Gadget Access

After creating a buzz at this years CES, the MediaGate MG-450HD wireless media server has now been official released to the eager public. The MG-450HD is a highend HD media server / streamer designed to be an essential component of your digital lifestyle. With wired and wireless home entertainment options you can bring video, music and photos directly to your HDTV from your computer in HD.

The MediaGate MG-450HD works on 802.11g wireless and can support attached USB devices such as digital cameras. You can also add a hard drive to the MG-450HD for extra onboard storage. You will get HD resolutions all the way upto 1080p via the HDMI connections, there are also composite, s-video, stereo analog sound, and also optical / coaxial SPDIF digital audio for full 5.1 audio.

You can also use the networking to access and transfer data to the MG-450HD using the FTP server and client protocol from home or away. Use the MediaGate MG450HD to store your DVD movies, photos and music all in one place from your living room, or stream other content over the network from other sources.

With great working, and HD connections with digital audio, the MediaGate MG-450HD, at around $230 seems like a great deal, bringing your digital computer media direct to your HDTV in a simple and graceful manner.

More info: MediaGate
Supported video formats: AVI: MS-MPEG4v3/XviD/WMV9 (XviD with GMC option applied not supported) WMV: WMV9, ASF: WMV9, MP4: MPEG4 Video, DAT: MPEG1, VOB: MPEG2, MPG/MPEG: MPEG1/MPEG2, TP/TS/TRP: HD-MPEG2/SD-MPEG2.

HD outputs: HDMI (480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p), COMPONENT (480p, 720p, 1080i) S-Video, Composite.

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 23rd 2008 at 1:43AM
Yoggie, the company that just loves to take those pesky security duties off of your computer’s plate, is offering up yet another Linux-based mini-computer designed specifically to safeguard your laptop (and keep it focused on more important duties). Rather than utilizing USB, however, the Gatekeeper Card Pro slides right into that oft-neglected ExpressCard slot, giving laptop owners 13 security applications and the ability to rest easy. Of course, whether or not this convenience is really worth $199 is another question entirely.

[Via PC World / Yahoo]

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Filed under: Peripherals

For anyone who may have been holding out for an Eee PC because it was too expensive, is there anyone that really felt that, can now rest assured in that Amazon has begun offering some refurbished units at a discount.

Amazon currently has the black Asus Eee PC 701 available for as little as $341.29, which is actually a nice savings from the original $399.99 retail. The similar white model also has a few available but without such a big discount, those are starting at $360.

Product [Amazon] Via [Liliputing]

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by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 22nd 2008 at 7:14PM
Man, that tiny Eee PC can be used for just about anything: surfing the web, blogging, surreptitiously hiding inside an ATM machine and stealing your identity. You know, the usual stuff. Yeah, so three creative Brazilian thieves were recently caught stuffing a black Eee into an ATM, where it replaced the ordinary magical-money-making workings and instead stole unwitting customers’ card numbers and PINs. The thieves didn’t stop there, however — they purposefully damaged all the other nearby ATMs so that theirs would be the only one in service. Clever! Of course, that doesn’t explain why it was so easy to crack open the target ATM in the first place — we’d pretty much consider our cash flow problems solved if we could pull that trick. Check out the Brazilian TV report after the break — any Portuguese speakers care to translate?

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

Add this one to the rumor mill: T-Mobile will be getting its first 3G networks up and running by May, and will roll out UMTS network support for other markets shortly thereafter. On top of the list of markets that will be getting 3G network support is New York, while Phoenix barely makes it at 27th. But this is not about the numbers. If this rumor holds true, then a lot of people would be happy - T-Mobile might be able to sell more handsets because it can now offer those that have 3G network support. And customers will have more choices now; if they can afford to upgrade to 3G then why not? You think this has anything to do with the other rumors concerning a June release of a 3G capable internet device, though? It could be.

All in all, we can expect to see T-Mobile’s 3G network to roll out in 27 markets. The list:

• New York City
• Austin
• NJ and Long Island
• Las Vegas
• Minneapolis
• Miami
• Dallas
• Chicago
• Houston
• Philadelphia
• Denver
• Detroit
• Orlando
• Kansas City
• Atlanta
• Los Angeles
• New England
• Portland
• Sacramento
• San Diego
• Seattle
• Washington DC
• San Francisco
• Birmingham
• Memphis
• Tampa
• Phoenix

Didn’t see your city’s name in there? Don’t fret. This as of yet unconfirmed rumor can change any time. So keep your fingers crossed.

Via [CrunchGear]

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This strange looking device is actually quite neat. It’s called the Bedfan and it’s meant for those of you that are ‘hot’ sleepers and need a bit more airflow around you but perhaps without the noise and space requirements of a floor standing fan. Also, this can be geared specifically for 1 sleeper, particularly useful if you share the bed with your significant other and they don’t want this additional air.

The Bedfan runs on just 12V via an AC adapter and pulls in air from under your bed and pushes it where you direct it, perhaps in between your bedsheet and blanket. The speed is adjustable and it can pump out 100 CFM of airflow.

The picture below will give you a better idea of how this works.

It easily installs without tools. Just place the bracket in between your mattress and box spring.

Gimme!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $99.95
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

via OhGizmo!

Posted in Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation

The Sci-Fi channel’s gadget blog, Dvice is running a great article on how you can be ‘greener’ without spending a ton of money. Many of the 10 entries almost deserve their own write-up and we plan to do just that.

Among the top 10 are suggestions like putting an end to junk mail, using reusable shopping bags, riding shared vans and/or carpooling, e-cycling (c’mon geeks!), and even using your urine as a fertilizer for your plants.

While I hardly consider myself a fanatic when it comes to the environment, each passing day has me feeling that we’re going to experience some really horrible things on our planet, not that those things aren’t happening already, but it’s not something that gets quite enough media attention and so it’s not high enough in the public’s awareness (yet).

Even if you’re not an eco-conscious individual, take a look at some of these ideas as they may actually save you some money as well.

Posted in Miscellaneous

Filed in archive Tutorial by jim on April 23, 2008

<!– <rdf:Description rdf:about=”http://www.digital-shot.com/50226711/control_white_balance_in_your_digital_photographs.php” trackback:ping=”http://www.creative-weblogging.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.pl/120999″ dc:title=”Control White Balance In Your Digital Photographs” dc:identifier=”http://www.digital-shot.com/50226711/control_white_balance_in_your_digital_photographs.php” dc:subject=”Tutorial” dc:description=”" dc:creator=”jim” dc:date=”2008-04-23T00:00:03-08:00″ /> –>

While the "Auto" setting on most digital cameras usually provides good results under normal lighting conditions there are other controls you'll want to know about.

Sooner or later most amateur photographers, whose goal is to do produce more than basic snapshots, will start playing around with his or her camera's more advanced options.

One of the easiest of these to master is the "white balance" control found on all but the most basic of digital cameras.

Simply put this setting allows you to remove unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo.

Here's an excellent article about white balance in digital photography and this link takes you to a free tutorial about digital camera white balance control.

Take a camera with you whenever possible, and look around, you'll find a picture somewhere.

Source:www.photoaxe.com

by Paul Miller, posted Apr 22nd 2008 at 10:06AM
Hey, it’s still not the most svelte of all-in-one PCs, but given its predecessors we’ll really take whatever we can get. The Fujitsu F-A50 rocks a 16:9 16-inch display running at 1366 x 768, with a base that allows for adjustable height and angles for the PC. Unfortunately, 16:9 is about as wild as things get around here, with Core 2 Duo T8100 processor, Intel GM965 integrated graphics and so forth. WiFi is built-in, which is always nice to see on a desktop PC, and there’s even a PC card slot for expansion. The whole shebang weighs in at 12 pounds, and goes on sale in Japan on May 17th for around $1,300.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

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Filed under: Desktops

Based on some recently surfaced images it looks like Verizon will be the latest carrier to offer the widely popular Palm Centro. We have been seeing the blue Palm Centro turn up a few times recently, the first was in those on-line Centro user guides from Palm and based on those most people speculated it would turn up as an unlocked GSM model. That turned out to be untrue as we recently saw Mexican carriers Movistar and Telcel announce its availability.

With that it would have been safe to assume that we would not be seeing it land in the US anytime soon, luckily for Verizon customers it looks like they will soon be getting the blue Centro as well. The Centro, while still unannounced is expected to be available soon.

Keep reading for a backside pic of the blue Centro…

Via [gadgetsonthego] Read [Engadget Mobile]

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