Deals of the day

post from Ubergizmo on 12 October 2006 07:00:00 PM. © Ubergizmo

$27, COOLER MASTER Centurion Computer Case
$79, Astar PD-3020 Portable 7-inch DVD Player
$275, eVGA Geforce 7950GT
$479, Fuji FinePix S9000 Digital Camera
$1,294, Buffalo TeraStation Pro USB/Network 2TB

More deals at Uberbargain.com

Read The Full Article:
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2006/10/deals_of_the_day_123.html

Digg this

Star Wars Mimobots

post from Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women on 12 October 2006 05:29:00 PM. © Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women

Meet Ramona, whose profile on Myspace reads like this: "Does this outfit make my butt look big? Good!" Name: Ramona Sex: Female Series: Ginchy Series 11 Edition of: 500 mimobot designer flash drive hi-speed usb 2.0 mac/windows She's one...

Read The Full Article:
http://www.popgadget.net/2006/10/mimobot.php

Digg this

Microsoft Zune

post from Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women on 12 October 2006 05:07:00 PM. © Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women

Now here?s something that will give the Apple iPods a run for their money... and they may actually have a chance in hell of succeeding. Microsoft has just unveiled the Zune brand media player. Microsoft claims that the Zune...

Read The Full Article:
http://www.popgadget.net/2006/10/microsoft_zune.php

Digg this

New noise canceling from Sony

post from Fosfor Gadgets on 12 October 2006 04:25:17 PM. © Fosfor Gadgets

Sony announced a new product today that is supposed to cut ambient noise up to 75 percent. The premiere product to come with the new technology is their new Walkman media player Sony NW-S700F. More pictures and information inside. Full press release from Sony Sony’s Noise Canceling Technology Injects High-Quality Sound Into Walkman-Headphone Combo [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://gadgets.fosfor.se/noise-canceling-headphones-from-sony/

Digg this

Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System Review

post from I4U News on 12 October 2006 03:18:04 PM. © I4U News

The Denon name is synonymous with performance AV products to many people, and the fantastic 2.1 Denon S-301 Home Entertainment System lives up to the family name.While the system’s only 2.1 it uses Dolby Virtual Surround Sound to attempt to recreate the f...

Read The Full Article:
http://www.i4u.com/article6815.html

Digg this

Britain's Blogging A-List

post from Shiny Shiny on 12 October 2006 03:03:44 PM. © Shiny Shiny

There's been a right old hoo-haa in the UK blogging world over the past couple of days. Edelman, a UK PR company has published a Top Ten "Most Influential Blogs" List, which includes Tech Digest, but not Shiny Shiny. Feeling all gallant on our behalf (and unconvinced by the logic behind the list), Andy from Tech Digest has created a new list (with a little help from Shiny Media's Ashley Norris). For those of you wanting to know who the Johnny Big Balls of the British Blogging community are, the full article follows below (and yes, we do feature this time! The size of our cojones must never be under-estimated again). Please do leave a comment if you have an opinion (we'd love to know what you think) - or if you simply want to register your admiration for the diameter of our gentleman parts.

Britain?s blogging A list

Earlier this week PR company Edelman, in conjunction with the blog search engine Technorati, published a list of the top British blogs.

It?s a cracking list especially as Tech Digest made number four, but we did notice a few key omissions. So we have put together our very own top ten UK bloggers A list. This is a mixture of the Edelman list, Technorati figures, information from internet data collection agency Hitwise and some qualitative data of our own.

Like the Edelman list it is no way definitive, but I think it might be a good conversation starter. It is interesting to note that the top British blogs mirror the top US ones in that they are dominated by politics and gadgets. It is also interesting to note that most of the bloggers have been blogging for several years now, ironically though with the exception of one of the very biggest.

There is also a discussion about what actually constitutes a British blog. Does it have to have content that is UK focussed? And what if the writer is British but lives outside these isles. That would propel Andrew Sullivan and maybe Nick Denton to the top of the list.

Anyhow we have kept to blogs that are largely written in the UK. Like Edelman we have left out the blogs from the BBC and The Guardian and any other large media company.

Here then is the UK?s blogger A list:

Gaping Void
Blogger ? Hugh Macleod
Technorati rating - Rank: 144 (9,060 links from 2,896 blogs)

Indisputably the most popular British blog, Gaping Void is a fantastic collection of cartoons and observations from the wonderfully creative mind of Hugh Macleod. Over the past 3-4 years it has built up a huge following.

Mashable
Blogger ? Pete Cashmore et al
Technorati rating - Rank: 400 (12,266 links from 1,867 blogs)

Incredibly Pete has only been writing Mashable for a year or so, but in that time has built up a huge audience who love his news and reviews of the latest social networking sites and other web 2.0 wonders. A massive favourite at Tech Digest, we were shocked when we discovered that the site?s author lived not in Silicon Valley but Aberdeen.

eureferendum.com
Blogger - Richard North et al
Technorati rating - 611 (5,249 links from 1,545 blogs)

Richard North plus a select group of writers have been blogging about European politics for about two-and-a-half years. It started as a blog "to rehearse and discuss the issues relating to one of the most important political issues of the day - the UK referendum on the EU's constitutional treaty." but has expanded to cover a wide variety of topics with in-depth writing, analysis and wit. It obviously hits the spot for many as it's highly ranked and well commented.

Tech Digest
Blogger - Dave Walker, Andy Merrett et al
Technorati rating - 975 (5,434 links from 1,221 blogs)

One of Shiny's original blogs, running for over 3 years, it's the UK's definitive guide to a huge range of gadgets and technology. Since taking on extra writers earlier this year its range of topics has expanded and its popularity continues to grow massively. Informative but not taking itself, or the technology, too seriously, it mixes hands-on reviews with up-to-date tech news.

Shiny Shiny
Blogger - Katie Lee, Susi Weaser et al
Technorati rating - 1,464 (5,711 links from 975 blogs)

Quite simply the UK's premiere girl's guide to gadgets (though I reckon quite a few blokes sneak a read too), Shiny Shiny has a great female authorship reviewing the latest female-friendly gadgets and tech accessories - and no, not everything's in pink.

coolest-gadgets.com
Blogger - Al Carl et al
Technorati rating - 1,547 (4,394 links from 944 blogs

As well as the usual suspects on this gadget site, there's some great out-of-the-ordinary gadget finds that'll make you wonder how some people dream up such weird ideas. A popular and well-linked blog.

PlasticBag.org
Blogger - Tom Coates
Technorati rating - 1,467 (2,219 links from 973 blogs

Tom has been writing at PlasticBag.org for over seven years and has built up a loyal following to his mix of technology articles and links along with a fair dose of politics, music, religion, politics, and more besides. Great writing and interesting links make this a popular stop on the web.

samizdata.net
Blogger - Adriana Cronin-Lukas, Perry de Havilland et al
Technorati rating - 1,404 (3,166 links from 999 blogs)

I've not read this blog before, despite it's high ranking, so I didn't know what to expect. Whether their description: "The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling." helps at all? Written mainly by Brits with the occasional Australian or American thrown in for good measure, this is a mix of politics, celebrity talk, science 'stuff', and, well, all sorts really. It really needs to be seen to be appreciated, as indeed many do.

c h r o m a s i a
Blogger - David Nightingale et al
Technorati rating - 2,633 (1,746 links from 679 blogs)

Chromasia is a fantastic UK photoblog and deserves its high rank. Amazing photography of people, landscapes, buildings and abstracts cleverly taken and manipulated by David Nightingale. Well worth a visit to this highly commented site.

hecklerspray
Blogger - Stuart Heritage et al
Technorati rating - 5,196 (843 links from 416 blogs)

Hecklerspray, recently affiliated with Shiny Media, may not have the highest Technorati ranking yet, but has become a well-linked and highly trafficked blog in its relatively short year-and-a-half life. Plenty of entertainment news from TV, film, music and video gaming keeps over half-a-million people happy each month.

Originally posted on Tech Digest

Read The Full Article:
http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2006/10/britains_bloggi.html

Digg this

Advanced mirror to show future self

post from Ubergizmo on 12 October 2006 02:47:26 PM. © Ubergizmo

You know how it's like every New Year - you stand in front of the mirror and mutter half-hearted resolutions to yourself to trim that bulging belly, and yet each year brings about a greater girth. Accenture Technology is currently working on a "persuasive" mirror that takes photos of you and composing all that data in order to project a morphed version of your when you start picking up good habits such as daily exercise, a healthy diet, and kicking the smoking habit. If you couldn't give two hoots about changing your current lifestyle, perhaps a shocking rendition of your balding, fat self will kick you into action. IMHO, nobody can force you to do something you're not willing to, so even visually shocking pictures of your sedentary self will do little to change the situation. Will such technology ever make it into our homes, or does it remain a pipe dream?

Read The Full Article:
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2006/10/advanced_mirror_to_show_future_self.
html

Digg this

Sony to release Bluetooth speakers

Since Sony manufactures a whole line of music-oriented Walkman cellphones that come equipped with Bluetooth connectivity, why not cash in on the existing product infrastructure by introducing the SRS-BTM30 Bluetooth speakers? This Bluetooth-enabled speakers feature basic music playback buttons and supports the Bluetooth A2DP profile that allows you to stream music wirelessly over to any compatible device. You would do well to listen to your music in the same room as the SRS-BTM30 as it comes with a range of only 10 meters. If you have not yet jumped on the Bluetooth bandwagon, you can always hook up your digital audio device via the mini-stereo plug. The Sony SRS-BTM30 Bluetooth speakers will be released later this month in Japan for approximately $115.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2006/10/sony_to_release_bluetooth_speakers.h
tml

Digg this

Sharp develops new in-vehicle LCD

Sharp has successfully developed an LCD which will be used in vehicles as it manages to hit a contrast ratio of 1,500 to 1, which is an industry record in itself, tripling the original value in previous Sharp offerings. These new in-vehicle LCDs will probably end up in dashboards, offering a 800 x 480 resolution in a widescreen format. The high contrast ratio in these 8" LCD displays make them suitable for use in instrument panels, whether you are driving and viewing the speedometer on it, or performing a parallel reverse parking with the LCD displaying a video camera image of the area behind your vehicle. This new development is a welcome one, and we hope to see it implemented in vehicles soon.