Digizmo

The war between Apple and Microsoft is never ending. I’ve been a witness of this digital world battle since over 20 years ago. Both Apple and Microsoft ensures their survival by continuously coming up with their latest, state-of-the art products.

Not long after the debut of Apple’s iPad, Microsoft is getting ready to introduce their own tablet gadget called Microsoft Courier. The dual-screen folding gadget will work as a digital journal, when folded is about a size of a photo frame and weighs less than a pound.

The device is reported will be powered by Tegra 2 graphics processor and will have the similar operating system as the Zune HD, Pink as well as Windows Mobile 7 devices – the Windows CE 6.

It supports pen-based input device for drawing and writing and incorporates a built-in handwriting recognition. Engadget reported that the Courier will be equipped with a built-in camera and a headphone jack to enjoy your favourite songs or movies in private mode.

The Courier is expected to enter the market in the second half of this year. The price is yet to be confirmed but I think it should be competitive to Apple’s iPad to be its closest rival.

I love to watch my videos on my notebook because I simply lazy to connect the notebook to the TV set. Another reason is because I love to watch it everywhere, including on my bed. But watching on the notebook screen is not as satisfying as watching on wide screen TV. The clarity is also another factor that gives user an ultimate watching experience on TV screen.

The Aston Media Gear AP-360T could be the solution for people like me. This media player allows users to enjoy their videos without having to get the notebook to the living room and hook it up to the TV set.

You just need to plug your external hard drive to the device  and hook it up to the TV and you’re set to go. It allows you to watch videos in variety of formats including XVID, divX, MPEG 1/2/4 and WMV. Besides, it allows photo format such as JPEG and flash video (FLV) to be displayed on the TV screen.

This media player also allows to record live TV programmes to be enjoyed later. But to enjoy this feature, you need to install a 3.5-inch hard drive inside the gadget and hook it up to your satellite decoder. However, installing the hard drive needs minimal skills, even newbie can do it.

The user interface is quite user friendly as it is so easy to navigate with the supplied remote control. This device comes with most of the ports and connectors that are usually found in DVD/Blue-Ray player such as composite, coaxial, HDMI and RCA connectors – making it easy to connect to TV set or other satellite/cable set-top box.

And if you’re an advanced users, you can transform this gadget to be able to stream video and audio files directly from your computer or Network Attached Storage (NAS) via the network. The optional WiFi dongle is sold separately.

Want to watch High Definition (HD) programmes but yet to say goodbye to your analog TV which doesn’t have HD tuner?. The KWorld External TVBox (model SA295-Q DE) may be just the right solution for you. This device allows you to connect your old TV or personal computer to display HD content (although it is not as sharp as watching in true HDTV).

Users may also view TV shows via the Internet in high quality format with 16:9 aspect ratios in 1080i or 720p. It comes with a USB port to allow digital photos and MP3 songs to be viewed or played on the TV. Users may choose from VGA, HDMI or DVI output for connecting their digital devices.

Other features include closed captioning, parental controls for certain channel viewing and Power Smart energy-saving technology that shuts the unit down when idle for a certain period of time.

This device cost $109 but I personally think it’s worth to buy. For more details, visit www.kworldcomputer.com

Pictured above is not the latest phone from HTC. Microsoft is currently working on their upcoming phones to compete the emerging smartphone dominance of its rivals Apple and Google. The phone is targeted to those who heavily use social networking sites and is scheduled to enter the market in July on Verizon, the largest mobile phone operator in the USA.

The two phones with the codename Pink and Pure are believed to be manufactured by Sharp. The news emerged last month after Microsoft launched their latest mobile operating system which caught the attention from technology experts.

I personally think this is one of Microsoft’s plan to attract both business and personal users. They have been the leader in smartphone industry for quite sometimes but has lost its position with Apple’s iPhone, Blackberry as well as Android’s based phones.

Technology has revolutionized a lot of things, which includes how we socialized. Take the social networking sites for instance, in a positive perspective, it really helps people to find long lost buddies. I have an old friend whom I haven’t met for ages (since 1991), and we were reunited in Facebook. Amazing isn’t it?.

I also still remember how I used to exchange business card with someone that I have just met in a conference but only to realize that I have misplaced the card that he just given me. The physical name cards are also prone to water damage.

But this issue has been addressed accordingly with the use of Poken – a gadget that uses a Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to allow the exchange of data including online social network between two token alike device.

By touching the two poken together, a unique ID is exchanged that links to contact information on the Poken website. All the information collected by Poken can be uploaded to the Poken website using a built-in USB interface.

Poken is available in a few types. PokenSPARK allow you to express yourself with 18 different colours with cartoon characters designed and suitable for yuppies. PokenPULSE looks more elegant and exclusive with 2GB thumbdrive storage – suitable for senior executives.

In addition to standard contact information such as phone number and email, Poken allows its users to link their social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, eliminating the needs to ask the person his social networks name to be added.

Poken is available through a network of resellers and online stores in over 40 countries. It is yet to widespread, but I strongly believe in 1 year it will be adopted in more countries.