If you’ve been avoiding kayaking all your life because the strenuous paddling seemed like too much work, Surfango is your dream come true. Tired of paddling away for a few measly miles per hour, Surfango strapped a four-stroke engine on the back of a kayak and the PowerKayak was born. It may only fit one person, but that person is guaranteed to have a grand old time skipping over the waves at a blistering 25 miles per hour. galleryPost('surfango', 4, 'Surfango PowerKayak');
Big news from Hitachi – the DVD camcorder is as good as dead. With the capacity improvement of a Blu-ray disc on board, Hitachi is breaking ground on the new gen of disc-based recorders and their ability to shoot HD.
Captures in Full HD (1920 x 1080) to MPEG4 AVC/H.264 (their words… not sure how that varies from AVCHD), you get 1 hour record time to Blu-ray as well as 4 hours at HD to a 30GB drive on board (or 8 hours in ‘standard mode’). 5.3Mp CMOS sensor for stills too, HDMI (natch), 10x zoom, and it will still record SD to DVD if you want.
Supports single-sided 8cm Blu-ray, which offers 7.5GB capacity. Both BD-R (write once) and BD-RE (rewritable) discs can be used.
Five record modes available: - HX: 15Mbps AVC/H.264 (1920×1080); 4 hours HDD / 1 hour BD - HF: 11Mbps AVC/H.264 (1440×1080); 5 h 20m HDD / 1h 20m BD - HS: 7.5Mbps AVC/H.264 (1440×1080); 8 hours HDD / 2 hours BD - SX: 9Mbps MPEG2 (720×480); 20 min DVD - SF: 6Mbps MPEG2 (720×480); 30 min DVD
Scheduled for release end of this month in Japan, and November here in Oz.
This is just to hand, so that’s all we have right now. Pictures coming soon. -Seamus Byrne
If it looks a bit like an iPhone nano but doesn’t work like one, it could be a Slickr. Sporting the same sleek looks that made the iPhone a hit (in a smaller frame), the Slickr loses a lot of cool points when you realize it doesn’t have touch screen capabilities. Even though it’s reliant on button navigation, this German beauty still has a few handy features that could make it worth the $129 price tag.
Ultimate Ears makes some of the best earphones I’ve ever heard, with the high end UE line made of custom molded pieces with multiple drivers inside. The UE-11 Pro raises the bar to having 4 in each ear, broken down into dual subs, a mid and tweeter. Audio sensitivity is 110dB at 1mW, which is very efficient. Available in a variety of colors and designs (including monograms) for $1150. I believe that’s in a custom metal case. [iLounge]
Privacy screens make sense for laptops and PCs, devices with large screens that are used for extensive periods of time in open areas. The Sanrio “Hello Kitty Mail Peeping Block and Display Protect Sticker,” or HKMPBDPS as I like to call it, makes less sense. Sure, it prevents people from reading your precious texts by peering over your shoulder, but is that really something you worry about? Maybe the website says it best: “4. Kitty is shiny with lame.” $8 [Hello Kitty Privacy Sticker via ShinyShiny]
While Casio’s Exilim line has become synonymous for quality cameras, they took a different route this time and hit us with the W53CA Cameraphone. The device features a 5.1 Megapixel camera with 9 point auto focus, image stabilization and a clamshell swivel screen. To top it off, Casio added MicroSD, MP3 support, and one hell of a sleek design. Unfortunately, it’s a Korea exclusive. Sigh. galleryPost('casioexilimphone', 3, 'Casio Exilim Cameraphone');[UberPhones]
Introducing the W206, W213, W156, W160, W175 and W18. The bigger question: Why release 6 low end candybar phone at once? Might as well do one phone that we care about. [Crave]
I still remember the first RC car I played with. That little dune buggy wasn’t fast, and it really wasn’t fun, considering it was connected by a cable to the remote itself (so you had to jog with it to go more than a few feet). RC cars have come a long way since then, and enthusiast/designer Nic Case hopes his latest car, the X2, can break the 200mph mark. A 29.6 volt motor powers the rather bland body while special foam tires are used to prevent melting at crazy high RPMs. Hit the jump for a video of some X2 test runs, along with a video of Nic’s current world record holder, the 134.4mph TC3.
Another release from the local Logitech reps tells us the new G9 Laser Mouse will be available in Australia from mid-September at an RRP of $169. Current US price conversion would be more like $119, which reflects the premium we saw being charged on the new VX Nano. This sort of gear usually turns up at some pricing well below RRP at the specialists, though, so keep your eyes peeled. -Seamus Byrne
It’s time to stop hogging all those fancy USB devices you’ve collected and let your pals in on the wonders of high-speed portable data storage, printing, scanning and more. Keyspan’s USB 2.0 server will help you share whatever you plug in to its two ports via Ethernet or WiFi. Ringing up at $129, this could be your holdover device until Certified Wireless USB inevitably becomes the cheaper alternative. [Keyspan]
