Category: Gadgetry

CNet has a review of a new wireless connector that lets you send audio from your PC to your home stereo up to 100 feet away. The RCA Lyra Wireless RD900W is set with a transmitter that plugs into your PC via USB and a receiver that plugs via mini-plug (adapter available) to your home stereo, plus a remote control, all operating over 900MHz freq. Cost is just $100. What’s the catch? Well, they’re really limited – – there’s no display, so if you’re in another room, you’re using the remote blind. And why would you need it in the same room as your PC anyway? It’s really nothing that you couldn’t do with a simple FM transmitter. If you ask me, the current crop of DARs is pretty useless. Buy an X-Box with the new audio-networking feature ($40) or hack it yourself instead and you’ll have a lot more fun.

Update: Sorry — vague references to the x-box probably deserved more of a link; Microsoft has announced the impending release of new software for the PC and X-Box that will allow users to transfer music and pictures from PC to X-Box, allowing music playback through home theater, picture slideshows, and what we’ve all been waiting for — KARAOKE! While the X-Box has just an 8 gig hard-drive, it’s still capable of holding thousands of songs in MP3 or WMA format, and some clever hackers have managed to upgrade it. The announcement was made at E3 (a major video game convention) but the release of the software will not happen until September/October, by which time my prediction is that a new version of the X-Box will also be available, perhaps with a larger harddrive. For the full scoop, check C|Net.

TiVo, the company behind the slow-moving PVR revolution, has debuted a new service that doesn’t require monthly fees. The company’s hoping that without the fees, more people will be inclined to buy PVRs and will decide later to upgrade. The service, officially known as TiVo Basic, allows pausing of TV shows and VCR-like scheduling of programs from the 3-day program guide, but doesn’t do the much touted “favorites” function like the full TiVo service.

TiVo Basic already has some manufacturers supporting the idea — PVR and combo DVD/PVR units are in the works from Toshiba and Sony, with more likely to follow. This is good news for consumers, but bad news for TiVo, in my opinion. Massive video storage and being able to pause TV, as well as being able to burn via computer or other device, are the services that most appeal to consumers. Until now, almost all these functions were tied to a monthly fee, but with that gone most users will get what they need for free and will have little incentive to upgrade.

If you’re sick of seeing more of your elbows than the traffic behind you when you’re riding around on your vintage Lambretta or brand new 999R, or if you’re just the kind of gadget-head who wants the latest tech on your ride, you might try the MotoCam. It’s a rear-view video system designed for motorcycles, with camera and 2.5″ to 4″ TFT screen. The unit comes with mounting hardware and is fully waterproofed. The camera is “high-resolution” and “side-angle viewing” for good visibility. An optional infrared camera is available for riding at night, with the images displayed in b/w. Prices range from $300 for the basic camera system without display (?) to $650 for the chromed 4″ TFT with IR camera. Units are also available for RVs and boats. Of course, if you want to DIY you could always get a TFT and an x-10 camera…

Update: I just spoke to the mfr, who gave me some more details. First, the TFT is not transflective, but is viewable in daylight though best with the sun shield (inlcuded). Second, the camera-only module is designed for recording rides on a camcorder. Third, the camera has a 75 degree viewing angle, which is significantly better than any x-10 camera you can get. Finally, the IR camera is both a normal color camera and an IR cam, and switched automatically when in low-light conditions.

Creative has reportedly announced that a new Nomad Zen Jukebox MP3 player will be released this month with a capacity of 60 gigs for a price of just $400. On paper the Zen is a great MP3 player — it has USB 2.0 or USB 1.1 and Firewire connectivity, 12 hours of playback on the li-ion battery, charging from the USB cable, and an optional FM tuner that plugs in and serves as a wired remote as well. Unfortunately, the Zen has received lackluster reviews because of its software and the way it handles file transfers. Hopefully the software will get an update as well with this new upgraded hardware.

Update: According to a review at CNet, the new Zen still requires the use of the Creative Playcenter software to transfer songs. This is a problem; because the Zen does not show up as an external harddrive on the system, users cannot rip straight to the Zen, users must install the software on every system they use with the Zen (home, work, mobile) and it slows transfers. Keep this in mind when shopping for an HD-MP3.

C|NET has a review of the new color Sidekick phone/pda hybrid from Danger, soon to be available for T-Mobile customers. The new Sidekick keeps pretty much all the same features of the old one, but bumps the RAM to 32 megs, and adds a transflective color screen with 240×160 resolution capable of 65,000 colors. Nice! The added features apparently come with no size or weight increase, and the new Sidekick has even better battery life than the old. Price and release date unknown, but I expect availablility by the end of the month at $400 base price.

Incidently, we missed an announcement by Danger that they’d released a free beta version SDK last month. You can get the download at developer.danger.com. This is good news for Sidekick owners as more programmers are likely to develop nifty programs to fill the gaps of the Sidekick’s software.

Dynamism, importer of fine electronics from Japan and points around the globe, has made available two choice goodies; the Samsung Nexio S160 (pictured top) and the Sony U101. The Nexio is the second in the line of Windows CE powered palmtops from Samsung. It has a 400MHz PXA250 processor (not as good as the higher-bus PXA255) and has a 5″ landscape-oriented transflective screen, integrated Wi-Fi, 128 megs of RAM, CF and SD slots, and a removable keyboard. Price is a staggering $1300.

The Sony U101 is a full XP powered system, running on a 600MHz Mobile Celeron chip with 256 megs of RAM, a 30 gig HD, and a miniscule 7.1″ TFT screen. The screen also can be oriented in landscape or portrait mode for reading. Weighs just under 2 lbs and has a 3-5 hour battery life. Price starts at $2000.

Apple has announced a redesigned and upgraded iPod for both Mac and PC. The new version comes in three sizes; 10, 15 and 30 gigs. The new design includes redesigned scroll wheel and buttons, but retains the mono screen. Best of all the 15 and 30 gig models come with a wired remote and a cradle that syncs with the computer using either USB 2.0 or FireWire, so PC users are more likely to have the required hardware for connecting ($40 extra for 10 gig model or if you want a spare). The 10 and 15 giggers are both 2.4″ x 4.0″ x .62″ at 5.6 ounces, and the 30 gigger is 2.4″ x 4.0″ x .73″ inches at 6.2 ounces. Price is $300, $400 and $500 respectively. Other improvements on the software side include PIM functionality (including text notes) and an alarm clock and sleep timer option, plus solitaire and other games. The best just keeps getting better, but not cheaper.

One of the questions we are most commonly asked here at Street Tech Labs is: “What digital camera should I buy?” ConsumerReview.com, a network of sites dedicated to reviewing personal tech, has a decent site to help answer that question. It’s called PCPhotoREVIEW.com. OK, so the name is clunky, but we won’t hold that against it. In fact, the site was just named a PC World magazine "Best Bet." Check it out.

PC-maker Mini-Box has got another very small PC. The M-100 is based on a mini-itx board, has 256 megs of RAM, a 40-gig harddrive, and the embedded GNU/Linux OS loaded on a 128 meg compact flash card. The CF card reader is built-in to the chassis, as is a small LCD display (for system info) and 14 buttons on the front for controlling system functions without need for a keyboard. The whole unit is about the same size as a CDROM drive, so it’s no surprise that there’s no optical drive in the system. Price is $650, or just $500 for a barebones system. Considering that the mini-itx board only costs about $110 on the street, and that that plus a case, power supply and HD with a dash of GNU are all you need for your own system, the price of the Mini-Box seems a little steep.

NowEvolution is reportedly prepping a new personal video playback device that uses DataPlay discs. The device will be able to playback MPEG4, WMA, MP3, AAC and maybe other formats. The discs are 500 megs, and thus capable of holding several feature-length videos or 10 hours of music, but limited because they can only be written once (no deleting and re-recording). Despite this limitation, the video playback device from NowEvolution is an interesting use for the media, though unless DataPlay comes out with a DPRW, it’s likely the format will fail. Source for the pics and info is HotMP3Gear.