scattered technology news

Sullr - Phone Number Lookup - Friday, August 31, 2007

Have you ever gotten a call and don’t recognize the number? Well with Sullr, getting information on that number couldn’t have been easier. Just enter the area code plus the 7-digit number and the caller’s name or business along with an address and map will be instantly provided. Free reverse phone number lookup services, such as this one, do already exist, however none are clean, Web 2.0 powered, and ajaxified like Sullr. In addition Sullr’s works from just about any mobile phone, just visit ‘wap.sullr.com‘ and get the same results.

At this time Sullr’s beta Web 2.0 service only works in Argentina, Belgium, France, Italy and the USA but they are working to add support for more countries. Just bookmark it and it’s sure come in handy!

Update: Spain and Luxembourg have just been added!

Links: Sullr.com
Related: Do Not Call

Tendon Cables (Review) - Thursday, August 30, 2007

Having stared at all of the displays for what seems like an eternity, trying to determine which one has the best image quality, you think you’ve finally make up your mind and walk over to a store representative. You tell him you came in looking for a new Hi-Def TV, and that you’ve made up your mind; you want that brand new 55″ Plasma from Samsung next to the Sony. Upon hearing this, the representative musters the most horribly insincere smile you’ve ever seen, as he tries to decide how gullible you are. A second later, he turns, walks a few feet and stares at the rack in front of him.

“Sir, if you want the best out of your expensive new TV, I recommend that get these cables,” he says, holding up a $150 HDMI cable from Monster.

“And of course, you’ll also need a few of those if you want to get the best image quality out of your DVD player, sir” he continues, pointing at a set of $90 component cables, also from Monster.

At this point, the representative should be talking to himself, while you’re a few aisles down looking at the far better value. A quality alternative which gives the same bang for less bucks is Tendon cables.

Tendon Cables
Tendon offers practically every cable imaginable: everything from computer cables to home theater cables. Every cable is made from high-grade materials and is manufactured in full compliance with the latest standards. On top of that, each cable is individually tested, and comes with a life-time warranty to assure customers that they are paying for a quality product that the company stands behind. Now, if you’d only read this paragraphs, you might be tempted to think that these cables come from the same price league as Monster’s cables. Fortunately, they’re not, and that’s what makes these appealing. Read More

Jabra BT5020 (Review) - Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Jabra BT5020 is arguably one of the best headsets on the market, offering a powerful set of features and remaining at a low price. Other than it’s ability to connect to two devices at once, the headset also boasts a whooping 10 hours of talk time and 300 hours of standby.

Jabra BT5020 Specifications:

• Wireless: Bluetooth v2.0 hands-free
• Battery Life: 10hrs talk | 300hrs idle
• Weight: 0.6 oz (16 g)
• Multi-Point: 2 devices max
• Notifications: LED / vibrate
• Charger: AC Adapter or USB Cable

Just like any other headset, the BT5020 is easy to control as it only has a few buttons: Volume Up/Down, Power, and Talk/End. The volume keys are a bit sticky and difficult to press while wearing, but shouldn’t be an issue once setup properly. With one simple twist, the headset can be adjusted to be worn on the left or right ear. Since the earbud slides up and down, the headset fits most people. Once placed over the ear properly, the headset stays in place quite well. When compared to other wireless headsets on the market, the BT5020 remains comfortable to wear even for extended periods since it’s extremely thin and light weight. Also since unit resides behind the ear, it isn’t too apparent.

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Sony Cyber-Shot T200 & T70 - Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Sony has launched yet another two portable Cyber-Shot cameras, just about 5 months after launching their 2007 lineup. This year’s goal for Sony seems to be placing the largest and brightest LCD display humanly possible. Both models include the new features that were implemented into their lineup earlier this including: face tracking and output to 1080p HDTV sets.

The DSC-T200 features a 8-megapixel camera, 3.5-inch LCD touch screen, and a 5x optical zoom, while the cheaper DSC-T70 sports a 8-megapixel camera, 3-inch LCD touch screen, and a 3x optical zoom. (T200 will be available in silver/black/red and the T70 in silver/black/white/pink) The set-up procedure and all options/settings are performed through the new touch screen. Other than the power and playback button, the only hard-keys remaining are the capture button and the zoom controls. Although it may seem neat to have such a large touch screen, it will for sure be very difficult to maintain as the display begins to collect dust and fingerprints.

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Blu-ray Outsells HD DVD Movies - Sunday, August 19, 2007

Last week, Home Media Research released a study revealing that Blu-ray had just outsold its competitor, HD DVD, by 2-to-1 for the first half of 2007. To be specific, HD DVD movie sales only reached about 795,000, while Blu-ray reached 1.6 million. To be even more specific the popular Spartan epic, ‘300′, which became the fastest selling High-Def movie, sold 190,000 Blu-ray discs and 97,000 HD DVDs (approx 2-to-1 again). Even the popular movie rental service, Blockbuster Video, which began offering rentals of both formats in late 2006, announced in June 2007 that they have decided to drop HD DVD and stock Blu-ray in all stores.

Although it may seem as though Blu-ray now has the upper hand, HD DVD is still in the game. While Blu-ray has the support of many large corporations, including HP, Dell, and Apple, HD DVD has secured more deals with major movie studios. If HD DVD continues to grab exclusive content from Universal, Rouge, Paramount, DreamWorks, and Warner Bros through the Christmas season, they might just be able to take down Blu-ray for the 2nd-half of 2007. Despite this, as of this week, there are 322 Blu-ray titles while HD DVD just falls a bit short, with 273 movies. Read More

Pre-Order Sony PSP 2000 - Saturday, August 18, 2007

This September, about two and a half years after the launch of the PlayStation Portable in the United States, Sony will finally release an improved model. The new model, PSP-2000, is not the second generation of the PSP, but is rather an enhanced version of the current unit. One of the most useful features in the new model is the ability to output photos, movies, and games onto a television screen at standard definition resolution (480p) with a set of AV cables. Next, to solve the unit’s bulkiness, Sony slimmed down the PSP-2000 by about 20% and made it 30% lighter. Although the unit is still way bigger than a iPod Video or iPhone, it’s a good improvement.

On the technical side, the internal RAM has doubled from 32 to 64MB requiring less loading cycles. Although the new CPU requires less power and UMD reading time has been reduced, the battery life remains the same since a smaller battery had to be used to fit into the slimmer unit. Some rumors indicate a possible brighter LED backlit screen, which could drastically improve battery life, however no official statement has been issued. Also as a bonus the new PSP can now be charged using a USB cable, though it will take 5 hours instead of 2.5 with a AC adapter. The WiFi switch and speakers have been repositioned for easier access and the IR has been removed because it was never used. One thing we didn’t like was that the UMD now literally “falls” into a slanted tray instead of using the loading mechanism which used to take in and pop out the disk.

The PSP 2000 “core package” will retail at $169 and will include only the console (black), a battery, and an AC charger. (Original PSP cost at $250 at launch.) In addition a Ice Silver PSP bundled with Daxter, a 1GB card, and a UMD movie will be available for $199 on the same day (September 10th). Retailers such as Amazon are already taking pre-orders for the PSP-2000 at no extra cost. Also in the situation that Sony drops the price before or within 30 days after launch, Amazon will refund the price difference!

Pre-Order: PSP Slim for $169 (NO TAX + FREE Shipping)
More: Ice Silver Bundle | Ceramic White StarWars Bundle

Apple: New iMacs & iLife 2008 - Tuesday, August 7, 2007

This morning, Apple rolled out a a bunch of products during their press conference at their headquarters in Cupertino, CA. These new items included newly designed iMac and iWork/iLife 2008.

The New Apple iMac:
Apple’s sleeker and aluminum-enclosed iMac now sports Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo Extreme Processors, which support running up to speeds of 2.8GHz. The machine is a powerhouse as it has room for up to 4GB of RAM and 1 Terabyte (TB) of internal storage! With a fast processor, enough RAM, and storage space, the 265MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO makes the iMac perfect for video editing. In addition the iMac now comes standard with a built-in iSight, Bluetooth 2.0, 8x Dual Layer DVD/CD Burner, AirPort 802.11n (+ a/b/g), Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 400 & 800 ports, 3 USB ports, Stereo Speakers and a Microphone. Although Mac OS X Leopard won’t be available until this October, it will still be able to run both iLife and iWork 2008. The new iMac is available with a 20-inch or a 24-inch display. Pricing for the 20-inch starts at $1,199 while the 24-inch begins at a whopping $1,799.

The iMac can also become truly cable-free if you spend an extra $50 to replace the wired mouse and keyboard with Apple’s Mighty Mouse and new Wireless Keyboard, which connect to the computer’s internal Bluetooth receiver. In addition the ultra-thin aluminum keyboard includes special function keys such as brightness/volume control, disk eject, iTunes play/pause, Exposé, and more! Read More

Warhawk: $39 on 8/28 (PS3) - Monday, August 6, 2007

The long awaited mass-multiplayer game, Warhawk, is finally ready for launch! The game, which is a remake of game on the PlayStation One, now supports battling on foot as well as in jeeps, tanks, and planes. Players connected to the PlayStation Network can create and join arenas with up to 32 others. Warhawk will also truly utilize the PS3’s SIXAXIS motion sensors to perform tasks such as maneuvering aircrafts. Unfortunately this will not be one of of those “Full 1080 HD” games we’ve been waiting for since it will be rendered in 720p like most games on the market.

Anyways as stated in the title the game will be available at the end of this month, August 28th. Sony also stated in there most recent press release that the game would be available online from PSN and in retail stores. The downloadable version will cost only $39 while the boxed retail edition will be priced at $59 since it includes developer interviews, original sketches, trailers, and videos. In addition to the extra digital content the in store edition will include a “free” Jabra BT 125 Bluetooth headset, which normally retails for about $25 - $35, to promote voice chatting.

Pre-Order: Warhawk w/ Headset $59 (FREE SHIPPING)
Links: Warhawk Official Site | PlayStation Blog

August 07 PS3/Wii/360 Games - Sunday, August 5, 2007

It looks like August will be a great month for games, even though game manufacturers are pushing most release dates towards the holiday season. August will be home to the Nintendo Wii’s most highly anticipated game, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The PlayStation 3 will get both Tom Clancy’s GRAW2 and Warhawk! Finally Bioshock and Medal of Honor Airborne will be available for the Xbox 360.

Wii:

• Boogie - Electronic Arts
• Mercury Meltdown Revolution - Ignition
• Brunswick Pro Bowling - Crave Entertainment
• Dave Mirra BMX Challenge - Crave Entertainment
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Nintendo

PlayStation 3:

• Madden NFL 08 - Electronic Arts
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - Ubisoft
• Warhawk - SCEA
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 - Electronic Arts
• Dynasty Warriors: Gundam - Namco Bandai Games

Xbox 360:

• John Woo Presents Stranglehold - Midway
• Madden NFL 08 - Electronic Arts
• Two Worlds - Southpeak Interactive
• Bioshock - 2K Games
• Blue Dragon - Microsoft Game Studio
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 - Electronic Arts
• Medal of Honor Airborne - Electronic Arts
• MotoGP ‘07 - THQ
• Stuntman: Ignition - THQ

Game Lists: Nintendo Wii | Sony PS3 | Microsoft Xbox 360

Proporta - Screen Overlay - Saturday, August 4, 2007

While LCD displays are getting larger and larger on portable devices, it is only getting easier and easier to scratch and damage them. We recently picked up a Sony DSC-T100 Digital Camera, which had one of the largest displays we had seen. While we were on the search for a screen protector, Proporta just happened to launch their new “Universal Screen Overlay” and they were kind enough to provide us a few samples.

Applying the screen protector was quite easy. We just took a few measurements and cut the screen overlay to the right size. We then cleaned up the dust and fingerprints on the LCD display using the included cloth. The screen overlay stuck right on and luckily there were no air bubbles. It has been about a month since we first applied the screen overlay and we’ve been quite impressed. The protector never fell off, slid, or even budget for that matter. The only problem we had was that the display was harder to see especially in sunlight. And despite the fact that the camera was handled roughly, being thrown in different backpacks, and placed in pockets it managed to protect the display a 100%! Read More