The Good: It has Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, if that's your thing.

The Bad: All the rest. Slow and buggy. The stuttering interface is particularly bad. The side bar widgets that need to be dragged and dropped onto the screen—to make them appear as tiny little programs—is atrocious. Samsung designers should learn that your telephone is not a desktop computer, and copying the Mac OS X Dashboard doesn't work in a tiny screen at all.

Bottom line: After 45 minutes poking and getting frustrated by it, my verdict is to avoid it like the pest. As a consumer, my first impression is clearly one of horror and frustration.

The MFC-5890CN expands the line-up initially introduced by the MFC-6490CW, which was the first and flagship model launched in the Brother “Professional Series.” The MFC-5890CN’s ability to produce up to 11-by-17-inch ledger size documents can significantly increase the visual impact of everyday documents. The larger size allows for more content on the page and helps increase readability. Impressively, this unit offers the ledger printing feature and still boasts a small footprint when compared to similar, more expensive products. It also comes standard with Ethernet networking, fast print speeds and a flip-up, 3.3-inch, color LCD display.

Another addition to the Brother “Professional Series” color inkjet all-in-one line is the MFC-5490CN, which offers many of the same features as the MFC-5890CN such as fast print speeds, direct photo printing from a camera’s media card and an easy-to-read, two-line LCD display. The MFC-5490CN prints up to legal (8.5-by-14-inch) paper size but not ledger (11-by-17-inch) like the MFC-5890CN.

If you want to lay your hands on either of these puppies, the MFC-5890CN and MFC-5490CN will retail for $199.99 and $129.99, respectively.

Press Release
[ Brother introduces a couple more printers copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

With the decreasing prices of projectors these days more people in the DIY community are abandoning their hand made projectors for something a little more professional. Those few who have stayed the path have decided to not just build their own projectors but also build their own 3D theaters. One person decided to base their construction off of the rig that is used to record 3D images. First you build a box. Then you mount an LCD display in the back and on the ceiling of the box. You also install a glass pain that is angled at a 45 degree angle. This pain of glass will be the screen. To make it run all you need to do is connect the monitors to one or two computers and have them play the same movie at the same time. The only draw back is that you have to use polarized glasses in order to get the 3D effect but I’m sure there is a DIY guide for that as well.

[via Wired]

Scheduled to be release in September, Canons new dual flash memory camcorder has a 32GB internal memory that allows you to record 12 hours of high defintion video before you even have to put in the SDHC card. Video that is shot on the flash drive can be transferred to the memory card which can then go into your computer.

This camcorder records at up to 24Mbps which is the highest rate available for the AVCHD format. A
powerful 12x zoom lens comes with the VIXIA HF11. A tele converter lens is available to get very close
on the far away shots. A wide converter lens is also available giving you many options for video
shots.

The VIXIA HF11 is very sleek and lightweight. Your action video shots will look great with the
SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization. The 24p Cinema Mode will give you that professional look and
feel.

Framing and shooting the video is easy with the 2.7 inch Multi-Angle Widescreen LCD. The display
from the LCD is very bright and the colors are very vivid.

Berlin, Germany, August 29, 2008 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a
global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies,
today unveiled a new technology designed to produce clearer images
that make it most suitable for game and video playing. It also
unveiled two new monitors equipped with the technology.

The technology called "Enhanced MPA" has been developed to reduce
ghosting effects, which are seen as weak points of LCD monitors. Based
on the existing Motion Picture Accelerator (MPA), this new technology
opens a new chapter in improving the image quality of LCD monitors.

Thanks to the technology, the Motion Picture Response Time (MPRT) of
the two monitors (SyncMaster 2233HZ, SyncMaster 2243HZ) has been
reduced from 27 ms to 9 ms, making them most suitable for game and
video playing.

Yongjin Park, Vice President of Samsung Visual Display Division said,
Samsung hopes to show its outstanding technological capability via
innovative products equipped with enhanced MPA technology.

"I believe that the new products and technology will boost Samsung
monitors' status as a technology and design leader," Mr. Park added.

In addition, the two monitors support a high resolution of 1680*1050
and a dynamic contrast ratio of 30,000:1. Also, their designs match
with both B2B and B2C market demands, allowing consumers to choose
their desired design depending on user environment.

Samsung believes these new monitors will satisfy high-end users such
as professional gamers as well as general users who want to enjoy
multimedia contents to its full extent.

In particular, the company will expand its share in the B2B LCD
monitor market with these products by introducing them to those areas
where CRT monitors are still in use because of ghosting effects, such
as airport security.

Specifications

Model
2233HZ
2243HZ

Panel
Viewable area
22" wide

Brightness
300cd

Response Time (ms)(typ.)
5ms

Maximum Resolution
1680x1050

Color Supported
16.7M

Input Connectors
D-sub/DVD-D

USB powered hub option

1Up, 2Down (2233HZ)
1Up, 4Down (2243HZ)

Special Features
2233HZ
Enhanced MPA on/off
MagicBright3,Off timer, Image Size Color Effect, Customized key,
MagicWizard & MagicTune with Asset Management, Windows Vista Premium,
DVI with HDCP, Safe Mode (DownScaling in UXGA)

2243HZ
Enhanced MPA on/off
MagicBright3,Off timer, Image Size Color Effect, Customized key,
MagicWizard & MagicTune with Asset Management, Windows Vista Premium,
DVI with HDCP, MagicRotation S/W(Pivot), Safe Mode (DownScaling in
UXGA)

* Specifications are subject to change without notice

DataViz has recently released Documents To Go Premium Edition 3.0 for devices running Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.x Professional and 5.0 for Pocket PC Phone Edition.

Already available for Windows Mobile Standard, BlackBerry, Symbian and Palm OS, Documents To Go will now allow users of Windows Mobile Pocket PC devices to “view, edit and create Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files as well as view PDF files on their devices and in their native formats.” I could only add I don’t see that many people paying an additional $29.99 to go beyond the built-in Microsoft Office Mobile.

Documents To Go features include support for password protected Word and Excel files, InTact Technology for retaining 100% file formatting when editing files on the device, the ability to view, edit and create Excel charts and decompress, zip and send e-mail attachments.

At the moment application only works on devices with QVGA screens, but Dataviz vowed to release the version for the HTC Touch Pro and HTC Touch Diamond — both of which sport a VGA touchscreen — in the “next several weeks.”

---
Related Articles at IntoMobile:

• Documents To Go Premium Edition 3.0 for Windows Mobile device released; Adds MS Office 2007 support
• DataViz announces Documents To Go for BlackBerry; Joins UIQ Alliance Partner Program
• New version of Documents To Go for Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone or 6 Standard devices fully supports MS Office 2007 files
• Documents To Go Premium Edition 4.0 for UIQ 3.x coming in December; Brings support for Office 2007 files
• Documents To Go 10.002 for Palm OS devices now available

Internet radio — remember that? It's still around, and after years of being an also-ran in the digital-media arena, it's recently started to offer some services worth listening to and could, God willing, completely reinvigorate the music industry. That is, unless the music industry has its way. Not content to just kill Internet radio, it's also committing professional suicide. Internet radio is poised to pump new blood into the music biz, but instead that biz decided to slice open its own jugular. Nice move.

Pandora, one of the current crop of Internet radio providers, might be the first casualty. SoundExchange, a division of the RIAA, has set up a royalty-fee system so outrageous that it's threatening to shut down Pandora. In fact, the founder of Pandora, Tim Westergren, says he might pull the plug. Keep reading to see what all the bloodshed is about.

• BlackBerry's latest, the 9530 Storm will come with a preinstalled SIM card, a micro-SD card but no WiFi.—Engadget
• Professional gamer Ken Hoang gets cast as one of the participants on the latest season of Survivor. Now that is going to be entertaining! — Kotaku
• This is total hotness! HotelChatter is providing lists of hotels that include iMacs and so far in the US, the Fountainebleau resort in Las Vegas will be adding iMacs to all of its 3,889 rooms! — Wired
• Samsung has just unveiled four new chic digital photo frame designs. — CNET
• Yesterday, AT&T rolled out new international data plans for iPhone customers! — USA Today



]]> Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:21:32 +0000 international data plans imacs include imacs total hotness iphone customers sim card blackberry storm fountainebleau resort Daily Tech: BlackBerry's 9530 Storm Coming to Verizon http://mobileratty.com/article/26fb5d40d16aa6efc5a637e9008b9473 http://mobileratty.com/article/26fb5d40d16aa6efc5a637e9008b9473 Not able to let cyclists and sprinters have all the performance-enhancing fun, pro gamers are apparently equally avid dopers, according to an interview Game Player Australia has with Alex Walker, the director of an upcoming World Cyber Games tournament. They stick him the hard question—what is the WCG doing to combat the growing problem of pro gamers gaining advantage by popping some uppers or hitting the bong prior to fragging? His answer: Um, what?

Says Alex:

Gamers can take all the drugs they like, as long as it's not happening in the actual tournament area. Nobody has the budget to bring in any form of anti-doping agency, let alone keep it afloat or professional enough to adhere to standards that would make it reliable. The scene isn't big enough or stable enough for any world agency to enforce it right now, let alone stop gamers from taking drugs.

And on the eternal question—do you play better on booze, weed, or uppers?

I noticed that you made a mention about people claiming they were better after having a bong or two. That's true. I've seen a number of players at national tournaments who came in "baked" (that's stoned for the uninformed) purely so they could play better. In most cases they did, although obviously they couldn't just pull out another joint midway through.

In one WCG, a player I knew took amphetamines an hour before his match to boost his reflexes. His team ended up losing the match, although it certainly had an impact - his performance helped his team to win one map out of three - it kind of hits home that only the really talented will come out on top in the end.

Players have been ejected from venues for drunk and disorderly conduct – I know one tournament overseas where a player was denied permission to go to the toilet, so in his drunken state he decided to urinate in a plastic bottle instead which got him ejected after he placed the bottle on a table in front of the admins

Man, pro gamers—what a party-down bunch! For anyone raised gaming in the hallowed halls of our nation's collegiate dorm rooms, this is surely ringing some bells. Good to know that if you unexpectedly rise through to the ranks to professional gamer status, you won't have to worry about getting narc-ed. [Game Player via Slashdot]







]]> Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:30:00 +0000 pro gamers gamers game player professional gamer status professional player alex walker bong prior stop gamers Pro Gamers Are Doping Too [Shocking]