Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Remember that great little HD-capable pocket camcorder from Creative that we told you about way back in May, the Vado HD?  Well it seems that it is now available, well available for pre-order.  The Amazon listing is not reflecting any shipping date and currently the Vado HD is simply listed as being “temporarily out of stock,“ however rumor has it that December 7 will be the day.

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I just unboxed and installed Adobe Photoshop CS4, so I’m ready to offer some first impressions on the PC version.

Speed

Photoshop CS4 seems a lot faster than previous versions.  There are many things that frustrated me in CS3 that no longer are present.  In CS3, it was kind of clunky when you wanted to drag a window outside of the main Photoshop window, but in CS4 it’s quick and fluid like you would expect. 

Another performance boost that I noticed is the menu system.  The menus in Photoshop are huge, due to the insane amount of filters and features they provide, so it’s easy to see why the menu system could be a bit sluggish.  Right away, I noticed that the menus load immediately, and the application launches a lot quicker. 

Keep reading for more on the new CS4.

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Nikon users get in line.  Everyone’s about to get enlightened.  A new training video titled “A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting” is on its way for Nikonians of all experience levels.

Two very knowledgeable photographers lead the training: Bob Krist and Joe McNally.  Both have done work for National Geographic and have a close relationship with Nikon.  Both are multi-award winners, authors/photographers of best-selling photography books, and have shot for major magazines and companies.  Both men also teach seminars and workshops.  It is without question these men know their stuff.  Who better to learn from than masters of the craft?

Read on for more info on the DVD…

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On Tuesday, October 14th, Steve Jobs announced a chipset that Apple worked on with Nvidia.  It resulted in a 16-core integrated GPU that’s in both the MacBook and MacBook Pro.  On Monday, Nvidia announced the desktop version of the GPU.  Nvidia is calling the chips the 9300 and 9400 mGPUs as they are half the size of standard integrated graphics, but can accomplish a lot more. 

While the specs aren’t included in the press release, the chips are pretty impressive.  They can transfer the entirety of video decoding from the CPU to the GPU, making it work much faster.  They also support Blu-Ray playback and Direct X10.  Keep reading for what apps can really take advantage of these new cards.

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Sonos may have trouble on its hands if Creative’s newest products, the Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Notebook and the Creative Wireless Receiver work as promised. The X-Fi Notebook is an ExpressCard that fits into your laptop. Well, some of it does—there is a rather large piece that juts out of your laptop.

Creative’s X-Fi line claims to improve audio quality using algorithms.  I have yet to test these claims.  Whether the X-Fi Notebook improves the audio or just sends out your lousy lossy mp3s, the cool thing is that it can wirelessly send your audio out to up to four Wireless Receivers.  You could create a multi-zone set-up using Creative’s latest offerings.  The Receivers are just that – you will need to hook them up to powered speakers to listen to audio.

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Creative has recently put a new model on their Singapore site, the 16GB ZEN Mozaic. Before, it was available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB models, and it still comes with exactly the same features.

The Creative ZEN Mozaic features a 1.8-inch TFT screen, format support including MP3, WMA, WAV, and Audible, transcoded video support, integrated FM Tuner, voice recorder, built-in speakers, 32 hour audio battery life, and comes in the colors of black, silver, and pink. Unfortunately, no word on pricing at this time. It’s interesting how Creative decides to update their ZEN Mozaic right before Apple holds their special event, and they upgrade it when Microsoft Zune 120GB images have been flying around.

Via [EpiZENter]

• Creative Vado HD pocket camcorder now available for pre-order
• iriver upgrades their E100 series
• Cowon’s S9 to be available in United States by December

Like we said, it was just a matter of time before Creative would make its new media player, the artsy-looking Zen Mozaic available in the US market. Creative now has two models of the Zen Mozaic on its website with a notation that says “In Stock (Available for Shipment).“ These are the 2GB and 4GB Zen Mozaic media players with retail prices of $59.99 and $79.99 respectively.

If you’re eyeing the oddly-designed media player, here’s what you’ll get for your bucks; a 1.8-inch TFT color display, 36 hours of continuous audio playback, 5 hours of continuous video playback, an FM radio, 8 preset equalizer settings, voice recording feature, USB 2.0 connectivity and support for album art.

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It was only last week when Creative made the ZEN X-Fi PMP available in the US, and here they come again teasing us with a new media device; the ZEN Mozaic. Featuring artsy designs that are rather unusual for media players of such kind. The ZEN Mozaic features a built-in speaker, a 1.8-inch LCD color screen, FM radio and voice recorder.

In addition the Mozaic gives out 32 hours of audio playback with a single charge of the battery. Weighing a mere 18.8-ounces and measuring 3.13 x 1.57 x 0.50-inches, you wouldn’t have a problem carrying this media player around with you.

The Creative ZEN Mozaic media player will be available in Singapore by August and will retail for $72 on the 2GB model and $94 on the 4GB model. Additionally, 8GB and 16GB models are expected to be released later on. No information was announced on whether it be will released in the US market though. But like the X-Fi PMP which was also released first in Singapore, we’re expecting the it will just be a matter of time before Creative makes the Mozaic available for all of us to purchase.

Product [Creative] Via [I4U]

• Creative Vado HD pocket camcorder now available for pre-order
• iriver upgrades their E100 series
• Cowon’s S9 to be available in United States by December

We have recently seen the Creative ZEN X-Fi get announced, however that initial launch was just in Singapore, but it did not take long to begin showing up online for US sales as well.

Buy.com has just listed the 8, 16 and 32GB models of the ZEN X-Fi and the pricing is similar to what we saw for the overseas market. The 8GB model is $149.99, the 16GB model is $199.99 and the larger 32GB model is $279.99.

Although the 8GB model was originally announced for the Singapore market as to not include the same wireless capability as the larger models, it looks like all three will have Wi-Fi capability when it hits the US. According to the Buy.com listing the 8GB has “X-Fi technology and wireless LAN.“

All three models are listed and available for purchase, however an actual shipping date was not mentioned.

Product [Buy.com]

• Creative Vado HD pocket camcorder now available for pre-order
• iriver upgrades their E100 series
• Cowon’s S9 to be available in United States by December

With a recent leak, which was quickly followed by an FCC appearance it was just a matter of time before Creative let the cat out of the bag, with that they have officially announced the ZEN X-Fi portable media player.

The Zen X-Fi will feature a 2.5-inch QVGA display, SD/SDHC memory card slot, FM radio, voice recorder, built-in speaker and has support for MP3, WMA and AAC audio files, WMV, MPEG-4 and SP/XviD video files as well as JPEG image files. it measures in at 3.27 x 2.16 x 0.50-inches and weighs just 2.43-ounces.

The ZEN X-Fi is available in an 8GB, 16GB or 32GB model, but the 8GB model does not offer the Wi-Fi connectivity that is found in the larger storage options.

The ZEN X-Fi will retail for $145 (8GB), $209 (16GB) and $254 (32GB), the 8GB model is currently available and the 16 and 32GB models are expected to be available later this month.

Via [Akihabara News]

• iriver upgrades their E100 series
• Cowon’s S9 to be available in United States by December
• Creative Vado HD pocket camcorder now available for pre-order