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October 12, 2004 |
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The hottest thing going in the gadget world? Combining one gadget with another gadget to get some sort of supergadget. That's the thing that has you interested in the iRiver H320, an adequate MP3 player with a twist. In other news, no MSN Messenger 7.0 beta for you. Yet.
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iRiver H320
As we all know, the biggest trend in gadgetry is gear that goes beyond the call of duty. The iRiver H320 is one such toy. It's a 20GB MP3 player about the size of an iPod (only thicker), but its big claim to fame is the 2-inch color screen and the USB 1.1 port on the bottom that lets you plug in a digital camera and transfer files directly to the H320. Yes, you can do this with an iPod as well, but you can't turn around and look at the photos in nice, crisp color while you're at it. There's even a name for this nifty convergence: MP3JPEG players. Well, OK, possibly we made up that name. Anyway, the H320 can also record voice and supports playback of multiple audio formats.
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MSN Messenger 7.0
A version of the beta of MSN Messenger 7.0 leaked onto the Web last week, sparking your interest in, among other things, its tighter integration with MSN Search, its personalized animations, and cutesy services called "winks" and "nudges" that, like those found in Yahoo Instant Messenger (suspiciously like those found in Yahoo, in fact), let you send your friends sound effects and even shake their message boxes. Sadly, the expected beta release of Messenger has been suspended, after Microsoft said the winks presented a security concern because people can send you, uh, unauthorized winks. We're not sure that's a security concern, but it'll definitely get you fired if you try it during meetings.
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Sims 2
Gosh, we are so naive. When we saw that 3 of the top 20 search results across CNET Networks were "sims 2 crack," we figured there was some cool new trick out there that might let you, I don't know, insert Donald Trump into the world of The Sims 2 and be an apprentice on your own simulated-reality reality TV show, or something awesome like that. Then, when we Googled "sims 2 crack" ourselves and came up with, basically, a bunch of totally sketchy-looking pages promising nothing but spyware and illegal activity, we realized that the jig was up. So, consider this a friendly note saying, hey, we're on to you. The game only costs 50 bucks. Besides, one forum we read said there is no crack, and it's all a big hoax. So, there.
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Canon PowerShot SD300
Everyone seemed to love the Canon PowerShot SD110, so it's probably no surprise that the upcoming PowerShot SD300 is generating so much interest. What's the scoop? The PowerShot SD300 is, as our reviewer puts it, destined to give you "instant buyer's remorse" if you just bought a 3-megapixel digital camera, thinking that 4-megapixel options were rare or too expensive. The $399 SD300 offers the aforementioned 4 megapixels, along with a 2-inch LCD, fast shooting, a 3X optical zoom, and better wide-angle shooting. The downside? It's not available until November. So you can enjoy your useless, obsolete, and pathetic 3-megapixel model for a few more weeks.
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Audiovox 8910 and 9900
Here we go again with the deals. Searches for the Audiovox 8910 and the Audiovox 9900 were popping up all over the network last week, and like dummies, we thought, "What could it be?" Well, both midrange flip phones are available for $50 from Verizon Wireless as of last week, and you'll get the LG VX3200 for free if you sell your soul to Verizon for just two short years. We don't yet have reviews of the 8910 and 9900, but our cell phone gurus say the 9900 is most similar to the Sprint VM4050, a fairly high-rated flip phone with similar features (camera, video, speakerphone, color screen, flippiness).
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