More
    Home Blog Page 1260

    Review: Epson EB-S10

    [This review originally appeared in the November 2011 issue of Gadgets Magazine]

    By Benjamin Arnold

    THE EB-S10 3LCD projector may have been designed for the busy business man. At 5.07 lbs., one could easily bring this projector from the car straight and to a presentation as it comes with a simple carrying case that holds all the needed accessories. With the plug-and-play feature, all you have to do is set up the projector and hit the power button and it boots up straight away. Upon clicking the power button it took around 10 seconds to turn on and another 20 seconds to warm up the light to its full brightness.

    The Epson EB-S10 features adjustable legs that ensure that you can set up the projector anywhere with easy just by sliding the legs to the height you need. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feature the auto keystone and angle detection that its sibling models (the EB-X10 and W10) feature. So it takes time to adjust the angle of the projection properly. This is okay though, as the menu of the projector is easy to maneuver through and simple to understand.

    There are multiple ways of connecting the projector to your laptop. I am not sure if it was just the unit I tested or all the units out there, but when using the VGA connector, for some reason the projector wouldn’t display the color red, and instead substituted it with the color black. Even after adjusting the settings of both the computer and projector and testing it out on multiple units, I couldn’t get the red to project. This led me to using the USB connector.

    With the USB connector, all I had to do was connect the cable and install the driver that auto-plays upon connecting the cable to the computer and I was good to go. This remedied the problem of the VGA connector and projected the visual in a bright and vivid full-color projection.  The problem though with the USB cable is that it slowed down the refresh rate of my computer and caused it to lag. It also wouldn’t let me play any movies for some unknown reason. I could tell it was from the projector as the moment I turned off the projector, the movies started to play, and the lagging disappeared.

    In terms of brightness, the projector is superb. Even in a fully light room, the images displayed by the projector were still vivid and bright. When in a small room though, the images can get so bright that it becomes blinding, but that was an easy fix by simply adjusting the brightness of the projector. It also makes the projector heat up pretty quickly, but the large exhaust fan compensates for this.

    There is also a security feature that allows you to chain the projector to a stand if necessary, as well as apply a lock and password so that others can’t mess around with the settings or protect it from theft. It also comes with a remote that can serve both as a way to adjust the settings as well as a pointer and mouse.

    WHAT’S HOT:
     • Comes with carrying case
    • Plug-and-Play
    • Quick boot up
    • USB connection option
    • Bright even in fully lit room
    • Great security option
    • Remote control works both as pointer and mouse

    WHAT’S NOT:
     • When connected via VGA connector, the color red is subbed with black
    • When connected via USB causes computer to lag

    BOTTOMLINE:
    Though it has a few snags here and there, the Epson EB-S10 3LCD Business Projector gets the job done with bright visuals and easy-to-handle carrying case.

    SPECIFICATIONS:
    PIXEL NUMBER: 480,000 dots (800 x 600) x 3
    NATIVE RESOLUTION: SVGA
    ASPECT RATIO: 4:3
    LAMP HOURS: Normal Mode: 4000 hours; Eco Mode: 5000 hours
    BRIGHTNESS: Normal Mode – White Light Output 2600 lumens, Color Light Output 2600 lumens; Eco Mode – White Light Output 2040 lumens, Color Light Output 2040 lumens
    CONTRAST RATIO: 2000:1
    DIMENSION: 228mm x 295mm x 77mm
    WEIGHT: 5.07 lbs

    Buy Meter: 7.8

    Get freebies for every purchase of selected HP printers and toners!

    HP is giving you more reasons to get yourself a new printer with the Print More, Save More, Get More promo. HP is giving away freebies from Philips and SODEXO, and all you have to do is buy HP LaserJet printers.

    For every purchase of a participating HP LaserJet printer, you’ll get a Philips headset—for free! Participating models include the HP LaserJet Pro P1102, HP LaserJet Pro M1132 and the HP LaserJet CP1025.

    HP LaserJet Pro P1102
    HP Laserjet Pro M1132 MFP
    HP LaserJet Pro CP1025

    If you purchase an additional CE285A toner with the HP LaserJet Pro P1102 or the HP LaserJet Pro M1132, you will get Php200 worth of SODEXO Premium Pass gift certificates. The same will be rewarded to those who avail of an HP Original CMYK toner with the HP LaserJet CP1025. If, however, you purchase an additional set of HP Original CMYK toners with your printer, you will receive Php1,000 worth of SODEXO GCs.

    You can claim your free Philips headset by submitting a photocopy of the sales invoice or original purchase receipt, the serial number cut-out from the printer box and a photocopy of two (2) valid ID’s to Great Minds Integrated Consultancy Inc. To claim your SODEXO GCs, present the sales invoice of the toner and HP LaserJet printer purchase, the cut-out of the hologram on the toner box and a photocopy of two (2) valid ID’s. Requirements can also be submitted to any LBC branch in a sealed envelope, marked with a mailing address and contact number. Remember: the printer and the toner must be in a single sales invoice or original receipt.

    The promo ends on June 15, so head on over to the nearest and HP printer outlet and grab your freebies!

    First Impression: Samsung Galaxy S III

     

     

     

    It has finally arrived at the Gadgets office, and I have the good fortune to do the unboxing. Here goes!

     

    The first thing you notice as soon as you pick the S III up out of the box is the pleasant heft. It isn’t a heavy device, but it feels very solid in hand. We got the unit in ceramic white, and I have to admit, it’s a sexy little cookie. It’s almost *too* thin. Any thinner and you would have little left to grab on to. Samsung’s new flagship device is all curves, and you won’t feel a single hard edge on the whole device.

     

    The front of the device is basically all screen, and what a screen it is. Bright, crisp and super clear. The whole front of this Samsung is clad in Gorilla Glass 2, save for the single hard button at the bottom of the front face. The only other hard keys are the volume rocker and power, on the left and right edges of the phone respectively. It’ an easy verdict: This is a phone you’re going to want to own based on looks and feel alone.

     

    Stay posted, We’re going to send this to the lab and put it through its paces. You’ll get a proper review soon.

     

     

     

    Asus PadFone first Impressions

    We’ve talked about the PadFone before, but we’ve only had the opportunity to get our eyes on and handle the product today, at COMPUTEX. On the whole, the phone part of the PadFone feels extremely solid, and the screen looks bright and crisp. The 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen of the PadFone looks fantastic, and the overall build quality of the device is top-notch.

    To use the device as a tablet, you need to dock the phone to the tablet part of the PadFone, which is done by lifting the lid on the back of the 10.1-inch  (1280 x 800) capacitive multi-touch screen.

    After connecting the PadFone to the tablet dock, the tablet display lights up, and you’re able to use it as a tablet. The PadFone uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 8260A Dual-Core 1.5 GHz processor which provides a quick and snappy user experience.

    There’s also a keyboard dock accessory available, which to be honest looks and feels like the other, detachable keyboard docks in the Transformer line. The device uses Android 4.0 (ICS) and each peripheral that it attaches to (the tablet and the keyboard dock) provides additional battery power to give you longer battery endurance.

    Unfortunately, there’s still no word when this particular device will be available the Philippines – the device is still in short supply and there’s rumors circulating that it’s one of the products that are suffering from the rumored Qualcomm S4 processor shortage.

    Asus Zeus Concept X79 motherboard eyes-on, dual onboard GPUs and dual Thunderbolt on board

    Here’s a nice find at Asus’ COMPUTEX booth today- the Zeus, a concept X79 motherboard like no other. The Zeus is pegged by Asus to have dual onboard premium GPUs as well as dual Thunderbolt ports. This isn’t the first time we’ve ever seen Asus make a concept board (remember Danshui Bay last year?) and it won’t be the last. If you notice, the board does not have any provision to put discrete GPUs in – a consequence we are told by an Asus rep by having two Thunderbolt ports on it. The Zeus uses a LGA2011 processor and can accomodate 4CH DDR3 memory (max 128GB).

    [album: https://gadgetsmagazine.com.ph/wp-content/plugins/dm-albums/dm-albums.php?currdir=/wp-content/uploads/dm-albums/[email protected]/Zeus concept board /]

    Google buys Meebo

    It’s been confirmed that Google has bought yet another company—this time it’s the Silicon Valley startup called Meebo. In order to expand Google’s social networking service, Meebo will bring more tools to Google+ and will serve as an alternative to Facebook as an online hangout place.

    Meebo, which had been getting around 100 million total users per month, allows users to create interest profiles and enables publishers to boost user engagement. Its toolbar was also one of its most profitable schemes, integrating chat and a variety of sharing features as well as ads. Supposedly, Meebo was acquired at a price that is in the $100 million neighborhood and will now be part of the growing Google+ social structure.

     

    The June issue of GADGETS MAGAZINE is out now!

    Drop everything. The June issue of Magazine is out, and gracing our cover this month are the beautiful Young sisters, Megan and Lauren. This month, we’ll be tackling Smart TVs, tech for college kids and for the musically-inclined, how to make a DIY home studio. We’ve still got the usual parades, do you can see where you’ll be spending your money, and for those ready to take the plunge, the labs have reviewed the HTC One X, Nokia Lumia 710, 55-inch Samsung ES8000. Head over to the nearest bookstore and news stand to get your copy now!

    Corning’s new display technology: Willow Glass

    Corning recently announced its new technology dubbed Willow Glass that we’ll most likely see powering a new generation of screens. You might be familiar with Corning’s Gorilla Glass display technology since it’s used in the smartphones, tablets, notebooks, and other devices offered by leading companies such as Apple and Samsung.

    Willow Glass is ultra-slim and flexible (with the same thickness as a piece of paper), while still retaining normal glass attributes. This allows the creation of thinner screens, curved displays, and lighter devices, all of which could potentially revolutionize the shape and form of next-generation electronics. It will supposedly work with OLED (organic light emitting diodes) and LCD (liquid crystal displays) screens. It will initially be made in sheets like traditional glass, but Corning is hoping to eventually produce it in rolls.

    We can expect Willow Glass to start making appearances in tablets, smartphones, and notebooks sometime in 2013.

     

    Asus announces ROG TYTAN CG8890 gaming desktop

    We just wrapped up our ROG press conference today and Asus has just brought out its A game as far as gaming desktops are concerned. Meet the Asus ROG TYTAN CG8890, their newest gaming desktop that overclocks on the fly and transforms to deal with all the extra heat. The ROG TYTAN CG8890 is equipped with an Intel Core i7-3960X processor, has an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 GPU, 16GB of DDR3 memory (2133 MHz OC) and has a 2 TB 7200 RPM HDD and 128 SSD (RAID O). The TYTAN CG8890 allows you to overclock it on the fly with a single touch of a button, and transforms by opening multiple heat vents and fans to accomodate the extra heat. Basically it’s from this:

    To this:

    As you’d expect, there’s a literal crap-ton of plugs and connectors on the TYTAN CG8890. It’s a gigantic desktop for people with deep pockets, though there’s still no price set for the device yet, nor its availability when it’ll come to the Philippines.

     

    Asus outs GX1000 laser mouse

    We’ve seen Asus make ROG mice before, but most of the time it was always included in their hi-end videocards and notebooks as premium freebies. No longer. Asus has just outed their GX1000 laser mouse today – possibly to compete with established mice brands like Razer and the like. The GX1000 looks very nice, and has laser sensor that is capable of DPI settings of 50 all the way up to 82000 DPI. The mouse also has 7 customizable buttons scattered across it, and sport an aluminum body. No price set yet, but we heard that this baby will be shipping at the end of June. No word on when it’ll hit the Philippines.

    [album: https://gadgetsmagazine.com.ph/wp-content/plugins/dm-albums/dm-albums.php?currdir=/wp-content/uploads/dm-albums/[email protected]/GX1000/]

     

    Wonderbook for PS3 brings storybooks to life

    Sony takes E3 by storm as it unveils the new Wonderbook for PS3. This new technology from Sony is its attempt at reinventing the traditional storybook and virtually bringing stories to life.

    Wonderbook uses AR technology to allow players to engage in storybooks like never before. The players interact with the stories using the PlayStation Eye—a digital camera device for the PS3.

    For those who aren’t familiar with AR technology, here’s how the Wonderbook works: The book appears blank, but using the PlayStation Eye, the TV will display the graphics that the player is supposed to see. Aside from being a new, exciting upgrade in gaming, the Wonderbook also revolutionizes storytelling and learning for young users.

    To kickstart the Wonderbook, Sony teams up with J.K. Rowling—creator of one of the most noteworthy and most expansive young adult novels, the Harry Potter series—in creating the first Wonderbook title, the Book of Spells. The Book of Spells basically lets players read about spells and cast them using PlayStation Move.

    The Wonderbook will be released in the fall together with the Book of Spells. Here are the promotional videos for both the Wonderbook and the Book of Spells:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHgev9b5E0A&feature=player_embedded

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI6CgE1_Ods

    Source of photo: here

    Video Game High School is the most fun you’ll see on the web today.

    If you are a reader of this website (and the magazine that spawned it), then you will at some point have dabbled in video games. Now, if you have dabbled in video games, you will, invariably, have wondered what you could do to make a living off of your totally healthy, reasonable gaming addiction. Well, gamer champions are made, not born. Where are they made, then? In school, of course. Video Game High School is a web series from the mind of internet media visionary Freddie Wong and a small group of dedicated geeks. One of the more successful Kickstarter projects, VGHS tells the story of Brian D, a regular gamer kid who lands a lucky kill and gets propelled into stardom, and the most exclusive gaming highschool in the world: VGHS. Yes. Gaming high schoolIt’s exactly what it sounds like. We could tell you more, but the series is only four episodes deep, so head over to www.rocketjump.com and get watching.

    Facebook tweaks photo-viewing on feed

    0

    Since last year, Facebook has made several changes to its interface, including the cover photo feature and the highly criticized Timeline. TechCrunch reports that Facebook will get another face-lift—this time, altering the way we see photos on the news feed.

    Photos in the news feed will be shown as enlarged versions that can be up to twice the original size. The new design also lets photo albums on the feed appear as one full, enlarged version of a photo on top of three thumbnails. The text in the news feed will also appear larger and wider spaced, says TechCrunch.

    This interface modification of the news feed emphasizes the photo-sharing capacity of Facebook and provides an easier way to view them on the feed without having to be redirected to the album itself.

    A month ago, Facebook already performed this change on its mobile interface. Seeing as they want to apply the same changes to the web interface, the enhanced mobile interface must have received positive feedback.

    If you’re not too excited about it, don’t worry. Facebook says that they will roll it out gradually, which means that not all users will immediately have access to this update when they start implementing the changes.

    Source of photo: here

    Asus unveils Tablet 600, world’s first commercial Windows 8 RT device

    Before we get carried away with Transforming Intel powered tablets and AIOs, let’s not forget that Asus still had some ARM related goodness in today’s COMPUTEX presser. The Taiwanese company unveiled their Tablet 600, which according to the company, is the world’s first Windwos 8 RT device. The Tablet 600 is powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor and has GeForce graphics inside. Unsurprisingly, the device comes with its own dock, which we guess would work just like the other tablet docks in their Transformer line.

    The device sports a 10.1-inch Super IPS+ panel, as well as a 8-megapixel camera on the back. Asus also says that the Tablet 600 has their SonicMaster audio technology embedded, so it’s not a stretch to assume that this particular device will have awesome sound to go with its fast performance. No price or availability for the Philippines have been set, unfortunately, but we do have a nice video of the device in action courtesy of NVIDIA. Check it out below.

    Google to unveil “the next dimension” of Google Maps

    We’ve seen a number of improvements on Google Maps over the years, including the remarkable turn-by-turn navigation that can be found on Android and the addition of the indoor floor plans that allow users to see the entire layout of a mapped building. Then there is also Street View and Google Earth. We can expect another enhancement to Google Maps to be unveiled to us really soon, as Google is getting ready to release “the next dimension” on June 6, 2012. That’s only 2 days away from now and we can only imagine what they have to offer.

    Supposedly, it’s expected that 3D maps will finally go live, and is made to help people get where they want to go both physically and virtually. Not much else has been revealed and so we’ll just have to wait until they give the official announcement.