TechCat

MSI revealed 2 new Classis Series: MSI CX705 and CX605 featuring 17.3-inch display with 1600×900 pixel resolution (CX705) and 15.6-inch native screen 1366×768 pixel (CX605). It has cross-hatch color film print coating and chiclet keyboards.

Both MSI CX705 and CX605 laptop powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processor, DDR2 667/800MHz memory, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 with 1GB (MSI GX605) or 512MB (MSI GX705) graphics card, 250/320/500GB SATA hard drive and SiS 672DX + SiS 968 chipset.

Another features like 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v2.1, 1.3MP webcam, dual speakers, 1 Sub-Woofer (MSI GX705), a 4-in-1 memory card reader (XD/MS/SD/MMC), HDMI, D-sub, three USB 2.0 ports, Mic-in, Headphone out, RJ-45, and a 6-cell battery.

Computer Electronics Review

MSI CX705 and CX605 Classic Laptop

Image courtesy of Peta.org

Syndicated columnist Amy Dickenson of the Chicago Tribune appears in my local paper, and last month set up a Twitter account called “santahatesme“. She encouraged readers to write in with the worst gifts they have ever gotten – and despite the ‘Santa’ label, she was looking for ANY gift, from birthdays to anniversaries and so on. There were some amazingly bad gifts noted on the list, and between that list and a couple of gifts WE got this year, I was inspired to ask the Gear Diary team to share their own personal ‘worst gift ever’.

… [visit site to read more]

Tags: GearChat, Offbeat

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^{Image courtesy of New Jersey Associates in Medical Weight Loss Management}

I joke about my middle-aged flab a lot.  I give a hard time to my boss — who is skinny — because he’s always cold while I’m plenty warm because of my “protective fat layer.”  “Does that come in middle-aged fat-guy size?” I ask people at the store.  I’m not fat, really; just typical middle-aged guy overweight.  And no matter what I can do — cut my intake, walk two-three miles a day, do isometrics at home, get one of those weird vibrating bar bells — I don’t lose weight.  Well, maybe I should try the new Weight Watchers iPhone App.

The Weight Watchers people say that they’re here to help.  Their new app helps you compute, compare, track, and store “points” according to their system, helping you keep on target for your weight loss goals.  It allows you to create shopping lists from recipes, create and maintain “cheat sheets,” and gives you articles that contain tips and stories (to keep you inspired).

So if you’re a middle-aged flabby person, perhaps you should give it a look.  After all, it’s free.

Full info after the jump.

… [visit site to read more]

Related posts:

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2. iPhone Chat Tonight – 11:00PM
3. The SIMs for iPhone/iPod Touch Set to Launch

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Divine Robot has recently released a new scrolling shooter called “Eveningstar.”  The game is a sci-fi shoot ‘em up packed full of action and enemies.  The game includes nine exciting levels, each of which require different skills and puzzle solving skills.  Check out the video trailer here then read the review after the break.

Click here to view the embedded video.

… [visit site to read more]

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Tags: Apple iPhone, Apple iPhone and Touch Applications, Games & Gaming, Reviews

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photo credit: Team Dalog

Yes, it is the most wonderful time of year. It’s cold and gray. The trees have no leaves. It feels like spring will never be here. And Apple continues to amaze us with their ability to control the entire technology rumor mill without even opening up their mouths. Yes, all will be revealed on Wednesday (okay maybe not all), but then we will have to wait months to actually get our hands on whatever it is that Steve Jobs & Co. will be announcing. Cold, gray, and requiring delayed gratification — I hate this time of year. 

I’m not going to venture any guesses as to what the tablet will or will not be except for this –

Everyone is wrong.

… [visit site to read more]

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One of the main reasons for using an Android powered phone is, in my mind, the remarkably tight integration with Google Voice. The ability to have Google Voice take over the phone functionality of the device, so that outgoing calls come from it rather than there needing to be a callback is a homerun. It makes a huge difference if, like me, you are looking to move to Google voice full-time. That’s a good thing.

Yesterday Jason posted about the new release of Trufone for Android. As a new Nexus One owner I was excited to see the availability of what I have found to be the best VoIP client for mobile devices. That’s a good thing too.

Here’s the not so good thing…

… [visit site to read more]

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(image courtesy Read an ebook Week)

Do you love ebooks? Are you the person who evangelizes about your Kindle to all your friends? Then mark your calendar and get ready for Read an eBook Week, March 7-13th!

What’s “Read an eBook Week”, you ask? From their site:

… [visit site to read more]

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Well, well. Harman International’s Lexicon brand isn’t the only company in the business of scamming buyers by simply re-badging competitor’s products. Integral, a Belarus brand for all we can figure out, apparently found it easier and cheaper to simply rebadge an Acer monitor and sell it under their name. After all, that practice isn’t that uncommon as we just found out. But generally, the rebadging is a bit more complex and thorough than Integral’s method. Check out what we mean below.

[thanks for the tip, iSashaCH]

What do you mean, show more emotion?

We all know by now that HP is the largest PC seller out there. Good for HP. But when you’re shopping for your next system, it helps to know how Brand A compares to Brand X. Our friends at Laptop Magazine have done just that, and put together a series showcasing the strengths and weaknesses of this brand versus that brand. Best part: regular users—like you!—are invited to give your thoughts, which will be compiled into a sort of go-to glossary. Good idea.

Being a Laptop Magazine production, the first round of ratings cover netbooks and notebooks. Let’s quickly look at Toshiba to get an idea of what’s going on. Also, I’ve never owned a Toshiba, um, anything, so it’ll be helpful for me, too. Yay.

• Only one out of the 14 machines reviewed by Laptop, one received a 5-Star rating (the Mini NB205)

• 43 percent of Toshibas received a 4-Star rating; 21 percent received a 3.5-Star rating; 29 percent received a 3-Star rating

• Picking a needle out of a stack of needles, it looks like Toshibas excel when it comes to multimedia playback, what with dedicated buttons and whatnot

• On the bad side, Toshibas apparently have rubbish trackpads and mouse buttons

And so on. There’s several of these ratings already online, including Apple notebooks, so if you’re either looking to kill a few minutes, or, gasp, actually learn a thing or two before whipping out your credit card, well, there you go. I use a lot of commas, yes. It’s how I talk in real life, too.

While at CES this year I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Blue Microphones booth.  One of the products which really “wowed” me during demo time was their “Yeti” microphone.

The Yeti is being touted as the world’s first THX certified Microphone.  The USB powered microphone is the perfect tool for for a wide range of projects including podcasts, vocals, live or event recording, interviews, broadcasts, instruments, bands and more.

Blue Microphones was kind enough to send both myself and Joel a Yeti for review and the following dual review contains both of our observations.

… [visit site to read more]

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Tags: Audio Visual Gear, Podcasts, USB Devices, Voice recognition

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Casio has announced its stylish GA-100/100A G-Shock watches, which boast an analog display and three dials on the face. These shock resistant watches feature a 1/1000-second stopwatch, velocity indicator, and are even magnetic resistance compliant with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Over-sized buttons make it easy to operate. Some other features include an anti-slip finish and a large face with easy-to-read displays. There are a three versions of the black GA-100 models and a few of the GA-100A models, which will come in yellow or white. Pretty nice.

[Ubergizmo]

Silex’s SX-3000GB is a USB sharing device that offers up to Gigabit network speed that solves most of the congestion problems experienced on other USB network-sharing devices. The Silex device comes with two USB 2.0 ports and a 10/100/1000 RJ45 network port. And each USB port gets the standard 500mA power.

You can also hook up a USB hub to the Silex’s SX-3000GB to connect to additional 13 USB devices to a total 15. The Gigabit bandwidth offered by this device is best for sharing bandwidth-hungry USB devices such as hard drive or webcam over the network. It should hit the shelves in the near future with a price of $99.

via everythingusb

Written By TechChee.com, Silex shares USB devices over Gigabit network

Where is the paperless future we were promised? Well, it is coming. Just in small steps rather than huge leaps. If you want to make that paperless jump, the Boogie Board LCD tablet from Improv Electronics is a good start. It uses technology from Ohio’s Kent Displays called “Reflex LCD”.

Reflex LCD is a pressure-sensitive, flexible plastic which doesn’t require any juice at all to keep whatever is written on it displayed and it uses just watch battery to clear the screen. The battery can execute more than 50,000 erase cycles before running out.

The cost is only $29.97, with cost per erase being 15 times cheaper than per sheet cost of paper. Pretty interesting.

[CG]

Show your love to your beloved this coming Valentine’s Day with the My Beating Heart plush from Firebox. This cushion comes with its own heartbeat, keeping your beloved safe and secure with a steady heartbeat sound. Specially meant to help you unwind regardless of the method – napping, relaxing, medidating and even daydreaming. You will be pleased to know that this is not some sort of pre-recorded metronomic sounds, but it will replicate an actual ticker’s gentle thudding physically, where the sound changes over time as well. Firebox is selling the My Beating Heart for £29.99, but be prepared to see your beau stab it with a knife once she discovers you cheating on her.

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Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool
[ My Beating Heart copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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Imagine if you are at a party and suddenly blood starts coming out of your mouth – you will have given a scare to the people around you, while having a quiet laugh on your own. As a gag or prank item, blood capsules prove to be a great draw, giving a fright to the observers. You simply put them in your mouth and bite on them and ‘blood’ starts coming out.

These capsules are useful in a party, at Halloween, for theatrical use, if you go to an office party or even an April fool’s joke. You can use them as a ‘test’ to see how much your friends or relative or even significant other care for you! You could even theoretically use them at a doctor’s clinic or hospital if you want immediate attention and have been told to wait!

However, while most people will laugh and be relieved that nothing is really wrong with you, there may be some who will be annoyed, so be prepared for that. And just hope nobody calls any emergency service who will certainly not be amused.

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Copyright © 2010 Spy Review. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact legal@spyreview.co.uk so we can take legal action immediately.

Are you looking to bring home a new smartphone anytime soon? Well, if you happen to be a fan of BlackBerrys, then Alltel Wireless might be a cellphone service provider that you could consider as they’re offering the BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone at this moment. What is so different about the BlackBerry Curve 8530? Well, this is the latest addition to the BlackBerry Curve line, where it is touted to be an incredibly approachable smartphone. As with any other self-respecting BlackBerry, the Curve 8530 also joins the rank of its brethren by offering easy mobile access to email, instant messaging support (IM, SMS, MMS) as well as compatibility with popular social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

You will find that the Curve 8530 comes with a highly tactile full-QWERTY keyboard that is suitable for comfortable, accurate typing – regardless of whether it is text messages or emails. Apart from that, the device also features rich multimedia capabilities alongside support for music, games and other mobile applications. The inclusion of Wi-Fi connectivity on the smartphone is also a no-brainer, as you can now choose from hooking up to the Internet using Wi-Fi or Alltel’s 3G wireless network. With a Wi-Fi connection, you can carry on talking on the phone while receiving email, text messages and even browse the Internet – as long as the speakerphone is turned on, of course.

Other hardware specifications include a trackpad, dedicated media keys, built-in GPS with BlackBerry Maps and geo-tagging functionality, Stereo Bluetooth connectivity, HTML web browsing capability, 256MB of internal memory, a 2-megapixel camera with digital zoom and video recording as well as a microSDHC memory card slot that allows you to further augment the amount of storage space. It retails for $39.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate as long as you settle for a 1-year service contract to go along with a Smart Choice Pack. Do bear in mind that Smart Choice Packs start from $69.99 monthly, where it includes unlimited data, email and Web access.

Press Release

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Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Alltel Wireless announces BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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Live audio-visual artist VJ Fader tipped me off about this cool visual interface he built for manipulating music and images in real-time.

The faderTouch 3.0 isn’t just your run-of-the-mill sequencer. Nope, the unique portable device features an innovative rear-projection system that allows not only VJ, but his audience to watch the on-screen action. By installing a bright projector inside a briefcase, and aiming it at an angular projection screen, the display can be viewed from either side.

In addition to the projector, the screen has an infrared touch panel overlay which allows him to interact with his custom performance interface which was programmed using Processing, and acts as a MIDI controller for Ableton Live. Here’s a couple of videos showing off the system in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And if you check out the next clip, you can see the faderTouch being used in a live performance at the recent Wham Bam Thank You NAMM show- very cool indeed.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Like what you saw and heard? You can check out a whole bunch of VJ Fader’s performances over on his YouTube page.

Watch and laugh as Peter Ha and Lev Grossman are pwnd by a 11-year old in Halo 3 and Madden. Tools. Just more proof that Peter Ha probably shouldn’t be writing about video games for a living. I’m kidding, Peter. Much love.

Lockheed Martin is more often for its role in the nation’s defense capabilities, but this time round they are offering something that will offer a semblance of protection for your much needed data – and it comes in the form of the new IronClad USB drive. Basically, the IronClad crams in your notebook’s hard drive alongside its entire operating system, software applications and files onto a single device – which is a secure USB flash drive in essence. In layman’s terms, what you get here is deemed to be a 100% secure “PC on a stick” setup. Folks who are constantly on-the-go are able to plug in the USB flash drive into virtually any computer or notebook regardless of your geographical location, and you will be able to gain instant, secure access to your own personal desktop and files.

The IronClad technology will power the operating system straight off of the USB flash drive, which translates to the fact that your files will never touch the hard drive of the borrowed computer, helping ensure security and privacy remain at the top of the agenda, while making sure that your device won’t leave a single trace that it was ever plugged in. The IronClad device is also fully encrypted, delivering hardware-level protection even against today’s most insidious malware threats such as nearly undetectable rootkits. The idea of toting your precious data on a secure device the size of a chewing gum stick in your pocket is definitely comforting, especially if you’re involved in a position that deals with sensitive information.

Individual IronClad drives will come with at least 8GB of 256-bit encrypted storage, where it is encased in a rugged, water- and shock-resistant metal case. Within, you will find custom Lockheed Martin technology that lets you run your whole desktop straight off the USB flash drive, while its integrated advanced virus protection allows you to plug in any shared or public computer without losing any sleep at night. All IronClad drives also double up as a node on a centrally-managed network, and this allows IT organizations to keep a close eye on each drive, while maintaining a tight rein on what are the permissible applications that can be installed on the drive itself.

Press Release

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Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Lockheed Martin and its new new IronClad USB drive copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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Months ago, I posted about a set of Ratchet & Clank vinyl figures created by two of Insomniac Games’ employees. Unfortunately, they were made exclusively for the good folks at Insomniac. Only a few sets managed to get into public hands, and those were through auctions.

I was very, very, jealous.

But the toy gods pitied me, it seems, and commanded Insomniac Games to sanction Ratchet & Clank figures for the masses. And while they aren’t quite as stylish as those in-house vinyl figures, DC Unlimited’s line is still charming. According to Sony’s PlayStation blog, the figures are already being sold at various comic book retailers. Now if only I had any clue where the closest comic book store to me was…

There are four sets in total for the series 1 Ratchet & Clank figures: armored Ratchet and Mr. Zurkon, Captain Qwark and Scrunch, Dr. Nefarious and Zoni, and of course, Ratchet and Clank themselves. Considering all the variations of Ratchet & Clank (armor, weapons, upgrades, etc.) more series lines are to come. I hope.

[via Kotaku]