Teclast released a few months ago what it claims to be the world’s first wireless webcam: the W900. Well, we’ve got our hands on this webcam from Chinese manufacturer Teclast and put it through our tests in our labs to see whether it’s just as good as a wired webcam.

Some of the features this webcam has include a 200 metre wireless range, VGA (640×480) video capturing, noise-cancelling microphone and a night vision function. Read on to see if the manufacturer’s feature list is as good as it looks at first glance.

Read the rest of this review »

So today we’re seeing monster update from Apple, including a new iMac with bumped specifications, a new Mac Pro with an option for up to 12 cores, a new Cinema Display and a fresh from the labs Magic Trackpad that debuts for the first time. This now means that the entire Apple line-up has been refreshed for 2010, except the Macbook Air which we eagerly await a much needed refresh.

We’ll start with the new iMac. Apple has updated the minimum specifications for the 21.5″ iMac to an Intel Core i3 processor at 3.06 GHz, 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive and ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics (a bit outdated really) all for US$1,199. If you fancy the screen real estate or power of the 27″ model you’ll be seeing quad-core Intel Core i5s, a 1TB hard drive and ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphics with 1GB of dedicated GDDR5 as the base model for US$1,999, scaling up to a 2.93 GHz Core i7 and the brand new option of an SSD.

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Viewsonic has just outed a 27-incher into it’s flagship monitor line-up. The VX2739wm packs a 1920×1080 (WUXGA or Full HD) LCD panel with a 16:9 ratio, 1200:1 contrast ratio (100,000:1 dynamic) and an impressive 1ms response time that makes Viewsonic claim that this monitor is the “world’s first 27″ LCD with 1ms response time. The usual HDMI, DVI and VGA ports are available on the monitor, along with a 4-port USB hub. Speakers are aslo present but they’re probably tinny and crap.

The display goes on sale today for a US$349 MSRP – pretty reasonable considering the fast response and large screen real estate.

When news reached me that Sony was finally stopping sales of completely useless and redundant floppy disks I let out a cry of joy. Seriously. Sony is reportedly stopping all sales of the 28-year old 1.44 MB marvels in Japan right away, with sales in the United States ceasing by March 2011. Floppy disk sales have been on a rapid decline since 2002 when they peaked at 47 million units for the year; 2009 saw 12 million units sold, which still amazed me because who still uses them? I haven’t owned a floppy disk drive since at least 2002.

If you are one of the two remaining people who consciously use floppy disks on a regular basis then you might be just a bit disappointed by the news, but for all those who moved to removable flash storage years ago this news shouldn’t affect you much – you just won’t see floppy disks on sale to wonder at who would buy them.

Light Peak technology from Intel is set to bring us 10 Gb/s transfers and be still compatible with major protocols before it – and is just around the corner. Light Peak technology will be coming to us sometime next year starting with Intel’s push for devices onto the market. According to Intel, Light Peak is not supposed to be a replacement for USB 3.0 and is fully compatible with the same ports and protocols so both technologies should be able to co-exist peacefully.

This could very well be the future of connectivity options, so whether you should upgrade to a new device just for USB 3.0 in the current climate is a tough choice with this great, new and fast technology just around the corner. Intel also says that in the future this technology could scale up to ten times in the next decade, meaning that this truly looks to be the future for peripheral data transfer.

When I bought this keyboard for my media center I saw that wasn’t any power button, you just put batteries inside and you are ready to use the keyboard.

Unfortunately if you don’t use your keyboard for some time your battery discharge rapidly. So i decided to insert a power switch and a LED indicator to save battery life.

Read the rest of this tutorial »

There’s nothing particularly special about the design or layout of this keyboard/mouse combo – it’s just a standard look with a pretty standard set of buttons; nothing too flashy or special. On the inside though is something unique and a first for wireless keyboards and mice: both the keyboard and mice of the Logitech Wireless Desktop MK710 have a 3 year battery life from a pair of AA batteries.

Of course, the claim of 3 years battery life may not be true for all; it’s based on a standard 2 million keystrokes per year and various conditions for the mouse. However even so you won’t need to change those batteries for several years saving you from the hassle and saving the environment from waste. If you’re European and want this package it should be available to you this month. Americans will have to wait until April to get their hands on the Wireless Desktop.

If you feel like being an early adopter to 3D display technology then the Acer GD235HZ might interest you. It’s a 23.6-inch 16:9 120Hz display that is fully compatible with Nvidia’s 3D Vision shutter glasses, and is therefore perfect for 3D gaming, if you have a compatible Nvidia graphics card that is. It’s also got a 1920×1080 resolution so it’ll be perfect for Blu-ray 3D movies when they start being released.

The monitor will set you back US$399, so it’s more than your standard 24″ display, and the Nvidia 3D Vision kit will set you back a further US$199. If you really want 3D right now though, go ahead because the monitor is available now.

Sliding into your hands by Spring 2010 is the new range of Cyborg R.A.T. gaming mice from Mad Catz. The mice are designed to look like something a gamer should have, with many, many programmable buttons arranged all over the place to give it a very “high-tech” look. The mice also feature an up to 5600dpi laser and adjustable weights – all something you need if you’re a pro gamer.  There are a total of 4 mice, all that have different features, with prices ranging from US$49 up to US$129.

Unfortunately the monitor I use does not have height adjustment, and it was too low for my liking so I searched around for a simple and effective method to raise the height of the monitor. I discovered the simple CD monitor stand. All you have to do is find some old CD cases (preferably with no CDs in them) and tape them up into a block shape for your monitor to sit on it. It may not look the greatest, but it’s simple, easy to make, and you can adjust the height in the future by removing/adding more CD cases.