Garmin have announced their latest personal navigators, the Oregon 550 and Oregon 550t, each of which includes a 3.2-megapixel digital camera for taking geotagged photos. Fronted by a 3-inch touchscreen, the two new Oregon units have 3-axis compasses, waterproof casings and are powered by two AA batteries (with a pair of precharged NiMH batteries and charger provided, good for up to 16hrs runtime).
Any rubber-clad gadget can claim to be rugged, but it takes some preparation to put your shiny new product through MIL-STD-810F ruggedization testing. It’s tough when it’s a cellphone; making an entire Tablet PC stand up to the same drops, dust, water and more is quite the challenge. Still, that’s what Motion did with their new J3400 rugged slate, and they’ve released some of the videos of the testing it endured.
Videos after the cut
Sony Ericsson have announced a portable Bluetooth speaker that, thanks to a splash-proof casing, is suitable for outdoor use. The Sony Ericsson MS500 measures 113 x 83 x45 mm and runs for up to 5hrs on two AA batteries; it uses the Bluetooth A2DP profile for stereo streaming from a cellphone or PMP, and the AVRCP for remote control.
Stealth Computer have hosed down their latest rugged, environmentally sealed LCD monitor, the Stealth Model TT-840, an 8.4-inch sunlight readable water-tight display. And, given you probably don’t want to be flicking a mouse across the deck of your boat or on your oil rig, it’s a touchscreen too.
While the poster-kids of PMA might be expensive DSLRs, there’s plenty of budget fun to be had too. AgfaPhoto believe they’ve a good example of that latter category, with the point-and-shoot waterproof, frostproof and drop-resistant AgfaPhoto OPTIMA 830UW.
Divers seek out occasional videos or pictures of underwater sea life and adventure, now have more affordable options with Canon’s waterproof case tailored for its upcoming Vixia HF20 and Vixia HF200 Full HD Flash Memory Camcorders.
You would think a mini 5-inch TV with waterproof feature has no use in your neck of wood, it does has its marketing value around the pool, outdoor and suitable for housewives like to spend time watching soup opera in the kitchen or bathtub. Apparently the Panasonic in Japan thought so, they have announced new models with upgrades to its IPX6/7 portable 5-inch Viera displays with better contrast, reception and improve power efficiency.
Sanyo have taken the wraps off of their 2009 line-up of Xacti camcorders, including an update to the company’s popular pistol-grip full-HD HDX range. The new Sanyo Xacti HDX-2000, shown here in gold and black, is capable of full HD 1080p recording at 60fps together with 8-megapixel stills (interpolated up to 12-megapixel) that can be taken simultaneously. Sanyo have also introduced a traditional camcorder form-factor version, the Xacti DMX-FH11, which has an integrated 8GB of flash memory. Both models have microSD slots.
We reported the feature-rich Fujitsu F-01A with its waterproof functionality not too long ago, but few details were revealed on the supposingly a breakthrough security feature utilizing fingerprint biometrics. The cat is out of the bag today; the manufacturer has spilled out the technology behind the fingerprint mobile phones.
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