This post was written by Ellen Rocklin
Microsoft’s PS3 Wireless Keypad that comes with the Xbox 360 is the best way to chat and browse the Internet on the PlayStation 3. The keypad is small so people with thicker fingers have a hard time typing away on it. Dual functionality of most keypad buttons is an added advantage. Unlike the Xbox 360 chatpad, it lacks backlight for the keys. Priced around $50, it is a bit expensive. It can act as a mouse and can be paired with any other compatible Bluetooth device.
Apple is set to introduce a new home server device. The device is reportedly an expansion of Apple’s Time Capsule platform, according to Web site 9to5Mac. Time Capsule is a device that works wirelessly with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard and provides automatic backup, and includes a wireless 500GB or 1TB hard drive designed to work with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard. Users can also share media with iPod Touch and iPhones both over the Internet and while at home, and with AppleTV as well.
Hewlett Packard has introduced its latest range of Photosmart printers that can be a good deal as a home office product. Coming with an attractive price tag, the Photosmart C5380can be really useful for those who print lots of photographs at home. Its five-ink system and the colour LCD are some of the features which make it valuable. It does not come with fax facility, but can scan and copy. The product from HP gets distinguished from its competition by its speed of printing photos. It takes just 18 seconds to print an A4-sized photograph.
Konica Minolta has recently launched a series of small compact colour printer the new magicolor 1600W. At an affordable price, this compact device produces minimal noise levels and comes with eco-friendly features, such as low energy consumption. The compact magicolor 1600W produces up to 5 pages per minute for colour documents and 20 pages per minute for black and white documents. Konica Minolta’s Simitri HD toner ensures that users get a high quality print result with fine details and true colour.
TELSTRA is expected to roll out set-top boxes that allow internet customers to download films and play them on television, early next year. The launch of a digital video recorder would put Telstra in competition with Foxtel’s iQ DVR and Home Box Office on-demand movie service after the non-competition agreement between the two parties expired last month. The box will be given free to broadband internet customers as early as the first quarter of next year, with Telstra expecting customers to upgrade their broadband download package to take advantage of the service.
Linksys has launched the WRT110 RangePlus Wireless Router, a three-in-one device, which combines the functionality of a Wireless Access Point (WAP), built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 switch and router. It features an internal antenna technology, in which the antenna is integrated into the router body without any effect in the signal coverage. The WRT110 comes with the Linksys EasyLink Advisor (LELA) application that provides consumers with a flash video-based guided installation for PC and Mac users. LELA uses simplified terminology that does not require knowledge of networking jargon, and helps make setting up a wireless network easier.
Mobile phones, low-cost fax machines, cutting edge laptops and other gadgets can now allow the home office to be almost anywhere, even in your kitchen. Hewlett Packard Inc.’s IQ 775 TouchSmart, costing $1,599, has finger-friendly features that make it easy to use while inhaling a sandwich. The 19-inch widescreen display is a touch screen, which allows you to navigate through your Web browser and applications with a fingertip. Moreover, the unit’s keyboard and mouse are wireless, as is the remote control, which is used with the built-in high-definition TV tuner, FM radio and video recorder.
ClearOne has announced that Technology Marketing Corporation’s (TMC) Communications Solutions has named the CHAT 150 Group Speakerphone as a recipient of a 2007 Product of the Year Award. The CHAT 150 is a group speakerphone designed for the executive office, small conference room, or home office. The product, which has a sleek design with a large loudspeaker and three microphones for 360 degree audio pickup, connects to telephones, PCs, and video conferencing systems for superior wide-band audio communications.
ZyXEL Communications, Inc. today has announced it will demonstrate its technological expertise in access and digital home solutions at the TelcoTV 2008 conference. ZyXEL will showcase the power of ‘ZyNERGY,’ the explosive synergy that occurs when broadband access, home connectivity and digital apps devices are designed and built by the same vendor. ZyXEL will feature live demonstrations, at its TelcoTV booth, for IPTV and connected home environment. The first “home demo” will have a high-speed ADSL2+ connection streaming Internet, IPTV and telephone service. Two rooms shown will include a living room and a home office.
Minneapolis-based Best Buy said that it has gained 1.5% market share in the U.S. as compared to the year-ago quarter, with key gains in TVs, computers, video games and mobile phones. Best Buy’s home-office business showed the largest increase, 9.3% in comparable U.S. store sales, and now accounts for 31% of total revenues, up from 29% last year. Notebook computers and mobile phones grew at a double-digit percentage, while comparable store sale declines were seen in printers, landline phones and computer networking products, according to the company.