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Optoma announced a brand new projector today that actually dips below the $1,000 mark. It’s called the HD20 and is a DLP-based front projector with a 1080p resolution and targeted at computer and home theater users.
You can blow the image up to 120-inches. It sports a contrast ratio of 4,000:1 and also has a 1,700 lumens of brightness. Other features include two HDMI ports, as well as a VGA connection.

Analog connectors are also included such as RCA and component for added flexibility. We don’t have a release date for the Optoma HD20 yet, but the $999 price tag is certainly enticing.

AgfaPhoto announced three brand new digital camera models today, the Optima 1, Optima 102 and Optima 100, which all expand the camera company’s digital offerings and sport some neat features.

The Optima 1 has a 12-megapixel sensor, 1080p support, blink recognition, face recognition, smile recognition and many other programs, a 5x wide angle zoom lens, and a 2.-inch LCD screen. You can even use the beauty mode which adds soft color tone to faces and covers imperfections.

Also announced was the Optima 102 which also has a 12-megapixel camera, 28 program modes, a 3-inch display, a 3x optical zoom and an ISO 3,200. The Optima 100 on the other hand has the 28 modes, but a 10-megapixel sensor, a 2.7-inch LCD screen and 3x zoom. You can get all three models in September for about $254, $212 and $183, respectively.

Acer’s Aspire Timeline 1810T ultraportable has begun to show up in the wild, with at least two sites – ITC.ua and PCHome.net – getting their hands on the CULV ultraportable. As you might expect, first impressions are that – in terms of the hardware you can see – the 1810T is very similar to the Acer Aspire One 751 it in effect replaces; unfortunately there’s no benchmarking feedback as yet to prove whether the ultraportable runs better than its lethargic predecessor.


Still, the 1810T gets credit for its large keyboard and slim chassis – which ranges from 22mm to 30mm thick – though the trackpad was on the small side. It’s also a fingerprint magnet, with both the gloss red and gloss blue machines picking up prints with gusto.

Actual sales of the Timeline 1810T aren’t expected to kick off in Europe until mid-August, with the ultraportable priced at €499 ($717). Standard configuration is Intel’s 1.4GHz ULV SU3500 processor, GMA 4500MHD graphics and a 6-cell battery promising up to 8hrs runtime.

Stealth Computer have unveiled their latest notebook, the NW-2000, a ruggedized hybrid laptop/tablet based around Intel’s 1.06GHz Core 2 Duo, a 13.3-inch sunlight viewable resistive touchscreen and MIL-STD-810F, shock & vibration compliance. The sturdy convertible has 2GB of RAM (4GB maximum), a 160GB shock-mounted hard-drive (or optional SSD) and spill-resistant keyboard, and can cope with being dropped 91cm onto a wood-covered concrete surface 26 times in succession without impairing functionality.
There’s also standard WiFi a/g/n, Bluetooth, gigabit ethernet and GPS, together with optional HSDPA. A standard DVD burner, PC card slot, fingerprint scanner and TPM security module round out the main specifications, and Stealth suggest you’ll see up to 6hrs runtime from the standard 7,800mAh battery.

The whole thing weighs a not-inconsiderable 9.04lbs and measures a chunky 9.96 x 13.54 x 2.31 inches. The Stealth NW-2000 is available to order now, priced from $4,895.

It’s been a few months since we last heard Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster’s opinion on Apple’s much-rumored tablet, so happily the always-opinionated man is back with not only some pricing, sales and hardware predictions, but a slick render too. According to Munster, his sources in Asia have tipped an unnamed manufacturer winning the contract from Apple to produce the touchscreen device, with fulfillment at the end of 2009; that, he says, underscores his previous assertions of an early 2010 launch.

As for sales, Munster is buoyant about the Apple tablet’s success. He expects – like most other people – it to cost between $500 and $700, and to sell better than the Apple TV did in its first year. He also tips an integrated 3G modem, with either A&T or Verizon the likely carrier partners and potentially subsidizing the device. In fact, Munster predicts it will sell around two million units in its first 12 months of availability, generating $1.2bn and adding around 3-percent to Apple’s revenue stream in the 2010 calendar year.

That’s strong performance for something Gene describes as similar to an iPod touch, only larger, although he does suggest that it will have access not only to most of the existing 70,000 App Store titles but “a new category of apps designed for the bigger screen.” He also believes it will compete with netbooks – being primarily for internet, email and digital media access – but not actually be a netbook, thus not contradicting Apple’s various enthusiastic denials that they have any intention of entering the budget ultraportable space.

Not long at all after that mysterious Nokia RX-51 passed through the FCC comes shots from Indonesian message board Kaskus of the tablet-like device in the wild. The blurred box shot and the label behind the battery clearly say RX-51 prototype, and the design is unmistakably similar to the rumored press photo for the Maemo 5-powered Rover from back in May. We can't help but notice the 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens and, more importantly, SIM card slot and an ear piece, which would be perfect for placing calls on, say, T-Mobile's network. Few more shots after the break, and hit up the read link for the gallery of photos.

We've seen Buffalo shrink USB drives down to preposterous sizes in the recent past, and now the company is throwing a microSD card reader into the mix. Available for ¥15,500.00 (that's $160, give or take) this guy stores 16GB internally, is available in both colors -- black AND white -- and would be right at home in any of your computer's favorite USB 2.0 ports. And just to get you started, this bad boy includes a 16GB card microSD card. How sweet is that?

Good news, kids! It looks like Lenovo's O1 "OPhone" handset is finally ready to hit the shelves over on the Mainland sometime next month. Truth be told, the story arc of this Android-powered 3G (TD-SCDMA) handset has been quite the emotional roller coaster: Some were riveted by the sleek, sexy physical design of the thing, while others were repelled by its intensely KIRFish UI. China Mobile is obviously hoping for big things from the little guy -- and getting it into stores before Unicom gets the iPhone sorted can't hurt. Either way, it looks like someone's just taken a bite out of iOrgane's market share!

Stealth Computer isn't exactly going for much subtlety with a rugged laptop line called "Warrior," but subtlety is hardly part of the equation when we're talking about a convertible tablet that's protected from repeated drops, shocks, dust, water, and, um, lint. Like most such ruggedized computers, however, all that comes at some expense to performance, although this new 13.3-inch Warrior NW-2000 model is certainly still more than adequate with a 1.06GHz low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and a built-in DVD burner, not to mention optional 3G, GPS, and all the usual security measures like a fingerprint scanner and various password protection options. Oh, and a starting price of $4,895.

Sharp, you introduced the world's first HDTV line with integrated Blu-ray players last year, what are you going to do next? Only naturally, the Japanese lineup of DX2 series one-ups the original DX by adding Blu-ray recording as well. It doesn't appear that these pack the LED backlighting of the new X-Gen based displays headed our way this fall, so for now buyers will have to make do with the 15,000:1 contrast ratio shared with the other D-series televisions. Still, the big deal here is that the 1080p (52-, 46- and 40-inch) and 720p (32- and 26-inch) displays will burn up to 30 hours of HD video on dual-layer Blu-ray discs, by way of transcoding and compressing to MPEG-4 format without any messy external boxes or wires. The price range from ¥170,000 ($1,740) at the low end to ¥480,000 for the largest size when these ship September 15 but don't count on seeing them on this side of the Pacific.

That Sony S-Series Walkman we spotted a couple of weeks ago has reared its speaker grill-laden head once more, only this time in what looks like an accidental unveiling on French retailer Materiel's website. According to the specs list -- accompanied by some new official press shots that give us little reason to doubt its validity -- the 8GB NWZ-S544 and 16GB NWZ-S545 feature a 2.4-inch QVGA widescreen display, stereo speakers, a microphone, FM tuner, a Li-ion battery for a reported 42 hours of audio / 6.5 hours of video, and what appears to be a built-in stand for convenient video watching. Codec support includes MP3, non-DRM AAC, WMA, H.254, MPEG4, and WMV. No fanciful colors like in the first pic, we've only got black listed for now, to the tune of 129€ ($182) for the 8GB model and 149€ ($211) for 16GB. We're still waiting on Sony to fess up to the device, but really, it can't get much more official. A price and release date for US would be nice, though.

You didn't have to read much of our recent Kindle DX review to get a handle on our opinions of the super-sized e-reader, but as you've likely gleaned from the headline, this one's not about us. Instead, we're asking you to chime in with your take on this here device during this week's How Would You Change. Did you really gain anything from the larger screen? Have you found it useful in your line of work / education? Are you down on the keyboard? Given Amazon's history, we can't imagine that the DX will stay in this form forever, and listen, wouldn't you want to have a say in what gets changed on Revision B? Drop your most intimate thoughts on the matter below -- who knows, maybe Sir Bezos is tuning in just to cash in on your two pennies.