Computer Gadgets New

In 2008, nine states in the Union enacted laws that enable taxation on digital transactions. I bet you didn’t know that. You might also not know, then, that other states look to be quickly following suit. It all makes perfect sense, really. In an economy that is plainly faltering, the states see it as yet another new tool to bring their financial woes to an end. It is estimated that $130 billion are spent every year in online transactions, so there certainly is money to be made.

Right now, the states that tax downloads include Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington. “Downloads” is a relatively loose term, though, meaning that everything from iTunes to Amazon can be taxed but smaller-scale dealers may get away with it. In fact, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimates that there are over 500 legal, legitimate music download services that can currently be taxed.

It’s not all bad news, though. While other states are likely to follow suit, there are a few big-name online services fighting the taxes. A coalition comprised of 1-800-Contacts, America Online/Time Warner, American Vintners Association, Association for Competitive Technology, CapNet, eBay, Electronic Retailing Association, Internet Alliance, NewsCorp, Oracle, VeriSign, Yahoo!, and The Wine Institute called NetChoice has hired lawyers and is actively arguing against every new law of this type. They’re also arguing for the online sale of wine, another worthy cause.

Read more at C-Net

Fujifilm has added the new J150w to its recently launched J-series digital camera line. This budget-friendly point-and-shoot features a compact metal chassis in matte black or brushed silver finish and with a thickness of just 22.6mm, users would certainly have no problem carrying this camera around.

The Finepix J150w boasts of noteable features including a 10-megapixel CCD sensor, a 3-inch LCD, 5x wide-angle optical zoom lens, face detection and automatic red eye removal. It also features various shooting parameters such as picture stabilization mode for anti-blur protection, 13 pre-programmed scene modes and a movie mode for capturing video clips at 30fps with sound. The camera’s ISO sensitivity can be set at up to 1600 at its full 10MP resolution or up to 3200 at 3MP resolution. For storage, the J150w takes SD/SDHC media card and is loaded with additional 24MB of internal memory.

Now for the most important information, the Finepix J150w will set you back $199.95. Certainly not a bad price for a decent 10-megapixel digital camera. The J150w will be available anytime this coming September.

Read [Fujifilm]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 12th 2008 at 9:14AM

Not that we weren’t already aware of the FinePix F60fd, but it — alongside the S2000HD, J150w, J120, J110w and J100 — was just made official courtesy of Fujifilm. As for the aforementioned F60fd, it’s packin’ a 12-megapixel CCD sensor, 25MB of internal memory, an xD / SD / SDHC card slot, VGA movie mode, 3x optical zoom, 3-inch lcd monitor and USB 2.0 connectivity. If you’re looking for technical pizazz, the 10-megapixel S2000HD is the one to eye, sporting a 15x optical zoom and a video out port. You can take a peek at the rest of the ho hum crowd in the links below.

Read - S2000HD
Read - F60fd
Read - J150w
Read - J120
Read - J110w
Read - J100

• Permalink
• Email this
• 8 Comments

Filed under: Digital Cameras

When we covered the GeForce GTX 280, we told you that the most interesting aspect (outside of graphics) for consumers was the high-performance computing ability that all GeForce cards have since the Series 8. Badaboom is a video transcoding application that uses the massively paralell GPU architecture to convert videos at about 20 times the speed of the fastest CPU. If you have a GeForce 8, 9 or GTX graphics card, you can download the trial at nvidia.com/theforcewithin. Happy encoding!

If you’re trying to be careful about how to best utilize your desk space, a set of speakers like these would be convenient.  They stack straight up and down, so only a small square on your desk is being used.  Granted you could probably just buy a set of mostly square speakers and attempt to stack them in the same fashion.  However, these look like they lock together nicely to keep them sturdy.  Plus when you feel the need you can lay them out next to each other instead of stacking.

These come from PBTeen and this isn’t the first time I’ve come across one of their teen products that would look great for adults as well.  Especially those in their 20’s that are either in a small dorm or living in a small apartment, since a lot of their products are focused on space saving.  The speakers come in several different colors; pink, light blue, light green, dark blue and gray.  They measure 3” and will work for either your ipod or iphone.  The Stackable Speakers will cost you $129.

Source: Gadgenista

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment

Mobiletor claims that the anticipated Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 will appear in the UK in October for the insane price of £599.99 ($1140). Obviously, the phone has a very interesting design, but it’s hard to believe that Sony Ericsson would sell many of them with that kind of pricing. Anyhow, October seems like a probable launch as phone makers tend to release their new products by then, to make it to the holiday season. Plus, it looks like accessories are starting to pop left and right, adding some credibility to this rumor. Stay tuned. If you can’t wait, there’s an XPERIA X1 on eBay.

Notebook with digital music connection–check. Xbox 360–check. Internet connection for listening to Pandora and Last.fm–check. Flat-screen television–check. So that dorm room or apartment is all set up right? You may have all the hardware, but don’t forget about one of the most important components: what’s actually pumping out those sounds.

All too often speakers are overlooked while all our money is put into other components. Boston Acoustics has some ideas on how to get around that situation and they have produced a few products that are designed to put out great sound while fitting into our spaces (not having our spaces work around them). These products are also colorful and affordable making them even more attractive to their target audience, the college-bound segment. Even so, with their color, power, and obvious style, they could appeal to anyone.

The SoundWare speakers are very cool looking cube-like speakers built to live on your desktop or mounted on a wall. They come in 7 different colors and they are indoor/outdoor safe, so you know they can take a beating. Think high performance in a small package, for under $100 per. For someone on a limited budget without any room to spare, they could be ideal. They are not PC speakers though, so you’ll need something to power them.

Even cooler than the SoundWare speakers, is the TeeVee Model Two kit. It runs a costly $399 (MSRP) but you get a speaker designed to work in tandem with your flat-screen television and a wireless bass speaker. So after an easy hook up to your television you can go from something that is barely loud enough to be heard with more than two people in the room to a serious sound station. The soundbar speaker fits right under the television (ideally) and the wireless bass speaker goes anywhere within range. The main speaker is built for televisions 32-inches and up so it will be a bit wide for anyone running a smaller television (26-inch pictured), but a little extra sound can’t hurt.

So while these solutions might be a bit over budget for some students, the chance to find quality sound equipment that fits in their lifestyle will no doubt be appealing. Neither are PC-based solutions, which is going to be an issue, so these are aimed at audio fans, but the chance to turn a TV into a serious home theater experience will be worth investigating for anyone who wants their room to be a place to go for videogames or watching an away game on Saturday.

With summer still going, you might still be on the lookout for some fun summer themed speakers.  These cute little Tikitoonz Tiki Speakers look perfect for any pool party and once the weather turns freezing cold it will be a nice reminder of the warmer months.  Then again, in the middle of winter it’s not always best to think too much about when it didn’t take you 15 minutes of bundling up to go outdoors.   I’ve really got to move further south before it does turn cold, and if you already are where it stays warm these speakers will look great longer.

The speakers are based on Polynesian carvings and are weather-resistant.  Which makes them even better for poolside fun, just as long as you don’t just toss them in the pool with you.  They are 80 watts and will cost you $149.95.  So these aren’t exactly cheap novelty speakers, but hopefully they’ll have a nicer sound than a cheap $20 pair. They also have a pair of steel brackets so you can mount them outside on your back patio.

Source: SlipperyBrick

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment

I don’t know if you’ve ever watched a show on the USA Network called Burn Notice, but it is about a spy that was fired by his particular spy organization. He is now forced to do A-Team-ish jobs for clients in order to make a living.

I bring this show up because the main character, Michael, makes his own spy equipment from old cellular phones and GPS devices, and the Spy Kite is low-tech spy gear that he could just buy instead of making.

The Spy Kite is just what it sounds like, a wind flyer that has a digital camera mounted on the frame. This delta wing model is made of fiberglass, and can take pictures from 80 feet in the air. I believe that the 80 foot height requirement is because the string holder has a wireless remote that allows a picture to be taken.

Once you are finished with your spywork, you can reel in your kite and attach it to your PC and download your photos. I have no word on the resolution or memory of this camera, but I have my doubts on whether this would work. After all, every time that I fly a kite, it moves around too erratically, which is not ideal for shooting photos.

Well, if you’re willing to take a chance, perhaps you should try it out for about £29.99 or $57. You can purchase it at the Gadgetshop site.

Source

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment

FROM GAMERTELL - The Digital Edge Gaming Table can hold three 21-inch monitors, scads of peripehrals and will only set you back $379…
MORE »

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →