Sexy Gadgets, Cool Gadgets and Concept Gadgets

The new iZ3D’s 22-inch widescreen model, available at a price of a reasonable $399, delivers terrific 3D effects. This monitor belongs to the category of gaming monitors but lacks a few common features of this category. The monitor might be terrific in its 3D effects, but its 2D performance is merely average. The iZ3D monitor uses two stacked LCD panels in order to display two video signals simultaneously. One video signal is displayed on the front panel and one on the back panel. Polarized lighting is used to combine superimposed images into a single 3D image. This means that you will have to wear a pair of iZ3D’s polarized glasses in order to view the 3D effect. In the standard 2D mode, minus the glasses, the front panel is rendered transparent while the back panel displays a visible image. You require a dual-output graphics card as the monitor uses two video signals.

The monitor offers a native resolution of 1,680-by-1,050. It comes encased in a plain black cabinet that has a curved bottom bezel. The stand offers only tilt adjustments and lacks any kind of height, swivel, and pivot capabilities. You will find four function buttons and a power switch present along the bottom bezel. The monitor offers only the brightness level to be adjusted by you. As the monitor lacks an on-screen menu system, you do not get options to adjust the usual image settings like color temperature, contrast, and sharpness. But it does offer you the feature to assign hotkeys for shifting between 2D and 3D modes.

The display supports dual-port ATI Radeon and Nvidia GeForce graphics cards. It does not support SLI or CrossFire graphics configurations. Two DVI inputs are housed at the rear of the display. These inputs are for use with video cards that are equipped with dual DVI outputs. The monitor surprisingly lacks basic gamer-friendly features like speakers, a headphone jack, or USB ports. The display is shipped with DVI and analog cables, a driver CD, and two pairs of iZ3D’s polarized glasses. Overall, the iZ3D 22-inch LCD display delivers the visual goods if you are into 3D gaming.

Well, everybody is crazy about the Optimus Maximus Keyboard and it is quite easy to understand why. The only real problem stands in the price tag, which ranges anywhere from $1000 to around $1800. There is also a $400 and something version, but that one basically includes plastic keys and this is not what the Optimus Maximus is famous for. This keyboard is revolutionary and the simple fact that every single key includes an OLED display is something tremendous. Read the rest of this entry »

Sony has come with the release of their greenest series of Bravia Television that boasts of consuming an average of 20-30 percent less power than earlier year’s BRAVIA line. Du- bbed as Bravia WE5 eco TV, the new television claims to offer full HD 1080p resolution and can be availed in 40-inch and 46-inch screen sizes. The TV boasts of reducing power consumption up to not less than fifty percent with the integration of micro-tubular HCFL (Hot Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) backlight. The set also comes integrated with an Energy Saving Switch to reduce power consumption to zero.

As irs reviews, the Bravia WE5 eco TV set also comes integrated with Smart Presence Sensor, which is capable of turning off picture when you are not watching the TV. And as soon as you turn your head or come in the room to watch, the set screen puts on automatically. The TV set also remains on standby mode for 30 minutes as and when the viewer has gone to sleep.

Hiroshi Sakamoto, Vice President, TV Marketing Europe, was quoted as saying, “Sony consistently leads the way in reducing the environmental impact of its televisions and other electronic products.  As the remarkable WE5 demonstrates, this year’s BRAVIA line-up doesn’t just look and perform better than ever before. It’s an emphatic statement that Sony is serious about cutting the environmental footprint of everybody’s home entertainment experience.”

The Bravia WE5 eco TV is claimed to have been brought about on the company’s latest Bravia Engine 3 that is capable of enhancing the color range. Additional features of WE5 are: Motionflow 100Hz technology and image Blur Reduction for smoother as well as shaper image display.

TeleNav, the leading maker of GPS hardware and software, has announced the offering of its Telenav GPS Navigator service to owners of the Android-based T-Mobile G1. As its reviews, the service, to be availed on a lot of other mobile phones in the industry and carriers that take in AT&T and Sprint, is slated to be launched on February 24th for the G1, as well as will let users get turn-by-turn driving directions, traffic alerts with re-routing and not less than 10 million searchable business listings. Moreover, users are also allowed to make access to the close by gas prices, weather updates and restaurant reviews.

The software is also claimed to be capable enough of giving support to voice recognition, making it safe and sound to go into destinations while driving. Apart from all that you are also allowed to plan longer trips on TeleNav’s website and sent it to the handset later.

Sal Dhanani, co-founder and senior director of marketing, said, “TeleNav has become synonymous with mobile phone GPS navigation. It is relied upon by millions of mobile customers. It was important to us that we build a great application for Android and the G1 so that customers with this phone would have a remarkable experience. As the features, the device’s large, beautiful touch screen creates an incredible navigation experience when combined with our software.”

First of all, TeleNav has plans to offer the GPS Navigator merely via its website, but the application is slated to be made available at the Android Market soon after this year. Via TeleNav, users will also be allowed to obtain a free one-month trial of the program, with the service pricing around $10 a month after the trial period for unlimited access to the service.

TeleNav is no alien to the business, offering its navigation services to a lot of GPS-based smartphones and carriers, comprising Sprint & AT&T. Brining about an app for Android and G1 owners was a noteworthy step for the company, in accordance with TeleNav co-founder and Senior Director of Marketing Sal Dhanani.

The Motonav TN30 is Motorola’s first attempt to build a portable navigation device. Like most of the first-generation PNDs, the Motonav TN30 offers combination of charming looks good features but there are some glitches that Motorola needs to take care of if it wants to be a big player in PND market.

The device sports a wide-screen 4.3-inch display which is embedded in a glossy black bezel and matte black casing. The upper right corner of the bezel sports multicolored LED’s which shows the charging-status whereas a pinhole microphone is embedded in the upper left corner. The top edge of the device houses a power button, whereas the right spine houses a SD-card slot as well as a micro-USB port, which can be used for connecting to the device to computer or power. The bottom edge houses a reset button whereas the left spine is featureless. The back panel of the TN30 houses a speaker which is located below a grille.

The Motorola has focused specially on designing the user interface. The menus are provided with dark graphics and look pretty clean and intuitive. The Home screen is made of four links: Go, Map, Call, and Settings. The Go menu allows you to enter your destination with various ways such as directly entering the address, of choose from recent and saved locations, points of interest, and a home button. You can personalize your device by clicking the Settings button. If you press the Call button, it opens Make a Call screen.

If you click the Map buttons, it opens the map of your current location. You can also go to the map by clicking on the Map button which you will find in the left corner of every screen. You will also find semitransparent buttons on every map which allows you to change the map to 2D or 3D mode, to change the volume. On the right side of the map, you will find zoom buttons, icons Bluetooth and Battery status, and a phone button. At the bottom of the map, you will find information such as your current location, time and distance to your destination, current speed, direction of travel, and altitude.

The text-to-speech features guides you till your destination and allows you to concentrate on driving. It also provides the lane guidance for an upcoming turn or exit.

Blu-ray players have improved a lot since their introduction in 2006. They are getting smaller, cheaper, and more advanced. The best example of amalgamation of these features is the new BDP-BX1 from Sony. The BX1 is a special model of their BDP-S350 series. The player includes an HDMI cable in the box and is a very capable, fully featured Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player. All this is available at a decent price of $240. The player is only 17″ wide by 8.5″ deep by 2.5″ tall. It houses two buttons on its top that control power and disc eject. Three small buttons for play, pause, and stop are housed on it’s the right hand side. A dedicated LED is provided to indicate the enabling of 24p playback.

The BX1 features the “Xross Media Bar” or XMB menu system. This menu is easy to use and offers the user to access the configuration options of the player, audio files, and video files. The best part about the XMB menu system is that it is easy to understand and navigate. The player takes a mere 37 seconds to load a Blu-ray disc. This is the fastest load time from any standalone Blu-ray player till date. This means that the user will not have to go through the agony of wait for the Blu-ray disc to load into the device.

The BX1, in addition to commercially printed Blu-ray movies, can also play correctly authored BD-R and BD-RE writable discs. The user can also play DVDs, as well as recordable DVDs on the player. As far as image clarity is concerned, the BX1 is in the highest league. It is capable of bringing out all the detail inherent in Blu-ray movies and then transmitting them to the television or the projector. It also improves the quality of the images from the standard definition DVDs. As far as connections are concerned, it houses the requisite HDMI and component video outputs as well as an Ethernet port. A dedicated remote with a blue glow backlight sums up the package.

The Sony BDP-BX1 is a winner on the fronts of design, load time speed, performance, and output. It is convenient to operate and offers an excellent Blu-ray movies experience.

Vizio has always been associated with the budget-display kind of business. With its latest 26-inch VMM26 monitor, it has tried to sway away from this reputation. This monitor boasts of a native resolution of 1,920 × 1,200. The monitor features a glossy glass screen and hidden touch-sensitive controls. The stand of this monitor is crafted from a single piece of steel. The stand is fully adjustable as well. The VMM26 is extremely easy to assemble and set up. A couple of thumb screws attach to the two-piece stand and make it slide together. One screw is attached to the bottom of the black base and the other to the back of the screen. The rear ports of the display are mounted horizontally making them easier to connect. Adjustments related to height and tilts are extremely convenient to perform.

The lower right corner of the glossy black bezel is occupied by a single, glowing, touch-sensitive power button. The area above the button is also sensitive to touch. It activates four more buttons that help the user navigate through the onscreen menus. The monitor comprises a pair of small speakers but lacks a dedicated volume button. This display is a good option for a small all-in-one HD display as it houses two HDMI ports. The display also boasts of a four-port USB hub. The monitor has some issues related to reflection, thanks to its edgeless glass screen and black bezel. This makes this monitor a poor option for viewing in a brightly lit room. The glossy screen hides subtle differences in the darkest shades of gray and black. However, the glossy screen enhances and makes colors seem more vivid and bright. The monitor is thus a very good option for HDTV and gaming experiences.

The Vizio VMM26 boasts of being a good all-around display. It displays excellent performance on Blu-ray images and DVD pictures. The Vizio VMM26 is available at a price of $429. Its big size, coupled with a variety of features, makes it an excellent option for HDTV and gaming experiences.

The Asus VW266H is a 26-inch monitor that offers a 1,920 × 1,200 native resolution for a decent price of $399. The display, however, is pretty disappointing on the style and design front. It is conventional in design with a boring, black plastic bezel. It has a base that is full of bland and simple looking silver accents. The monitor also lacks any kind of support for height and angle adjustments. But the monitor is free from any issues pertaining to any kind of reflection and imperfection. This makes the Asus VW266H a good choice for viewing in brightly lit rooms.

Even though the VW266H lacks any sort of visual appeal on the design aspect, it does house a serviceable and well-labeled button layout. It also boasts of dedicated volume controls as a support for its integrated 3-watt speakers. The monitor is extremely easy to carry around as it has a very light weight of a mere 17 pounds. The base of the VW266H is quite sturdy, though it only tilts forward and back. In a nutshell, the user does not get any screen adjustment options. Plugging its cables can prove to be a nightmare as all of its connectors are crowded together behind it, hidden under a protruding plastic lid. The monitor has an HDMI port but connecting its cable is difficult, as it is jammed between the DVI port and a piece of monitor housing.

The Asus VW266H does a good job when it comes to performance. Its display is free of any light uniformity issues. The LED backlighting plays a very important role in the display performance of this device. This display will find favor with the gaming freaks as well. It performs well in the gaming and video department. The Component Video connectors on this display further make it a multi-purpose HD device. The display is particularly suited for viewing in brightly lit rooms. A downside is that the monitor lacks USB ports. It is available at a price of $399. Even though the Asus VW266H is not visually appealing, it does give a good performance and boasts of versatility.

The Lenovo ThinkVision L197 Wide is a 19-inch LCD monitor. The device is aimed at business minded users whose widescreen requirement is for running basic business applications. This LCD boasts of a tremendous color and light grayscale performance but is quite disappointing on the features front. The LCD looks similar to the one provided with Lenovo’s ThinkCentre desktop. The LCD comes in the conventional Business Black color of Lenovo’s products. The display brags of a 1,440 by 900 widescreen panel that is bordered by a very thin bezel and is mounted on a rectangular base.

The display can be tilted to as much as 30 degrees backward and 4 degrees forward. The monitor however lacks any kind of support for height, swivel, or rotational adjustments. The right hand side of the lower bezel houses five wavy function buttons. One of them is the power switch. Three of the buttons belong to brightness levels adjustment, Auto Adjust functions, and video source activation. The last button is a menu button that takes the user to the OSD (on-screen display). Here, the user can find a variety of controls like clock and phase, color saturation, image position etc.

The video inputs on the display comprise DVI and VGA connections. This monitor lacks any USB or DisplayPort connections, integrated speakers, as well as an HDMI port. The monitor can operate at full brightness using 20 watts of power. This is made possible by a special reflective film that captures and reuses polarized light. It is because of this low-power capability, that this display fulfills the EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) Gold standard for environmental responsibility. The display gives excellent performance on the grayscale front. The display also claims of a 170-degree horizontal viewing angle. The screen is free of any sort of tinting and colors are scaled evenly from dark to light. The Lenovo ThinkVision L197 Wide is available at a price of $239.99. Its solid color display accompanied by its special power-saving technology, makes it a good choice for users who want to keep their workplace green.

If you are a gaming buff, then this piece of literature will sure arouse your senses. These days, the level of gaming experiences has reached new highs. With never before graphics, extra powerful systems, and the supporting software, gaming has become a whole new experience. The market is full of gaming solutions, ranging High-end gaming machines to mid-range ones. The problem is that high-end gaming systems, usually upward of $5,000, boast of the latest technology and parts, but burn a hole in your pocket at the same time. But now there is good news for you. If your pocket does not permit these high-end machines, do not worry. A series of midrange gaming desktops, in addition to offering solid performance and top of the line parts, cost as little as $1,200.

In this range of machines, the cheapest system is the “Gateway FX6800-01e”. This machine promises to give you the most for your money. This PC belongs to the category of sub-$2K PCs and can play latest games like ‘Crysis’. The system offers plenty of options for expansion. The device is powered by the state of the art Core i7 processor. It makes watching multimedia and gaming an extraordinary experience. It sure can entice your senses.

Another machine in this group, the iBuypower Gamer Paladin 998, is a bit expensive than the Gateway, but does justice to the price bump at the same time. It offers better graphics, better resolution, has a better design and a better overall performance than the Gateway. The iBuypower boasts of a tinker friendly chassis. The device also offers plenty of options for expansion and comprises numerous open slots to work with.

The last two $2K systems in the mid-range gaming device market are the Acer Aspire G7700-UQ9550A Predator and the Velocity Micro Edge E2250. These two devices also offer plenty of power for gaming and multimedia tasks. The Acer Predator has looks and performance of PCs that belong to the $5K club. Its graphics are powered by the Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX graphics card and the system also brags of an impressive 8GB of RAM. The Edge E2250 outperforms the Acer Aspire with its even better performance and excellent multimedia results. This system houses an overclocked Q9450 processor accompanied by a high-end Nvidia GeForce graphics card.

These mid-range desktops are a gamer’s delight and combine power, performance, and technology with a very decent and affordable price tag.

Savant GPS has announced the availability of its OnPar rangefinder, a revolutionary new touch screen GPS device, which is specifically designed taking into account the needs of golfers.  Built-in with a 3.5-inch touchscreen, the OnPar, the company claims, is capable of storing up to 300 golf courses without having the need of any membership fees, course map fees , track performance plus lets you know about clubs hinging on your yardage history and past shot.

As its reviews, the OnPar is also claimed to be the first portable color touch screen GPS rangefinder, which has been crafted to give golfers the ultimate user experience. It gives the impre-ssion of containing a professional caddy at your fingertips. The OnPar also comes built-in with a dynamic hole layout display and GPS positioning, which brags of offering instant distances to anywhere and residual distance to the green, personalized club averages, and easy shot and score tracking. And, it makes it all possible with the help of true one-touch operation.

The OnPar is also integrated with conventional golf information, the state-of-the-art GPS technology, enhanced graphics, as well as several distinctive features, which really allows the golfers to manage their game. In addition, 3.5? high resolution touch screen display built-in OnPar makes it simple to read, even during direct sunlight. All these facets built-in bring forth only one of its kind GPS rangefinder, which is beyond compare in golf.

Brian York, OnPar President and CEO, was quoted as saying, “We took a fresh approach to golf GPS rangefinders, incorporating intuitive touch screen technology and unrivaled useful features to elevate the user experience.”

The OnPar is expected to be made available to consumers in early February, 2009. As to its pricing there is no mention, but as and when it comes, we will let you known. And if you want to purchase it, you can go at select specialty golf retail stores, sporting goods stores, online golf retail outlets, golf course pro shops, and through the OnPar website (www.OnParGPS.com).

Apricorn, Inc, leading worldwide in designing and manufacturing of PC storage products, accessories and utilities, has come up with the launch of their latest 1.5TB DVR (Digital Video Recorder) Xpander, which is claimed to be the highest capacity DVR external hard drive on the market up till now.

TB Apricorn DVR Xpander is claimed to be so capable that it can instantaneously add up to 843 hours of standard programming or 187.5 hours of high definition programming. It is an ideal companion for the Scientific Atlanta 8300 series DVR. Additionally, the ultra-cool fan can keep the drive at optimal temperatures, with the aim of extending the life of your hard drive. Also it comes built-in with dual eSATA / USB 2.0 interface.

Mike McCandless, Apricorn’s VP of Sales and Marketing, was quoted as saying, “With the increasing availability of HD content, there never seems to be enough space to record all the great shows, movies and sporting events. As the largest capacity DVR expander on the market, we give our customers enough space so they can go on vacation and not miss any of their favorite programs and sporting events.”

The latest Apricorn DVR Xpander can at present be availed in 500GB, 750GB, 1TB and 1.5TB storage capacities with the price tag of around $119, $149, $179 and $239, corres-pondingly.

With the growing accessibility of HD content, there doesn’t ever seem to be adequate space to record all the great movies, shows and sporting events. As the largest capacity DVR expander are being surfaced in the market these days, the customers are also given  sufficient space, thus they could go on vacation without missing any of their preferred programs and sporting events. With more than enough space, you can not just record your most favorite movies or sporting event, but can also be tension free on your vacation.

Wizcom’s Quicktionary TS brings us back, spiritually speaking, to some certain artifacts of the 1990s. You must remember the times when a handheld text scanner the size of frying pans was dragged across the page in order to scan it? This successor is much the same thing, but now has a more focused purpose – it looks up words and tells you what they mean – and is only (only?) the size of an adult forearm.

It’s not the first time to see such an electronic language translator, and while this device is surely useful to some people, I think this Quicktionary TS model goes a little bit overboard. When it comes to its features, there are no complaints, as the 400 dpi scanner built into the tip of the pen allows you to scan single words or full lines of text which are then displayed on the high-resolution LCD screen complete with detailed definition, such as idioms and phrases. Most Quicktionary TS products provide audio pronunciation for selected languages, so it allows the user to hear the words spoken back so that you can familiarize yourself with the correct pronunciations.

In addition, the LCD display is a touchscreen, so you can access the dictionary functions by manually typing in words or phrases via an on-screen keyboard. But the device is a little bit… oversized, as it has a relatively normal-sized human adult hand, which is pretty much.

Anyway, the Quicktionary TS is an ideal tool for anyone in need of multilingual support, such as students, travelers, researchers and business people. This electronic language translator features some advantages that might catch your eye. First of all, it allows you to stay focused on your reading while the Quicktionary TS helps you interpret your text quickly and easily. Not to mention it allows you to save all the time you would have spent searching through paper dictionaries or typing into electronic dictionaries. More than that, you can take this handheld text scanner wherever you go, being small, portable, designed to fit in your pocket, and you can practice your vocabulary using the included word games.

There is a Quicktionary TS German that has the following additional special features: a sophisticated algorithm that identifies the 2 elements of a split verb in any given sentence, a unique algorithm that divides compound words into their corresponding dictionary entries and a German spelling support that includes the 2005 spelling reform.

As far as the Quicktionary TS Chinese Simplified is concerned, it includes: English and Chinese Simplified OCR (optical character recognition), bi-directional translation, a unique algorithm that divides Chinese Simplified strings into their corresponding word segments and a handwriting recognition with an additional input method using the stylus to insert Chinese and English characters.

The latest Motorola MotoROKR S9-HD is a model that aims at solving the popular problems pertaining to audio quality. This Bluetooth headset is not the perfect device for the music listener, but at a price of $129.99, is a good option. The headset is provided with an iPod adapter. The headset weighs a mere 1.1 ounces. It measures 5.0 by 5.1 by 1.9 inches. The headset is designed in such a way that the rigid plastic band rests just behind the back of your neck. The earbuds are held on the sides with the help of flexible and textured black plastic arms. The earbuds come covered with soft rubber earbud covers. The set is provided with an extra set of covers, a soft cloth carrying case, and the slim Motorola D650 adapter. This adapter lets the iPod users to connect their device to the headset.

Play and Track Skip buttons are housed on the left-hand side of the headset and volume controls and a multifunction button for managing voice calls are housed on its right hand side. A mini USB charging port, an LED that flashes in different colors and a rubber power button are housed at the center part of the band. The device sounds excellent when a variety of MP3 and AAC tracks are played from the iPod. The headset is extremely useful for sounds with softer treble. It can be said that the S9-HD is a significant improvement in sound quality from the conventional bundled wired earbuds. As the features, the headset however, does not fare very well when combined with devices like the BlackBerry Curve 8330, which supports Bluetooth 2.0 and A2DP stereo Bluetooth audio, sufficient for a good sound.

If you want to make voice calls in the hands-free mode, the S9-HD offers a good option. Voice calls are clear and aloud. The S9-HD works best for short or noncritical calls. It is comfortable and easy to operate because it has easy-to-find control buttons on its side. The battery of the S9-HD lasts a mammoth 4 hours 55 minutes. You might find other products in the same category better in terms of sound quality, but they are expensive at the same time. The Motorola MotoROKR S9-HD offers good enough performance at a decent price.

If you are looking for Bluetooth headset which offers basic features that justifies its price tag then the LG HBM-310 could be an option for you. Priced under $40, the LG hBM-310 is a nice little Bluetooth headset which provides pretty decent sound quality though the sound quality cannot be called the best in the world.

As the HBM-310 is a low price device, the device does not offer any enticing design features. But the overall look of the device is pretty attractive due to its mirror-finished front surface. The headset is lightweight and compact as it measures 2.0 inches in length, 0.75 inch in width and 0.4 inch in thickness. The one third part of the upper side of the device acts as the multifunction call button. The power controls as well as the volume buttons are located on the right edge of the device. Most of the LG headsets houses dedicated power button which makes it easier to turn off the headset when not in use. Though the controls are small, they are easy to locate and use. The left spine of the device houses the charger jack.

The earpiece and ear hook are located on the back of the device. The LG has used its e-Clip ergonomic earbud in its earpiece due to which the earpiece fits easily and firmly in the ear. The pack does not include different-size earbuds which would have been a very good addition. The included ear hook is very flexible and it ensures that the headset does not fall off the ears. You can also adjust the ear hook so as to fit either ear. If you wear glasses there should not be any problem as the ear hook is pretty thin.

The HBM-310 offers pretty basic features such as answer, reject, and end calls, and last number redial. You can transfer the calls from phone to headset and vice versa. The LG claims that the HBM-310’s battery provides 6 hours of talk time and 6.25 days of standby time.

Kodak, with its ESP series of printers, has aimed to make a reputation in the market of all-in-one printers. The ESP series of Kodak printers are an amalgamation of versatility, speed, and high quality output. The Kodak ESP 7 can be called the baby brother of the ESP 9 printer of the same series. The printer has a jet black finish and an excellent overall design. This device is extremely well suited for typical home or office setups. You get access to on-board controls through the mighty 3-inch colour LCD display. You can configure the printer to work in the wired mode as well as wireless mode. The process of setting up the printer is extremely easy and you will be able to do the same in a few minutes.

Kodak provides its AIO software along with the device to provide you direct access to scanning, copying, printing and configuration settings. You can do all this without the software as well via accessing the controls on the device. The main control on the device consists of a directional pad, and main buttons like start, cancel and menu buttons. A zoom control option on the device lets you scan images displayed on the screen when you insert a memory card into the multi-format slot. You can also insert a camera via the USB port and print directly without using a computer. The enhanced efficiency feature of the ESP 7 makes its cartridges last 50 percent longer. A dedicated ‘intelligent paper tray system’, in addition to monitoring the number of sheets in the try, automatically detects the type of paper used by you and adjusts its settings accordingly for optimal performance.

The performance of the device is up to 32ppm for black and white prints. The same is 30ppm for colour prints. The print quality is excellent with sharp, crisp colors without the presence of any type of color bleed. The ESP 7 is also capable of printing 6×4-inch images. The replacement cartridges of the device cost only £6.99/£9.99 for mono/colour respectively. The ESP 7 is available at a price of £244.67 inclusive of VAT. All in all, the Kodak ESP 7 is an all-rounder that mixes style with performance in a wonderful way.

LG has added one more device to its long range of Bluetooth headsets. The latest addition is the LG HBM-520. With the new headset, the LG has tried to remove all the glitches which were present in its predecessor. The revamped Bluetooth headset offers an ergonomic ear clip which offers effective echo noise cancellation. Moreover the device can be connected to two Bluetooth capable devices simultaneously. Priced at $70, the HBM-520 isn’t the most stylish Bluetooth headset in the world, but it provides performance which justifies its price tag.

The HBM-520 measures 2.1 inches tall, 0.6 inch wide and 0.4 inch deep. The LG has provided a long and sleek design which features a blue grid pattern on the front panel. The front panel sports a multifunction call button located at the top. The left edge of the device houses a volume controls as well as the dedicated power. The right spine houses charger jack. It is quite nice that the headset has a dedicated power switch which allows you to switch the power on and off anytime you want. The controls are small but they are responsive and easy to locate and operate.

The back of the device houses an earpiece along with an ear loop which is quite flexible. The LG has used its e-Clip Ergonomic earbud to cover the earpiece. The earpiece is designed so as to have a pointed tip, which makes that earpiece to fit in easily. The LG also provides three earbuds which ensure that the headset the users do not have any problem in finding the perfect fit for them. The flexible ear loop on the back of the device can be adjusted so that the headset can be attached to either ear.

The HBM-520 offers all the features of a typical Bluetooth headset, such as answer, end and reject calls, voice dialing support, last number redial, auto connect, and call-waiting support. The device can be connected to two different Bluetooth devices simultaneously. The calls can be transferred from phone to headset and, and vice versa. When you switch on the headset, it automatically goes into pairing mode.

Well, in our view this is just one of those useless gadgets that should have never been manufactured but it does seem like a lot of people are actually really enjoying them. Although this makes us feel weird, this one is definitely one that should not be popular because there is nothing special about it. We basically take a pencil cup and put in a digital photo frame. We end up with the Memory Cup Digital Photo Frame Pencil Cup/Desktop Organizer. This baby costs $22.99 at TechGeek. We have to admit that it is pretty cheap and you would be getting an LCD screen of 1.5 inches and all the connectivity options you would expect. This basically means a USB cable that will connect to your PC. Is it useless or not? This only you can decide!

BenQ has been slowly entering the market of reliable monitors that ooze of style and are excellent in performance. It has launched its latest 24 inches widescreen V2400W HD monitor. The better part is that this monitor has recently won both the iF Design Award and the Red Dot Design Award. The monitor boasts of a slinky silver base stand that is firmly attached to a thin, jet black bezel body. BenQ brags that their monitor, the V2400W is the world’s thinnest 24-inch monitor. The monitor measures a mere 6cm at its thickest point. The base comprises an asymmetrically positioned mounting arm. The bezel is surrounded by silver color surround. The controls on the device are prominently displayed toward the bottom left of the screen. The controls on the screen are sensitive to touch and beep when activated. The controls are backlit by striking blue LEDs.

The back of the monitor houses VGA, DVI and HDMI ports. Also present is an earphone jack for the HDMI feed. However, the monitor lacks external speakers. The user can tilt the display 20 degrees upward and 5 degrees downward. The user however can not do any height adjustment on the monitor. The monitor offers a maximum resolution of 1920 × 1200. The picture modes offered by the monitor are Standard, Movie, Dynamics, Photo and sRGB, and auto mode. The user can use the monitor for entertainment purposes as well as for gaming. The monitor comprises a separate aspect ratio menu. This menu allows the user to select from Fill, 1:1 direct pixel mapping and Aspect. The downside about the buttons is that they are over sensitive to touch.

There is no glare issue with the monitor as the matte screen avoids this problem totally. The screen offers a brightness level of 250cd/rm. The picture can be viewed perfectly till a viewing angle of 160 degrees. The monitor displays amazingly sharp colors when the user plays a Blu-ray movie via the HDMI input. For all other type of pictures, the colors are sharp, crisp, clear and vivid in a very overwhelming way. The BenQ V2400W is available at a price of £330.

Cricket’s latest modem, the UM100 is an economically priced device that aims to bring no-contract, wireless Internet access to people. As a user, if you like to do a bit of light web surfing everyday, check e-mails on daily basis, then this device is the ultimate tool for you.  But if you have heavy web browsing needs like accessing Web based video services, then device might not suit you. Cricket is a small wireless carrier famous for its great broadband offers. Usually broadband carriers make it requisite for you to sign a contract. Cricket sells unlimited use, no-contract voice plans in many cities and it does not make it mandatory for its users to sign up for long-term contracts.

The UM100 is a solid compact device. The device measures 2.9 by 1.4 by 0.6 inches. It weighs a mere 1.2 ounces which means that the device is not bulky and can be carried around easily if need be.  The UM100 is a USB modem. It comprises an external antenna jack in the side that helps in better reception than that provided by its internal antenna. The best part about the device is that it works with Macs, using Apple’s own dial up networking software. But the device is provided with Windows software.

The performance of the UM100 is pretty decent for users of decent web needs. The average download speed offered by the device comes out to be around 532 kilobits per second. The average upload speed offered by the device comes out to be around 110 kilobits per second. This speed is much faster than dial-up but slower than wired broadband. You can use the device for decent web needs but if you want to stream videos from sites like YouTube, you will be disappointed. Cricket has plans for upgrading its networks from EV-DO Rev 0 to the faster EV-DO Rev A system. This way, it will be able to deliver much higher speeds.

The company offers the device at a decent price $40 per month. All in all, the UM100 modem is a terrific solution for light Internet users.