Sony’s new HDR-MV1 Music Video Recorder is designed and engineered specifically for musicians. The camcorder records CD-quality audio in uncompressed Linear PCM or internet-ready AAC thanks to a 120-degree X-Y stereo microphone. It also captures full 1920×1080/30p HD video and a back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor records in lowlight settings. It will be available in December for $299.99.
HDMI Forum, Inc. announced a new upgrade to the HDMI connection standard, today. HDMI 2.0 will have a bandwidth capacity of up to 18Gbps, enough room to transmit 4K video up to 60 fps, which is 2160p. This is 4x the clarity of the current 1080p video resolution. It will also carry support for up to 32 audio channels. This is big news considering the expected boom in Ultra HDTVs in the near future. Additional features of HDMI 2.0 include “dynamic auto lipsync” and additional CEC extensions. The new HDMI 2.0 connectors will remain unchanged from the original HDMI specification,…
Google has given Android versions names of desserts for a long time now. Android 4.4 was supposed to be Key Lime pie but in a fit of marketing genius or avarice, Google has announced that Android 4.4 is now code named KitKat. This includes a contest by Hershey (in the US) as well where winners can win a new Nexus 7. Plus you can see how the smartphone and the KitKat have precision builds by heading to KitKat.com…truly a sweet case of corporate synergy!
MindShift Gear has just announced their new Lens Switch Case. The lightweight, unpadded pouch can be carried on the belt of MindShift Gear’s rotation180° Professional backpack so you can change lenses on the go. It accommodates a variety of different lenses and an external zippered pocket holds filters, cable release, or a cleaning cloth. Just $42.50. Check it out.
Kids love a good bedtime story, and as they get older they love smartphones too. The recently announced Smart PJs combine these loves with pajamas that rock scannable codes. Scan the code with a phone, get a bedtime story. Each code on the PJs is a different story! The concept is cool, but the website is sadly light on details. It isn’t clear if the stories are classics or new ones written for the PJs, or how the app displays the story. Still, at $29.99, clothes that combine with a story aren’t a bad deal, and it’s a company worth…
Windows Phone is fast developing parity with other platforms, and while there’s a handful of top-tier names missing (cue the 10,000 “Instagram or bust” complaints), it is becoming easier to switch. Now that Tapatalk has hit Windows Phone, the platform can add one more in-demand service to its growing portfolio! If you’re a forums junkie, you probably know the name Tapatalk. For those who don’t, Tapatalk is a service that brings various discussion forums to mobile form via the Tapatalk app. You can see new posts, browse forums, answer private messages, etc, all from a phone-centric and comfortable interface. Tapatalk…
Available in limited quantities, Tokyoflash’s Kisai Zone Wood displays the time through stylized hexagons. Made from natural wood in dark sandalwood, red sandalwood or maple, Zone Wood includes time, date mode, alarm and animations. The Kisai Zone Wood is available at the special release price of $99 for 48 hours until Thursday September 5th.
Why is a growler called a growler? It seems… In the late 19th century, workers carried home beer in small galvanized pails from their local pub. The word apparently describes the sound beer made when sloshing and releasing carbon dioxide that escaped from the lid. Get your own in 32 and 64 ounces. From $66.95. Get it.
In big news that is not entirely unexpected the New York Times is bringing word that Microsoft is planning to purchase Nokia’s handset and services unit. The deal will cost MS more than $7.1 Billion but with Nokia handsets ruling the Windows Phone world these days it makes perfect sense. Read it.
Love Chinese food but hate using chopsticks? Hate using chopsticks but hate looking like a dork even more? These chopstick forks may be the thing for you. Sure they will make you look like an even bigger dork but you’ll look like a big dork with awesome chopsticks. Check the video out here. Via The Awesomer
You don’t get a long-lasting relationship without actually wanting to spend significant time with another person. And since we spend a significant amount of our life in bed, cuddling seems like a great way to enhance time together – but at a cost of possible circulation and nerve damage. The ‘Cuddle Mattress’ has an innovative way to solve those! Inventor Mehdi Mojtabavi was highlighted on NPR this week because of his innovative design. It divides the upper and lower portions of the bed into a series of slats. Side sleepers can wedge their arm — or stomach sleepers can wedge…
Jersey Artisan Distilling is the first distillery to open in New Jersey since Prohibition ended. Their brand new Busted Barrel Silver Rum is made from Louisiana molasses and distilled in custom copper stills. I tried some last night and the smooth taste is awesome. Check out their story… and their current and future products here.
Pressy is the latest rockstar Kickstarter project. This simple button plugs into the headphone jack of your Android device and, thanks to a companion app, can be programmed to activate a variety of actions with a simple button press. With a goal of $40K, it is already over at $300,000 with 44 days to go! I backed. Check it out.
I love JazzOnTheTube. It delivers a daily email with a classic or modern jazz video that is always worth watching. Recently JazzOnTheTube pointed viewers to 20sJazz and 30sJazz, sites dedicated to presenting videos from those eras. If you are a fan of jazz from the 20s and 30s check them out and subscribe to the daily email! Here from 20sJazz is an amazing early video from 1923 (!) featuring Nobel Sissle and Eubie Blake. I am not familiar with Sissle, but I do remember Blake well from the late 70s/ early 80s including Saturday Night Live and White House performances. And…
WritePad, a note taking and handwriting recognition app for iPad and iPhone has just added Google Drive syncronization funcationality, allowing you to take hand-written notes on your iPhone or iPad and automatically sync them to Google Drive. This brings the number of cloud services that WritePad syncs with to 6! WritePad goes for $8.99 on iPad and $3.99 on iPhone. WritePad, using PhatWare’s handwriting recognition software, can understand the user’s handwriting in their own style and convert it to computer text. WritePad also syncs with other cloud services such as: Box, DropBox, Evernote, Google Drive, iCloud, and Skydrive. WritePad also…
An interesting report from the U.S. Homeland Security Department looks at the threat of mobile malware and other malicious threats, and breaks it down by operating system. Not surprisingly Android (especially 2.x and earlier versions) was most vulnerable, but the bigger concern was the slow adoption of more secure newer OS versions left many consumers at risk. Here are more findings about the major malware which has been identified by the bulletin: 1.SMS Trojan: sends messages to premium rated numbers owned by criminals leaving the user with heavy mobile charges. 2.Rootkits: logs the user’s locations, key strokes and passwords without…
If you are Facebook friends with anyone from northern New Jersey, you may have seen a recent link to a video about a place called “Action Park“. As a child of New Jersey who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, trust me: everything they say in the video is real. It really was that dangerously awesome. It has been well over 20 years since I last went to Action Park (I’m 32, so the last time I was there was probably when I was 11 or 12) but a few things stick out distinctly from the experience. One, I remember looking…
USB-Fever.com has just released a new cable to directly connect your iPhone 5 to your iPad 1, 2, or 3. The cable has a lightning connector on one side and a dock connector on the other. Once you plug in your iDevices, you can transfer your photos back and forth with ease. This cable retails for $12.99. If you want to physically transfer your photos from a lightning connector device to a 30 pin dock connector device, without using Photo Stream, this appears to be a very easy way to accomplish that. There are ways to email multiple photos, as…
Do you lack a green thumb, but like fresh vegetables? Have only a small space in your yard but want a garden? If so, the good folks at Nourishmat have a special package for you! At $64.95 for the base model, the Nourishmat comes with a weed-barrier mat with plant templates for seeds and step-by-step instructions—perfect for beginners! It is ingeniously simple. Using the companion planting technique, the neat little package helps simplify gardening for busy folks or people with limited space. Everything from seeds (82 seedballs with 19 different garden plant types), garden mat staples to plant location and spacing is…
The freemium city-builder Virtual City Playground from G5 Entertainment gets another big update, and this one adds a whole new dimension as you can take to the skies! Construct a hangar, build a weather station, and run an airship to increase the happiness of your citizens! You get 14 new missions and even more fun than ever before! Ever fantasized about touching the clouds? Build a top-of-the-line airship and conquer the skies above your city! – RECRUITING ALL TRADES! Hire your friends to help with everything from hangar construction to crewing the airship. – A NEW BATCH OF SKY-HIGH QUESTS!…
We’ve got a great Windows Phone giveaway running through this week’s newsletter. If you didn’t see it you can check it out here. In addition we’re going to give away a brand new ODOYO Power Shell EX Battery Case for the iPhone 5. Check out Travis’ review here and then make sure to enter to win. a Rafflecopter giveaway