Best computer news

Looks like it should be called the iPuck, but the Orbita Mouse has had a long road from concept to demo but it’s finally here. Originally called the “Cylo 3style mouse”, now the “Orbita mouse” the Australia born concept has finally been realized and is in production. To best describe it the mouse is big scroll wheel with an optical mouse underneath it. Imagine an untethered and motile version of the 3D Connection SpaceNavigator.

The entire device can rotate smoothly clockwise or counterclockwise allowing for very comfortable paging, rotating or sliding whatever your application might require. Normal left and right mouse buttons have been replaced with “push down” and “squeeze sides”. This can be programmed to whatever suits your fancy. Orientation on the desktop is maintained regardless of how much you spin it using its internal compass. This may take some getting used to but users who’s apps require more than an average amount of scrolling will certainly appreciate the change. For now you can only find it at one of their online stores for $99. Expect it to filter to niche providers for CAD, document proofing and professional Tempest players.
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Nokia’s N86 while being a subtle step forward in the phone line has made some very elegant leaps in the high quality compact camera line. The N86 is currently ahead of the pack with its 8 mega-pixel resolution. There are only a few camera phones that have managed to push that big of a sensor into a phone to date. This is Nokia’s first entrant into that elite club. On further inspection, they describe the rest of the first-ever-in-a-cell-phone goodies that are crammed into its slim case. The press release doesn’t do itself justice as it describes the features that move the camera aspects of this phone from simple pocket camera to sophisticated point-and-shoot. To handle bright and dark scenes an adjustable aperture kicks into gear absorbing maximum light to create images that would have been blurry or grainy at best on lesser machines. There’s also the Carl Zeiss Tessar optics improving clarity with a sliding lens cover and a dual LED flash. Video is a respectable but not earth shattering 640×480 up to 30fps

To accessorize your sharp new photos they’ve packed the 8GB on-board storage with Geotagging programs and Ovi and Flickr support for uploading your images to your online photo albums. Again if you are actually interested in the phone part you can check out the press release and the hardware specifications. Most of the other features are on par with other top cameras (smart or otherwise) of today with a 2.6″ OLED, dual slider design and microSDHC card slot for expandability but this is the only one that may let you retire two completely different gadgets.
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In a move hearkening back to the technicolor iMac release, Canon has released a new line of portable color photo printers. The Selphy CP780, coming out in 3 fun color releases, will try to make it into the van as the family’s fun portable photo studio. The Selphy comes packed with upgrades a-plenty on its predecessors and more than a few mobility features aimed at helping you get your images immortalized on the go. With better color control and face detection than previous versions quality pictures are a cinch to print on the go. Pictures can alternately be manipulated on compatible Canon cameras or directly on the 2.5 inch LCD screen directly from memory cards inserted into the multi-card slots available on the front face. 4×6″ color prints can be made in about 47 seconds.

The more mobile accessories are of particular interest for parties and traveling. The CP780 has an optional battery that should power hundreds of prints in between charges. Another cord-cutting feature is the add-on Bluetooth module which allows for connection to a growing number of cellphones with high quality camera. As cellphones and cameras continue to interbreed like backwater cousins, Bluetooth options may become a something of a necessity on printers (at least until they adopt a standard USB connection instead of proprietary dock connectors). No mention of release date but as for prices: the battery should retail for around $80, the BT module around $50 and the printer itself only $99.
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While cassette to digital transfer systems are nothing new, getting them down to size and within a reasonable budget is something to be heralded. The Grace Tape 2 USB system is a nearly portable sized cassette player with USB output. At less than half the size of cassette capture devices the Grace system can be easily used at and stored without having to find it permanent residence amongst your high end gear or on your desk.

Audio must be captured as WAV output then converted to other formats as direct to MP3 is not really an option with the included Audacity software. Plug-ins are readily available to help with conversion if that’s your goal but be prepared for the extra step before you can take your tunes with you. Audacity is freeware, but very full featured and adored by a large following. You also have access to all the standard features of a familiar cassette recorder, for those of us old enough to have used one, and classic RCA output is an option as well if that’s all you need. Although not nearly as cheap as a piecemeal audio transfer system its still quite reasonable at $129.
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Hammacher Schlemmer has a GPS tracking system for your car that’s finally hit the concerned consumer price range. The Driving Activity Monitor will keep tabs on your wheels and tell you where its been and how it got where it went. The compact lo-jack-ish can run up to 3 weeks on 2 AAA Li-ion batteries and records GPS data (location points and time) as long as you have a sufficiently unobstructed view of the sky.

Like others we’ve seen, you can use this tattler to track employees and their driving habits or teens and who they are hanging out with. The system can detect when it’s at rest and go into standby mode to save power. Similar in look and style to your run of the mill hide-a-key, stick this under your hood or in the wheel well (or for best reception on an out of view roof) and it will use what is likely the SiRF positioning system to log KML compatible data. KML data is compatible with Google Earth which can transform the logged positions into pristine living maps with speed and bearing details to boot. Only $229 gets you started keeping an eye on your ride, your bus, your work truck, etc… just don’t do anything creepy okay?
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After WiQuest folding, Staccato and Artimi merging, and Intel pulling out of UWB research, Samsung steps up its Wireless USB plan with a system-on-chip (SoC) solution that promises to 120Mbps real-world performance (even taken overhead into account). In perspective, you can transfer a 700MB file in under a minute within a 3m range. Its SoC, with a power consumption as low as 300mW, combines a ARM9 core, UWB physical layer and memory controller into one single chip that just measures 8 by 8 mm. The chip has already met worldwide regulatory requirement, and can operate in the traditional 3.1 to 10.6Ghz UWB spectrum.

Practically speaking, the company can guarantee better supply than all the financial struggling start-ups when it moves forward with its WUSB digital cameras and cellphones. Samsung has previously announced a 19″ WUSB monitor and a wireless add-on for its DSCs.
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As the successor to Sony’s first 720p capable point-and-shoot camera, the $380 Cyber-Shot DSC-T900 sports a slim profile that measures only 16.3 mm thin. It inherits T500′s minimalist design and HD video recording capability, but lacks any meaningful on-board storage (T700 has 4GB); so the refreshed model seen as the follow-up to last year’s DSC-500. Perhaps the most notable upgrade is the 3.5″ Xtra fine widescreen packed with no less than 920k pixels; the T500′s resolution is four times lower, comparatively. The touch interface and the battery on the T500 are somewhat disappointing, hopefully, things may have improved with the T900. The cradle – an essential tool for uploading photos with PC and for connecting to a HDTV – stays. You have to resort to a MS card reader without the accessory.

The DSC-T900 is spec’ed with 12MP, yet it regresses to a 4x optical zoom from 5x of its predecessor. You’ll get the other now standard features such as intelligent scene recognition (needs only just 1/13s to make setting adjustment), face detection (registers up to eight faces), and optical image stabilization. If you don’t feel like paying $80 more for the Xtra fine LCD, you can opt for the T90 which goes for $300. The T90 is also 1.3mm thinner, if that even matters.
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Weighing in at the size of a decent MID, the New Samsung Omnia HD is turning heads(and spraining hands) at MWC. This Symbian S60 5.0 smartphone boasts a record holding 3.7 inch, 16 million color, AMOLED widescreen display with 640×360 resolution. The real knock-out feature of this phone is its ability to shoot 720p video at 24 fps. Launching in capacities of 8GB and 16GB the OmniaHD will feature some standard smartphone functions as well as some light video editing and HDTV output via DLNA connection. The phone’s sensor is capable of taking 8MP stills for instant viewing of uploading via the camera’s greased lightning 7.2Mbps HSDPA 3G connection. Images and videos can be stored on the internal memory or on MicroSDHC cards up to 32GB.

That immense screen isn’t wasted just on outrageous video its also endowed with GPS navigation features. All of these services are commanded with Samsung’s updated TouchWiz 3D interface. Accelerometers have almost become standard in high end phones and the OmniaHD is no exception. Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi and motion sensing games and applications have been included to round out the feature list. Oh, and we hear it will make phone calls too. Don’t expect this to come cheap even with carrier subsidy and even with the AMOLED low-power screen, expect to keep a charger close at hand.
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Option wants to take your 3G broadband service and allow you to serve it up to your fellow man via WiFi. The company claims that its new GlobeSurfer X.1 can take any connected USB Broadband 3G/HSPA USB modem from any carrier and churn out lovely 802.11b/g/n-Mimo at up to 160Mbps per second. Currently, it’s a little overkill since the fastest wireless broadband, HSPA+, can only manage 802.11g speeds via this <a href=http://www.everythingusb.com//Sierra USB modem.

This true all-in-one device is quite nearly an office-in-a-box supporting USB printers, wired networking and file server connections. The broadband data can actually be configured as a fail-over using an ADSL router for its primary data connection. Now all this is quite a tall order given all the hoops that broadband software makes you jump through to get connected, probably best to wait until a compatible hardware list to come out. Debuting at the MWC in Barcelona this week, snatch one up when they come out and this 3×3″ wonder will turn you into the packet peddling Robin Hood in one fell swoop. No word on release date or price.
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Touch screen MP3 players have been getting all the attention lately, and some would say it’s unjustified. Rightfully so, I say! On the move, nothing beats the control offered by a tactile player and now that Apple’s returned to the slim form factor with the 4th generation iPod nano, we can start taking them seriously again. Press on after the jump to see all the improvements the new nano has brought– and all that it’s taken away!
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