Fingerprint Activated Door Lock

Everyday, thousands of people are victims of home invasions and robberies. In some cases, homeowners even lose their lives in the process. It is a rather unfortunate aspect of our society that is inescapable, but yet, still preventable. If you are seeking maximum security, and if you don't want to end up being the next story on your local news station, then the Fingerprint Activated Door Lock is exactly what you need to have.

As technology has advanced throughout the years, so have our methods of keeping ourselves safe. A new invention that provides home security, and eliminates the need to have several keys, may prove to be the next big thing in this field. The Fingerprint Activated Door Lock provides maximum security for your home, and family from would-be crooks. With this new device, you will no longer have to spend time rummaging through your purse, or pants in search of easily misplaced keys or wrecking your brain in an attempt to remember the security code. All that this neat device requires for activation is your fingerprint.

The Fingerprint Activation Door Lock can store up to 150 fingerprint users. If your fingerprints are not among those 100, then the door lock will not allow you to turn the knob and open the door. It also comes with a low battery warning to let you know when to change the batteries. Indeed, this device is very useful, and handy. What's better is that you’re looking at a pretty great price. It's not like you can put a price on safety, though. Businesses and individuals are using these devices to ensure that their environments stay as safe as possible.

This device is very beneficial, and anyone with a home and family should own one. It will provide you with a one of a kind, type of home security that you won't find anywhere else.

Canon introduce a new High-End Scanner in the US with CanoScan 9000F

Canon today announced the launch of the CanoScan 9000F Color Image Scanner featuring the highest-resolution to date for a Canon scanner product. With a maximum color resolution of 9600 x 9600 dpi our high-speed CCD scanner with built-in professional film scanning is ideal for people interested in preserving their work or family memories in a safe and easy way without sacrificing overall image quality.

The CanoScan 9000F is also capable of scanning up to four 35mm slides or 12 35mm filmstrips at one time further adding to its archival capabilities.

To increase overall ease-of-use, there are seven “EZ Buttons” allowing consumers to quickly Auto Scan, copy, e-mail or create a PDF file with just one push of a button. Additionally, the color image scanner utilizes a white LED which eliminates warm-up time while decreasing power consumption. 

The estimated selling price for the CanoScan 9000F Color Image Scanner is $249.99

Features:
1. Speed & Quality:
Superb Scanning Resolution: When you combine 9600 x 9600 maximum color resolution¹ (film scanning) with a vivid 48-bit color depth and over 281 trillion possible colors, the results will astound you. Continue your scanning brilliance with tremendous 19,200 x 19,200 (Interpolated) software enhanced scans.

2. Easy Of Use:
EZ Buttons: Utilize the Seven EZ Buttons to automate the entire scanning process. Copy, scan and create email attachments or PDF files simply with the push of a button.

Auto Scan Mode: With the press of a single button you have the ability to bring eight steps into one as you scan your photo, document or personal notebook and have the type of original automatically recognized. In addition, the original is automatically cropped to proper size, scanned and saved in the appropriate file format.

35mm Film: Make your old photos look virtually brand new again with the special film scanning guide frame and Film Adapter Unit by scanning one film strip at a time at a maximum 9600 color dpi¹.

Auto Document Fix: Auto Document Fix delivers beautiful and easy-to-view scan results by advanced image analysis and area-by-area data correction, automatically. Text characters stand out and are sharp, and clear; while pictures maintain their color tone and contrast.

FARE Level 3: This built-in retouching technology delivers automatic correction to photos and film removing much of the dust and scratches while restoring its color all at the same time. Restore the life of your memories automatically instead of having to spend lots of time manually retouching them.

Gutter Shadow Correction: This built-in correction removes the shadow typically seen when scanning a page from a book. This “gutter” is eliminated delivering a clean scan of the page – not the dark gutter.

3.Connectivity:
USB 2.0 Hi-Speed: Scan and transfer images to your computer at the fastest possible scanning speeds with this connection. The USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Interface also allows for quick previews of your images to your computer.

Specification:

Scanner Type	Flatbed
Scanning Element	Charged-Coupled Device (CCD) 12-line color
Light Source	White LED
Features	7 EZ Buttons, 9600 dpi CCD Sensor, Auto Document Fix, Auto Scan Mode, Built-In Power Supply, FARE Level 3, Film Scanning (35mm film/120 format film), Gutter Shadow Correction, High-speed Scanning, Light Guide, OCR Text Data Conversion, PDF Password, Sensor Carriage, Super Toric Lens, White LED, Zero Warm-up Time2
Scanner Buttons	Auto Scan, Copy, E-mail, PDF x 4
Scanning Mode	Color: 48-bit internal/48 or 24-bit external Grayscale: 48-bit internal/16-bit (film scanning only)/8-bit external
Max. Document Size	8.5" x 11.7"
Interface	Hi-Speed USB
Dimensions (W x D x H)	10.7" (W) x 18.9" (D) x 4.4" (H)
Weight	10.1 lbs
OS Compatibility	4 Windows® 7, Windows Vista®, Windows XP/2000 and Mac OS® X v10.4.11 to 10.6.x
Power Requirements	AC 100-240V, 50/60 Hz
Software	Setup Software & User's Guide CD-ROM, Adobe®Photoshop® Elements5, ArcSoft® PhotoStudio®, MP Navigator EX
Max. Power Consumption	15W (0.9W Standby)
Operating Temperature:	Operating temperature: 50° - 95° F
Operating Humidity:	Operating humidity: 10% - 90% RH (20% - 80% RH for film scanning)

EMOCION AL-DP100V 5.1 Headphones from Alla Japan

Two months ago, ALLA, a Japan-based company, introduced new 5.1 surround sound headsets with the Emocion AL-DP100V. Coming at an affordable price, this new series should provide you a real 5.1ch experience, at least according to the ALLA, and is mainly targeting gamers…

ALLA Corporation is a young company, created in 2003, and aims to sell in Japan different audio products (Headphones), computing peripherals (Keyboards), and accessories.

When the Japanese company announced the availability of their new 5.1 headphone for an affordable price, we thought that was the good moment for us to test the product and see how we can enjoy movies or games with this headphone while your girlfriend is sleeping next to you.

Emocion AL-DP100V specifications
• Interface:
- Coaxial in / Optical in / USB in
- Analog Output (Front / Rear / Cen / SUB) / Optical Out / Headphone Out (x2)
• Controller functions: Main Volume Control / Single Volume control (Rear / Front / Center / Subwoofer)
• Box Contents:
- Headphone
- Decoder amplifier
- AC adapter
- Optical digital voice cable(SPDIF)
- Coaxial cable
- Stereo terminal mini-cable(2.5Φ)
- USB cable(miniB-A)
- Manual
• Headphones specifications:
- Front: 27mm (x2) / 32Ω ±20% / 250Hz – 18,000Hz / 18mW / 90dB ±3dB
- Center: 10mm (x2) / 8Ω ±20% / 350Hz – 12,000Hz / 6mW / 85dB ±3dB
- Rear: 10mm (x2) / 16Ω ±20% / 350Hz – 15,000Hz / 6mW / 90dB ±3dB
- Woofer: 40mm (x2) / 32Ω ±20% / 25Hz – 7,000Hz / 18mW / 95dB ±3dB
• Price: 19.000 Yens, or 150€

Package Overview and first impressions
Inside the retail package you will find what you can expect: The headphones, the mini amplifier, an AC adapter, cables, and the user manual.

Regarding the products, to be honest this is far from being the best headphones ever. They are completely black, except for the place where you can find the rear speaker that comes in a silver color. The overall quality looks really cheap, with only glossy plastics. The design is the simplest thing we’ve ever seen.
For the headband, you will just have a piece of plastic on the top of your head. Padded leather could also have a great plus for these cheap-looking headphones. Indeed, I’m sure it could have added a more robust and solid look to the headphones.

The headband is also fully extend-able on both sides in order to let you adjust the headphones to your head. Concerning the ear pad, they are made of soft leather but with a major inconvenience. Actually, these headphones are on-ear headphones and not over-the-ear. That means it won’t perfectly cover your ears for a better experience. And using this for a long continuous time will definitely cause a real discomfort.
The inline control module looks very simple, just like the headphones part. It comes with volume wheels to control the front, rear, center and subwoofer independently. This part will allow the users to get more spacious listening experience with specific adjustment for the Dynamic range control.

Lastly, the Sound Control module offers a good interface (Coaxial in / Optical in / USB in / Analog Output (Front / Rear / Cen / SUB) / Optical Out / Headphone Out (x2)). Here again, and like headphones and their inline control module, the overall quality gives a ‘cheap’ impression.

On this mini amplifier, we can find the global volume adjustments button, as well as the on / off power button.
Anyway, that’s pretty much regarding the hardware. As we said, the overall quality is far from being the most stylish, and solid product. But the most important part is just coming, namely the performance.

Pump up the Volume Baby!
- Gaming Test
For our test of the Emocion AL-DP100V we tried to use the baby with different video games, from Variety genres (Football, FPS…) in order to have a good idea depending on the situation.
And to start our review with, we tried these 5.1 Headphones first with a personal shooter game. Actually, we thought that was a good test for this kind of headphones. As a reminder, the AL-DP100V comes with 8 drivers unit (or speakers) that are closed to your ears… In other words it means a lot noise with indistinguishable gunfire, voice, screaming directly in your ears…

But, surprisingly, the sound was far from being bad. I would even say that I had a lot of pleasure to play the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. The Emocion AL-DP100V headphones do their job, letting you to distinguish both the near and far gunfire. And with the well-balanced and deep bass, our headphones will totally immerse in the game. Yep, for an FPS I was really surprised and pleased to play with them.
During our test, we also tried such games as FIFA 2010, or Mirror’s Edge. For the first one, here again the headphones are amazing. Our AL-DP100V will immerse you in the stadium, with their great ambiance. You will be able to clearly distinguish different voices, from among the commentator, to the coach screaming at your player.

And for the second, the Mirror’s Edge, the result is really conclusive. I think this is the best example and test for this kind of 5.1 Headphones where you will have to pick out each voice, or city’s noise, or gunfire noise in order to discern where they have came from and all of these in a really calm atmosphere.
As I said, the result was really interesting. You could hear everything with crisp sound as you were walking, jumping, and running on roof top. You could also clearly distinguish the position of your enemies, if they were behind you or in any other direction. When you were under gunfire, you could guess how far they were from you, from the front to the rear. Every sort of sound was really easy to pick out.

Anyway, despite of a non-stylish design, the overall result is simply stunning and our headphones will totally immerse you in the game.

However, one thing was really annoying during our test. Actually, I would say that you could play all night and really enjoy your game, but because of the poor quality of the On-ear Pad, this became impossible and really uncomfortable. And after one hour, I had to give up because of my ear.

- Audio Test
Moving on to the music, I have to admit that I had to spend a certain amount of time to configure my headphones and find the best things. Actually, the adjust control button are too inaccurate. I listened to different kinds of music, from Metal to Drum & bass. Unfortunately, the sound is a little bit disappointing…. I mean, this is not bad, you will probably find a good setting but, if you compare this device with the X-Tube USB DTS we tested a month ago… Granted, for this price it will be hard to get better, but I have to admit that I was not so much excited by the sound.

- Movie Test
And as the last point, regarding movies, the result is surprisingly better than the music part. And compared to the X-Tube USB DTS, you won’t have that small and annoying echo as if you were in a movie theater that we found on the X-Tube USB DTS. The sound is powerful, and detailed and will really let you enjoy the movie with your girlfriend since you have two headphones output.

Pros
- Sound Quality for gaming and movie
- Price

Cons
- Overall build quality (looks really cheap)
- Uncomfortable after an usage of one hour
- Sound quality for music
- Lack of padded leather on the headband

Conclusion
To put it simple, the Emocion AL-DP100V from ALLA Corporation 5.1 Headphones perform well when it comes to play games. You will be able to perfectly discern every detail depending on the game you’re playing. Actually, this is a good way to totally immerse yourself in the game. But, we noticed that you will have to tweak a little your setting depending on the game you’re playing.

Even if the overall buily quality of the product is not good, what we have inside the beast is a really good surprise. Another point that can bother some of you is the myriad wires you have to use to be able to fully enjoy your toys. You will have to plug wire to power the device, to plug your headphones, to plug a lot of other things…

If you’re looking for good headphones dedicated to the music, I won’t recommend this one to you… Actually, even after spending a long time to adjust your sound, you will find that it’s just not good enough and that’s it. Nothing minds-blowing here.

Regarding movies part, the result is better, well-balanced, and this will be a good solution to enjoy HD movies without bothering people living around you.

And the last point, and maybe the major issue (for me), the headphones are really uncomfortable and after one hour you will have to take rest for two or three hours…

New Sony Vaio P, a nice evolution rather than a real revolution

As you must be aware of by now, Sony introduced a new upgrade of its ultra tiny Vaio P around the world. Not yet available in the Stores, we had the chance however, to secure a review unit in order to get to the bottom of this upgrade and check if this new Vaio P is really worth the few more bucks that Sony are asking.

Sony Vaio P
- Atom Z530 @ 1.60GHz
- 2 GB SDRAM
- 64GB Of SSD
- WiFI / WiMax
- 8” LCD with a 1600 x 768 resolution
- 0.619 Kg / 1.36 lbs

First Impression
Relatively similar to the First Vaio P, our newest edition however, comes with many little improvements as well as some design tweaks. Keeping the same Hi-res screen, our Vaio P with its 8” 1600 x 768 monitor comes now, like most of the compact notebooks, with a kind of optical sensor provided on the left of the screen and mouse buttons on the right. Unlike the previous Generation both the power switch and Wireless Lan Switch are now located on the side of our Vaio P rather than on its front. Add to this are a new set of colors and “Voila” the only major differences between our 2 generations of Vaio P.

Every day Usage
Although “physically” speaking our new Vaio P does not feature much change after all, things get more interesting once you boot-up our little new wonder … By default, Sony revised the Vaio P specs and now bring more RAM with 2GB instead of 1GB, a more powerful CPU with an Atom Z530 @ 1.6Ghz instead of the usual Z520 and its 1.33Ghz, and by default 64GB of SSD in place of the usual HDD.

On the paper this may sound already much for most of you, however, there is even more to it. First of all, it is when you start using the Vaio P on a daily basis that you notice how faster this New P is compared to the previous stock generation. Added to this, there is now better power management bring-up thanks to Sony’s hardware change and software optimization, a battery life announced at 5.5h instead of the previous 4h hours.
Feeling “lighter”, Windows 7 runs pretty smoothly for your everyday tasks on this new Vaio P, and we do not have much to complain about it. Sure we would love to be able to watch full HD Videos running smoothly or to hook a “Blu-Ray” player and watch our favorite movies on-the-go, but come on, let’s be reasonable here. We agree that it would indeed be pretty nice but the Vaio P may just be a little bit underpowered in its stock version to be fully capable of giving us this yet, then why don’t we keep on enjoying our average DivX and a bit of Hulu on-the-go?

Now we appreciate our new Vaio P’s specs bump, but there are also 3 new gizmos in our new computer that are worth mentioning and that do really make this new P worth checking if you are looking for a compact and stylish notebook.

The very first noticeable improvement comes with the addition of an optical keypad on the left of the screen and mouse button on its right. Far more than just a simple gadget, this new mouse is in fact extremely useful when holding the Vaio P with your 2 hands standing up or in a crowded environment. The second very useful thingy is our Vaio P’s movement sensor that will automatically rotate your screen orientation if you are tilting the Vaio P to the left or to the right giving you a nice screen real-estate for either reading articles on the web or any kind of e-Book.

Sony also extended these features to its proprietary Photo software preview allowing to you to jump from a picture to another by simply flicking the Vaio P to the left or to the right.

The last but not the least, it comes with the Vaio P Support of the PS3 Remote Play and Remote Keyboard. Like your PSP, our P is now capable of giving you direct access to your PS3 just as your PSP and does pretty much everything that Sony are allowing you with the Remote Play. If indeed you can hook-up your Vaio P to a PS3, the reality is however quite disappointing… The overall experience on Wireless (N) for us was sluggish and dead slow, accessing to Video stored on the PS3 was a real pain and we just had frozen pictures with audio only. Switching from a menu to another was incredibly slow, something that our PSP was doing smoothly just before we tested the Vaio P with the PS3.

Conclusion
If you put aside the PS3 Remote Play that was more than impressive as we were expecting it to be, Sony’s new Vaio P is indeed a nice evolution of the old Vaio P. if you have not yet invested in this product but have been looking for a nice “excuse” to get one, well we can only recommend you to do so, you won’t regret it but bear in mind that an Atom-powered PC will never replace a Core 2 Duo, i3 or i5 one.
So if basic word processing, Email, Web, and light photo editing (Crop, resize), Photo viewing and basic Video playing are what you need on-the-go, the Vaio P with its awesome Screen is a dead winner for us !

X-Tube USB DTS Surround Sensation AS301DTS

Two weeks ago we introduced the latest X-Tube DTS Surround Sensation (the AS301DTS), a nice USB device letting you enjoy DTS surround audio on your notebook… To be honest with you, before receiving this device, we were skeptical… Could it really provide you with surround sound? Simply by plugging it into a USB port?

Of course, this device has not been made to offer you the best DTS experience ever, and you won’t use it with your home speakers… No, the X-Tube has been made for people who travel a lot with their netbook, notebook and want the best sound possible whilst doing so…
And to be honest, the device works better than we thought….

AS301DTS Specs (X-TUBE)
- Frame Size: 512
- PCM Ample Rate: 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz
- PCM Bits: 16 or 24
- Supported Channels: 2.X / 5.X
- Dimensions: 45L x 23D
- PC Interface: Mini USB port
- Stereo Headphones out (3.5mm)

AH-516 Specs (Headphones)
- Driver Unit: 40mm
- Impedance: 32Ohms
- Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20 000Hz
- Sensitivity: 100dB
- Max input: 100mW.

First impression
Regarding the packaging, we have something really simple. Inside the box you will find the X-Tube DTS, a pair of headphones, an installation CD, the instruction manual (in English) and a detachable USB port…
In the shape of a real vacuum tube, the X-Tube is stylish and well-built… Just plug this USB dongle in your USB port and the device glows blue. Of course, you won’t get a sound like that produced by a real tube headphone amp since it’s not a real vacuum tube. Inside the device you will see a printed circuit with a blue LED….

The overall design is pleasing, really funky in particular with the official DTS HD logo printed on the tube.
The X-Tube DTS is powered by the VIA VT1610 Chipset and features a headphone mini Jack 3.5mm output, as well as a mic input (3.5mm). The AS301DTS also comes with a pair of headphones designed to let you enjoy the DTS sound produced by the device, and a CD with the drive installation for DTS Surround Sensation Headphone Software.

Regarding the headphones and their overall quality; they look really cheap… In fact you may be better off using your own headphones than the bundled pair… They feel very uncomfortable, and I’m sure, after 30 minutes of use they will have caused considerable discomfort … Anyway, let’s install the driver to see what we have!

The software is really simple… It will allow you to either activate or deactivate the DTS Surround Sensation. You can also set some surround effects. There is a Music option or a Movie option… For both options, you can configure the voice as well as the Bass… and that’s it!

Pump up the Volume Baby!
For our test we got some DTS WAV audio files (@ 44.1kHz/16-bit Stereo) as well as some movie samples. Regarding software, we used VLC Media Player, Cyberlink Power DVD, and of course the software provided with the X-TUBE.

Before we started the test, we took the time to check if we really could feel the difference with a simulation of Front right speakers, Front Left speakers, central speakers etc…
It works, you feel a small difference between the front left speaker, and the rear right speaker, but it’s not obvious… Anyway, let’s test it with music and movie…

- Test with music files
And the result is far from being bad… Actually, there’s a noticeable difference when you activate the surround system… Inactivated, you feel your sound normal like on my Fast Track audio interface from M-Audio; you don’t have any difference… It’s still pleasant, but when you active the DTS Surround Sensation, you really feel a difference… The X-Tube DTS clearly increases the sound depth, providing a wide sound… Actually, this is more an amplification of the sound than a surrounding simulation, but you will still get a powerful sound, making your basic sound seem really “flat”

The good news is that the device does not distort your sound. What can be heard is clear and powerful… Turning on the Bass Enhancement option will clearly provide you more bass. The voice clarification will also really change your sound… However it depends on you… Some of you will like it, others may not… Turning it on will give you a studio recorded-like sound.

We tested the device with Jazz Music and Electro Music; each time we could distinguish difference between instruments… Each instrument was powerful and natural…
But to be honest with you is it really necessary to turn on the Surround system for music? Not really… For Example, in our music tests, Our Daimaou preferred the sound produced when the device was inactive…

- Test with movie files
During this test we were really surprised by the results… Actually, using this X-TUBE will immerse you in your movie…

We have to remind ourselves that we’re talking about a cheap solution to enjoy Blu-Ray or DTS file with a simple laptop, especially when you’re traveling and you cannot bring with you all your Home Theater system…

Actually, you feel a powerful sound, really detailed… Coming from a small device that measures only φ23mm × 45mm for 12g – it will do a far better job than your built-in audio system of your laptop…
However, the major reproach we have with this device concerns the voice sound… Actually, I found that voices were not really clear… Similar to the sound produced in a movie theatre. There seems to be a small echo produced… It’s really a pity, because the overall sound is almost perfect; music in films is really clear and powerful…If only the voice sound quality could have been better, the device would be perfect!
The only way to avoid this inconvenience is to turn off the Voice Clarification option on the software… Once turned off, the voices are clearer but still far from perfect…

Finally, regarding the headphones provided by the manufacturer, we strongly advise you to use your own headphones… Actually, I used the X-Tube DTS with basic headphones (Audio-Technica’s ATH-SJ5), and you won’t notice any difference… Just, my headphones are more comfortable than the AH-516…

Pros
- Overall Build quality
- Sound quality
- Price
- Design

Cons
- Voice distorted on movies with the “Voice Clarification” activated
- Headphones

Conclusion
The product is surprisingly good! Far from being perfect, but it seems to be a really good, maybe the best alternative to your Laptop built-in audio system.

Powerful, this device won’t distort your sound, and you will be capable of enjoying your HD Movies on a plane or on the train… But, to be honest it acts more like a headphone amplifier than a DTS Surround system device… It will mainly provide you with deeper bass and a wider sound…

Regarding movies, we are rather disappointed that voices are a bit distorted… You have the impression of hollow sounding voices hollow voices, especially when you turn on the “voice clarification option” on the software provided with the X-Tube…

Overall, if you look at the cheap price, the X-TUBE does its job, and this is all we are asking… If you want to fully enjoy you’re Blu-ray discs, don’t watch them on a laptop…

Acer Gemstone AS8940G-BR101

It’s been a while since I did not test a Powerful and Gaming oriented PC like Acer’s latest Gemstone AS8940G-BR101, but that was really a pleasant surprise and despite some minor stuff this new i7 monster desktop replacement definitively has won my heart.

Specs
- Intel Core i7-720QM
- 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz
- 1TB of HDD at 5400 rpm
- GeForce GTS 250M with 1GB of VRAM
- BluRay Burner (4x)
- 18.4” Full HD LED Backlight LCD.

First Impression
Massive is definitively the word to describe how huge is this thing, just look at the specs, 18.4” Full HD monitor, with a size of 440x295x31/43,8mm for a total weight of 4.6kg. Yep there are no doubts, this Acer Gemstone AS8940G-BR101 is definitively not your average notebook and will be better fit on your desk at the office or at home.

Made to offer you a real powerful desktop experience in the most “compact” form factor our notebook provides a descent user experience, with an acceptable keyboard, and many little improvements made to let you enjoy as much as possible your movies thanks to Acer’s MediaTouch Controls that will quickly let you skip fast forward and pause your videos and music.

Other little nice “touch” on this beast is its touch sensitive keys for the Bluetooth, Wireless Lan as well as its multi-touch touchpad, and even if I really don’t give a XXX about multi-touch touchpads, I however really like its response and the feeling of it… Yep for once I enjoyed using a notebook touchpad!

Huge computer means in this case huge Screen, and our 18.4” LCD that is installed on this new Gemstone is just like the specs of our computer impressive. Although I usually do not like glossy screens, this one was WAY more usable than let’s say Apple Fancy Mirror LCDs, than can be found on their latest line-up of MacBook and MacBook Pro.

Perfect for your everyday usage, the screen however did not have an outstanding contrast ratio and was in fact on the average, acceptable if you are watching a movie, but not perfect when playing games and especially FPS taking place in dark areas or during night missions.

Finally I really enjoy its HD capable (1280×800) Acer Crystal Eye high-def webcam. Perfect for Skype and shooting decent videos even in low light.

Power Wonderland
Not only this PC is huge, but it is also quite well equipped with a powerful Core i7-720QM at 1.6GHz, 4GB of DDR3 (Max 8GB), a GeForce GTS250M with 1024MB of VRAM and its Blu-Ray burner Player, our Gemstone AS8940G-BR101 offers the strict minimum for any serious users.

Now since I do not believe in benchmarks and that I am not interested in them, I just decided to test this notebook like I would use it, with a bit of Games as well as some videos and a lot of Video encoding.
As I am not a PC Gamer and prefer spending time on my XBOX 360 or PS3, I decided to download the latest Trial version of Call Of Duty Modern Warfare and give it a Try. Although I’ve never played this game before on a PC hence not capable of comparing the result with a more “Gamer” setting, I can say that I could not see any difference between my XBOX version and this one, everything in the setting were put to their maximum and I had a pleasant experience without any sluggish graphics or slowdown… As far as I am concerned and for my gaming needs, our Gemstone AS8940G-BR101 specs are just perfect!
Equipped with a Blu-Ray burner and Player with (on the paper) an excellent HomeTheater experience thanks to Acer’s CineSurround sound system and thanks to its five built-in speakers, I loaded the Firefly Blu-Ray in it and gave it a try.

Graphic-wise with PowerDVD 9 and its Cuda engine, I have no complaints, however, the Acer CineSurround sound system is a bit weak and won’t give you the thrill of a real home Theater with its built-in speakers. Once plugged to a real Amp and a real audio system setup, things are WAY better, but still watching a movie “on the go” is definitively just acceptable.

Then my final test was to Rip my Serenity Blu-Ray in HD and see how things were compared to my Desktop i7-920 PC (6GB or RAM, GeForce 9800 GTX+). Here as well, the software that I was using on both my desktop and this Acer notebook took the full advantage of NVIDIA Cuda, and gave a nice little boost when I had to rip High Def videos.

Ripping the Serenity Blu-Ray needed on both my Desktop and our Acer all cores available and they were running at almost 100%. While on my i7-920 desktop it took only 1h25 minutes to convert a ripped Blu-Ray in to a PS3 compatible file, on the Acer the same exercise took 1h more with a total of 2h23 minutes. While this difference, 1h, may look a lot for some, think again, we are here testing a notebook, not a Desktop and being capable of Encoring a Blu-Ray video into a PS3 friendly one in 2h23” on-the-go is quite an achievement.

Conclusion
Impressive Specs, great performance in many areas, the Aspire Gemstone 8940G-BR101 is definitively a notebook that is worth checking if you are in business for a desktop replacement. Sold in Japan below 200 000 Yen, I wish however that Acer could provide a better sound system and maybe a better plastic for our computer casing…

Dell Vostro V13 Core 2 Solo

Adamo laptops are among the sexiest machine available on Dell Catalog, but like every high-end goods, price is an obstacle difficult to overcome for most of us… And when Dell decided to offer a Cheap Adamo, the Vostro V13, we decided that we had to give it a try and found out if our 69,980 Yen Vostro V13 was a pretty good deal after all. Just to let you know Dell Japan as nice offer for a Vista and Celeron 743 powered Vostro V13 at just 12,980 Yen (106€).

Dell Vostro V13 Specs:
- Intel CoreTM 2 Solo SU3500 @ 1.40 GHz
- 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM (1066 MHz)
- Intel GMA 4500MHD
- 320 GB Serial ATA 7,200 rpm
- 13.3” HDF LED Backlight Monitor with a 1366×768 resolution.

First Impression
Directly coming from the Adamo family the Vostro V13 inherit for its big brother handsomeness and quality build. Like the Adamo the Vostro V13 peculiarity reside in the way you will close your computer screen and lid, lying on top of your computer bottom deck.

Receiving an elegant brushed aluminum lid and bottom body, the V13 over all quality is matching our expectation. Add to this a well design and elegant keyboard and mouse pad, the Vostro V13 is just the elegant Business oriented Laptop that many of us would die for.

Minimalistic the V13 is in the other hands a bit means with peripheral. Don’t expect much here but the V13 only features a USB 2.0 port and an e-SATA one. If you are looking forward to plug your computer to your nice 24” Full HD Monitor you will have to do it the good old fashion way with the poor man D-Sub output.
Luckily Dell also thought that it could be nice to add 2 more slot with a SD Card reader and an Express Card/34 port on the side of your computer ant that pretty much it.

Looking forward to enjoy HD video on the Go? You are in luck, since the Vostro V13 features a pretty nice none glossy 13.3” screen with a 1366×768 resolution

Everyday usage.
Unfortunately only available in Japan with a Celeron 743 or a Core 2 Solo SU3500, the Vostro V13 is far from being as powerful as an Adamo, at least for us in Japan, but the good news is that it will just do what it is suppose to do! Now let’s face it, and even if you would have better enjoyed a Core 2 Duo S7300 like on the USA V13 for example, the Vostro V13 has never been made to compete against power user oriented laptop, but has been targeted to business oriented user, where a Core 2 Solo SU3500 with a 7200rpm HDD will easily handle Web Browsing, Email, Basic Office usage and even some basic photo edition even with Photoshop.

If you ever wanted to push the limit of your Business oriented usage and just need to relax for while, reset assure, the Vostro V13 even on its Core 2 Solo configuration will easily handle Hulu Video, as well as HD videos. As for 3D video gaming, well let’s say that Intel’s GMA 4500MHD won’t give you the needed power to play those 3D heavy games, but once again, who will be crazy enough to try such games on such tiny and slim Business laptop whether or not you could get it with a Core 2 Duo CPU.
So far so good, the Vostro V13 is a pretty nice business tool, well built, nice aluminum casing an ultra slim with just 19.7mm, the Vostro has for me everything it needs when it comes for a slim & elegant mobile professional laptop… But as a mobile device, the Vostro has just one weakness… Its battery. Unfortunately unswappable, the Vostro V13 will need to go back to DELL support center if you ever need to change its internal battery, we actually were not capable to remove the computer aluminum bottom without damaging the computer… Bad very bad.

Conclusion.
Despite its poor choice of CPU in Japan, I would die for a Core 2 Duo V13, its unswappable battery, I would still get the V13 in addition on of me setting at the office. Actually using a Vaio G2 series in a Windows Server and Exchange Office environment, The V13 will perform just as well as my G2 Core 2 Duo 1.2Ghz plus giving me the satisfaction to own an excellently build computer and on top of that a very elegant one. And as proof, while writing this review I just placed an order for a Vostro V13 with a Core 2 Solo at 23,450 Yen (196€) to replace my Wife Lenovo 3000 N100 Core Duo 1.66Ghz Laptop.

Fareastgizmos Samsung Launches Its First Terabyte 2.5" Mobile Hard Drive with 8MB buffer memory

Samsung has started shipping its new Spinpoint MT2 1 terabyte (TB) 2.5” internal mobile hard disk drive. Running at 5400rpm speed, the Samsung Spinpoint MT2 drive has a 12.5mm form factor and utilizes Samsung’s proprietary SilentSeek and NoiseGuard technologies to minimize noise levels during drive operation. The performance and reliability features of the Samsung Spinpoint MT2 have been enhanced with an optimized design and improved suspension for multidisc. The new MT2 drive delivers about 20 % increased read/write performance and 4 % lower power consumption compared with competitive drives, and it features shock resistance levels of 400G (2ms) in operation mode and 800G (1ms) when the power is off.

Equipped with Samsung’s exclusive dynamic balancing technology, the drive’s overall stability and reliability is optimized as a high-performing solution. The Spinpoint MT2 features 5400rpm speed rotation, SATA 3.0 Gbps interface and Native Command Queuing functions for advanced performance. The Spinpoint MT2 drive has an 8MB buffer memory and is available in 750GB and 1TB capacity.

Panasonic DMC-FZ100 camera with 24x Optical Zoom captures the motion of a subject the naked eyes cannot see

The new Panasonic DMC-FZ100, top-of-the-line of LUMIX popular FZ series packs a powerful optical zoom-24x and creative options including manual operation, adding full-HD movie recording capability. The newly developed LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens in the DMC-FZ100 extends its optical zoom range from 27mm to 25mm at wide end and the zoom power from 18x to 24x to be even more versatile compared with the DMC-FZ35. Also the newly developed 14.1-megapixel MOS sensor lets the FZ100 record high quality 1,920 x 1,080 full-HD movie as smooth as 60i (NTSC) / 50i (PAL). The 3.0-inch free-angle Intelligent LCD has now 460,000-dot high resolution to dramatically, improve visibility during recording and playback. The battery life is also as powerful as approx. 410 pictures shooting thanks to the high energy efficient MOS sensor and image processing LSI, the Venus Engine FHD.

 

Together with a host of options, the unlimited expression of not only photo but also of movie is now easily available with FZ100. The high speed MOS sensor realizes the industry’s fastest level of burst shooting in 14.1-megapixel full resolution at 11 fps with mechanical shutter and even 60 fps in 3.5-megapixel recording mode. It also enables the camera to record high speed movie at 220 fps in QVGA size, to capture the motion of a subject the naked eyes cannot see.

Wireless Baby Monitor

Keep an extra pair of eyes (and ears) on your baby from anywhere in the house with this Wireless Baby Monitor, which features night vision and remote pan/tilt control.  With this Wireless Baby Monitor, you finally have the freedom to watch TV, entertain guests, do household chores, exercise, and even sleep with peace of mind that you will always know when your baby needs you. A 2.5 inch LCD screen lets you to keep an eye on the little ones without having to wake them, while the built-in mic allows you to hear their every cry and yell. More after the break...

If you have a toddler who likes to crawl around the room, you'll absolutely love the Wireless Baby Monitor's ability to remotely adjust the camera from the receiver. With both tilt (up to 120 degrees up and down) and pan (up to 270 degrees left and right) functions, not only can keep you keep an eye on your children at all times, but you can even remotely scan their room for any dangerous items or objects that shouldn't be there. Designed specifically with you and your baby's needs in mind, this Wireless Baby Monitor includes 9 infra-red lights for night vision that will automatically go to work and provide a nice bright view of your baby. Those 4 AM checkups are no more, since all you need to do is take a quick glance at the baby monitor to know that your little one is sleeping as well as you are. If your friends or family have a small one at home, buy them a Wireless Baby Monitor to show that you care. In stock now and available at a parent-friendly price, order today and we'll express ship it out tomorrow! Brought to you by your best source of wholesale electronics, Chinavasion.  Price Wireless Baby Monitor with Night Vision Constituent about $ 147.

Worlds first projector phone Samsung Galaxy Beam Makes Global Debut in Singapore with StarHub

Samsung today announced that the world’s first smart projector phone Samsung Galaxy Beam will be available to Singapore StarHub customers from July 17, 2010. Samsung Galaxy Beam with built-in Pico Projector is coupled with power-packed features and a crystal clear Super AMOLED display. The built-in multimedia projector on the Samsung Galaxy Beam allows customers to share fun moments intuitively with family and friends, such as watching National Geographic Channel or Disney Channel, browsing photo albums, as well as streaming YouTube or MetaCafe videos together through MobiClip.

Besides operating Singapore’s most advanced mobile broadband network with no-bill-shock mobile data packages, StarHub continues to be an innovator of mobile offerings to deliver the most immersive experience for consumers.

Motorola CHARM- a touch screen smartphone that packs a social networking punch with Android 2.1

Motorola has announced the upcoming availability of Motorola CHARM, a touch screen smartphone that packs a social networking punch with Android 2.1, MOTOBLURTM enhancements, a compact design and a ACKTRACK feature that makes screen navigation even more intuitive. Motorola CHARM provides consumers all the features of a smartphone with the intuitive navigation of a 2.8 inch touch screen – all in a compact, pocketable design that makes messaging a snap using the combination of a full QWERTY keyboard and touch screen.

The BACKTRACK navigation pad, located on the back of the smart-phone directly behind the home screen, is similar to a laptop touch panel and enables an unobstructed view of the Web, texts, e-mails and news feeds. Plus, with Android 2.1 and enhanced MOTOBLUR features, CHARM offers new customization and filtering options. Motorola CHARM will be the first device in the U.S. to feature an enhanced version of MOTOBLUR built on Android 2.1, which syncs contacts, posts, messages, photos and much more in easy to manage streams — from sources such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Gmail, work and personal e-mail. Motorola CHARM is expected to be available this summer exclusively in the U.S. for customers of T-Mobile.

Belkin Conserve Valet- a convenient place to charge all of your mobile devices.

Belkin Conserve Valet smart charging station is a convenient place to charge all of your mobile devices, and it also helps save energy by shutting off automatically when the devices are fully charged. (A charger left plugged into the wall can still draw power-even when no device is attached.)

The Conserve Valet charges up to four devices such as cell phones, music players, and handheld video games, and it also reduces cable clutter. Belkin Conserve Valet smart charging station replaces up to 4 charging bricks with 1 clean power cord. Conserve Valet is available for approximately $40/

Transcend StoreJet 25D2-W -Mac Friendly Portable Hard Drive

Transcend StoreJet 25D2-W is a portable hard drive designed to complement Mac computers. Featuring a sleek glossy white finish and certified compatibility with Mac laptop and desktop computers, Transcend StoreJet 25D2-W is a must have for fashion-minded users—especially Mac enthusiasts. The compact StoreJet 25D2-W portable hard drive is stylish, rugged and ultra-portable. Its shiny gloss-white lacquer finish resembles the classic Apple style. With full certification for use with all Mac systems, the StoreJet 25D2-W bears the Compatible with Mac OS X logo that gives Mac users extra piece of mind.

The StoreJet 25D2-W drive features anti-slip rubber feet that provides a stable base for resting on a table or computer case. The StoreJet 25D2-W is designed to automatically go into power-saving sleep mode after ten minutes of inactivity, allowing energy-savings of up to 30%.

Tokina announces 16-28mm F2.8 lens for Canon & Nikon

Tokina has announced that its 16-28mm F2.8 ultra wide angle zoom lens will be available in Nikon and Canon full-frame mounts. Announced at PMA 2010, the AT-X 16-28 F2.8 PRO FX lens features the company’s newly developed AF system that features a quieter Silent Drive-Module (SD-M) autofocus motor and promises more precise focusing.

The weather-sealed lens comes with a fixed lens hood and does not incorporate a filter thread. Priced at ¥123,900 (~ US $1400) the Nikon mount will start shipping From August 6, 2010 while the Canon version will ship from mid-September.

Seagate launches worlds First 3 Terabyte High-capacity External Drive

Seagate has launched the world’s first 3 Terabyte (TB) external desktop drive. The Seagate3TB GoFlex Desk external drive couples immense capacity with the flexibility to adapt the drive’s USB 2.0 interface to a USB 3.0 or FireWire 800 connection to meet varying performance and transfer speed needs. Consumers can easily create, store and access content from either a Windows or Mac OS X computer on the GoFlex Desk external drive, thanks to an included NTFS driver for Mac. With 3TB of capacity people can store up to 120 HD movies, 1,500 video games, thousands of photos or countless hours of digital music.

The 3TB GoFlex Desk external drive with USB 2.0 adapter can be purchased on Seagate.com and through select retailers for approximately $249.99.

Logitech Unveils two new headsets for crystal clear audio Jul

Bringing crystal-clear audio for your Internet and video calls, music and movies, Logitech today announced two new headsets. Featuring support for super wideband audio, the Logitech USB Headset H530 and the Logitech Laptop Headset H555 sound so clear it’s almost like you’re in the same room as the person on the other end of the call. The lightweight Laptop Headset H555 folds flat and easily fits into the included case. The USB Headset H530 offers laser-tuned drivers for exceptional audio quality.

Both Logitech headsets are compatible with Logitech Vid HD, Skype 4.0 for Windows or later, and Skype 2.8 for Mac or later. The Logitech Laptop Headset H555 is expected to be available in July for $59.99 and USB Headset H530 is expected to be available in July for $49.99. Approximately in Rs. 2249.55

Corsair Launches ultra-high-speed PC3-21000 single-rank 1GB DDR3 DIMM

Corsair today announced the launch of Dominator GT GTX6 DDR3 memory, an ultra-high-speed PC3-21000 single-rank 1GB DDR3 DIMM. These modules are among the fastest available in the world today, and are designed for CPU and memory benchmarking as well as for world record attempts.

The GTX6 is tested on the Gigabyte P55A-UD5 motherboard with BIOS Revision F10 at a clock speed of 2625MHz, specially selected Intel Core i7-860 and Core i7-870 CPUs were used to achieve these memory frequencies. Due to the intensive screening involved, the availability of GTX6 memory is very limited. GTX6 modules are supplied with a limited lifetime warranty and are backed up by Corsair’s legendary customer service and technical support.