[Mint via FastCompany]

The LaCie LaCinema Classic HD is, at its heart, a 1TB hard drive with HDMI-out. You can load up media through USB from a PC or Mac (or flash drive). Then you can carry the drive to your television and watch DivX or MKV H.264 movies.

But it’s always a DLNA-compliant HD media player. In other words, you can hook it in to your network through Ethernet (Wi-Fi dongle available) and stream media without copying the files over.

Time will tell if LaCie’s player can compete with the rest of the competition (see our full Battlemodo here), but it’s available now in Australia for $299, and it’s certainly the best-looking media streamer we’ve seen to date.

[LaCie]

The Price

$149.95 RRP in Australia

The Verdict

If you upgrade to the new Xbox 360 Wireless Adaptor from the old, 802.11g version, you won’t notice any difference while gaming. But media streaming over your home network will see a legitimate speed increase.

For a moment, let’s ignore Microsoft’s traditionally ridiculous price for their Xbox 360 Wi-Fi adaptors. Instead, let’s just focus on performance.

Upgrading from 802.11g networking to 802.11n has a few key advantages: range is longer, speeds are faster and, since 802.11n sits on the 5GHz band, you won’t interfere as much with 2.4GHz frequencies used by 802.11g and basically everything else in existence.

But there’s one big thing that stops 802.11n from being any better than 802.11g for gaming: latency. Overall throughput may be faster on 802.11n (the pipe is bigger), but latency is really no less present than on 802.11g (it takes just as long for that first burst of water to come through). So those quick gaming commands aren’t faster on n, and my multiplayer testing (Modern Warfare 2 and Borderlands… it was a real chore) confirmed it.

Media streaming, however, is where those big throughputs pay off. Using Connect360, I streamed HD episodes of Mad Men from my Mac to the Xbox. I timed from the moment I hit play to to the first frame of video playback. And the difference was noticeable.

Buffering occurred between 2-3 times faster, which was well beyond my expectations, despite how fast 802.11n is on a spec sheet. Clips went from taking as many as 15 seconds to playing (rounding up) to actually breaking the five-second barrier. I’d love to have tested 1080p streaming over Live as well, but my DSL is the bottleneck in that scenario.

Yes, the Xbox 360 Wireless Adaptor is still profanely expensive. No, if you have an older adaptor (or you’re just using some other solution), I wouldn’t recommend the upgrade (nor do I think Microsoft is even marketing it that way). But it’s nice to see a tangible improvement all the same.

Streams intra network media between 2-3 times faster

Tiny form factor still unique to the industry

No perceivable speed increase in gaming

It’s $149.95.

Costs half the price of a new 360

It’ll set you back a month of dinners at McDonald’s.

I don’t even want to think about what that is in White Castles

QWERTY is pretty much the king of smartphone text input. But there’s a new challenger on the horizon. It’s called Swype, it works with one-hand input and, yeah, it is pretty fast.

Yes, the first thing you may notice is that Swype technically uses a QWERTY layout. But instead of pushing each key individually, you drag your finger from letter to letter.

It’s tough to tell if the speed gains are legitimate, given this video has been created by the Swype camp. I will say, however, given that this demo is one hand vs two, the technology certainly holds its own. What do you think? Would you be willing to part with traditional QWERTY to spell words through nonsensical doodles?

Swype will debut in Verizon’s Samsung Omnia II arriving early next month before making its way to an unnamed Android phone next year. [Swype via TechCrunch via http://www.ohgizmo.com/2009/11/24/verizons-samsung-omnia-ii-to-be-first-to-sport-swype-text-input/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Ohgizmo+%28OhGizmo!%29]

Rather than merely plugging in through USB, the BassJump uses proprietary software to remix all audio coming out of your laptop, essentially treating those tinny integrated speakers as tweeters while the BassJump handles the lows.

I can’t believe that this solution works better than simply plugging in a whole new 2.1 speaker system, but I must admit, the Mac Mini styling coaxes my fanboyism to at least give the idea a shot. $US80 and available now. [BassJump]

The Elecom “Like a Spoon!” mouse wraps stainless steel around plastic like a little, electronic amuse-bouche. Of course, given its $US90 price and necessity to import (it’s Japan-only), the satisfaction had better last more than a moment.

[Elecom via Akihabara News via Engadget]

First Place
“Smoke Signal was taken with an Olympus sp350 set to night scene. This was taken with a colour-changing LED rave light about 15cm long by 1cm wide that I wrapped with electrical tape to create a candy-cane stripe. I placed the light on my record turn table at a slow RPM and swiped the camera vertically to create the spinning stripe”
- Brad Bogle

Second Place
“No Photoshop! To take this photo, I set up some white paper for a background in a dark room. I laid strawberries on a table and separately stood up a banana with some cardboard and tape. With the lights on, I set up a quick-release tripod properly framing the banana (this makes it much easier later). Now the lights are off. So now I set my camera to bulb and used my built-in pop-up flash to shoot straight down on the strawberries, filling the frame. Keeping my finger on the shutter button, I put my camera on the tripod and then hit the pilot button on an external flash. The flash hits the white background behind the banana, silhouetting it briefly. Effectively, this washes out all of the original photo of the strawberries except for where the silhouette is, thereby superimposing the first image onto the second. And you get a cool glossy product-shot-reflection-look that results from the shadow drop-off of the external flash (although if you look closely, you’ll notice the “reflection” is actually just other strawberries from the initial shot). And now you can have a strawberry-banana! Canon 20D 17-55 IS lens @ f/22 ISO 200 13s (multiple focal length)”
- Jason Yore

Third Place
Nikon D5000; Nikkor 18-200mm VR; Exposure: 36.5 seconds; Aperture : f/5.0; Focal Length: 38mm; ISO: 400; WB: Daylight. I had a friend spin some burning steel wool in an eggbeater attached to a lanyard at the top of the overpass. What you’re seeing are the resulting spark trails. More here. [Ed note: the umbrella shots are even more impressive]
- Dan DeChiaro

These placements are almost unfair with so many good shots being in the mix. You all deserve an honourable mention. Check out the best of the rest below. It’s time well wasted.

“Shot this in a pitch black room on a white board with a Nikon D60, F/7.1, 15-second shutter @ ISO 800.” – Brad Fitzpatrick

“Hey Giz, Nothing beats good old fashion film: Yashica 635 TRL; Ilford HP 5 Plus ISO 400, 120 Film; Exposure: 1 sec. @ f/22. Shot and developed this roll overnight. I doubt you’ll get too many film shots! My wife being the ‘Christmas Spirit’ type, we hung the lights this weekend while enjoying the unseasonably warm conditions here in Lincoln, Nebraska. I’m a little surprised this shot came out so well considering this camera does not have a light meter. I’m getting really good at guessing.” – Keith Derickson

“Shot using a tripod mounted Canon T1i with a 18-55mm lens at 3200 ISO. Ten-second exposure at f/4.5. Shot is of LED lights inside gloves being worn by my brother.” – Travis Chase

“Camera: Canon EOS-400D; Lens: Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8; Shutter Speed: 20 sec.; Aperture: f/10.0; ISO: 200; Focal Length: 32mm.” – Moein Alinaghian

“This photo was taken Saturday night in Cambridge, MA looking out over the Charles River into Boston. In the upper right corner of the shot you can see the Orion constellation (or his belt at least). Shutter was left open for 15 seconds. ISO 80, f/2.” – Thom Valanzola

“Long exposure shot taken in my apartment with a Canon 30D with the 28-135mm kit lens 30-second exposure F6.3 ISO 100. I used a little LED keychain light to ‘paint’. Minor touch ups in Photoshop.” -Evan Ryan

“The photo was taken of fire spinners in Dallas, TX. I use a Nikon D90 with the 18-200mm Nikkor lens. For this shot, I handheld the camera (sniper technique), and used the following settings: f/3.5; 7/10 second exposure time; ISO-500; 18mm Focal Length (27mm @ 35mm equivalent); Flash off; White balance was adjusted manually.” – Kellan C. Warren

Taken driving down I5 from Portland, Oregon to Corvallis, Oregon. Camera: 500D w/ Tokina 11-17mm F2.8; 5 sec shutter; ISO 400.” – Scott Burback

“This series was taken in dark environments with a Nikon D40x and D70s mounted on a tripod whose shutter was open for 25 seconds on average. I used an LED flashlight to illuminate the figure during different moments as I directed his body through the frame. The light was used for about a second at a time only when I wanted to capture that particular movement within the frame.” – Jesse Suchoff

“Campfire shot… photo specs… Canon Rebel XS; ISO 800; 50mm prime lens; f/7.1; 1/6 sec shutter speed.” – Timothy Rooney

“New to light graffiti, I created this stick musician using laser pointers. This photo was shot with Nikon D50 (18-200mm VR lens) with the following settings: f/4, ISO200, and an exposure time of 20 seconds.” – Kelly Seto

“This photo was taken Friday (November 20) with the models Megan Murray and Jade Pearl. Although it shouldn’t matter, the hardware particulars are below. The image was slightly cropped to conceal some naughty bits, which I’m sure would be unacceptable given your audience. While the image is largely unaltered from the original, I did push the blacks slightly and sharpened it a touch after reducing it in size. Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XT; ISO: 100; Exposure: 15sec at f/10; Lens: 18.0-55 mm.” – Mister Devious

“It takes realised with a Nikon D300, lens Sigma 18-250, takes at low speed with a leds lantern. ISO: 100; 18 mm; f: 8; v: 30.” – Diego Haristoy

“The idea behind this is using slow shutter as a way of creating time lapse in one still photo. Here I document the traffic of a Brooklyn street at from the time interval of 10pm to 11pm, meaning roughly an hour-long exposure, where light layers to document the traffic’s movement. It was shot on a Minolta X-700 body with a Soligor 28mm Lens at f/16 on Rollei Pan 25 film at an exposure of one hour as previously mentioned. Due to the weather and using a camera using watch batteries, you run into the problem of having the batteries getting too cold and having to change them out every couple of exposures, as well as not wanting to stand out in the cold holding the shutter down I rigged some tape and a quarter over the shutter release cable to allow no movement and for me to be warm and inside.” – Zachary Chapman

“30-second exposure with multiple light sources moving.” – Nick Acott

“Invite a friend for dinner, watch 2012 don’t forget to feed him… lol. Seriously use my Olympus E-300 on a tripod setup speed shutter to “bulb”, iso to 200, aperture to 8, use different coloured lights to paint the night… and you get what you see. No software involved (if you know this technique, you will understand easily).” – Ken

“‘Back to the Future’; Nikon D700; Sigma 50mm F/1.4G; ISO 6400; 20 second exposure; Subject: 1979 Porsche 911 Turbo.” – Derek Carpenter

“This is my one all the way from New Zealand. Canon EOS 400D; $NZ20 tripod for TradeMe (NZ version of eBay); focal length: 21; app: 5.6; Exposure time: 53sec; iPod 20GB 5th gen (light writing tool).” – Cameron Moore

“Canon Eos 450D; f/6.3; exposure BULB; ISO 200; 20mm focal.” – David Wheeler

“I’m new to photography. I’m basically really wet behind the ears when it comes to photography. I started using a DSLR for the first time this year (late January 2009) and it’s been a huge leaning curve, but it’s great to hobby and I enjoy shooting. After hunting my subject and with keeping patient I was able to capture this liftoff. I’ve titled it “Lift” which was taken in my backyard. It’s a handheld shot, using the lens kit that was included with the Canon 40D, EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. There was minimal post editing done in lightroom, the image was a little dark so I increased the exposure. Camera: Canon 40D; Lens: EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 132 mm; ISO Speed: 400.” – Rodel Binaoro

“I went to Mt. Wilson in Los Angeles on November 16 with the hopes of catching a photograph of a Leonid Meteorite. After several unsuccessful attempts and also freezing, my friends and I started experimenting with time lapse photography using our mobile phones. Eventually other crowds started joining in with the fun. The picture included here represents the culmination of the night: almost everyone on the side of the mountain who was camped out on the closed road we were photographing at took part in this picture. Over 50 people doing their own thing with their mobile phones. This photo was taken with a vintage Pentax K1000 on 35mm Fujifilm Professional 400 speed film. Aperture was set to f/4. The negative was scanned into a medium resolution positive and shrunk to fit the size restraints required for this contest. This particular exposure was 45 seconds long.” – Marrio R. Lopez

“I kept seeing this guy on the streets of Hong Kong and he would beg by praying. I noticed that many did not stop so I decided to represent the opposing worlds using the slow shutter :-) Nikon D300; Nikon 18-200VR Lens; ISO 250; F22@1/3 sec 18mm.” – Preston Janssen

“Just my trusty Panasonic Lumix FZ-20 (dead now, replaced by the FZ-50) at the Gathering of the Vibes festival in Mariaville, NY, 8/18/06. ’twas taking some shots of the man on stilts who had a lightstick bolo that he was twirling around.” – Kevin Oppenheimer

“Took this shot with a point n’ shoot (Panasonic Lumix ZR1) – my running camera – selected Scene mode and “starry night”, what kind of name is that right? 15-second exposure.” – John Wood

“I used a fujifilm f100fd. Set exposure time to 8 seconds and ISO 100. Swung a light pen and a mag light without the top like a mad man.” – Dennis MK

“Photos were taken with a Pentax K-7 using the kit Pentax 18-55mm lens, set to the widest focal length. Tripod mounted, ISO 100, shutter speed on the slowest possible setting (30s), shot mostly wide open. Effects were done with a cheap LED induction flashlight. Taken with the help of my roommate Aleksandar Pejič, who also deserves credit.” – Jus Premrov

“This was taken at Sewell Park at Texas State University in San Marcos Texas. The equipment used was a Nikon D40 at 18mm, iso at 400, 15 second shutter speed, on a tripod obviously. I took this this shot on November 17, 2009.” – Ryan McKenery

“Nikon D2X; F9 @ 3 minutes; ISO 100; Focal Length: 12.0 mm. I was intrigued with this location and the shadows that were being created from the outside street lamps. I built and wired a bunch of LED lights together and proceeded to light paint. Thank you.” – Charlie Cho

And I’m not sure that the solution is just a refresh away.

The Mac Pro was once the only viable option for an OS X lover in need of serious horsepower for tasks like editing media. Now, with the new iMac? I think it’s straight up stupid to buy a Mac Pro.

The $4499 Mac Pro, desperately in need of a refresh, gives you a 2.66GHz Quad-Core (i7), 3GB of RAM (triple channel, but seriously?), 640GB hard drive (again, seriously?) and a nominal graphics card. Spend $1400 more and you’ll get a another processor and 3GB more RAM.

The $2599, 27-inch iMac obviously includes a screen, plus you get a 2.66GHz Quad-Core (i7), 1TB drive, 4GB of RAM and a nominal graphics card.

But beyond those clock speeds, the Mac Pro’s i7 processor is the more premium Bloomfield edition, while the iMac uses the Lynnfield. (More on those differences here.)

Still, the bottom line is that the iMac’s Lynnfield processor is newer, and it shows in performance.

Macworld benched the new iMacs against the latest Mac Pros. And, you know what? The i7 iMac more than held its own. It basically defeated the quad-core Mac Pro across the board.

And other than a few specific tasks in which the most expensive Mac Pro’s eight cores proved beneficial (Handbrake, Cinebench, etc), the iMac outperformed the competition or kept things close enough not to be relevant, plus it straight-up won in the eyes of Speedmark 6.

Performance-wise, the base Mac Pro makes no sense at all. The eight-core Mac Pro offers a touch more power, sometimes, and other times (in many day to day tasks) even it is outgunned.

Of course, any Mac Pro still allows multiple internal hard drives, three PCI slots, more FireWire ports (four vs one) and more room for RAM expansion (32GB vs 16GB). But once again, even in the worlds of professional media creation, that’s a pretty questionable upsell, especially with external storage solutions and the fact that most high, high end media pros (like special effects artists) turn to dedicated render farms to do their heavy number crunching anyway.

With the new iMac, Apple has shrunk the Mac-Pro-needing niche even smaller. And I can’t tell anyone with a straight face that a handful of expandability is worth $US300-$1100 with no monitor, no matter how deep their pockets are.

Apple needs to re-examine their pricing model. Even with an inevitable processor refresh (i9, anyone?), it’s time for a price drop and/or some free with purchase displays. Just because you’re a pro doesn’t mean you’re a sucker.