MobileBurn has posted a review of the Motorola RAZR V3x UMTS handset here on their website. Similar in design to current RAZR handsets, the V3x brings 3G goodness to the RAZR line. It’s a dual mode phone with WCDMA and tri-band GSM operation. Other specs include:

• 2 megapixel camera with 8x zoom
• VGA camera for 2 way video calling
• Bluetooth support
• SCREEN3 technology
• Support for AAC+, MPEG4, WMV, WMA, MP3, and Real Video/Audio
• WAP 2 browser

Here’s the verdict from MobileBurn:

I really like the V3x. It is a beauty and the soft touch feel of its external casing feels really good. With a great feature set and excellent audio quality, I have no qualms about giving it a Highly Recommended rating.

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If you’re thinking about building a home theater PC (HTPC) and you’re looking for good TV tuner cards out there, then you should definitely read this review of the new NVIDIA DualTV MCE card here at Digital Trends. The DualTV MCE card comes with dual analog TV tuners and also features 3D Noise Reduction, a 3D Comb Filter, and a ViXS Xcodell MPEG2 Encoder. Other features include an FM tuner, a wireless remote control, and the ability to record from S-Video or composite video sources. You can find the official product specs on the card here on NVIDIA’s website but I thought I would list some of the functions here:

     *  Dual-channel TV reception and A/V capture
          o Source type: analog terrestrial broadcast, analog cable broadcast, and analog A/V signal from set-top boxes or other A/V equipment
          o Signal type: radio frequency (RF from antenna, cable TV, output of set-top boxes) or baseband (S-Video or composite video)
          o TV standards
              – NTSC board: NTSC M/N
              – PAL/SECAM board: PAL I, B/G, D/K, SECAM D/K, L/L’
    * Dual-stream MPEG2 A/V encode with MediaSqueeze technology
          o Video: MPEG2 MP@ML, 720×480 (standard definition)
          o Audio: MPEG1L2
    * Uncompressed A/V capture
          o Video: 720×480 (standard definition)
          o Audio: PCM (16-24 bit per sample, up to 48 KHz)
    * FM radio tuner
    * Internal splitter for RF with in-line signal amplifier – only a single RF input is needed for the two internal tuners
    * 3D comb filter and 3D noise reduction with PureVideo technology
The verdict from Digital Trends:

At $169 for the basic product and $219 for the version with the remote control, the NVIDIA DualTV MCE is a sizeable investment. On the one hand, the NVIDIA DualTV MCE is the best analog TV tuner for transforming your PC into a PVR. You won’t find better image quality anywhere else, and for the amount of technology that’s present in the DualTV MCE, it’s a good value.

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Let’sGoDigital has posted a review of the Fujifilm FinePix V10 digital camera here on their website. The camera features:

• 5.0-megapixel CCD
• 3-inch LCD display
• 3.4x optical zoom
• Can capture images at light sensitivities as high as 1600 ISO at full resolution
• Includes four video games: Number Puzzle, Break Out, Shooting Game, and Maze
• Powered by NP-40 rechargeable battery
• Stores images on xD Picture Cards (16 MB card included)

Their verdict is:

All in all, the Fuji FinePix V10 leaves very little to be desired. It is simply a pleasant and user-friendly camera to work with, one that attaches particular value to ease and convenience, whilst producing fantastic images.

[Check it out via Ubergizmo]

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The Treo 650 makes a small comeback at Palm as they have announced a new BlackTie edition of the popular smartphone. Why the BlackTie edition? Palm is celebrating its 10th anniversary and to commemorate the event, they have decided to release a new special bundle including a new look for the Treo 650. The new 650 comes with a polished chrome framework draped against a black backdrop with a soft touch finish. This phone is also unlocked which means it will work with almost any GSM/GPRS network around the world.  The phone is being sold as part of a special bundle which includes a Palm Hard Case and a stylus pen. Together, you can have the BlackTie Edition bundle for a mere $599. ok.. not quite cheap but hey – it’ll be different.

[Check it out via Slashphone.com]

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ExtremeTech is reporting that Microsoft may be planning to add a physics layer to the DirectX SDK. This notion comes about from of a job posting on their website asking for a software design engineer to join their “Direct Physics” team. Since Microsoft has licensed the Ageia SDK, speculation also exists that Microsoft will utilize Ageia technology for the DirectX library. Check out the ExtremeTech article here for additional information.

 

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So you have yourself an Apple iPod video and you’re totally into watching videos on that small device. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could watch videos on the big screen via the iPod every so often? Well that’s where the Kensington Entertainment Dock 500 comes in. It’s an easy way to connect your Apple iPod video to the television set via S-Video connections. Sure the picture isn’t the highest resolution but you can now at least watch your videos on something larger than the iPod display AND make use of the storage space that comes with the player. Here’s the verdict from LaptopMag:

Overall, the Entertainment Dock 500 for iPod performs as well as it looks. We only wish that it we could output the iPod’s menu.

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GearLog.com has posted up some information about two upcoming Creative digital audio players – the Zen V and the Zen V Plus. Both players feature the following:

• digital music playback support
• digital images playback support
• built in FM Radio
• Synchronizes with Outlook
• line-in recorder
• voice recorder

The V Plus is also capable of video playback on a tiny 1.5 inch OLED color display. Both players will come in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB versions. The Zen V will come out first in July and will run you $119 for the 1GB, $149 for the 2GB, and $199 for the 4GB. The Zen V Plus willcome out in August and will cost you $129 for the 1GB, $169 for the 2GB and $229 for the 4GB.

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If you’ve always wanted to marry the worlds of Yahoo flickr with Windows Media Center, then you should definitely check out this beta application from the folks at Mobilewares. It’s called “Big Screen Photos” and it basically lets you browse and view your online flickr photos as well as others - all from the comfort of your own home or office with a Windows Media Center system.

Features of Big Screen Photos include:

• Browse and view photos directly from flickr onine
• Access your own flickr account
• Browse your friends photos
• Browse and search groups, photosets, recent photos, taglists etc
• Access user and photo information
• Works with Xbox 360 extender software

Other interesting tidbits – you’ll notice that the apps’ UI is very Vista-like. A lot of this comes from the fact that the new OS is right around the corner and the app uses Microsoft.NET V3 which is currently in beta. Because both the SDK and the app is in beta, the app is free for downloads. However, this will probably not be the case when things are finalized.

[Check it out via eHomeUpgrade]

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Get ready for higher resolution yet smaller displays in the near future folks. Samung Electronics has announced that they have managed to create a color LCD display that measures 1.98 inches and yet is capable of displaying VGA resolutioins. This new display was made possible because of Samsung’s use of amorphous silicon (a-Si) technology.

Other cool features found on this tiny display include a brightness of 250 nits, a contrast ratio of 300:1 and a color palette of 16 million colors. The new display has effectively 400 pixels per square inch while a typical HD LCD display has around 40 pixel per square inch.

What does this mean for users like you and me? Well expect small mobile devices to have high resolution displays which will make viewing videos and shows on such devices even more enjoyable. Heck watching television shows on your mobile phone will be a far better experience with a VGA resolution display. Very cool stuff folks.

[Check it out via Smartphone Thoughts]

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With the Sidekick 3 being announced today, the reviews are already out from some of the major websites out there. Here’s a tally of them and blurbs from the reviews:

At MobileBurn.com, the verdict for the phone was:

It isn’t perfect, but it does most of the important things very well.

At LaptopMag.com, their verdict was:

As an upgrade, the Sidekick 3 could have been more dramatic. There’s no question, however, that the improved phone function and data service, in addition to the miniSD Card slot and music player, make this the best model in the line yet. The Sidekick 3 is a very good smart phone option for less business-centric users.

InfoSyncWorld has posted up a brief review of the phone here: 

 With its music, EDGE and Bluetooth capabilities, the sleek new Sidekick 3 may not be a giant leap forward (we’re holding out for a 3G version once T-Mobile gets around to launching a high-speed network), but it’s a worthy successor to one of the best messaging phones on the market.

Finally at PC Magazine, their verdict was as follows:

The T-Mobile Sidekick 3 is sleeker than the previous Sidekick and still super-easy to use.

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