Gadgets Base

Filed in archive Tip by jim on May 26, 2008

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If you have a kid or kids then chances are you also have a digital camera.

Because my father was an avid amateur photographer I have plenty of well done pictures of myself and my family; most of which were taken with box and folding cameras.

I enjoy dragging them out and reminiscing and I've provided family members with pictures of themselves and others courtesy of my scanner and printer.

Make sure you take the best pictures possible of your tykes and I'm sure they'll treasure them for the rest of their lives.

Read this article that will help you get the most out of your digital camera when photographing your kids.

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

While details are still emerging, it looks like it will not be much longer till we see the debut of the Asus desktop PC. The latest of the rumor mill has the desktop model still being announced during Computex on June 3, however instead of the now familiar Eee Box name, it is expected to be called the EBOX. As usual this report is still unconfirmed, but comes courtesy of the Inquirer. Otherwise the previously leaked specs still seem to be holding true, either way in just about a week we should be getting the remaining details when the official announcement (hopefully) comes as expected.

Read [The Inquirer] Via [Engadget]

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by Ryan Block, posted May 26th 2008 at 3:25AMOkay, they’re only embedded ARM chips, but le Inq is reporting that NVIDIA’s prepping not just the the Tegra APX 2500 we heard about before, but also a second line of high performance embedded CPUs. Supposedly the forthcoming CSX 600 / 650 will run in the 700-800MHz range, and be capable of 1080p / 24fps video playback. We’ll give these guys until, say, 2010 before they’re jockeying for AMD’s spot at number two in desktop processors.

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

If the recently announced Fujifilm Finepix Z200fd made you excited because of its ultra-slim, compact metal body and high 5x optical zoom, the other Finepix model, the A850 may not even make you pause for a second look. Even its official press release put down the A850’s output quality with the lines, “offering high-end technology to every-day users who want point-and-shot simplicity at an affordable price point, but are not prepared to compromise on image quality.”

I mean who would get excited with that statement? But at least the Fujifilm people are honest enough to admit that users may not find the A850 capable of producing high-quality images. So better not expect anything spectacular about the A850.

True enough, you may have seen these features of the A850 with other point-and-shoot cameras already available in the market; an 8.1-megapixel CCD sensor with 3x optical zoom, a 2.5-inch lcd monitor, ISO sensitivity of up to 800, 24MB internal memory, movie mode at 30fps with monoaural sound, picture stabilization and 14 selectable stabilization settings.

With its no so advanced features, the Finepix A850 would suit well with the novice entry-level digital camera users. They would certainly have an easy time using this simple point-and-shoot camera. Hopefully, Fujifilm will not put a hefty price tag to the A850 once they release it sometime in July.

Read [Fujifilm UK]

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by Ryan Block, posted May 26th 2008 at 12:09AMSo news is making its way around the internets that at the Wedbush Morgan Securities Management Access Conference, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell proclaimed the end of PC gaming piracy as we know it, thanks to a “stealth encryption chip.” The magic chip he’s referring to that “will, in fact, absolutely stop piracy of gameplay”? The TPM chip — what’s been on motherboards for years, that apparently Bushnell just found out about. While the tinfoil hats in the house will likely attribute TPM (Trusted Platform Module) and other onboard crypto-chips to the eventual downfall of privacy and personal computing, to date we’ve yet to see piracy stunted or civil liberties breached because of the little bugger. FUD you later, Nolan.

[Thanks, Carl]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

by Thomas Ricker, posted May 26th 2008 at 1:23AM
As rumors go, the Canon 5D Mark II is one of the more venerable of those back-room whispers to grace these pages. Now we’ve got the Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital Field Guide on Amazon making a duplicate appearance on the publisher’s website. You know something we don’t Ms. Charlotte K. Lowrie? Guess we’ll find out in November-ish.

[Via Photography Bay]

Read — Amazon
Read — Publisher listing

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

by Ryan Block, posted May 25th 2008 at 9:11PM
Uh oh, Samsung’s just announced their first 256GB SSD. Not that you needed to know anything more than that to trigger salivation, but the MLC-flash SATA II drive has speeds of 200MBps read and 160MBps sequential write. Not like we’ll be able to afford it or anything, but they’ll be available come September, with a 1.8-inch version due in Q4.

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Filed under: Storage

Recent reports are now surfacing with details that Asus is currently prepping a touchscreen tablet version for their highly successful Eee PC lineup. This news stems from a recent conversation that Emmanuele Silanesu, the Australian national retail manager for Asus had with Current and stated they have been “obviously looking at other form factors rather than just a clamshell”.

The big question that remains is whether or not this tablet would be able to meet the low pricing that is found within the Eee lineup. While Asus may indeed be working on a tablet, its yet to be determined if it will wear the Eee badging or Asus badging.

Although this is still far from official, there were hints at an unveiling during Computex, which seems a little unlikely due to the timing. While this is an early report of a device like this from Asus, Computex begins in just a little over a week from now.

Read [Current] Via [Gizmodo]

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by Ryan Block, posted May 25th 2008 at 8:36PM
Ain’t nothing like a good robot-related publicity stunt to get the heart poundin on a Sunday. For your consideration, Panasonic’s offered up a small 7-inch robot powered by EVOLTA AA cells, which willingly participated in a nearly seven hour rope climb of more than 1,700 vertical feet of sheer Grand Canyon expanse. Fine, we get it Panasonic, EVOLTA batteries last a while — now you can stop putting adorable little robots in harm’s way to prove it.

[Via Pink Tentacle]

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets, Robots