You might have known it before by its nicknames: Goliath, Brobdingnag, the Colossus, etc. But now you’ve got a model number and price tag for Panasonic’s 103-inch behemoth; call it the TH-103PZ600, and expect it out September first for a princely Â¥6,000,000. Yes, that’s over £27,000 (which is what all plasmas used to cost but a few years ago, if you recall). (more…)

Sony’s all out assault on the marketplace didn’t stop with those wonderful new HD camcorders of theirs, they’ve also got three new standard definition Handycam units to show off. The DCR-SR80 leads the pack with a 1 megapixel CCD, 60GB drive, 2.7-inch widescreen viewfinder, 12x optical zoom, a hot shoe, and £400 price tag; the DCR-SR60 is essentially the same unit as the SR080, but with a 30GB drive and £350 price; the DCR-SR40 features a 40GB drive, 20x optical, 2.5-inch 4:3 aspect ratio touchscreen viewfinder, and £300 price point. All are due September, during which time we’d roughly estimate they’d vanish from store shelves in short order.

If the maze of budget navigation units has you all turned around, you probably haven’t even looked in Lowrance’s direction; while primarily known for it’s aquatic endeavors, the iWay GPS nav systems are formidable alternatives to more familiar names like TomTom and Garmin. The affordable iWay 250c has a meager 3.5-inch 320 x 240 touch-screen display, NAVTEQ maps, adjustable white LED backlighting, and just for kicks, completes a trifecta of functions by acting as a JPEG viewer and MP3 player. (more…)

AVCHD, the new recording format from Sony and Panasonic for saving HD video to 8-centimeter mini DVDs, is making its first appearance in Sony’s new HDR-UX1 upper-class consumer cam. For the most part the camera mirrors its SD siblings, with a side mounted disc drive, sizable 3.5-inch fold-out LCD, 4 megapixel stills and 2.3 megapixel shots while recording video. The snazz here is that the new AVCHD cam uses dual-layer mini DVD-R discs, making room for a full hour of 1080i video. (more…)

If your future as a professional depends upon having those colors show up just right on your LCD, then LaCie is probably on your short list for display manufacturers. They’ve just updated their pro-line 300 series with some sexy 12-bit gamma correction, allowing for smoother color gradients and photophile bragging rights. They’ve also added a 20-inch model to their range of displays, the Lacie 319, 320 and 321. (more…)

This thing has been around for quite a while in prototype form, but Sony has finally gotten around to joining the pack and unveiling a PC drive for their own format. The BWU-100A Blu-ray burner doesn’t have a whole lot of surprises — other than that purple faceplate which will most likely totally clash with your PC case — but the $750 pricetag is a nice move. It also manages all three lasers types, allowing it to read and write single layer 4.7GB DVD+R/+RW/RAM discs, 8.5GB DVD+R Double/Dual Layer Discs, and CDs. (more…)

Japanese gadget maker Sigma have come up with a slightly different take on the lowly USB hub, adding audio capabilities to the mix. In addition to three USB 2.0 ports, the device includes jacks for headphones, speakers, and a microphone, along with a button that’ll let you switch between them on the fly. What’s more, if Google’s translation tools are to be trusted, it appears that the device effectively acts as a sound card as well, which may be good for some people, but probably not those who’ve invested in a high-end card for their PC. On the upside, the device doesn’t require any drivers, although it’ll only work with Windows.

We still don’t feel like consumers are rushing out to buy those portable but quirky UMPCs, but it seems like the form factor is here to stay anyway, and now Korean manufacturer Daewoo Lucoms — a spin-off of Daewoo Electronics — has released its own version called the Solo M1. You’ll have to forgive us for not getting too enthusiastic about these products anymore (the novelty wore off about 100 posts ago), but if you want ot more the nread on (more…)

As if the Apple rumor mill wasn’t peppy enough on the off days, things are really getting moving now that their Worldwide Developers Conference is mere weeks away. Some flavor of Mac Pro seems a shoo-in, but Think Secret has some dirt on the iTunes Music Store and iPod nano, which they think are due for some keynote love as well. Read on to find out (more…)

When someone walks into your house and sees a full-fledged karaoke machine — or worse, the karaoke muzzle — he or she will be immediately bombarded by mental images of you doing your best Steve Perry impression. Now you can mask your potentially embarrassing obsession though, by choosing the CAVS IPS-11G iPod Karaoke dock. It looks just like your average third-party iPod cradle, but hiding behind its unassuming shell is support for MPEGs, AVIs, MP3s and slideshows, which when coupled with the two built-in microphone jacks and an A/V cable, can make for hours of ear-offending fun. The dock can accept just about any version of the iPod, which is used purely for storage, as well as USB drives and external HDDs, giving you access to all your media (Journey songs included) through menus on your TV screen. Just think, one day you could be making millions selling your karaoke tracks as ringtones. Or not.