Digital-Lifestyles

January 2008

  • Warners Backs Blu-ray, Gives HD DVD The Elbow

    Warners Backs Blu-ray, Gives HD DVD The ElbowHollywood studio big boys Warner Bros have dealt Toshiba and the HD DVD gang a mighty kick in the lasers by declaring that their high-definition DVD titles will soon be released exclusively in the rival Blu-ray disc format.

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  • Pinnacle Video Transfer Gives PC-Free Ripping

    Pinnacle Video Transfer Gives PC-Free RippingPinnacle are launching the Pinnacle Video Transfer analogue to digital video ripper at CES.

    If you’re fed up with having to switch on your computer to rip a video to play on your digital media player, your life could become a little easier.

    The pocket-sized device can take any S-Video, Composite video and stereo audio analogue source as an input and cleverly the digital H.264 output is stored on any USB storage device, including Apple iPod Video, iPod nano (3rd generation), iPod classic, Sony PSP, Sony PSP slim, USB flash drive or USB hard drive.

    The quality of the video can be set to one of three different levels – Good, Better, Best – depending on their preferences for video quality or the actual size of the video files.

    Uses run through the obvious of capturing TV, DVD player, PVR, camcorder or set-top box directly to the less obvious, like capturing video game sessions for showing to their mates later.

    Priced at £100, it’s expected to be available in the UK soon.

  • London Police Raids Reclaim Stolen Mobile Phones

    London Police Raids Reclaim Stolen Mobile PhonesThe UK National Mobile Phone Crime Unit carried out a number of raids around London last month – under the grandly titled, Operation Prestige – seizing 324 stolen mobile phones and carried out 56 arrests.

    The actions were take in Lambeth, Lewisham, Croydon, Brent, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Camden. The police believed that many of the handsets were stolen by street gangs and pickpockets.
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  • Digital TV In Over Half Of US Homes

    Digital TV In Over Half Of US HomesOver half of US Households now own at least one digital TV set, claim the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

    In the build up to the trade show mania that is the CES, the CEA is winding up the PR machine and releasing statistics to both boost the TV industry and get the public interested.
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  • £27,000 Mobile Phone Bill Shock

    £27,000 Mobile Phone Bill ShockA Vodafone customer in Darlington got the shock of his life before new year, when he learned from Vodafone that he’d racked up a huge mobile data bill.

    A ‘friend’ of his had told him that he could wire his mobile phone to his laptop to use it as modem. After signing up for a £41.50/month deal, Ian Simpson from Darlington, thought he could use it without limit.
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  • PSP Skype Coming At CES

    PSP Skype Coming At CESIt looks like Sony will unveil Skype running on their PSP at CES, which starts in a few days.

    Sony’s CES site has details of the PSP’s system feature including the key phrase … (more…)

  • BBC Micro Designer Gets CBE

    Steve Furber, CBEThose of a certain age will wax lyrical and glow slightly when the BBC Micro is mentioned in a conversation. It was a computer – along with the Sinclair ZX80/81/ Spectrum – that introduced a generation of the UK to computing.

    In Gordon Brown’s first New Years Honours List, Steve Furber, a principal designer of the BBC Microcomputer received one of the 32 CBE’s that were given this year.
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  • DL Best 4 Compact Cameras Of The Year 2007

    We take a look at the snappers that have tickled our fancy in 2007 and award out ‘Best of’ prizes:

    Best compacts

    Fujifilm FinePix F50fdFujifilm FinePix F50fd (around £180/$220)
    It may look a little bit less than super-stylish, but don’t let appearances put you off: the Fujifilm can takes great pictures and comes with a raft of smart-arse features like image stabilisation, face-detection technology, fast start up and a high ISO performance that is second to none in its price range.
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