Epson has recently announced the release of their newest home theater projector the EH-TW4000. This model comes from the company’s Dreamio line that can only be found in Japan. The TW4000 features 1600 ANSI lumens, full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution, and an impressive 75000:1 contrast ratio. The exceptionally high contrast ratio is paired with Epson’s DeepBlack Technology that has been improved significantly for this projector. The TW4000 will not only present dark black levels and clear whites, but it will also give three dimensional images a greater sense of depth. In addition, the TW4000 comes with a variety of input connections, including two HDMI ports, an s-video, RCA, component, and a RGB connection. The projector weighs only 16.5 lbs, which makes it portable for family trips and light enough for easy mounting. The TW4000 is expected to retail for about $3700, but unfortunately there is no information as whether or not this projector will be released globally.

[via Crunch Gear]

Deal spotting:

I just tried it and the code works. As for Restaurant.com, we’ll have to see. The  Arlington, Ill., company has a strange business model. It sells discount coupons to local eateries. Restrictions vary based on the restaurant.

Example, at Cask ‘n’ Cleaver in Orange, you would pay $10 for a $20 coupon off $35 purchase. Restrictions are the coupon can only be used Sunday to Thursday and dine-in only. Alcohol and beverage are extra. Also, for all restaurants, you’re supposed to use a coupon only once a month per restaurant. I bought one for Cask ‘n’ Cleaver, and paid $2. (My co-worker, Fast Food Maven, wrote about the site last year.)

While I’d often perused Restaurant.com for information — they offer menus to many restaurants — I never bothered to buy a coupon. It just felt odd to pay for a coupon. But the FatWallet deal did me in. I got a $100 coupon for a local steakhouse for $8 (instead of $40). Now, hopefully I’ll bother to go to see if it really works out.

For those wondering, the issues with the company vary. In FatWallet’s forums, comments mention the unreliability of the site when trying to order and that restaurant owners don’t get a cut of the money (!!).  Over at XPBargains, commenters remind users to read the fine print. But for the most part, people do say Restaurant.com works. I’ll post an udpate after I’ve actually experienced the whole process.

I know this isn’t a typical Gadgetress post, but in keeping with the Alt+Save theme, plus it’s an online site, I figured, why not share the bargain with readers?

More on deals:

• Whoa! Another reason buy electronics at Costco
• My own list of free tech stuff online
• T-Mobile offering free airline tickets
• When AT&T, Guitar Hero and O.C. mix
• AT&T adds McDonald’s to its Wi-Fi hotspot arsenal
• Contest alert: Canon looking for pop stars. Know any?
• RadioShack offers gift cards for your old electronics
• Free Wi-Fi for iPhone users is back, really!

Post from: Alt+Save with the Gadgetress

Eat cheaper: Sale on Restaurant.com vouchers

Jerome Arnaud, CEO of Doro, explained, “Many senior citizens still believe that mobile phones are difficult to use with complicated functions and therefore are reluctant to buy new ones. In contrast to other mobile phones on the market, we carefully design our phones according to the needs of active seniors and combine ergonomic demands with functions and simplicity. Baby boomers and active seniors don’t have to adapt their lives to our technology; we’ve already adapted it to their needs.”

HandleEasy 330gsm 

“Finally, a phone that is intuitive to use and uncomplicated,” declared John Donnelly, a 65-year-old business management consultant based in New York and a Doro HandleEasy 330gsm user. “I turned on the HandleEasy 330 and began using it immediately without having to read through the manual. From the first minute I turned-on the Doro phone, I could easily navigate through the large, brightly colored screen, look through my phone book without reading glasses, check voicemails, and I especially like the cool, sleek design. It’s much nicer looking, lighter, and easier to use than the three-year-old phone I was carrying around.”

Eighty-two-year-old Manuel Machado – who lives in Modesto, Calif., travels extensively in retirement, and has limited vision from a medical condition, macular degeneration – said of the Doro HandleEasy 326i gsm, “This is a phone I can actually use! I can read the screen, see the directory, and easily make calls. This is the first phone I’ve had in several years that I will use more frequently.” Dr. Steven A. Machado of Los Angeles, Manuel’s son, explains, “Macular degeneration can be especially frustrating for patients like my father because it puts a blank spot in the center of their field of vision, making it nearly impossible to see details right in front of them, like when dialing a phone. So, this phone from Doro is a godsend for Dad.”

HandleEasy 326igsm 

A fixture in most every household in Sweden for 35 years, Doro is well known for innovatively incorporating the latest technologies while maintaining simplicity of design and functionality. Consumers in over 30 countries already enjoy the inclusive designs and easy functionality of Doro’s phones. Doro HandleEasy 330 and 326i are the company’s first products available in the U.S.

Doro HandleEasy phones are currently available at all Centennial Wireless retail stores in six states (www.centennialwireless.com). “We are thrilled to offer Centennial customers Doro mobile phones designed especially for baby boomers and active seniors,” said Philip Mayberry, President of Centennial Wireless. “Doro’s long history of design innovation in Sweden is legendary in the telecommunications industry and now Doro’s user-friendly phones are popular all across Europe. Centennial is proud to be the first place in America that Doro phones are available.”

Doro’s U.S. Representative, Christopher Lundstrom, further explained, “Doro’s goal is to make its products available through a national delivery model in the months ahead, we want everyone to have the opportunity to enjoy Doro products. We are very pleased and fortunate to have Centennial Wireless offering our products in the U.S. market, Centennial created an excellent custom rate plan for the HandleEasy 330. This is a very attractive offering for both baby boomers and seniors alike, a tailored rate plan is key for this demographic and the overall customer experience.”

The iPhone experienced particularly explosive growth across AdMob’s network following the launch of the company’s unique ad units for iPhone sites and applications in July 2008. At the moment, there are more than 400 applications and sites in the AdMob’s iPhone Network. During the month of October, AdMob reached more than four million unique iPhones, or about 30% of the devices in the market.

Other highlights from the October 2008 report:

• 17% of iPhone requests came from Western Europe and 8% from Asia. Top markets worldwide include the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Switzerland.
• In the US the iPhone is the #2 device behind the Motorola RAZR and in the UK it is the #3 device, behind the Nokia N95 and Sony Ericsson K800i.
• Traffic from Latin America and the Caribbean doubled in the past 12 months to 109 million requests in October 2008. The fastest growing countries in the region include Puerto Rico, Guyana, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Mexico.
• Motorola, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson all have more than 20% market share in Latin America and are leaders in different markets. The Motorola RAZR is the top device in the market, followed by the iPhone.
• Worldwide requests grew 13.8% month over month to 5.8 billion. US requests grew 7.9% to 2.2 billion and UK requests grew 16%.
• Sony Ericsson passed Motorola to become the #2 handset manufacturer worldwide. Apple jumped ahead of LG and RIM to become the #5 handset manufacturer worldwide.
• The top 10 devices worldwide, in order, are the Apple iPhone, Motorola RAZR V3, Nokia N70, Motorola KRZR K1c, Motorola W385, Nokia 6300, Nokia 3110c, Nokia N73, Motorola Z6m, and RIM BlackBerry 8300.

The full October 2008 report with additional details is available from here.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• AdMob September 2008 Metrics report is out; Moto RAZR still the leading device for the mobile web access
• AdMob: Africa’s mobile web traffic increased 21% from Q1 to Q2 2008
• AdMob June metrics highlight rapid mobile web growth
• Symbian smartphones shipments reach 51.7m in 2006
• Nokia Tops in 2006 Smartphone Sales

Reinventing the most exclusive form of mobile sophistication and style, the latest version of the Prada Phone by LG magnifies the heritage of the predecessor with exclusive Prada elements including ring tones, wallpapers, and video clips that are carefully selected for users to fully experience the handset inside and out. Each of these unique contents displays Prada’s extraordinary artwork dedicated to the company’s visionary design philosophy.

For the second time in 10 years our cabin in the Pennsylvania mountains was struck by lightning. And for the second time in 10 years walls had to be opened and the house rewired before it could be usable once again.  Not fun at all. (And that is WITH a lightning box installed!)

This time, unfortunately, it wasn’t just the wiring that suffered. The casualties were numerous.
The stove has cooked its last omelet.  The dishwasher has seen its last dirty dish.The washer and dryer have seen their last load of laundry.  In all, the damage was both extensive and expensive.

The one bit of good news in all of this is that I had the smarts to put a heavy duty power surge strip in the media cabinet and, as a result, the TV, stereo, and a WiFi router survived.

A few weeks ago Tributaries sent me two of their power strips to review. My mountain-top experience has made me truly appreciate these unsexy devices and I am impressed by the company’s ability to take such a boring item and come up with a significant innovation. So many of today’s electronics have such massive adapters that they often block a significant portion of the available plugs on any given power strip. What good is a ten outlet strip if only 6 of them are actually usable?

… [visit site to read more]