Continuing on my fetish for all things small, here's my tiny travelling mouse, the Logitech MouseMan Traveller. Love the shiny brushed aluminium texture..lovely smooth operation!

mVox USB speakerphone

Some of you may remember from my previous posts that I owned the true gadget laptop, the palm sized Sony Vaio U71p. Love it to bits..but one thing that annoyed me was the absence of a microphone..which was almost a big must as the form factor allowed this baby to be used very conveniently as a skype-in device! I nearly shed a tear when I didn't find a microphone..which then led me on a quest to find the perfect after market microphone or speakerphone

Enter the mVox MV100, a USB speakerphone compatible with Skype and MSN, amongst other VOIP enable software!

It's truly plug and play...detects natively on XP as a USB audio device and Skype know about it! You can configure as speaker phone or just microphone (ie, sound will be output from your PC speakers). Very portable and effective noise cancellation due to its DSP processing.


Here's the lowdown..

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

• Full duplex speaker phone with 110dB peak volume
• Speaker: 2w peak, 40mm,4ohm, 500Hz to 5KHz
• 8KHz input sampling rate
• USB Audio
• 2.5mm headset jack
• Dimensions: 3.2 x 2.2 x 0.8 inches (8.1 x 5.5 x 2.0 cm)
• Weight: 1.5 ounces (42 grams)

Check it out at www.mvox.com

Fongster's verdict? Thumbs up!

Gadgets

iPod Nano 2G - my daily travelling companion

Funny thing is that I never really used to noticed iPodders with their distinctively different iPod headsets..until I owned an iPod Nano..:) Yep..couldn't resist this little baby and ended up with a 2G version. Again, thanks to Ronnie for getting this from Singapore where I saved a little $ off the Australian RRP

First impressions...niceeee....slim as Paris Hilton! Lots of playtime...used it everyday and only have to charge once a week. It charges from a properitary USB cable (yuk!)...no surprises being an Apple device! It charges in around 45 mins. It's pretty rich in functionality..does songs, pictures (although so small, it's not really that useful!), multi clock/alarm (alarm's pretty lame as there isn't any speakers so only useable through the headphones), PIM that syncs with Outlook calendar/contacts.

I've grown hooked on podcasts..so filled my Nano with technical geek podasts like Slashdot review and the KFI Techguy...2 of my fav podcasts currently.

Not really happy when less than a month later, the iPod Video is now available for sale...arrggh! Time to think about retiring the Nano and getting a 30G iPod Video..how can I justify that..esp since I bought the....:) Stayed tuned for the latest and greatest of my recent gadget purchases..:)

iPod Nano

Designer Mouse!

Good ole Ronnie picked up a Philippe Starck-designed Microsoft optical mouse for me from Singapore as a thank you for looking after his car, house, projects and 2x dogs...:) There's are review on Engaget..so I won't write too much on this..either than it's a sweet looking mouse and very smooth..

http://www.engadget.com/entry/3868766997708411/

Fongster's verdict..thumbs up!

Here's another pretty picture of the AivX player...very nicely constructed and of quality build..not a al cheapo at all! :)

Sarotech AIVX player - a multmedia wet dream

Been looking around for a USB HDD enclosure (2.5") as my old one's been giving me problems. Picked up this beautiful piece of technology from the famous casing enclosure specialist, Sarotech from Korea. Check out the interfaces baby!

Just download all you multimedia files, detach from PC, hook directly to TV and/or surround sound and play from HDD straight to TV with 5.1 quality sound and HDTV (if you have it!). Oh, did I also mention that it has an FM transmitter and can stream out MP3 to all your stereos FMs? The quality is really good..I muck around with wireless FM transmitters in the past with bad results (ie, hissing, static)..this one's got my tick of approval! Buy a universal car adapter and you can play 1000s of mp3 songs to your car's FM stereo..grreat for long trips! This is my fav gadget at the moment..

Ok..so I ended up going back to Sony Ericsson after giving up my Bluespoon BT headset! I bought yet another of this bewdies..it's now the HBH662 (formerly HBH660 which I have given to my bro-in-law. You won't believe this..I lost it on the same day I bought it! It must have fell out of my pocket whilst on a crowded train home. Am currently trying to claim it back via Goldcard insurance..sigh! I went and bought another HBH662 the next day..sad!

Here's a closeup picture of the Nextlink's Bluespoon AX headset. More info can be found at
http://blueheadsets.zoovy.com/product/BLUESPOON-AX2

Bluespoon AX BT headset...mighty mouse!

As most of you know, I have a fetish for all things small..esp BT headsets. When I heard that the world's lightest and smallest headset, the Nextlink's Bluespoon AX was out, I simply couldn't resist! I gave my beloved HBH660 to my bro-in-law and bought one.

First impressions? It's smalllll...:) Looks like a little black mouse with a "tail" that's actually the "spring" that actually keeps the headset steady when you wear it. I had a fun time trying to put it on for the first couple of times, but after that it was easy.

It charges using a conventional usb connector..nice touch! But doesn't come with a wall adapter though which means charging from a PC or laptop..but hey, so does the new iPod Nano! :)

It paired up without no problem-o with my 9300 (tested also with the o2 mini)..sounds quality was ok..a bit tinny (not as good as the HBH660). Battery life was great..almost 5 days b/w charges with a decent 3-4 hours talking. Takes around 45-60mins to fully charge.

Had a weird problem with static when using with my 9300. When I had the 9300 in my belt pouch, static was terrible but any other place was fine! Go figure...:) Maybe it's the leather in the pouch..:) Thanks to this problem,I ended up selling this to my colleauge who used it on his new Nokia 6810 with no problems..

Fongster's verdict?

Form factor? 9/10 (finally, a tiniest, lightest and least noticeable BT headset!)
Battery? 7.5/10
Accessories? 7/10 (no wall adapter)
Wank factor? 9/10 (yeahhhhh! My colleauges now call me Bond, James Bond after noticing this BT)

BTW, if interested in this, let me know as I know a local distributor for this BT headset.

What better place to start than with my new mobile "ride"..the Nokia Communicator 9300! Been an o2 xda mini for a good 4-5 months..Christina's been pestering me for a pda mobile and she has her eyes set on my mini..so gives me a perfect excuse to give this to her as a pressie and get a new phone! :) Tell you what..after owning the mini, nothing out there really suits my criteria in terms of multimedia..the mini rocks given its screensize, weight and form factor.

So I decided to forego owning a mobile for "fun" and started looking for a mobile "workhorse"; in my role as a project manager, I needed a mobile that fulfils these functions:

- Quick text input (therefore a sizeable keyboard)
- decent form factor (not a huge brick)
- Syncs natively with Lotus Notes PIM
- Recorder
- MP3

So settled for the 9300.

It's been a pretty good workhorse I must admit..syncs flawlessly (well almost all the time) with Notes..this is a must (the o2 failed miserably here). The keyboard's great...comfortably big and good tactile feel..so screen protector needed because there's no stylus use to ...:)

A bad thing is that distinct lack of cool software for Symbian 80 platform..was really disappointed at first but looking on the bright side, I slayed my o2 mini many, many times but have yet to do that to the 9300..heheh!

Another bad (irritating!) is no vibrate! What the...how can any pda mobile be without a mobile? The Nokia response..."vibrate will cause unncessary stress to the delicate circuitry"...hmm..not acceptable!

Oh, and no camera..but then, I don't miss this at all as I'm not a picture taker.

So the fongster's verdict?

Workhorse? 7/10
Fun factor? 6/10
Software? 3/10
Satisfaction overall? 7/10

Back from beyond..:)

I'm baaaaa-ck! As some of you may know, been busy preparing for my wedding early next year so haven't had the time to even update my blog. About a couple of months of sabbath, it's time to catchup on this rather neglected gadget blog of mine..:)

Sad to say, I have gone through a multitude of gadgets since my last post..such is a gadget-holic like me. Without further ado, let's begin..:)