Tech Gadgets Reviews

Researchers who conducted focus-group discussions with teenagers from Netherlands have found a “shocking” discovery. Although most teens are aware of the damage that they are inflicting upon themselves by setting the volumes of their music players on high, they generally don’t care. That’s easy to understand, but what I don’t get is why many people are still puzzled as to why this is so. Shouldn’t it be general knowledge by now that most people really do prefer to listen to loud music? It’s the best way to really appreciate music anyway. And although I agree that this will have some bad “side-effects” to the listener in terms of his/her hearing abilities, I find it hard to believe that there is any other way to really feel your music, except through pumping up the volume and blocking out everything else around you.

Parents, doctors, and anyone else who thinks I’m a loose nut for saying they should leave the loud-music listening music lovers alone, consider this: what would you rather have, that your kids are a) locked up in their rooms inhaling toxic stuff and slitting their wrists or b) locked up in their rooms wearing noise-canceling headphones and the volume set to 11? It’s high time someone told you what blasting ourselves with hard rock really and truly means.

In case you didn’t know, listening to music at the loudest level possible is a very simple way to block out all the ambient noise. And isn’t that the reason why most people even care to listen to iPods anyway? To block out everything else around them? Or it could be that a listener wants to escape, and the only way to do that is to entrap themselves in the middle of symphony, to get high on music and aim for personal Nirvana. Who cares about decibels? A kid’s got problems. And decibels aren’t helping. Decibles don’t care about me. So why should I care about them?

And then, having loud music banging in your ears could quite possibly be the “best alternative” to inflicting wounds upon yourself just to “get away from your problems.” You know how those punk/rock emo kids cut up their arms just to show how much of a “rebel” they are? A lot of teenagers I know would’ve done the same, only they’ve found a worthy (and safer) alternative—which is, to just drown out the problems and hate with some music.

OK, maybe that was entirely off the point. But I’m done. You were saying?

Read [Reuters]

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If the Sanyo Xacti CG9 was just not right for you, check out the Vivitar DVR565HD—the company’s first camcorder to venture into the HD realm. Rocking a rather slim and compact form factor, the DVR565HD uses SD cards as its recording medium, capable of recording video in H.264/MPEG-4 in full 720p glory at 30 fps. Interestingly, the camera can “upscale” the video playback to 1080i if connected to a TV via an HDMI cable. Little else is known, but the camcorder will feature a 3-inch flip-out LCD display, digital still functionality, and a maximum SD card capacity of 4GB.

The Vivitar DVR565HD will be available in black and silver, hitting the masses sometime in April. Pricing information has not yet been revealed; however, Vivitar is known for its budget friendly devices, so don’t expect a bank-breaking price tag on this one.

Via [Pocket-Lint]

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Hawking Technologies has released its Wireless-300N USB Adapter with Upgradeable Antennas, targeting Mac users specifically in order to provide significant range extension options. Suitable for small office/home office (SOHO) and small-to-medium business (SMB) users, the new compact 802.11n 300Mbps USB Adapter known as the HWUN1A has the distinction of being the first such adapter designed for Apple Mac users that features a couple of two removable antennas. The included external antennas are easily removed and can receive an upgrade in the form of a Hawking Hi-Gain antenna for superior improvement when it comes to its wireless range.

According to Daniel Chan, Associate Product Manager at Hawking Technologies, “The problem with wireless networks these days isn’t the speed, but the distance. If your wireless adapter does not have the wireless strength to go the distance, your network speed won’t make any difference. You’ll either end up with a weak signal or get dropped from your network entirely, and that results in slow file transfers and a lack of mobility. Like its sister product, the HWUN1 for PC users, the HWUN1A provides Mac users with the extended wireless range they need by utilizing new Wireless-N technology. The removable antennas give Mac users the ability to customize their wireless networks for their specific applications. Most importantly, the HWUN1A can resolve most WiFi trouble spot scenarios by allowing users to choose from our full line of Hi-Gain WiFi Range Extending solutions. And the best part: installing the HWUN1A is easy – just pop in the CD to install the software, plug in the adapter, and you’re connected.”

Some of the key features of the HWUN1A include :-

• Wireless networking compatibility with any Mac OS X 10.3 and up (Intel or Power PC) system
• 2 Upgradable Antennas allow for better wireless range and performance options
• Installs in seconds with intuitive, easy-to-follow Setup Wizard
• Supports WPA2, WPA, and WEP wireless security
• Plug-and-Play compatibility with all Hawking Hi-Gain WiFi Range Extending Antennas
• Latest 802.11n technology delivers wireless data transfer speeds of up to 300Mbps

Product Page

Now that Blu-ray has won the format war over rival hd dvd, a lot of people are saying that it is indeed the next generation optical disc standard. That may be true, as long as a better format does not come out in the next few months or years.

Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices recently sent out a report that 30 million Blu-ray devices would be found in homes before the year 2008 ends, although not all devices will be used for movie playback. Global sales of Blu-ray players are expected to hit 18.8 million units this year. With thirteen million of those being consoles, four million stand-alone players and two million found in computers. After four years, the number is also expected to increase to 57.4 million units. I don’t know if this is just a guess or an estimate but the report says the market will be largest in Europe, then US, and Japan coming in at third.

Keep reading for a summary of the report:

Blu-ray Disc has now been confirmed as the de facto next generation optical disc standard. Our forecasts for BD players, games consoles and PCs indicate that total annual device sales will reach 57.4 million units annually by 2012. We estimate that nearly 30 million households worldwide will own at least one BD device by the end of 2008, and predict 132 million BD-owning households by 2012. This forecast datatable presents Strategy Analytics’ latest projections for global sales and ownership of Blu-ray Disc devices. It presents 5-year market forecasts for the US, Europe and Japan. Segmentation includes standalone Blu-ray Disc players, BD games consoles, and BD-enabled home PCs.

Now I ask myself; Is it still the right time to make the Blu-ray commitment?

Read [Strategy Analytics] Via [DVD Town]

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Dell’s new Inspiron 1525 laptop combines a Blu-ray combo drive with affordability at an asking price of $879. The 1.82GHz Core 2 Duo processor is plenty powerful enough, and features a 15.4-inch display with a 720p resolution and HDMI out. It also comes standard with 1GB of RAM and a 80GB hard drive.

With such a low asking price, some features have to be sacrificed, for example if you want to bump the Blu-ray player up to a burner, be prepared to fork out another $200. All things considered, its a very good price for a Blu-ray capable laptop.

Read [Business Wire]

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The Consumerist today wonders why AT&T refused to sell someone a pre-paid GoPhone for claimed "credit history" reasons. A little odd, given that the whole idea of these things is they require no contract and no bills, right? From the customer complaint:

"Ms. Johnson blatantly refused to answer either of these questions and simply read some pre-prepared rejection script that was obviously coming up on her computer screen as rudely as she could in an attempt to interrupt me in mid-speech. Once she finally ran out of things to parrot I asked why it was that a supervisor in the AT&T order processing department did not know how the AT&T order processing process worked well enough to explain to me why my orders were being cancelled, and she said that this was something the credit department handled."

Isn’t the answer obvious? GoPhones and other prepaid services are just a marketing plan to turn you into bona fide contract slaves somewhere down the line.

So, there will be credit checks.

Is this ever a funky piece of transportation - the Motorized Monocycle from Hammacher.

Drawing upon a robust history of development that began with an original design conceived in Marseilles, France in 1869, this is the motorized monocycle made in the Netherlands that propels a single rider up to 25 MPH. Powered by a 31cc, four-stroke 1 1/2-hp engine, the wheel operates by using a centrifugal clutch on its inner steel frame to engage the larger 67″ diam. outer flywheel that actually makes contact with the ground with a rubber tire. The ingenious device is steered by leaning to one side or the other, and it can safely negotiate any dense surface such as pavement or grass. A fiberglass frame encloses the engine, drive train, and fuel tank, and provides a cushioned seat and convenient footrests for riders up to 6′ 3″ high when i n a sitting position. The hand-holds have a finger throttle that provides progressive acceleration and a brake that provides confident stops for riders up to 275 lbs. (minimum weight of 110 lbs. suggested for proper counterbalance during acceleration and braking). It can run for up to two hours on less than a 1/2-gallon of gasoline.

No point in picking one of these up if it isn’t a street legal vehicle. Well, unless you want to drive the Joneses up the wall as they try to keep up with your lavish $12,999.95 purchase.

USB devices are dime a dozen these days, and it can get pretty tricky trying to get all of them hooked up to your computer or notebook which has extremely limited USB ports. If you happen to want a USB port of sorts, why not consider the USB Star Hub II? Here’s the product description, in completely broken English (I’ve left it unedited to contribute to the quirkiness of the entire device).

USB Star Hub II allows you to connect 4 different USB devices at the same time. Each port can turn 180° that make you more convenience to use and the colourful design can help to decorate your desk.

The USB Star Hub II retails for $12 a pop.

Microsoft will soon be releasing Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. How soon is soon? Reports have it coming as early as April and will be released in two groups. Service Pack 3 (SP3) will come first for those users with the Simplified English, Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish, and Korean versions with any remaining versions to follow about 3-weeks later.

Microsoft has also confirmed that SP3 for Windows XP Media Center and Windows XP Tablet Edition will not be available as an integrated version, meaning those users will only be available to update to SP3 using Windows Update. Its also safe to say that this will be that last major update Microsoft will push out before they stop selling XP this June. Which hopefully becomes a point where users will finally feel comfortable enough to make the move to Vista.

Via [Gizmodo]

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Posted Mar 29th 2008 7:44AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Those on the hunt for a pre-fabricated HTPC can’t complain about a lack of choices these days, but if you’ve yet to be taken aback by anything out there, why not give Mesiro’s Merium a glance? The standout feature here isn’t the 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 processor, 250GB internal HDD, dual-layer DVD burner, GMA950 graphics accelerator, WiFi, 5-in-1 multicard reader or the bundled MCE remote — oh no, it’s the interchangeable chassis covers (weird, right?). Yep, you can swap out the covers on this rig whenever you feel the urge, ensuring that there’s a case for every occasion. Unfortunately, those in America who’d like to get in on this won’t appreciate the €999 ($1,578) price tag, and those €55 ($87) faceplates aren’t any easier to swallow.

[Via MoCo Loco]