Archive for April, 2008
Microsoft has just announced that they will be releasing a limited edition Joy Division Zune player over the summer. There has been no official word on exactly what the Joy Division Zune will look like, but it is expected to have a design based off of the band’s Unknown Pleasures album.
The Joy Division Zune is scheduled to be released somewhere between June 5th and June 10th of this year so that the player will be available around the same time as the upcoming DVD documentary about the band that is expected to release on June 10th.
Iomega has just announced the release of their new Iomega® Media Xporter Drive. The Media Xporter, which is a 2.5” 160 GB external USB 2.0 hard drive, is specifically designed to be compatiable with the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. In fact, owners of the Media Xporter will be able to download software that will allow the user to transfer music, pictures, and video to the Xporter drive from an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 console and view those files on the TV without a Digital Media Adapter.
The Iomega® Media Xporter Drive is available in the United States now and retails for around $120.00.
Sanyo announced today that their new Xacti DMX-CA8 waterproof camcorder will be available in Japan around the middle of May. The Xacti DMX-CA8 will have an 8.0 megapixel CMOS sensor, a 5x optical zoom, and face chaser capabilities. The new camcorder will also be able to take pictures underwater at depths of up to 1.5 meters for periods of no longer than an hour.
There is currently no official word as to when the camcorder will be available in the United States, but the Xacti DMX-CA8 is expected to retail for around the yen equivalent of $490 when it releases in Japan.
13 Tech Design, a small startup company, has just released concept images for their new Scroll touch screen phone. The Scroll, which is not yet in development, is expected to include Bluetooth® capabilities, a 1080p camcorder, a 10megapixel camera, and the ability to perform a variety of computer-like functions using a Windows XP or Vista operating system. In fact, the Scroll, at least conceptually, is designed to pull apart revealing a small display and a keyboard so the phone can be used exactly like a computer.
Based on the information currently available, it is difficult to determine whether the Scroll will be released any time soon, or if at all, but it is an interesting concept.
Panasonic has just announced that their new Lumix DMC-TZ50 will be available in the United States sometime in May. The Lumix DMC-TZ50, which has been available in Japan for some time, is a 9.1 megapixel camera with a 10x optical zoom, a 28mm wide angle lens, and HD video support. However, the Lumix DMC-TZ50’s true claim to fame is its Wi-Fi capabilities as it can upload photos to an online album by connecting to an 802.11 b/g wireless network or through the TMobile® HotSpot service.
The Lumix DMC-TZ50 is expected to retail for $449.95 and individuals purchasing the camera before August 31, 2009 will receive a free year of TMobile® HotSpot service.
Yamaha’s new Tenori-on Handheld Synthesizer has just officially launched in the United States. The Tenori-on, which will be available on the Tenori-on website in extremely limited quantities beginning May 1st, consists of a handheld 16X16 grid of LED buttons that can be used to create music using visual or audio cues. Each LED light on the Tenori-on represents a single note so the user can easily create a wide range of different sounds and record those sounds into a track.
In addition, the Tenori-on can store up to 16 tracks and each track may be edited through the use of MIDI software. The Tenori-on is expected to retail for $1,200.00.
No one likes paying taxes so it is pretty much a given that most people are not going to appreciate paying taxes on digital products such as music from iTunes or books from eBooks or Borders. Unfortunately, it appears that if a group of lawmakers get their way, those tax-free digital downloads from eBooks and iTunes may not be tax-free much longer. In fact, due to the actions of a number of state politicians, many states have started to adopt new bills placing taxes on any digital goods sold to individuals within the state.
These bills have been appearing for some time now, but to date only the bills in Iowa and California have actually been defeated so it may not be long before almost every state puts these taxes into effect.
According to the results of a recent survey conducted by Samsung Communications America, text messaging may actually be improving the relationships between children and parents. In fact, the survey found that nearly 68% of parents in America now use text messaging to communicate with their children and approximately 56% of teens in America report that they communicate with their parents more often now that they can use text messaging.
In addition, the survey found that over 50% of the parents and teens interviewed felt that text messaging had actually improved their relationship by improving the ability of parents and teens to communicate.
Altek recently announced that they will be releasing a new 8 megapixel camera sometime later this year. The new camera, which has not been officially named as of yet, is expected to have a 3” touch screen and a built-in GPS. The built-in GPS will allow Altek’s new camera to determine the exact longitude and latitude of the position at which the individual taking the picture is standing.
In addition, Altek’s new camera will be able to download photos containing GPS data and use that information to direct the camera’s owner to the position at which the picture was taken.
ASUS has just released the official specifications for the new Eee PC900 subnotebook. According to ASUS, the PC900 will ship with an 8.9” display, a 900Mhz Celeron M processor, 1GB of RAM, either Windows XP or Linux, a 4GB flash drive built-in to the motherboard and an additional 8GB or 16GB flash drive depending on which operating system is included.
The PC900 will be released in a number of countries over the next several weeks, however, there is no official release date for the United States as of yet. The PC900 is expected to retail somewhere between $499.00 and $650.00.