Gadgets Base

Finally after one year of announcing that it will be opening its own online music store, Limewire has fulfilled its promise. Everybody’s once favorite peer-to-peer file sharing application joined the online music industry with its very own online music store. Limewire is making available its catalog of around 500,000 DRM-free music file for download at a price of $.99 per single track, similar to the price of many other online music stores today.

For users who want to download more than one music track, Limewire is also offering a 25 download per month package for $9.99, a 50 download for $14.99 and a 75 download for $19.99. So if you think you will be downloading full albums, you might as well take some of these packages. Those packages would save you some more money, which you could then spend on other digital tracks. Digital music available in the Limewire store is encoded at 256kbps and can be played on any media player since its DRM-free.

Currently in beta stage, the Limewire store is not connected with the LimeWire Basic or Limewire PRO interface, which are Limewire’s peer-to-peer file sharing application. So, users are assured that the music that they are buying is of high-quality and came from the legitimate source. Although Limewire is planning to introduce some kind of integration between the Limewire Music Store and the Limewire peer-to-peer application, I think it is no longer necessary if Limewire wants to stop music piracy on the web. Hopefully, Limewire just leave its two products as separate entities from each other.
The Limewire Store is currently available for the U.S. digital music consumers but Limewire promises to make the online store available to other countries later on.

Via [Download Squad] Via [P2P Blog]

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Canon has a spanking new digital camera in town - the IXUS 970 IS. This 10 megapixel digital camera will boast the longest ever zoom lens in the range at 5x optical zoom, and is accompanied by an enhanced version of Canon’s lens-shift type optical Image Stabilizer (IS). Check out the exhaustive list of features right after the jump - while the camera might look pretty normal from outside, it is actually a heavyweight on the inside that makes it sound like a bridge between folks who want to make the jump from point and shoot cameras to something a little bit more serious.

Canon Digital IXUS 970 IS features :-

• Uncompromising Digital IXUS style and build quality
• 10.0 Megapixel image sensor
• 5x optical zoom lens
• Enhanced lens-shift type optical Image Stabilizer (IS) delivering a 4-stop advantage
• High ISO Auto with Motion Detection Technology
• Face Detection Technology now with White Balance and Face Select & Track
• Automatic Red-Eye Correction in shooting and playback
• DIGIC III with Noise Reduction Technology
• 2.5″ PureColor LCD II plus optical viewfinder (OVF)
• Enhanced auto focus performs at up to 1-stop darker
• Multi Control Dial
• 18 shooting modes including new Sunset mode and My Colors photo effects
• Extensive movie options including VGA 30fps, Long Play and Time Lapse movie modes
• Optional accessories include Soft Case and High Powered Flash
• Easy printing with PictBridge and quick print order settings in playback mode

I believe the above mentioned features are pretty much self-explanatory, and what is interesting to note is the Canon IXUS 970 IS’ menu features which empowers users to manipulate their images in-camera without actually needing to install computer software. This will save a whole lot of time, as you no longer need to lug a notebook around to make edits to your newly taken images, but it must also be said that functionality on a digital camera alone won’t offer that much flexibility compared to what an image editing program on the computer/notebook can.

Source: Let’s Go Digital

Filed in archive Accessories by jim on March 17, 2008

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The answer is: no more or less than on traditional film cameras.

You could fill a wall sized bookcase with tomes about photographic filters; but for our purposes we'll just concentrate on three, "UV", ND (neutral density) and Circular Polarizers.

Of course you have to have a digital camera that accepts screw in filters in order to use them. But even if you don't check read through this posting because the next camera you get may have that option.

First off check out this brief treatise about 3 of the most commonly used filters for digital cameras.

OK now that you know what's being talked about and have one person's opinion here's where I stand on the issue.

I do use a UV filter, all the time, because I take a lot of distant landscape pictures and there's always some haze that can be eliminated. And, it keeps dust off the camera's lens. I'd rather clean a filter, while on the camera, rather than risk scratching the actual lens.

As for neutral density filters, I never use them, but that's just me, for you they may prove beneficial.

I do make extensive use of polarizing filters because they enhance colors, especially the sky, and when clouds are in the scene it really makes them "pop", or stand out, and I like that.

Note the difference in the sky in the above comparison photos and you'll see what I mean.

Take a camera with you whenever possible, and look around, you'll find a picture somewhere.

Source:blog.matthewgast.com

With the amount of industrialization happening all over the world, getting clean, fresh air is but a dream of yesteryears. Smog and haze is the order of the day, but Sharp aims to do their bit in providing you with cleaner and fresher air by releasing the KC-C100U and KC-C150U air purifiers. Both of them feature a triple filtration system, Sharp’s Plasmacluster technology and a humidification function that helps trap dust and pollen, decrease odors, and freshen and humidify the air. Meant to be used in small rooms, the KC-C100U is good for up to 254 square feet and retails for $399.99. As for the KC-C150U, thihs powerful unit caters for rooms up to 347 square feet in size and goes for $499.99.

Source: Gizmag

I’m not a coffee drinker, I really can’t stand the stuff. I prefer to take my caffeine in Mountain Dew form. Frankly it tastes much better, and you don’t have to deal with those nasty coffee grinds at the bottom of the cup. Of course, that also means that I don’t ever have a reason to buy cool coffee mugs like this one.

While I wouldn’t actually buy this one for myself, I still think it’s a pretty cool design. The idea is that the further down you drink your coffee (or whatever is in the mug) the clearer the shape of a heart becomes. Since the outside of the cup looks quite ordinary, it would be a sneaky way to tell someone “I love you” well after you’ve left the room (after bringing them a fresh cup of Joe).

It’s only a concept design for now, but it is simple and brilliant. You know someone is going to make a mint off of these, as they would make great gifts.

Source: Yanko Design

I suppose this is not a surprise given how many users Facebook has, but will it be successful? Will the millions of IM users currently on Yahoo!, AIM, MSN and even ICQ and GTalk also use the Facebook platform for Instant Messaging? I say Facebook needs to ensure that they’re Jabber compatible so that we can plug yet another IM service into one of the all-in-one IM clients (like Trillian, Pidgin, etc.). Once upon a time, I only had Yahoo Messenger, then once my IM friend space grew to more than just YIM, I simply had to throw away the model of having a separate application for each service. Enter Trillian (BTW, I can’t wait for the new version).

Now a lot of people already use Facebook’s messaging as if it were e-mail, and if they’re addicts, you could even say it’s a bit like IM. The only benefit to me is that perhaps this will encourage my Facebook buddies who are not IM-aficionados to get on the IM train.

Some interesting information has popped up on the AT&T website referencing two models for the upcoming LG Vu. Under the model numbers CU915 and CU920 it looks to offer differences and in good news it appears that its more than just your typical color changes. Based of these still yet-to-be-confirmed details it looks like the Vu will be released in one version with MediaFLO and another without.

Via [EngadgetMobile]

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A couple of weeks after getting rejected by Apple’s Steve Jobs saying that Adobe Flash Lite is no good for Apple’s iphone, Adobe may have found a new ally in Microsoft. Windows powered mobile phone users will soon be treated with interactive content running on Adobe Flash Player as Microsoft has licensed the Adobe Flash Lite. The Flash Lite is Adobe’s mobile version of the widely used Adobe Flash player. Microsoft has also licensed the Adobe Reader LE.

The Flash Lite 3.x browser which is issued as a plug-in for Internet Explorer mobile on Windows mobile will give users access to rich and interactive Adobe Flash powered web content. Adobe Flash Lite runs on multiple mobile platforms that include Windows Mobile, Symbian, S60 and Qualcomm BREW. Adobe Flash has been the predominantly used player for most of the interactive contents uploaded on the web today. Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF) documents on the other hand have been the widely used format for document exchange and sharing.

John O’Rourke, general manager for Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business said that Adobe Flash Lite and Reader LE will enable Microsoft to give their customers more vibrant web experiences and access to entertainment and information anywhere and anytime. Adobe’s senior vice president for Mobile and Devices Al Ramadan said that his company is more than thrilled to collaborate with Microsoft on powering playback of rich, web-based Flash Player compatible content as well as document viewing on Microsoft Windows Mobile clients.

Read [Business Wire]

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Since I prefer text-based forms of communication that don’t shame me for not having brushed my hair and still being in my pajamas at 4 in the afternoon, I’ve never been a fan of the web camera. I tolerate the presence of the ones built into my mobile devices, but I rarely install the corresponding software to get it to work.

Pair that with the fact that this skull web camera ($65.36) from GeekStuff4U terrifies me to the core (the pained expression of that evil skeleton being strangled by the cobra’s tail will haunt me tonight), and you’ll understand why you won’t ever see me online.

And no, it doesn’t make a difference that the 1.3-megapixel camera will record my movements at a fluid 30 frames per second. Because you know for a fact that the minute I look into that lens, those skulls will come to life and shoot laser beams from their eyes. And don’t even get me started about the centipede/millipede.

Via Shiny Shiny.

Posted Mar 17th 2008 2:40AM by Thomas Ricker
The FIC manufactured Everex CloudBook has finally made its way to Japan. What’s interesting is not its US-rooted Everex branding but the fact that the ultra-portable picked up a 7-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth, and 802.11a (to augment the existing b/g WiFi) along the way without any change to the CE1200J model number. All the other specs remain true to the original right on down to the 1.2GHz VIA C7-M proc and 30GB hard disk. We’d chalk this up to a typo(s) if it wasn’t for the new, tax-inclusive price of ¥59,800 or about $600 — a stiff bump from the $399 touchscreen-less, Stateside model. Let’s see if the March 22nd release in Japan brings the additional options for North America and Europe.

[Via Impress]