Japan

I'm heading off to Japan next week and there'll be no toting of PC's, Mini or otherwise.
Really, who needs 'em. There'll be no iPod, no digital album or portable storage device and thereby a much reduced quantity of chargers and AC adapters.
I'll be carrying only my camera and my Nokia E71. The price of memory has dropped so far that I'll be carrying 2 8Gb cards and 2 2Gb cards. Giving me my 20Gb of storage that my Digital Album was giving me.
With the purchase of an international SIM card, my E71 will give mobile phone communication, SMS, GPS, and Web browsing along with City Guides, and navigation. My E71 will also give me, with the inclusion of my 8Gb MicroSD card, all the MP3 entrainment I'll need for the trip.
And all charged via my international plug-adapter with USB power output.

Camera Action Camera House: Panasonic G1 in Melbourne

Camera Action Camera House: Panasonic G1 in Melbourne

Test2

2nd attempt at a test of mobile logging from E71

Sony a900 night.

Sony a900 night on video, edition 1. Thanks Mr Adam.

Camera Action Camera House: History in the Making

Camera Action Camera House: History in the Making

Camera Action Camera House: Photokina 2008

Camera Action Camera House: Photokina 2008

Yeah... So I gave up.

Yep... I gave up on the ASUS R2H and I've moved on to the HP Mini-Note (or HP 2133). I just wasn't getting the value out of the R2H that I thought I should be.
What turned on to the 2133 was the keyboard and the 9 inch screen.

Canon Digital Cameras

In addition to the news of the Canon EOS 50D release today (Tueday August 26 (after 2:00pm)), Canon Australia will be launching one more Digital SLR before the end of the year. We cannot provide more details at this point in time, but please keep a look out for a big announcement.

test podcast

CES of the day. Tuesday

Shipping late Feb early March Sony Alpha 200. The just released Sony DSLR entry model doesn’t look a whole lot different to its predecessor, the Alpha 100. But there’s more to love on the inside.
10.2 megapixels, a quieter drive system, quieter shutter , improved focus performance, built in stabilisation, built in sensor dust reduction, continuous shooting 3 frames per second and 2.7 inch LCD screen.
The Alpha 200 uses Compact Flash cards and will be sold sporting the DT 18-70 and 75-300mm lens for around AU$1099

CES gadget of the day. Monday

Logitech diNovo Mini. HTPC keyboard.
This is amazing for the past few days I’ve been ‘Googling’ and ‘Ebaying’ a mini keyboard for the Home Theatre PC. The best I could find was one of those fold up PDA style Kb’s so I started to bid on a Bluetooth version. Then on Sunday I stumble across this.

Now - a keyboard for the living room.
A palm sized keyboard with backlighting, ideal for cinema-style room lighting. Compact and not out of place on the coffee table. Integrated click pad, point & click. Rechargeable Li-ion battery, Bluetooth connectivity. This is the one.

Wireless HDTV

Finally, technologies coming together that make sense.
As one house guest was heard to quip. “The flat screen looks awesome on the wall but what’s with the entrails.”
There’s no getting around the unsightly cabling unless you’ve pre-planned during construction or your prepared to do some architectural reworking, not until now that is.
At CES this week, the WirelessHD Group (can’t wait for their acronym) will announce their plans for world domination.
Wireless HD will use a pristine band of the radio spectrum at around 60GHz, so you’ll forego the interference of the already crowded 2.4 GHz band where all your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and phone conversations currently sit.
It also means that the signal sent from set top boxes will not be compressed. The signal is designed to work in range similar to Bluetooth at around 10 meters. So a decent sized room will be covered while not leaking signals into your neighbour’s living room. It also means, however you won’t be able to send from one room to the other.
The system looks set to be available from late 2008. But we’ve been teased by wireless streaming HD TV before once for a release in 2004 then again from Philips in 2005. Both systems never made it to the market. So here’s to holding our collective breaths.