These might look like what the fashion-conscious FBI agent is wearing in their ear this season but in fact they’re just a set of normal in-ear headphones, albeit coming in unusual colours. The brand name is pretty odd too – AiAiAi – but the specs hopefully speak for themselves: 20 to 20,000Hz frequency range and super-tough break resistant cabling.
All-in-one gadget is coming like a big storm. Cowon is part of that storm with its L2. The Cowon L2 is a combo of GPS, DMP, and PMP. Sleek design and portability makes this a dream multimedia gadget. Weighting only 512grams and 191×120x26mm dimension, the L2 features 7-inches WGVGA display and 2GB built-in storage.
Never have I seen any gadgets that have more functions than Brica ViewArt 1000. It works as a video camera, digital camera, webcam for PC, FM tuner, e-book reader, MP3 player, audio recorder, video player (built-in TV output), and digital video recorder (with its TV input).
The recorded video will be saved as ASF file with 320×240 resolution. As for playback, the Brica ViewArt 1000 supports AVI, Quicktime, MPG, WMV, and Realmedia video files. The MP3 player supports MP3, unprotected WMA and WAV audio files.
Sony is learning the media player industry, slowly. There is rumor that Sony is going to start making media player that allow user to transfer music files without Sony’s SonicStage that convert music files to ATRAC format. The B100 will be the first Sony’s Walkman that allows direct transfers with drag-n-drop.
I’m still on the fence with the HTC Advantage (formerly known as the Athena and briefly, the Ameo), mainly because I’ve asked myself why would I need such a device that acts like my smartphone except much larger? I’ve heard HTC’s justification but don’t quit buy it, yet. Possibly a hands on when it finally arrives stateside this summer, may make me think differently.
The HTC Advantage sports a built-in GPS powered by TomTom software for the European market while it’s still unknown for the US market. Other HTC given features include quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE plus HSDPA/UMTS (850/1900/2100). I remember seeing the Advantage all over the T-Mobile booth at CeBIT – so it’s likely T-Mobile USA will launch the device here.
I’ve been scathing about Ministry of Sound DAPs in the past – and rightly so, they’ve churned out crap – but with the advent of their latest audio and video player I might have to change my tune. The MOSMP100X10 (yes, that’s a good name, well done guys) is pretty much a 3.5-inch QVGA screen with a moderate amount of casing around it and a SD slot, capable of playing mp3, mp4, WMA and WMV files.
At just 0.6-inches thick it’s portable, but the slender depth is mainly because it doesn’t fit a hard-drive inside like so many competing products do. A 1GB SD card is supplied, which is pretty poor, although they’re claiming it’ll hold six hour of audio or four of video. Line-in ports for audio and video round out the package.
At £150 ($292), am I going to recommend it? No.
Ministry of Sound joins media player fray[Electronista]
These days we seem to carry just about everything on our USB drives, from family photos to important client documents. While most of us wouldn’t be too upset if the pictures of our recent family trip to see grandma got into the wrong hands, we might not be quite as apathetic about our client documents. There are a number of different methods of encrypting such files, but most require us to add yet another password to our daily lives.
A new product from Kanguru Solutions aims to make carrying around sensitive date a little easier. The Bio Slider is a USB drive that has a built in biometric scanner, so with one swipe of your finger, all of your data is unlocked. The Bio Slider starts at $100 for a 512MB and is offered in sizes up to 2GB. Now you’ll never have to worry about those embarrasing pictures of your uncle Bruce being unleashed into the wild.
How to lock down your USB drive [via Crave]
Spectec has released a connector that fits into the SD slot of your Pocket PC and allows you to display video from your Pocket PC onto larger screens, including computer screens and projectors.
It can be connected to the screens via S-Video and VGA using an adapter that is included. The specifications can be found on Spectec’s website, along with other products that take advantage of SD slots in Pocket PCs.
A remote is included with the device, although it is not very intricate. You can play and pause, and fast-forward and rewind video. The SDV-841 model uses the mini SD slot, while the SDV-842 uses the micro SD slot.
Spectec Product Page [Via: Spectec]
A new devcice called ROEM (short for Reading on The Move), allows users to roll up paper easily, and be able to read the papers normally afterwords. The type of paper is noted as “electronic paper”, something we have never seen before. Ofcourse, this is all a design concept and was created by one Ben Lai.
The screen would contain piezoelectric material, and would eventually allow colours to be displayed. The device rolls up so that you would never tell it was an electronic paper device! The best part is the type of charging it uses: fanning the screen.
The ROEM would be able to be used as a photo displayer, language-aid, MP3 player, and even a navigation (we here at SlashGear guess that means GPS) tool. Dictionary software would be included, along with sizable fonts. The design can be viewed at Yanko Design’s site.
The iTheater is a fantastic piece of eyewear that projects video from any source (iPod, PSP, DVD, etc.) using its twin TFT LCD monitors built inside with sound included. The initial worry is the strain on your eyes but don’t worry iTheater apparently replicates a 50″ (230,000 pixel resolution) screen from a distance of 8.5 feet. The inclusion of the dual screen forces your eyes to focus and relax so less headaches. The iTheater also features built in headphones for your movie experience and the battery that last for 8 hours, which is long enough to watch Braveheart twice.
When you literally want to block out the noise of reality and watch videos with no interruption grab the iTheater. It also comes with a USB charger to keep it going. The iTheater is a bit bulky and I was waiting for the magical Bluetooth and internal harddrive but it comes with neither. This is a hot item selling by the dozens. The iTheater makes a great present and ipod accessory. Some online retailers are completely sold out but you can still get it by Christmas.
Price: $249.95
iTheater [Via: Firebox.com]
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