Digital Technology News, Camera, Camcorder and Cool Gadget Reviews

The PicoPix looks like a miniature version of a standard projector and is designed to be carried everywhere. It uses an LED lamp and liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) technology to project a 52in diagonal image at 7ft. It can run on batteries for two and a half hours, and play MP4 videos from USB drives.

LCoS is much like digital light processing (DLP) technology, but where DLP uses an array of moving micro-mirrors to reflect a light source either through the lens or away from it, depending on whether the pixel is on or off, LCoS uses liquid crystals on top of a reflective surface. These block light or allow it to reach the reflective surface below – if light is allowed to hit the mirror, it’s reflected out through the lens. In DLP projectors, the light then passes through red, green and blue filters in a spinning colour wheel to produce three colour images, one after another. The fast speed of the wheel tricks your eyes into seeing a full-colour image. Read the rest of this entry »

BenQ resisted the LED and 3D temptations to launch this LCD.

This TV can show moving pictures loud and clear, loud because the SQ4321 sports 2 booming speakers that can wake the dead.

It also sports the Senseye technology which takes special care of the darker parts of the videos. When turned on, it automatically brightens up the dark pixels to present an evently lit-up image.

It supports Full HD resolution and it quite ecofriendly when it comes to power consumption.

Specs: 42-inch display; 5000:1 contrast ratio; 10W X 2 speakers; 1080p resolution; 178 degree viewing angle; 205W power consumption and weights 20 kg.

The Rapid Case, Sharkoon’s first USB 3, is a 2.5in drive caddy that converts SATA 3Gbps to USB3.

Opening the enclosure involves removing two small screws and while it’s a tight fit, the casing is sturdy and comfortably stood up to a quick kick around the CPC labs.

A blue LED indicates power and drive activity. Using a top-of-the-range 256GB Crucial C300 SSD, test showed read and write speeds of 197MB/sec and 166MB/sec respectively, which is some way off SATA 6Gbps but more than enough to all a 2.5in hard disk to run at full speed.

USB2 speeds were very good too, with the drive managing sequential read/write speed of 33MB/sec and 28MB/sec.

The company’s first  touchscreen/keyboard handset, the RESEARCH in MOTION’S BlackBerry Torch 9800, sports the new BlackBerry 6 OS.

A little thicker than some other top phones out now, the Torch measures 4.4 by 2.4 by 0.6 inches and weighs a manageable 5.68 ounces.

The 3.2inch, 360by480 capacitive touchscreen is fine for browsing the Web, but the colors, text, and detail look slightly flat.

The hardware keyboard slides smoothly and easily.  The Torch also has a software keyboard, but in both portrait and landscape modes it feels cramped. Test shows that the Web browser is slow to load, especially at mediaheavy sites. The handset’s 624mHz processor just can’t seem to handle the new WebKitbased browser technology.

The Torch’s 5 megapixel camera has autofocus, a 2X zoom, and an LED flash and the image quality was better from older BlackBerrys.

While previous revisions of the iPhone have been small updates to the existing design, the iPhone 4 feels like a new phone. For a start, it’s the thinnest model yet, and the slender new case makes the old ones feel a bit podgy.

One of the main new features is a front-facing camera, primarily for FaceTime video calls. However, these can currently only be made over a WiFi connection. The quality of the video is surprisingly good, and it’s quick to switch between front and rear cameras. Read the rest of this entry »

The first thing to check out at Ikan’s booth should be the VX9 9″ LED monitor with multiple power options, multiple mounting options and, even more significant, a full complement of I/O, including component, composite, SDI and HDMI (input only). Ikan’s product line ranges from small displays to lighting to accessories. New to the line will be a modular camera support system called
Elements.   The VX9 boasts a panel resolution of 1024 x 600 and features LED backlighting.

LEDZ is a high-powered LED lighting system designed for the entertainment, television, broadcast and motion picture industries.

The company has a special focus on manufacturing eco-friendly products. New to NAB is the BRUTE 3, a lightweight daylight fixture with a circular beam, an optional onboard battery, and a battery “Quick Pack”
that will run the unit for eight hours. The BRUTE 16 is a powerful 5500°K LED equivalent to a 200W HMI flood, incorporating an on-board dimmer for full intensity control.

Drawing just 90W, the BRUTE 30 holds its own against an HMI 400W flood. Both the BRUTE 16 and 30 feature on-board dimmers and are designed for low-level power consumption.

iPhone announced a new thin slab of smartphone: iPhone 4.0 with an amazingly sharp screen.

What’s new? Is there any new iPhone features? Yes,there are: new design, a front-facing camera, new integrated antenna, a second mic for noise cancellation, microSIM.

iPhone 4 runs on iPhone OS 4 OS. Powered by the A4 processor iPhone 4 features a new camera with a backside illuminated sensor which supports 5x digital zoom, LED flash, GPS and records a full 720p at 30fps HD video.

The new battery supports 10 hours of video recording, 7 hours of 3G talk, 6 hours of 3G browsing, up to 40 hours of music, 10 hours of WiFi browsing, 300 hours of standby.

In the US iPhone 4 will be available on June 24 at $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model.

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MEDL Technology has unveiled a new portable LCD for notebook users on the go that uses LED backlighting. It has a 13-inches wide screen with a WXGA resolution. The device weighs only 2.2 pounds and has internal rechargeable batteries for powering the device away from an outlet.

The MEDL Technology’s screen needs a single USB cable to connect and power the device and it works with Mac or Windows computers. The panel can also be connected to cameras, DVD players, iPhones, and other devices like the PS3 and Xbox. There is no info about pricing and availability.

Lenovo outed 3 new Multitouch LCDs: L2261 Wide, L2361p Wide & L2561x Wide displays. Both L2261 Wide and L2361p Wide have 21.5- and 23-inches displays but the Lenovo L2461x Wide is 23.6-inches in size and offers a multitouch-capable touchscreen layer. All 3 models support Full HD 1080p.

The Lenovo L2261 Wide supports 250cd/m2 brightness and a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, along with an anti-glare screen coating, has an integrated PSU and comes equipped with such  includes as VGA and HDCP-compliant DVI-D but there is no  HDMI. While the Lenovo L2351p Wide gains an HDMI input too. It also has a 0.3-megapixel webcam, speakers and a microphone, along with a three port USB 2.0 hub.  L2351p supports 250cd/m2 brightness and a 1,000:1 contrast ratio. Read the rest of this entry »