Mighty Gadget Blog: The latest technology news & reviews in the UK

Sick of feeding the pockets of the Apple Monster, or want to start paying for your “downloads” so not to be breaking the law. Well UK high street entertainment chain HMV have re-launched it’s digital service(yes they’ve had one for several years now) to include 10 million songs and the certainly very interesting UK Top 40 tracks for a meagre 40p per track.

This has mainly come due to the fact the cd singles market is dying with many now only available on download only which means going to iTunes or Amazon to get a “legal” download of said songs. HMV is obviously the only high street trader now of entertainment product and have now started to dabble in other entertainment forms to keep the business modern and up to date with the acquisition of the MAMA group (HMV now have their own branded music venues like the HMV Forum and HMV Apollo) which in turn leads to their ticket sales service through HMV.com and are also having their own branded cinemas too.

What has pushed HMV to re-launch it’s digital was it’s multi-million acquisition of the digital music provider 7Digital. This then added more expertise in the digital music field and added a significant number of digital tracks to HMV’s disposal. 7Digital provides Spotify with it’s music and if you’re a user you’ll know the sheer scale of what they can offer to their customers.

So what does it offer over Apple other than the price? Well the new HMV digital service will be compatible with all mp3 players(previous incarnations had only wma support) and the majority of the tracks it provides have a bitrate of 320kbps to Apple’s 256kbps (some are lower on the HMV site due to “historical hangovers”. Not only this but purchased tracks can be synced using iTunes or Windows Media Player and if you happen to delete your track by accident, you can re-download without being charged again.

The 40p chart titles is only a limited time offer with no exact date for finish. Can HMV take a chunk out of an iTunes dominated market.

Believe it or not this month will be a momentous occasion for Amazon Kindle fans in the UK as it’s finally getting an official UK model release. This will mean no more having to get an adaptor to use your Kindle in this country and should be easy to pick up. I’ve not had much chance to play with an e-reader to be honest mainly because I’m not a big book reader (i prefer to watch the film adaptations ) but from what I know the Amazon Kindle is a major player in the market and surely this news will be interesting to it’s UK users.

Arriving on the 27th day of this very month, Amazon will start it’s very own UK Kindle store and 2 models will be for sale. The first being a WiFi only model that will set the punters back £109 and then there’s the WiFi + 3G model at £149. Now correct me if I’m wrong that’s a lot cheaper than an iPad, so if books on the go is your thing surely this might be worth a look at. What else? Well they’ve sent the Kindle on a diet. Now 20% smaller in dimensions, it’s also 50g lighter adding to the portability and also the screen is now up to 50% sharper. Added to that a fantastic battery life of a month, yes a month(provided all the WiFi and 3G are off although it lasts 10 days with them on) and a new WebKit browser to improve it’s web browsing it’s certainly shaping itself up for us here in Blighty.

When the new Amazon Kindle store opens with it users will have a starting choice of 400,000  titles to pick from and your Kindle will hold up to 3500 of them you’ll get plenty of choice. Amazon are also saying that if you spot an eBook cheaper elsewhere they will beat the price…… Nice one Amazon.

Computers and internet access are almost accessible to anyone in the developed world but with the fastest growing economies in the developing world its the privileged in them societies who have the access. Hopefully soon basic computer access will be available for all and in India where this will become essential to a fast growing economy with a massive population have come up with a solution. Developed by the Indian Institutes of Technology, and revealed by the Indian governments Human Resource Development minister, here’s the tablet PC for everyman.

The Linux operated system isn’t the power monster you or me might desire but it’s developed cheaply and does the job it’s asked, basic computer needs, ie Internet and a variety of useful apps, word processing etc. It’s ultralow powered and it has been suggested solar cells could be enough to power it. Inside is a 2GB SSD (up to 32GB add-on available) and has an adequate 7” touchscreen.

The major factor is the cost, with the makers suggesting that if enough were made/sold they can output the tablet at a mere £23. However the Indian government is suggesting private companies to see if they can do better. Not only is it great for those unfortunate enough to not have a computer but could even drive the cost of normal computer production down too to compete. Fingers crossed.

HD content is all the range now and unless you’re living under a rock you aren’t going to know about it. Acer have announced two new models into its netbook range powered by AMDs new range of chips focusing on the power needed for mobile HD use on a computer, which some smaller form machines might struggle with.

The 521 is a 10.1” 1024x600 affair run by a single core AMD V105(1.2GHz) whilst the meatier 721 is at 11.6” 1366x768 run by a dual-core AMD Athlon Neo K325. Both run Windows 7 and can have up to 4GB RAM. For the HD”ness” they will both run ATi Mobility Radeon HD4225 GPUs easily capable of firing out Full HD video and modern PC games should run ok too.

Other features include HDMI out so you can output onto a larger screen, a multi-touch trackpad for easy use. It will also have built in webcam and Bluetooth and there’s also optional 3G connectivity for internet on the go. We aren’t doing well today for getting prices on products but we do know they should be available by next month.

After the success of last years Olympus PEN (E-PL1 and E-PL2) it seems the market was open for the micro four thirds camera. If you aren’t sure what that is it’s basically a DSSLR style camera with interchangeable lenses but is the size of a compact camera. Now Sony is entering the frame with its trusty Alpha range of cameras with the NEX-3 and the NEX-5.

Both compact cameras in size, the NEX-3 is 25.4mm thin and the NEX-5 an even slimmer 24.2mm. The difference between the two is that the NEX-5’s body is made from Magnesium making it even lighter than the NEX-3, in fact Sony claim its the lightest camera where one can change the lens.

Both contain the new Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor. This means you can snap images at a fantastic 14.2MP and can record video at another fantastic 1080i. Both also have 3” LCD with a simple control system and even despite the sheer amount of menus and options, Sony claims it’s easy to get around.

Also available are 30 different lenses so you can play about to get that perfect shot, including the classic skateboard picture, fish-eye shot.

Available next month Sony is keeping quiet on the price, but I gues we’ll know soon seeing as June is only 3 weeks away.

Madcap designers Ben Perman and Murat Mutlu have come up with this crazy gadget obviously due to, and like most of the British public, the love of a good brew and the obsession of the internet. Put them together and you get the Tweetle. A Kettle that tweets to let you know it has boiled.

Designed for office use in mind, switch the kettle on to boil, once boiled the kettle will automatically, all by itself post a tweet letting everyone who needs to know it’s ready to make a delicious cup of tea or coffee. Obviously to achieve this the kettle is WiFi enabled but also has a couple of other cool features. It can count how many brews you’ve made and can even tell you how much energy you’ve saved by using it.

What has been suggested by the makers is the implemented science behind the Tweetle could soon be used in other household appliances such as fridges to inform the user when they run out of milk or eggs for example.

Although not available to buy yet the designers are hoping that once in production the Tweetle will cost around £75.

Source : Metro.co.uk

With the PMA(Photo Marketing Association) tradeshow a month away in Vegas we’re sure to see a lot more coming from the camera genre then but Olympus has stunned the world with its the next ultra-zoom compact camera the SP-800UZ.

Firstly its a 14MP camera but what really really grabs your attention is the massive 30x optical zoom. Now obviously despite the fact its a compact it needs the room to house the lens which makes a little bigger than your average compact but still smaller than your SLR's. With 2GB of internal memory and SD expansion you can also video 720p and then output it to your telly via its HDMI out.

It also comes with the usual face detection, image stabilisation and has a 3” LCD panel on the back to view your shots. You can even plug it in and charge via USB, handy if you don’t carry your charger around and have access to someone’s computer.

Also a smaller 12MP 15x optical zoom camera, the SP-600UZ is coming out alongside it.Both are out in March and will be priced at £369.99 and £259.99.

Now I’m a big fan of the Panasonic Lumix range(owning a TZ-65) so i’m always excited to see what cameras Panasonic are putting out. Now we will have the DMC-FS10 and FS11, the DMC-FS30 and FS33 and also the DMC-FP1 and FP3.

The DMC-FS10 and FS11(pictured) are a 12.1MP and a 14.1MP camera respectively. Both have a 28mm high quality wide angle LUMIX lens and both give 5x Optical Zoom. Turn it round and you have a 2.7” 230,000 dot LCD screen and boasts a light sensor to adjust the brightness when required. Both can shoot 720p movies at 30fps as well as 640x 480 and a wider 848x480

The DMCFS30 and FS33 again both contain a 28mm wide angle but are capable of 8x optical zoom. The only difference between the two cameras is on the flipside with screens being different. Both have a touch panel LCD screen only the FS30’s is 2.7” and the FS33 is 3”

Then we have the FP1(pictured below) and FP3. “Ultra-slim, Super Stylish Cameras with Folded Optics, Intelligent Auto Mode and Sonic Speed AF” say Panasonic. Both again with 4x Optical Zoom. The FP1 is a 12.1MP with a 2.7” screen and the FP3 is a 14.1MP with a 3” screen.

Pricing and availability are unknown and will probably be released sooner to release.