Blognoscenti

The best ultra-marathon and triathlon GPS watch has finally arrived – the Garmin Forerunner 910XT. It has so many features that there is hardly an outdoor sport that you could not use it for.

The new Garmin Forerunner 910XT has arrived and triathletes and ultra-endurance athletes alike could not be more excited. The predecessor watch, the Garmin Forerunner 310XT, gave the world its first true long course triathlon GPS watch. The Garmin Forerunner 910XT drew on the playbook from the Garmin 610 and added training effect to keep a handle on your cumulative training load. Furthermore, it has added a barometric altimeter to increase the accuracy of real-time ascent and descent data. The GPS data has always been very accurate on altitude once it has been uploaded into Garmin Connect and the user hits the altitude corrections button but athletes really wanted more accurate data on board to measure this in real-time and now it is right there on the wrist top.

The Garmin 910XT also brings to bear a somewhat smaller form factor. The demands of running full GPS mode for 15 hours or longer necessitate a lithium-ion battery that can meet the task, so creating a small watch for long course triathlon may still be a ways off.

Of course the Garmin 910XT still delivers multiple screens for each sport and picks up bike power data from ANT+ compliant power meters.

Each successive generation of Garmin GPS sports product gets better with more added features. Of particular note in the new Garmin Forerunner 910XT are the training load and the barometric altimeter. The ability to track laps and strokes swimming is another feature that should help improve swim efficiency.

Many professional reviewers will try to stereotype the Garmin Forerunner 910XT as strictly a triathlon watch but in reality it is great for sports like ultra-running, all-day summit attempts, dawn until dusk back country skiing excursions, cross country trials and dirt biking, inline skating and so much more. Add a external battery pack with solar charger and this GPS watch is set to tackle even remote locations.

The new and best ultra-marathon and triathlon GPS watch is now available from WebAntics Online in 2 different versions. The Watch Only Version is available at R3792.09 Incl VAT and the Heart Rate Monitor Version retails for R4247.64 Incl VAT.  The only difference being the inclusion of a Premium heart rate monitor in the latter.

The Canon PowerShot SX40 HS is a brilliantly versatile bridge camera whose key feature, the 35x optical zoom, is made all the more attractive by an excellent image stabilisation system. Picture quality is good and overall speed is much improved over its series precursor, the SX30. If you can live without the picture quality perfection and improved low-light performance of a DSLR, this is a really great buy.

Key Features:
- 35x optical zoom (and that isn’t a typo…it really is 35x)
- 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor
- Optional manual focus
- 8-shot high speed Burst mode
- 1080p 24fps video recording
- Buy now for R3895.00 incl VAT

Getting serious about photography is not a cheap endeavour. Buying a basic DSLR setup isn’t so painful, with decent models now available for under R6000.00. But once you start adding the cost of the additional lenses needed for anything approaching all-purpose flexibility, you can expect to spend at least double that. If this is beyond your budget, then the Canon SX40 HS could be worth a look. It’s a super zoom bridge camera that gives you a hugely flexible focal range and plenty of potential for manual control – if not quite DSLR-rivalling image quality.

The Canon SX40 HS represents a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the SX30. It offers much faster performance, full HD video recording and improved light sensitivity for improved low-light performance. The effective resolution of the SX40′s sensor is lower at 12.1 megapixels (instead of 14.1), but the sensor type has changed to a 1/2.3in CMOS type instead of the CCD type used in the SX30.

The build hasn’t changed drastically, however. The Canon SX40 is made of hard matt black plastic, and while it doesn’t feel quite as immaculately constructed as one of Canon’s metal-bodied cameras, like the 60D or G12, it is tough and creak-free.

Some care and attention has gone into making it feel great in-hand too. The front side of the right hand grip has a lightly rubberised finish, giving it greater friction than the rest of the body, which is otherwise very smooth. Although smaller than standard SLR size, this hand grip feels comfortable and gives you a good sense of mastery over the camera’s position for one-handed shooting. It also gives you confidence that you’re not going to drop it.

On its right edge is a flap covering the miniUSB and mini HDMI ports. The latter is noteworthy because it’s CEC-compatible, meaning you can control your camera using a TV remote using it – all the better to bore your nearest and dearest with.

The Canon PowerShot SX40 HS may be little more than the SX30 IS equipped with a new sensor, but this single change has a significant impact on the camera as a whole. The 720p video and paltry 1.3fps continuous shooting of the SX30 IS have now been upgraded to 1080p and up to 10.3fps (for eight frames anyway), while the switch to CMOS, drop in resolution and new image processor really do lower noise levels with no perceptible loss in real-life resolving power. Considering you get all of this in a body which already housed one of the longest zooms on the market, and the SX40 HS is looking like a very strong camera.

As for the Canon SX40 HS, it will of course be chosen by those who love the idea of having one of the biggest zoom ranges on the market with a good balance of other features. As such the Canon PowerShot SX40 HS comes easily recommended.

The Canon PowerShot SX40 HS Digital Camera is available from WebAntics Online at the promotional price of R3,895.00 Incl VAT.

WebAntics Online are the first South African reseller of this innovative product from SmudgeGuard® in America. This specially designed one-fingered or two-fingered-glove is designed to eliminate ink or graphite smudges when you write, draw or sketch. SmudgeGuard® is sold around the world and unsurprisingly, many of their users are Wacom tablet users. They found out SmudgeGuard® was useful for keeping their tablets smudge-free and for eliminating the friction when drawing on their Wacom tablets. So it’s wonderful to see that SmudgeGuard® is helpful to Wacom users as well!

SmudgeGuard was set up by left-handed entrepreneur Jeannie Lit, whose inspiration came from seeing her similarly left-handed son come home from school with pencil smudges all down the side of his hand. She designed an ostensibly simple solution, in the shape of a cutaway glove-like sheath that prevented ink or pencil from smearing as you write or draw.

SmudgeGuard® is a hand guard which prevents the user from getting ink or graphite smudges on his or her writing hand while writing or drawing. It also prevents the tablet PC user from getting hand smudges on the tablet while writing or drawing and prevents friction between the hand and the surface of paper and tablets. Both types of SmudgeGuard® can be used on either hand.

Some of the benefits of SmudgeGuard® are:
- Keeps the side of your hand clean from unwanted smudges!
- No more sweaty hand smudges on your Tablet PC!
- Eliminates hand friction!
- Your hand will glide easily across paper and tablets!
- Your hand will not “stick” to the Wacom surface anymore!
- Minimizes smudges off your creative work!
- Great for home, school or office!
- Children & Adults can use it for: Writing, Drawing, Sketching

SmudgeGuard® is available in South Africa from WebAntics Online in two versions - SmudgeGuard SG1 (1 Finger Glove) SmudgeGuard SG2 (2 Finger Glove). The only difference between the SG1 and the SG2 is that SG1 covers the pinky while the SG2 covers both the ring finger AND the pinky. Some people draw by resting only their pinky on the tablet for support while others may rest BOTH their ring finger and the pinky finger. For instance, if both your ring finger and pinky rests on the tablet or paper while drawing, then you may consider buying the SG2. In this way, your ring finger won’t smudge the tablet. The SG2 will also provide more protection against friction and allows your hand to glide easier

With a number of really solid, high bandwidth per month offerings from 8ta, MTN, Cell C and Vodacom, buying mobile data for the home is beginning to look like a very attractive proposition…

The problem is how do you share this in a home / office environment? The VKOM 351W portable Wi-Fi router provides the answer.

Easy to connect
This small black device includes a twistable connector at the top where you insert your USB modem. If you’ve dealt with routers before you’ll know that there’s a bit of set-up involved, which is also the case with the VKOM. Luckily it’s not too much of an efort, in fact setting up a router for an ADSL line is far more strenuous and involved. Using a webpage-based management system and following instructions from the device’s quick start guide, we were up and running in minutes. Once the VKOM is connected to the cellular data network, it forms a Wi-Fi hotspot onto which up to 32 devices, such as phones, printers, notebooks and tablets are able to connect wirelessly.

In regards to security, the default password is the MAC address located on the side of the 351W’s box, but this, along with other admin settings, can be changed in the web management interface. The 351W supports 64/128-bit WEP, WPA, and WPA2 settings, in order to prevent unauthorised access to the network.

Portable too
The VKOM 351W may find a permanent place in your home, but it also comes with a rechargeable Li-Ion battery, making it a portable solution. It’s small enough to carry around, and with the USB connecter able to fold into the device, it should fit nicely in a suit pocket or a handbag. In theory the router should provide similar download speeds as your modem, but in practice this is not always the case. The speeds we achieved differed when we went online via the USB dongle connected to our PC locally, than when connected via the VKOM router. The VKOM 351W supports the 802.11n protocol (Wireless-N), and is capable of Wi-Fi speeds of up to 150 Mbps, allowing for better coverage in the office.

Final word
For those wanting to make use of current mobile data offers, the VKOM 351W will provide the means to use a 3G modem to form a portable hotspot.

To purchase the VKOM 351W portable Wi-Fi router or for more information, you can contact WebAntics Online on 011 839 0716 or visit www.webantics.co.za

The Digital Voice Tracer LFH0898 captures everything that is said in excellent audio quality. Just put the plate-shaped microphones on the meeting table, connect them to the recorder and get going. The unique boundary-layer microphones are easy to set up. No microphone stand is required; just place it on the meeting table.

The design allows sound pickup from a radius of 360 degrees, and utilizes the acoustic pressure of the surface of the table. The cable storage is integrated into the base of the microphone . The compact meeting recorder can be set up within seconds. Simply connect the conference microphones to the Voice recorder and you are ready to go! All accessories of the Compact meeting recorder fit into the all-in-one carry pouch. This guarantees easy transportation, as well as appropriate storage of your recording equipment.

Features:

- Portable and easy-to-use solution for recording meetings
- Organize your files in a fast and easy way with four folders
- All-in-one pouch for comfortable transportation
- Advanced Innovative microphones with 360-degree sound pickup
- Record in the popular MP3 format & WAV PCM.
- Rapidly transfer recordings and data via high-speed USB 2.0
- Lightweight and ergonomic design
- Extra large front speaker for crystal-clear voice playback
- 6 recording Modes : PCM (WAV/stereo), SHQ (MP3/stereo), HQ (MP3/stereo), SP (MP3/mono), LP (MP3/mono), SLP (MP3/mono).

The Philips LFH898 Voice Tracer Digital Voice Recorder is available from WebAntics Online for R4,995.00 Incl VAT along with the entire range of digital voice recorders and Digital Voice Tracers.

Corel has announced the launch of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6, the newest version of its flagship graphics suite.

Featuring a completely revamped typography engine, inspiring new colour styles and harmonies, and powerful shaping tools, the new suite offers graphics professionals its most creative and powerful tools to date. With a focus on opening up new creative possibilities for the design community, this major update delivers improved workflow and performance making it even easier for both aspiring and experienced designers to connect with assets, work with leading edge tools and technology, and output their design projects with confidence.

CorelDRAW senior product manager John Falsetto says the CorelDRAW community consistently inspires the copmany with their creativity and versatility.

“Our members play a central role in helping us determine the essential features and enhancements that will help to accelerate the design process, while enabling them to showcase their true design style.

“We want to provide our users with all of the tools and options they need to be as creative and productive as possible so that they can share their vision and inspire others through their work,” says Falsetto. The new features and numerous enhancements included  in the latest suite are designed to address the needs of CorelDRAW users in a wide variety of industries, including sign making, graphic design, fashion or apparel design, wide format printing, marketing, print production, screen printing, awards and engraving, vehicle wrap design, and others.

Key New Features and Enhancements include:

• Advanced OpenType Support: Create beautiful text with advanced OpenType typography features, such as contextual and stylistic alternates, ligatures, ornaments, swash variants, and more.
• New Custom-built Colour Harmonies: Modify colours collectively in a harmony and analyze colours and hues to deliver complementary colour schemes.
• New Native 64-bit and Enhanced Multi-Core Support: Quickly process files and images up to 50% faster than before.
• New Creative Vector Shaping tools: Creatively add effects using four new vector shaping tools – Smear, Twirl, Attract and Repel.
• New Styles Engine and Docker: Format with speed and simplify the creation, application, and management of styles for consistent formatting across multiple objects.
• New Corel Website Creator X6 application: Build and manage websites with ease using the Site Wizard, templates, drag-and-drop functionality and seamless integration with XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, and XML.
• New Smart Carver: Remove unwanted areas from an image while simultaneously maintaining the photo’s aspect ratio.
• Improved Page Layout Capabilities: Create design layouts with ease using new and improved Master Layer functionality, Alignment Guides, Interactive frames and much more.
• Redesigned Object Properties Docker: Save time, fine-tune designs and get access to the object settings in one centralised location.

What’s Included in CorelDRAW Graphics X6:

• CorelDRAW X6, an intuitive vector-illustration and page-layout application
• Corel PHOTO-PAINT X6, a professional image-editing application
• Corel PowerTRACE X6, a utility to quickly and accurately convert bitmaps into editable vector graphics
• Corel CONNECT, a full-screen browser to search the suite’s digital content on a computer, local network, or disc and stock imagery from iStockPhoto and Fotolia
• Corel CAPTURE X6, a one-click screen capture utility
• Corel, Website Creator X6, a powerful new do-it-yourself website creation software

Users also receive 10 000 high-quality clipart and images; 1 000 new professional high-resolution digital photos; 1 000 OpenType fonts, including premium fonts such as Helvetica; 2,000 vehicle templates; 350 professionally designed templates; and 800 frames and patterns. Corel will continue to enhance the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 experience by making more content and functionality available throughout the lifecycle for X6 users.

All box versions of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 include a comprehensive full-colour, hard cover Guidebook to help users of all skill levels getting started quickly.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 is now available from WebAntics Online in a box version at the promotional pricing of R3999.99 for the full version and R1999.99 for the upgrade version. All prices include VAT.

I suppose it’s not a little ironic that what is easily the best Android tablet yet does not look a little bit like an iPad, but a lot like an iPad, and is being sued for trademark infringement – though not by Apple. If you want to be generous, you could say that Asus’s Transformer Prime stands on the shoulders of giants. With spiked cleats.

Why It Matters
In a word: speed. This tablet has not a dual, not a triple, but a quad-core 1.3Ghz processor, plus an integrated GPU. It is the first device to run Nvidia’s Tegra 3 processor—the first quad-core Android tablet—and it simply blows the doors off of everything else. In terms of speed, anyway. Just imagine when it’s not hobbled by the crippling inefficiencies of Honeycomb. Of course, it won’t be the only quad-core tablet by this time next week.

Using It
At just 8.3mm, it’s thinner than the iPad 2 (8.8mm) and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (8.6mm). There’s no cheap plastic on this thing. The back is a solid panel of brushed aluminum—the texture feels slightly off though, to some of us. The result is a very low-profile device that feels incredibly strong (unlike the Galaxy Tabs). It’s not quite as comfortable to hold as Motorola’s rubberized Xyboard tablets, but the lightness makes up for it.

Right now, the Prime is running Honeycomb (Android 3.2.1). All Honeycomb tablets have had problems with consistency. They’re fast one minute, and then slow as hell the next. Not with the Prime. Even when I had ten programs running simultaneously (most of which were HD games) there was virtually no stutter or lag on the homescreen or anywhere else. Nvidia delivered a package of sample HD games that use all four cores and the GPU, and they are absolutely gorgeous. Asus has done some light, (mostly) inoffensive tweaking to the stock Android experience. It adds some extra controls, which are nice, and some software which ranges from useful (Polaris Office) to useless (@vibe Music, a Pandora clone). When it get its Ice Cream Sandwich update, you’ll be able to remove anything you don’t want, and considering we’ve already seen ICS running on the Prime, that should be very soon.

NOTE: The reason it’s called a Transformer is because it has a spiffy keyboard dock that basically transforms it into a laptop. It has a full keyboard, touchpad, USB and SD card ports, and it adds an extra 50-60% to the battery life, theoretically bringing it up to 15 or 16 hours.

Like
The Transformer Prime shows how Android tablets could and should be built. And this tablet actually lives up to the hype as far as speed and performance goes. It’s easily the fastest Android tablet out there, and may well be faster than the iPad 2—though Android has a knack for feelingslower, because of the way, for instance, that it animates transitions. The Super IPS+ screen is incredibly bright, and I had no problem seeing the screen in sunlight. Colors were nice and vivid, too. Battery life is terrific. With fairly conservative use and Wi-Fi only on half of the time, I got ten hours of use. When I pushed it way harder, I still got close to eight.

No Like
The big ding is that it’s still running Honeycomb. While the Tegra 3 over-powers Honeycomb’s speed problems with obscene processing power, it’s still not a very intuitive UI.

The most glaring design flaw is the speaker. Yes, speaker. Singular. If you hold the tablet in landscape (as you will for most games and for all movies) the speaker is on the far right side of the tablet, under your hand. Because the tablet is so thin your hand doesn’t really block the speaker, but you can absolutely tell that it’s only coming out of one side.

Asus has provided their own sliding keyboard (similar to Swype) which is awful. Not only does swiping not make much sense on a giant screen, but the predictions were very bad indeed (fortunately you can easily switch out the keyboard, because it’s Android.). No 3G/4G radio on board (just Wi-Fi), which may be a deal-breaker for some.

Should I Buy It?
Yes. If you know you don’t want an iPad 3. That is, if you know you want an Android tablet. This is the one to buy. It’s the best constructed, fastest Android tablet out there. The only people who should hesitate are those who don’t want to be confined to Wi-Fi. That said, this is my new favorite tablet. Maybe it’ll be yours too

Article courtesy of Brent Rose - http://gizmodo.com/

The Asus Transformer Prime (TF201) is now available from WebAntics Online in a 32GB (R5,999.00 incl VAT) and a 64GB version (R6,999.00 incl VAT). The optional Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Keyboard/Mobile Docking Station is also available at R1,699.99 incl VAT.

The Wacom Intuos5 range of tablets has been announced keeping in mind professionals such as artists, designers and photographers.Some of its features are inclusive of multi-touch gestures, an Express View Display and wireless capabilities.

The Wacom Intuos5 is the new professional pen tablet generation for photographers, designers and artists who want to dive into their digital image. Superior new features include multi-touch gesture support for intuitive input, an Express View display to facilitate an efficient workflow and wireless capabilities for convenience and comfort. Combined with Wacom’s renowned pen pressure and tilt sensitive pen, the state-of-the-art Intuos5 represents the intuitive way to create.

What’s new from the Intuos 4:
NEW– now with multi-touch function supporting user-defined shortcuts and conveying a natural feel simply – through multi-touch gestures
NEW– now with the revolutionary Express View on-screen display
NEW– gain freedom via the optional wireless accessory kit
NEW– now with ergonomic soft-touch surface designed for maximum comfort

Same as the Intuos 4:
- Pen precision with 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity and pen tilt for a real pen-on-paper feel
- Up to 8 individually configurable ExpressKeys with new surface feel
- Multifunctional Touch Ring with 4 freely programmable functions per application

The Wacom Intuos5 price and availability details have been disclosed. The small, medium and large slate types price tags read at R2599.99, R3517.58 and R5228.90, correspondingly. The Intuos5 and the rest of the Wacom tablet range and accessories are now available from WebAntics Online Shopping Store.

WebAntics Online is an authorised Wacom Reseller and is one of South Africa’s Leading Online Shopping Stores selling a wide range of products including Computers, Electronics, Gadgets, Corporate Gifts and Software to name just a few of our products. Established in 2005 with an aim of providing customers with an easy way of shopping from the comfort of their chair while at the same time benefiting from the cost saving from operating on-line.

Have you ever attempted to show a group of friends an awesome video on your iPhone or iPad, and then had to pass your device around so that everyone can watch it back with a decent view? With the Epson MegaPlex MG-850HD, you can project your latest home recording onto any white background so that all of your friends — heck, even your whole street! — can get a good view first time around.

What makes the MegaPlex great for iOS (formerly iPhone OS) users is its built-in dock that features a 30-pin connector compatible with your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. That means all you have to do is stick your device inside and hit play. But it’s not just for iOS devices; it’ll also play nicely with your computer, games console, Blu-ray player, and many other smartphones and tablets. ….Read more›;

It’s not just high-end, feature-rich projectors that Epson release into the market. They are also hoping to pull gamers apart from their control pads with the attractively priced EH-TW480 Home Theatre Projector.

The projectors are boasting Epson’s  latest 3LCD technology with HD Ready at resolutions of 720p for super sharp images at wall-filling sizes and that are far more affordable than their flatscreen counterparts.

Quick response times mean that Gaming fanatics can stay competitive using the projector, with contrast ratios of 3,000:1 and brightness levels of 2,800 lumens offering vibrant images even in sunny ambient conditions. ….Read more›;