When we received the PSP-3000 from Sony yesterday, we were almost overwhelmed with excitement – this was the PSP that would essentially let you play in broad daylight the screen was so bright and clear.
But, after playing with it for about an hour in a variety of conditions, we’re sorry to say that compared to the PSP-2000 we’ve been using for a few months now, the difference isn’t even worth mentioning. On the brightest settings for both units, we couldn’t tell the difference. The PSP-3000 had slightly richer colours, but still reflected sunlight beyond the point of watchability.
We’ll be playing with it a bit more over the next week, but if the only reason you’re considering an upgrade is the supposedly massively-improved screen, you’re going to be disappointed.
For those high-end home theatre nuts out there (you know who you are) who were lusting after Yamaha’s 11.2 channel RX-Z11 audio receiver but lacked the funding to add it to your movie den, Yammy has an early Christmas present for you.
Their new RX-Z7 draws inspiration from the flagship Z11, from its design to its feature set. There are five Version 1.3 HDMI inputs and dual HDMI outputs (for those of you with both a TV and a projector), and it will decode all those fancy new lossless audio codecs as well.
Previous Yamaha receiver users will be enamoured by the new GUI menu for customising settings on your screen, while the ethernet port means that you can now control your receiver over your home network on PDA devices or your iPhone.
There are countless, audio enhancement settings and multi-room settings, which you will probably never explore unless you’re one of those people we were talking about before. It’s also a green little receiver (or as green as receivers can be), consuming just 0.1 watts of energy when in standby.
It’ll hit shelves in November for an RRP of $3,999, which includes Yamaha’s YDS-11 iPod dock.
Wow. I can’t believe you can still buy standalone scanners. It’s not a product category I’d expect would be growing too quickly, considering the proliferation of multi-function devices these days. I guess it’s probably just for those high-end users who need quality results, really.
So, if you’re one of those people, Epson’s latest scanner, the V300, sounds like a pretty good deal. It uses LEDs to scan, which not only has environmental benefits (like no mercury, less heat, less energy consumption), but means there’s no time stuffing around waiting for the lamp to heat up.
The V300 scans up to 4800dpi (insanely detailed) with 48-bit colour depth, and will scan an image in as little as 16 seconds. It’ll scan 35mm film as well, six frames at a time (or four 35mm mounted slides) too, which is quicker than scanning print after print after print.
RRP is $249, if you’re interested, and it works with both Windows and Macs. It’s available… Now!
There is a lot riding on the shoulders of T-Mobile’s G1 Android phone. In some ways, it carries the collective hopes of Linux, open source and Google fans everywhere. It’s open, collaborative and community-based, in other words, everything the iPhone and Windows Mobile aren’t. As so many onlookers crowd around this newborn phone, there’s no way it can hold up all of their expectations—and it doesn’t.
After spending a week using the G1, I can say it’s a good start, and a clear indication of good Android developments to come. But the phone itself has some serious problems with accessibility and usability, issues that no number of third-party apps are going to be able to solve. Here’s what I loved and hated about the T-Mobile G1.
During the last debate, we caught CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin watching a live feed of playoff baseball while on the air on his laptop. Tonight’s debate? Facebook. Either he’s messing with us (are you messing with us, Toobs?), or he’s really good at multitasking and really bad at being discrete. Either way, that’s some fine reporting. Also: I just added him as friend on Facebook. Approve my friend request, Toobs! [David Cho]
A 12-inch version of the Inspiron Mini, which sounds a lot like the still-not-available mystery product we saw at Tesco last month, has popped up on Dell’s website, which could mean a very soon release date. The user manuals, troubleshooting documents and tech guides for the Inspiron Mini 12 were hidden in the company’s product support pages.
SouthWing and AT&T have paired up to offer a Bluetooth headset specifically catering to news junkies and evasive people. If your SouthWing SH241 earpiece is connected to an AT&T phone, it’ll pipe the latest finance, weather, sports and other info straight into your head. Sure, an FM radio feature would probably do the same thing–but does FM radio also come with an “Instant Alibi” feature that lets you call yourself, so that when your blind date starts weeping softly about his second failed marriage, you can invent an emergency situation to get yourself the hell out of there? Yeah, didn’t think so. It’s available for $US40 from any AT&T store. [Into Mobile]
ifixit, the same guys who brought us the beautiful disassembly of the 3G iPhone, have gutted the MacBook and MacBook Pro (Pro pictured here). But beyond the pretty photos, they’ve discovered some interesting things about the new laptops.
Just a quick reminder – time is running out for you to enter our Lego Batman PSP pack competition. All you have to do is write the chorus to a song including the words “Lego”, “Batman” and “Giz”, then stick it in the comments of the original competition post.
So far, we’ve got a guy who wrote an entire song and stuck it on YouTube, and another attempt that rewrote Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby. Can you do better? Give it a go here.
Rejoice, culinary neophytes everywhere! George Foreman, that lovable former boxer turned kitchen gadget man has put out a deep fat fryer. You heard me right–look forward to the smell of burning oil and deep fried everything coming soon from your nearest dormitory. Foreman’s Lean Mean Fryer uses a “Smart Spin” technology after your food’s been fried to allegedly whirl out 55% of the fat absorbed during frying using centrifugal force. I’m not sure how scientific that fat-busting claim is or how safe I feel having boiling oil spinning around in my kitchen, but if you’re a fan of fried foods, this cooking godsend is now available in North America for $US150.
