jessica's blog

Verizon Wireless and LG just announced a new touchscreen phone with customizable attachments – the LG Versa. Not only does this phone feature an attachable QWERTY keyboard, but the 3-inch diagonal display has an animated 3D interface and customizable home screens with three different layout options. There's also a full HTML Web browser that supports Flash and RSS you can keep up to three browser windows open at one time. Think that will slow the phone down? Think again. The Versa also has a built-in accelerometer for fast operating.

Other features include support for Verizon's V Cast Music with Rhapsody, V Cast Video, Visual Voice Mail, GPS with VZ Navigator, a 2.0-megapixel camera with face detection and built-in image editor, a microSD card slot with up to 16GB support, a USB mass storage mode, full Bluetooth with stereo, threaded messaging, a drawing pad, and of course EV-DO Rev. A. You can even tether the Versa to your laptop to be used as a modem for wireless Internet anywhere you have cell phone service. Read more

Leon Speakers has announced new OS (over-sized) soundbar speakers that are custom-built to match some of the largest flat panel displays (up to 120 inches), including the LG Philips 100-inch LCD, Panasonic 103-inch Plasma, Hitachi 103-inch Plasma, Samsung 102-inch Plasma, Sharp 108-inch LCD, and others.

The OS Series is available in LCR, L/R, and center-only combinations, and feature audiophile-grade, full-range European drivers, ranging from three inches to six inches. Each channel has dual 4-inch Peerless HDS woofers and a Morel MDT29 or ET-338 1-inch hand-treated, cloth-dome tweeter.

"With the OS speakers we have redefined the limits of on-wall speakers once again, and have designed a beast of a loudspeaker. It's so large that it gets fork-lifted out of our facility and on the last install, it had to be lifted by a crane through an apartment window," said Jeff Gordon, CEO of Leon Speakers.

Get your own beast of a loudspeaker custom-built in only three to five business days…that is, if you have (at least) $6500 to spare.

Call 1-888-213-5015 or visit www.leonspeakers.com for more info.

It’s amazing to think that Dell would release information on a new Studio XPS and us not hear about it. I mean, Dell is on Twitter, they have a blog, a flickr account, they post press releases…you would think we would have heard something about this new powerhouse of a desktop. But nope. Not a word.

Here are the some of the basics we’ve found out:

The new Studio XPS 435 will feature Intel Core i7 processors, a 6 DIMM slot for up to 24GB of memory, and 3 hard drive bays for up to 4.5TB of storage. It includes Intel Dynamic Speed technology that delivers an 8-threaded performance capability on 4 cores…excellent for all of us multitaskers. An ATI Radeon HD4870 1GB graphics card is included, and Blu-ray is optional. With its HDMI port, you can connect the computer to your TV and watch content on the big screen. Its built-in infrared receiver allows you to control your media center with a remote. Read more

PENTAX just announced that they are lowering the price of their popular PENTAX K20 digital SLR once again. Now at their lowest price EVER, the PENTAX K20D body and two K20D lens kit configurations have all been reduced by $200.00. Extending the offer we previously told you about, PENTAX is also offering a free Three Year Warranty (one year standard, two years extended) on all K20Ds purchased by March 31, 2009.

The PENTAX K20D digital SLR camera has 14.6 megapixels and includes a dust-proof, weather-resistant body, PRIME image processor and PENTAX developed Shake Reduction that works with any of the 25 million PENTAX lenses ever manufactured. The PENTAX K20D is now the most affordable high resolution DSLR camera in the advanced photo enthusiast category. New pricing is:

• PENTAX K20D body only: $799.95
• PENTAX K20D with DA 18-55mm II lens kit: $879.95
• PENTAX K20D with DA 16-45mm lens kit: $1199.95

JAKKS Pacific is generally known for their kid-friendly toys and electronics, but they are expanding their line of EyeClops products to include everyone in the family with the introduction of the EyeClops Mini Projector.

Do you ever wish you could watch movies on your bedroom ceiling? Play video games outside in a tent? What about taking the party outside to watch the big game on the side of your house? Soon you will be able to – inexpensively - with the EyeClops Mini Projector.

The pocket-sized EyeClops Mini Projector uses LED illumination to project movies, television shows, video games and more up to 70 inches in size from Blu-ray and DVD players, MP3 players, video game consoles– and even your digital camera! The EyeClops Mini Projector has built-in speakers and runs on the included DC adapter. For on the go use, it can also use 'D' batteries with a battery life of about 10 hours.

The new EyeClops Mini Projector is expected to hit store shelves in Fall 2009 with an MSRP of $99.99. www.eyeclops.com.

Dell just announced that their new Inspiron Mini 10 is now available for advance orders on QVC and will be available for order from Dell.com starting February 26th with a starting price of $399. This mini-notebook weighs only 2.86 pounds and has a roomy keyboard (92 percent of a full size keyboard). It also includes a multi-touch touchpad to easily rotate, scroll and zoom documents and photos. Other features include HDMI output, Internal Wifi, a built-in webcam and it comes standard with 1GB RAM and a 160GB hard drive. The Mini 10 runs on Windows XP and is available in the following colors: Obsidian Black, Alpine White, Cherry Red, Promise Pink, Ice Blue and Jade Green. If you order your Mini 10 from QVC, it includes free shipping, a 4GB SD memory card and productivity software.

Mini 10 optional features planned for later this year include:

• Internal digital TV tuner, HD resolution and external USB DVD player options
• Ubuntu and Vista operating systems
  
• Bluetooth
  
• 2GB memory and optional 250GB hard drive
  
• GPS with optional internal WWAN support
  

 A Mini 10 overview is available at Dell.com

I opened up my email this morning and noticed information about a product called eFizz. eFizz? Is this a new kitchen appliance? Or some gadget that takes away the carbonation in my two-liter Coke Zero? Boy was I wrong! It is a Swiss made (in conjunction with Cabasse, a HI-FI French speaker manufacture) iPod dock and sound system just now shipping in the United States.

Not your usual dock/sound system, this baby has 70 watts of power! The Ewoo eFizz also includes a 2-way HandMusic remote that mirrors your iPod (cover art included) onto the 1.8" color screen of the remote control. That is, as long as you’re within 500 feet of the device.

The eFizz is compatible with all iPod’s (iPhone and iPod touch too), starting from the Nano G1. The price is kind of steep at $499.99, but you want the music from your iPod to sound good, right?

Nintendo just announced that their next generation DSi will be coming out on April 5th with an MSRP of $169.99. It will be available in blue and black. I was kind of surprised that they are offering it in only two colors, but who knows…maybe more color choices will be announced closer to the release date.

What makes this new DSi stand out is the DSi Camera – it actually has two cameras - one camera is on the external body, and the second one points at the user when it is flipped open. It has 10 different interactive "lenses" that you can use to do all kinds of silly things to your photos; like stretch faces, add glasses, combine pictures etc. using the touch screen.

Another feature is the DSi Sound application, which is both a voice recorder and music player. But it goes a step further, by letting you choose different audio filters to control the pitch, speed and tempo of a song or recorded voice. There is also a stereo headphone output so you can listen to music saved on an SD card. Read more

Even though there are still a couple of weeks until PMA, press releases have started trickling out on some of the cameras being shown at the annual photo trade show. One of them being information on Sony’s latest “intelligent” Cyber-shot digital cameras. The new T900, T90, W290 and H20 all feature an intelligent auto mode, which supposedly "think" for you and detect scene conditions and then adjust the settings for you. Seems very useful in difficult lighting situations. The intelligent auto mode can also tell when the person you are taking a picture of has closed eyes, it enhances the skin tone of the subject and can also reduce blur without reducing the quality of the image.

Other features include Sony's Smile Shutter technology and iSCN advanced – when a scene has difficult lighting, the camera will take two shots using two different settings, then you select the picture you prefer. Read more

At Mobile World Congress this week, Sony Ericsson announced a new 12.1 megapixel camera phone…yes…12.1 megapixels! Not much information is being given at this time, but they are calling the phone “Idou” (expect the name to change as the people at Sony are saying that Idou is the concept name). The 3G smartphone will have a 3.5-inch 16:9 touchscreen, Xenon flash, Wi-Fi and will run on the Symbian operating system. It also comes with photo editing applications to edit your photos on the go. Good thing if you ask me. After all, what good it is to have so many megapixels if you can’t do anything with the pictures ON the device?

The phone will also feature Sony Ericsson’s new “Entertainment Unlimited” strategy which is said to bridge together communication and entertainment.

More details of the Idou will be announced later this year. Sony Ericsson says (right now, anyway) that the Idou will be available the 2nd half of 2009. www.sonyericsson.com/idou