I know, I know this is a long overdue post considering this is probably one of my most-anticipated gadgets since I got the LX3. But finally I am able to find time to write about it.

For those who don’t know, this is the upcoming Panasonic Lumix LX5, the successor to the popular Lumix LX3 which I currently own. It looks pretty much the same as the LX3 and I find it nice that they’ve decided to stick to the form factor that made them popular. Last thing I would have wanted to see is it growing a few more millimeters in thickness or width causing it not to fit most of my pants pockets. Continue Reading

I mentioned in a previous post that I had started using a BlackBerry and I must say that it’s been a fun device to use so far. That is until you realize how much an unlimited data plan costs. My device is an unlocked/open line device so that means I can put in any SIM card from any service provider and I’d be able to use it.

When I first purchased my BB, there were two service providers here in the Philippines that offered BIS: SMART and Globe Telecomm. I maintain two numbers: a Globe prepaid account and a Sun line. I was happy to find out that Globe had released a prepaid BIS offering for those who have BlackBerry devices but didn’t want to sign up for a postpaid plan. I was more than happy to fork over Php1,200 for a 30-day unlimited service.

I just told myself that it’s just Php600 per payday.

Right. Continue Reading

Saw an image from Engadget, found it’s high resolution version in deviantart, and converted into my wallpaper.

A bit of a deviation from just talking about toys: I ran into this article from Engadget about something that Honda’s got in the works. Personally, I wouldn’t mind driving around in it.

This is Honda’s 3R-C. We’ve seen a lot of personal carriers come and go but personally, I’m liking this one a lot. It’s got that Appleseed look to it or some futuristic mecha anime series…or maybe some Isaac Asimov novel. The canopy looks cramped from this point of view and it would seem that the pilot would be seated properly but the steering console would be right up the pilot’s face which would feel weird if not dangerous. I am still liking the design though. Still no actual details aside from it being battery-powered.

We’ll just have to wait for its unveiling in Geneva.

Image and other information taken from Engadget.

What’s your take on personal carriers/transporters? I think this would be neat if you’re working in a facility where moving from one site to the other takes a lot of time if done on foot. But then if you were to have this inside a company, then that would mean everyone would have access to it. Now where’s the fun in that if you’re not the only person turning up in a electric-humming 3R-C, right?

So if you were to feed your fantasy on this unit, what else would you put in there?

I have a few things in mind:

• the 3R-C transforms into a personal armor like the Garlands
• homing missiles, lots of them
• hover rockets
• maybe a mechanism that makes the unit hunker down and go faster

What else do you think would make this fitting for the craziness in tech and gadgetry that only the Japanese mecha storytellers have?

They swarmed all over my fresh pack of four just when I was getting ready to open them for my wireless mouse. Most of the stores I’ve gone to always had the pack-of-8′s and that was too much for me so it was only recently that I managed to find one in Digital Walker where it was just a pack-of-4.

On the front of the blister pack, there’s a sticker that says “Best Selling Rechargeable Battery in Japan market”. I’m not surprised considering this technology is quite awesome. Eneloops are rechargeable batteries that can be used right out of the pack and be charged by any universal charger. Lucky for me, though, my brother’s NiMH charger is also made by Sanyo. I have another NiMH charger made by Energizer which is currently in Chil’s possession but they’re using that too so it’s good that there’s a Sanyo charger right here at home.

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What’s also interesting is that Eneloops take a long period of time to get discharged. Notice when you don’t use your laptop for more than a couple of months, the batteries get discharged and you need to plug it into your charger before you’re even able to open it. Eneloops are able to claim that it can retain 85% of its capacity even if you haven’t used the batteries for a year.

Now, time to save up for the external flash.

Engadget has recently put up a couple of new posts as an update to Microsoft’s much-anticipated Zune HD. I’ve been looking forward to this PMP (portable media player) ever since I saw the sample images online. But now that more and more people and websites are able to review this device, all the more than I am looking forward to getting one of these babies, hopefully the black one.

Few things to note:

• slimmer/narrower than the iPod Touch but is thicker
• brushed aluminum surface, glass-covered screen
• single-function home button (press to go home and that’s it)
• impressive browser (so CNET says)
• awesome interface

These are but a few of the points that Donald Bell raised in his CNET review of the Zune HD. He was lucky to be able to test both the silver and black versions. Soooo envious of him.

The bummer part is that Zunes have yet to be distributed in the Philippines (hey Microsoft! Get your f_cking act right!). I’m definitely grabbing one of these whether they release it here or not. I’ll probably ask one of my cousins to buy one for me in the US. Microsoft’s been matching prices with Apple ever since they released the Zune so you’d pretty much have an idea around how much one of these would cost when they come out since this one matches up with Apple’s iPod Touch.

Now if you’re thinking that this would trump the iPod Touch, you might be thinking way too far ahead as the Touch has quite an amount of functionality that has yet to be seen in the Zune HD as well as having a healthy, active App content base. Microsoft has yet to build up on that. But if you do own an Xbox360, you can download the videos you’ve purchased or rented through your Xbox and view them in your Zune HD.

Nice piece of technology, methinks. That doesn’t mean I’m ditching Apple’s products completely. My iPod craze remains as strong as it has been when I purchased my first iPod. I’m just interested enough in this PMP’s design and functionality that I’m willing to buy one alongside my Touch.

To read the rest of the CNET review on the Zune HD, just click here.

If this gets sold here in the Philippines, I might consider getting one just for the sake of owning it. Damn, that looks sexy. Click the image to get whisked to Engadget.com where I saw the article about this sexy piece of technology coming to your stores this Fall.

This appears to be a special edition release although I personally don't mind owning the brushed metal one.

A shot of all my Nendoroids out on display. Loving the vibrance of the colors.

Tried out the different modes to get a handle of how to use the LX3. It works almost like a DSLR but of course, my fingers were used to searched whatever buttons were on the 400D whenever I need to adjust something whereas for the LX3, you had to scroll through some menus when you want to go full manual. Nevertheless, if you know how to mix and match settings, then you shouldn’t have a problem with the LX3 on full manual once you know where stuff are.

Manual Focus

Manual focus is done using a nub on the right side of the LCD display where the middle part of the screen is highlighted, indicating which part of the screen you really want to focus on. I tried it out on Nendoroid Nozomu.

Dynamic Color

The mode that I often shoot with is Dynamic Color. It looks really vibrant and I don’t feel that the blues are too bright. At least that’s my opinion. Whenever I’m shooting my toys, I use Dynamic Color. This brings out the vibrant colors on my toys.

Dynamic B&W

Most of the shots I saw that were used as samples for the LX3 were using the Dynamic B&W shooting mode. I do like black and white shots and this camera is no exception in creating sharp pictures. The picture below accentuates Nozomu’s despair.

Desaturated Shots

I like taking desaturated shots with my Canon 400D and I was wondering if I could replicate it on the LX3. I feel like I didn’t come close. The level of setting customization for shooting modes isn’t as extensive or intuitive as the DSLRs.

General Thoughts

The LX3 fits the purpose of a prosumer point-and-shoot to use in place of a DSLR when you don’t want to lug around a heavy rig. Although it’s predecessor, the LX2, has telephoto capabilities, the LX3 fits my needs which is nice macro photography. And who said it doesn’t generate nice landscape shots?

The view from outside my office window. No post-processing involved other than resizing it to fit my blog.

Ok, so for the past week, I was internally debating on which iPod I should get when I finally decide to retire my current 2nd Gen 8Gb Black iPod Nano later this year. The two iPods in question are of course the iPod Nano 4th Gen and the iPod Touch 2nd Gen.

Quick Specs

iPod Nano 4th Gen

• 8Gb, 16Gb (with 16Gb priced at $199)
  
• new design that nods back to the 2nd Gen design
• 320×240 high resolution 2 inch LCD display, mounted in portrait fashion
• 24 hours of audio and 4 hours of video
• built-in accelerometer for games and cover flow browsing
• H.264 and MP4 video
• new user interface
• classic clickwheel navigation
• pick from any color of the rainbow

iPod Touch 2nd Gen

• 8Gb, 16Gb, 32Gb (with 16Gb priced at $299)
• pretty much the same design but the back part puts the iPhone 3G’s housing to shame
• 480×320 high resolution 3.5 inch LCD display, mounted in portrait fashion
• 36 hours of audio and 6 hours of video
• built-in accelerometer for games and cover flow browsing (among other things)
• H.264 and MP4 video
• same user interface, no clickwheel, iPhone look and feel
• only has a single design
• Calendar, Notes, WiFi and other PDA-ish features

For My Purposes

I originally wanted a Touch simply because it’s definitely above the rest of the MP3 players out there even if would cost me an arm and a leg MP3-player-budget-wise. But at some point, I had to really weigh my options and see what I already have.

I currently own the 8Gb iPod Nano, an 8Gb Sony Ericsson W960i for my mobile phone and work-on-the-go purposes, and a black Sony PSP for gaming and movie. So gadget-wise, I have WiFi, movies, audio, camera, storage, calendar, notes, email, SMS and calls on the go.

Getting an iPod Touch would make my phone and my PSP redundant.

So eventually finally, I decided to just go with the Nano. Will be purchasing it probably in the next month or so. For the $100 that I’ll be saving from choosing the Nano over the 16Gb Touch, I’ll probably buy a f1.8 lens for my DSLR. I think that’s a better deal.

At some point, one really has to learn to buy things based on need rather than the fact that it’s a cool device. You really have to list down what you need out of that device and what other gadgets you own provide the same features. Fine, I may look nice carrying around a Touch but it tends to seem a bit crazy given the fact that I have a W960 and a PSP in my bag which pretty do the same stuff the Touch could do and more. At the end of the day, I had to stick to the fact that the reason I need a separate MP3 player is to avoid draining the battery on my phone and my PSP. Other than that, everything else can be provided by both gadgets.

Ever bought something that made your other gadgets redundant or made that newly-purchased item redundant?

Hardly see any changes. But Piano Black is still sexy as ever.

So Consolespot.net has put up articles on the announcement of the PSP-3000 and Famitsu has even gone as far as comparing the PSP-3000 with the PSP Slim. So what’s to expect from this new PSP? Is it really any different than the previous ones? Actually not much, but for someone like me who carries around his PSP as a multimedia player, I’m liking the changes A LOT.

Let’s start with the minor cosmetic changes, shall we? The PSP-3000 sports a redesigned Home button as well as the Start and Select buttons. The Sony name moves from the upper right to the upper left and the PSP logo disappears. At the back, the ring around the PSP name is thinner than its predecessor. But pretty much Sony claims that the 3000 still weighs and feels the same as the 2000.

Mmmmm...strawberries!

Not much on that department, neh? So why bother with a new release? I’m not really sure if there’s any other new stuff like motherboard or RAM or whatnot but what’s definitely known is shown in the picture above.

The PSP on top is the 2000 while the one at the bottom is the spankin’ new PSP-3000. Notice any difference? Yes, the new PSP-3000 comes with a better LCD display. No more squinting when you’re playing your PSP udner direct sunlight. It has a wider gamut range and its reaction time is claimed to be far better than that of the PSP-2000.

Like I said, I like it since I carry my PSP around to watch movies and anime episodes on the go.

The PSP-3000 is supposed to be released this October of this year and comes in three colors: Black, White ang Silver. It will be released as bundles that come in at 199 Euro or 199 USD depending on where you live and a Basic Pack will be released…at a cheaper price, of course.

Now the question is this: recently there have been claims and problems with regards to pandorizing newer PSP motherboards. Would this new PSP have the same problem or would it still be just as easy to convert the PSP-3000 from OFW to CFW as the Slim and the Phat?

I guess no one will know until someone tries, right?