Best computer news

Asus is gracing us with another quality sound device from its corporate headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan the uBoom series. Asus, one of the best know motherboard manufacturers, has been creating peripherals as well. The latest creations are a pair of multimedia speakers designed to produce great sound in the limited spaces. Slightly larger than most sound bars they pack 2 speakers and a subwoofer. The uBoom is the larger of the pair and packs a whopping 24 watts RMS power to the speakers. The uBoom contains an effective USB sound card to take over sound processing from your PC. The design is such that it can prop up your laptop enough to allow for cooling air circulation to flow underneath. At 7 pounds the all aluminum uBoom may be more of a permanent addition to your desktop.

The uBoom Q is slightly smaller but more self-sufficient. Still a 2.1 speaker system it is less powerful but doesn’t require an AC adapter like the larger model. The more portable version gets everything it needs from the USB connection. Both of the uBoom’s side mounted speakers curve towards the front and the subwoofer points straight up for immersive sound. The uBoom Q will make a better traveling companion at 400 grams. No word on price or availability yet.
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If Zsa-Zsa Gabor was a killing machine sent from the future to enslave humanity this is what her cybernetic endo-skeleton would look like. With 2 gorgeous red Swarovski crystals inset into the eye socket this looks more like a Marilyn Manson accessory than a killing machine. While the effect is quite nice some red LEDs might have been a better choice. Not only would LEDs have been more true to the films they might not have commanded the price Swarovski crystals do.

The amount of storage isn’t listed but at $160 it would have to be over 64 GB in order to be competitive with capacity drives. The crystals command a heavy premium and the drives only hold 2GB of storage. If you are a die hard fan of the Terminator movies or need a little more pirate treasure for your computer you may have to jump through quite a few hoops to pick one up. Only a few of them will be made and they are only planning on releasing them in Japan. Geekstuff4u.com may be able to procure a few of them eventually so keep checking.
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Razer Naga MMO Gaming Mouse claims to be the first MMO gaming mouse and while we can’t really support that claim it might deserve to wear the crown. Packing a 12 key thumb grid that contains 12 programmable buttons to memorize important game functions. The keys and the scroll wheel are both backlit so you can see them in low light situations. Having important functions mapped to your mouse can make for a much more comfortable gaming experience. Each key can be programmed into a profile and unlimited numbers of profiles are possible allowing for each game to have multiple profiles. A slick teflon tracking foot and 5 more traditional buttons make for a total of 17 buttons to map as you see fit.

Buttons aside the Naga is a top notch high performance mouse boasting 5600 DPI and 200 inches per second tracking. Pair this with other top gaming accessories for LAN party cred. Launching worldwide soon for $80 with a matching high definition mouse surface priced separately at $50.
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Network media players aside, the next hassle-free method of streaming MP3s from PC to other rooms around the house is a dedicated wireless music system. For those who are born rich, Bose SoundLink is a no-brainer choice. Rest of us may consider Creative Sound Blaster for iTunes. Sony today has given an alternative – ALTUS ALT-SA32PC multi-room music system for PC.

Included in the package are two 16W (8W x 2) one-piece speakers that connect to a USB S-AIR dongle which handles the wireless transmission. The two remote speakers, measuring at 9.8″ x 4.8″ x 5″, are pretty slick looking. They come with a remote, touch-sensitive buttons for navigation and built-in 1-line LCD for displaying ID3 tags. The USB S-AIR according to Sony streams at 16-bit 48kHz Linear PCM and operates at 2.4Ghz, putting it in the path of most household appliances and Wi-Fi. At $500, the Sony ALT-SA32PC is by no means cheap, at least you get one more speaker than the Bose SoundLink as well as compatibility with rest of the ALTUS S-AIR product line.
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Logitech unveils today two mice carrying their new Darkfield technology. This new sensor looks to one up the current all terrain system from Microsoft called Bluetrack. Darkfield goes where no mouse has gone before: Glass. So many fantastic computer setups are attempted on glass tables. Nothing looks cooler than a wireless keyboard and mouse suspended in mid-air on a glass desk. The ugly mouse pad being the only thing disturbing the high tech fortress of solitude look you are going for. No Longer.

The Anywhere MX mouse replaces the hugely popular Logitech Nano mouse for mobile computing. It is virtually identical to the Nano and will retail for $80. The Performance MX Mouse ups the ante on their mid range mice like the MX Revolution. The new MX mouse employs the same tiny receiver as the Anywhere, but it is rechargeable. The internal batteries can be recharged by the standard micro-USB cable even while the mouse is in use. It also employs the force sensitive side scrolling function which varies side scroll speed according to how hard you press the wheel. The Performance MX model will cost you $100 and will be released in Europe and the U.S. sometime this month.
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Some 2MP webcams that claim to deliver 720p video but only manage 960×720 while a few really struggle to maintain reasonable frame rate. MS is set to ship the first webcam advertised to stream 1280 x 720 at 30fps (720p). Redmond also gives the true HD webcam an ambitious name – LifeCam Cinema. Included is a glass lens, auto focus (no more manual focus ring), 4x digital room and noise-cancelling mic mounted atop the LifeCam Cinema. There’s even proprietary ClearFrame technology to further improve video quality, but its results remain to be seen. MS doesn’t skimp on build quality either with aluminum and a stand that works equally well on both laptop screen and desktop LCD monitor.

As far as system requirement is concerned, the MS LifeCam Cinema demands at least a 1.6Ghz duo-core, and recommends a mighty 3Ghz processor which may seem overkill for video conferencing application but it’s too earlier to tell. Bundled software is, needless to say, tightly integrated with Windows and Live! services. For $80 listed, the LifeCam Cinema should be another credible alternative to this high-end USB video camera.
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Western Digital WD TV HD certainly gives you best bang for the buck with its awesome file support for just under $99 street. As powerful as it may seem, the WD TV HD omits RealMedia Variable Rate (RMVB), a format embraced by bit-torrenters in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The HDD manufacturer now makes it up with an even more affordable WD TV that should please the budget-conscious crowd and RMVB fans.

Dubbed WD TV Mini, the media player gains the aforementioned video codec, but also drops a number of features to keep the cost down. The most notable omission is HDMI, replaced by component and composite video so max. output is limited to 1080i. That may not be an annoyance as the WD TV Mini cannot decode H.264 nor it can read MKV. MPEG-2/MP4 and RMVB compatibility is also limited to SD with the former supporting up to 720×480 and the latter up to a rather odd 1024×756 resolution. Digital optical jack and HFS+ stay, fortunately. As far as interface is concerned, WD TV Mini has the benefit of thumbnail previews the ability to view pictures from PTP-compliant devices (basically all cameras). If this fits your requirement, WD TV Mini is now available for $99 MSRP.
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DJ Tech is adding to its line of professional DJ products with a DJ Mouse. The DJ Mouse is a multi-axis input device that interacts with its Deckadance Dj software. Using the DJ Mouse kit you can do your Superstar DJ thing without the need for turntables or vinyl. The mouse includes a jog wheel which (in addition to working on mix and fade functions inside the software) is a ‘scratch’ controller. The software specially buffers music so that you can interact with the music however you like. The cool blue back-lighting effect enables you to operate the mouse in those dark club environments. The mouse should stand up to your most vigorous Keoki impressions as it has been specially weighted to 120g and coupled with a special gripping mat to keep it in place.

While at first glance this may look like some sort of Guitar Hero accessory, it is definitely not one. DJTech makes several high quality professional DJ products and the DJ mouse is currently their smallest. They have effectively tailored a custom mouse to be a fully integrated piece of software to allow you to loop, sample and beat-match so that each song flows into the next. The addition of the scratch wheel requires a level of responsiveness which has not been easy to achieve. This system would be perfect for traveling DJ’s gigs where space is at a premium. The Mouse and Software package only runs $79 and is available for order now.
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While some games can be taken too far (Russian Roulette, Fantasy Football, Spin the Bottle), video games are the exception. The Logitech G27 Wheel looks like it might be taking it too far for driving video games and we like it. The gaming wheel is a solid 3 piece controller for PC or PS2/PS3, consisting of a steering wheel, shifter rig and foot pedals. Game immersion features include dual axis force feedback and individual pedal resistance for the brake, accelerator and clutch. All this combines to let you experience slides, hairpin turns and drifts without the lengthy hospital stays.

What truly strikes you about the G27 is the build quality. Everything that looks metallic from the photos actually is solid metal. All 3 pieces have been specially designed to handle whatever you throw at it and then some. From the leather wrapped steering wheel to the rubber feet on each pedal you don’t have to worry about it like some fragile PC component. Both the steering wheel and the shifter contain mount points that allow you to bolt them onto a table. The foot pedal assembly has a row of carpet teeth that help hold them in place as you drive. Hopefully the build quality will help you justify the $299 asking price next month when it goes on sale.
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Needing no introduction, Kingston Technology has a variety of USB flash drives to suite various capacity and performance needs. Can they refresh their products successfully with improvements as competitors inch closer to Kingston’s market-share? Kingston certainly thinks so with its introduction of the new Data Traveler 200 which offers users access to both a password secured and publicly accessible zone. Read on for the full review to find out how Kingston could have possibly improved their highly acclaimed Data Traveler 150 USB flash drive and how well their password protection really works.
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