Everyone’s going green, some are going because they care and some are doing it to please people. And Sony is doing its two bits to go green too! Sony KDL-46VE5 has a presence sensor which automatically switches off the panel if no one is watching it. Now don’t get all freaked out thinking that someone is invading your privacy. The panel has a motion detector below the panel and if it doesn’t feel anything moving in front of it for a long time, it gets switched off. The motion detector can detect up to ten feet and if no motion has been detected for a specified time (you can set it to 5, 30 or 60 minutes) the TV goes blank but the sound remains on. Blank TV will cut the power consumption to almost half. After 30 minutes it detects for motion again and if no motion is detected then the TV is switched off completely. The presence sensor gives a warning when the TV is about to be switched off. It says “The TV is about to turn off” and moving your body in front of the screen  [...]

Apple Magic Mouse is indeed magic! We were searching for buttons when this baby first landed onto our hands. But there are none on the mouse and it is all touch sensitive interface. The right click and left click is all there on the mouse, even if it looks invisible. Scrolling is also supported and all you have to do is move your finger along the surface but there are no movable parts which give you a moon walk kind of experience. Using the mouse was a pleasure, all you have to move your fingers on the aluminum surface. You can also zoom using this mouse, all you have to do is press the control key on the keyboard and then scroll. The mouse is not compatible with Windows, so you will need a MAC based PC if you want to use the pointer. The mouse supports multi touch gestures which is the best part. The multi touch is present not just on the top part of the mouse where the buttons are usually exist, but the entire mouse is touch sensitive. If you swipe two fingers sideways on  [...]

Canon PowerShot S90 has flash on the top of the body that pops up and retracts automatically when turned on and off. The camera is a bit slow when it comes to taking pictures, it will take 1.8 second for the first shot and then for shooting raw the time extends to 3.4 seconds. There are options for the advanced user like exposure bracketing and focus bracketing. These options are not recommended for persons who are using a camera for the first time, they are sure to get confused. There are17 options for ISO from ISO 80 to ISO 3,200. There are plenty of options available for this camera but you have to be a professional to understand them. We were happy with the lens, but there was a small amount of barrel distortion at the camera’s widest 28 mm equivalent position. The zoom is short on this camera (3.8x) The photo quality of this camera is one of the best we have seen, there is a wide option of resolution from 3648 x 2736 to 640 x 480. Pictures can be stored  [...]

Samsung HZ15W is a 10 MP camera and it is quite good, the photo quality didn’t disappoint us. But it was not impressive either. The camera can churn out photos with good detail and the sharpness. There is a command lever near the LCD which can be used to adjust exposure compensation, adjust ISO or white balance. The command lever sometimes comes in the way and there is a possibility of accidental presses while taking a picture or zooming. There is a four way directional pad that is used for changing display information, setting a timer, entering macro and manual focus, or turning on the flash. The Menu/OK button in the centre is used for accessing basic shooting, sound, display, and system settings. There is a Function button, which goes by the name Fn and it is for context sensitive shooting. If you use the command lever for ISO or white balance, then you can use the function button for exposure compensation, which will be controlled again by the command lever. A second press of the  [...]

The exterior of the camera is all metal  and looks quite rugged. It will sit in your pocket comfortably, it is compact and slim. The camera is 9.1 MP, the photos don’t look like they have been shot from a 9.1 MP rated camera. Photos could have been better. There are options on the camera which support high speed, but they consume extra battery and the resolution drops. Casio Exilim EX-FC100  has 5X optical zoom and we were glad with it, but then we realized that this option was not available for video shooting. In the video mode there are three options high speed, normal or slow shooting. In the slow shooting mode the video is captured in slow motion and you can click a specific picture. For example, a person is running to catch a bus, you are capturing the video in slow motion. You can run the video later and then click the picture where the person gets on to the bus. In the high speed mode, there are options for high speed anti shake and high speed night scene. The results  [...]

A mini-camcorder is for people who do not want to spend huge money on the full fledged camcorder but still want something that can play and record photos with good quality. Some look to substitute their phone cameras and buy these products. The body of the mini-camcorder is glossy and it attracts a lot of finger-prints, so you will have to wipe it all the time for keeping it clean. There is a microphone at the back of the screen which is for recording audio for video. The controls of the camera are placed well and can be easily accessed. The buttons may seem like they are too close to each other since it is not spacious in there. The camera mode has options of face detection, scene modes, filters and exposure, focus and ISO controls. Resolutions of images range from 640X480 to 4000X3000. Images will be stored in JPEG format. Resolution for video capture is 1280X720 and 640X480 in MP4 format. Video mode shooting programs available are lamp, fireworks, landscape, beach/snow,  [...]

Purchasing a product like Plasma TV is a once in a lifetime deal. At least you will never end up buying a plasma twice or thrice in your life unless you are born with a silver spoon. So it is necessary to do good research before you buy a panel. So lets see if this TV is worth your precious money. This plasma panel is massive 50 inch long. This should add to the viewing joy and it does! Watching HD content on this screen is pure joy and we hardly had any issues with it. The plasma HD had some problems with processing full HD content. HD content is of 1080p (1920X1080) resolution and the panel couldn’t take it smoothly. The panel is supposed to take three formats 720p (standard definition), 1080i (HD ready resolution) and 1080p (Full HD) The panel has PC connectivity and you can hook up your TV to this panel and enjoy the movies stored in your PC. It also has four HDMI ports in the back. There are 2 ten watt speakers on this TV, total comes to 20 watts. One thing that we  [...]

Envizen Digital Duo Box looks like a smaller version of laptop. It is very light and easy to carry around. It is meant for you to enjoy television while you are on the move or watch movies on DVDs. Or you can use this product when there are power cuts in the neighborhood. The player is pretty bad in the looks department, but performance wise it is impressive. DivX, the format which is preferred for movie piracy, is supported in this player. The seven inch screen won’t give you the out of the box experience and the small resolution makes it look more awful. But this is all you get when you ask for a portable player. A bigger screen would have meant a bigger player and also a heavier one. For playing TV you will have to move around your house and look for a sweet spot where you get a good signal. Chances are that you will get a good signal where there is a window or the terrace. TV experience is nowhere as good as bigger TV sets. If you live in an area where you don’t get good signal  [...]

For hard core audiophiles, wireless headsets are a strict no-no. They are willing to sacrifice wireless and go for wired headset. They say that wireless devices cannot deliver like wired ones. But this one may change their opinion. Nokia BH-905 is equipped with noise cancellation feature that keeps out most of the noise away when you are listening to music. Noise cancellation feature can be used in crowded streets or buses or even at home when people around are talking and you want to shut them off. The headset is capable of noise cancellation but doesn’t completely isolate you from the outside noise, but manages to keep most of it away from you so that nothing can come between you and your music. The cups of the ears also completely surround your ears and the feel of the cushions on the ears is quite good. Another important fact that is worth mentioning is the size of the headset. Would you carry this headset when you are going out? This is huge headset, if you are wearing  [...]

When it comes to making external drives you have got to be carefull because there are tons of hard drives in the market already and you have to make one that offers something different to the users. And there are constantly new hard drives that come up in the market so it is essential to make up a product that will survive the competition. A external USB hard drive is a small part of the PC and hence there is stiff competition among the manufacturers to pull down the price so as to sell more. So lets see if this drive has it what matters. La Cie’s Stark is damn cute! Yes, the drive is very attractive; it has a sheet of aluminum woven around it that give a sleek look. The aluminum is thick though and this adds to the weight of the drive. It reminds you of Apple’s iPod or the iMac computers where aluminum casing is used on the outside. The drive is bulky, weighs about 355 grams, so think twice if you are buying this one to carry data around. La Cie has paid more attention to  [...]