Digital-Lifestyles

June 2006

  • Casio Z1000 Review: First 10MP Consumer Compact (88%)

    Casio Z1000 Review: First 10MP Consumer Compact (88%)Just how much resolution do you need? Ten million pixels is a lot of information by any conventional measure, especially since most consumers rarely print out images larger than traditional 10x15cm enprints. That requires no more than the three megapixel sensors found on today’s very cheapest cameras, and now even high-end cameraphones.

    Ten megapixels lets you produce sharp prints at up to A2 poster in size or, more likely, crop in to tiny details and still end up with a printable image. But with great power often come great problems: huge file sizes, noisy images and irritating processing delays. Impressively, the Z1000 suffers from only the first of these (if you don’t think 4Mb per shot is huge, wait until you run out of memory cards halfway through a holiday).

    It’s a looker, too, housed in a smooth all-metal case that hardly hints at the power inside. In front is a 3x lens that is its weakest point: there’s some distortion and softness at wideangle. Focusing is also haphazard, although the Exilim has a fine range of features to make up for it, from a decent manual focus mode to a 6cm macro for close-ups.

    Casio Z1000 Review: First 10MP Consumer Compact (88%)Around the back, a bright 2.8-inch widescreen LCD monopolises the available space. Only 2.5-inches is available for framing – the remainder is taken up by a fantastic vertical menu strip for instantly tweaking image size, quality, metering and more. Creative features are eclectic rather than comprehensive: a continuous flash mode shoots three flash shots in a second, and there are more pre-programmed scene modes than even the most bored teenager could wade through.

    Notable among these is a High Sensitivity mode for shooting at up to ISO 3200 (but beware of dreadful noise here) and a brace of digital effects, Illustration and Pastel, that apply fun Photoshop-style art filters in camera.

    The Z1000 handles very well, with virtually no shutter lag or processing delays. Images don’t appear to have been rushed, though, demonstrating a confident control over colour and exposure, and plenty of fine detail. As long as you don’t expect the three-dimensional clarity of a 10MP SLR like the Nikon D200, you shouldn’t be disappointed.

    Casio Z1000 Review: First 10MP Consumer Compact (88%)Verdict
    In digital photography, it’s rarely a case of how much resolution you need, but how much resolution you want. The Z1000 will fulfil your desire to extract the maximum detail from your subjects, without penalising you with a slow, ugly or stupid camera. Casio has taken a double digital lead in the compact market – but don’t expect it to last too long.

    Rating: 88%

    Spec sheet
    Sensor 10.1 megapixels, 1/1.8-inch
    Focal length (35mm equivalent) 38-114mm
    Maximum aperture f/2.8-5.4
    Shutter speed 4s – 1/2000 sec
    Memory SD, 8Mb internal
    ISO range 50, 100, 200, 400, (800, 1600, 3200)
    Exposure modes Auto, 31 Best Shot
    Metering modes Multi-zone, centre-weighted, spot
    Focusing modes Auto (multi-zone, spot, free), manual, presets, Auto Macro, 6cm macro
    Flash modes Auto, on, off, red-eye, slow synch (Night Portrait), flash power, Soft Flash
    Drive modes Single, continuous (1.2 to 3fps), continuous flash (3fps), continuous zoom, self-timer
    LCD monitor 2.8-inch colour LCD, 230,400 pixels
    Weight 160g with battery and card
    Power supply Lithium ion rechargeable, NP-40
    Battery life 360 shots, CIPA standard
    Transfer USB 2.0 Full Speed, video, PictBridge

    Casio

  • eBay Will Add ‘Skype Me’ Button

    EBay To Add 'Skype Me' ButtoneBay has announced that it will start integrating Skype’s VoIP service with its U.S. auction site next week (as predicted at the start of the week), letting sellers add a “Skype Me” button to their product listings.

    The new Skype feature will appear in the “Ask a seller a question” section, letting buyers click on the button and natter with sellers via Skype’s voice and IM chat services.

    The service will be piloted in fourteen product categories on their US site where eBay believes the ability to make a quick call should help sellers close deals quicker.

    These categories include high end goods or techie items that might need explaining like real estate, cars, GPS, manufacturing and metalworking, cameras and camera gear.

    For eBay users to use the service, they’ll have to sign up with Skype, download the software and sort themselves out with a suitable headset/mic combo.

    EBay To Add 'Skype Me' ButtonBill Cobb, president of eBay’s North American auction business reckons they’re on to a winner with this one: “Skype represents a tremendous opportunity for our sellers to connect even more closely with their buyers,” he insisted.

    eBay acquired Skype in October last year for around US$2.6 billion, with the prospect of adding voice-calling and text messaging to the current e-mail messaging between buyers and sellers a major wallet-opener.

    Skype currently boasts more than 100 million registered users worldwide, and enjoys huge popularity in Europe and Asia, although the US has been slower to adopt the technology.

    Impact analysis
    This is a clever move on a number of counts. It is likely not just to increase the closing prices of auctions (people feeling more comfortable with a with a seller will bid more), but will fuel the growth of Skype. The network effect is clear – each seller is likely to draw many Skype sign ups from potential purchasers. The number of Skype users could grow tremendously.

    Skype

  • Mobile Linux: Powerhouse Foundation Formed

    Mobile Linux: Powerhouse Foundation FormedWe all know the mobile handset is totally fragmented. Sure there’s a standard – it’s called Nokia – but everyone who isn’t Nokia isn’t very happy about that.

    Vodafone, Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications and Samsung Electronics have today announced that they hope to change that. They’re getting together to embrace mobile Linux to “create world’s first globally adopted open mobile Linux platform.”

    They’re intending to form an independent foundation whose primary focus is the joint development and marketing of an API specification, architecture, supporting source code-based reference implementation components and tools. Pretty comprehensive sounding, but only time will reveal the level of independence afforded to the foundation.

    While we understand that they ‘intend to leverage the benefits of community-based’, we’re not really sure where their aims of proprietary development fit in to this. It is after all supposed to be an Open project.

    Mobile Linux: Powerhouse Foundation FormedWho’s in? Who’s out?
    It’s not surprising to see that Nokia _aren’t_ part of it. Vodafone have for a long time been concerned that, when asked, their subscribers say they have, for example, a Nokia handset rather than a Vodafone service. Nokia also dominate with Symbian.

    Also coming in the ‘Obviously’ category, is the lack of Microsoft. They’ve been desperate for years to try and become accepted as the mobile platform of choice, but despite a few successes haven’t managed it. Today’s announcement combined with the strength of Symbian will give them a bit of a kicking.

    The other major who’s missing is Sony Ericsson.

    Beyond the handset makers, it’s interesting to include NTT DoCoMo. Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo were competitors in the Japanese market – up to the point that they sold Vodafone Japan to Softback back in April. Now that barrier is removed, we’re sure that they’ll love to get closer to DoCoMo to learn the lessons of how they’ve made content such a success in Japan.

    Symbian supporters two-time them
    Both Samsung and Motorola have in the past sold handsets that use the Symbian OS, but since Nokia have been tightening their clutched on Symbian, it’s likely that they’re becoming increasingly nervous of using it.

    The idea of being in control of their own destiny – at least to the software platform – will be much more appealing.

    What’s driving this?
    Mobile operators are always looking at finding ways for more people to sign to their networks, so decreasing handset costs while maximising features is of the utmost importance for them. This is made clear by Kiyohito Nagata, Vice President and Managing Director of NTT DoCoMo’s Product Department

    Open is the new proprietory
    Clearly being ‘open’ (the interpretation of which is highly variable) is quite the trend in mobile, with Nokia open sourcing their s60 browser a couple of weeks back.

    Mobile Linux: Powerhouse Foundation FormedMuch excitement is being generated by those companies already using Linux in their handsets. In a ‘don’t forget we’ve been doing this for ages’ way, Yoshiharu Tamura, Executive General Manager, Mobile Terminals Business Unit, NEC Corporation expounded , “As one of the leading pioneers with almost two years of experience shipping Linux-based mobile phones, we are delighted to participate in this initiative. We expect the foundation activities will accelerate further expansion of mobile Linux application developer participation, as well as global market growth of 3G mobile handsets.”

    Not to be left out from showing off, Osamu Waki, Managing Director of Panasonic Mobile Communications, plugged like mad, “Linux sits at the core of Panasonic Group’s software strategy, and to date we have shipped nearly 8 million Linux based handsets in the highly competitive Japanese market.”

  • Microsoft Debuts LifeCam Webcams

    Microsoft Debuts LifeCam WebcamsMicrosoft has slipped out a pair of branded Webcams designed to offer tight integration with their hideously popular Messenger service.

    Their first foray into the wonderful world of Webcams, Microsoft’s new LifeCam Webcams are designed to be the perfect match for the updated version of MSN Messenger, now called Windows Live Messenger.

    Rather like Apple’s iSight and iChat, you might remark – and you’d be right, except that these Webcams have none of the sleek design flair of the Mac offering.

    Show me the cameras
    The cheaper of the two cameras, the VX-3000 is a fairly bog standard affair, offering bottom-end 640×480 video with a 1.3-megapixel camera for stills.

    Its big brother, the VX-6000 promises to deliver hi-def video recordings up to 1280 x 960 pixels and still photos interpolated up to 5MP, but remember, interpolated just means ‘small image blown up large by software’ so don’t go expecting to produce high quality large prints from the Webcam.

    Microsoft Debuts LifeCam WebcamsBoth cams also come with built in mics, a wide angle lens to let social butterflies fit their vast armies of chums in frame and built-in cheesy video effects like falling snowflakes or twinkling stars.

    Simplifying your video experience. Or something
    Microsoft is claiming that their new cams are going to “dramatically simplify the video communications experience.”

    Apparently, this will be achieved by the inclusion of a button on top of the camera that launches buddy lists on-screen and a new dashboard application built into Windows Live Messenger that lets users pan, tilt and zoom the Webcam without having to remove their buttocks from their computer chair.

    Microsoft Debuts LifeCam WebcamsHere’s Microsoft’s Consumer Productivity Experiences Executive Vice President (who dreams up these job titles?) Tom Gibbons to explain how LifeCams are part of a new initiative by his company to tie in hardware products to Windows Live services.

    “Microsoft Hardware and Windows Live are defining that movement with a new approach to integrated products and services that give consumers the power to have a richer digital communications experience and make everyday events extraordinary,” he waxed, lyrically.

    The first two LifeCams (more are planned) are expected to appear in Blighty in August, with pricing set at $50 (£27, €40) for the VX-3000 and a decidedly upmarket $99.95 (£54, €80) for the VX-6000.

    Microsoft

  • BBC World Cup Website Woos Football Fans

    BBC World Cup Website Woos Football FansAccording to Internet research firm Nielsen/NetRatings, the BBC Sport Website is the most popular online source for World Cup news in the UK, with over 1.3 million footie fans visiting the site in the first week of the tournament.

    With more than half of all footie fans choosing to visit the BBC Website, there must be glum faces at Sky Sports, whose online World Cup offering attracted four time less traffic than the Beeb.

    Not surprisingly, there was a spike in traffic on Sunday, as surfers followed England’s half-arsed win over Paraguay online, with a similar peak the week before as troubled England fans tuned in to find out about Wayne Rooney’s final metatarsal injury scan.

    “Traffic during the week peaked the day after the first game with over 1.1 million sports fans going online,” said Alex Burmaster, European Internet analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings.

    BBC World Cup Website Woos Football Fans“The large audience figures for the weekend shows the major advantages the Internet has in on-demand content,” he added.

    The BBC Sport Website includes new features to keep punters coming back for more, with player ratings and virtual replays accompanying the live streaming video of every match shown on their TV network.

    Ben Gallop, editor of BBC Sport Interactive cranked his chuffed-o-meter up to ’11’ and enthused, “We’re delighted with the audience figures we’ve seen for the first few days of the World Cup.”

    Goal! And crash goes the server!
    Some office bosses may not share his joy though, as we predicted the BBC’s decision to show England matches online could see WANs and LANs collapsing in a heap under the strain as office staff tune into the footie.

    BBC World Cup Website Woos Football FansMike Hemes, country manager for UK and Ireland at Packeteer, reckons that the bandwidth-busting footie action could cause big problems for IT managers, commenting: “It is likely that millions of workers will log on to watch matches due to faster Internet connections at work than at home …this will generate a huge surge in network traffic, eating into the bandwidth available to run business-critical applications effectively.”

    Licence fee warning
    Elsewhere, the BBC has warned firms who let staff watch the World Cup on their office networks that they could be hit with a hefty £1,000 fine if they do not hold a TV licence.

    BBC World Cup Website Woos Football FansLegally, a TV licence is required for any device that is “installed or used” for receiving television broadcasts, so that a networked PC used for streaming games needs a licence as well as the gogglebox at home.

    “It doesn’t matter how you’re watching, if you are watching a live match you will need a licence,” insisted a finger wagging TV Licensing spokesperson.

    Hinting at dark, omnipotent powers, the spokesperson added: “We know exactly which unlicensed business premises to target.”

    BBC World Cup

  • TEAC Retro R1 AM/FM Radio

    TEAC Retro R1 AM/FM RadioIf you find that the modern world is just to fast, too brash, too complicated and just too goddamn digital, you may find TEAC’s new R1 AM/FM Radio the antidote to all those bleeping bits and bytes.

    Sporting a classic styling (that worryingly reminds us a bit of Doctor Who’s Cybermen), this is a retro radio that looks like it will be happier blasting out Bill Haley rather than Radiohead.

    For starters, there’s not a single LCD, OLED or LED screen in sight, with just a solitary blue light on the large rotary tuning dial serving as a reminder of what century we’re in.

    With no station presets on board, users have to find stations the old way, lining up the frequencies etched on the dial against the blue light, while level-tweaking, graphic-preset pushing EQ freaks will have to look elsewhere as the R1 comes with just two stately controls – old fashioned bass and treble.

    TEAC Retro R1 AM/FM RadioAlthough -disappointingly – there’s no DAB radio to be found onboard, TEAC has included a line-in socket so that users can play back tunes from new fangled iPods or other players.

    The R-1W measures up at 238 × 134.5 × 127mm, weighs a reassuringly solid 1.4kg and is expected to start appearing in the shops around now.

    There’s no UK price announced yet, but we’ve seen it on Americans sites advertised around the $100 (£54) mark.

    TEAC Retro R1 AM/FM RadioSpecifications
    High-Quality AM/FM Analog Tuner
    Gear-Reduction Tuning Dial For Ultra-Fine Tuning
    Separate Bass And Treble Controls
    Function Selector: AM/FM/AUX/OFF
    Large Rotary Volume Control Knob
    Telescoping FM Antenna For Outdoor Use
    FM “Pigtail-Style” Antenna For Indoor Use
    Rear-Panel Headphone Jack
    Rear Panel Auxiliary Input (Mini-Jack)
    Auxiliary Cable Included For Easy iPod Connection
    Auxiliary Input And Cable Compatible With Any Device With A Headphone Output
    Integrated Handle For Easy Portability
    Built-In Rechargeable Battery
    AC Adapter
    Dimensions: 9.3″ W x 5.1″ H x 5.2″ D
    Weight: 3.3 Pounds

    TEAC

  • GSM Mobiles Hit The Two Billion Mark

    GSM Mobiles Hit The Two Billion MarkThe second billionth GSM mobile phone is expected to be connected this weekend according to the GSM Association (GSMA).

    This historic milestone has been reached as mobile phone sales continue to go ballistic worldwide, with new users signing up at the rate of 1,000 per minute to GSM and 3GSM services (that’s just under 18 per second stat fans!).

    “This is the fastest growth of technology ever witnessed,” exclaimed Craig Ehrlich, Chairman of the GSMA.

    GSM Mobiles Hit The Two Billion Mark“While it took just 12 years for the industry to reach the first billion connections. The second billion has been achieved in just two and a half years boosted by the phenomenal take up of mobile in emerging markets such as China, India, Africa and Latin America, which accounted for 82% of the second billion subscribers,” he added, breathlessly.

    Although it seems hard to remember a world without vibrating, bleeping little talk boxes lurking in our pockets, it was only back in 1991 when mobile services based on GSM technology were first launched in Finland.

    From those freezing Finnish acorns a whopping great global network has flourished, with more than 690 mobile networks providing GSM services across 213 countries.

    GSM/ W-CDMA/3GSM now accounts for 82.4% of all global mobile connections, with 3GSM users making up just 72 million of the two billion total.

    The top three
    Today, fast-developing China is the biggest single GSM market on the planet, boasting more than 370 million users.

    In second place is Russia with 145 million, followed by India with 83 million and the USA with 78 million users.

    Such is the popularity of mobiles in India that they have become the fastest selling consumer product, shunting trusty bicycles into the number two slot.

    More users in the developing world
    With GSM hitting two million, GSM can now claim to be the first communications technology to have more users in the developing world than the developed world, with affordable prices helping to bridge the ‘digital divide.’

    GSM Mobiles Hit The Two Billion MarkThe GSM Association continues to develop initiatives to help folks in the developing world gain access to mobile communications, developing a sub$30 low cost mobile phone and putting pressure on governments to remove tax barriers on mobile products and services.

    If you’re the kind of person that like to be right there when the big two billion figure is hit, you can while away the hours watching the total update on the GSM World homepage. Too much excitement!

  • Netgear PreN RangeMAX NEXT Kit: Fast, But Not Standard (Yet)

    Netgear Announce Their New PreN RangeMAX NEXT KitIf you’re after super-fast Wireless kit and don’t mind the possibility of buying/refreshing your kit this could well be for you, if not we thought it would be best to start this article with a warning. Although the new PreN RangeMAX NEXT kit looks nice, there is a caveat (ours).

    “This equipment is based on an unratifed standard and it is unlikely to interoperate with other equipment from this vendor or any other vendor. When the final specifications are ratified this equipment is very unlikely to meet that standard so purchase at your peril”.

    Of course Netgear are not going to say that, or any other vendor of so called preN equipment.

    The background on standards
    The current draft of the IEEE 802.11n standard (v1.0) which manufacturers are working to, failed to be ratified with over 5,000 objections. When 802.11g equipment was released the draft had progressed much further and even so there were only about 500 objections. This means that some changes will probably be only software modifications – that can be provided by Netgear at some point in the future, however there’s a good chance several will be changes at the radio level which will require new silicon (i.e. chipset modifications). The standard isn’t likely to be ratified for another year, and then silicon will appear in the year following.

    Netgear are saying they are being driven by the market, and the market wants kit now as it can offer significant throughput increases over current equipment.

    Netgear Announce Their New PreN RangeMAX NEXT KitRangeMax Next Wireless ADSL Modem Router – DG834N
    This is an ADSL2+ router, with a 4 port Ethernet switch and wireless interface. The Ethernet switch supports 10 or 100Mb/s.

    It works with the WN311B PCI card or the WN511B PC Card, however, there’s no USB adapter yet.

    In theory, the system support 300Mb/s, though throughput is more likely to be around 120Mb/s which is generally good enough for streaming video and other high bandwidth applications.

    The router has a firewall built in, supports WEP and WPA (wireless encryption standards), and various parental controls.

    While with 802.11b/g networks the channel has to be selected, now the router takes care of this for you and selects channels based on what it can “hear”, which makes set-up much easier and should give the customer the best throughput available.

    There’s also a cable version called the WNR834B which gives an extra Ethernet port and dispenses with the ADSL2+ modem.

    Be sure not to have an existing wireless LAN using 802.11b/g in the vicinity as current preN equipment tends to splat all over it (which isn’t a good thing).

    Netgear Announce Their New PreN RangeMAX NEXT KitRangeMax Next Wireless Routers – Gigabit Edition – WNR854T
    This is similar to the WNR834B, except it supports 10/100 and 1000Mb/s Ethernet ports.

    The WN511T is the matching PC Card which works with it.

    Interoperability
    Even Netgear admitted that the WN311B/WN511B shouldn’t be used with the WRN834B or the WN511T with the DG834N or WNR834B. That’s because they use different chipsets, and they don’t work well together. They will still work, but not using preN, they’ll fall back to using 802.11g (and MIMO).

    If Netgear can’t get their own kit to interoperate, it’s going to be just as bad or worse with other vendors, so customers had better make sure they buy all their equipment from the same vendor.

    Even Intel, who are wireless mad at the moment are not supporting preN, and won’t until the standard is ratified.

    MIMO
    Multiple in Multiple Out. That’s a techie way of saying steerable beams. preN equipment has multiple aerials in the access point (ADSL or cable router) which work out the best signal heard from a client, and then use that aerial combination to send the best signal back.

    This theoretically gives much better coverage and throughput, as clients connecting don’t necessarily don’t interfere with each other, while the steerable beams means a better radio signal to the client.

    MIMO technology is already available on various wireless kit, including Netgear’s RangeMAX range.

    Other noticable announcements
    There’s some new powerline equipment coming out. The consumer variant supports 14Mb/s over the house electrical wiring. The new 85Mb/s business variant will be released later on in the year.

    Be sure to enable security on the units, or anyone in the street on the same power loop will be able snoop all your traffic!!!

    Media is the buzz
    Though only a prototype so far, Netgear’s DEVA unit is an HD streaming client, supporting pictures, video and High Definition video. It will support preN and probably have a HDMI connection to the TV.

    It supports Windows Media Connect, so automatically picks up any Windows XP servers with content on them. Other streaming sources will be supported by launch.

    Pricing
    The preN routers will cost around £170 ($310, E250)and the cards around £120 ($220, E175), products should be available imminently.

  • LG Lets Rip With LW20 EXPRESS Laptop

    LG Lets Rip With LW20 EXPRESS LaptopLG has announced their new multimedia-tastic 12-inch notebook PC, the LW25 EXPRESS DUAL, which is, apparently, “a portable multimedia powerhouse.”

    Building on the success of last year’s LW20 EXPRESS, LG’s sleek new lappie serves up a beefed up performance courtesy of a dual-core processor.

    The attractive laptop also comes with the latest BlueCore4 technology, which allows for snappier wireless connections between other devices as well as support for the extra-nippy Gigabit Ethernet.

    The 12.1″ WXGA (that’s 1280×800 in English) display comes with LG’s Fine Bright Technology, and is supported by an Intel GMA950 graphics card (up to 256MB).

    LG Lets Rip With LW20 EXPRESS LaptopThe built in optical drive (or Super Multi ODD as LG likes to call it) supports playback and recording of all existing optical media formats inluding dual-layer DVD burning, allowing you to cram up to 8.5GB data on a single DVD.

    LG are also claiming full support for Microsoft’s soon-come-but-don’t-hold-your-breath Vista operating system, so it looks reasonably ‘future proofed.’

    The LW25 looks to be a good choice for road warriors too, weighing a shoulder-pleasing 1.89 kg (including batteries and an ODD) with the six-cell, 5,400-mAh battery providing a claimed battery life of up to six hours.

    Photos are still thin on the ground, but we like the look of what we’ve seen so far, with the LW25 available in natty red or blue finishes.

    The warranty is more impressive than most as well, with 3-year cover and a first year international warranty.

    LG Lets Rip With LW20 EXPRESS LaptopAs for pricing and availability, your guess is as good as ours at the moment as LG seem to be keeping mum.

    Specifications:
    Processor Intel Core Duo Processor T2400(1.86GHz) ~, 667MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache
    Chipset Mobile Intel 945GM Express
    Display 12.1″ WXGA(1280×800), Fine Bright Technology
    Graphics Intel GMA950 (up to 256MB)
    HDD 60GB
    Wireless Intel Pro/Wireless 3945ABG(802.11a/b/g)
    Bluetooth Yes (BlueCore4)
    Multimedia Card
    Slot 5-in-1 (XD/SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro)
    Audio SRS TruSurround XT, SRS WOW XT, 5.1CH Dolby Digital, XTS Pro, 24bit High Definition
    Warranty 3yrs Parts & Labour, 1st yr international
    Casing Red or Blue

    LG

  • Thanko Silent Mouse and Silent Keyboard

    Thanko Silent Mouse and Silent KeyboardIs your late night keyboard clattering keeping your partner awake? Is your incessant mouse-clicking sending your friends mad? Or have you just got a bit of a problem with clattering, clicking things?

    Then be thankful for Japanese manufacturers Thanko, who have produced a matching silent keyboard and mouse combo for the noise-bothered.

    Silent Mouse, Scrolly Mouse
    The silent mouse is a standard looking affair with two mouse buttons and a scroll wheel, but the makers claim that both the wheel and the mouse buttons have been silenced to one-fifth that of a normal mouse.

    Thanko Silent Mouse and Silent KeyboardThe illustration on their site seems to suggest that they’ve achieved this hush factor by simply slamming in a slab of silicone stuff into the mouse, but we’re sure there must be a bit more hi-tech jiggerypokery involved than that (surely?!!).

    Sporting an 800 dpi optical sensor and measuring up at 60x105x35mm with a weight of 90 grams, the USB Silent Mouse is compatible with both Microsoft Windows 2000/XP and Mac OS X, and is available from dynamism.com for $35 (~£19, ~€28).

    Thanko Silent Mouse and Silent KeyboardThe keyboard that’s as quiet as a, err, mouse
    Partnering the shhhhhhhh-tastic mouse is Thanko’s new Silent Keyboard, a silver and black USB affair.

    Once again, Thanko have broken out the silicon to dampen the rattle of keys down to a hush-hush 30.2db, which should let you bash out your magnum opus late at night while your partner/cat/pet donkey snoozes on undisturbed.

    Thanko Silent Mouse and Silent KeyboardIt’s a pretty basic looking affair with none of the groovy extras that Logitech like to bolt on, so gadget freaks are unlikely to be impressed.

    Release date is set for the end of the month, priced at around 4,000 Yen (~£19, ~€28)

    thanko.jp/silent_keyboard/ [Japanese]