Matching hometown rival Samsung inch-for-inch, LG is now showing a 102-inch plasma display, which the company says offers full HD resolution at 1920 x 1080, with a contrast ratio of 5000:1. Don’t expect to buy one anytime soon, though. It’s being displayed at the Korea Electronics Show, and no announcements have been made about actually making this a production model.

From: Engadget.com

The T|X looks very much like the T5, which itself harks back to the popular Palm V design from years past. It’s an attractive, slim and modern looking PDA. The T|X is matte black (with a hint of blue) and the “palm” logo and button icons are masked in white. The color is quite attractive, though it does nothing to mask the fact the casing is plastic. Simplicity is a hallmark of Palm design, so the user isn’t overwhelmed by a plethora of buttons. Up front below the LCD you’ll find four application launcher buttons which flank a roomy and responsive directional pad. As with all Palm PDAs, you can assign any application you wish to these buttons. The included flip cover fits into the left side rail and the stylus slides into the right side of the PDA. The SD slot, power button, 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and IR window are located on the top edge. The single mono speaker’s grill is located on the back. The sync and charge connectors are located on the bottom edge of the T|X and each plugs into the device individually.

More on mobiletechreview.com
Another excellent review and pictures from Palminfocenter.com here

Submitted by eugenia on Sun, 2005-07-10 08:12.

I am a known PDA/gadget junkie and having used devices with WinCE PPC2002/2003/SE and PalmOS 3.5/4/5 for years, I thought I should write a comparison article between PocketPCs and Palm/Clies (there’s no comparison between PalmOS 6 & Windows Mobile 5 as these are not available on real commercial devices yet).

Let’s start first with Windows Mobile and PocketPCs:

Advantages:
1. It has some form of protected memory and so when applications crash the OS stays alive (well, most of the time).
2. OS looks better, more modern, than PalmOS. Support for Clear Type.
3. It has good support for the Exchange server that most businesses care about.
4. Internet Explorer and Outlook are more robust than WebPro, Mail and Blazer.
5. More input options than PalmOS (e.g. transcriber, speech addon from MS).
6. “Today” default screen more relevant than “Applications” (because of the very nature of PDAs in the business world).
7. WMA/WMV and ASF built-in support.
8. Automatic support for USB host connector, when available.
9. Runs on faster XScale hardware than PalmOS usually.
10. DirectX/3D support, more multimedia capable.
11. Apps use the full 320×240 resolution (instead of the 160×160 that most PalmOS apps use and double-pixel at 320×320).
12. Able to run more complex games, some 3D games too.
11. Better office format compliancy, MS Office is usually bundled with the PDA.
12. ActiveSync rocks, it allows for direct internet connection and can mount the PDA to your desktop (PalmOS’ drive mode is a hack, and only available to recent models)
13. Programming APIs similar to Win32, porting is easy, development too.
14. Basic and .NET available if C/C++ is not desired.
15. Able to install/run apps from flash addon cards and built-in storage.
16. Better localization than PalmOS (e.g. support for Greek, and support by MS’ office there)
17. More PocketPC devices include a microphone for voice notes.
18. Supports resolutions up to VGA and there are already at least 5 devices shipped with it.

Disadvantages:
1. Usually more expensive than basic PalmOS devices, however prices go down
2. You need to find .cab installation files if you want to use it with a Mac or Linux. No ActiveSync for other OSes.
3. Cab files by default install in the memory, which is not desireble most of the time (freeware cabinst helps the situation a bit)
4. Drivers are not always compatible between major versions of the OS.
5. Internal file manager and image viewer are crap (Total Commander and XnView save the day).
6. Some optimizations to the UI could be done to save an extra 10-15 pixels vertically (without making it look squashing).
8. Not as efficient as PalmOS in battery life.
9. No easy way to close applications without navigating to “memory” utility (freeware vBar to the rescue).
10. No way to view the memory & battery status on any given screen (again, vBar).
11. Not possible to use more than one keyboard layout (commercial Resco Keyboard to the rescue).
12. Not compatible with Smartphone apps or older Pocket/WinCE devices.
13. Requires 7.5 MBs of RAM to start up with, PalmOS 5 can run on 2 MBs (admitedly, that’s nothing in front of the 16+ MBs Linux requires with Qtopia).

And now, PalmOS’ turn:

Advantages:
1. Designed from the ground up to be used with one hand.
2. More apps than PPC (~30,000 over ~20,000)
3. Better Mac & Linux compatibility and support.
4. Battery, bluetooth and other information easily viewable through the status bar.
5. More versalite when it comes to network connections
6. Smaller, lighter devices than PPCs.
7. Compatible with very old PalmOS apps, as far as back to 1998.
8. Much faster than PocketPC, it runs well on slower hardware.
9. Doesn’t need much memory.
10. When Palm uses the standard resolutions your input is outside the window area, so you can enter data easier, without taking over the active window.
11. Palm devices are usually more stylish than PocketPCs.
12. Great battery life.
13. Real Player support on some models.
14. 4 GB of storage for the Lifedrive model.

Disadvantages:
1. OS crashes too easily, too often, when apps are crashing.
2. Most apps run at 160×160, even if the screen is capable of 320×320 or more (they double-pixel).
3. Palm’s sync software sucks, doesn’t share internet and can’t mount the PDA automatically (requires “drive mode”). And it’s unessarily complex and confusing.
4. If you have more than 1 Palm, especially a mix between Clies and Palm devices, it can be a nightmare because of the drivers needed for each device (PocketPCs use the same driver, regardless the manufacturer).
5. PalmOS doesn’t let you install applications on built-in storage or flash cards, at least not without third party, nasty, hacks. Only data can be installed on flash cards.
6. The Clie & Palm modifications to the OS has left many third party apps not working with all devices.
7. No OpenGL or other accelerated 3D support built-in in the OS (Zodiac’s is a home-brewed solution).
8. No compact flash to be found on most Palm devices. This means, considerably less accessory support (e.g. cameras, radios, ethernet, modem, wifi, gps etc).
9. Hey PalmOS, the mid-90s called, they want their UI and fonts back.
10. Doesn’t use memory as efficiently as PPC does.
11. No VoIP support from third parties. Usually Skype or Stanaphone require 300 Mhz and a microphone and only few PalmOS devices feature these.
12. Driver API is problematic. Even PalmOne’s WiFi card doesn’t support all of their own PalmOS 5 devices.
13. Its C API is archaic.

Conclusion:

If you are after gaming, multimedia, good WiFi+Bluetooth support, a lot of accessories and versatility, go with Pocket PC.
If you are after small and stylish devices with good battery life, simple interface and simple PIM apps, go with PalmOS.
There is room for both, however most modern or tech-oriented new PDA users are more likely to opt for PocketPC instead. In fact, PocketPC’s market share *growth* is bigger than Palm’s the last few years, but Palm is still ahead in overall market share. This is changing rapidly though, especially with the many PocketPC phones that are scheduled to be shipped later this year.

From: Tuxtops.com

Custom Installation has just jumped the shark (or as we like to say now in honor of TomKat, jumped the couch) with Polk Audio’s new LCi-UP Ultra High-Performance In-Wall/In-Ceiling Louspeakers (yes, that’s the complete official name for them). Made for IP networked systems, Polk promises the speakers will still sound groovy with analog systems as well. Includes integrated digital amplifiers, built-in Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and a supplied Room Correction Software program, which Integrators can play with via a front panel USB connection and PC (or through the NetStreams network) to optimize each speaker for room location and speaker configuration.

More details here.

From: Gizmodo.com

Samsung Electronics on Sunday unveiled a 15.9 mm thin slim slide phone that fits into a shirt pocket without dragging it down to the waist. The SPH-V8400 boasts a “flying mode” function, automatically turning itself off on board airplanes. It features nearly all cutting-edge technologies, including MP3 player, 1.3-megapixel digital camera, electronic dictionary, USB disk, file viewer, and voice dialing and photo editing functions. Samsung will showcase the phone at the 2005 Korea Electronics Show that starts Tuesday.

From: Chosun via gizmodo.com

For today’s busy have-it-all, multi-tasker on the go, this EZ Digital Dog trainer eliminates the need to actually share a moment of warmth and connection with your dog. This baby digitally records up to eight different commands that can be conveniently rebroadcast on a high frequency wavelength, inaudible to the human ear, but bristling with a never-changing authority for your increasingly lonely pet. One of the device’s chief attributes appears that you’ll no longer have to annoy your neighbors with wild, insane dog banter.

More info: NewLaunches.com

Via: Gizmodo.com

It happened quietly, but Canon, Konica-Minolta, Fujifilm, and Sony, have all published service advisories admitting that certain models of their digital cameras and digital camcorders are defective. Signs that this could be happening are blurry images and unnatural colors on the LCD display when the camera is in camera mode (example pictured above). This affects cameras that were released in the past two years.

Apparently the culprit are Sony CCD sensors that were packaged in epoxy, which is a lower-cost alternative to more expensive ceramic packaging. The epoxy packaging may lead to moisture and the defects don’t show up until years later due to heat and humidity. Word is that Sony will be paying for the repairs on all the cameras regardless of manufacturer — which is certainly a credit to them, but considering the sheer number of cameras this defect affects, Sony could potentially be losing a bunch of money over this.

Here’s the list of service advisories from the manufacturers:
Canon
Konica-Minolta
Fujifilm
SONY

From: Gizmodo.com