Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

Fishing is such an exciting pastime. You might ask how this could be exciting when all you do is sit on a boat and wait for a catch. Well, we can tell you one thing: there is no such feeling as coming home to your family and impressing them with a huge trout that you caught with your own hands! It is fun when you master this skill of fishing. Fishing is also seen as an ultimate relaxing activity, particularly for those who live in the city. Any fishing state is the city dweller’s favorite destination, especially during their vacation.

The best piece of invention for those who love fishing is the GPS. What exactly is this? GPS is a tracking device used most especially for those who go out to the waters for a catch. If you happen to catch a great number in a particular spot for instance, you might think that it is impossible to locate the exact same spot the next time you fish. With GPS, you don’t have to worry as you can record the same location and you can find the exact same spot again. GPS will also help you find your way back to the shores, even if you are caught in a fog or in a bad weather.

You can get GPS that are cheaper than 100 dollars. It is the best piece of device you should bring out there, along with your fish bait. Don’t forget to get one for your next fishing trip.

Ever since Sony and Nintendo launched the first versions of their respective handhelds several years ago, the battle for supremacy has never ceased. Now, Sony and Nintendo both have refreshed their respective handhelds and have sent them out to duke it out in the marketplace.

First, the Sony. The new Sony PSP-3000 does not have many new features. The only notable addition is the mic which can be used for talking on Skype which is not built-in. Changes include the new brighter screen, and the differently-shaped start and select buttons. Also, the home button is now labeled as the PlayStation button. Other than that, it’s still the same PSP with video and mp3-playing capability.

Now, the Nintendo. The DSi has 2 built-in cameras, though both have only VGA resolution. Both screens are now 0.25 inches bigger though, and in this case, bigger is definitely better. What’s new to the DSi is the the built-in music playback capability, though it can only play aac files, not mp3s.

Over all, both the 3000 and the DSi are evolutions of their previous versions, not revolutions. As such, they’re both basically the same as the previous systems, so choosing one is still like before. If you need the video and mp3 playback and the more mature games, stick with the PSP. If you want the new cameras and the touchscreen, stick to the DSi.

Nokia’s N71 is a superb phone, with its excellent QWERTY keyboard and magnificent metallic finish. On the downside, the N71 costs a ton and at its price point, there are many other viable options.

Now, Nokia has released a new QWERTY smartphone, albeit one that is so much cheaper than the N71, the new Nokia N63. The N63 resembles the N71 in that they both have the same layout and about the same size. The N63 though has a plastic shell.

It has a 2.36 inch screen with QVGA (320×240 pixels) resolution, a 2.0 megapixel fixed-focus camera, 3.5mm audio jack, and 120 MB of internal memory expandable via microSD.

In terms of connectivity, the E63 runs on quad-band GSM and runs 3G as well, with Bluetooth and wi-fi too. Browsing on the E63 is a blast with the landscape screen, and since it is Flash and Java capable, watching Youtube clips is a cinch.

The Nokia E63 is no E71, that much is clear. But in its own right, the E63 is a solid if not spectacular mid-range business phone. It has all the features the suits may need like Quickoffice and printer support, but it also has the hip factor going for it with its colored casings and small and light form.

Text addicts on T-Mobile have always had the perfect phone for them in the form of the Sidekick. It had the requisite QWERTY keyboard that made texting so much faster and easier.

Over the years though, the Sidekick has seen more and more new direct competitors as more and more phones (smartphones and feature phones alike) get full physical or touchscreen QWERTY keyboards. Add to that the growing feature list on most of the other phones and the Sidekick began looking and feeling really dated.

Now though, there’s a new Sidekick in town, the new Sidekick LX. The Sidekick LX features a bigger screen than the Sidekick 2008, a new 3.2 megapixel camera, a GPS unit, 3G capabilities, and an improved user interface.

The keyboard has also been improved, making it easier than ever to type on the phone.

This new Sidekick is still produced by Sharp and like before, build quality is still superb. The software improvements come courtesy of Microsoft, which now owns Danger. Users of previous Sidekicks will instantly be at home with this new one even with the improved user interface.

The Sidekick LX is now available for $ 200 with a two-year contract on T-Mobile.

Video cameras have allowed us to record events and happenings as they happen so that we can watch them again in the future. The older ones were huge, and used full-size tapes to record. Eventually, the cameras became smaller, and the storage media changed as well. From the big tapes to smaller-sized cassettes, to CDs and hard drives, and more recently, memory cards, the decrease in the physical size of storage media have helped make video cameras smaller.

There is however a new competitor to the video camera and that is the new breed of still cameras. Most digital cameras have had video-recording capabilities for quite some time, but now, the newer ones have high-definition video recording capabilities.

Nikon and Canon lead the charge, with their new SLRs capable of shooting videos at either 720p or even 1080p, and at a respectable average frame rate of about 20 frames per second. Samsung is going to release a phone with a camera that can record HD-video as well.

So, are the days of the video camera numbered? Yes and No. Yes in that sooner or later, all cameras will be able to record HD-video without any problems. No in that it may still take some time before digital still cameras solve all issues like faster focusing and better handling.