Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Creative has released its new Vado pocket video camera with a promise of improving on the current market of ultra-simple, thin and light video recorders. Weighing just 2.96-ounces and measuring 3.94 x 2.16 x 0.63-inches, you wouldn’t think that this video camera could give out good 640x480 quality video as well as pack in 2GB of built-in flash memory. And since it supports MPEG-4 video format, Creative has even thrown in a built-in video editing software which you can use to streamline your captured video before uploading them to YouTube, Photobucket and other video sharing sites.

Other features of this small and yet decently powerful video camera include; extremely high sensitivity to low light environment at 3.8V/lux-sec, 2-inch diagonal LCD display, 2x digital zoom, MPEG-4 AVI video format recording at 30fps and a built-in USB flexi connector which also serves as a charger. The Vado Pocket Video Cam offers support for Macs running OS X 10.4.11 or later and most modern PCs. The Vado Pocket Video Cam will be hitting the streets with a retail price of $100, and be available in pink or silver.

Product [Creative] Via [Electronista]

Remember that innovative Wi-Fi-enabled SD card aptly named the Eye-Fi? Well Eye-Fi, which is what the company is also called, must have been overwhelmed by the success of their product that they decided to add not just one new model, but three to the Eye-Fi SD card series. So, we now have the Eye-Fi Share, Eye-Fi Home and the Eye-Fi Explore.

Actually, there’s not too many differences with these three models. It is still the same Wi-Fi enabled SD card that was launched not so long ago. For instance, both the Eye-Fi Share and Eye-Fi Home are almost identical to the current Eye-Fi models in terms of features. However, Eye-Fi home is geared for users who want to sync their SD card to their PCs only. While the Eye-Fi share lets users to automatically sync their SD card to both their PCs and websites, such as Flickr.

On the other hand, the Eye-Fi Explore is more of a tie-up with Wayport, a major hotspot provider in the US. So, the Eye-Fi Share lets users to automatically upload their photos while connected anywhere there is a Wayport hotspot without the need to authenticate for each location. In addition, the Eye-Fi Share also allows geotagging and supports Skyhook’s Wi-Fi triangulation for GPS purposes.

The Eye-Fi Explore, Eye-Fi Share and the Eye-Fi Home are now available for $129, $99, and $79 respectively.

Via [Ubergizmo] Via [Gizmodo]

As usual, when it comes to getting new computing machines, our friends from Japan are again ahead of all of us. Our Japanese buddies will have the chance to be the first one to get hold, feel and test the spanking new and ruggedly handsome NEC tablet PC, which is appropriately branded as the ShieldPro FC-N22A. From its name alone, you can immediately deduce that this machine was built for the purpose of sustaining the most severe environmental conditions. True enough, the ShieldPro tablet PC can withstand temperature range of -4 F to 122 F, can sustain falling up to about 35-inches without breaking apart, is dust proof and complies to IP55 requirement for being water proof.

MORE »

The MSI Wind, which we just yesterday learned that it was going to be available in multiple colors, is now available for pre-order. Expansys has listed the Wind, available for pre-order in White, Black or Pink. The official details are listing a 10-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, 80GB hard drive, built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Wind will be running Windows XP and also ship with a 3-cell battery and protective carry bag.

The Wind will set you back $609.95, with discounts available, that is if you want to order five or more. Currently there is not any estimated shipping date.

Product [expansys] Via [UMPC Portal]

Sony has made available a slew of tiny USB flash drives in its Microvault product line, branding these babies as the USM-L. The drives measure in at 0.69 x 0.33 x 2.44-inches and weighing only around 0.32-ounces, who would think that the USM-L flash drives can store as much as 16GB of data? Well, that’s how flash drives are nowadays, the smaller they get, the larger their storage capacities are, and this is particularly true with the Sony USM-L flash drives.

As if the USM-L flash drives were not small enough, Sony even made use of the Click mechanism which makes it shorter when it is connected to your machines. This also enables Sony to do away with the common USB flash drive design that comes with a cap that you have to pull out to reveal the flash drive’s USB connector. With the USM-L, all you have to do is to slide out the flash drive’s body to reveal the USB connector. 

MORE »

With an official release date yet to be announced more and more details of the MSI Wind have been leaking out. The latest information puts the Wind even further into the Eee PC group as we have just learned that it will not only be available in white, but MSI has plans for a black and pink model as well.

Each of the three colors will be available in both the 8.9-inch and 10-inch displayed models. In addition to the newly discovered colors, TCMagazine is also reporting that there will be a model that will offer up to 7-hours of battery life, now that is high-capacity, lets just hope it does not add a ton of extra weight to go along with the power. Other newly released details include the webcam being 1.3-megapixels and the notebook will also have an second (empty) RAM slot available for easier upgrading. The Wind, which is still expected to be available later this quarter is expected to range in price from 299 to 699 Euros (about $460 to $1,077 US).

MORE »

Walk up to any right-minded business owner and you’re sure to be told one thing - it’s supposed to be about the green stuff. And I don’t mean the Benjamins. To get an idea of what I’m talking about, ask yourself what it would take to give your mobile device enough juice without doing Mother Nature any harm. The answer to that question might not yet be known for sure, but that question is what Devotec Industries is trying to address with its new Solar Charger. While it doesn’t have the best thought of name in the business, this little number should be able to “keep your phone juiced up twice over before needing a recharge.” It contains a built-in 1800mAh battery under a charging solar panel, and aside from that it also charges via USB cable or AC adaptor. Devotec made sure it would be compatible with the widest range of portable devices possible, and at £19.99 or about $40 USD a pop, it sure beats replacements.

Product [Devotec]

The IdeaPad U110 from Lenovo is now officially available. The U110 pricing begins at $1,899 and comes in either black or red. Aside from the difference in color which is appropriately named either the U110 - Black or U110 - Red, both models will offer the same specs.

The IdeaPad U110 will come standard with a 1.60GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 processor, 11.1-inch widescreen display, built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, 2GB of RAM, 120 GB hard drive, external dual-layer DVD burner, Wi-Fi, a 4-cell and 7-cell battery and will be running Windows Vista Home Premium.

In addition the U110 also has the standard variety or ports to include three USB, FireWire, VGA-out, Express Card slot, headphone jack, microphone jack and a 6-in-1 card reader.

Currently, although both are available for order, the black model is listing a 2-3 week timeframe before it will ship, while the red will be ready to ship in 3-5 business days.

Product [Lenovo] Via [GottaBeMobile]

Up till now we have been getting plenty of details on just what the MSI Wind would feature spec wise, but MSI has been pretty tight-lipped on releasing any images. However they have recently set loose a complete set showing off what this little beauty looks like. Overall a nice looking notebook, but nothing over the top. Keep reading for a few more pics…

MORE »

LaCie has upgraded its most popular product - the all-terrain Rugged Hard Disk with some 500GB of storage goodness. If you will recall, this external hard drive was recently upgraded to 320GB, but it seems LaCie will not stop upgrading its capacity until they hopefully pack in one terabyte or more.

But for now, you will have to be satisfied with 500GB of storage. If you’re not so much into photography and music, 500GB is already a lot, and possibly more than you would need. With 500GB you can store around 710 movies, 135,000 songs or 550,000 photos. And with the hard disk’s scratch-resistant aluminum shell as well as its shock resistant rubber bumper, you are assured that your data files are secured from everyday bumps, bruises and hard knocks. This ruggedized data storage package is available with USB 2.0, Firewire 400 and Firewire 800 versions and was designed to interface smoothly with any computer.

The 500GB LaCie Rugged Hard Disk is now available and retails for $299.

Read [LaCie]