The High-End Webcam for the Average You

Logitech has recently unveiled a whole new range of HD webcams including their top of the line, HD Pro Webcam C910.


I find the C910 most appealing among all webcams out in the market today. Logitech has made a smart move with the evolution of their webcams from the traditional sphere shape to a more contemporary and stylish rectangular shape. The sophistication in C910’s form together with Logitech’s classic combination of matte and sleek black design makes it eye candy.

The C910 is equipped with high-precision autofocus Carl Zeiss Tessar optics glass lens which makes it stand out from the rest of Logitech’s latest HD lineup. Its auto-focus capability is quite slow, with barely 3-5 seconds of delay, as it adjusts to varying light settings. The camera automatically zooms in the subject and pans around as the subject moves within its viewing field.

Picture quality is okay. It somehow falls short in vibrancy and contrast under bright light. Nonetheless, the 10-MP camera can produce really clear and detailed snapshots. To best test this skill, I took a few snapshots of texts in documents. Surprisingly, each and every letter on the document was remarkably visible on the captured images. Quality remained the same regardless of which angle you’re shooting from.

Just like the C600, the device works well even with the lights completely turned off (and the monitor as the only source of light). Thanks to Logitech’s RightLight 2 Technology, the device can automatically balance out light sources, especially in places with poor lighting conditions.

With RightLight 2 and higher specs combined, the C910 is a lot more comfortable to use in the dark compared to C600 as your face can still be clearly projected on the screen even at 1 foot away from the camera. In the case of the latter, you cannot move farther than 6 inches away should you use it in the dark.

Webcams generally do not perform up to par with camcorders or even with digital cameras, not for this one though. In 1080p HD mode, I can say that this device produces best video quality among all webcams up to date. Artifacts are not evident when videos are played in the bundled video application as it automatically reduces the size of the video.

Compression artifacts become fairly noticeable when played in full screen using Windows Media Player. Nevertheless, recorded images appear sharp and smoothly animated. Uploading pictures and videos can be done in just a snap using the webcam’s software.

For live chats (as well as HD video recording), it is recommended to use 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip or faster, 2GB RAM, USB 2.0 port and 1MB/sec upload speeds. The device works well in 720p only when 1MB/sec connectivity requirements are met. I noticed that video quality was impressive both in Skype and Yahoo! Messenger and optimal in Logitech Vid. Nevertheless, the differences were only minimal.

I immediately had great expectations on the unit’s sound quality when I saw the two microphones margining the lens. High quality sound may not be the device’s core feature, but for me, it’s C910’s strongest feature. Powered with RightSound technology, the embedded microphones can greatly pick up voices and other sounds no matter how soft the sound is.

My friends were able to understand my words even when I just whispered. They also had no issues hearing me even when I moved farther away from the device.

One thing I found most appealing in C910 is its Face-recognition Login feature. Using Sensible Vision’s FastAccess facial recognition software, you can protect your PC or laptop without using codes which can be very confusing at times – especially for forgetful people like me. The program may be used together with other login tools (ex. Biometric login, etc). However, it is not recommended.

I was excited to give this feature a try. I downloaded Sensible Vision’s 60-day Free Trial three times using three different sources, but unfortunately, it did not work on my laptop. Including FastAccess “101” in the manual probably would’ve been very helpful.

Overall, I find this ideal in presentations and demonstrations, especially when it has to be done online. With all of its amazing features, expect it to be a bit pricey.

For as long as you come complete with all of the system requirements, it’ll all be worth it.

Look Ma, No Cables! It's the Wireless Home Digital Interface!

Connecting your desktop PC or notebook, PS3 or Xbox, BluRay disk player or other HD multimedia devices to any external display is actually pretty easy. What makes the whole process daunting and downright irritating is having to deal with lots and lots of cables and wirings and needless to say, with all those cables lying around, they don’t look good at all. These coiled nuisances, sad to say, could really test your patience.
To avoid all these, I guess the only answer and the most logical thing to do is to get rid of all these cables… go wireless; and that is what ASUS actually did as they bring to us their “WiCast”
ASUS WiCast boasts of Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) technology that lets you transmit or send off a 1080p video wirelessly from your notebook or PC or Bluray disk player to an HDTV or LCD monitor without delay in transmission. Video playback is seamless; not at all sluggish or delayed. You definitely won’t see Justin Bieber lip sync on his videos.
The WiCast Wireless HDMI Kit comes with 2 small black boxes; one is the receiver and the other one is the transmitter. The receiver is about 4.5 inches in height and the transmitter is a bit smaller at about 4 inches in length. I like the fact that these boxes are black, small and lightweight.
These features kind of make them easier to disappear in sight once you set them up with their respective partners. Furthermore, the only cables you have to deal with are the two short HDMI cables and the AC adapters which are totally manageable.

Setting them up with any of the above-mentioned devices are easy and the procedure are pretty much the same. With the use of the HDMI cable, connect the receiver to your HDTV or LCD projector. For power, connect the AC adapter to the receiver’s DC-In port. Lastly, with the shorter HDMI cable, connect the transmitter to your device, be it your PC or notebook, Ps3 or Xbox or other HD multimedia devices. Surprisingly, it is that simple.
One thing I like about the WiCast is its “Omni-Directional Broadcast”. As explained by ASUS, its “transmission is not limited by directionality or line of sight”. With this in mind I tested this feature by placing my laptop on the adjacent room. With a concrete wall between, the HDTV was totally out of sight from my laptop. The result; transmission was indeed successful! No glitches or delay; video and audio quality was not affected at all. Apparently, WHDI technology allows a range of up to 33 feet and let me just reiterate what ASUS has said about its transmission being “not limited by directionality or line of sight”.
With WiCast, going wireless is now easy, handy and convenient. All you need is that little black box that surely makes simple things a lot simpler.

S. Korea, Japan have world's fastest Internet links

TOKYO—East Asian countries led by South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan are the best wired in the world with the highest number of fast broadband connections to the Internet, a recent report has found.
South Korea boasts the world's highest average connection speed at 14.6 Megabytes per second (Mbps) and also has six of Asia's ten cities with the fastest link-ups, all with average speeds above 15 Mbps.
Japan had the second highest average connection speed of 7.9 Mbps, followed by the Chinese territory of Hong Kong with 7.6 Mbps, said the report by US-based network provider Akamai Technologies.
The other countries in the top ten are Romania, followed by Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark and the Czech Republic, with the United States at 18th place, with an average speed of 3.9 Mbps.
The survey classifies "broadband" connections as those of 2 Mbps or more, and "high broadband" as 5 Mbps or over, while link-ups at 20 Mbps and better were categorized as "extremely high speed connectivity."
In South Korea, 74 percent of connections were "high broadband," the world's top rate, while the figure was 60 percent in Japan, followed by Hong Kong with 46 percent, said the report.
The United States came twelfth, with just 24 percent of its connections at 5 Mbps or more. Worldwide, the high broadband percentage was 19 percent.
Growing demand for online high-definition video content is driving demand for faster connections, said Akamai's 'State of the Internet' report for the third quarter of 2009.
"As the quantity of HD-quality media increases over time and the consumption of that media increases, end users are likely to require ever-increasing amounts of bandwidth," the report said.

Top 10 mobile phones for 2010

Windows Phone 7

Judging by the announcements at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, 2010 is going to be the year of the Android. Google's mobile platform was everywhere, with most major phone makers announcing new Android phones and a range of Android tablet devices and netbooks on diplay.
Manufacturers clearly value the open-source nature of Android, which they can customise to their hearts' content. But Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 is definitely a contender and it will be interesting to see what devices the phone makers can come up with by the end of the year.
Here are my top 10 mobile announcements and phones from the show:

Windows Phone 7 - There's a lot riding on Microsoft's next mobile operating system. For the last 18 months Windows Mobile has lagged newer rivals like the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. Its market share has dropped.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was dry and lacked major new announcements, so I was skeptical about whether Microsoft could pull it off in Barcelona.
The jury is still out as we wait until Christmas to see some final handsets but from the early Windows Phone 7 prototypes at MWC, it's clear Microsoft has wiped the slate clean and started fresh with a new platform and a revamped, innovative user interface.
The demo version I saw was an early version and slightly buggy but i'm impressed with the tight integration with social networking sites and online email and calendar sites. The inclusion of Xbox Live for multiplayer gaming and a Zune music player puts it squarely in iPhone territory.
But Microsoft's insistence on manufacturers keeping its tile-based UI may limit phone makers like HTC, which has done wonders to dolly up Windows Mobile 6.5 with its Sense interface. And the inability to upgrade existing Windows Mobile phones to Windows Phone 7 may frustrate those who recently shelled out for a 6.5 device.
Samsung Wave - Samsung is going out on a limb by introducing a completely new phone platform, banking on developers supporting it with enough interesting and useful apps to compete with iPhone and the open-source Android platform from Google.
It's risky. But the 3.3-inch Super AMOLED touch-screen display is gorgeous and Samsung will have complete control of both the hardware and software, which has definitely been beneficial for Apple with the iPhone.
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini pro - Looking at this handset in a picture is deceiving. While other smartphone makers are moving to bigger screens, like the HTC HD2's giant 4.3-inch display, this one is tiny at 2.6-inch.The device measures just 90x52x17mm.
But big phones aren't for everyone and Sony Ericsson makes it work with a good touchscreen user interface and the Timescape app, which puts friends' Facebook posts, Tweets, messages and calls into a single stream. Other apps can be downloaded from the Android market.
HTC Legend - Most phones have a front and back that clip together but the Legend's casing is machined out of a single block of aluminium. As soon as I saw it I wanted one. The Legend is an Android phone running HTC's highly customised, intuitive Sense user interface.
HTC Desire - It's not as pretty as the Legend but while the Legend has just a 600MHz processor, the Desire offers a much gruntier 1GHz chip. It runs the latest version of Android, 2.1, and features a 3.7-inch screen - the closest you'll get to the Google Nexus One, which hasn't yet been launched in Australia. The Desire will be available in Australia from Telstra in April.
HTC HD mini - Think of this one as a smaller version of the giant HD2. Like its sibling, the HD mini runs Windows Mobile 6.5 and includes the unique ability to launch a personal WiFi hotspot, which users can connect to on a laptop to browse the web over their mobile's 3G network from anywhere.A very cool feature that I would love to see replicated by other manufacturers.
Samsung Beam - It doesn't look like this phone will come to Australia any time soon but it's worth a mention because it's one of the first handsets to include a built-in projector for viewing content stored on the phone on any wall.
Samsung definitely gets points for innovation but the market for this one may be somewhat limited and the projector is only really effective in darker rooms. The battery is drained in about three hours with the projector on.
Asus-Garmin Nuvifone A50 - This is the fruit of a partnership between electronics maker Asus and GPS navigation specialist Garmin, so it's designed to replace the GPS device in your car and double as your primary mobile. It runs the Android operating system but the interface has been completely redesigned to the point that it barely resembles other Android phones.
Sony Ericsson Vivaz - The Vivaz has a QWERTY keyboard and 3.2-inch touchscreen but, unlike most phones, is also capable of shooting high-definition 720p video and includes an 8-megapixel camera.
Motorola Milestone - Motorola has been extremely quiet in Australia over the last few years but i'm hoping it comes to market with the Milestone, which is similar to the Droid that Motorola launched in the US.
It runs Android 2.0 and has iPhone-like multitouch support, with users able to pinch the 3.7-inch screen to zoom on web pages, maps and photos. The phones comes with Motorola's turn-by-turn GPS navigation software, MOTONAV, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a 5-megapixel camera.