Gizm0 - Gadget Blog for the Technology Obsessed.

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Goodbye iPhone, hello Motorola Z10

Written by steven on March 8, 2008 – 3:45 pm -

Motorola Z10

You were fun, iPhone, but now you’re starting to get a little heavy in the pocket - that shine is getting dusty, and you’re creakin’ like a 40 year old. Your features are getting all confused. You blank in and out cause your light sensors are broken. That EDGE data is starting to creep slower than molasses, and gosh darnit, I don’t want to see a miniature version of the NYTimes, I want to see a mobile version! Oh yeah your camera sucks and how come you can’t shoot video? Aren’t you supposed to be the illness?

Face it, we’re bored with the iPhone’s pet tricks. On to the new. We’re consumers and gadget freaks and we want more, more, more!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enter the Motorola Z10, the cell phone that knocks the iPhone out until June or so when a 3G version of the Mc phone is unveiled. Even then I might be enjoying the video camera on my Moto 210 too much to give it up. Here’s hoping the 3G iPhone has a few more tricks up its sleeve.

The Motorola Z10 has a 3.1 megapixel camera, which isn’t that great at all, but passable. Key however is the phone’s slick look and ability to shoot video.

Like Music? Peep this beauty, the Samsung SGH-i450. Featuring a full digital music player, a 3.5mm headset jack, and Bang & Olufsen speakers. The dual-slider design also offers a touch wheel for menu navigation. Slickz.

Samsung SGH-i450

Nokia N96: the top phone for Europeans

This thing is the new champ but it sure does cost a whole lotta dough (550 euros). We’ve called it the world’s first superphone. For goodness sakes you canwatch TV on it. But peep out the price, 550 euros is like $800 or something. Still for the feature obsessed, this is the king. As picky as we are, this thing has more features then we could ask for. Well, let’s hope the N97 can shoot HD video! Just kidding, the N96 doesn’t even arrive until late summer 2008!

Full specs of Nokia N96 include:

WCDMA2100/900 (HSDPA) / EGSM900, GSM850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS) connectivity
DVB-H Class C, 470-750 MHz
S60 3rd edition, FP2 UI
2.8” QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) LCD TFT display with up to 16 million colors
5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and auto-exposure
Dual-LED camera flash, video light, recording indicator, auto-focus assist light
Secondary VGA (640 x 480 px) camera for video calls
Video capture in MPEG-4 up to VGA at 30 fps
Digital Video Stabilization
Built-in GPS/A-GPS
WLAN - IEEE802.11 g/b
Stereo FM radio (87.5-108MHz, 76-90MHz) with RDS
Hi-Speed USB 2.0 with Micro USB type B interface
3.5mm stereo headset plug , TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP stereo/EDR
950 mAh battery with up to 220 min talk, 220 hrs standby time, 5 hrs video, 14 hrs music or 4 hrs TV playback
Dimensions: 103×55×18 mm
Weight: 125 g

Point and Shoot HD Video: Panasonic DMC-TZ5K

Written by steven on March 7, 2008 – 12:14 pm -

It seems here at Gizm0.com all we talk about are cameras, maybe we should start a camera blog or hire a few more writers. Anyhoo, we can’t help it, cameras are the ultimate gizmos, shooting pics, recording audio and now shooting HD video?! That’s right folks, meet the newest HD camcorder, the very svelt Panasonic DMC-TZ5K.

We’re not talking low-res, 15 fps here. No, this is full blown 1280×720 HD resolution at 30 fps! You can even zoom around when you’re shooting that glorious HD video, and when you’re done, simply plug it into your HD plasma to watchurbate amongst your brethen, or roommates, or whatever.

The TZ5 is the most capable camera we’ve seen so far in the new class of point and shoot HD video. On the still picture side, it rocks 9 megapixels and a novel Clipboard function, which lets you take pics of hard to read things like maps in a way that makes it well, readable. There’s also of course the Leica 28mm lense and 10X optical zoom. We don’t think it records stereo sound, but we’re pretty sure it will eventually. If you need to replace that clunky camcorder, grab one of these now for about $349.

Macbook Air vs Thinkpad X300: Tale of the Tape

Written by steven on February 22, 2008 – 3:51 pm -

By now you laptop hungry freaks are probably salivating between the ThinkPad X300 and the Macbook Air. We’ve already previewed the battle and frankly suggested you go with the lowest priced Macbook Air. $1,799 is a damn bargain for the ‘Airs. But if you gotsta hook up your shiznet, with either laptop, you’re going to end up at roughly the same price point, $3,000. With solid state, DVD, ethernet, etc., the ThinkPad X300 is clearly better configured. The DVD burner for example, is built in, and ethernet can be ordered integrated into the laptop. With Mac, its “accessorize me!” But here’s the real weak point of the Macbook Air — that darn non-removable battery. Sure you can get it replaced for “the same price as a new Mac battery” but what a horrible day that’ll be when we have to stand in line at the genius bar or something, waiting for our number to come up.

With the ThinkPad X300, batteries come in various strengths and weights, and are swappable, you know, just like back in the day. The ThinkPad X300 is also wi-max ready. Yummy!!! Of course this means absolutely nothing. There’s no wi-max signal anywhere we can think of, and we’re in New York City, but hey, at least we can say its future proof!

What this boring chart from macsource.com can’t reflect are the two aesthetic choices you have to pick from. Are you 3-day stubble cool and turtlenecky or do you rock monkey suits and a briefcase? Like the Presidential campaign, it also largely comes down to a choice of colors, silver or black.

We have Apple’s very BMW-like silver and slick or the Thinkpad X300’s silky black, complete with a fingerprint reader and a keyword that clickity clacks. Let’s face it, the ThinkPad X300 is the more serious machine - but we wouldn’t go so far as to call it the superior machine. It could be, if it ran on Apple’s far superior operating system. Chance of that happening? Don’t hold your breath.

Here’s the tale of the tape, but as we’ve said before, unless you’re a dedicated PC-guy by virtue of your corporate job, the $1,799 Macbook Air is your best bet. All specs aside, our metrics indicate that the Air will provide you with more daily gadget joy not to mention actually turn a few heads at the coffee shop. We don’t know about you homie, but if we just dropped three G’s, We’re gonna wanna see some envy in people’s faces.

The Thinkpad X300 is small and light but beautiful, it is not. No aesthetically-oriented person (e.g. hot females) will give you two shits about the mad coin you dropped on that thing. Show her the Macbook Air and the black American Express and she’ll probably just go ahead and marry you. Still, just between us gadget heads, we know Apple can do better. Macbook Air, you’re mad cool but we’re already looking for Macbook Air Pro, your bigger brother. And he better come with wi-max. Whatever that is. Gizm0 Crack House Team Delta Force, Out!

Ricoh Caplio - 10 Megapixels and Serious Zoom

Written by steven on February 21, 2008 – 12:04 pm -

Ricoh’s Caplio is a pretty interesting offering - part of that fancy point and shoot category everyone is jumping into. The Ricoh R8’s point of differentiation is a a serious 28-200 mm focus range. It also zooms out by a 7.1x factor for long shots. The Ricoh R8 is an update of the Ricoh R7 and is taking that Sigma DP-1 look, which itself is a take on the Leica M8 minimalism. ISO on the Ricoh R8 is 1,600, which would be sweet for low-light shots.

The lower budget Ricoh Caplio R50 shares the same 10 megapixel lense but has a more modest 36-180mm 5X optical zoom. We’re not going to show you the R50, looks like every other silver point and shoot. No word on pricing. Fairly interesting, but given the competition, we’d rather have that Sigma DP-1.

Panasonic MHC150 Takes on XDCAM EX-1

Written by steven on February 14, 2008 – 1:08 pm -

Panasonic and Sony are always bitter rivals and while we appreciate the Panasonic HVX200, the Sony XDCAM EX-1 takes it up about 10 notches. We love our Sony XDCAM EX-1 pro-level handheld video camcorder. The XDCAM EX-1 knocks the socks off the Panasonic HVX200, so of course Panasonic had to step up.

Their latest offering, the MHC150 (terrible name), looks alot like the HVX200 except uglier and more generic. Their format of choice is AVCHD and the MHC150 boasts 1080p/60. Its supposed to ship in the fall and should roughly match the XDCAM EX-1’s $6.5K pricing. We bet the specs and prices will be a bit lower grade then the XDCAM EX-1, specs which is a low budget shooter’s dream come true.

In other words, don’t get too excited about this Panasonic. The good news is that it may be a hint of other things to come. Frankly we’d be disappointed if this was all they had to battle the EX-1 with.

Sigma DP1: 14 Megapixel Droppin’ this Spring

Written by steven on February 2, 2008 – 8:10 pm -

There’s a new breed of cameras gaining in popularity - the crossover or high end point and shoot. There’s of course the Canon G9, and now Sigma DP1. Besting the Canon G9’s 12 megapixels, the Sigma DP1 boasts 14 megapixels.

Dropping this Spring, the Sigma DP1 employs a “14-megapixel Foveon sensor that defines its shooting characteristics. The new three-layer silicon technology (also used in the SD14) captures each portion an RGB image in one pixel instead of three and allows the sensor to be several times larger than for other point-and-shoots this size; this provides both a major lift both to resolution as well as color response” this according to the good folks at Sigma.

Most exciting too us (besides the high pixel count) is the shallow depth of field capability of the Sigma DP1. Using “a custom-tailored 16.6mm f4 lens that can produce a shallow depth of field effect normally impossible with compact cameras.” We don’t know the price but we’re guessing its going to be competing with the $400-$500 Canon G9. No word on video capability but if its not at least 720P like the Lumix FX35, we’d be disappointed.

Sony Alpha 24 Megapixel DSLR in the Works

Written by steven on February 2, 2008 – 1:17 pm -

Sony is showcasing their Sony Alpha 24.8 Megapixel DSLR for all the world to salivate. Referring to this pixel beast as the “flagship” Sony Alpha, experts suggest that the 24.8 megapixel chip will “only” be able to produce about 24 effective megapixels due to sensor limitations. Still, that’s more than twice the megapixels of the upcoming Nikon D60 DSLR.

Now you can take pictures of your pet cat and turn into a billboard for all the world to see. The Sony Alpha flagship (model not yet determined) will still feature the Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lense, and upgrade options will include a lense with a minimum f2.8 aperture and manual focus override.

Garmin Nuvifone, iPhone’s Newest Competitor?

Written by steven on February 2, 2008 – 1:05 pm -

Garmin, a company known for their GPS receivers, is entering the the phone market, and in a big way. The Garmin Nuvifone is made for the iPhone age, except that shows up to the party wearing a few things the iPhone can only dream of, like true GPS navigation, (of course), 3G, ability to geo-tag photos, MMS and instant messenging and a built in video camera!

Available in Q3, the interface is also a surprise. It’s the same interface as used on the TomTom. With big icons and an easy to navigate user-interface, Garmin’s Nuvifone isn’t really meant to be an iPhone killer, just the next level of portable GPS - but its hard to deny that the two worlds are coming closer and closer together.

See it for yourself at 3GSM in Barcelona, February 11th-14th.

What follows is Garmin’s own press release on the Nuvifone - read only if you’re very interested or very geeky:

“The nuvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “This is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for — a single device that does it all.”

The nuvifone is an innovative mobile phone that has a wide range of advanced yet easy-to-use features. The all touchscreen device is the first of its kind to integrate premium 3.5G mobile phone capability with an internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device. When powered on, the 3.5-inch touchscreen display reveals three primary icons — “Call,” “Search,” and “View Map” which allow the user to effortlessly master the nüvifone’s functions.

The nuvifone is the ultimate multi-tasker. Calls are easily initiated by tapping the “Call” button and selecting a name from the contact list or by using the on-screen keypad. When the user is trying to juggle talking on their phone while entering their vehicle to start a trip, the nuvifone makes the transition simple. When the nuvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling so that the user never misses a beat in the conversation and is able to begin routing to their destination with ease.

Customers familiar with Garmin’s industry leading nuvi(R) product line will feel right at home using the nuvifone’s personal navigation features. It includes preloaded maps of North America, Eastern and Western Europe, or both, and allows drivers to quickly find a specific street address, establishment’s name or search for a destination by category using the nuvifone’s built-in database with millions of points of interest. Turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions guide the user to their destination. If they miss a turn along the route, nuvifone automatically recalculates a route and gets them back on track, speaking the names of the streets along the way.

The nuvifone is Garmin’s first device to include Google local search capability, which harnesses the vast point of interest information available from the world wide web. Nuvifone users can search for locations like “coffee shops” and Google will sort the results based on the user’s current location and relevance. Information provided by Google includes a web-based rating so that users can select the most appropriate destination and route directly to it. In addition, the nuvifone includes a web browser incorporating premium features and touchscreen operation for an optimum mobile browsing experience. The nuvifone also includes personal messaging functions, including email, text, and instant messaging.

For the ultimate in safety, the “Where am I?” feature lets users touch the screen at any time to display the exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations. The nuvifone also helps drivers find their car in an unfamiliar spot or crowded parking lot by automatically marking the position in which it was last removed from the vehicle mount.

In addition to navigation, the nuvifone includes access to Garmin Online(TM), an online service offering constantly-updating information such as real-time traffic, fuel prices, stock prices, sport scores, news reports, local events and weather forecasts.

The nuvifone also includes numerous mobile entertainment applications. The built-in camera allows individuals to take a picture that will automatically be tagged with the exact latitude and longitude reference of where the image was taken. The user may then save the image so they can navigate back to the location, or email the image to a recipient who can navigate directly to the location. The nuvifone also provides direct access to millions of geo-located landmark and sightseeing photographs available through Google’s Panoramio picture sharing site. The Panoramio photo search feature enhances the enjoyment and adventure of sightseeing in an otherwise unfamiliar location. Other multimedia functions of the nuvifone include a built-in video camera, MP3 and MPEG4/AAC.

Garmin anticipates that the nuvifone will be available in the third quarter of 2008. Specific details about pricing and sales partners will be announced in the future. Additional information about nuvifone is available at http://www.garmin.com/nuvifone.

Macbook Air Drops Tomorrow - Buy or Not?

Written by steven on January 31, 2008 – 8:24 pm -

The Macbook Air is dropping tommorrow, and there’s been lots of criticism of it - not enough memory, no ethernet, no DVD burner, etc. What do we at Gizm0.com think? Hogwash. Gizm0.com takes our recommendations seriously, but yes, you should buy the Macbook Air, and quick like.

The issues they raise are b.s.:

- Memory isn’t like what it used to be. Buy a terabyte drive and keep it at home, where your precious memories should be in the first place. You could use your iPod’s 160 gb harddrive as your main harddrive, but we tend to lose things, so stick with the terabyte at home idea.

- no DVD/CD burner, well, no problem, they sell one for $99 bucks and you can keep that at home too.

- no ethernet cable, no firewire. There’s $20 adaptors at radio shack to take care of those problems. The idea is to keep it mobile and fashionable so that you can hang out at cafes, checking out gadget porn while cuties all around you check you out. (oh yeah!)

If you have an office computer or desktop computer, you can keep everything there, what you get is style, mobility and Apple’s awesome OS. Go for it bro!

Macbook Air “shortcomings”

- No CD/DVD burner, not enough memory, no ethernet cable.

Nikon D60 pic, coming in March!

Written by steven on January 29, 2008 – 2:06 pm -

Nikon D60 pic is here! What do you think? Here are the detailed Nikon D60 specs , some notable Nikon D60 specs include .18-second start up time - very handy for journalists on the run (and those who play one in the backyard). There’s also “improved sensor cleaning system that tweaks airflow inside the camera to prevent dust particles from sticking to the 10.2 megapixel image chip in the first place.” We like best, in-camera editing, so you don’t need to pull up Photoshop all the time. Price is TBD but expect around $699.

Gizm0 - Gadget Blog for the Technology Obsessed.

Posts Tagged ‘gizm0’

Goodbye iPhone, hello Motorola Z10

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Point and Shoot HD Video: Panasonic DMC-TZ5K

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Macbook Air vs Thinkpad X300: Tale of the Tape

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Macbook Air Drops Tomorrow - Buy or Not?

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