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A new report from IDC predicts that the price of a 2-megapixel digital camera could drop below $99 in coming weeks as manufacturers desperately try to boost their holiday sales. If anyone sees any examples of this, let me know. Read
For just today only, Amazon is selling the Norcent DP300 DVD player for $59.99, with free shipping included. And even though it’s a budget DVD player, the DP300 does have one cool feature: it can convert PAL signals to NTSC, enabling it to play region-free DVDs from the UK. Amazon
Mike Cane of Palm Infocenter makes his predictions for the Palm platform for 2003. Among them: that Palm will acquire Handspring; that Dell and Gateway will introduce Palm OS-powered handhelds; that Sony will kill the Tablet PC by introducing a “Tablet CLIE”; and that Palm OS 6 will be late. Read
PC World roundup of the plethora of handhelds that debuted at Comdex last week: Dell’s Axim X5 (with a wireless-enabled X7 and an ultrathin X3 on the way next year); HP’s low-end iPaq H1910 and high-end iPaq H5450; and Sharp’s Zaurus SL-5600. Read
InfoSync trashes that new Pocket PC Phone from that just came out the other day, the Eten Infotouch P600: “The verdict? Poor looks, so-so hardware… Compared with existing alternatives on the market, the Infotouch P600 does in no way shine.” Read
JustSeeIt.com has a video review of that new Gyration Ultra Cordless Optical mouse that has a gyroscope built into it so it can be used in mid-air as well on a desktop. Watch Amazon
The Economist on the looming battle between Microsoft and Nokia over which company’s operating system will dominate the cellphone market: Microsoft’s Smartphone OS, which just recently debuted in Europe, or Nokia’s Series 60. This is going to be trench warfare. Read
Cool looking new cellphone from Siemens that slides open to reveal a keypad. Not a whole lot of details available about the SL55, but looks like it’s a tri-band phone with integrated Bluetooth and color display. Read
What may turn out to be the last Comdex technology trade show ever has just finished up. CNET has a review of the major developments and product announcements made there; Fortune’s Peter Lewis looks at the rise and fall of Comdex. Read – CNET Read – Fortune
ComputerWorld on the future of the notebook computer, and the new features we can look forward to like ultrathin organic LED screens, hard drives that self-destruct to ensure data security, non-volatile RAM, and radical new designs like the one at right developed by Compaq. Read
A CompactFlash memory card from Netac that actually has a USB slot built-in so it can be connected directly into a PC or Mac, obviating the need for a separate card reader. All you need to do is plug a USB cable in and it should show up as a storage drive on your desktop.…
The first digital camera using Foveon’s X3 technology (which captures red, green, and blue light with every pixel, rather than other sensors in which each pixel can only record a specific color), the 3.43-megapixel Sigma SD9, is out. TechTV has a first look. Read
A new Pocket PC Phone from Eten, the InfoTouch P600, the design of which is distinctly different from that of the two nearly identical Pocket PC Phones that are available from T-Mobile and Siemens. Like its predecessors, the P600 runs on the GSM and GPRS networks, has a 206MHz processor, and has a 65,536 color,…
Another good article in Circuits today, this one about “microcameras”, and what you give up in terms of features and image quality when you buy one of those tiny new digital cameras that have hit the market in the past year or so. The specific models mentioned in the piece are the SiPix StyleCam Blink,…
Brilliant idea: a Bluetooth-enabled GPS Receiver for the Pocket PC from Socket Communications. Now you don’t have to make sure whether or now you have the right port or slot on your Pocket PC to use GPS, you just have to have make sure the GPS Receiver is within 30 feet of your Bluetooth-enabled Pocket…
CNET review of the 80 hour TiVo Series2 digital video recorder. Basically the same as the original line of TiVos, just with extra storage capacity and a couple of USB ports. Read Amazon
While one gigabyte might sound like a lot of memory to squeeze onto a CompactFlash card, Pretec’s just announced a three gigabyte card that will be available by the end of this year (there are 1.5GB and 2GB models coming as well). The initial price of the 3GB card? A staggering $2,499, so you’d better…
Great article in the Circuits section of the New York Times today about the perils of giving and receiving gadgets as gifts. Read
Motorola’s new T720i cellphone comes with a cool looking digital camera attachment that swivels around. It’d make a little more sense if the camera attached to the top of the phone rather than the bottom. Read Amazon
Amazon is taking pre-orders on the ultimate gadget: Segway’s Human Transporter. At $4,950, they aren’t cheap, and they’re not available for delivery for until after March 1st of next year, so don’t expect to find one waiting for you beside the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. Unless of course you enter Amazon’s Segway HT Early…