Gadgets Blog

Seagate is one of the few staple names when it comes to hard drives, and they have just released yet another addition to their already extensive family - the Seagate SV35.5 Series hard drives which were specially designed for optimal performance in digital video surveillance systems. Hence, those looking for an alternative backup for their home computer system might want to give this a pass, but if you’re involved in the video surveillance industry, then the Seagate SV35.5 hard ought to interest you, featuring a specially built chassis for rigorous use around the clock all year long, merging best-in-class reliability, performance, capacity, acoustics and power consumption alongside other specifications that make SDVR integration a snap, turning it into an ideal solution for the demands of the growing video surveillance market.

The Seagate SV35.5 hard drive offers a bunch of key advantages where video surveillance environments are concerned when compared to standard hard drives, and these include “performance-tuned 140 MB/s sustained sequential data rates and ATA-7 streaming commands for high-speed transfers, enhanced caching capabilities and built-in error recovery for non-stop streaming, thermal monitoring and reporting, unique user-selectable partitioning, low spin-up power, and best-in-class acoustics for extremely quiet operation”. Depending on your need, these hard drives will come with varying disk capacities which range from 250GB to 1TB, offering an extremely flexible DVR design capability when it comes to functioning asa video surveillance DVR, network DVR, or for direct and network-attached JBOD video surveillance storage.

According to Carla Kennedy, senior vice president of Seagate’s Enterprise Product Line Management group, “The hardware requirements for the surveillance market are especially critical and dictate the use of HDDs that are made specifically for the needs of video system manufacturers and integrators. With its optimized performance and capacity that can store over one full month of high-resolution video, the Seagate SV35.5 Series hard drive is a prime example of Seagate delivering a feature-rich solution that customers have requested.”

Specifications for the Seagate SV35.5 hard drive are as follows :-

• Capacities: 250GB, 500GB, 1TB
• Spin speeds: 7200-RPM
• Interfaces: 3Gbps SATA
• Video Streaming: 47 Simultaneous FULL D1 (704X576) Video Streams Support
• Performance: 140 MB/s sustained sequential data rates
• Acoustics: Typical Idle (bels) 2.3 for 250GB/2.5 for 500GB/2.5 for 1TB
• Shock, Operating: 70 (2ms Gs), Non-operating: 350 for 250GB/300 for 500GB/ 300 for 1TB (2m Gs)
• Cache: SATA: 8MB for 250GB/16MB for 500GB/32MB for 1TB
• Power Usage: Performance Idle: 5 Watts for 250GB/7 Watts for 500GB/7 Watts for 1TB
• Warranty: Limited 5 year

Press Release

Sanyo is not short on new devices for the masses despite the current economic slowdown, and they have now come up with yet another LCD projector - the PLC-WXE45. Being one of the world’s largest manufacturers of LCD and DLP projectors, the low-cost PLC-WXE45 aims to extend their current line-up of LCD projectors in the market, touting key features such as a short focal length lens, full WXGA resolution, networking capability, blackboard and color board modes, security features, closed captioning, all crammed into a design that will work even if you’re living in an extremely cramped apartment, or have a really small meeting room.

What makes the PLC-WXE45 stand out from the rest is its short focal length lens which enables it to project a full 80″ image from a mere distance of 34″ - that’s pretty swell no matter how you look at it. When merged with the PLC-WXE45’s already small dimensions, the short throw lens works magic, enabling groups such as educators and business professionals to use this projector just about anywhere, even in small venues such as classrooms and conference rooms. In addition, you can now move the projector nearer up to the front, bringing it nearer the display to free up seating space which could be better utilized by fitting in a few extra people while preventing shifty audience to disrupt the presentation by moving across the projected image.

Features of the Sanyo PLC-WXE45 include a resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio, which also means it is able to handle High Definition images, but you can forget about watching your Blu-ray movies with this in full glory since full HD is not supported. When coupled with Sanyo’s exclusive PJ Network Interface, the PLC-WXE45 is able to be integrated seamlessly into a wired network, enabling one to monitor the projector’s functions and operation to from a long distance or within a web browser. Not only that, emails concerning its current operating status can also be sent automatically, adding yet another featuer in its cap. Other specifications and features of the PLC-WXE45 are as follows :-

• Native resolution: 1280 x 800 (WXGA)
• Aspect ratio: 16:10
• Contrast Ratio: 500:1
• Brightness: 2000 Lumens
• Screen Size: Minimum 50″, maximum 100″
• Uniformity: 80%
• Projection Lamp: 200W UHP
• Video inputs: Mini D-sub 15, S-video, composite
• Monitor out: D-Sub 15
• Service Port: Mini DIN 8-pin
• Communications: RJ45

You can pick up the PLC-WXE45 for $1,795.

Press Release

The AirCurve iPhone dock you see here works like many other things we have created - by mimicking nature. After all, who are we to argue that our ears were specially designed to scoop up noise from all around? Surely evolution makes it all but impossible for something as basic as an ear to reach where it is today, but that’s another article for another day. Let’s concentrate on the AirCurve that takes after our ears, coming with a scoop on top of where you dock the iPhone so that all audio played from it will be amplified thanks to clever use of air tubes that increase the volume by an additional 10 decibels without having to fork out additional power from batteries. You can also use this ingenious £17.95 device as a hands-free speaker, a beside alarm clock or even a diminutive desktop music station.

Shape up or ship out - that’s the mantra that most people hear these days concerning the current global economic downturn, where performance trumps everything else, with most people putting in more than expected just to retain their jobs. The same can also apply to gamers who have a notoriously poor reputation of keeping their health in check - and Power Play Corp. hopes to somewhat debunk that myth/fact with the Riiflex Wii Dumbbell. This not only doubles up as your Wiimote cover, it also offers the chance to exercise while you swing that Wiimote around wildly. For those who want to add a little bit of resistance weights to their Wii regime, you can pick up the 2lbs set foor $20 or 4lbs set for $40.

Source: Likecool

Most of us who own a pair of headphones never really think too much about what is inside, as long as it does its job fairly well. Some of us are more demanding than the others though, and would only pick up a pair that comes with exchangeable eartips, noise-cancellation as well as a host of other features such as integrated Dolby decoding for superior audio, but I’m fairly sure that for Joe Average, a standard pair will do as there comes a point when the law of diminishing returns kicks in, making all that extra money spent just to extract a bit more performance totally not worth it. National Semiconductor has a brand new pair of stereo headphones amplifier for the masses - the PowerWise which sips only 0.9 mA (typical) of quiescent current in order to double the audio playback time of smart phones, full-featured mobile phones and portable music players.

Known as the LM48824 Class G architecture, this is able to significantly increase audio (MP3, mobile TV, etc.) playback time courtesy of its adaptive power supply approach which makes allowance for extremely low supply rails, hence doubling the power-efficiency compared to a standard Class AB headphone amplifier. Not only that, the LM48824’s output noise created by ground mismatches has also improved through the use of common-mode sensing which corrects for differences between the amplifier ground and the headphone return terminal.

For those who are interested, the LM48824 will come an extremely tiny, 16-bump, 1.7 mm by 1.7 mm, 0.4 mm-pitch micro SMD package. You will be able to find National’s ground-referenced architecture that in turn saves space while minimizing system cost by eliminating the need for bulky and expensive DC blocking capacitors. Other features include a 32-step I2C compatible volume control with mute and delivers 37 mW per channel into a 16-Ohm load with less than one percent total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N) at 3.6V. Industry watchers will be able to pick up the the LM48824 at $1.06 a pop in 1,000-unit quantities.

Press Release