As much as we love them, our pets tend put us into hairy situations. And, I’m not talking about getting caught not scooping the poop, either. It’s a sad fact that we humans are far too content with constantly cleaning up their hair, dander, and all the other ungodly things our pets get themselves into.
We don’t have to take it anymore. iRobot’s Roomba 530/560 just got an upgrade for those pet parents who have had enough of the endless cleanup...
The 532 and 562 (dubbed the pet series) feature beefed up sweepers and large sweeper bins that hold three and a half times the fur of the previous models.
Priced $349 and $399 respectively, the pricier 562 is clearly the better bot. For a mere $50 bucks more you’re given the option of programming the vacuum to clean on a schedule that works for you. Also, instead of the three rooms you get with one full charge of the 532, you can get one more clean room out of the mechanical maid before it saunters back to it’s charging station.
The Roomba Pet series effortlessly cleans your home’s floors, giving you more time to enjoy the fun part of being a pet owner. These should arrive on our warehouse shelves very shortly.
[
iRobot]
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Thursday, September 4, 2008
iRobot Pet Proves: You Can Teach an Old Robot New Tricks
Monday, July 21, 2008
Coby makes HD Radio Affordable
Due out this August are two HD radio receivers, the HDR-700 and the HDR-650, from that value brand we’ve come to love – Coby. These latest Cobys aren’t quite the $5 headphones - stocked at your local bodega - that you’re used to picking up. These HD radios pack some serious sound in a seriously small package.
The HDR-700 is a portable cordless tabletop HD radio with an integrated rechargeable battery and splash-proof casing, making this Coby the perfect travel companion. The portable tuner/player sports an SD card slot for MP3 playback and, of course, is able to pick up crystal clear free HD broadcasts – anywhere. Price to move with you at $149.
The HDR-700’s partner in tuning is the component HD radio receiver, the HDR-650. Its brushed aluminum casing and diminutive stature allows it to easy assimilate into any stereo system. The alarm and sleep functions let you wake or rest to perfectly clear brilliant sounding audio. Sure you’ll have some ads to contend with, but what’s the alternative… paying for radio transmissions? No Thanks, I'll just pay $99 bucks for this little guy and have all the radio programming one person can handle.
Press Release
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Thursday, July 10, 2008
Garmin Says: Get Out There
Some of us fight it - but let’s face it - summertime is best spent outdoors, not mouse clicking. Garmin wants to help us get out there this summer. Their new Oregon series of handheld GPS receiver is specifically designed for some serious trekking and adventurous fun.
Designed to suit the demanding needs of outdoor, marine, and fitness enthusiasts the new Oregon series handhelds retain the rugged engineering of their predecessors, the Colorado series, while adding simplicity of use via a bright responsive touchscreen.
Maybe your buddy has some data on his Colorado or new Oregon you like to grab? Good thing these directionally enlightened devices wirelesses exchange tracks, waypoints, and geocaches between other Oregon units and Colorado models.
The new series has five distinct models to choose from –this way you only pay for the maps and info you’ll use. All model sport an SD card slot for having their mapping data updated. Model breakdown after the break…
“The Oregon 400t gives hikers preloaded U.S. topographic maps in state-of-the-art 3D elevation perspective. The Oregon 400i offers anglers shoreline details, depth contours and boat ramps for U.S. inland lakes and navigable rivers. The Oregon 400c is a saltwater specialist, providing chart coverage for the coastal U.S. and Bahamas. The Oregon 300 features a worldwide basemap with shaded relief. The Oregon 200 provides a basemap that can be easily supplemented with additional mapping or charts for your adventures on land or at sea.”
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Nikon D700 is Offically Announced!
It’s finally happened. Nikon has released us professionals and photographic enthusiasts from DX format hell with their announcement of a full frame digital SLR, the Nikon D700 - although it may be a little late.
Many photographers that couldn’t or wouldn’t lay down five grand for a Nikon D3 still desired a full frame sensor. Thus, Nikon unwittingly forced many photographers to switch, albeit reluctantly in many cases, to a Canon. Even after decades of Nikon use the Washington D.C. bureau of the Associated Press outfitted their staff photographers on Capital Hill with Canon gear a few years back.
The Nikon D700 is still a bit pricey for your average shooter, at $2995, but what you get for all that scratch is a supped up, rugged, speed demon with a taste for action.Making the case for Nikon
For starters, the Nikon D700 rips off 5 frames per second (up to 8 fps with the battery pack grip), has a measly shutter-lag of 0.4 milliseconds, a blazing start up time of .12 seconds, and a give me more card write speed of 35MB a second.
Improved noise reduction and a wider dynamic range coupled with an ISO range that can be stretched from it's native 200-6400 ISO sensitivity to an ISO range of 100- 25,600 means that whether you're shooting in intense light or low light, you'll cope with ease when you pack the D700.
Believe it or not, there are those of us that contract a case of “butterfingers” every now and again. Luckily for us, Nikons in the D700’s range don’t seem to mind the occasional tumble; in fact, their ruggedness is legendary among photojournalist.
Did I mention action... Nikons have the superior auto focus system, the 51 AF points, 3D tracking (to lock on to moving subjects), and 46 sensors the photographer can activate (which define a focus area) will make sure - whatever it is that your aspiring to capture, it will be in focus.
Freeing us from the viewfinder is Nikon Live View, which allows photographers to compose the subject on the LCD, something even point and shoots have always done. Sony Alpha A350 was the first DSLR with this feature. Another first, for Nikon at least, is the D700's self-cleaning sensor.
With a little extra software you can control the camera functions remotely via PC, but as for composing a shot from New York that is being photographed in Beijing, you're gonna need all little more than just software. Some assistants and superior communication skills wouldn't hurt.
these should be ready to ship at the end of the month.
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Thursday, May 8, 2008
Clarion MAP780 using iGO My Way 8
Clarion's two newest Personal Navigation Devices the MAP680 & MAP780, from Clarion's German site, reverberated through the vascular system that is the blog-o-sphere by way of Navigadget on Tuesday.
These impressive GPS units, that were announced in April and include iGO 3D mapping software, have also made their there way to Youtube. Showing the device in action, the video demonstrates a no-joke navigator with mad 3D rendering skills provided by iGO's My Way 8 software, a 3D map rendering application designed for portables.
This upgrade gives you access to so much terrain/building mapping data you may never have to look at the road again. Well, there's still that bit concerning other cars and people getting in your way. Although, these units will have you wanting to keep them in front of you.
Clarion has included all the functionality you'd expect from a high-end PND, but they also added some you might not.
These knowledgeable navi's boast SMS (texting) capabilities, and can connect to a streaming audio service. The differences in the units are mainly disc space and what maps are loaded on those flash memories.
The Clarion MAP680 includes regional map information only, the region in this case is Germany so that includes four countries on it's 1GB internal storage. The MAP680's partner in 3D map rendering touts quite a bit more mapping data, 43 European countries are stored on it's 2GB Memory. Both devices can be expanded and accept SD cards.
No word on when Clarion will grace us with an American version of these mapping moguls but the software is available, a manufacturer just needs to bring it to market in the US.
Panasonic Strada CN-GP50U Portable Navigator w/ 5" Screen
Pioneer AVIC-S2 Portable Smart GPS Navigation with 3.5" Touch Display
Uniden GPS402 Portable In-Vehicle Navigation System features: 4" EZ Touch display
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
HTC's 'Dream' is the First Phone Slated to Run Android
Since November, HTC has reportedly been working on a phone that would run Google’s new platform Android.
The video below is a BBC report on Google’s platform. The demonstration was preformed on an unknown phone; that is, unknown until this morning when the news broke that HTC, a Google partner in the Android project, supplied the prototype for the report.
It’s called ‘Dream’, and HTC provides the capable candybar phone a full keyboard underneath the large touch screen panel (no multi-touch though), better than average processor speed (300Mhz), Google Map’s Street View, and a 3D processor for 30 fps gaming, all residing in a slightly robust 5 inches by 3 inches case.
‘Dream’ is set to ship around Black Friday; HTC will have good company with most of Google’s other partners planning similar launches around Turkey Day as well.
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