Gadgetstronics

Just shy of 2 weeks after Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo pursuing a US$1.4 million damages claim, the 300 other staff at Tecmo have decided to take action against the company.

The new lawsuit has been brought about by the staff because for the past 4 years they have not been paid for overtime. This is because Tecmo switched to a flexible working practice at which point it stopped paying overtime. However, the staff are claiming they were still putting over 100 hours of overtime in each month, but have been left without compensation for their hard work.

If that wasn’t enough, the company has also been accused of creating false documents in order to cover up the accounts of the company and presumably the time employees were working.

The lawsuit is with the Tokyo District Court and Tecmo is now being investigated with regards to its employment policies.

When we reported on Itagaki-san leaving I said the key members of his team at Tecmo would likely follow him wherever he goes. There is now a much greater chance of that happening and Tecmo even ceasing to exist. It looks like they have seriously messed up and could face huge claims against them by both employees and the Japanese government.

Read more at Kotaku.com

Lord knows why, but camera makers still insist on putting flash units on the top of SLR cameras, and then immediately admit the mistake by including red-eye reduction features. If harsh shadows and shiny overexposed faces are your thing, then the on-camera flash is for you.

Otherwise, you need to take your flash off-camera. Unfortunately, those same budget DSLRs which incorporate a strobe often don’t have an industry standard PC socket, the easiest way to attach a speedlight to a camera using a cable. Imagine for a moment that computer manufacturers eschewed USB ports for proprietary connections and you’re partway to understanding the annoyance of this omission.

Alienbees’ new battery powered CyberSync solves the problem using two radio units, one on camera and one on your flash. If the strobe is within 400 feet, it will be tripped when you fire the shutter. Normally, you need to pay big bucks for this kind of thing. The professional’s favorite is the Pocket Wizard, which cost around $400 per pair. The CyberSyncs are just $130 for a transmitter and a receiver. They’ll be available later this month.

Product page [Alienbees via Strobist]

Okay, so I wasn’t able to rip-off that old jingle very well. Of course, everyone has heard of the Clapper, but the Cliphanger is just as practical. The Cliphanger is a device that is designed to stick to any mobile device, so you can hang it up just about anywhere.

The design of the Cliphanger is quite unique and practical. On the back of the circular area where the logo appears is some strong adhesive designed to stick to any mobile device such as a cell phone, mp3 player, or camera.

The paperclip-like area has enough space to allow for a camera lens. This clip area can separate in a convenient place so it can be hung on something like a belt loop. The Cliphanger kit even comes with an autohook that can also stick onto a dashboard, and is perfect for hanging your Cliphangered mobile device.

I had a chance to talk to a representative of Cliphanger, and I was amazed at the story behind it. Due to its grassroots campaign, the Cliphanger has sold more than three million units, and that is outside of Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

You should be able to get the Cliphanger off the official site for about $12.95, in all kinds of colors.

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It’s a nightmare scenario. You’re backing up your car when unexpectedly you hit something or worse you hit someone. Backing up your car can be one of the most dangerous driving procedures we make,  but thanks to technology we can improve our chances of backing up safely. Some newer cars feature cameras and an LCD screen which automatically come on when a driver backs up. Of course, this leaves very little options for those who already have a car and would like the security a collision avoidance system brings. Typically, if you want an after-market solution installed it can be a fortune. That’s why Audiovox has come out with a simple do-it-yourself solution.

The company’s newest collision avoidance system features a wireless camera which mounts on the back side of a vehicle license plate holder. The added advantage of having the camera “out of sight” is that there is less of a chance that it will be stolen. It also ensures you are not breaking the law by blocking your license plate data. Camera power is supplied through your vehicle’s back-up lights.

The solution comes with a 4.5-inch TFT screen which offers 640×480 resolution. To supply power to the monitor an AC adapter plug is included in addition to a hardwired power cord. The monitor can be mounted to a visor or through the use of a suction cup mount. The Audiovox wireless collision avoidance system will retail for US$349.99.

Read more from the Audiovox press release.

Brian’s Opinion

I’m a big fan of do-it-yourself solutions like this one being offered by Audiovox. I don’t mind paying a little bit for electronics, but if I can avoid a labor or installation charge I’ll do it myself. That’s what makes this collision avoidance system so nice.

Since the camera is wireless it sounds like it must be a pretty simple hook up. You are really only running power to the camera from your back up lights. Other than that it’s just a simple matter of mounting the monitor and supplying power. For those not adventurous enough to use the hardwired power line, it’s nice that an AC adapter is included.

It just makes me sick when I read about a small child being killed in a tragic accident in which someone was backing up their car and didn’t see them. The guilt that the person must live with must be incredible. That’s why you can consider a solution like this one to be just like buying auto insurance–to improve the chances it doesn’t happen to you.

Amid the slew of dull announcements with which Sony Ericsson choked my inbox today, the new F305 stands out, if only because The PR people managed to cram the words “game” and “gaming” into the press release 41 (forty one!) times.

This indicates their excitement over the cellphone’s motion sensor, dubbed “Motion Gaming”. Imagine Nintendo’s Wii, except that the very screen on which you view the games is attached to the Nunchuk itself, rendering the results of your manic waving completely invisible. The three supplied titles are called “Bowling”, “Bass fishing” and “Jockey”, and we imagine that playing them in public would be the social equivalent of frottaging a mop on stage during a hypnosis show: Embarrassing.

The F305 is saved by a D-pad and two dedicated gaming buttons, and there is an optional keychain powerpack which will give the battery a boost. Otherwise, you will find no surprises. It plays music. It has a 2MP camera. It has speakers for annoying everybody on the bus. And it will be in shops just in time for Christmas.

Press release [Sony Ericsson]

Sony Ericsson has launched two new HSPA USB modems, the M400 and M400g. With these two new modems in tow, mobile professionals can have 7.2Mb/s download and up to 2.0Mb/s upload speeds just by plugging the modem into their notebooks. These two modems are said to be simple and quick to install and provide internet access every time users need to connect to the internet where ever they maybe. And to make these two modems even more special, Sony Ericsson has put a M2 Memory Stick Micro and a microSD slot into the already useful devices.

Here’s a rundown of these two modems features; built-in antenna complementing an additional swivel “Diversity” antenna for maximum reception performance and data transmission, built-in GPS receiver and GPS utility (for the MD400g only) with links to Google maps, PlayNow shortcut link, auto-install and auto configuration.

The two modems will be available in ebony and white colors sometime in the 4Q of 2008.

Product [Sony Ericsson]

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AlienBees has just made available its new product - the CyberSync. What the CyberSync does is to hook up the dedicated transmitter to your camera’s hot shoe, along with a wireless receiver for the flash. You can then choose up to 16 different frequencies as long as they fall within the 2.4GHz range while avoiding interference from other photographers. There is a working range of up to 400 feet, but the number drops if there are other obstructions like walls around. In addition, the CyberSync transmitter is powered by a single cell battery and will retail for $130 for the entire package. Perfect for those who are looking for an affordable wireless triggering system.

LaCie’s Little Big Disk Quadra just got a little bigger. The diminutive bus powered external drive is now available in 1TB size, and keeps the same double FireWire 800, eSATA and USB ports.

How does it pack so much into a a box without a powerbrick? Well, first, the two 2.5″ platters inside are 5400rpm laptop drives, although the real world speed can be boosted by using the built in RAID 0 (aka “scary raid”), which we assume will half the capacity. Also, the case itself is an aluminum heat sink, obviating the need for a fan.

The 1TB Quadra will be available next month, for an astonishing $700.

UPDATE: It looks like I got my RAIDs mixed up. RAID 0 stripes data across the two internal 2.5″ laptop drives, instead of mirroring data. That’s why it’s called “scary RAID” and that’s why you will get the full Terabyte of storage. Thanks, Misha!

Product page [LaCie]

by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 17th 2008 at 12:38PM Well, it looks like Philadelphia’s on-again, off-again WiFi network won’t be going dark for good quite just yet, as The Philadelphia Inquirer is now reporting that a group of local investors are stepping in to keep it aloft. While complete details are a bit light at the moment, the new company is apparently at least considering going with an advertising-supported business model that’d provide free access wherever the network is available, as opposed to the $20 a month Earthlink was charging for the service. To bolster that potentially losing proposition a bit, the company will also apparently be going after institutional subscribers like hospitals and universities, who’d be offered the opportunity to extend their own secure wireless networks into the city.

[Thanks Brad L, image courtesy of Stippling]

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Filed under: Wireless

Now that Blu-ray is the next-gen format, film studios are starting to plan their assault on our wallets by encouraging us to buy Blu-ray instead of DVD. Disney clearly has this in mind by announcing they are throwing their full-weight behind BD-Live content for their future Blu-ray releases.

Starting with Sleeping Beauty in October you can expect all Disney Blu-ray discs to have a significant amount of BD-Live content. That means your kids will not only get to enjoy the movie, but also get access to a host of web-hosted content including Movie Mail, Movie Chat, Movie Challenge and Movie Rewards.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment made the announcement during a press event earlier this week, with studio president Bob Chapek saying:

We are making our entrance grand … Every subsequent Disney title will have BD Live. [This may] push the studios to reach new heights that have never been before imagined … You will see BD Live demos across the country … We will talk about [BD Live] benefits. This is not just technology for technology’s sake.

One challenge Disney may not be able to overcome in the near future, however, is a lack of support for BD-Live functionality in Blu-Ray players. Currently, most standalone players are lacking the feature with the playstation 3 being the leader in terms of compatibility and support.

Read more at Pocket-Lint.co.uk

Matthew’s Opinion
I think parents everywhere would certainly appreciate the films they buy having more content on them to keep the kids happy. Rather than having to watch the same film over and over again you can direct them to the web content, which is bound to include games, quizzes, sing-a-long videos and more.

The film studios need to embrace new features like BD-Live and use them effectively if they want us to upgrade to HD. A lot of people will upgrade when they buy a new HD TV, but others will hold out until there really is a compelling reason to do so, or the price of the films comes down. I don’t think the crisp 1080p playback is enough of a draw, where as DVD image quality clearly was over VHS tapes. Getting people to “upgrade” this time is a much harder sell, with the cost in doing so being significantly higher.