Its Electronica

In September I posted about Creative Lab’s Aurvana X-Fi Headphones and called them nirvana. I didn’t think they could improve on them, but this brand-new model, Aurvana Live! , is just as good, only without the noise-canceling feature.

Featuring natural, “live” sound and rich bass tones in comfortable, lightweight design, the headphones are a steal for $149. (By comparison, the Aurvana X-Fi costs $299.)

The true sound is due to a powerful Neodymium magnet driver with ultra-thin bio-cellulose diaphragm plus in-depth acoustic tuning,so you hear every drumbeat and every strum of the guitar, the way the artist intended it.

If the nosie-canceling feature isn’t important to you (though I love it for plane travel), then these are a great pick. There’s a handy comparison chart on this page so check which features matter to you, and pick the ones for your lifestyle.

Canon has just launched its iVIS FS10 camcorder that relies on dual flash memory to store recorded videos in Japan. Tipped to be released at the end of April, the iVIS FS10 will come with 8GB of internal flash memory and an SDHC memory card slot, allowing you to have a potential storage space of 40GB (assuming you pop in one of those newfangled 32GB SDHC cards). Other features include a 48X Advanced zoom lens, a 1.07M CCD sensor and a 2.7″ widescreen LCD display. Battery life currently stands at 5 hours of recording, although I’d say that a realistic figure would probably be an hour less than the one stated.

What can $7 get you today? Other that two cafe du jour from Starbucks or seven Double Cheeseburgers from McD’s Dollar Menu (before taxes), you can also sign up with Rogers and Fido for their unlimited mobile browsing plan that comes with a 3-year contract. What’s the catch? Well, this plan is reserved only for “PDAs such as Blackberry or Windows Mobile devices, PC cards and non-Rogers certified devices are not eligible.” In addition, hooking up with third party apps is also forbidden - other than browsing, data usage will set you back by $0.05 per KB. That pretty much sums up how sucky and draconian the measures are, that you’d be better off without it IMHO.

Those hankering after a Nokia N82 will now be able to pick up an unlocked version in the US for $630, bringing a 5 megapixel camera with xenon flash, GPS navigation, WiFi and HSDPA connectivity to the masses. It will ship sometime in the middle of this month along with a compact wall charger, a 2GB microSD memory card, a USB data cable, a travel charger and the HS-43 music headset. Chances are you will see the N82 being announced at 3GSM, so stay tuned.

In May 2007, Microsoft unveiled a new gadget the company called Surface. It turned out to be a 30″ table-like device that had a fully-interactive surface. Users can use their hands to interact in a number of ways, including gesturing, moving, stretching, and spinning images, and triggering additional functionality from other objects placed on Surface.

Microsoft’s original plan at the unveiling was to produce Surface for the retail industry to begin with. This was due in part to the high cost of the device that would settle somewhere between US$5,000 and $10,000. After a retail roll out, Microsoft then planned to reduce the price for consumer versions of the device.

It now looks likely that consumers may get Surface much sooner, as Steve Ballmer has commented Microsoft is “following its nose” on a specific release for consumer models.

Read more at PC Pro.

Matthew’s Opinion

Surface did get a lot of interest when it was first unveiled, but you did get this feeling of it just costing way too much to appear in the home any time soon.

It may just be the continued interest, but I have a feeling gadgets like the Apple iPhone and its touchscreen interface may have opened Microsoft’s eyes to the potential market. Surface can come out in a 30″ version, but why can’t it also come out in 19″, 22″, and 26″ versions as well? That would certainly be one way of reducing costs to the consumer.

It’s still a case of wait and see, but hopefully Microsoft has already decided to drop the idea of retail-first, consumer-later.

Posted Feb 6th 2008 7:06AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

In the unlikeliest of unions since Julia and Lyle, we bring you some hot iPhone on N95 symbiotic action. Using the free JoikuSpot application released this morning, you can now turn any S60 smartphone into a WiFi hotspot. Yes, just like WMWifiRouter does for WinMo devices. Sure, the solution doesn’t make much sense from locations with tethered Internet and you can’t encrypt the http and https (only) traffic. But if you’ve ever been in a WiFi dead spot and needed to share access (think PSP gaming), this type of solution is pretty unbeatable. Assuming you have an unlimited data plan that is. Click the read link for the video.

[Via IntoMobile]

Read — Video
Read — JoikuSpot

This is Canon’s 1200mm f/5.6L EF USM Autofocus Lens. Canon has been making them since 1993, on a special order only basis, and if you want one you’ll have to wait around a year and half for Canon to build it for you. Unless you’re quick, and head over to B&H, where you’ll find a second hand one for just $99,000.

According to the B&H blog, “there are ‘more than twelve, less than twenty’ of them in existence”. The lens weighs 36lbs. and measures just over a yard long. You won’t be taking any handheld candids with this thing.

The Mother of all Telephotos [B&H Photo Video via Daring Fireball]

Ah, the average American household. A TV in every living room. Of course, this is accompanied by a VCR and DVD player. Now it seems that increasingly the digital video recorder (DVR) is becoming a standard piece of electronics in the home as well. According to a Los Angeles Times piece based on Nielsen Media Research data, 22% of homes now have a DVR. That’s up a 2% increase from a year ago.

More impressive was the number of 18-34 year old adults who used DVR’s, the Internet, video on demand and video media players to follow their favorite television series. That was an impressive 56%. So why is the DVR and these other forms of media growing in popularity?

The simple answer is time. People don’t have enough time these days and any way they can manipulate time they will take advantage of it. That’s what a DVR does. You are no longer stuck to watching your favorite show at the same time every week. You watch it when you want. That’s why video on demand, online video and video downloads continue to grow in popularity. Folks want more control of their time. In some respects, the DVR has become a personal time machine for many of us.

Read more from the Los Angeles Times piece.

So, I’m sure by now you have probably read my experience of helping Santa get a Wii for my kids for Christmas in addition to getting two more Wii’s for family and friends. It seems part of the reason for my struggle and the struggle of many others were Wii-sellers. These are the folks that have been snatching up the Wii whenever it becomes available to resell it on eBay or Amazon for US$50 to US$100 over retail or more.

MSNBC had an article profiling one of these Wii-sellers and I’m sure like me reading the article will leave you pretty disgusted. I’ll give it to him–he makes some pretty valid points about providing a service since many people didn’t want to do the leg work to get a Wii such as getting up early, waiting in line, stalking stores for shipments or hunting for them online. Where he lost me was when he acknowledged that he worked with a co-worker to jack up the price of one of his auctions. It sounds like he didn’t have to do it after that first time, but he already let the cat out of the bag.

Look, if you want to buy a Wii and resell it on eBay then I suppose it’s a free market. Just don’t have people fraudulently jack up the price of your auctions. Also, next time your kids want something for Christmas and you can’t find it without paying US$100 over retail to a reseller just appreciate the fact that you created a new market. Everything comes around in life. Give a Wii, get a Wii without profit. The gift will be returned.

Read more from the MSNBC article.

Hasbro’s Room Tech Clock, which looks a little like one of many iPod docks, but its not, it’s an alarm clock with a wireless link to the shroom-shaped Room Tech Lamp. When the alarm goes off, the first thing that will happen is the alarm clock will either stomp its fists on the table making an awful racket, playback the radio or pump out tunes from a connected MP3 player. The second thing that will hppen is, the Room Tech Lamp, which is styled like a shroom-Martian hybrid, will be activated, and light up your room to wake you up.

The Room Tech Lamp has a touch sensitive domed head, which allows the user to turn the light on, as well as select from a variety of colors simply by touching it. Additionally, the lamp has a speaker built in that can be hooked up to your MP3 player. The Room Tech duo are due out in September and will retail for $79 each.

[Gizmodo]