Category: Gadgets

The Pepper Pad

The Pepper Pad

After a bunch of Windows-based UMPC The Pepper Pad is like ray of light in the dark room. The device is based on Linux and has a good chances to be better then Origami-like UMPC. The Pepper Pad features:

  • Intel XScale PXA270 (624 MHz)
  • 256 MB SDRAM, 32 MB Intel StrataFlash ROM
  • 8.4” 800×600 SVGA TFT LCD with 32 MB video RAM, resistive touch screen with stylus
  • 20 GB 1.8” disk drive (ATA)
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b / WEP / WPA-Personal, Bluetooth 1.2, Dual IR emitters and IR receiver
  • USB 1.1 Host jack, SD/MMC card slot, Stereo headphone and line out jacks, Composite video out jack (NTSC/PAL), Microphone jack
  • Linux Kernel 2.6.13 (preemptive), UBOOT

Vaio UX Micro PC

UX Sony
Sony announced Vaio UX Micro PC. It’s smaller then UMPC but bigger then smart phone. The UX is powered by a full on Core Solo processor and runs Windows XP Professional. The device also includes Bluetooth, WiFi, WWAN (EDGE connectivity) and a fingerprint reader. Along with the front camera for video conferencing, there is a camera in the rear for snapping pics, and the UX also can plug into a VGA adapter for powering an external monitor. The 4.5-inch screen is capable of a 800 x 600 resolution and accepts stylus input. UX will be out in July for around $1800.

Update: there is a Linux version of Vaio UX Micro PC!

Continue reading Vaio UX Micro PC

The new generation of video recorders

TViX
The era of new home video devices are coming quickly. VHS recorders is already history. PC-based or just included HDD devices came to take their place. TVIX box is one of this devices. TViX M-3100U is a hard-drive video units which can record video content from a TV, PC or any analog source, and can save it in MPEG 1 or MPEG 2 formats. TVix supports following video formats AVI(3.x, 4.x, 5.x, Xvid), MPG, DAT, VOB, .IFO, ISO, and for the audio MP3, WMA, Ogg, WMV. Also, it has HD out.
TViX-back

LocationFree TV on PSP

Somy PSP
Sony is going to offer LocationFree TV, its revolutionary service that lets you record and watch programmes from your home country no matter where you are in the world. The idea is pretty simple. You setup a Base Station to your home’s video sources – for example a Sky box + DVD recorder + broadband internet connection and install some special software on internet-enabled video devices – a laptop or a Sony Playstation Portable – PSP. You can connect to your Base station via Internet and watch TV programmes on your PSP or schedule a recording on DVD recorder or play DVD on your DVD player connected to the Base station. Sony calls this cool solution NetAV.
Once I played a bit with PSP. It’s nice to play some games or watch video. There is a possibility to surf Internet but non-touchable display makes a navigation a little bit difficult.

[via T3]

See also:

Tiny VIZO

Tiny VIZO

Tiny VIZO is a compact (at just 2.5” x 2.5” x 0.7” and 3.35-ounces) portable media player. It features a 2-inch TFT display, 1GB of Flash memory, USB 2.0 connectivity, voice recorder, TV-out, and video/music/image playback. Supported formats include MPEG-4, AVI, DivX, MP3, WMA, OGG, and JPEG. The price of Tiny VIZO is only $184.