Sure, you could go out and by a 7 or 8 megapixel cam with a mere 3x zoom made by some knockoff optics company that’s paper thin and comes in 50 different colors. Or, you could do the smart thing and go with the fat ugly friend with a far better personality, such as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3.
You don’t believe it has a great personality? Check out the Lieca 28mm wide lens that offers up 10x optical zoom.
AppleInsider is at it again pushing their theory of an ultra-portable MacBook configuration. They first predicted it would come shortly after the release of Leopard, now they are pushing that back to MacWorld in January.
They reckon the ultra-portable will lose its optical drive, be smaller than the 15” MBP and at least 50% lighter than the same. On top of that they say it will utilize NAND flash storage in the form of an SSD drive and it will use and LED backlit LCD, both of those primarily to save battery life and improve boot times.
This camera is pretty amazing for a point and shoot, it cranks out 12 megapixels, that’s pretty good even by DSLR standards. But there aren’t interchangeable lenses, and this thing only has a 3x optical zoom, all that hype for such a let down.
Sure you can record video in 720p and take 12MP stills, but in order to view them on your TV you either have to offload them to an HD optical format for viewing on an HD optical disc player, or you have to buy one of their docks. There is also a 3.1-inch LCD on the back, with reportedly easy to navigate features and menus.
HLDS (Hitachi-LG Data Storage) and TSST (Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology) are soon to cease manufacturing of both CD-ROM and CD-RW drives. Not too big of a surprise since the last time I went shopping for computer parts I could have gotten one of each for less that $40.
Basically what it comes down to is the fact that all the new DVD burners are so close to the price of a new CD burner, and do the same thing and more, that they aren’t selling very many, roughly 5% of their shipments right now, and they expect it to be less by the end of the year. So if you were a big fan of those optical drives, my condolences go out to you.
DVD pirates take note! Optical media duplication specialists Disc Makers have launched ReflexBlu, a standalone Blu-Ray drive capable of burning multiple discs simultaneously. Of course, SlashGear in no way condones copyright theft – remember, kids, Steven Spielberg deserves money too – so legitimate uses for this stack of burners could include making copies of your holiday movies, copies of CCTV footage from a camera in an owl hut, or copies of that Christmas morning when you thought you were getting a PS3 but in fact got a George Foreman grill.
The triple-threat Genius Navigator 380, is a combination VOIP phone, instant-messaging device, and a 1200dpi optical mouse all wrapped into a clamshell. For travelers always on the go, this compact device packs in all the functions without giving you the extra baggage.
When the clamshell is closed for use as a mouse, the VOIP function still works and will alert you of incoming calls either by ringing or flashing of its LED light. It also supports up to six instant messengers (Skype, MSN, Yahoo, GoogleTalk, QQ, and AIM) simultaneously in one window. The unit is currently being released in India.
Continued »
The La Feel Optical Mouse attempts to integrate various multimedia controls that you normally find integrated on keyboards on to an average-sized mouse. These controls include a four-way scroll wheel, internet forward and backward buttons, play, pause, and volume keys, and forward/backward music track keys.
However, the ergonomics of the La Feel Optical Mouse appears to be just as awkward as its name. All the buttons are situated right where the center of your palm usually rests, making it difficult to operate the add-on buttons while your hand is in the proper mouse-handling position. This 800dpi mouse comes in blue and red.
LaFeel Multimedia Mouse, a MX610 Clone? [Via: EverythingUSB]
SlashGear Japan
