SanDisk today introduced USBTV, a new, industry-wide initiative that is expected to enable consumers to easily move digital content from their PCs to their televisions for viewing in full, big-screen comfort.
“We believe that USBTV represents an exciting new category of flash-based products that will bring digital downloading of video to a broad spectrum of new consumers who prefer viewing on their TV sets rather than on a PC screen,” said Eli Harari, SanDisk CEO. “USBTV has the potential to become an industry-transforming category as significant as the introduction of the DVD and VHS players, because in the convergence of the Web and home entertainment, USBTV solves in a simple, elegant way the ‘last 10 feet’ of the content portability problem in the home between the PC and the TV,” he said.
A USBTV player can tackle the problem by plugging directly into the USB port of virtually any personal computer, where it acts as a USB storage device for a rapid “drag and drop” of any desired file. At a press conference at CES, SanDisk demonstrated a product concept that employs a TV cradle and a remote control, allowing USBTV to connect to virtually any TV set. A key innovation incorporated into USBTV is a multimedia processor that converts the stored files into various TV video/audio formats for direct playback on virtually any TV without the need for any changes to the TV set.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): USBTV, SanDisk, Media Player, Sansa View, Tracy & Matt]
Kingston Technology Company, the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is launching a special microSD card with dual adapter bundle to maximize compatibility and interoperability of microSD Flash memory cards among multiple device platforms. Given the myriad of Flash memory formats available to digital device manufacturers and the gain in popularity of the tiny microSD form factor with sleeker multifunction mobile phones, the new dual adapter pack is the first of its kind to offer increased flexibility for using microSD cards at a cost savings to consumers.
Consisting of a 1 GB microSD card; a microSD to miniSD card adapter; and a microSD to full-size SD card adapter, the new microSD dual adapter pack is priced at $39.99 and is backed by a lifetime warranty for the 1 GB microSD card and 24/7 technical support.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Kingston, microSD, Flash Memory, Tracy & Matt]
SanDisk® Corporation today introduced its first widescreen portable media player dubbed the “Sansa® View.” The flash-based Sansa View is a sleek, yet simple video player that supports a wide array of content formats and comes equipped with a flash memory expansion slot. The announcement was made at CES, where SanDisk is exhibiting in South Hall 4, booth 36206, in the Las Vegas Convention Center through January 11.
While the Sansa View is a pocket-able player–one of the slimmest on the market today—it features a large 4″widescreen display for optimal viewing. In addition to a DVD-like quality video experience, the Sansa View can display photos (up to 16 megapixels), play music, or even combine the two in a slideshow format. The durable player also comes equipped with an integrated speaker for watching and listening to any content on the player with a friend.
The Sansa View has 8GB of internal flash memory to store up to 33 video hours or 2,000 songs or thousands of photos. Its flash memory expansion slot allows for additional memory capacity and playback of content found on SD and SDHC cards, such as Disney® Max Clips™.
SanDisk is excited to unveil its first portable media device with remarkably rich video capabilities,” said Le Tran, SanDisk retail product marketing manager for the Sansa View. “The Sansa View is a sturdy, easy-to-use media player perfect for the road warrior or family looking for a video player that they all can enjoy.”
Sansa View Specification:
The Sansa View video player works with Windows Media Player™ 10 or 11 for syncing of content, and is designed to work with Windows Vista™.
The player contains a removable Li-Polymer battery that provides up to four hours of continuous video playback and 10 hours of continuous audio playback. The battery can be replaced by the customer to provide many years of continuous service. A user-replaceable Li-Polymer battery—along with an extended-life battery—will be sold separately.
Retailing for $299MSRP, the 8GB Sansa View is expected to be available from retailers in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2007, with Canada and Europe to follow in the second quarter.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): MP3 Player, SanDisk, Media Player, Sansa View, Tracy & Matt]
Newton Peripherals, the developer of the revolutionary MoGo Mouse™, today announced the MoGo Dapter™, a breakthrough in Bluetooth™ adapters that makes it easier than ever for millions of laptop users to use Bluetooth-enabled wireless devices.
The MoGo Dapter is the world’s smallest Bluetooth adapter, specifically designed for “road warriors” and other mobile computer users. Newton Peripherals’ engineers designed the Dapter, miniaturizing and encapsulating the patent-pending technology so that the adapter simply plugs into any free USB port and virtually sits flush, without protruding like standard adapters. In doing so, the Dapter delivers “set it and forget it” Bluetooth functionality, eliminating the current requirement of unplugging and carrying a bulky adapter when traveling.
The MoGo Dapter will be available in the second quarter of this year from a worldwide network of authorized resellers, at an MSRP of $49.99 See the product page HERE.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): Bluetooth, MoGo, MoGo Dapter, Tracy & Matt, Newton Peripherals]
Palm, Inc. and Cingular Wireless today announced the first Palm Treo smart device running on Cingular’s 3G/UMTS network, providing mobile professionals with an exceptional phone experience and blazing-fast download speeds in U.S. markets and in dozens of countries around the world. The highly anticipated Treo 750 five-band world phone running Windows Mobile 5.0 with Direct Push Technology offers Palm’s exclusive usability improvements with powerful business features, including email, security, and web access on the go.
The Treo 750 combines the Palm experience of a multifunction mobile phone with email, messaging, web browsing, organization software and a robust application portfolio with Cingular’s next-generation 3G network. Its new compact design features an internal antenna, soft-touch finish, and contoured edges to make it comfortable in the hand. The Treo 750 also has a full QWERTY keyboard for easy messaging, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a bright 240×240 touch screen and support for Bluetooth(R) stereo headsets. The built-in 60MB of user-available storage can be enhanced by using the miniSD slot to add memory cards of up to 2GB, which are great for storing data, photos, music and video.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, palm, cingular, Treo 750, Tracy & Matt]
At the International Consumer Electronics Show today, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. announced the new BDC-202 combination Blu-ray Disc® BD-ROM computer drive with enhanced DVD and CD writing and reading capabilities. The newly designed Pioneer drive offers playback of BD-ROM discs allowing users to view Blu-ray Disc high definition programs directly on a properly configured computer. The Pioneer BDC-202 can play multiple Blu-ray Disc formats, as well as provide high-speed reading and writing of DVD and CD formats.
With a focus on BD-ROM playback, the new Pioneer combination computer drive will be a significant contributor in the emergence of the Blu-ray Disc format for both professional and consumer use on computers. In addition to BD-ROM playback, the BDC-202 allows users to access and transfer A/V and data files rapidly to DVD and CD.
With up to 50GB of storage capacity, the Blu-ray Disc format allows for copious amounts of high definition video and audio content on a single disc, including advanced interactive features and extensive bonus materials. The BDC-202 drive allows computer system builders to provide a cost effective playback solution for advanced Blu-ray content as well as DVD and CD recording and playback.
The Pioneer BDC-202 combines fast DVD and CD recording speeds with enhanced BD-ROM playback to the delight of audio video enthusiasts who now have the capability to view recently released film titles directly on a computer for times when they are not in a home theater environment.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Pioneer, BLU-RAY, CES, Tracy & Matt]
MircoCircuit is by Viex Games and is available for both Pocket PC and Palm OS. It is considered a strategy game.
The basic idea of the game to get the different coloured cars safely around the track, by switching the crossroads, and return them to their garage within the time allowed.
MircoCircuit starts of very simply with one coloured car and simple figure-of-eight track with one crossroad. By the time you get up to level 12 there are four different car colours and 11 junctions to manage! You get an average of about 5 cars coming out of each garage on each level.
The game is over when two of the cars crash into each other (cars stop at the junctions if the road is the incorrect way!) or you run out of time on a level.
I enjoyed playing this as it my kind of game, however I think a little more thought could have been put in to the levels at it is really easy to start with and gets difficult very quickly, thus for me making it quite short lived. The thing I did like about it though was you could start at any level you had unlocked so you didn’t have to keep playing the basic levels and could come straight back to the harder levels. This makes it an ideal game to have on your phone as you can just pick it and continue from the level you were stuck on and it also means that you can complete just a level at a time and not have to worry about re-doing previously completed levels.
Overall a good game but does require some thought!
Check out MicroCircuit in our Mobile Game Shop.
Tracy
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Mobile Games, Clickgamer, Tracy & Matt, pocket pc games, M3100 Software]
You may remember that I reviewed the Parrot Bluetooth PHOTO VIEWER a few months ago and one of the main criticisms was that it was too small. Well today Parrot announced a new version of the Photo Viewer this time with a 7″ Display.
The larger format Bluetooth-enabled digital photo frame will hold more than 500 images and have a seven-inch active-matrix TFT screen for exceptionally bright, crisp photo images. The new Parrot PHOTO VIEWER 7″ joins Parrot’s 3.5-inch model introduced earlier this year that holds 120 photos.
The Parrot PHOTO VIEWER 7″ will be available online and through retailers in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2007 with an MSRP of $249.
Photos can be transferred quickly and easily to the Parrot PHOTO VIEWER 7″ from a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone, digital camera, laptop other storage device.
Parrot 7″ Photo Viewer Specification
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Parrot, Photo Frame, Gadgets, Tracy & Matt]
Another day, another set of Eten device variants!
A couple of days ago Pharos announced their Eten X500 based ‘GPS Phone’ device and today we have just heard that the little known, San Diego-based izenMobile is introducing its 2007 phones at CES: the KRMA (Eten X500) and the KSMT (Eten M700).
Press Release:
izenMobile(TM), a San Diego-based converged device company, is introducing its 2007 phones at CES: the KRMA(TM) and the KSMT(TM). The brand is positioned to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) with specific Microsoft(R) Windows Mobile(TM) wireless devices that create a simplified digital experience through value-added services.
“We are introducing two devices that, when combined with izenMobile’s service and support, will make digital life easier and more effective for this underserved market,” says Jon Driscoll, president and CEO.
The KRMA and KSMT handsets will be unique in the marketplace. The KRMA combines pocket pc functionality with a smart phone form factor. The KSMT features a slide out QRTY keyboard with 39 keys. Both devices include:
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, KRMA, KSMT, izenMobile, Eten Glofiish X500, Eten Glofiish M700, Tracy & Matt]
Those people at Clove have done it again!
Currently you can buy a 2GB SD Card for just £15. We’re fairly confident that’s the lowest price you are going to find right now.
Not only that, but if you need a higher spec, faster card then 150x 2GB SD Cards are also on offer for £24.
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Flash Memory, SD Card, Bargains]
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