Sony Unveils “Google TV” Line

Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. has unveiled over the weekend its new line of high-definition LCD televisions featuring “Google TV” – a merger technology that offers online content with traditional TV programming.

In a statement, Sony said that the new Google TV sets will go on sale on October 16 this year at $600 for the 24-inch model and $1,400 for the 46-inch version. Also, 32-inch and 40-inch models will be available for $800 and $1,000, respectively.

However, Sony said that the Blu-ray disc player with a built-in Google TV will be sold separately for $400.

According to Mike Abary, senior vice-president for Sony’s Home Division, the new Google TV will allow users to integrate their usual web surfing habit while viewing their favorite programs on television.

“Finally, the search for the perfect technology that combines the pleasure of watching television while surfing the Internet is here,” Abary said in the statement.

New LED 3D TV’s 2010: Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, LG, Philips

A few years ago we started to see CRT TVs fall out of fashion as consumers had a new type of TV – LCD. These were much thinner than the former. If you were to tell consumers that LCD TVs would get much thinner within a few years, they would have said that you were crazy. Well that is just what has happened with the introduction of LED.

These have now been around for over a year now, but they are getting thinner again. CES 2010 took place at the start of the year and had on show a new range of LED TVs, but with a small difference – the introduction of 3D technology. There are a number of new LED television sets to choose from in 2010, your decision will depend on a number of things, price, specs and design.

When it comes to LED TVs, one company leading the charge is Samsung, they are to launch three new models all capable of 3D – yes, yet another new technology – these include the C7000, C8000 and C9000 Series. These TVs have now started to hit the US market; the C7000 Series comes in 46- and 55-inch models. The C8000 and C9000 Series also comes with 46- and 55-inch models, the larger 65-inch model will be released in May.

Panasonic always seems to be late to the party than Samsung, there is a number of reasons for this, but the main one has to do with getting its technology right, there is no denying that Panasonic is one of the best TV makers on the planet. They did debut a 3DTV back in 2008, but we seem to be waiting a while to get an ultra thin LED TV, we all know how much Panasonic loves Plasma, which is now considered old technology.

Sony will be one of the latest consumer electronics companies to launch their first 3D LED TV, this will happen in June. There will be three models released, one of which is the HX800 and HX600 will use Sony’s LED edge backlit technology, with the latter offering backlighting with local dimming.

LG is on par with Samsung when it comes to its TV technology, with consumers often saying that the later has the slight edge. The best model coming from LG this year will be the Infinia LX9900 LED 3DTV, but do not expect this to be cheap. The model will not cost as much as a Panasonic or Sony, but still much more than you have been used to paying for an LG.

There is to be other models from LG, but they will not come with active shutter glasses as the model does above. Other models we can expect to see this year from the Korean company include: LX9500 series, LH950 and the LX6500.

Philips is one consumer electronics maker who is not having a huge push with its LED TV or 3D range, but they do have the 3D-ready 9000 series coming this year. We wonder how this company will ever compete with the likes of LG or Samsung, who seem to launch more TV models in a year than Phillips does in five.

We know two things, 2010 will be the year of LED TVs and 3D TVs, but will you be jumping on the bandwagon. For more details on each model visit Gizmag

New SteelSeries World of Warcraft: Cataclysm MMO Gaming Mouse

The SteelSeries World of Warcraft: Cataclysm MMO Gaming Mouse will be available on December 7th for $99.99, right on time for the launch of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. The exterior design of this mouse resembles the armored plating of Deathwing the Destroyer, but most importantly the ergonomically designed SteelSeries World of Warcraft: Cataclysm MMO gaming mouse features 14 programmable buttons giving gamers flexibility and a speed advantage over competitors.

HP Announces Palm Pre 2 Smartphone with HP webOS 2.0

Previously known as the Palm webOS, HP brings the new HP webOS 2.0 update to its new Palm Pre 2 smartphone, which will be available this Friday in France from SFR, and in the coming months from Verizon Wireless in the USA.

HP's Palm Pre 2 smartphone, the first Palm phone with a 1 gigahertz processor, retains the touchscreen and slide-out keyboard design found on the original Palm Pre and Palm Pre Plus, but it adds a new 5-megapixel camera, a glass screen and a sleeker, streamlined design.

Pricing was not yet announced, but there's a fresh Palm Pre 2 website set-up to provide more features, specifications, and updates.

Apple Releases New 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air Notebooks

Apple's MacBook Air has always been a thin marvel of a notebook, but the iPad took a lot of attention away from the sleek laptop. Now Apple hopes to grab customers' attention for the Macbook Air once again, going "Back to the Mac" with the release of new 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air notebooks which are available in stores today. With both MacBook Airs featureing fast solid state flash storage, the 1.4 GHz 11-inch MacBook Air with 2GB of memory and 64GB of flash storage starts at $999, and a 128GB model costs $1,199. The 1.86 GHz 13-inch MacBook Air with 2GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage starts at $1,299, or $1,599 for the 256GB model.

Designed in a precision aluminum unibody enclosure, the easy-to-carry laptops weigh 2.3 pounds for the 11-inch model and 2.9 pounds for the 13-incher, and they measure 0.11-inches at the thinnest point and 0.68-inches at its thickest. Key features on the new MacBook Air include an 11.6-inch or 13.3-inch high-resolution LED-backlit display, Intel Core 2 Duo processors, NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics, a full-sized keyboard, a glass Multi-Touch trackpad, a built-in FaceTime camera, mic and stereo speakers, a Mini DisplayPort, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and two USB ports. The 13-inch MacBook Air also gets an SD card slot.

Cool 40% Off the Sound Asleep Speaker Pillow

We reported on the cool Sound Asleep Pillow a couple of years ago (ouch doesn’t time fly), the pillow connects to your music player so you can unobtrusively listen to tunes while your going to sleep.

We’ve just been informed it is currently heavily discounted, Amazon has a whopping 40% off, so if you fancy starting your Christmas shopping early need we say more.

Daiwa House Moogle can inspect crawlspaces by remote control

I remember watching an episode of Modern Family, where Phil, the dumb yet likable father, wants to check out the space underneath this house. He decides to tape a webcam to his kid’s remote control truck, which sadly rolls over. Eventually, he has to physically crawl under and get it himself.

It would appear that Phil should have used a Moogle, a remote-control robot by Daiwa House that can do the same thing, but not tip over. The Moogle has tank treads for getting through bumpy territory, a laser rangefinder, and WiFi connectivity. The Moogle (by the way, it is pronounced like it rhymes with “google” and not “Google”) has two cameras. One is for the actual driving, and the other one is for the actual inspection.

I have a video of it after the jump in case you want to see it in action. In the video, it looks like that it has detected a crack, which would be good for the homeowner to know, don’t you think?

British student invents a solar-powered refrigerator

In Namibia, Miss Emily Cummins is known as “The Fridge Lady”. This is because she invented a solar-powered refrigerator that is can help many poverty-stricken Africans.

The solar-powered refrigerator works with two cylinders, one inside the other. The inner cylinder is metal while the outer one is wood or plastic. In between these two cylinders is either sand or soil, which can be soaked with water. The sun’s rays heat the wet material, and as the water evaporates, the heat is removed from the inner cylinder. This keeps the fridge at a cool six degrees Celsius.

Kajeet – The Cell Phone Service Made 4 Kids

When someone tells you that kids these days grow up too fast, believe it. It seems like only yesterday that I brought my little one home from the hospital and all of a sudden, she’s already asking me for a cell phone. Okay, it wasn’t yesterday, and she’s actually seven, but still it went by way to quickly.

Anyway, It would be ridiculous to trust a seven year old with a cell phone, right? Well, not anymore. Kajeet has come up with a phone service just right for your spoiled, um, I mean precious darlings. Kajeet offers a bunch of features that parents will love, like a pay as you go plan, with no contracts, tons of parental controls, call blocking, time manager and a GPS phone locator. It also has tons of stuff your kids will love, like talk, text, pix and play and with the really cool phones they have to choose from, maybe a cell phone for a little one can actually be a win-win.

Video Boroscope unleashes your creative video recording juices

For those who want to increase their scope of video recording capabilities, you can look forward toward the Video Boroscope. After all, this interesting device will feature a flexible 36-inch long gooseneck camera which is capable of snapping photos as well as videos of objects in hard-to-reach places. Of course, there are times where these hard-to-reach places are extremely dark, which is why Hammacher is offering a couple of white LEDs at the Video Boroscope’s tip in order to illuminate its subjects, with the camera tip being able to even get submerged in water of up to 10 feet deep. The scope’s image sensor is capable of capturing pictures and video with a 70º viewing angle as close as 3/4-inch, where it will be displayed on a 2.5-inch color LCD at 320 x 240 pixel resolution. All images will be saved as JPEGs and videos as AVIs onto its 32MB of internal memory, which isn’t exactly much by today’s standards. Powered by a quartet of AA batteries, it will come with an USB port and video-out port alongside the necessary cables. Hammacher is offering the Video Boroscope for $249.95.

Tron Zero G Light Cycle

It seems that expectations of the upcoming Tron Legacy movie is pretty high, especially when you consider what kind of hype it must live up to when compared to the original classic. Needless to say, the chances of making a huge splash in terms of merchandise are pretty high, which is why there is the Tron Zero G Light Cycle which will tie in with the movie. Retailing for £34.99 a pop, this bike will work like the one in the movie, as the Zero G Light Cycles emit trails of light (or ‘jetwalls’ as you call it) which will cause your opponent’s vehicle to fall off the wall or ceiling if crossed. All action can be controlled via a stylish twin toggle infra-red transmitter which doubles up as a charging unit for your Light Cycle’s rechargeable battery

Razer Anansi MMO gaming keyboard is world’s first

Razer, a company that is synonymous with gaming peripherals, has just introduced yet another gaming keyboard in the form of the Anansi. This is a MMO gaming keyboard which is also touted to be the first in the world, where it will also share a similar design philosophy as that of the world’s best-selling MMO gaming mouse, the Razer Naga. Will this keyboard enable your guild to perform more successful raids in World of Warcraft? We don’t think so, unless everyone in the guild is of extremely high skill level, and your strategy is impeccable. Still, it is nice to know that you can’t really blame anyone but yourself for future failures in implementing a raid strategy since there can’t be any problems with the hardware, right?

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H55 digital camera

The second of Sony’s most recent release where digital cameras are concerned would be the Cyber-shot DSC-H55 digital still camera, where this highly capable shooter looks pretty sleek and serious at the same time, boasting high zoom in a compact design. With the Sony Cyber-shot H55 camera, one will be able to enjoy the fruits of its 10x optical zoom Sony G lens with 25mm wide-angle (equivalent) that makes it more than capable of taking better shots from greater distances and of wider landscapes. Apart from that, it will also feature a 14.1 megapixel CCD sensor which allows you to which makes it more than capable of shooting panoramic shots in one sweeping motion with Sweep Panorama mode. Apart from that, one can also frame and view photos on its 3″ Clear Photo LCD screen (230,400 pixels).

Memories can also be recorded down for posterity thanks to its built-in 720p movie recording capability with its Optical SteadyShot image stabilization that further reduces blur in photos without compromising image quality. Apart from that, Sony has also thrown in Optical SteadyShot image stabilization with Active Mode that enables one to shoot smoother movie clips even though you are involved in some fairly active motion such as walking or light jogging. This is made possible thanks to a moveable lens element within the camera to shift with greater range of motion—10 times the range of the Optical SteadyShot feature at wide end in standard mode—to compensate for camera shake.

Another intelligent feature that Sony has thrown into the H55 would be a Self portrait timer which automatically takes the shot two seconds after one or two faces are detected, making it a snap (no pun intended) to capture smile-worthy self-portraits. The inclusion of Smile Shutter technology also ensures that all smiles are captured automatically, leaving no room for anyone to accuse you of being one gloomy fellow. The Sony DSC-H55 camera will come in black and silver colors this April as well, retailing for around $250.

SteelSeries Announced Cataclysm MMO Gaming Mouse

SteelSeries latest MMO offering is based on a key character, Deathwing the Destroyer, from the massively popular World of Warcraft franchise. Featured in the Cataclysm expansion for the MMO, the mouse captures Deathwing armour and colour scheme, in addition to 14 buttons optimised for MMO gaming. These buttons are fully programmable with 130 preset commands native to WoW.

StarCraft is not the only game getting some themed gaming peripherals this year. SteelSeries has introduced a new MMO gaming mouse dedicated to World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.Developed in partnership with Blizzard Entertainment, the newest WoW mouse sports an intuitive 14-button layout with more than 130 preset game commands, which can be customized directly from inside the game. Gamers can also adjust pulsation levels and the color illumination options, as well as save up to 10 character-linked profiles in the software and one profile directly on the mouse.

The Warcraft mouse has a design that is styled after the armor of the AI character Deathwing the Destroyer and sports 14 buttons. It is ergonomically designed and macros and controls can be assigned to all buttons. There are 16 million backlight color options, four pulse levels and the ability to save as many as 10 character-linked profiles in the software and one on the mouse.

The 6Gv2 keyboard is said to be 'indestructible.' It uses 18K gold-plated mechanical switches and an extreme anti-ghosting feature that is said to support as many simultaneous key presses as there are keys on the keyboard. Media Controls are incorporated and the keys are mechanical. The plastic keys are iron-infused and sport no-click switches.

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BenQ Launches Projector MP780 ST With PointDraw Technology

BenQ unveiled an interactive projector- MP780ST,short-throw WXGA DLP projector. Among its features is BenQ trademarked PointDraw system with interactive pen, which distinguishes the MP780 ST by eliminating the costs and hassles of buying a separate interactive boards and speakers, maximizes usage of valuable classroom wall space by allowing users to point, draw and create on any projected surface.

One of the most ground-breaking features of the flagship MP780 ST includes the BenQ PointDraw Technology with calibration-free and whiteboard-free interactive pen, 3D-readiness, integrated microphone-in jack, built-in speakers, and PC-less projectability. This feature enables a host of multi-media capabilities that lets teachers and students utilise an interactive pen that allows them to point, draw, and doodle on any projected surface with no need for a whiteboard and no need for calibration. The all-in-one projector facilitates sharing and open communication in the classroom. It saves schools the high costs of purchasing whiteboards and additionally overcomes space constraints, allowing users to custom-fit an interactive work space of 48 to 300 (diagonal size) on any blackboard, chalkboard or painted wall in any open space.

Staying on the edge of the newest advancements in teaching, the MP778 and MP780 ST are also 3D-ready. Teachers can seamlessly switch from traditional projection to 3D without any complexity or time-consuming adjustments. The plug-and-play easy MP778, like the MP780 ST, also features USB display and USB reader, integrated mic and big speakers, but with an additional big 1.6:1 zoom ratio.

The projectors fit any classroom setting, from small portable classrooms to large auditoriums and lecture halls. IT buyers are equally catered to with low-maintenance features, product longevity, easy, low-cost classroom integration, and enhanced security and control of LAN connection. For large-scale projection needs in auditoriums or lecture halls, BenQ offers the ultra-bright 4000-lumen SP840 (3,000:1 contrast ratio) and SP890 (50,000:1 contrast ratio). Both models captivate student attention with flawless Full HD 1080p splendor and high quality images with BrilliantColor, VIDI, and BenQ Independent Color Management.