Shiro VE is a personal video player with some nice lines and curves. Large 2.4 display with MicroSD slot and 4GB of internal memory. PC interface is USB and plays a limited WMV and AVI files along with limited JPEG and BMP picture files. But as will all things gadget these days you can bank on the voice recorder and FM radio.

Two other models also available the Shiro MK and Shiro ME. If only the girl came with it. She looks clueless, perfect.

(more…)

I thought I’d hit my wish list today, and also return to the audio end of the creative spectrum, as it has been a while since we last visited our ears.

One of the biggest screw ups in A/V production is bad sound, so getting the best possible field source will make a massive difference to a production. And this shouldn’t be just lip service! Get out there and do it right! You really will be happy you did.

To get a taste of just how good it can get, I’m highlighting the Aaton Cantar-X: truly the Ferrari of field recording, and it has a price to match.

This is a weather proofed unit featuring twin batteries you can rotate for unceasing record times, with a 127GB HDD plus an internal CD-R/DVD+R burner. The Cantar-X will give you up to 8 tracks simultaneous recording with individual control across up to 6 of them. Firewire connectivity will even let it record direct to your computer hard drive if you have it handy. And if the hard drive just isn’t enough, it also supports flash memory.All the specs on this amazing piece of hardware are right here. Drooling over the attention to detail in engineering this product could be a hobby.

If you have a spare $20,000 floating around (actually, more than that — but if you have $20k spare, you probably have a bit more), then one of these gorgeous babies can be yours.

Australian’s should get in touch with LEMAC for information on buying this or many other pieces of high-end creative kit.

In the US many states are adopting a no-cell phone road policy to help reduce driving accidents. Well, to fly in the face of that effort is the BlueTraks BT-211, a device that helps communicate in a hands-free environment.

Conceptually, it’s a good idea but it also interfaces with your iPod making it simple to view video while driving. Just what we need, loading up The Office re-runs while driving at 75mph. Although in Los Angeles, where I am, it’s really only 15mph about 99% of the time, so maybe the BlueTraks BT-211 isn’t that bad after all.

(more…)

GeekStuff4U is offering a 2.5 inch enclosure which houses four miniSD cards. The chassis is then connected via IDE cable to your system. A good tool for miniSD duplication, but not sure if the value goes much beyond that. With a $260 price tag you bet the four 2GB miniSD cards come with it.

(more…)

ViewSonic has always been a fan of combining peripheral items with their monitors and the VX2245WM is no exception. Jumping onto the iPod band-wagon, ViewSonic now offers their monitor with iPod dock station. In addition the VX2245WM beholds an 8-in-1 card reader for ultra convenience.

The 1680×1050 pixel resolution and 700:1 contrast ratio make viewing any movie a pleasure. And to make sure no stone is left unturned, ViewSonic also integrated speakers and subwoofer so that your standard PC speakers can be left to collect dust. (more…)

Lexar remains the head of the pack with their new UDMA enabled card reader and SDHC card reader series. The Ultra Direct Memory Access reader (Lexar Professional UDMA FireWire 800 Reader) conforms to the high-performance flash memory protocol for CompactFlash while the Lexar Professional Dual-Slot USB Reader can read both SD and SDHC flash memory.

Both Lexar card readers are do out by end of Q2 2007 with price points of $80 and $50 respectively. (more…)

WTF? iPod Tax Proposal, well thank God they’re talking about this in Canada, not the US. The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) which are a bunch of record labels are pushing for a tax on iPods and other music players. We’re not talking just sales tax either.

So what kinda cash are they looking for? (more…)

Barcelona Spain is the hot bed for SDHC cards today. SanDisk announced the first 4GB Micro Secure Digital High Capacity flash card. Now your phone can hold more then 1,000 songs or 2,000 high-res photos (although useless on a phone display) or 8 hours of MPEG 4 video. BUT, before you rush out and grab those extra bytes be sure to understand that microSDHC is not backward compatible with microSD. This goes for both mobile devices and card readers. GetFlashMemory.info couldn’t secure pricing but will post an update when available.

Source: SanDisk Press

Research In Motion announced the 8800 BlackBerry today and there are a long list of features, but where’ the camera? Wasn’t the camera feature the top requested feature? Our only conclusion is BlackBerry devices make it into enough highly secure environments RIM got heavy pressure to keep a camera off the device to eliminate sneak peaks of company secrets from getting out.

Moving on, the BlackBerry 8800 is the slimmest yet, trackball navigation, enhanced software for out-of-the-box compatibility, built in GPS to instantly send maps via email, (more…)

The new W880i Ai Sony Walkman phone is slim - about as slim as we’ve seen so it begs the question, does the Q need to lose some weight?

With a generous 1.8inch QVGA display and 2mp camera, Bluetooth, 1GB Memory Stick and tri-band GSM support, not much was left out. Well, expect a decent push-button console as this looks very difficult to opperate. (more…)