live Messenger users with models of their very own. First in a planned series of cams designed to dumb-down the videoconferencing experience, the LifeCam VX-6000 and VX-3000 both feature built-in noise-canceling microphones, a "Live Call" button which brings up the Buddy Picker window, and software integration with Messenger for camera control and one-click photo uploads to Windows Live Spaces. Consumers looking for better image quality will want to go with the $100 VX-6000, which offers 1.3 megapixel video and stills up to five megapixels (using interpolation, obviously), while the $50 VX-3000 should suffice for those who need only standard VGA resolution. Pre-ordering has already begun on Amazon, but neither of these products will ship until sometime in August.
Samsung shows off 1.98-inch VGA display
Seems like every time we turn around somebody is doing an LCD smaller or bigger or thinner or bendier. In this case we have Samsung doing an LCD just plain awesomer, managing to squeeze a 640 x 480 resolution into a mere 1.98-inch panel. Samsung is saying the display is the first of its kind, and is targeting it for use in cellphones. Beyond the resolution, the display is rated at a plentifully bright 250 nits, decent 300:1 contrast ratio, and lovable 16 million colors. No word on when we'll see this in phones, but we'll sure be there with a drool bucket when one drops
Xbox 360 dashboard update arrives
The long awaited first major update to the Xbox 360's dashboard functionality is here, downloading to all Xbox Live connected consoles this morning. So what does 2.0 give you? Well now you can both queue downloads and continue to play games while content downloads in the background which was a major gripe for many, and custom soundtracks continue to play even when changing games, among a whole host of other improvements, tweaks and bugfixes. One more notable change is the choice to boot to dash instead of playing whatever DVD is in the drive. You can check out the list of 125 new features here. Of special note to HDTV owners may be that downloaded videos now have DVD-style playback controls (FF, rew, etc.). Connection to Windows Media Center Edition PCs has also been subject to performance enhancements.The much criticized DVD playback has been updated, with "general" improvements to video quality and improved audio video sync. I downloaded the update and checked it out, there was a noticeable improvement, but colors still seem a bit washed out and there is no way to calibrate it (although the info pane now has a gradient bar across the top I hadn't noticed before, that may help in adjusting your TV) and posters on AVS Forum have confirmed that when connected via the VGA output, the 360 scales to whatever resolution (1280x720 for example) is selected. Whether you have Xbox Live silver or gold, simply log on and you will be prompted to download the update automatically, it took less than a minute to download and install. Overall very nice and includes a lot of things people have been asking for since the console launched.
Matrox Triplehead2Go reviewed
It's hard feel sorry for a reviewer who had to spend a few hours seated at a three monitor setup trying to gauge how "immersed" he felt in his favorite FPS titles, but we've gotta give the intrepid Wil Harris some props for pulling himself away from F.E.A.R. long enough to write up a review of the Matrox Triplehead2Go. Sounds like the device does work as advertised. Meaning, it splits a VGA connection into three VGA connections and tells your computer it's hooked up to one big 3840 x 1024 display. All the software seems to work fine for the various desktop configurations, and while there aren't too many games that can handle 3840 x 1024 out of the box, the included software can help get most common games up and running, and can even be extended by users to cover other titles. As for gaming, the setup comes highly recommended if you've got the graphics power to handle the added resolution. For productivity, the analog connections and further signal degradation due to three-way splitting makes the Triplehead2Go not be such a hot choice. So hold out for DVI if you must, or throw down your $300 (plus a few LCDs), jump in and get fragging.
UTStarcom announces CDM7075 flip phone
Nothing too exciting here, but UTStarcom just unveiled their new CDM7075 clamshell with a VGA camera. That's about all that's going on. There's a 1.8-inch 128 x 160 65k screen, a speakerphone (yay!), and a small black and white external display. The flip phone is reasonably thin at 0.9-inches thick, and the included 32MB of RAM is helpful, though the 3.5 hours of talk time seems a little weak. We're guessing based on this stellar feature set that this dual-band CDMA handset is due for a US carrier. No word on price or when we'll be seeing it on shelves.
Tritton USB 2.0 Video Card for Mac mini
Want to add a second display to your Mac mini? If so, you'll be glad to hear that Tritton is making its SEE2, the industry's first USB 2.0 to SVGA adapter, Mac mini compatible as of July 5th. Actually, this means it will be fully Mac compatible, working with any system running USB 2.0, but since the Mac mini is the only system that doesn't support some sort of monitor-spanning and cannot add the necessary port to support it via a PCMIA card.
