Blognoscenti

Love getting all dressed up in a suit, and heading off to corporate meetings ? Well, then make sure you have the right kind of tablet device to go along with you, and an iPad is way too casual, while the BlackBerry PlayBook does have an air of authority, the lack of decent apps have proved to be its Achilles’ Heel.

Asus’ latest Eee Slate B121 business tablet will not suffer from that fate, as it intends to deliver power, portability and security features in a single device, targeting businesses, health care facilities, and other institutions as the market of choice.

The 12.1” Eee Slate B121 features the power, security, and performance that professionals need to get more done. Equipped with an Intel Core i5-470UM processor and a Windows 7 Professional operating system, the slate delivers the processing power and business productivity tools of a notebook PC in a portable tablet form factor. Confidential data is protected with an onboard Trusted Platform Module (TPM) that is ready to protect your data in the event of theft. A bundled Bluetooth keyboard, an integrated Wacom Digitizer stylus, and a multi-touch screen built with durable Corning Gorilla Glass provide users with multiple data input options. ….Read more›;

Lose the cables and enjoy the Epson EH-TW6000W Full HD 3D Wireless projector, one of the first home projectors to feature wireless Full HD projection with 3D technology. With the Epson EH-TW6000W Full HD 3D wireless projector, you can watch films, sports or play video games in stunning quality with the lights on or off by connecting wirelessly to Blu-ray players, laptops and other devices for a real cinematic experience.

Epson has introduced no less than five new Epson 3D models: the EH-TW9000, EH-TW9000W, EH-TW5900, EH-TW6000, and EH-TW6000W. Some of these model numbers look pretty similar but actually the extra ‘W’ at the end of two of the names is very significant. For it signifies that – in a first for the projector world – the TW9000W and TW6000W support wireless HD. This system allows full HD signals to be broadcast wirelessly from any HDMI-carrying sources to the projector, finally doing away with the cabling problems that usually accompany a projector installation. The Wireless HD standard even supports the ‘beaming’ of full HD 3D images from source to projector, and from reports, there was absolutely no sign of any interference or loss of quality reported from the transmission system, with either 2D or 3D sources. ….Read more›;

Wacom has introduced Inkling, a new digital sketch pen that captures a digital likeness of your work while you sketch with its ballpoint tip on any sketchbook or standard piece of paper. Designed for rough concepting and creative brainstorming, Inkling bridges the gap between paper sketching and digital drawing by giving users at the front end of the creative process a way to rough-out ideas with real ink on paper and capture their concepts digitally so that they can be later refined on their computer. Inkling even allows users to create layers in the digital file while sketching on paper in the following creative software applications: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.

Spontaneous and Liberating
Virtually anyone who uses sketching to capture their creative ideas and wants to have their drawings in a digital format to e-mail, archive or further refine on their computer can benefit from Inkling. For example, artists, illustrators, or story boarders who appreciate the convenience, speed and spontaneity of loosely sketching their ideas on paper could profit from the capabilities of Wacom’s Inkling digital sketch pen. In everyday use, a graphic designer could use Inkling to create rough concepts on paper for a new advertising campaign and then review and share these concepts on the computer with colleagues or clients. The pen and receiver store and recharge in a compact case making it easy to transport Inkling between, home, office, hotel or any typical workspace.

“Inkling’s inspiration comes from a desire to give artistic people the freedom to draw on paper and to provide an easy way to transition the drawings to digital media,” said Glenn Tsunekawa, Global Product Manager at Wacom.

Inkling Specifics
The Inkling digital sketch pen is comprised of both hardware and software components. Hardware includes both the pen and a wireless receiver that captures a likeness of the sketch and stores it digitally. The ballpoint pen uses Wacom’s pressure sensing technology (1024 levels of sensitivity) to detect how hard the pen is being pressed to the paper while sketching. These pressure variations will appear in the digital version of your drawing. “Through its pressure sensitivity, Inkling captures the varied line weights created by the ink pen,” adds Tsunekawa.

The receiver can be clipped to the edge of standard paper or sketchbooks and the position can be adjusted for left or right handed users to provide the receiver with an uninterrupted line of sight with the pen tip. When sketching is complete, the receiver is connected to the user’s computer via USB to transfer the digital files. Files can be opened with the included Inkling Sketch Manager software to edit, delete or add layers as well as to change formats and transfer the files for adjustment and editing in creative software applications.

Inkling can store thousands of sketches and export layered files directly to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator (CS3 or newer), as well as Autodesk Sketchbook Pro (2011). Alternatively, files can be saved in JPG, BMP, TIFF, PNG, SVG and PDF formats for use with other applications. According to Tsunekawa, “Inkling’s support of raster based applications such as Adobe Photoshop, as well as vector based applications such as Illustrator and Autodesk Sketchbook Designer, will provide users with options for incorporating their preliminary sketches into further developed work”.

The Ideal Companion for Intuos and Cintiq
Users of Wacom Intuos pen tablets and Cintiq interactive pen displays gain extra benefits by adding an Inkling to their creative toolbox. “For those working with our professional products, the pen is already their input tool of choice,” continued Tsunekawa. “Inkling can deliver an immediate ROI to these users by delivering an accelerated and more mobile workflow resulting in digital files that can easily and quickly be transferred to their home or office computer and redrawn using the Intuos or Cintiq pen.”

Pricing and availability
The new Inkling sketch pen is priced at R2,099.90 Incl VAT and will be available from mid October 2011 from South Africa’s Official Online Dealer, WebAntics Online

iLuv, the leader in providing the most appealing, innovative, and relevant products for iPhone, iPad, iPod and Macbook, has released the iLuv iMM747, the first fully-dedicated docking system for your iPad/iPad2.

This speaker dock features iLuv’s enhanced patented jAura soundcell speakers, with a tweeter, main audio driver, and a powerful built-in radiator subwoofer for more impressive bass. With a specific focus on the high, medium and low frequencies, Apple enthusiasts will enjoy clear orchestral, tri-component sound from music, apps, movies, and games on their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. The iMM747 is now available for R1,299.99 at www.webantics.co.za.

“The iMM747 is the perfect complement to your iPad not only because of its ideal compatibility but because its design is a natural extension of the simple clean design of your iPad,” says Howard Kim, the Sr. Marketing Manager at iLuv. “The jAura sound technology will fill any room in the house with superb audio and the ultra fast charging capabilities ensure a fully juiced battery when your iPad is removed.” A great desktop or bedside speaker dock, the iMM747 features flexible dock connectors for solid support and easy docking through the 30 pin connector that automatically adjusts and supports your iPad, iPhone or iPod while in the dock. This is especially important, considering the relative size difference between the large iPad and the much smaller iPhone or iPod. This flexibility ensures not only a secure fit for whichever player is docked, but virtually eliminates the chances of breaking the connector or damaging the docked player. It also features an auxiliary line input for non-apple music players and a sync cable to connect to iTunes while your iPad, iPhone, or iPod is docked.

iLuv also offers a comprehensive line of other accessories for iPad, iPhone and iPod owners. To see the entire line of iLuv products visit WebAntics Online.

The new Acer Iconia W501 hit the market in South Africa earlier this month and at a starting price under R6770.00 Incl VAT, this hybrid tablet has a lot to offer. We ran one through its paces earlier this week to provide you with the pros and cons of this new technology.

The South African version comes with 3G and some of the models include the optional docking keyboard as standard. We obtained the 3G model with keyboard to provide you with the best test results. The unit comes straight out of the box with the tablet face and docking keyboard both sporting a sleek black look that dazzles the eye. At first look the unit has two cameras, one front facing and one rear, to allow for full video conferencing through Skype or other communications software.

Stock standard the unit comes with 32GB of memory on an SSD drive. However, it also has a memory slot for an SD card that can give you additional drive space of upto 32GB at 2mb/s transfer speeds. It comes pre-packed with Windows 7 32bit Home Premium (can run 64 bit) or Windows 7 32bit Professional as well as other packages which takes up approximately 20-29GB of your available space. This is why we recommend the additional 32GB SD card so you can store your documents and work without reducing your main drive. ….Read more›;

Get super fast reliable internet connection, which is as well flexible with the help of Billion 7300N RE Wireless-N 300 Mbps ADSL2+ Router.

It operates on firmware change for some of the ADSL2/2+/Annex M DSLAMs. The device also offers IPTV application, thus ensuring GMP Snooping, Virtual LAN (VLAN), Quality of Services (QoS), IGMP Snooping and IGMP Proxy. ….Read more›;

ASUS announced via Twitter yesterday that it is currently playing around with Android 3.2 Honeycomb on its blockbuster tablet, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer. ASUS is still testing Honeycomb’s latest and last version, and is looking forward to sending out the upgrade to all Transformers. No target release date has been specified, although it will most likely come out ahead of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).

Android 3.2 Honeycomb will reportedly be the last pre-ICS version in the Honeycomb series. The earlier versions of Honeycomb were optimized for large-screen, mostly 10-inch, Android slates and tablets, and had limited support for mobile processors. Version 3.2 carries new features, such as the following:

- optimized for 7-inch devices,
- expands support for more mobile processors such as NVIDIA Tegra 2 and Qualcomm’s processors,
- fixes some bugs and improves hardware acceleration, and
- provides updates to widgets and apps (e.g., Movies, Movie Studio, Music, etc.). ….Read more›;

DELL Inc., a multinational information technology corporation and a well-known PC manufacturer, has released new top-of-the-line laptops – The XPS 15 and XPS 17. You can now order new XPS notebooks with the latest processor technology from Intel and a true HD display from WebAntics Online.

So, what’s new in these laptops?
First of all, these are the latest second-generation Intel Core processors. Both support a range of  i5 and i7 dual core and quad-core options. Also New GPU options and on the XPS 17, a new panel that brings 3D capability with a 1920 x 1080 screen have been added. These new features translate into increased performance compared to the previous versions. Powerful graphics. Powerfully smart. The XPS 15 and XPS 17 laptops have what it takes to take you to new levels of performance.

Leading edge technology
XPS laptops boast the latest and greatest of technologies.  Packed with new and improved features to support your power hungry usage.  XPS laptops feature new 2nd generation Intel Core i7 Quad Core processors and new graphics from NVIDIA. The XPS 15 and 17 still have the first integrated webcam for HD video chat and is the first laptop to be Skype-certified. It is also equipped with USB 3.0, which transfers files up to ten times faster than 2.0. ….Read more›;

Lenovo‘s latest notebook release is the ThinkPad W520, a 15.6-inch desktop replacement packing a choice of Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors – up to the 2.7GHz Core i7-2620M – along with up to 4GB of RAM, up to 500GB of hard drive storage and either NVIDIA Quadro 1GB or Quadro 2GB GPUs.

The hefty W520 has two USB 3.0 ports, a combo USB/eSATA and a DVD burner, along with WiFi a/g/n and Embedded 3G as standard. There’s also NVIDIA Optimus graphics switching, optional RAID 0 or 1, Mil-Spec certification and a new, supposedly quieter keyboard.

Best of all, you don’t have to sacrifice runtime for all that power. Battery life ranges from 8.9 to 10.7hrs, depending on which GPU you’re using. The Lenovo ThinkPad W520 is available from WebAntics Online, priced from R14499.00 Incl VAT.

For a while now, Billion has had a soft spot in the heart of enthusiasts, as the company that brought us low cost routers that didn’t sacrifice in quality. While typically the haunt of the advanced user, Billion maintains its reputation for stability with the 7800N.

The Billion 7800N 802.11n Dual WAN ADSL2+/Broadband Firewall Router sits above the norm by offering gigabit Ethernet ports and interestingly, a WAN port so you can use it with almost any internet connection available in South Africa. In the default ADSL mode, the EWAN port defaults to being a 5th LAN port, although it’s only 10/100Mbit/s, while the other four LAN ports support Gigabit Ethernet. Unlike many consumer routers, Billion has chosen not to include USB ports for print sharing or storage – perhaps because usually they are rife with compatibility problems and cause more frustration than joy.

The BiPAC 7800N doesn’t come with a configuration CD but has both Basic and Advanced web configuration modes, as well as a quick start mode which takes you through configuring your ADSL settings and securing your wireless connection.

Firewall settings include packet filtering, port redirection and intrusion detection. You can also filter web content by URL or keyword or, block active content like Java applets and ActiveX scripts and set up scheduled hours during which these restrictions apply. ….Read more›;