Gadgets 2008

It has been over a year since we covered any mi Jam products from the B2 company, so I say it is high time we covered something by them. One of their most recent products is the mi Jam Drummer.

I suppose this product would probably best be suited for children, or for anyone at any age who aspires to be a drummer. Simply put, this device hooks up with a digital music device, stereo, personal computer, iPod, or any other Portable Media Player to allow the user to be the drummer.

The mi Jam Drummer has two modes: interactive and standalone. Standalone allows the user to plug into the miJam to the external speaker or earphone, and he or she can simulate a full drum kit including a snare drum, tom toms, bass, hi-hat, even cymbals. There are even some newly added keys that allow the drummer to add roll effects. The interactive mode allows for the user to play the music, and the user can drum along with the sound.

The best part about the mi Jam drummer is it can be used with the user’s stereo speakers or personal headphones. The personal headphones mode means that parents can be oblivious to their son or daughter’s drumming, and the silent home leads to fewer headaches for mom and dad.

You should be able to pick up the mi Jam Drummer for about $25 at retail and online stores everywhere.

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Let’s face the fact - most USB flash drives aren’t exactly…flashy in terms of design, coming in the usual and boring rectangular form factor. With the USB Mixa Tape, things are very different.

Flash drives abound nowadays, but in a grey digital age it’s important to be able to tart up our tech and have a little fun. This 1 Gig flash drive may seem to be an anachronism, but its neat flip-out USB port and oodles of space make it the perfect little portable filing cabinet. Fill it with hundreds of your favourite tracks, piles and piles of your top photos, or slightly more dull but no less useful, all your important documents (Government Departments please don’t fill this with all our personal records and leave it on a train). The cassette comes with a sheet of graffiti style stickers so you can pimp up your tape, and of course it comes in a traditional style cassette tape box. It’s the ultimate in nostalgic data storage and transfer that even a computer luddite can get their head round.

The USB Mixa Tape can be yours for £19.99. Of course, at that price one can probably get a much higher capacity USB flash drive, but you won’t have that geek factor to flaunt.

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by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Aug 26th 2008 at 9:32AM
It’s been at least an hour since Sony has released a new PlayStation 3 SKU, so our friends at Joystiq took the time to take a breath. In that moment, they came up with a handy — and somewhat startling — chart that explains which PS3 model has what, including Cell chip size (the more efficient and quieter 65nm vs the older 90nm), USB port count, pack-in freebies, and which ones have PS2 backwards compatibility. It’s charts like that that remind us that no currently-shipping PS3 comes with HD video cables or PS2 backward compatibility, for better or worse. Hit the read link for the breakdown, and start your fanboy engines.

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Canon’s two latest models from its budget-friendly A-Series digital cameras are definitely something to look forward to when they are released sometime in September. These cameras are the PowerShot A1000 IS and PowerShot A2000 IS. Finally, Canon has decided to do away with the bulky and heavy form factor of its old A-Series cameras and decided to make their new generation slimmer, lighter and more compact. Canon has even throw in a very powerful feature which is the ultra-zoom optical range.

Features common to both the A1000 IS and A2000 IS are their 10-megapixel resolution sensor and the presence of the DIGIC III Image Processor plus the A1000 IS gets a 4x optical zoom while the A2000 IS gets a higher 6x optical zoom. Both models are also equipped with an optical image stabilization lens and high ISO Auto sensitivity.

For other features, we are looking at a 2.5-inch LCD for the A1000 IS and 3-inch LCD for the A2000 IS. The digital cameras also feature an optical viewer, face detection, Easy Mode and Easy Playback modes, print/share button for direct printing and downloading, ID Photo Print and Movie Print as well, motion detection automatic red eye correction.

Product [Canon] Product [Canon]

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Navigon has recently shown off their new GPS, the 7200T. In efforts to make this their best GPS thus far, they have added a few new features including a revamped OS.

Within the new OS comes real time traffic updates, Reality View Pro, and Landmark View 3D. The traffic updates are free using the FM tuner tuned to Clear Channel’s Total Traffic Network. Usually, real time traffic updates cost monthly subscriptions. The other cool feature is the Landmark View 3D, which shows a 3D view of landmarks in the area. In addition, the 7200T sports the aforementioned 4.3-inch touchscreen, with a 16:9 display, 2GB of internal storage, SiRF GRF3i+GPS chip, microSD expansion, 64MB of RAM, and running on a Centrality Titan I 600MHz processor.

The Navigon 7200T is set to be available in October, retailing for $449.

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Navigon has recently shown off their new GPS, the 7200T. In efforts to make this their best GPS thus far, they have added a few new features including a revamped OS.

Within the new OS comes real time traffic updates, Reality View Pro, and Landmark View 3D. The traffic updates are free using the FM tuner tuned to Clear Channel’s Total Traffic Network. Usually, real time traffic updates cost monthly subscriptions. The other cool feature is the Landmark View 3D, which shows a 3D view of landmarks in the area. In addition, the 7200T sports the aforementioned 4.3-inch touchscreen, with a 16:9 display, 2GB of internal storage, SiRF GRF3i+GPS chip, microSD expansion, 64MB of RAM, and running on a Centrality Titan I 600MHz processor.

The Navigon 7200T is set to be available in October, retailing for $449.

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If there’s one woman I like despite having seen her colon (okay, so I didn’t actually look) it’s Katie Couric. This week she’ll be presenting a series of live webcasts presenting the highlights of the Democratic National Convention, followed by a roundtable discussion.

You can tune in to watch the ‘casts from 7-8 PM PDT untilTuesday, Wednesday and Thursday by clicking here.

Via CNET news.

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 26th 2008 at 7:30AM
We’re not going to re-hash the details of Nokia’s N79 and N85 yet again. After all, we just went through it less than 24-hours ago. We will tell you that both the N79 (tri-band GSM, 900/2100 UMTS/HSDPA) and N85 (quad-band GSM/EDGE with either 900/1900/2100 or 850/1900/2100 UMTS/HSDPA) will hit Europe in October for €350 and €450, respectively, pre-tax and pre-carrier subsidies. The N85 could also be Stateside sometime soon given those frequencies and prior FCC approval. Oh, and pictures, lots of pretty pictures.

Gallery: Nokia’s N79 and N85 now mucho official

Read — N79
Read — N85

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Filed under: Cellphones

FROM APPLETELL - Verizon has pretty much compiled all of the reasons why I didn’t upgrade to the iPhone 3G…yet. But one thing Verizon can’t one-up is Apple’s hardware and software experience.
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by Darren Murph, posted Aug 26th 2008 at 7:15AMWhile some outfits evidently operate with a dysfunctional Caps Lock key, projectiondesign is taking things to the opposite extreme by announcing the lower-cased spectra, optix and prisma. The aforesaid trio of DLP projectors is gearing up for a CEDIA debut, where they each will be showing off their 720p / 1080p resolutions, UHP VIDI lamp technology, RealColor management suite, 10-bit processing and HDMI 1.3 connectivity. For the full rundown of specifications (no prices, sorry), tag the read link — and don’t be shocked to hear a teaser about the helios (pictured) and two other unnamed units destined for Q4.

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment