NTT's HC-1000 Cam for home security

NTT's has produced new cam HC-1000 for home security in Japan. The HC-1000 camera can be controlled via the internet, and allows users to take a peek at what's going on without actually being on the premises. The device sports a three-megapixel CMOS sensor, Ethernet port, 802.11a/b/g, 2x digital zoom, and a QVGA video mode to boot. Additionally, a "defense support" system can enable the piercing siren to let loose a wail, and the built-in microphone / speaker can even open up two-way communication between you and your home-wrecker (or faraway relative).

Olympus latest 6 types of digital voice recorder

Olympus released latest 6 types of digital voice recorder. The compact WS-311M and WS-321M units sport 512MB and 1GB (respectively) of internal memory for loading up music files when not playing back lecturers, boast USB 2.0 connectivity, and offer up six recording qualities to boot. The 256MB WS-110 and 512MB WS-210S simply double as a LCD-equipped USB flash drive when not tuning into voices, and the 256MB VN-4100 and VN-4100PC flavors throw in voice activation, four recording options, a built-in display, and a recording timer for good measure. Granted, the September launch dates keep them from being of any real value during the earlier parts of next semester, but be sure and click through to take a look at the rest of the family.

Continue reading Olympus intros six new digital voice recorders

EPOS Technologies' digital pen records your writing

EPOS Technologies thought about all of this and came up with a solution: a digital pen which records your movements on a piece of paper, and then saves them to a USB flash drive for later use. The two-part combo utilizes the company's proprietary system of transmission which employs ultrasonic acoustic waves to help measure the distance and position of the pen, so apparently all you have to do is clip the flash drive to a notepad or related writing surface, and off you go.

Sony's new series in laptops VAIO FZ2

Sony introducing its new look in laptops VAIO FZ laptops. Its a pair of new FZ2 series laptops. As with its current FZ offerings, these new laptops will each pack 15.4-inch WXGA displays, but they get an upgrade in the processor department to your choice of Core 2 Duo T7250 or T7500, along with NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GT graphics on the higher-end of the two, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and your choice of Blu-ray or DVD combo drives.

Philips Streamium WACS7000

PHILIPS STREAMIUM WACS7000

$1579.95 (additional stations, $529.95)

http://www.philips.com.au/

Rating: 3.5/5

Sharing music house-wide is a fine idea but computers can make things complicated. That's where the Philips Streamium comes in. It's a wireless music centre that lets you rip your CDs without a computer and create a wireless network of music stations around your home.
This model features an 80GB hard drive, which should do the trick for all but the most fanatical music collectors. Out of the box you get two units - the "centre" and one "station". More stations can be purchased separately, with a maximum of five stations linked to your centre. Every station can run an independent music stream from the central hard drive, while all units have their own FM radio and external inputs as well. Special play modes include Broadcast, for one stream at all stations, and Follow Me, which lets you move between rooms and pick up right where you just were.
Linking stations is very easy when you first unpack the system, although they can be slow to connect once in place around the house. From there, popping in some discs and grabbing the tunes is just a few clicks away, but you must choose to "fast record" in order to rip discs at a quicker rate than real-time playback. If you are running a home network, Streamium downloads track listings through your Wi-Fi or wired network when you insert a CD.

Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel with Force

The ultimate test of any game steering wheel is whether it helps you to get around the track faster than a gamepad. After a lot of practice, the Wireless Racing Wheel did. However, it's not without caveats.
It can run on a pair of AA batteries but don't bother with them. The force feedback in this mode is so weak and lacking in any "on-centre" feel, that it's more frustrating than fun.
Use the supplied AC adaptor instead. With mains power attached, the WRW is a completely different beast with feedback strong enough that you have to wrestle with it.
The steering wheel is nicely designed, with grippy rubber around the rim and decent paddle-shifters for changing gears.
The base is contoured so that you can rest the wheel on your lap in the absence of a table. It's a nice idea but proved flawed in practice. It's difficult enough wrestling with the wheel while clamped to a table let alone trying to do it on your lap. The contour also makes it less stable when clamped to a desk as it doesn't sit flat.
The WRW ships with Project Gotham Racing 3 (with added software driver support for the steering wheel) but if you're enough of a driving Sim fan to buy a steering wheel, you've probably already got the game.
Also, in PG3, you can't customise the controller buttons and paddles individually. You can choose only from a set of predefined configurations. For example, if you're not driving a manual it would be handy to configure one of the paddles to use as a handbrake, which is far easier to reach than the small buttons mounted on the steering spoke. Unfortunately, you can't do this.
It's less work to drive around a track using a gamepad but the WRW definitely adds fun to the frantic pace of car racing. As well as PG3, the WRW is supported on Need for Speed Carbon, Test Drive Unlimited and the coming Forza Motorsport 2.

Lexmark X4550 Wireless Printer

The wireless networks let you share a broadband internet connection around the house, it makes sense for printers to get in on the act. After all, everyone in the home wants to print stuff but the printer is typically tied to a single PC.

Lexmark cuts that cable with a new family of wireless printers that not only cost little more than a conventional printer but are ridiculously simple to connect to your home (or office) wireless network.

The first is no doubt due to the rock-bottom price of wireless technology. When it is built into almost every notebook PC, you quickly reach economies of scale, which make wireless chips, well, as cheap as chips. In the case of the X4550, this translates to $199 for a fast (up to 24 pages a minute) multifunction photo-quality inkjet printer that also scans and copies.It also happens to be one of the best-looking printers we've seen.

The X4550's compact low-set design, with smooth flowing lines decked out in brushed metal and soft vanilla, is true "geek chic".The set-up process is equally impressive.

A temporary USB connection to any Windows or Mac computer provides the interface for establishing a secure connection to your wireless network. The printer is then available to any computer on the network, as long as you've loaded the necessary Lexmark software onto that machine.

As well as printing from your PC sans wires, the X4550 has slots for the most common memory cards and direct connection from digital cameras so you don't even need a PC to print your latest snaps.Running costs are mid-range, with 550-page cartridges just shy of $50 each for black and colour. They are rather fiddly to install but Lexmark wins eco-points for its cartridge recycling program.