Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3 Resets the Bar for What a Rugged P&S Camera Can Be
When it comes to outdoor activities, nothing beats a good old digital point and shoot camera for capturing those moments. That is nothing that rivals a good old P&S camera as long as your camera doesn't break in the process of getting on with your life! This is why the all new Lumix DMC-TS3 from Panasonic is so interesting. It is not only going to be as easy to use as any other point and shoot camera but it has been designed to take one heck of a pounding! Panasonic called it their "rugged" camera as it is not only dust-proof and waterproof (to 40 feet) but also shockproof (can survive a fall of up to 6.6 feet) and can even work in -10ºC weather! This really makes the Fujifilm FinePix XP30 look like a punter! In better still is this is not some "dumb jock" that can take a pounding but really isn't all that good for much else as this bad boy is packed with some killer features like 1080p HD recording and can even do 3D photos! Heck, this rugged point and shoot also comes equipped with GPS for geo tagging, a compass for direction and even a altimeter and barometer for just plain coolness factor! Add in a very good 12.1MP still frame capacities backed up with a 4.6X optical lens and it sounds like this may just be perfect for anyone who want to take one device to capture all their killer outdoor actives! Expect the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3 to land in March and pricing to be announced in February.
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Finally a USB 3.0 to eSATA Adapter Powerful Enough to Handle Performance Drives?
In what certainly is interesting news, comes word of the NewerTech eSATA to USB 3.0 Adapter. This is certainly not the first such adapter we have heard of (like the SiiG and Addonics we previously talked about), but it IS the first to claim to be the fastest with benchmarks to back it up! The NewerTech claims that it can do 247MB/s reads and 206+ MB/s writes (assuming your eSATA device is capable of this) which is very impressive as up until now the adapter itself has been a huge bottleneck adding in nearly unacceptable amounts of overhead. You may be asking yourself why would anyone need A) a USB 3.0 to eSATA adapter and B) why would anyone care if it can do all that conversion without reducing power. The answer to the second question is actually pretty simple as while a couple MB/s on 200+ devices is neither here nor there, that amount of performance hit on say your typical 2.5" hard drive WOULD be huge! Less really is more when it comes to performance impacting adapters. As for the first question only you can answer that one, but wouldn't it be great to be able to use your eSATA external device on ALL your systems even those that don't have eSATA. This is not as outlandish as you would think, as while eSATA is very prevalent in desktops, USB 3.0 is becoming a heck of a lot more ubiquitous in portable drives with eSATA becoming as rare as hen's teeth! Heck, even if your laptop doesn't have USB 3.0 ports it certainly has USB 2.0 and while that is not much bandwidth something is better than nothing! You can pick the NewerTech eSATA to USB 3.0 Adapter up now from retailers (such as OWC) for $29.95.
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Thanko USB Multi-touch Pad, for Windows 7 Only
When it comes to multi-touch pads, size is everything. There are several innovative attempts by different Asian companies at creating a made-for-Windows multi-touch pad that rivals the mighty Apple Magic Trackpad. They are however merely regular-sized touch pads with some creative addition such as numpad. Their designers should be aware finger gestures naturally work better on a large pad than a small one. Here's Thanko-version of multi-touch pad, made exclusively for Windows 7. This one has a diagonal length of close to 161mm. Even though there is a button on both sides, the actual pad size is still pretty close to that of the Magic touchpad. This is something that we would like to try even if the Thanko might not have wear-resistant glass surface. There's even a switch for toggling between single touch and multi-touch mode. Thanko's website curiously only shows two finger actions. Their PR should come forward with more information. We really like to know if the pad will register three or four-finger gestures before dropping $36 on this niche toy.
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