Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Engadget has stumbled across a shot supposedly taken of a Best Buy computer showing the Canon EOS 40D DSLR in their database with an “in-stock date” of 09-02-2007. If this database entry is accurate and you’re after this new camera, there’s not much more of a wait ahead.

Price is indicated at $1599.99 USD and specifications look pretty desirable. Packing in a 10.2 megapixel sensor, 2.5-inch LCD, DIGIC III image processor, and an ISO range from 100 to 3200, the rumour looks pretty solid.

Via [Engadget]

The iZap, a product initially designed to work and function with Apple’s 5th Generation iPod, has reportedly been confirmed as usable on the Apple iPhone.

Hooking up the iZap to your iPhone will triple its battery life, giving off 24 hours of talk time on a single recharge in the dock. Perfect for people on the road and constantly away from recharge points and computers.

On offer in a matching black color similar to the iPhone, it should look rather slick and unobtrusive in use. It retails for $80 - not bad value for those who need it.

Product [ZapWorld]

Perfect for any family occasion or party, the new 5.6-inch Siren Digital Photo Frame will look stunning hanging on the wall or sitting on your desk.

The $123 device features a large 5.6-inch LCD display and is surrounded by a beautiful dark wood surrounding. It really does look like a normal photo frame, until the 32MB to half a gigabyte of internal storage space kicks into play and starts revolving images.

Don’t want to store images internally? Then plug in your SD, MMC, miniSD, CF, or Memory Stick cards and you’re good to go.

Via [Engadget]

For anyone, like me, who has struggled with ‘sticky’ keyboards in the past the concept of the ‘Magnet Keyboard’  recently announced in Korea will be intriguing. “Unlike existing rubber or spring type keyboards, the Magnet Keyboard supports better natural and constant typing feeling even though you use it for a long time, by utilizing magnetic levitation.”

It seems that the keyboard adopts different electromagnetic force depending on multi-finger power, and its response time is fast enough to be suitable for a professional or a gamer. It is expected to be released in the second half of this year.

Via[Aving]

It is one of life’s peculiar ironies that as the cost of the portable audio player gets lower, people are spending more and more on their headphones. I am as guilty of this as the next person, but if I am honest when it comes to every day use I am not sure that I really benefit from the expensive models. On a plane journey, or when I really want to focus on the music yes, but when walking or running - not really.

But if you are continually striving to have the ‘latest and best’ then Ultimate Ears new $400 triple.fi 10 Pro universal fit earphones are probably on your radar. The tiny earphones incorporate three miniature speakers per ear to deliver exceptional fidelity and are modeled after the company’s far more expensive custom-fit UE 10 Pros for professional musicians.

Two of the speakers are bass drivers designed to divide the acoustic workload and provide increased definition and clarity. The single high-frequency driver reproduces the top end from female vocals to violins with exceptional precision, while a specially engineered passive crossover ensures that the lows, mids and highs are balanced in perfect proportion.

The triple.fi 10 Pro is the fourth member of Ultimate Ears’ family of universal-fit super.fi earphones. The line also includes the $99 single-driver super.fi 3 studio model and two dual-driver options—the $199.99 super.fi 5 EB (Extended Bass) and $249.99 super.fi 5 Pro.

Via [Gizmag]

In the murky and uncharted territory known as virtulization Cisco have made an early bid for the high ground with the $60,000 VFrame Data Center.

Central to their “Data Center 3.0” road map the VFrame DC is a 1U appliance that links computer, storage and network resources as virtualized network services. It offers a point and click UI and a policy engine that allows for automated resource changes in response to outages and performance flux. Additionally, such changes can be controlled by external monitoring systems, thanks to integration with a VFrame DC web services application programming interface.

To break it down, the VFrame Data Center components consist of:

• The appliance: a central controller that connects to Ethernet and Fibre Channel networks.
• The GUI: Java-based client that accesses applications running on the appliance.
• Web Services Interface and Software Development Kit: A programmable interface to allow scripting actions.
• Host Agent: provides server heartbeat, capacity utilization metrics, shutdown and other capabilities.
• Macros: open interface that allows admins to create custom provisioning actions.

Via [The Register]

I have long been an admirer of Altec Lansing’s products and the ‘FX6021’ which is due to be presented in Korea shortly doesn’t look like it is going to break that admiration.

The ‘FX6021’ has a satellite speaker adopting six drive units. It features the company’s InConcert technology which contains a 3-piece system for music, gaming, or home theater enthusiast.

For those wanting to know the specifications:

And for those wanting to see how cool they look:

Via [Aving]

With the ‘trend’ certainly towards DSLR and the more ‘serious’ end of the digital camera market, it is often easy to overlook the value of the good old ‘point and shoot’, both in terms of the value per $ and the value of just having one in your pocket, ‘just in case’.

On the left we have the the Finepix A920, sporting a 9-mp CCD, 4x zoom and a 2.7-inch screen all for $199.95, and on the right for those with a smaller budget (and pocket) the F480 with basically the same specs only 8-mp sensor, 0.4-inches thinner and costing $179.95.

Now there really isn’t any excuse not to have a quality P&S with you at all times.

Via [Gizmodo]

If you aren’t ready for the step up to DSLR yet, but want more than a “Point & Shoot” can give you, then the S8000fd from Fujifilm could be for you, if you can wait until September.
The 8-megapixels is good, bit not startling in this day and age, but the updated version of the image stabilisation and face detection technology will improve your pictures, especially if you use the 18x zoom to it’s full potential. If you want to shoot your pictures in low light the ISO setting of 6400 will be your friend.

Via [T3]

If you are one of those people that avoid online shopping through fears over security, then maybe the concept of a virtual credit card is what you are looking for.

You sign up for the program (MBNA, Citibank, Discover and PayPal all have them) and download their software. Enter your credit card info, and generate a new number whenever you want to make an online purchase.

Most numbers generated by your company’s software are either one-time use, have a small spending limit, or are limited to one online merchant. Generating a virtual credit card number every time you want to make a purchase online may sound like a hassle, but it’s nothing compared to the hassle of full-blown identity theft.

Seems pretty simple, straight forward, and much safer when shopping online.

Via [Lifehacker]