MSI Bluetooth Star USB Hub Review
(Verdict: Worth It)

TrustedReviews shows us MSI's Bluetooth Star Hub, a combination USB 2.0 hub and Bluetooth unit that's rather stylish while including some easy-to-use software for tracking your myriad Bluetooth devices. Called BlueSoleil, the software from IVT Corporation makes adding and managing BT devices a simple affair. The device supports up to 7 Bluetooth devices simultaneously and includes three USB ports. The only concern that TrustedReviews had was its flickering blue LED which was something of an annoyance. It sells for roughly $50.

MSI's Bluetooth Star Hub Review [TrustedReviews]

Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8300 Review
(Verdict: Need More Info)

The AP has a review of the latest Scientific-Atlanta DVR, the Explorer 8300, available in some Time Warner Cable areas. The two-tuner unit's most unique feature is probably its ability to steam content back over the in-house cable network to up to three other set-top boxes. All in all it sounds pretty promising, but as is standard operating procedure for company-provided DVRs, you should probably hang tight until the guys at AVSForum have had a few months to put the 8300 through its paces.

Also mentioned in the article is that Lawrence, Kansas, is one of the test markets of Diego's Moxi set-top boxes (Sunflower Cable?). I had a chance to play with a prototype a few months back and it was pretty fantastic. I'm looking forward to the reviews from those users. (Thanks, Vic!)

DVRs Can Be Used All Around House [Yahoo]

Update: Reader Jonathon Robinson gives us more info after the jump.

FujiFilm FinePix S5500 Zoom Review
(Verdict: Decent)

< img src="http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/s5500_zoom.jpg" alt="s5500_zoom.jpg image" width="145" height="150" class="right"/>PhotographyBlog has posted their review of the FujiFilm FinePix S5500 Zoom, and they have given it a rating of "doesn't blow too hard." Though the reviewer is a fan of the increased ISO speed options and enhancements to some other areas of the camera, he doesn't seem to like the "Zoom" part of the S5500 Zoom. The 10x optical zoom may sound like a fancy number, but he goes on to say that it doesn't exactly take the cake when it comes to focusing quickly.

F ujifilm FinePix S5500 Review [PhotographyBlog]

Firefly Phone Mini-Review (Verdict:
Great For Kids)

Mobileburn talks about their brief hands-on experience with the Firefly kids cell phone in this piece. We first saw the Firefly last month and noted then that it lacks a standard numeric keypad, instead limiting the user to a "Mom" key, a "Dad" key, and a phonebook which can store up to 20 preset numbers. The phone was "a breeze to use, and certainly was entertaining to look at," according to the guys at Mobileburn and may potentially have some appeal in the senior market. Swappable faceplates and a prepaid system make the idea of handing a cell phone to your preteen a bit more palatable. The Firefly is available now for $200 which includes 1200 nationwide (GSM) minutes for the year.

Test-drivi ng the kids' Firefly phone [MobileBurn]
Catalog Page (Available now.) [SunCom]

Fuji Novel Batteries “Reverse Current
Prevention” Protects Devices From Harm /
The Only Alkaline Batteries to Offer
this Superior Equipment Protection
Feature

Panasonic and Beyond 3G

Panasonic X800 Gets FCC Nod

Panasonic's slick new X800 Series 60 GSM clamshell has gotten FCC approval, meaning we should expect it fairly soon from T-Mobile or Cingular. The handset has a pretty average feature set, with Bluetooth and a VGA camera, but it happens to be very attractive, pulling off sort of a V3 Razr look without completely aping its features. No pricing or availability information quite yet.

Panasonic X800 Camera Phone [LivingRoom]

Panasonic Looks To Uae For 3g Launch

Panasonic 3G Venture

Panasonic VDR M70 with DVD-RAM Burner

Panasonic's new VDR M70 is another DVD-burner on-board digital camcorder, although in addition to DVD-R it also supports the DVD-RAM format (in 3-inch disc varieties, of course). In addition, the VDR M70 has an anemic 1.2-megapixel still camera, 10x optical zoom, and a 2.5-inch LCD monitor. Altogether sort of pedestrian, really, although it does have image stabilization, which should be standard on almost everything these days, but surprisingly often isn't.

Read - Panasonic makes handheld DVD recording easy [GadgetryBlog]

Panasonic, UTStarcom Do 3G

Panasonic "Beyond 3G" Concept Phones

LIAM "BIG I" MCNULTY --Keitai Watch continues their coverage of ITU TELECOM ASIA 2004 currently going on in Seoul today, and brings back some images of some Panasonic "Beyond 3G" concept phones.

Pictured at the right is one of the five phones, sort of a jellyfish-inspired model. Also displayed was the "X200," a bar type GSM phone with a 12.9mm thickness, Java support, and a .3MP camera. I'm a bar man myself, so I welcome more of this style.

Panasonic KX-P 7105 printing in OS X
10.3.4

Panasonic Unveils Blu-ray Recorder

Panasonic Minicompos With SD Slot

Also introduced by Panasonic yesterday were the "SC-PM910DVD" and "SC-PM710SD" minicomponent systems, both supporting a variety of audio formats on a variety of mediums. Each has a 5-CD changer, MD deck, cassette deck, radio tuner, and for the first time in the world, SD card slot. Panasonic has gone to extra lengths to make sure you take advantage of this slot as well; you can play and record audio files from (or to) the inserted card. The units are capable of playing MP3 and WMA files from CDs, and can play those same formats as well as AAC from SD cards. The PM910DVD adds DVD-Video support too, but it's not as if you'll be using such a feature outside of Japan.

Press Release [Panasonic]

Panasonic to release Blu-ray recorder

Panasonic G70; Concerning Pigtails and
Inkwells

Panasonic Deliver 3G Handsets

Panasonic D-Snap SV-AS30, SV-AS3

Panasonic has two new cameras out in their D-Snap line, the SV-AS30 [left] and the SV-AS3. Both are thin-profile 3.2-megapixel cameras that can not only record MPEG4 video, but can also play it back from SD cards, as well as MP3s or WMAs (maybe only the SV-AS3 can do the music playback, I'm not positive). In addition, the cameras have a 16:9 image mode for shooting photos that will later be viewed on HDTV screens (1920 x 1080).

The upright form factor is probably my least favorite camera design there is, but they do look nice an pocketable, so there's that.

Read - Panasonic D-Snap SV-AS30 [Camborg]
Read - Panasonic D-Snap SV-AS3 [Camborg]

Related
Panasonic Archives [Gizmodo]

Update: SorobanGeeks has some up close pictures.
Read - A Story [SorobanGeeks]

Panasonic Opens Blu-ray Testing Lab

As a necessary step toward making the Blu-ray optical a widely-adopted standard, Panasonic has opened a Format Verification Laboratory in Osaka that will act as a verifying agency for any third-party who wishes to have their devices certified compliant with the Blu-ray 1.0 Specification. Blu-ray is the joint format being backed by Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, and Philips that is designed to replace DVDs with discs that can hold up to 50GBs of data.

Press release after the jump.

how do i get to play the dvd ram discs
from my panasonic e55

Panasonic Fruity Phones

Panasonic To Launch GSM 3G Mobile Blitz

CES - HP, Panasonic to support each
other's DVD technology

a new exciting product by panasonic....a
gr8 way 2 listen 4

CES - Microsoft, Panasonic to work on
DRM compatibility

Panasonic AG-HVX200 HDTV Camera

Panasonic will be releasing a new HD video camera they're calling the "DVCPRO HD P2 handheld." While actually pretty compact judging by the image alone, the unit doesn't skimp on the specs. It obviously records in a range of HDTV formats (up to 1080 60i/30p/24p), but another interesting feature is its compatibility with "P2 card." If you missed it, P2 card is memory format employing technology from SD cards with the size and interface to be compatible with PCMCIA. We sort of already covered this during its announcement at NAB, but this would be the "official" announcement.

Press Release [Panasonic]

Hottt: Panasonic AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 Camcorder [Gizmodo]

Panasonic RP-WF930 Wireless Headphones

Panasonic, Apple team for HD over
FireWire

Panasonic Fashion Phone: X500

The X500, Panasonic's newest fashion phone, is a diminutive little slider available in your choice of silver, red, or white. Nothing impressive feature-wise, (a little VGA camera with LED "photo light" pretty much sums it up), but we're talking about fashion here, so form over function (over a bed of midget-plucked truffles drizzled with a sherry and honey glaze). The camera is situated in a way that facilitates turning the phone sideways to take pics, much like a "real" camera—kind of neat if not a deal sealer. If what you can do is less important than how chic you look while you're doing it, the X500 is available for nights on the town. Retailing around $300 in the US.

Panasonic's latest fashion handset [ShinyShiny]

Panasonic RP-HDE70 Metal Earphones

Panasonic has some new inner-ear earphones out with a metal frame named "RP-HDE70." The 8.5mm unit inside has a frequency response from 10Hz to 23kHz, so no worries about not hearing all the correct pitches. They'll set you back about 10,000 Japanese clams.

Press Release [Panasonic]

Panasonic Vision: Networked Electronics
Everywhere

Two Other Panasonic Home Theater Goods

While we’re on the topic of Panasonic, I’ll also mention two other new home theater products from the company.

The “SC-HT06” is a 2.1ch audio system with Dolby Virtual Speaker (DVS) technology. This is to fool you into thinking you have a real surround sound setup. The amplifier is provides a total 300W of output, and has three digital inputs: two optical and one coaxial.

“Dual Amp” technology is the focus of the “SA-XR55” amplifier, meaning you can provide twice the amount of power to your speakers. It has features out the wazoo: 7.1ch audio, 192kHz sampling all the way from input to output, and improvement of mid-range tones using “VGDA” (Variable Gain Digital Amplifier). You’ll probably find a crapload of things to like about the SA-XR55, assuming you can afford the 55,000 yen price tag.

SC-HT06 Press Release [Panasonic]
SA-XR55 Press Release [Panasonic]

Fuji Novel Batteries Announces Private
Label Partnership Opportunities /
International Battery Manufacturer
Focuses on North American Markets

New AA and AAA Batteries

Do you get tired of your kids saying "I need some batteries" being a steward of thinking about the environment we use chargeable batteries but from time to time I need to use a regular battery.

Panasonic has announced a AA and AAA batteries that will last twice as long and will be on the market soon. Good news for all of us and this is a good move to preserve the environment. [LockerGn ome]

Art from AA batteries

Bye-Bye Batteries?

Batteries For Your Pen And Paper?

Batteries Can't Keep Up
(washingtonpost.com)

Building Better Batteries

"In late 18th century, Italian physicist Luigi Galvani shocked the public by demonstrating that an amputated frog's leg twitched when touched with certain metals. Galvani was convinced that energy stored in the frog's leg caused the jerk. He called the accumulated juice "animal electricity." Galvani's friend Alessandro Volta called it nonsense. To prove that the energy came from the metal, not the flesh, Volta eventually made a sandwich of silver, moist cardboard, and zinc. His device also spurred frogs' legs to spasm. In the end, Volta won the intellectual battle and also invented the battery. Two hundred years later, the technology hasn't changed much."

A look at iPod batteries

Apple warns about bad batteries

Flashlight For A Variety Of Batteries

Batteries Continue To Suck

Batteries Power Energizer's Q1

The Truth About iPod Batteries

Apple iPods are not unique in the world of rechargeable devices. Maybe Apple made a mistake by not making them so consumers could replace their own batteries, but perhaps that's the price you pay for that much-lauded Apple industrial design. So please, enough with the wild conspiracy theories and the threats of class-action lawsuits. By Lance Ulanoff, PC Magazine

Report: Laptop Batteries

Tcl/Tk Aqua Batteries-Included

Warning: Exploding Batteries

The Truth About Lithium Ion Batteries

The comedian Jerry Seinfeld had a joke that the only warning label people took seriously was “dry clean only.”” But I think I found another one: the “charge this device completely before you attempt to use it for the first time”” warning. People lose their minds at the the thought of trying a new cell phone or MP3 player until it has charged its heart out for hour and hours on end. According to this…

Direct and Related Links for 'The Truth About Lithium Ion Batteries'

Some 15" Alu-Powerbook batteries
recalled

New batteries aid climate battle

Battle of the Batteries Redux

PowerBook Batteries Recalled

MIT experimenting with photosynthetic
batteries

Measure Twice, Cut Once, Change the
Batteries

Rechargeable batteries: Standards now!

Notes and Tips: Speedy Batteries

Apple recalls 28,000 PowerBook G4
batteries

Panasonic Oxyride Batteries Review (Verdict: Buy These From Now On)