Archives for January 2007
Linksys announces a draft-N router for gamers
Darius Chang | Jan 08, 2007
Gamers rejoice. LAN parties will never be the same again as Linksys draft-N router offers higher bandwidth for your online killing and pillaging.
The Linksys WRT330N gaming router offers four Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports and one Gigabeat Ethernet WAN port in addition to its wireless service. To ensure smoother online play, the router is based on the Quality of Service (Qos) implementation which prioritizes gaming packets.
But would draft-N machines get shown the door once the N standard has been formalized? According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the final N specifications can be implemented on current draft-N devices with a simple upgrade. The WRT330N gaming router has a retail price of around US$200.
HP TouchSmart PC
Darius Chang | Jan 08, 2007
The HP TouchSmart PC is a widescreen giant that aims to take over your living room as an all-in-one entertainment machine.
Running an AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core TL-52 processor and Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics card, this PC offers the best that Windows Vista Premium edition has to offer. Though it comes with wireless keyboard and mouse, you can quickly scribble a note or navigate the menu with a stroke of the stylus. Unfortunately, it decided to integrate a normal DVD writer instead of a next-generation optical drive. Other notable features are the 1.3-megapixel camera and HDTV tuner card.
It is set to launch on January 30 in the US with a recommended retail price of US$1,799.
Click here for a larger image
Samsung adds face recognition and gems to new i70
Damian Koh | Jan 08, 2007
First was Fujifilm, then Canon. Now Samsung is also offering face recognition features on some of its new cameras, with the premium i70 taking the cake with onboard PMP functions and five jewels studded around the lens.
Samsung's new i70 sports a unique sliding mechanism that hides the camera's lens when not in use. The rest of the technical details are pretty humdrum with a 7.2-megapixel CCD, 3x optical zoom and wide 3-inch LCD screen. There's also an Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR) mode, not to be confused with optical image stabilization that uses mechanical compensation for shaky hands, which boosts the shooter's ISO to 1,600 to reduce blur.
At CES, the Korean chaebol also announced six other digital cameras, mostly megapixel upgrades and design enhancements to the current lineup. The 10-megapixel S1050 and 8-megapixel S850 are reminiscent of the previous NV-series NV10/NV7 sans the Smart Touch user interface. Of the seven, only the L73 sports the array of touch-sensitive buttons which we're familiar with.
For the full list of Samsung cameras announced, click here.
Click here for more CES related stories.
HP's Vista-powered entertainment tablet
Darius Chang | Jan 08, 2007
Taking advantage of new tablet-focused features in the upcoming Windows Vista OS, HP makes it easy to work and play on its latest tx1000us tablet PC.
Being one of the first Vista-powered tablet PCs to be announced, the tx1000us is a convertible laptop with an AMD Turion 64 X2 processor, 2GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce Go 6150 graphics card and a 120GB hard drive. The new OS also gives the tablet PC additional functionality like Pen Flicks (quick shortcuts you activate with a swipe of the stylus) and enhanced support for touch-sensitive screens which do not require a dedicated stylus for input.
However, the tx1000us is not all work and no play. Included in the package are media control buttons, dual headphone jacks and a tiny credit card-size remote control which hides in the PC card slot when not in use. With a starting price of US$1,299 (S$1,999.55), it will launch in the US on February 28. The availability and prices for the Asia-Pacific market, however, have yet to be announced.
Big or small, Sony has it all
Darius Chang | Jan 08, 2007
DVDs are so yesterday's news. Sony is gearing for the future with a skew of desktops that ride on the high-definition video wave.
At CES 2007, the Japanese giant announced the VAIO XL3, VAIO RM HD Video Editing system and the petite VAIO TP1. Each of these desktops fits into distinct niches and provides varying capabilities for the demands of HD-quality movies.
The US$3,300 VAIO XL3 is designed to meld with the living room decor. Comprising a Blu-ray DVD burner, CableCard support for digital cable reception and Windows Vista Home Premium, this VAIO should have no issues delivering the latest Blu-ray titles to your large-screen TV. An Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive, and a GeForce 7600 GTL graphics card with an HDMI output imply a competent gaming machine as well.
If homemade videos are your thing, the high-end VAIO RM HD Video Editing system, which comes with a US$3,500 price tag, juices up performance with a Core 2 Duo processor, Blu-ray optical drive, 1TB of hard drive storage, a USB jog dial input device for sliding frames around on the Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 editing software as well as Windows Vista Business edition.
The baby of the group, the VAIO TP1, has a unique cylindrical chassis and looks nothing like a typical desktop. Priced at US$1,600, it does not incorporate the latest Blu-ray optical drive, instead opting for a cheaper DVD writer. It does, however, have a Core 2 Duo processor, 300GB hard drive, a TV tuner card and HDMI output for clear delivery of movies to your display.
Images: VAIO XL3 | VAIO RM HD Video Editing system | VAIO TP1
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