Gadgets Power

If the Sanyo Xacti CG9 was just not right for you, check out the Vivitar DVR565HD—the company’s first camcorder to venture into the HD realm. Rocking a rather slim and compact form factor, the DVR565HD uses SD cards as its recording medium, capable of recording video in H.264/MPEG-4 in full 720p glory at 30 fps. Interestingly, the camera can “upscale” the video playback to 1080i if connected to a TV via an HDMI cable. Little else is known, but the camcorder will feature a 3-inch flip-out LCD display, digital still functionality, and a maximum SD card capacity of 4GB. (Read the full post about ‘Vivitar’s DVR565HD does 720p video recording’…)

Creative Labs, makers of sound cards that still don’t work properly with Windows Vista, doesn’t want fixed versions of its broken drivers on the net. In a message to "Daniel_K," who repaired their broken software, Creative Labs’ Phil O’Shaughnessy claims that by restoring functionality to Vista drivers that’s offered in Windows XP versions, he is a thief: "By enabling our technology and IP to run on sound cards for which it was not originally offered or intended, you are in effect, stealing our goods," writes O’Shaughnessy at Creative’s forums. Granted, Daniel_K is soliciting donations. Furthermore, the gear’s EULA specifies, as is usual, that you can’t tamper with its software. (Read the full post about ‘Creative: Fixing Our Crippled Sound Card Drivers Is “Stealing our Goods”’…)

We first heard the news that Asus was planning a desktop model for their Eee series lineup a while back, and while details still remain a mystery, we now have what are claimed to be a leaked picture showing what the upcoming Eee Box could look like. According to Hot Hardware, the above pics are in fact the upcoming Eee Box from Asus, although they make it clear that these are not official pictures and cannot comment on the source. Overall, at least since the introduction of the Wii, theses images look to be more like a game console than a desktop computer. Either way they are sharp looking, be certain that we will keep you updated as soon as we can find out some more details. (Read the full post about ‘Asus upcoming desktop Eee Box leaked pics?’…)

Hawking Technologies has released its Wireless-300N USB Adapter with Upgradeable Antennas, targeting Mac users specifically in order to provide significant range extension options. Suitable for small office/home office (SOHO) and small-to-medium business (SMB) users, the new compact 802.11n 300Mbps USB Adapter known as the HWUN1A has the distinction of being the first such adapter designed for Apple Mac users that features a couple of two removable antennas. The included external antennas are easily removed and can receive an upgrade in the form of a Hawking Hi-Gain antenna for superior improvement when it comes to its wireless range. (Read the full post about ‘Hawking Technologies Wireless-300N USB Adapter’…)

Canadians are getting antsy about not having an iphone yet. It’s a question with some history, wrapped up in local trademark concerns and Apple’s easy-does-it approach to internationalizing its iPodification of phones. What can you do about it, Canadians?"PhoneWorld.ca and our friends from iPhoneInCanada.ca, the two largest Canadian iPhone news and information portals … bring you The Great Canadian iPhone Petition."It’s a lovely thought, but the Fakesteve post kind of writes itself in your head the millisecond your "fan petition" neuron and your "Steve Jobs" neuron link up. (Read the full post about ‘Canada Wants iPhone Real Bad, Starts Petition’…)

Sakar has a couple of new MP3 players that seemingly target the pre-teen segment of the market. These won’t be able to save you from bankruptcy should you default on your loans for a few months in a row, and even pawn shops won’t want to take this in. Covered in fake jewels, you can choose from pink or purple colors. These Sakar MP3 players will carry just 512MB worth of songs inside, which is paltry considering today’s storage standards. Pricing details are conspicuously missing as well, but it shouldn’t hit your wallet for too much damage anyways. (Read the full post about ‘Sakar blings out MP3 players’…)

USB devices are dime a dozen these days, and it can get pretty tricky trying to get all of them hooked up to your computer or notebook which has extremely limited USB ports. If you happen to want a USB port of sorts, why not consider the USB Star Hub II? Here’s the product description, in completely broken English (I’ve left it unedited to contribute to the quirkiness of the entire device). USB Star Hub II allows you to connect 4 different USB devices at the same time. Each port can turn 180° that make you more convenience to use and the colourful design can help to decorate your desk. The USB Star Hub II retails for $12 a pop. Tags: Ogg, speaker, gizmos, video game (Read the full post about ‘USB Star Hub II’…)

Posted Mar 29th 2008 7:44AM by Darren MurphFiled under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs Those on the hunt for a pre-fabricated HTPC can’t complain about a lack of choices these days, but if you’ve yet to be taken aback by anything out there, why not give Mesiro’s Merium a glance? The standout feature here isn’t the 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 processor, 250GB internal HDD, dual-layer DVD burner, GMA950 graphics accelerator, WiFi, 5-in-1 multicard reader or the bundled MCE remote — oh no, it’s the interchangeable chassis covers (weird, right?). Yep, you can swap out the covers on this rig whenever you feel the urge, ensuring that there’s a case for every occasion. (Read the full post about ‘Mesiro Merium media PC has sleek, sexy down pat’…)

Microsoft will soon be releasing Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. How soon is soon? Reports have it coming as early as April and will be released in two groups. Service Pack 3 (SP3) will come first for those users with the Simplified English, Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish, and Korean versions with any remaining versions to follow about 3-weeks later. Microsoft has also confirmed that SP3 for Windows XP Media Center and Windows XP Tablet Edition will not be available as an integrated version, meaning those users will only be available to update to SP3 using Windows Update. Its also safe to say that this will be that last major update Microsoft will push out before they stop selling XP this June. (Read the full post about ‘Microsoft to release Windows XP SP3 this April’…)

Pick Your Nose Cups You can have this for ?5.95 Tags: audio, consumer technology, cool gear, toys (Read the full post about ‘Pick Your Nose Cups’…)