iPhone 3G - New pouch & StickiT Protector Pre-Order

With the new iPhone launching on the 11th July in 22 countries, it is important that you pop your little baby into a nice carry pouch. The GeekPouch is available for Pre-Order now, with shipping very soon after the iPod 3G launch. It comes in black corduroy, red faux suede and leopard fur effect fabrics and will keep your iPhone protected from light bumps and scrapes. Pricing is very simple, just £5.99 (inc. UK delivery) or £10.99 (inc. worldwide delivery) with a little saving on offer if you buy two.

If you are really worried about your new gadget, then you should pop a StickiT on the back. The nice glossy finish to the new iPhones is bound to attract dust and scratches. This thin film will keep the back of your new iPhone nice and shiney. The price is cheap too, just £2.99 (inc. UK delivery) or £5.99 (inc. worldwide delivery). Again, these will start shipping hopefully within a week of the iPhone 3G launch.

Both of these products have been available for a long time now, for the whole range of iPods and the current iPhone. They have proved very popular to date.

Need to know about Scanners?

If you need to know about scanners, or perhaps you have a document scanner and have a techie question that needs answering, check out this link. Over at the BMI Solutions Community Forums you can ask questions, check out news on the latest products, and you even have the chance to see product videos. The product videos are invaluable, in much the same way as you love our video reviews, it gives you the chance to see the scanners in action before you commit to buy.
This new forum looks like it will be an invaluable source of information, so take a look and add it to you bookmarks.

Geekanoids - Mac & Gadget Show

I wanted to give you the heads up on my new Mac & Gadget Show. For a long time now I have been wanting to do a show where I could bring fellow Mac users together. Nothing formal, just a chat about the computer platform that we all love. So, every Sunday at 5:00pm UK time (GMT) or 12:00pm (EDT) you can head on over to Talkshoe and catch the show. It is free to register and then you can either just listen, or join in the chat room, or even call in on a regular phone, Skype or Gizmo project and talk on the show. If you use Gizmo Project, you can even call in totally free via SIP.

How to join in the show
Go to the Talkshoe page for the show here.
Make sure you are logged into your Talkshoe account (it is free to register using the 'Sign-Up' button toward the top of the page).
Click the 'Join In' button.
You will then be in the chat room and be able to listen to the show and type messages.
Note: you can join in as a Guest, but why not register, it is totally free.

To be able to put your hand-up to talk, the easiest method is Gizmo.
Or you can call in on a regular phone or Skype on (724) 444-7444 - this is a USA number.

To use Gizmo, download it here, for Mac, PC, Linux, mobile phones & Nokia Internet Tablets.
Install and restart your computer.
Sign up for a free account.
Enter this 123@66.212.134.192 as the phone number.
You will then be prompted for the call ID (which is 20249 for the Geekanoids show), followed by the # key.
Then you will have to type in your PIN that you set-up when you registered on the Talkshoe website.
Once you have done that, you are in the voice chat. At first you will be muted, but put your hand up and you will join the queue to talk. If you also type into the chat where you are from and what you want to talk about, that helps me a lot.

So, I hope that you can join me. The next show is on Sunday, 8th June 2008 at 5:00pm UK (GMT). There might even be a special show on the Monday whilst Steve Jobs is delivering his keynote, to bring you the news as it happens.

Sanyo announce HD Xacti DMX-HD1010

I just love new technology. When I first started putting together the video reviews for Geekanoids I even found myself using one of the earlier Sanyo Xacti models. It really wasn't that long ago, and in under a year things have really moved on. Sanyo has just announced its next compact, light-weight Full HD Xacti digital movie camera, the DMX-HD1010, housing advanced and improved features*1 for even more beautiful video and still recording, simple playback and storage with the ‘Xacti Library’ through intuitive menus and functions, and featuring a new ‘Slow-motion video’ function, increasing the usage of digital movie cameras. The SANYO Xacti DMX-HD1010 is the camera of choice for anyone who enjoys taking high definition videos and high resolution stills with one unit, and will be on sale in Japan from June 20, 2008.

On the new product launch, Hideki Toyoda, General Manager of the SANYO’s DI Company Products Planning Department, said, “With the HD1010, SANYO has brushed up many of the features from the previous model, making it easier to use while advancing the image quality. With a SANYO Xacti, you have instant access to both high quality photos and high definition movies with one simple, stylish unit.”

The unit is capable or recording full HD at 1920x1080 resolution, at 30fps. Of note, the new 'Xacti Library' allows the backup of your recorded content to a USB2 hard drive, without the need for a computer. There is a digital image stabilizer, plus support for up to 3200 ISO sensitivity. You also get Samungs take of face recognition with their 'Face chaser' function.

Other features include a 230,000 pixel TFT-LCD monitor, in-camera editing, red eye reduction, webcam functions, built-in flash, support for 48kHz 16-bit, two-channel sound, a headphone jack, and a 1900 mAh Lithium-ion battery (DB-L50). No UK price yet, but the US gets it in July 2008 for around $800.

EeePC (or MacBook Air) Contender from Dell Mini Inspiron

It seems like every Joe is trying to get into the mini-PC market these days. Ever since the EeePC from Asus came onto the marker, there have been new announcements from HP (with the MiniNote), MSI (ahem, with the Wind) and now Dell sneak us a peak of their mini Inspiron (pictured here). A lot of websites are saying that it competes with the EeePC, but if you look at how things are developing, these new miniature PC's are getting a little larger with each incarnation. They also seem to be making sure that they have more ports than the MacBook Air.
Now, I am not saying that any PC, let alone the rather nice looking offering from Dell, would ever be better than a MacBook Air, but it does make me take notice. Wouldn't it be fantastic is Steve Jobs took notice and released the MacBook Air 2 at WWDC 2008 with two or three extra USB ports, a removable battery, and maybe an extra option or two on the hard drive front.

New iMac 24-inch Lands - iMac Project 2008

It seemed appropriate to let you all know about our new acquisition. You may recall that last year some very supportive companies sponsored our laser etched MacBook Pro. Well, we have gained many many more readers and viewers since then, so most of the existing sponsors and some new, dug deep into their pockets again this year.

Not quite ready for public consumption yet, our investment went on a new 3.06GHz, 24-inch iMac. This beautiful machine landed at Geekanoids HQ late last week. The screen is gorgeous and gives a massive amount of creative workspace. The processor just eats its way through our video review processing, so will be a really productive addition for getting great content out there for you all. Of note, the iMac runs very quietly, has a massive 500GB hard drive, and 512MB of video memory. A really stunning machine. Expect to see it in it full glory, along with a list of sponsors toward the end of June.

We had a little funds left in the bank at the end of the day. This has been invested in new studio lighting, so much more accurately exposed videos for all. We also purchased an Audio Technica AT2020 microphone and an Alesis Multimix 8 USB2 mixing desk, so my dulcit tones will be more palatable.