Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Earlier this month, Sony entered the PMP market in China by shipping out their PMX-M80. Today, they have announced another PMP that they plan to sell there as well, however, this is one is more affordable than the PM-M80 and will accompany the PMX-U50 and U53.

The PMX-U55 sports a 2.4-inch screen with a 320 x 240 resolution, supports a few formats including MP4, H.264/AVC Baseline profile, AVI, MP3, WMA, and AAC. It’s only 7.5mm thick, so it’s pretty thin. Battery life isn’t too bad - 12 hours of audio and 5 hours of video playback. The 2GB model is already available, however, it is only available in pink at this time. It will sell for 498 Yuan, which is about $73 US.

Via [PMP Today]

Sony will soon be releasing a feature-rich and yet affordable point-and-shoot joining its Cybershot series - the DSC-T500 digital camera. Featuring a 10-megapixel sensor, this compact digital camera can record wide and full-screen 720p video at up to 30fps in its fine, standard and VGA video recording modes. By standard this is high-enough considering that the DSC-T500 is a digital camera.

The DSC-T500’s movie function is based on the MPEG4 AVC/H.264 codec which produces high-quality video without eating up too much space of the memory card. This movie mode comes even better with a zoom function that works even when the camera is in recording mode. It can record video continuously up to 10 minutes in length and can store hours of video clips depending on the capacity of the Memory Stick. 

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We just have to trust Sony when it says that its new KDL-40ZX1 LCD TV is the world’s thinnest so far. Measuring a mere 9.9mm, this 40-inch LCD beauty weighs 12.2kg. Makes you wonder where it puts all that weight considering that it is so thin?

Anyway, the KDL-40ZX1 is said to feature wireless video reception which Sony has dubbed the Bravia 1080 Wireless. In addition, this LCD panel also features a 3000:1 contrast ratio, a full 1080p HD resolution, three HDMI ports, both a digital and analog tuner, as well as LAN and USB ports. 

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If you’re one of the owners of a Sony HandyCam, chances are you find it a hassle to transfer your recorded videos from your HandyCam to your PC before you can burn them on DVDs. The best solution to avoid these hassles would be to use an autonomous DVD recorder which lets you connect your HandyCam directly to it an directly burn your videos onto a DVD, thus eliminating the transferring of files. This is exactly what the new Sony VDR-MC10 stand-alone DVD recorder aims to achieve.

If you own a 1080i Sony HandyCam you can directly store the videos you captured onto a DVD then play it later using your DVD player. The VDR-MC10 offers a standard HDMI output for high-definition video quality. It also has a 2.7-inch color display and supports various DVD formats including; 12cmDVD, DVD+R, DVD-R,DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW and DVD+R DL. In addition, you can also use the VDR-MC10 to record videos captured using other brands of camcorders.

The VDR-MC10 is set for a Japanese market release around October for an estimated price of around $408. No word yet if the VDR-MC10 will be available internationally.

Via [Akihabara News]

So, what do we have here? Sony New Zealand has started showing some new models of Walkman players on their site. Word on the street say that these new Walkman players donning the model name NWZ-E430 are entry level Walkmans and appear to be a sequel to Sony’s A600 series. But this time, the NWZ-E430 will sport a 2-inch screen and probably up to 8GB of storage.

Perhaps taking a cue from other media players which make it easy for users to load music files onto their media players from their PCs, the NWZ-E430 fully supports drag-and-drop functionality as well as compatibility with a sync software. In addition, said Walkman would also come with an FM tuner, support various music formats to include AAC, MP3 and WMA. It will also be capable of playing MPEG-4 video. Battery time for this new Walkman doesn’t seem to be at par with other music players though, as it can only max out 45 hours of continuous music playing and 9.5 hours of video playback. That would be enough for 3 to 4 full movie watching experience though.

Since, this is all about unofficial leakage, pricing and release date are still unavailable. But we expect this to retail for no more than $200 though, considering that its “supposed” predecessor, the A600 is currently retailing at $100 in the U.S.

Via [Electronista] Via [Sony Insider]

Sony has recently begun selling the mylo under a slightly different name, the COM-2 will no longer be know as a “personal communicator,” but instead will be the Sony mylo Internet Device.

The new name makes sense, as it seems to better represent what the mylo actually is. The original COM-1 focused more on instant messaging, however thanks to the improved web browsing experience and direct YouTube uploads the COM-2 offers more of a complete Internet experience.

Keeping in mind that even though the new “Internet Device” name does make more sense, I cannot help to think that “personal communicator” always sounded a little funny, even if the device was intended for those “who use instant messaging as a primary form of communication and networking for their social life.”

While the new name may help to spur some sales, the biggest barrier seems to be the price tag, at $300 its a little expensive, especially considering lots of people can get these same features from low-cost notebooks and even plenty of mobile phones nowadays.

Via [Pocketables]

It was only a few weeks back that Sony announced they were opening up the Reader, however for those that currently own one of the original PRS-500 models there is a pretty big drawback.

The update will not be offered for the PRS-500, and users would have to upgrade to a newer PRS-505 in order to receive the EPUB format support. Of course Sony is attempting to make up for it, but at the same time they are really just enticing you to buy a new Reader.

They are offering a $100 credit for your current PRS-500, which means that you will have to pick up a new PRS-505 for $299, and then ship your old Reader into Sony to receive your credit.

Long story short, if you are a PRS-500 owner you can get a new PRS-505 Reader for $199.

I guess depending on how much the EPUB format will offer you personally, this deal may or may not be worth it. Of course, if you were considering an upgrade anyway, it may not be a bad time, a quick check on some used PRS-500 Readers shows me that $100 is not all that bad of a deal, a little lower than what I found on eBay, but it would at least take away the hassle of listing it and selling it.

Read [SonyStyle] Via [jkOnTheRun]

This is where we call out by names the actions and companies that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin crack.  Technology is an odd realm where PR speak doesn’t hold a lot of water if the 1s and 0s don’t line up.  This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity.  Here is what caught my eye this week:

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Take a look at that shiny silver beauty that you see before you. This is Sony Ericsson’s newest piece of fine silverware, otherwise known as the T700, a GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS/HSDPA 2100 model.

As far as features are concerned, it has a 2-inch TFT screen with a 240 x 320 resolution.  It also has Bluetooth connectivity as well as a color matching headset.  Additional features include high quality stereo speakers, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and a Memory Stick Micro card slot. 

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We’ve seen the Sony Ericsson K800i Cyber-shot phone in Casino Royale back in 2006. We’ve also seen both the P900 and the T68i featured in the Die Another Day sometime in 2002. Now in 2008, Sony Ericsson has once again sealed a deal with MGM, producer of the latest James Bond movie Quantum of Solace to have one of its latest mobile phone featured in the movie. This time, it will be Sony Ericsson’s recently announced C902 camera phone.

The limited edition C902 will also be available in titanium silver and will come with a memory card pre-loaded with James Bond 007 content such as the first level of an upcoming spy-style game, full trailer of the Quantum of Solace, behind-the-scenes interviews with the casts of the movie, and various extras such as James Bond inspired wallpapers and screensavers.

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