Trimble Announces Tiny Copernicus II Surface Mount GPS Receiver

Topic: Portable Devices

Trimble is famous for its GPS systems and it has announced a new very small surface mount GPS receiver. The Copernicus II GPs receiver is a thumb nail size surface mount module with high sensitivity.

Trimble says it has significant feature enhancements form its predecessor including improved signal tracking for poor signal environments and a high-sensitivity stationary timing mode. The GPS module is complete and can provide position, velocity and time data. Read more

Posted on Wed, 14 May 2008 10:04:28 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Creative Launches Vado Pocket Video Cam

Topic: Portable Devices

There are lots of people today that like to keep video cameras and still cameras on them for recording video on the fly for posting online. Creative has announced a new video camera today just for this crowd called the Vado Pocket Video Cam.

The Vado camera is small at 3.9” H x 2.2” W x 0.6” D and weighs 84g with the battery. The battery is good for 130 minutes of recording and the camera has 2GB of internal storage. At the highest quality the 2GB storage will record 60 minutes of video and at the lower resolution 120 minutes of video can be recorded. Read more

Posted on Tue, 13 May 2008 09:18:59 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Sanyo LP-XC55 and LP-XC50 portable Projectors

Topic: Portable Devices

Sanyo announces the LP-XC55 (3,100 lumens) and the LP-XC50 (2,600 lumens), two new portable projectors that adopt Sanyo's Active Maintenance Filter (AMF) system, allowing easy filter changes.

The new Sanyo projectors are also equipped with a sturdy and durable Security Bar, allowing thick security wires up to 11 millimeters, raising the level of security for small, portable projectors. Read more

Posted on Tue, 13 May 2008 01:00:32 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Eye-Fi Explore unveiled

Topic: Portable Devices

Today Eye-Fi, makers of the world's first wireless memory card for digital cameras, announced the Eye-Fi Explore, a new card that automatically geotags photos.

Eye-Fi Explore allows users to automatically send photos directly from their camera to their PC or Mac, and to one of 25 online photo sharing, printing, social networking, or blogging sites using their home wireless network. Eye-Fi partnered with Skyhook Wireless to provide geotagging capabilities and Wayport to enable hotspot connectivity for the Eye-Fi Explore. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 May 2008 07:25:36 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

E Ink Announces new Custom and Segmented Dispaly Cells

Topic: Portable Devices

E Ink recently announced its next generation displays which are available in custom and segmented cells. The segmented display cells are simple digit, icon and alpha-numeric displays that offer readability in a paper thin form. The thin form requires less battery power to operate.

The new SDCs are 40% thinner and have a wider operating temperature range and increased flexibility. The SDCs are flexible enough for repetitive 3D bends or 2D conformable solutions. E ink says the new displays can be used in consumer electronics, PC accessories, smartcards, capacity indicators, and more. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 May 2008 06:48:03 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

OKI unveils Face Image Processing Hardware IP

Topic: Portable Devices

Today Oki announced it has developed "Face Image Processing Hardware IP" to enable face detection functionality on LSIs, which is one of the functions provided in OKI’s face image processing middleware "FSE (Face Sensing Engine)." With this IP, manufacturers can now include in their embedded systems a function to detect faces from an image using a low CPU processing power. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 May 2008 01:19:11 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Samsung HMX20 full HD Camcorder

Topic: Portable Devices

Samsung introduces new full HD Camcorder in Korea. The HMX20 line (VM-HMX20C, SC-HMX20C) features 10x zoom and a 6.4MP sensor. Samsung already announced the HMX20 (SC-HMX20C) in January in the U.S. and it actually should start shipping this month.

Samsung highlights that the HMX20 camcorders also make great still photos with features found in other high-end photo cameras. Read more

Posted on Thu, 8 May 2008 04:32:29 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Wayfinder Launches Improved Wayfinder Navigator

Topic: Portable Devices

Wayfinder announced that its award winning GPS application called Wayfinder Navigator was available with a new and improved user interface and more features. Some of the new features include pre-loaded maps, fully vectorized maps on all mobile platforms and more.

The new version integrates social networks and extended maps with coverage for over 150 countries world-wide. Highlights of the new updated application include power search, compatibility with hundreds of phones, high quality world maps, and social network integration to allow sharing of your location on Facebook or Google Earth. Read more

Posted on Wed, 7 May 2008 12:34:08 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

New Zune Software brings TV Shows and more

Topic: Portable Devices

Microsoft announced a new software update for their Zune portable media players. The new Zune software adds new software features and content to the Zune online store, music community, and Zune Pass monthly subscription service.

Zune is expanding its video store to include downloads of popular television shows from COMEDY CENTRAL, FUNimation Entertainment, MTV, NBC Universal, Nickelodeon, Starz Media (including Manga Entertainment), Turner Broadcasting, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and VH1 that you can sync to your device and enjoy on the go. Read more

Posted on Tue, 6 May 2008 02:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

AT&T DECT 6.0 Cordless Phones

Topic: Portable Devices

When it comes to your home phone no one wants to mess with cords today and AT&T has new cordless phones that promise more range. AT&T announced its 2008 line of cordless phones today featuring new Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) 6.0 and new antenna technology.

"With this proprietary antenna technology added to our DECT lineup, consumers will enjoy an additional 45 percent of open field talk range and a 15 percent better in-home calling range for cordless phones today -- an overall improvement over other DECT phones on the market," said Matt Ramage, vice president, product management, at Advanced American Telephones. "This innovative offering continues the tradition of highly reliable, best-in-class performance that consumers have come to expect from AT&T cordless phones." Read more

Posted on Mon, 5 May 2008 11:59:14 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

LED Message Pen only for Geeks

Topic: Portable Devices

I wonder who came up with the idea for the LED Message Pen. It is definitely another gadget the world does not need. It is right up there with the USB Eye Massager.

The pen displays a message of your choice in see through dome on top. The message can be up to 20 characters long. This is enough for spelling: "I am a Geek". Read more

Posted on Mon, 5 May 2008 03:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr