The use of CRT was a decision based on necessity – this was 1978, and LCD technology wasn’t quite mature enough to make its way into a product like this.

Sony expanded on the MTV-1 with the release of the FD-210 Watchman pocket TV in 1982. It was smaller than the MTV-1, but still relied on black-and-white CRT display technology. Later models introduced colour and larger screen sizes, but it wasn’t until 1990 that the first LCD display made its way into the Watchman lineup.

Today, portable TVs still exist, but certainly aren’t mainstream. We’re much more likely to play back recorded TV shows, movies and podcasts on our mobile phones or iPods. But portable TV will always hold a place in our hearts for being so cool for their time…

History of TV is Giz AU’s month-long look back at the development of the world-changing medium and its influence on our daily lives.

[Pic: Retro Thing]

There are three versions available, each with its own colour (320GB in vivid white, 500GB in liquid blue and the 640GB rocket red). They’re all USB 2.0 powered, small enough to carry around and if you’re running Windows, there’s automatic system backup software (NTI Backup Now EZ) on the device out of the box.

The 320GB version costs $129, the 500GB costs $169 and the 640GB is $199.

[Toshiba]

Each does much the same thing – provide a portable, mains or battery-powered hard drive with slots for memory cards. They are designed for photographers who want portable storage and back-up while they shoot.

Some of you may be wondering why such a thing would be necessary. Surely, you could just carry a lot of flash memory cards? Yeah, well you could, but photographers wanting to protect their images should engage with multiple points of failure. So to be reasonably certain of averting disaster while shooting on location, a shooter might have their cards, a laptop, and a portable hard drive of a conventional type to plug into their laptop.

If they choose to add another device such as an M80, they have an additional back-up but, as I proved to myself recently at a Superbike race event, if you carry an M80 on your belt, you’ve got a lightweight drive to which you can back up while you’re patrolling the race circuit. When you get back to your laptop, you dump your pics to your laptop all at once, saving the shuffling of cards through a reader. Hey, it’s not everyone’s idea of a good workflow, but it works for me.

The question is: which device is right for you? So it’s off to the tournament arena, with head-to-head feature comparisons.

Storage
Photo Safe II, 500GB.
Canon M80, 80GB.
Winner: Photo Safe II, hands down.

Cards supported
Photo Safe II: CF, SD/HC, MMC, miniSD, MS/Duo, xD
Canon M80: CF, SD/MMC,
Winner: Photo Safe, but by a slim margin given the dominance of CF an SD.

Screen
Photo Safe II: 2in LCD, backlit, menu data only
Canon M80: 3.7in TFT LCD, 640×480, 18-bit colour.
Winner: Canon M80, hands down.

Supported file types
Photo Safe II: All file types
Canon M80: JPEG, TIFF, Canon RAW, MPEG 1/2/4, Motion JPEG, MP3, Wave.
Winner: Photo Safe II. However, the Canon does something the Photo Safe II cannot, which is display all the file types it supports.

Card transfer rates
Photo Safe II: Card to Photo Safe, up to 5MB/sec; Photo Safe to PC (via USB 2.0), 60MB/sec.
Canon M80: Card to M80, up to 4.1MB/sec; M80 to PC (via USB 2.0), 7.5MB/sec.
Winner: Photo Safe II. This will be a deal breaker for a lot of users for whom speed is king.

Weight
Photo Safe II: 272g
Canon M80: 360g
Winner: Photo Safe II

Battery life
Photo Safe II: Up to 20GB of data from high-speed card on full charge
Canon M80: Up to 37GB on full charge.
Winner: Canon M80

Supported OS
Both: Windows, Mac.
Winner: Tie.

Usability
Photo Safe II: There’s nothing at all user-friendly about the Photo Safe II’s controls and interface. It looks a lot like it was designed and built by a backyard modder. It’s clumsy, but it works, and the menu system isn’t difficult to master.
Canon M80: A joy to use, though a bit slow moving between images. The menu structure is intuitive, as are the controls. The single biggest advantage the M80 has is its screen and ability to display image, video and audio files, transforming it from a mere hard drive to a PMP. And the display is gorgeous, one of the best I’ve seen on a small device.

Price
Photo Safe II: $400
Canon M80: $1099
Winner: Photo Safe II

Conclusion:
Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? If you need a big portable hard drive and speedy operation, the Photo Safe II is the way to go. However, if you prefer a device that actually displays your images (and this counts for a lot) and can do double duty as a PMP, the Canon M80 is pretty sweet.

More info on the Canon M80 here and the Photo Safe II here.

Ignoring all else for the moment, the video quality itself is surprisingly good. I have a Nokia N86 loaner that captures video and in a head-to-head, the nano wins handsomely in the ease of use stakes. Video quality, not so much (the N86’s 8MP sensor counts for a lot). The nano’s on-screen preview as you shoot is in fluid real-time with the barest frame lag and the captured video is very watchable, in a YouTube kind of way. Auto-exposure is responsive and accurate, though you get an adjustment lag during a dramatic change in lighting conditions, but that’s acceptable.

The nuts and bolts
There’s no zoom. You’re stuck with a fixed-focus lens that handles close-ups to about 10cm nicely. And captures aren’t time limited, or so it seems. As I write these words, the nano is recording its 37th exciting minute of me writing this review. You can keep recording until your nano’s memory fills, which would take about 1.5 hours, assuming there was nothing else stored on it.

Your video will be a 640×480 H.264 clip at 29.97fps with a data rate of 2715kbit/s. The output clip screens up very closely to what you see previewed as you shoot. It’s not great, but it’s better than OK, given the limitations of a tiny lens and tinier mic (which doubles as the world’s tiniest, and tinniest, speaker).

So let’s talk about the “all else”. The lens is mounted on the back panel, almost directly behind the “next” button. Apart from making it tricky to shoot yourself, this means that for your fingers to clear the lens when you’re shooting, you need to grab the nano around the screen. It’s not any kind of challenge to your manual dexterity but it sure feels odd to hold an iPod, any iPod, this way.

But what’s really odd is that while you can shoot video, you can’t shoot a still. Yeah, sure, you could grab a vidcap still, but that’s just one step too many to bother with.

With all that said, they say the best camera is the one you have on you when it’s most needed, and in this sense the nano’s vidcam will go over well with its buyers. For those who for some reason don’t carry an iPhone 3GS or other mobile with video capability, an iPod is a natural daily companion. Whipping it out and slipping into video camera mode is easy. It’s a win on that score. Especially if you’re travelling, when it’s likely you might deliberately choose to go mobile sans mobile, so to speak.

Gorilla to the rescue
But it’s a massive fail when you want to shoot the “wish-you-were-here” clip to post to friends while you’re overseas – given, of course, that you have a ‘puter with you, because without the touch’s or iPhone’s networking capability, you’re stuck with having to use middleware to get your message out.

However, I chanced across the perfect travelling companion to the nano for users wanting to shoot clips of their fine selves. Joby’s baby Gorillapod, the Original model ($37), comes with a suction cup attachment that’s just right for setting up the nano to shoot a self-portrait video. Because of the rear-mounted lens and the obvious wisdom of not combining screens with spit, you need to attach the Gorilla’s suction mount to the nano’s rear panel. Sounds clumsy, but it’s not. The only tricky part is that because of the nano’s convex case, you have to get the suction pad dead-centre, or the air will slip in and the grip will give way. Not good if you’ve just set the little fella on a bridge pylon above a long drop.

All considered, you wouldn’t buy the nano because it has a video camera, but it’s easy to imagine there will be occasions when you’d be grateful for what might be, mobile phones aside, the most conveniently carried video shooter on the market, beating both the Flip Mino HD and Kodak’s Z1X in the size and weight stakes.

Oh and BTW, the nano plays your music files and podcasts and photos and stuff. Same old same old. Except for the FM radio, which is a welcome addition. If you’re into radio.

At $199 for the 8GB model and $249 for the 16GB model, the nano’s two new features – camera and FM radio – add a lot to the value proposition of what is already a fine PMP.

Want a second opinion? Some sample clips? Gizmodo writer Dan Nosowitz has more.

Available now from The Good Guys for $799, the N310 is a 10.1-inch netbook with a 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom processor and 1GB RAM. It comes with either an 80GB or 160GB HDD, with an option for a 16GB SSD as well. Its keyboard is 93% of full size, there’s built-in Bluetooth and 802.11n wi-fi, and a 3-in-1 card reader. It comes with a 4-cell battery as standard, although you can pick up an optional 6-cell if battery life is important to you.

The specs on the entry-level seem a little bit short for an $800 machine, which means you’re probably paying for that rubberised look more than anything. It doesn’t quite do enough for me to inspire me to open my wallet, but I won’t judge you if you have a Gumby-fetish only this netbook can satisfy…

The Samsung N310: The ultimate in minimalist and lightweight design

The 10.1″ mini notebook, designed by Naoto Fukasawa, making sure you always look good on the move

Sydney, 14 September 2009 – Samsung Electronics Australia has partnered with, Naoto Fukasawa, to bring the tough and stylish Samsung N310 to its range of mini notebooks in Australia. Designed wholly by the award winning international designer, the N310 is a complete combination of class-leading looks and performance.

Naoto Fukasawa lends his distinctive minimalist style to the Samsung N310, with a sleek frameless screen, pebble design keyboard and a light weight form that ensures you are fully portable and standing out from the crowd at the same time!.

“The introduction of the Samsung N310 takes the mini notebooks to a whole new dimension. As well as incorporating the very latest technology within a lightweight, but robust casing, Naoto Fukasawa has created a mini notebook that provides a minimalist design edge. The Samsung N310 is a very welcome addition to our notebook range in Australia and a unique looking product we think consumers will love,” said Emmanuele Silanesu, National Product & Marketing Manager – IT, Samsung Australia.

Underneath Samsung’s N310’s minimalist styling and tactile, rubberised body is a robust and ergonomic design that is built to meet the highest quality standards. Its durable casing and premium styling deliver amazing strength and superior reliability as well as an outstanding look and feel.

The Samsung N310’s ergonomic design and optimised 17.6mm key spacing make it 93% of a full desktop keyboard, providing an easier and more productive experience, with less strain on your wrists, fewer errors and faster typing speeds.

The LED display and optimised processing performance coupled with Samsung’s class leading engineering provide excellent battery performance. Able to remain powered up for five hours, or 11 hours with an optional extended six cell battery, the Samsung N310 can be taken wherever you go, whether you’re travelling long haul or simply taking your desk outdoors.

Weighing just 1.23kg the Samsung N310 is also one of the lightest in its class. Its ultra compact 10.1″ design is small enough to carry in a handbag or backpack and rugged enough to withstand everyday bumps and knocks in the inevitable hardships of life on the move, either in the city or further afield.

Despite its compact form, the Samsung N310 includes an internal microphone, headphone-out connection and an integrated 1.3 megapixel digital motion camera, making it easier than ever to stay in touch with friends and family. The Samsung N310 also makes sharing your data simple thanks to its 3-in-1 memory card reader, three built-in USB ports and optional Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), which can be used to quickly transfer pictures, movies and data to and from virtually any digital camera, camcorder or mp3 device.

The Samsung N310 is available now from the Good Guys at an RRP of $799

It’s obviously tiny, and features a retractable cord which helps make it nice and portable. The selection of shiny colours also make it aesthetically appealing. But I just can’t picture this thing being comfortable to use in any way, shape or form.

So ultimately it’s a question of style and portability vs comfort. If the former is more important to you, you can grab one of the Nortek mini-mice from Officeworks for $50.

It plugs straight into your car’s 12V power outlet, and will, cook, warm or reheat your food up to 125 degrees Celcius.

It might take a while to cook enough food for all your mates though – at 15(h) x 26(w) x 17(d)cm, it’s not the biggest portable oven you’ll ever see. But for $60, it’s not like you’re going to get a portable induction cooktop…

[Latestbuy]

The two models, which pack a 4.3-inch and 5-inch 800 x 480 LCD screen respectively, look pretty good, with a raft of features including playback of most of your typical video files: AVI, MOV, DAT, MPEG1/2/4,VOB, FLV, and RM/RMVB, while MP3, WMA, WAV and APE FLAC takes care of audio. There’s a microphone and TV out, too, with tiny buttons on the top and side to control navigation of the UI, which resembles Sony’s Xross Media Bar.

They’ll hit shelves later this year for $249 and $299, which is a pretty decent price point. But from the brief hands on I had last week, the buttons were a bit small and difficult to press – the use of a touchscreen would have drastically improved to the usability.

With one of the catchiest names we’ve ever seen before – SD-P92SKY – the portable DVD thingy has a swivelly 9-inch LCD screen with a 640×234 resolution, an SD card slot that will play back DiVX files (so will the DVD drive) and MP3s, and a 3 hour battery life. There are two headphone jacks, and the whole thing weighs 1.2kg.

Not my cup of tea – especially for the $399 RRP – when my iPhone does just as good a job, albeit with a smaller screen. But if it’s your cup of tea, the SD-P92SKY is available now, and I promise I won’t judge you.

[Toshiba]

When asked about the launch plans for the PSP Go!, Ephraim responded:

“Because of the fluctuation in the exchange rate, we’ve decided to hold off on our announcement until closer to launch date. We will probably make that announcement [soon] so we can start working with retailers and preorders and those things. You are definitely going to see a premium price on the PSP Go! as it was announced in Europe and the US.”

But exactly how much of a premium is still unknown. David floated a $400 price point, and Ephraim hit back with the “we want to bring it in as cheap as we can, that’s always our objective” response.

In any case, expect to be paying more than $300, which is the current price for the PSP-3000. Ouch.

[Kotaku]