Archives for November 2006
Do you have picture phobia?
Damian Koh | Nov 13, 2006
Here's the deal. You would rather do the laundry, pay your bills, balance checkbooks, clean out the garage, even go to the dentist than have your picture taken--at least that's what Fujifilm is saying.
More than 73 percent of women and almost 50 percent of men feel uneasy in front of a camera, according to a survey conducted by Fujifilm USA Inc. What were they concerned with? Well, weight and hairstyle.
We hear some chuckles. Hey, even Hollywood stars have bad hair days once in a while. The only difference is they have personal groomers and trainers to manage their every appearance unlike the plebeians that we are.
Fujifilm's face detection technology won't make you look like Brad Pitt or Kate Moss. What it does is automatically focus and adjust for correct exposure on human faces. But there's only this much a camera can do and a lot depends on the photographer and the subject.
No money for surgical procedures? Don't worry, there's always the Pucker tool in Photoshop to make you slimmer. But if you want to learn how to look great on prints, Fujifilm has some tips to share.
Sell your Porsche, buy a notebook
Darius Chang | Nov 13, 2006
Do you have US$350,000 (S$544,460) burning a hole in your pocket and you just don't know how to spend it? Splurge it all on Ego's diamond-decorated notebook.
Just don't expect a speedy gonzales for your money. According to CNET US, it runs on a single-core AMD Turion processor. This 12.1-inch extravagance was designed by fashion designer Rodrigo Otazu who put 470 diamonds in tulip, heart and Otazu logo patterns. Lest one accuses the company of pandering only to the upmarket crowd, it also created the Tulip Ego which has the same handbag-shaped chassis with interchangeable skins made from various designer fabrics and finishes, but without the sparkles. This range costs a mere US$5,000 (S$7,778)--a price which should be just right should Denise Richards decide to throw more laptops out the window.
Click here for larger image
Samsung's ladies clamshell, the SGH-E500
Reuben Lee | Nov 13, 2006
The Korean chaebol's latest addition to its collection of female-oriented handsets comes in the form of the luxurious-looking SGH-E500. According to the press release, the elegant design of the new clamshell is influenced by Botticelli's masterpiece, The Birth Of Venus. The phone features an external leather cover with swirl patterns and smooth edges.
Onboard functions are designed to cater to the female crowd. These include the Mobile Beauty Box function, an onboard application that allows users to project different hairstyles to their pictures, as well as Women's Life which helps keep track of bio-rhythm, calories and height-weight ratio. The external LCD display can also double as a mirror. Other features on this triband are a 1.3-megapixel camera, music player, Bluetooth stereo support and microSD card expansion slot. The SGH-E500 is retailing in Singapore for S$548 (US$360.53) with a two-year contract and S$648 (US$426.32) on its own. No word on its Asia availability for now.
Charge your phone on-the-go
Juniper Foo | Nov 13, 2006
Make haze while the sun shines? With the Indonesian fires still smoldering, it should inspire some of us to go eco-friendly with alternative sources of power, like the Scotty Solar Charger. Though at 5-7 hours of sunlight to fully charge (yielding 1 hour of talktime or 60 hours of standby), that's a lot of tan time. So best slap on some Banana Boat if you don't plan to fry. Otherwise, this is one of the smaller solar chargers we've seen that's portable enough to hook onto a belt or backpack. This Scotty distills the sun's energies into a pair of Ni-CD battery cells serving as a power reservoir, with the option to switch to two AA alkaline batts for more instant power transfers. A charging indicator at the back flashes more rapidly the fuller the batteries are charged. Just one gripe: From the images and specs, the adapters look ancient enough to charge that Palm V and Game Boy. So word to the wise: Do sound out Maplin on whether this Scotty's good enough to beam power into today's iPods and cellulars.
Click for what's in the box | rear of charger
Via Shiny Shiny
Price: 29.99 pounds (US$56.90)
Availability: At Maplin
Device: Portable solar charger
Basic specs: Includes 2x 600mAh Ni-CD rechargeable batteries, 20-year cell life, USB charger
Nokia's concept phone: The aeon
Reuben Lee | Nov 10, 2006
Ever wondered what mobile phones would look like, say, five years from now? Well, judging from the ever-changing landscape of the cellular handset industry, it's hard to tell really. However, one possible design could be the aeon, a concept phone which Nokia showcased at its R&D lab during a recent media event in Finland.
From the looks of it, the aeon comes with an LCD display across its entire face, with the bottom half doubling as a touchscreen input panel for the number pad. Aesthetics-wise, the aeon is kept simple and slim, with a futuristic design touch that's ironically similar to something you'd expect from the movie of the same name, Aeon Flux.
Too bad for Nokia fans, the Finnish company told CNET Asia that this phone is just one of its concept designs and unlikely to be available anytime soon.
Click here for larger images: 1 / 2 / 3.
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