Best Gadgets World

Ricoh has just announced a successor to its popular Caplio GX100 digital camera that was released in April 2007 with the new GX200. Being the successor to a highly successful product, Ricoh decided to include many features of the GX100 into the GX200 as well. Some of these features include a 24 to 72 mm (35mm film equivalent focal length) high-performance wide-angle optical zoom lens, thin ultra-compact body, various manual shooting features and its removable tilting electronic viewfinder.

But that is not to say that the GX200 offers nothing more than its predecessor. Because certainly, aside from having those similar features, the GX200 also boasts of a 12-megapixel CCD, dramatic noise reduction, and a new image processing engine called Smooth Imaging Engine II.

In addition, Ricoh has also added a large wide-viewing angle 2.7-inch 460,000 dots HVGA LCD, an electronic level function perfect for horizontal and vertical shooting, other extensive shooting functions that will be enjoyed by camera lovers of all levels, and enhanced image editing functions that allows images to be manipulated in the camera. Other features of the Ricoh GX200 include; 3x optical zoom, CCD shift method image stabilizer, 64-1600 ISO sensitivity and SD/SDHC media support.

The Ricoh GX200 is available now in the UK market with a retail of around $685 (body only) or $786 (kit with the VF1 Electronic Viewfinder).

Via [Photography Blog]

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The blackberry Kickstart is what is aiming to be a highly anticipated BlackBerry, for some they are anxious to use one, and for some its just a curiosity factor as this will be RIM’s first venture into the world of flip-style phones.

One thing that is for sure is that, at least up until now, there has not been any shortage of live sightings of the Kickstart, and the latest leaked images even show off some comparison shots with not one, but two Bolds. Sadly while the comparison shot is decent, the rest are in the typical leaked image fashion—blurry. We do however also get a pretty good glimpse of the front exterior display, which in this case shows of a nice looking “analog” clock. Personally the Kickstart is a little taller than I expected.

As far as the specs, so far we have learned that it will feature a 240 x 320 internal display, a 160 x 128 external display, a 2-megapixel camera, a SureType keyboard, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and has quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support. It will also be running OS 4.6 and not the previously rumored 5.0.

Via [BerryShack]

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Blue Telephony, the company known for manufacturing the Onyx product line including Liscio (the phone on the pic) is collaborating with CPS Group Italia to develop a new breed of mobile phones.

While mobile phones heretofore are equipped with the usual features and some with more specialized ones like calorimeters and similar, the phone Blue Telephony plans to design has the ability to detect the presence and measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. Great for people who are allergic to smoke or those with asthma, or perhaps it could be used as a gauge if it’s time to raise a bit more plants around the house.

via

It’s not all that often you come across a deal that is worthy of a second look, but today I found an 8GB flash drive for only $22.  That’s not bad.  I will admit, my current flash drive (I have lots but only use one most frequently) is only 2GBs and seems to be holding up just fine [on storage].  However, I wonder if life would be that much easier if I could easily store 8GBs when ever, where ever…

Dane-Electronics is offering up their zMate 8GB UFD for only $22 plus free shipping. If you have never used Google check-out you could drop that 8GB drive to $12. Now that aint bad for 8GBs of memory.

Grab the GetUSB Dealz now!

The company line:

Small, practical and high-performance, the zMate Pen lets you carry all sorts of computer files wherever you want (music, video, spreadsheets, texts, pdf, etc…). The Dane-Elec zMate Pen is certified High Speed USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 compatible. The Dane-Elec 8GB zMate Pen is your perfect companion either at work, at home or abroad.

Dane-Elec zMate 8GB Dealz page.

Posted in Miscellaneous

I’ve been waiting for some kind of response from the big manufacturers to the iPhone.  Sure they’ve thrown some clones our way but nothing that puts them on the path to a true “iphone killer”.  Today, they’ve shown they mean business by uniting the Symbian OS. 

Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DoCoMo have all joined forces to open up Symbian and work to encourage developers on the common platform.  By bringing together Symbian OS, S60, UIQ and MOAP(S) they will create one open mobile platform.  And they are working with carriers and other telecom giants like AT&T, LG, Samsung, STMicro, Texas Instruments and Vodafone to widen the net of users and developers.

This is a relatively big deal.  To me, it says, “we get the idea that software is king.” To the world, it says, “this is how we move forward.” And a lot of weight moving forward it is.  Going open source and royalty free they hope to attract all the developers who have iPhones royalties in their eyes right now.

This is definitely a step in the right direction.  As my Econ professors used to say, “competition is a good thing.”

Read [Sony Ericsson]

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Toshiba has announced that it will be offering some of its Satellite series laptops with the AMD’s notebook platform. Toshiba’s Satellite laptops which include the P300D, A300D, M300D, U400D, L300D and L350D will now be available with either AMD’s Athlon Dual Core QL, Turion Dual Core RM or Turion Ultra ZM processors.

In addition some of the models from the mentioned Satellite series will now have the following standard features most Toshiba laptops; a built-in FM tuner, facial recognition sleep-and-charge USB ports, eSATA port and the Toshiba fusion finish. These Toshiba laptops aside from having the AMD platform will also come packed with Harman Kardon stereo speakers, while some will come equipped with Toshiba REGZA LINK technology.

The Toshiba Satellite series is currently available and pricing will vary depending on the laptop’s configuration.

Read [Business Wire]

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If you’re one of the, yes, many people who aren’t necessarily in love with either a blackberry or an iphone, and are considering other cool phones, take a look at the Nokia E61.

This is a business-oriented smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard and a huge 320×240 full-color screen. Apart from the touchscreen, this smartphone even has a mini joystick for navigation. No digital camera, but it has a miniSD memory card slot, a WiFi conn, not to mention UMTS, EDGE and Bluetooth support. Its browser even supports CSS and Javascript to make even the most broadband-centric website viewable.

Do yourself a favor and take a good look at this phone.

Gimme!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $379.99 unlocked
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Posted in Gizmo of the Day, Phones, Portable

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 24th 2008 at 6:07AM
So long GX100, hello GX200 and your new 1/1.7-inch 12 megapixel CCD sensor. Ricoh’s bridge between point-and-shoot cameras and DSLRs also features new Smooth Image Engine III processing to better control noise, a larger 2.7-inch LCD, and a 5fps continuous RAW shooting mode. The 24 to 72-mm (35mm equiv) wide-angle lens, SDHC slot, RAW image support, thin 25-mm chassis, and removable tilting electronic viewfinder all carry over from the predecessor. Available next month for £350 (about $689) or £400 (about $788) if you find that viewfinder a must.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

So, it looks like the atom-based Panasonic UMPC we told you about a couple of months ago will finally be announced, that is, if some reliable sources are really reliable. And like we told you in our previous post, the Panasonic Toughbook UMPC will have Intel Centrino’s Atom platform and will also have a 5.6-inch touchscreen display, aside from a full QWERTY keyboard.

Additionally, this UMPC will sport various sockets which will be placed around its edges and will be covered with rubber hoods for an added water and dust proof features.

As this will be a pretty exciting new machine, we’re hoping that Panasonic won’t keep us waiting any longer and officially announce this Toughbook UMPC as rumored.

Via [PC World]

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by Darren Murph, posted Jun 24th 2008 at 2:37AM
You don’t have to be a science buff to understand that atoms in gases move around a heck of a lot more than those in solids. For instance, text on a paper page isn’t apt to just reshuffle itself when no one is looking, but printing the latest Harry Potter novel on thin air could prove just a touch more difficult. Said challenge isn’t too much for physicists from varying institutions in Israel, as they have recently demonstrated how to ever-so-briefly store images in a warm atomic vapor. Reportedly, the gurus have figured out how to “store complex images for up to 30 microseconds in rubidium vapor,” and if mastered, the process could help unlock secrets of “quantum information processing and even quantum communication.” If your interest meter just shot through the roof (you geek, you), head on down to the read link to slurp up more on how it’s being done.

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets