Tuxtops

A free Gnome-based Linux distribution for mobile devices such as smartphones and PDAs has achieved a major release. OpenedHand's Poky Linux 3.0 ("Blinky") is based on X11, GTK+, and the Matchbox window manager, and includes an impressive-looking new application framework and theme called "Sato 0.1."

Google has developed a prototype cell phone that could reach markets within a year, and plans to offer consumers free subscriptions by bundling advertisements with its search engine, e-mail and Web browser software applications, according to a story of The Wall Street Journal. More info here and here.

Sun has unveiled a new open mobile platform called JavaFX, which it hopes will bring open rapid open development to the mobile space, an environment long dominated by telcos and cellular carriers.

Geeks.com sent us over two great-looking and cheap mp3 players for a review, with 1 GB of storage each. One is coming from Sandisk and the other is an... iPod Shuffle clone! Read on for more.

* 1GB USB Mini Digital MP3 Player

All I can say is "wow". This is of course a clone of Apple's iPod shuffle, there is no denying there. But it comes at a price that makes it very relevant, very competitive against the real thing. The iPod Shuffle costs $79, while the FHM-008 costs merely $22. Both devices come with 1 GB storage, very similar sizes and weight, and a similar user interface. The FHM-008 uses a mini-USB as its main PC interface, it has an on/off switch, a 3.5mm earphone jack, and it a very solid clip mechanism that allows the player to get attached to your clothes. The four main interace buttons allow for play/pause, previous/forward song, and volume up/down. There is no fast forward/backward ability. In the box we found a pair of earbuds and a mini-USB cable. Battery life seems to be maxing out at about 6 hours, which is slightly less than Apple's version. Sound quality was top notch and we must note that the player is able to drive headphones very loud. We can not find any problems with this astoninishing product, but just one: the player crashes every now and then. It seems to happen randomly, it doesn't seem to be an mp3 encoder incompatibility. It's a bit discouraging for consumers to see amazing hardware technology that fits in such small cases, and yet the software to be lagging behind in stability. Overall though, this is a cool gadget, and very accesible too. Makes for a great gift.

Rating: 8/10

* SanDisk Sansa C140 1GB MP3/WMA Player w/Voice Record

Here is a super-low priced product that works as it's supposed to with no problems whatsoever! The SanDisk Sansa C140 mp3 player sports 1 GB of storage, can playback both WMA (DRM'ed or not) and MP3 files, it has voice recording capabilities and and FM radio. For the price, it's amazing to see that the product sports a 65k color CSTN screen that is able to fit about 3 lines of text. The device is powered by an AAA battery which lasts between 13 and 16 hours, depending on the battery brand used. While the screen does not fit a lot of text, the user interface has been reworked a lot since the older Sandisk models and so this time we found its usability very good. In fact, with their older Sandisk mp3 players, you would need about 20 minutes to fully understand how everything worked, but on the C140, you will "get it" within 2 minutes. The joystick buttons allow for next/previous, fast forward/backwards, volume up/down, while the "power" key doubles as a "go back to menu" key. The FM radio allows for up to 20 presets, while voice recording proved an easy affair too. In the box we found the SanDisk Sansa c140, some pretty good stereo earbuds, a USB cable that fits into Sandisk's (unfortunately) proprietary slot, a lanyard, and one AAA battery. In the settings we were able to change equalizer settings, language support, while there were also some power settings available too. Apparently, versions 1.x were having lots of problems and there was an outcry about the lack of firmware upgrades for this particular model. Thankfully, the batch that Geeks.com sells comes with a very recent firmware, v2.0.0.7A and so most problems are not present anymore! If you are still stuck with an 1.x firmware, you might want to upgrade (at your own risk). Overall, this is a great product at a great price.

Rating: 9/10

Panasonic is claiming today the light-weight world title for the smallest 3CCD Full HD camera with their HDC-SD5. Looking at its 2.6 x 2.6 x 5.3-inch 0.75-pound package, it seems they may be right. In any case, coupled with its 1,920 x 1,080 30fps recording on SD or SDHC cards, revamped image stabilization system and Leica Dicomar lenses, the HDC-SD5 is one of the sexiest camcorders in a while.

We took our time to gain some perspective on the iconic Apple iPhone. Did it live up to our expectations, or did it let us down?

"I've already posted a review of the G500, Toshiba's 3G / HSDPA Windows Mobile Smartphone which was a bit of a mixed bag to be honest so it was with not a little apprehension that I opened the latest package to wing its way to me from Tracy and Matt." More here.

This article reviews the Debian Linux-based Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. The basics of the internet tablet are covered as well as the new features available after the latest July firmware updates. Most notable new features would be a full fledged Skype client and SDHC support.

We received over for a test the 52mm version of Tiffen's new line of ultra-contrast filters, the HDTV/FX. The filter comes in various strengths (from 1/4 to 6), and we review one with strength #3. The HDTV/FX filters are available in professional sizes 4x4, 4x5.650, 6.6x6.6, 138mm and 4-1/2" and also available in screw-in sizes 52mm-82mm for the digital still photographer and videographer.

This particular filter is a combination of two older products made by Tiffen, their Contrast filter and the Digital Diffusion/FX filter. The contrast filter simply removes contrast, so the final image looks more like traditional film, while the diffusion softens out the image to, again, achieve that elusive "film look" that every Indie cinematographer is so passionately looking for.

The "soft" look that the filter brings to the table might or might not be what everyone is looking for, but the contrast abilities will help out in many situations, e.g. harshly sunny days, a bride on a white dress on a dark background etc. The filter helps evening out the look and provides better shadow details. Some users think that using a video editor in "post" to change the contrast will do the same thing, but this is not true. While the softening of an image can be achieved in "post" quite easily with the right software filter, the contrast results are not great. Changing contrast on "post" will undoubtedly lead to some loss of quality on your image and so a hardware filter that does the job while capturing the image is always more preferable.

As with all filters, use with care and only when they are needed. We coupled this filter with an ND-6 filter during our tests under a very sunny, warm day and we got pretty good results. In fact, using both these filters, we were able to start getting some background blur on just 30% of our zoom level, while without any of the filters we wouldn't get a background blur before 80% of the zoom level. Depth of field is an important step towards the ultimate "film look", and so we were happy to see these two filters working together so well on our Canon HV20 and achieving a look that it's not so "video".

- Download the video above in 720p format (shot with the HDTV/FX3, ND-6 filters and towards the end a polarizer too). 180 MB

- Download a short 720p comparison video with and without the HDTV/FX3 filter. 22 MB

- Download a short 720p video with the HDTV/FX3 & ND filter, which exhibits a bit of the "film look". 11 MB

Sony Ericsson is one of the brands behind Symbian OS which is used in the manufacturer's smartphones, and all of them, since the first P800 back in 2002, have touch sensitive displays and use the UIQ interface to control it. This combination of OS-UI has been also used by other manufacturers in the past (Motorola, Benq, Arima) but nowadays the only recently announced non-Sony Ericsson phone with UIQ is the Motorola Z8, which uses non-touch version of the UI that doesn't have much in common with the one for phones with touch-sensitive displays. Review of the P1.