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Getting ready to watch the Super Bowl on TV this Sunday? Check out how they're rated at wize.com.
Here are the top 5 TVs in the flat screen category:
1. Sony BRAVIA KDL-52W3000 Television rated 99 at wize.com
2. Panasonic TH-42PZ700 42 in. Plasma Television rated 99
3. Samsung LN-T4071F 40 in. HDTV LCD Television rated 98
4. Sony BRAVIA KDL-46W3000 Television rated 98
5. Pioneer PDP-6070HD Television rated 98
Garmin announced today that it is entering the mobile phone market.
Garmin's no stranger to technology. They've been producing GPS systems since 1989.
"What began as a brainstorming session of a handful of engineers around a card table in 1989 has evolved into a worldwide collaborative effort of thousands of colleagues," the company's Web site states.
The company's goal squarely puts cell phones into its domain.
"To create navigation and communication devices that can enrich our customers’ lives," it continues on its Web site.
With GPS devices that range from Garmin zÅ«mo 450 GPS Receiver (rated 95 at wize.com) to the Garmin nuvi 670 GPS Receiver (rated 93), it's no wonder that they're making a GPS-enabled cell phone. The phone, coined Nuvifone, is a touchscreen device that combines a phone, mobile Web-browser, and GPS navigator. The Nuvifone includes Google's local search capability, a feature that lets users search for locations and where Google sorts out the results based on the user’s current location. The phone will be available later this year.
Bob Atkins did a survey of a couple of thousand people that had them rate lenses on a scale from 5-10. Included in his survey were a few telephoto lenses.
The highest rated telephoto was the Canon EF 70-200mm f4.0L IS USM. It rated a 9.5 and costs $1700.
Ken Rockwell likes the similar Canon 70-300mm IS. You can get this lens for a little over $500. The lens takes great pictures and has great image stabilization. One draw back is that it slides down when you hold it up when it's most extended (at 300 mm).
Rockwell believes that the lens is fast and accurate in the field in spite of the sliding drawback.
Rumor has it Samsung's BlackJack II smart phone is popular with the 20 somethings. It's the phone to get if you want:
1. Global roaming--The handset has 3G Highspeed Downlink Packet Access where you can place and receive calls, send text messages, receive high speed downloads from almost anywhere around the world.
2. Multimedia--Stream and buy music with the BlackJack using AT&T music. Transfer your tunes from your PC using a USB cable.
3. New Stuff--Windows Mobile 6, Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile, Video Share, 2 MP camera, TeleNav GPS Navigator (voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions), Front Jog wheel, improved QWERTY keypad and a Windows Media Player 10 Mobile
4. Phone As Modem-- To connect your laptop to the Internet wirelessly using AT&T's wireless network, first you add a Tether service plan to your account at www.att.com/communicationmanager and then you download and run AT&T Communication Manager on your computer and your good to go.
Remember the AM/FM radios of yesteryear? Times have changed and today's radios can include XM satellite radio.
The Eton E1 XM-Ready AM/FM Radio Satellite is a kind of portable radio that not only receives AM and FM, but also XM.
After you buy the product (rated 95 at wize.com), you have to sign up for a subscription at xmradio.com.
Of course you could get XM satellite radio online so that you can access the stations from your laptop or PC.
XM Radio Online is included as part of most XM Satellite subscriptions at no additional charge, so you can have a little satellite radio at the beach.
This week, PMA 08 opened its doors to showcase the latest photo innovations and strategies to hit the market. On CNET the Panasonic FS series is reviewed and the cameras look a little like Leicas, maybe because they have Leica lenses.
The FS 20 and FS 5 include the following:
* 10 MP resolution
* 4x optical zoom with 35 mm equiv of 30-120 mm
* up to ISO 1600 at full resolution (many cameras carry that setting but lower the resolution when it's set, causing a noisy photo.
* FS 20 has a 3 in. LCD screen and the FS 5 a 2.5 in. one
* optical image stabilization
* face detection
* intelligent scene selector and ISO
Both cameras ship in February.
To be sure, the new ultra-thin MacBook Air can borrow another computer's optical drive, but that doesn't help when you're on the road (or in the air) when there are no other computers around.
It's not only the lack of an optical drive that contribute to the MacBook Air's shortcomings, it's also that there's no Ethernet port.
You can't watch DVD movies without the optical drive. Apple's counting on people downloading movies from iTunes instead of watching them from a DVD.
One more MacBook Air drawback: It only has one USB port. You won't be able to be to use two external devices at once (say, a flash drive and external hard drive together).
Since the MacBook Air will be in stores before you know it, Apple has announced that it is now selling a thin external optical drive (called a SuperDrive) and an Ethernet adapter specially made for the MacBook Air.
Well, that helps make the MacBook Air more attractive but also a bit more cumbersome. If you're in for some style, though, this may be the set-up for you.
The external hard drive costs $99 and the converter, $19.
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