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PS3 Slim models to get lighter, use less power

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With the last two generations of gaming consoles, it’s become a common practice to release periodice updates to the hardware. Sony did this with the Playstation 2 and their incremental updates to the Phat line and then the announcement of the PS2 Slim. Microsoft has done this as well with their processor upgrades for the Xbox 360, which was one way of trying to solve the Red Ring of Death problem that plagued the first iterations of the console. The 360 then changed the chassis altogether with its “slim” lineup. [Read more…]

Solar PDA charger

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If you are an outdoor person and you want to bring along your electronic gadgets such as your PDA, then this one is a cool gadget you might want to have.

You can now charge your PDA without using electricity. Just use the power of the sun to charge your PDA.

Sunpal PDA solar battery charge is made from high density single crystalline solar cell. This means it can generate more power than others of the same size. Each unit includes two shatterproof solar panel that quickly charge your PDA’s batteries in 1-3 hours. Will not melt, yellow or degrade with use. Made with durable polycarbonate plastic shell, the SunPal is nearly unbreakable.

A built in charge regulator will allow you to safely charge your PDA without damaging your batteries.

Here is a list of PDAs compatible with this Solar Charger

* Palm m500 and m505 handhelds
* Palm Tungsten T
* Palm i705
* Palm m125
* Palm™ m130
* Palm m500
* Palm m505
* Palm m515
* Charges your iPAQ H3100, H3600, H3700 series
* Compaq iPAQ H3800
* Compaq Ipaq
* Sony Clie
* Palm M/Tungsten Series & Zire 71
* iPAQ 38/39/54
* iPAQ 36/37
* Sony T/NR/NX/SL/S/J Series

Check out siliconsolar.com

Rumor: PSP2 to have touchscreen, two cameras, and a powerful CPU

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Confession time: I’m never really much of a PSP guy. I know, there’s that vast library of top-notch games to consider, and the fact that six years on, the PSP still is the gadget to beat when it comes to portable gaming. Although, personally, I’m stupid enough to go for the iPod touch just for the handheld version of Street Fighter IV. Waiting – very impatiently, I might add – for the 4th generation to come out this September.

But if there are any truth to these rumors about the PSP2, I just might change my mind about the gaming console. According to VG247, PSP2 is going to have a touchscreen, two cameras (one front- and the other back-facing), and a powerful CPU. More tidbits:

  • Sony “could” announce PSP2 at E3.
  • PSP2 NDAs have been in place at publishers and developers for many months.
  • The PSP2 is based on a four-core Cell CPU. That’s just… wow. Powerful stuff there.
  • There have been “finished units” in the UK, but there aren’t any confirmations about this just yet.
  • The PSP2 could be released late 2010 or 2011, depending on the source.
  • Multiple PSP2 games are being made in Britain right now.

The picture above isn’t the PSP2, but rather a mockup. I wouldn’t mind it going in that direction. And if they manage to get touchscreen gaming right, imagine how amazing that will become. Heck, I’d even drop all my iPod touch dreams just to go for the PSP2. But remember, these are all rumors, so you better take it with a grain of salt.

Google Goggles: First Peek

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If you need any more proof that Google Android is definitely going to step up to take the iPhone down, Google is coming out with Google Goggles. Okay, that product name kind of reminds me of a website that used to infect unsuspecting users with loads of malware, but trust me, Google Goggles is different. Way different.

Google Goggles basically is mobile search taken to a different level. Instead of using words, use your Android phone’s camera to take a picture, and Google Goggles will process and attempt to recognize the image, and will return relevant search results.

Okay, since Google Goggles is still in its infancy, we’re going to definitely run into a coupe of caveats when using it. Books, business cards, artwork, places, logos and landmarks are going to work brilliantly, but take a picture of food and other things, we’re going to end up with gibberish results, if any.

Actually, the first glimpse of Google Goggles is actually a video showing animated caricatures of Google engineers presenting a cartoon demo of Google Goggles. So it was vaporware and all, and we weren’t expecting Google Goggles to go live for a while.

I was pretty surprised to see a live demo of the experimental software on a yet-to-be-released phone. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, the other Android phone other than Nexus One that I want to get my hands on in the future, has got Google Goggles installed on it. Here’s a video demo of the much-awaited android app, and this time it’s not a cartoon:

I’m pretty impressed with Google Goggles. Tell me what you think!

Toshiba shows off new high definition Camileo camcorders

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Toshiba has got quite a bit of mileage from its Camileo camcorders, and late last week it announced a further three high definition models: the S20, H30 and X100.

Let’s take a look at their features in turn.

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First up, the Camileo S20 is touted as one of the world’s slimmest HD camcorders, at just 17mm thick, yet it still packs in a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor capable of shooting in full 1080p high definition video.

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Take Ten (1 Sep 09): Vaio/Chrome, movieIQ, Samsung app store, Windows Mobile 6.5, 3G problems by 2010, Wii channel free, Snow Leopard, Kindle in Europe, Nokia World

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Every Tuesday, Gadzooki takes a look at ten top tech stories from the past week and serves them up to you in manageable chunks for easy digestion. Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed or Twitter account so you don’t miss them.

1. Sony Vaio laptops preloaded with Google Chrome browser

sony-vaiosApparently it’s been happening for some time, but Sony has been preloading some of its US-destined VAIO laptops with Google’s Chrome web browser.

That’s a great result for Google, even thought VAIO’s aren’t necessarily the most popular laptops going and that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox have a huge market share in comparison (~70%/20%).

Is this a sign that Sony might be keen to get Google’s forthcoming Chrome OS on board? It would be interesting to know, though hard to measure, how much damage PC manufacturers have suffered as a result of sticking Windows Vista on their computers. Windows 7 might be better, but perhaps Chrome OS will join Linux as a credible alternative OS — even as a build option rather than by default — for hardware vendors wanting to distance themselves from Microsoft.

Chrome might only have about two percent of the browser market share at present, but I just get the feeling that share will grow as more deals are done and the word gets out to Joe Public.

Via

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Canon’s EOS DSLRs evolve with gorgeous new 7D

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Sony’s new Alpha DSLRs are very nice, particularly if you’re a megapixel hunter, but it’s the Canon EOS range that gets me excited.

Today, Canon has introduced the EOS 7D, offering a huge range of features that should keep enthusiastic amateurs and professionals satisfied.

First up, because they’re mentioned so much, the megapixel count is no pushover at all — 18 megapixels crammed into the APS-C CMOS sensor in fact — and yet the mechanics and processing speed are fast enough to capture up to eight frames per second in burst shooting mode.

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Casio epxands EXILIM compact digital camera range

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It’s the season for new digital cameras, with Casio today announcing its new range of EXILIM compacts.

casio-exilim-ex-z280

First up is the EXILIM EX-Z280 featuring a 12.1-megapixel, 4x optical zoom zoom 26mm wide angle lens, Casio’s EXILIM Engine 4.0, image stabilisation, HD video recording at 720p, and a 2.7-inch widescreen TFT color display.

There’s also a dynamic photo function that lets you take the subject out of one photo and then use another photo as a background. You can even cut out several subjects from a serial picture recording and use these to create an image sequence in which only the subject moves and the background remains static. Saves trying to mess about in Photoshop anyway.

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New slimmer PS3 coming this September

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That slimmer PS3 rumor from a couple of months ago has finally come to pass, with Sony announcing that a new PlayStation 3 will be released in September.

The new PS3 will feature a 120GB hard drive, Blu-ray drive, new system software (version 3.00) and BRAVIA Sync (for tying up to your Sony TV). It’ll cost $299.

Sony’s making a big thing of the re-branding, changing the name from PLAYSTATION 3 to PlayStation 3 (note the capitals — I’ve obviously been getting it wrong all these years as I’ve often referred to it the “new” way) and introducing a “PS3” logo to be engraved on the surface of the new console.

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