Wize Blog

SimFarm Addicting; SimCity Creator Will Be Too

The Web site i4u.com is reporting that SimCity Creator is coming for the Wii and Nintendo DS. The game, which lets users create and destroy cities, ships Sept. 22.

If you've never played SimCity before, you have a chance of being addicted. At least that's what one player reported on wize.com.

""I have never played Sims before but have to say you get addicted. I like this game and will probably purchase another in the future," said the player who was playing Sim Farm for Windows.

Samsung NV24HD Review

The Samsung NV24HD has lots going for it. First it's got a 24mm (35mm equiv) lens, that would be a wide angle lens so you architecture buffs can get entire buildings in your frame.

"It's the widest lens offered by any digicam," says the review put out by photographyblog.com. (I think they mean of all the point-and-shoots).

The review highlights the facts that the camera operates in full manual mode (you can shoot in both shutter and aperture priority modes) and has an HD video mode, which can shoot at 1280x720 pixel video at 30fps.

It's not a cheap camera. At around $350 is the camera worth it?

Let's see: it has manual modes, 10.2MP resolution and a piano key-like Smart Touch Interface that does away with regular folder-based menu screens (which the reviewer at photographyblog.com said he didn't like at first.

It also has two dials--a mode dial and photo styles dial and blink detection, which the review says "is  a feature by which the camera takes three image in quick succession if it detects fluttering eyelids."

One minus: you can't manually activate the pop-up flash.

Here are some specs for, this, a good camera for the price.

Schneider Lens f = 4.3 ~ 15.5mm
(35mm film equivalent : 24 ~ 86.5mm)

Shutter Speeds Auto : 1 ~ 1/2,000 sec.  Manual Mode : 16 ~ 1/2,000 sec.
Night : 8 ~ 1/2,000 sec.  Fireworks : 4 sec.

EV ±2EV (1/3 EV steps)

ISO Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 (only 3M)

What Is a Rolly?

The Rolly has to be one of those devices that where 30 years from now, you'll find it worth a bundle because of its super sleek, high tech, gotta-have-it look. The thing moves to the music (and voices, and animal sounds, and just about anything else that's audible). You just gotta view this thing below--

Oh, and just in case you gotta go--a Rolly is a moving MP3 player.

5 Best Laptops for Graphic Design

You used to think that Mac laptops were best for graphics, but think again--PCs have come a long way in terms of handling graphics and image files.

Here are 5 laptops that won't disappoint graphic computer users according to wize.com:

1. (pictured above) Hewlett Packard HP Pavilion dv9260us 17
2. Toshiba Satellite A215-S7422 15.4 Laptop PC
3. Sony VAIO FZ140E/B PC Notebook
4. Hewlett Packard HP PAVILION DV6605US ENTERAINMENT
5. Hewlett Packard HP DV6662SE1.50 GHz Intel

Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 X2 Video Card

For you gamers that want ATI CrossFireX Technology, 825 MHz Core Clock and 640 stream processors, each at 256 bit X 2 and more, check out the video below. It shows the games in action. Lots of stats here for those of you who know the power that you can have when playing video games. Go for those extra frames per second!

Windows 7 Touch Technology Discussed at Conference

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer were appeared at the All Things Digital Conference, they were pretty mum about the new Windows 7 operating system that's due out in late 2009 or early 2010. They did, however, talk about the multitouch aspect  of the system.

The touch screen planned will use the same technology as Apple's iPhone and Microsoft's Surface table. The technology uses "five tiny cameras to take snapshots of the surface many times a second like an optical mouse does," according to arstechnica.com. The screen is somewhat shock and water resistant, and needs to be because they plan on having the system used in places like restaurants.

So what did Gates and Ballmer show at the conference? Not much. Just about the same demos that were seen with the Surface table. Nonetheless, arstechnica has a video, which lists Tyco Technology Elo TouchSystems as the company that's developing the technology.

It's interesting to note that Tyco Tech develops all kinds of touch technology--each of which uses a different method for managing how the "touch" interacts with the system. The site lists Acoustic Pulse Recognition, AT4 four Wire Resistive and Securetouch Surface Wave among others as some of the technologies  that are used for touch technology.

Lenovo IdeaPad U110

I've written a bit about the Lenovo IdeaPad U110 once before, but only briefly. I mentioned that it had an airbag so no worries if you drop the thing. The airbag isn't like one in a car that blows up and keeps the whole unit from breaking, it's "an air bag-like device that parks the hard drive to help protect data during a fall," according to laptopcom.

CNET has a video about the laptop and a review. They rate the computer an 8/10, saying that it has a gorgeous design, is lightweight (it weighs 2 1/2 lbs  and has sharp screen resolution.

It costs about $2000. Batteries with the laptop are a challenge, though. They only last 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. Note, also that the DVD burner is external.

The computer has a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 processor and runs on Windows Vista Home Premium.

Full Details on BenQ's T850

Digital camera fans are soaking up all the dirt on the new BenQ T850 digital camera. It's only 14.9mm thick and its got 3X optical zoom and 8MP of resolution.

Hey, but that's not all--the camera's also got a 3-inch LCD screen and touch screen controls.

And...get this...all you have to do to focus a shot is tap on the subject/object on the screen.

In playback mode you can circle a part of the photo and it'll zoom up to 12X.

Last, just like an iPhone, you swipe to slide the images back and forth.

Oops...I forgot to mention that you can draw on the touch screen, as BenQ puts it: "Get in touch with your creative side! Draw a heart around you and your best friend, put words in your dog’s mouth, or frame your all-time favorite pose on the 3” large screen of the BenQ DSC T850. Experience the fun of full screen photo editing with splashes of color, hilarious callouts and personalized frames!"

Kids' Glow Phone Rocks

If your kids don't have a cell phone and you've been thinking about getting them one, consider a glow phone. Firefly, the kids cell phone maker has one for you.

The kids will be thrilled to know that the glow phone features a  color screen, built-in games, customizable ringtones, wallpapers and even a flashlight.

The phone can store up to 50 numbers and has keys for mom and dad. Cool!

There's a password protection, too, so that parents can limit calls to only those number in the phone book.

XPERIA X1 Looks Hot

The XPERIA X1 from Sony Ericsson is hot. The smart phone, which is coming out in September, will use the Windows Mobile operating system. With a 3-inch touch screen and built in sliding keyboard, it ships with 256MB of SDRAM, in addition to 512MB of NAND Flash.

So what does Sony have to say about its new product? "Arc slider design, 3 inch Wide VGA display and premium metal body: with its sophisticated and distinctive design, XPERIA™ X1 redefines premiumness." Premiumness? Is that a word? Ah, well, you can find out a little more about the phone here.