In a time where technology allows everything to be captured in super sharp high definition. Many look back at the hazy imagery of the past with nostalgia (If their old enough) and envy (If they are not). There's something calming and innately artistic in the grain and colour imbalance found in old images and film. Lomography is becoming ever more popular and now Superhead have produced a new version of their Digital Harinezumi camera which allows the user to capture images somewhat akin to the old 8mm camera's of the past, as well as lomo like snaps. aesthetically its form resembles that of the old 110 film that was a popular choice for home snaps in the 70's and early 80's. For those that want that retro feel without the retro hassle of purchasing film and getting it developed the Digital Harinezumi 2 looks to be a great choice.

Make sure you check out Superheadz Youtube channel an the footage shot with teh camera on Vimeo

www.superheadz.com/digitalharinezumi

Leigh

Latemag went to The Gadget Show Live last week and to make sure we actually got there, we test drove the Navigon 6350 Live, which pleased to say, got us there hunky dory and I was also mightily impressed with the wizzy extras and subtle attention to detail that made the 6350 Live a far superior unit to my old sat nav (no names mentioned).

The Navigon 6350 Live isn’t just your typical satellite navigation to help map-challenged folk get from A-B. It also features Navigon’s Live Services, providing you with real time information from traffic updates to the nearest car parks with available spaces. The Live Services are provided via a separate module which is plugged into the main unit. This makes the Live Services optional which is actually beneficial as the service is free of charge for the first 3 months, after which time it will set you back £56 per year if you renew in the first 30 days of use, or £75 thereafter. Whilst some of the Live features are a bit gimmicky (Weather Live, I can see its raining thanks), the Live Traffic is extremely useful as the unit will suddenly announce that the road you are travelling down has congestion a few miles ahead and will then proceed to calculate another route for you if you wish to avoid the bottleneck – for those even mildly adverse to sitting in traffic jams this feature alone is well worth £56 per year.

Like the majority of sat navs, the Navigon 6350 has a touch screen interface and a large flat screen (4.3" touchscreen in 16 : 9 format) so sausage fingered folk need not worry about any fiddly finger work to operate. When you first type in your chosen destination the unit will calculate a number of different routes for you to choose from. This is a nifty feature as it allows you to not be completely at the whimsical mercy of an orientation device, many of which typically seem to take perverse pleasure in sending you the long way round. Once you have selected your route, next you can choose which view you would like to use. If the traditional “flat map” view doesn’t tickle your fancy, there is the Panorama View 3D which shows you the landscape you are travelling through in 3D i.e. mountains and valleys or the City View 3D which shows you the city scape with all the buildings in their full 3D glory. Or perhaps you would rather use the Landmark 3D view, which points out interesting tourist attractions along route. To be honest I found the 3D views a bit distracting but that may be because I’m not use to them, but besides we actually needed to arrive at the Gadget Show Live in time for the press preview morning so experimenting with 3D views didn’t seem like a good idea. 

Once you set off on your journey, a nice polite lady purrs directions, turnings and useful information at you, such as which lane you need to be in before a junction (liked that a lot). However despite being mostly calm and helpful she can be a bit melodramatic at times – forthcoming speed cameras result in sinister warnings of “Beware!” and approaching corners incur shivering exclamations of “Danger!” It got to the point where we were in fits of giggles and wondering whether our sat nav would feel more at home navigating us through a haunted house instead. Though I must not tease too much as the voice capabilities of the Navigon 6350 are really quite impressive. The text-to-speech function means that names of roads/streets are actually vocally announced and all the main functions of the device can be operated through voice commands. Because there is also built in blue-tooth, you can connect your mobile phone to the Navigon 6350 meaning you can conveniently and safely access your address book via the display, and make calls, including by using the voice commands. This really does make the unit’s safety credentials pretty good as it goes a long way to minimising the amount of time you need to take your eyes off the road to follow directions, give commands or make phone calls. 

Another great feature is the fact you can use the unit for pedestrian navigation  (can see the Landmark 3D view being more useful here, say if you were walking round London looking for the typical tourist traps). There is even the capability to record the location of where you have parked your car so you can easily find it again (I didn’t test this but as someone who regularly looses their automobile I can see this being a God send). 

In the box are the unit itself, the Live module, an in car charger, a velvet carry pouch and the windscreen holder. The windscreen holder is a quite a chunky fellow and I was a bit worried about it being able to stay put. However there is the ability to use an allen key to tighten the suction pad really tightly to the windscreen which actually makes it really robust – it didn’t fall off once. The instruction manual that comes with the unit is on the light side but you can find further instructions on Navigon’s website as well as all the map updates.

Overall I was genuinely impressed with the Navigon 6350 Live as although the unit seems slightly on the pricey side at £279.99, I would say it really is packed with useful features that really do make it stand out from the crowd and justify the price tag. 

Jo

“Rocket” is the recently launched brand by two young Italian designers from Milan, specialising in manufacturing distinctly original home decor items particularly products that present common objects in a new light. Their motto is that design should be fun, original and unconventional but also affordable whilst still encapsulating that “Made in Italy” style and quality. 

 Their debut collection comprises of 10 designs which draw strong inspiration from their common infatuation for rock n roll and disco culture. The designs are fun, vibrant and playful (I am particularly liking the Audio Cassette Desk Shelf) and stay true to their motto. 

You can catch them at the Milan Furniture Fair 2010 (Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano), 14th – 19th April, or if you’re not swinging past that neck of the woods you can find out more and see the whole collection via their website www.rocketdesign.it

Jo

Saw these at The Gadget Show Live and thought they where rather cool. Each lamp table stands 75cm and is welded to a chequer-plate base for added stability. The detailing incorporates bearings, nuts, springs, cogs, bolts, chains and steel fabrication.

With a new Predator movie on the way, it's the perfect time to get on for the sci-fi fan who thought they had it all.

Pick yours up from ProMech Racing

Leigh

For the past week I’ve been test driving Motorola’s Milestone and devouring of all its nutritious Android goodness. Here’s the lowdown...

Aesthetics & Build

The first thing that strikes you when you take the Milestone out of the box is the weight. As one of the heavy weights in the Android market, the Milestone weighs in at 165g but it only takes you a second to realise that this is down to muscle rather than blubber. The cold smooth metal casing and robust pull-out QWERTY keyboard may add weight, but are also a reflection of the top-notch build quality. And besides, it’s hardly fat at 13.7mm thick. Suddenly that 165g is a sturdy reassurance that the Milestone is going to take all the Android abuse your nifty thumbs can throw at it.

The overall design is a mix of austere industrialism and 80’s retro, which won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but perhaps a smart move on Motorola’s part, capturing the love of all things 80’s that pop culture is awash with today.

The 3.7"; WVGA (480 x 854 pixels); 16:9 widescreen TFT dominates the front of the phone, the only other features are 4 touch menu buttons and a somewhat peculiar overhanging lip on the bottom or right hand side, depending whether you are holding the handset vertically or horizontally. Visually it looks a little strange and you do wonder why it’s there; a design decision or a hardware necessity? On closer inspection the “lip” does actually contain the microphone, so one assumes it was a brains rather than beauty feature.  Still they say beauty is based on symmetry and if that rings true for you, the Milestone’s off-kilt lip may be a turn off.

Functionality

Well being an Android handset, the real selling point is the wonderful world of widgets, apps and games that are only a click or two away. But for those not wanting to compromise on traditional phone features, the Milestone doesn’t disappoint here either. In terms of messaging, the Milestone will happily text, email and voicemail. Entertainment is fully covered with the Media and Music player supporting all the usual suspects i.e. MP3, WAV, MPEG-4. Imaging whilst not the best spec on the market, will still be perfectly satisfying for all but the keenest photographer, with a 5MP camera, 4x digital zoom and video capture of DVD quality up to 24fps ; D1 (720x480) resolution. For the more pragmatic amongst you, there’s an alarm clock (featuring the most  alarming noises I’ve heard in a while, perhaps translating that functional requirement a tad too literally), a calendar and flight mode. There’s built in GPS, Google maps and direction support for those of you prone to getting lost. Oh, and did I mention you can use it as a phone too (tongue now in cheek).

The availability of the Android apps really is the winner though. Literally hours of fun (I would highly recommend a healthy dose of nostalgia in the brilliant ConnectFour). Social Media addicts will love the Tweetcaster and Fbook apps.

Usability

The Milestone uses Android 2.0, Google’s operating system for mobile phones. Apart from the 4 permanent touch buttons on the screen casing, the majority of the navigation and menu options are controlled through the touch screen. This can take a little bit of getting use to, especially to newbies. Whilst you are finding your touch screen feet, it can be a little frustrating when you intend to scroll but accidently open a menu item. Zooming in and out of browser windows and maps with a “pinching and expanding” motion is quite nifty and makes for quick and easy browsing.

The general premise of the menu system is that you have a “home page” on which you can make short cut icons to your favourite/most used menu options. Then there is a swipe out menu containing all your menu items (which can get quite busy depending on how many apps/games/widgets you have downloaded from the Android market place). You tap the menu item to open it, then hit the menu button (one of the 4 permanent buttons on the screen casing) to open the sub menu, or options. Generally speaking the interface is intuitive however there are instances where it can be tricky. For example, if you want to send a text message to a contact in your phone, you need to go to “Contacts” and not “Messages”. If you go directly into messages you need to know the recipients number off by heart as there isn’t a link to your Contacts that way round, which isn’t all that logical at first.

When on a call the touch screen can be a little annoying as if you are not careful your pesky cheek can push buttons on the screen such as “put on hold” or “hang up”. This does make it somewhat irksome as a phone as you have to be a little too delicate – forget trying to hold the phone between your cheek and shoulder to free your hands up for anything.

The handset can be used vertically or horizontally, depending on personal preference/what you are doing. The screen is motion censored to adjust depending on which way you hold the handset, which works pretty well without too much lag.
The pullout QWERTY keyboard is a nice addition, though I feel it’s a little let down by the keys as there is very little to differentiate between the feel of individual keys and it’s very easy to press the wrong one by accident. Strangely, I actually found the on-screen QWERTY a bit more reliable to use. However the pull out QWERTY does have a D-Pad, which makes scrolling and selecting a cinch.

Performance

Despite having a fairly slow start up, the actual response speed of the OS and functionality is pretty good. A full battery charge lasted just under 48 hours and that included about 45 minutes of ConnectFour, a 15 min phone call, and general messing around with various features for over an hour or so. A handset with a 3.7” TFT screen is never going to compete with “old-school” phones, but the Milestone isn’t too bad considering.

The video playback is occasionally a little pixelated, especially with the built in BBC iplayer app, but in general it’s not too bad. What is impressive though is the speaker quality and volume level. Even if you are not using the 3.5mm headphone jack, the speakers on the Milestone actually outperform those on my Toshiba mini laptop, so was quite impressed there.

The one thing I was underwhelmed by was the quality of the camera. The photos appear grainy with washed out colours. When taking photos in poor light i.e. indoors, the image on the screen is very dark, the actual photo brightens up with the flash but this does make it somewhat hard to frame your subjects as you only really see them after the photo has been taken!

In the Box

Other than the handset itself, the box has a few other goodies. There’s obviously the manual (very small, not very detailed), and also the CD for installing Motorola’s Media link to your PC. Quite pleased to see the charger is USB adaptable so can either charge straight from the mains or via a PC/Laptop (With the shorter battery life on these large screen phones, I assume this is a must functionality). There’s also a pair of in-ear headphones/ hands free.

For more information check out Motorola’s website

Jo

I remember when it was all the rage to have a phone with interchangeable covers (anyone else have a Nokia 3310?!). All of a sudden you didn’t have to have the bog standard black or silver; you could be an individual and choose a decorative cover that reflected your personality or mood.  Very exciting stuff that phone manufactures have been offering for years, but however many fancy designs and iridescent colours they offered, it was never truly “you” as all you were doing was picking someone else’s design. There was always the risk your poor little phone would have the misfortune to wear the same dress to the party as another.

Well HTC have now taken the “phone personalisation” a little further with true “phone customisation”. With the HTC Tattoo you can actually fully design your own custom cover, all done through an intuitive interface online. You can design both the front and back of the phone, changing the background colour, adding patterns, placement symbols, text and images. You can even upload your own images and photos to use – so if you want Fluffy permantly embedded into your phone cover, well now you can. Your phone will always be an individual. If you don’t have any imagination or have little trust in your aesthetic eye, you can always choose from a list of pre-designed covers to jazz up your HTC Tattoo.

It’s an Android phone so there’s access to apps galore and it’s an online gateway to all your favourites such as Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. There’s a 3.2MB camera and MP3 player (with a 3.5 mm audio jack), so it’s a good all-rounder if you like a balance between imaging and music on the go. Weighing in at 113 grams and with a 2.8-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen it’s not the smallest Android phone out there – but hey, who would see your funky design if it were!

For more information visit: HTC Tattoo

Jo

We lucky people at Latemag got the opportunity to have some hands on experience with Sony Ericsson’s  Xperia™ X10 family before their official UK release in Q1/Q2 this year. Now I’ve always been a Sony Ericsson chick (my last 5 contract phones have all been Sony Ericsson) due to their superior battery life and easy to use menu systems (not to mention their sleek and shiny looks), but did the latest addition to the Sony Ericsson family live up to expectations?

Well first off, let’s take a high-level look at the specs...

Gone are the days when a phone was just a phone, digital entertainment required separate technological trinkets, social networking was still a buzzword gestating in the brains of PR gurus and no, we didn’t have an app for that. Nowadays we want to stay connected to the world at all times, we want a singular device to entertain us when we’re on the move and yes, we want an app for everything. This is where the Xperia™ X10 family ticks all the boxes; it’s just a case of choosing which sibling is your perfect match.

Making up the bunch to pick from are the X10, the X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro. All three are Sony Ericsson’s first Android compatible handsets. Android  is Google’s set of software for mobile devices including an operating system, middleware and applications. This opens up a whole new world of 1000’s of apps for your X10 phone. Also present across the range is Sony Ericsson’s Timescape™. Timescape™ manages all your Facebook™, Twitter™, photos, calls, emails, and texts all in one place and in one view like a deck of cards. The larger of the handsets, the X10 also has Mediascape, the smart way to get all the music, photos, videos you want from your favorite artists in one place.

As all three phones have very similar specs, choosing which of the siblings to go for is really a case of 3 main criteria, imaging, user interface and aesthetics. If imaging is your bag then the X10 has an 8.1 megapixel camera and Mediascape whereas the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro have a 5 megapixel camera and no Mediascape. If you use your mobile to send emails on the go then you may do better with the X10 Mini Pro as this has a full pull out Qwerty keyboard, making longer texts and emails easier, as well as a touch screen interface (both the X10 and X10 Mini have just a touch screen interface).

All three models are great looking, sleek, thin and light although varying in size. The X10 is the bigger of the bunch with its 480 x 854 pixels WVGA 65,536-color TFT touch screen.

So after having a play around what did we think?

Well my personal favorite was the X10 Mini, just call me a sucker for small cute things (this little cutester is the smallest Android phone on the market weighing in at 88g and 83.0 x 50.0 x 16.0 mm in size).

I haven’t actually had a touch screen interface before but I found it to be intuitive and responsive and sausage fingers didn’t prove to be as problematic as I thought they’d be (all 3 models have a touch screen interface but the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro operate slightly differently to the X10 due to the smaller screen size and this has been well thought out). The Qwerty keyboard on the X10 Mini Pro was also a nice addition and with its raised keys and space bar in the correct place it was fast and easy to use without making typos. With some pull out phones they can feel a little fragile but the build quality on the X10 Mini Pro is great and I wouldn’t worry about breaking it.

The range of features and apps were also impressive (particularly watching the X10 Mini Pro scan an embroidered brand logo on the demonstrator’s shirt and proceed to scour the internet bringing back information and websites linked to the brand!).

Overall these are great looking phones that are feature rich and intuitive to use. I think Sony Ericsson have done well providing a choice of 3 models in the family allowing you to really choose a model that suits the way you want to use it. After having a play around I’m still a loyal Sony Ericsson fan but my only regret is I’ve still got a year to go until I’m eligible for an upgrade!!

For more information visit Sony Ericsson

Jo

The game is set in a post-apocalyptic, retro-futurist Las Vegas following the Great War between the US, China and other countries, a conventional and nuclear war that occurred on October 23, 2077 and lasted less than two hours despite causing immense damage and destruction. Before the Great War were the Resource Wars, during which the United Nations disbanded, a plague rendered the United States paranoid, and Canada was annexed. ... fallout.wikia.com

Leigh

Concept: freedom; realisation: space-egg.

When faced with the limitations of building regulations concerning house extension, dmvA Architects hatched a unique solution; the hard boiled egg-like structure that is Blob VB3. This mobile/art construction is the product of 18-months work of skirting around strict building codes, with the result a polyester ovate spheroid of highly flexible, mobile usage. At 20m2 and containing all relevant necessities for occasional human habitation (bathroom, kitchen, lighting, bed and storage,) Blob VB3 is ideal as an office, guest house or simply a nucleal retreat. The rovin' ovum is currently on exhibition at the Verbeke Foundation.

Have a peek at the construction on our Tumblr.

Via: CubeMe

Fiona

If you've been wondering what's next on Sony Ericsson's agenda for release from their "communication entertainment" portfolio, wonder no more, for the first quarter of 2010 will bring their new Vivaz handset to the market. 

The Vivaz promises HD video capture and direct upload via pre-loaded applications for the shoot-and-share generation, coupled with the 'human curvature' ergonomics introduced with the Xperia X10. Operating on the Symbian S60 5th edition system and featuring an 8.1-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, Media Player and 3.2-inch wide touchscreen, the Vivaz aims to offer an intuitive and spontaneous user experience. The handset will be coming to you in four out of this world colour options - Moon Silver, Cosmic Black, Galaxy Blue and Venus Ruby.

Check out LateMag's Tumblr for Sony Ericsson's Daniel Sandblom giving a video presentation on the Vivaz. 

Fiona

Sony Ericsson has garnered quite a reputation over recent years for successfully cornering the snap-happy handset market, upping the Megapixel stakes with enough regularity to stay top of the game. Unsurprising, then, that their new Satio model is packing quite the shutter-punch of a massive 12.1-MP. However, this megapixel mammoth expands mere cameraphone kudos with its smartphone multi-media functionality running on the Symbian S60 OS. But does Sony Ericsson’s much-anticipated market competitor live up to the hype or is it just a pretty interface? 

Hands-On And Aesthetics

When you initially handle this surprisingly lightweight model you might well be of the thinking that the overall feel is somewhat marred by the slight extra bulk of the camera. However, as we shall come to see, once you’ve got to grips with testing out the camera functionality all will be forgiven. The 3.5-inch touchscreen is aided only by the call, end and menu hard keys on the upper face, with the sliding keylock, connector and camera control buttons located to either side. All this culminates in the Satio being a pleasingly clean and minimal handset to hold and behold. 

Usability And Functionality

The sliding lock mechanism and resistive touchscreen may be a little trying on the patience of some people who are accustomed to other methods, however, this issue is really one of personal preference. For me, even with my low-level patience, I still prefer to press with intent rather than deal with the hyper-sensitive capacitive option which I find can be massively aggravating when it takes it upon itself to do what you’ve not asked it to do, particularly when you’re in the middle of something else. Similarly, the lock mechanism is actually pretty handy once you’ve learnt to pay attention to it, especially when dealing with almost entirely touch-sensitive commands. If you’ve got sausages for fingers and are worried about getting your digits round the digits, fear not for the stylus is on hand to aid your dexterity.

Once on the home screen, several major feature icons help you access the main functions, so making your way around the handset is pretty self-explanatory. Basic phone functions are easy to use, although lack of hard QWERTY keyboard may take some getting used to if you’re not touchscreen familiar. 

Multi-media functionality is good, thanks largely to the 16:9 screen which makes viewing a pleasurable breeze. Likewise the net, accessed via Wi-Fi, is pretty speedy and when you tilt to widescreen it’s a lot less straining to scan. Movies can be downloaded at Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow arena, and if the demo video quality is anything to go by the resolution is high enough for excellent quality entertainment on the go. Musically, the downside is the lack of 3.5mm headphone jack, although Sony Ericsson fans will know that traditionally, if you’ve opted for the cameraphone, that’ll take precedence over Walkman functionality (their W series has that covered.)With an adaptor, though, you’ll be able to enjoy the FM radio, TrackID and player shuffle capabilities. (Point to note here, though, is that onboard memory is not massive at 128MB, although since Sony have done away with their proprietary memory stick in favour of the microSD card format, that’s easily overcome.)

Camera

And so to the Satio’s true selling point, the mighty 12.1MP camera. As a cameraphone, this is where Sony Ericsson is, of course, seeking to take the leading edge over the competition, but how does it actually fare? Really pretty fantastically, actually. Picture quality coupled with camera functionality is as superb as you’d expect from the people who uphold  the reputation for excelling in this particular field. For a handset camera, this is as near as you’ll get to digital quality at the moment. Pics are crispy gorgeous, with truly impressive clarity in the natural light that’ll delight any roaming snap-fanatic (please see my flickr stream of snowy captures as examples.) Uploading is simple via USB connection, and Picasa and Facebook links are already included to directly share your lovely adventures, which you can happily whizz through with the handy scroll function. Indoor pics will appear a little grainy, though, if you’ve not enough natural light, but with the Xenon flash employed to work its magic, this is much improved. 

Whether you are a snap-and-go pro or less sure of finding your way around a high-spec cameraphone, Sony Ericsson has put in massive effort to ensure you have all you need at your fingertips. There is a vast range of features available to help you make the best of your photographic efforts, including Smile Detection for capturing your less miserable friends and BestPic which is ideal for capturing moving objects in quick succession at an interval speed set by yourself so you may pick the best photo, as the title suggests. Panorama, also, is handy for the great outdoors as it will fuse a triptych seamlessly as a single wide photo. Video shoot/playback/upload follows similar lines and a side button gives the option to move easily and quickly between photo and video.

Overview

Despite some minor niggles, much of which can be open to personal preference anyway, the Sony Ericsson Satio really is smartphone/cameraphone combo well worth investing in. Whether or not the Satio will encroach upon the iPhone market really is a moot point when you consider the steadfast brand loyalty. However, for those open to life outside the Apple brand, the Satio, with its superior camera and smartphone capabilities, doubtless has the edge on its rivals, such as the Nokia N97 and Samsung Pixon 12. Absolutely ideal multi-media phone for those who seek the integration of near-digital quality snaps.  

Sony Ericsson Satio

Fiona

The Mini NB200 (NB205 in The US) is the second netbook from Toshiba. The spec includes Intel's Atom N280 processor clocked at 1.66 GHz. 1 GB of RAM (upgradeable to 2 GB), 250 GB Serial ATA hard drive (There is a 160GB version available), webcam, full size keyboard, memory card reader , Wi-Fi (54g) Bluetooth and Windows 7 starter.

Design: The NB200's design is one of the smartest looking amogs the currently available crop of netbooks. Just 25mm think and (in ;the case of mine) a rather fetching Brown satin case matched with silver detailing and keyboard. It features a full sized keyboard, although the tab key is a little on the small side. The trackpad is a decent size for a netbook too. The calculator style keys are well spaced making typing fairly stress free.

The 1024x600 resolution 10.1 inch screen is bright and clear, though the glossy screen could be problematic in bright sunlight. Windows 7's ability to hide the task bar comes in handy as digital real estate is at a premium.

Connectivity: The Toshiba Mini features 3 USB ports, a card reader, Bluetooth and Wi-fi, Ethernet and analogue video output. The USB can be set to charge items while the netbook sleeps.

Performance: This is a netbook, which essentially means light use and predominately web based tasks. Its not going to replace your desktop / Laptop for processor heavy tasks. While out of the box its able to run web video (BBC iPlayer / Youtube) however it did struggle trying to run hi-def from vimeo. Truth be told many netbooks are much of a muchness as they say, an Atom processor teamed with 1GB of memory and a 10.1 inch screen. Though the NB200 is not really very suited to Hi-Def playback out of the box it's as good as you will likley get with that spec Office tasks etc. run with ease though I would suggest that this and all netbooks could do with 2GB of ram as standard and would suggest purchasing one of the available 2GB sticks for netbooks. Windows 7 starter is certainly an improvement over Vista in terms of memory use and does give a viable option over the ageing XP OS. Power consumption is pretty good giving a claimed up to 9 hours using the right settings, though realistically if your machines is in constant use its more likely to be around 6 or 7, though that's still excellent.

In conclusion, if your looking to buy a netbook this Christmas or January sales this is a best of breed machine for the price. Great styling, phenomenal battery life and A keyboard you can type on without your hand becoming malformed claws. Plus when you whip it out in the local coffee shop you don't look like you've robbed a small child of her "Barbie's first pc". The Toshiba NB200 is available at amazon.co.uk and in North America from as the NB205 from amazon.com

Leigh

For the hardcore gamers who are flush with the cash, I present to you the Ostendo CRVD 43-inch curved monitor...

At this time of year, particularly, there is a whole world of gadgetry vying to catch your eye and empty your pocket, some worthy and some not. At a pricey $6,499, Ostendo's 'world's first curved desktop monitor' does, I do believe, fit into the former category. This 43-inch behemoth has a 90-degree field of vision which uniquely engages the peripheral vision to give you what is, apparently, "an unmatched immersive viewing experience." With its 2880 x 900 quad-DLP display, seamlessly curvaceous screen, compatability with existing operating systems and ability to open multiple applications at once, the CRVD claims to have the ability to up your productivity levels by 30%...or you can just put 3 together, as seen in the video below, and have the drive of your virtual life. (All work and no play an' all that.)

GAME PITCH: being as my virtual driving's as infinitely incompetent as my real driving (i.e. I'm not licensed to do this,) I'd like to suggest a Morgan/EA Games collaboration of a more sedate nature so that I may also get in on the triple screen action. Driving Miss Fifi; a potter about in the British country lanes featuring an appearance by the royal badassery that is Thomas's beyond awesome dad, Cornelius. However, Driving Miss Fifi would not be without a smattering of high-octane thrills as, depending on your social leanings, you'll have the option to knock over the odd pauper or startle the hunt horses to the ends of trampling their charge as they wimper something about affronts to their civil liberties. Interested parties may apply within.

Via: OhGizmo!

Fiona

You may not need to be posh to be privileged, but you'll need the patience of a saint and the bank balance of a sinner to furnish your lifestyle with the wickedly covetable Aero SuperSports and AeroMax models from the Morgan Motor Company. The approximately £110,000 price tag ensures these hand-built British beauties are reassuringly expensive, but the years-long waiting list compliments with similarly reassuring exclusivity (according to Forbes, the AeroMax's limited production is now all spoken for.)

It's been a long time since H.F.S. Morgan designed his first 'runabout,' going on to expand his reputation for car manufacture through competition entry. And now, all these years later, there is no competition; the motor company that hypes "traditional meets cutting edge" is in a class of its own. To celebrate their centenary, Morgan put the wheels in motion with their new-model Aero SuperSports; a typically lightweight and "luxuriously flamboyant" sports car. The AeroMax, sporting that same uber-modern Penelope Pitstop meets Sin City re-working of the classic car design, is only further proof that there is nothing more strikingly beautiful than the elegance of a curvaceous body. '100 Years of Motoring Passion' can go for miles, if you know what I mean.

www.morgan-motor.co.uk

Fiona

The cute new Inspiron Zino HD mini desktop computer from Dell may, at a tiny 7.8" x 7.8" x 3.4" and 3.53lb weigh-in, seem like it's only nipping at the heels of its larger counterparts, but its dinky dimensions belie some pretty impressive capabilities. 

With a choice of interchangeable colour and design casings (7 colour options and 3 artist-designed patterns are offered to suit,) this techno-cube is certainly making a bid for your aesthetic affections, but with a decent spec back-up, the Inspiron Zino HD is boxing clever. Prices range from £299 upwards, with a basic package nicely suited to being tucked away as an element of a multi-media entertainment set-up (2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz memory, 320GB hard drive, integrated HD 3200 graphics card and DVD/CD RW optical drive.) The mid-range model comes with a monitor, more powerful processor, hard drive, increased memory, etc. to bridge the gap between the basic and higher-end model, which, from £719, comes with a Blu-Ray ROM drive aswell as standard increased performance to include a 1TB hard drive. So, whether you need a space-saving multi-media addition to your living room or powerful mini desktop office performer, Dell has it covered. 

4 USB ports and HDMI make it ideal for sitting under the living room flat-screen.

To find out more about the Dell Inspiron Zino HD visit Dell [US | UK]

Leigh

For ultra-slim, sleek productivity on the go, Sony's VAIO X Series is the business. With a starting weight of 655g (making it currently the world's lightest notebook with a screen size of 10" and above) and measuring no more than 13.9mm thick at any given point, X marks the spot for elegantly durable and easily portable notebook super-mobility. This light luxe technology is available in a choice of 3 colour finishes (gold, black and premium carbon) and customers in certain European countries can personalise their specification to suit via Sony's 'VAIO by you.'

VAIO Everywair WWAN lets you stay connected with high-speed access to 3G HSPA mobile broadband networks at download speeds up to 7.2 Mbps, and with a standard usage of 8 hours battery life doubling to 16 hours with the optional extended X battery accessory, the X Series is not only seriously mobile, but seriously dependable, too. A mic, headphone jack, card slot for memory stick and SD media, built-in Motion Eye camera and Solid State Drive make this an executive must. Optional accessories are also available, to include a leather slip case, external USB DVD drive and uniquely stylised wireless mouse.

Fiona

Calling all snap-happy web-lovers, this one's for you...

Sony's MHS-PM1 HD Snap Camera is not only the thing of compact, highly portable and aesthetically pleasing loveliness, but it's big on handy functionality, too. With the ability to shoot impressive 1080/30p HD footage for up to 25-minutes on one battery charge, the MHS-PM1, compatible with both Windows/Mac OS*1, is designed for quick and easy upload to personal computer folders or websites of your choice. Connectivity via the supplied USB cable will transfer the content directly to video sharing sites such as YouTube and Dailymotion, with the addition of a 'Sharemark' button to pre-select your favourites.

But if you have a preference for still photos, you won't be disappointed as it also features CMOS Sensor technology to produce crisp 5-megapixel pics. Add to that a 270-degree rotating swivel lens with 4x digital zoom that flips over for that increasingly popular pastime of snapping one's self at any given moment (handy if, like me, you're a huge Tumbr fan,) this palm-sized gadget is a must for fans and newcomers alike to the capture-and-share revolution.

www.sony.co.uk

Fiona

Employing their patented 'Heatstream' technology, French audio specialists Waterfall have introduced the Serio speaker system; the philosophical derivative of the Hurricane satellite speaker. Built exclusively out of glass and aluminium, Serio is a lightweight (1kg,) petite and minimalist shelf and floorstanding 2.1 or 5.1 set-up which utilises magnetic heat syphoning technology for maximum audio output, peaking at 150 watts. For the purpose of aesthetic technological assimilation, Serio comes in a choice of black, white or silver, though interchangeable coloured grills are an option if desired.

Visit Waterfall Audio for more info.

Via: Ubergizmo

Fiona

Do your face now!

Such is the imploration of Featuro, the company behind That's My Face, who would like to help you to "understand your face" or indeed the face of someone you stalk love. Utilising patent-pending facial reconstruction technologies, Featuro will transform your photos into 3D sculptures in a myriad of forms, including portraits and crystals. If that's not your style, you can also go for a custom action figure ("you can either choose to order the head only and fit it onto your existing action figure bodies, or buy our complete action-figures pre-fitted and fully clothed,") or perhaps something from the Head range whch offers, amongst others, Pin Head, Cup Head, and, for that Ed Gein touch, Braincase (a one-of-a-kind full head storage box with cranial lid and inner brain lid.)

In the further adventures of Featuro's mission for full-scale facial understanding, they've teamed up with MechRC to offer the as yet unavailable "advanced humanoid robot" which you may customise with the face of your choice. And, though the spooky revelry is over for this year, you may like to consider their idea to "wear someone else's face for Halloween" next year ("this may be the ideal way to scare friends at Halloween" - you don't say.) Or you may prefer to opt for their other suggestion for celebratory scares by wearing the face of a well-known serial killer of your choice.

 Visit That'sMyFace and let them homage your visage.

Fiona

Spanish company Navarro Azorínis the leading manufacturer of furniture handles in their domestic market. Their collections range from natural leather or Swarovski crystals for those drawn to sparkly things. Their Glam range features, Illustrations, pop art, fruit, vegetables, landscapes and photos, but bespoke options mean any design can be used.

For more information visit www.na-spain.com

Leigh

The digital photography competition (Europe) is open for six months from November 2009 until April 2010. Each month, a winner will be chosen and awarded a Lumix DMC-ZX1 the latest digital compact camera from Panasonic. The overall winner of the Lumix Award competition – for the single best digital photo - will win a Lumix DMC-GF1, the worlds smallest and lightest interchangeable lens system camera** from Panasonic along with tickets to see the Blue Man Group. Two runner-ups will each receive a Lumix DMC-FZ38 digital camera. All submitted digital photographs will be reviewed and judged by an independent panel of professional photographers and creative directors.

Under the theme of "Visualise Music," digital photographers are invited to submit each month one digital image that best captures the moment when music, whether through the sound of an instrument or every day life, impacts our visual senses.For further information on the Lumix Award competition or to see the submitted images, please visit: www.lumixaward.com

Via: www.lumixaward.com

Leigh

Trailer for Machinarium an independent puzzle / adventure game developed by the makers of web-games Samorost and Samorost2.

You can play a demo online or download one via Steam. The full version is availble now again via the website of Steam.

www.machinarium.com

Via: amanita-design.net

Leigh

It's exciting technological times for our friends across the pond as tomorrow (Friday) night will see the launch of coast-to-coast entertainment goodness courtesy of Studio 3 Partners' (Paramount/Viacom, MGM and Lionsgate) bouncing bundle of joy, EpixHD. And in light of this momentous occasion, yours truly has had the irrefutable pleasure of conversing with Emil Rensing, head of online for Studio 3, to get the scoop on just what it is we're missing out on here in the UK.

Available nationwide to those subscribed to the Verizon FiOS system, EpixHD promises to furnish those lucky souls with a veritable feast of audio/visual delectations, kicking off with an impressive line-up tomorrow night. But behind the glittering launch (Iron Man, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and re-patriated Queen of Pop, Madonna, will all be present to usher in this next-gen entertainment medium) lies a (thankfully) forward-thinking model that not only has an eye on the media consumption zeitgeist, but to its certain evolution, too.

What EpixHD will bring is a premium television channel which will provide on-demand streaming and television with the addition of original content. Movies licensed directly from the studios, which have up until now had a year-long wait for cable network premiere screenings, will debut after only 8 months. Musical content, too, will feature heavily, as will comedy exclusives. And with some interesting sounding creative partnerships in the pipeline, EpixHD will be offering original programming to its viewers aswell. But that's not quite all, folks, as there will be a component, namely the 'Private Screening' feature, that'll integrate social media into the bargain to boot, enabling simultaneous multi-party viewings coupled with a real time chat platform.

Entertainment envy aside, this is great news for the future of visual media. As previously stated, the evolution of our consumption is natural and undeniable, and it is perilous to ignore this. To have content on-demand that is so highly personally usable makes previous viewing seem positively archaic. It's become less of a frivolous luxury and more of an accepted necessity to use media in this way. After all, 'on-demand,' for all its petulantly instantaneous and selfish connotations, is a suitable terminology indeed for what we rightly expect from today's technology. And, to paraphrase lyrics sampled by the mighty EPMD, you've got to give the people what they want.

So, don't fight for your right to partake, simply subscribe and you, too, can enjoy a whole world of entertainment in your living room from 8pm tomorrow night, ET.

Want to try it out? U.S. readers can DM us for VIP invites by following us on Twitter (@latemag) or DM me directly by following @fi_wilson. It's first come, first served, so get messaging!

For more information, check out EpixHD's website.

Fiona

Halloween is almost upon us and many will be donning the spooky apparel. But what's the more discerning dresser to do when faced with the conundrum of showing the love for all things ghoulish, yet preserving that impeccable sense of style? Well, if you can't fess up to dress up, Chop Shop has a solution; the undeadWe T-shirt. Fitted to adorn the forms of ladies and gentlemen alike, this t-shirt features "51 zombies, ghosts, mummies, spirits and other boo-tiful members of the living dead." And as if that isn't goodness enough, you can play 'spot the reference' as all the figures hail from pop-culture to legend. You can have a peep at their high-res flickr pic and see if you can guess the refs.

Get your spook on over at Chop Shop for $20.00

Via: Topless Robot

Fiona

"To celebrate the launch of the new Sony Ericsson Satio handset on Vodafone (UK), photographer to the stars Jillian Edelstein has been commissioned to embark on a unique mission to capture the undeniable beauty and individuality of 121 eyes in only 12.1 hours.

Jillian Edelstein is one of the world’s most influential and celebrated portrait photographers, having captured the likes of Woody Allen, Nelson Mandela, Helena Bonham Carter, Blur, Bill Nighly, Hayley Atewill and Simon Pegg to name but a few. Eyes Wide Open takes her gaze from the world of famous faces, and looks to delve into the realm of visual communication through the exploration of eyes."

Sony Ericsson's Satio handseta 12.1 megapixel camera, Xenon flash and 12 x digital zoom and a 16.9 nHD widescreen and 3.5 inch screen.

Sony Ericsson are searching for people from all over the country and all walks of life to take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of Eyes Wide Open. Members of the public can find out more and win the chance to be involved by visiting www.eyeswideopen.uk.net.  Simply upload your details, an image of your eyes and tell us why you’d like to be involved.

Jillian will be personally selecting the 61 participants from all applicants and inviting them to an invitation only Satio studio photoshoot. Taking place during the first week of December at central London Vodafone store.

www.eyeswideopen.uk.net

Leigh