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New Sony Dome Security Camera Proving Popular

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The two new mini-dome surveillance cameras from Sony claims to take extremely clear and detailed images under any circumstance.


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The SNC-DF85N and SNC-DF85P network mini-dome cameras are vandal and weather-resistant and comes with a sophisticated camera technology that enables accurate surveillance even in difficult lighting conditions.

Sony Australia’s Product Marketing Manager for Security Solutions, Tony Lagan said, “The discreet, compact dome design of our SNC-DF series has always made it the ideal choice for customers who want high-quality, yet unobtrusive surveillance. With the launch of the new SNC-DF85N/P, customers can now take surveillance to the next level with even better picture quality and unparalleled dynamic range. In real terms, this means enhanced security and better safety wherever customers require it.”

The integration of a sophisticated 1/3 type CCD with DynaView technology gives the camera a dynamic range that is 128 times wider than conventional cameras. This DynaView technology is able to reduce both whiteout and blackout to enable more accurate monitoring and surveillance.

 

By simultaneously capturing images with a normal and a high shutter speed, the camera can deliver high-contrast images that give security personnel a much clearer view of activity.

It also features a Day/Night function which provides clear monitoring images even in low light conditions. This feature drastically improves the sensitivity of night time surveillance.

The camera’s heavy duty aluminum die-cast enclosure, with an impact-resistant polycarbonate dome, likewise provides superb vandal resistance. Its IP66-compliant ingress protection includes an inner cable pipe for the highest levels of security. This weather-resistant design also makes it resistant to dust and water, which ensures a long operating life even for outdoor applications.

To provide enhanced operational flexibility, the SNC-DF85 incorporates advanced compression technologies that can transmit image data in JPEG, MPEG-4 and H.264, so users can choose the format that best suits their requirements.

The SNC-DF85 is also equipped with the unique Distributed Enhanced Processing Architecture_ (DEPA) technology, which is enhanced by an in-built Intelligent Motion Detection function. This technology of distributed processing can minimise server workload, network bandwidth and storage requirements.

See: www.sony.com.au

Sony Unveils Fastest Blu-ray Writer

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Sony Australia has rolled out its internal fastest Blu-ray writer which claims to burn 25GB of data in about 15 minutes.


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The Sony BWU300S model burns single and dual layer BD-R media at up to 8X speed, recording a full 25GB disc in about 15 minutes and a full 50GB disc in about 30 minutes.

The drive also records DVDs at up to 16X, CDs up to 48X and supports DVD-RAM recording. This makes it ideal for data backup and a replacement burner for a standard DVD drive, while offering all the benefits of Blu-ray Disc technology.

Included with the drive is CyberLink’s software suite for capturing, authoring, editing, burning, and viewing high definition personal content.

 

 

Sony Australia’s Product Manager for Data Storage, Vincent Bautista said, “Adoption of the Blu-ray Disc format continues to grow, and with this increased interest comes the demand for better performance and price, which Sony is delivering with the BWU300S drive. Not only does this new drive provide state of the art hardware, but it also comes with a comprehensive software bundle for all consumer needs.”

The internal drive features a Serial ATA (SATA) interface and standard 5.25-inch form-factor for easy installation inside a desktop PC with Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista operating systems.

The BWU300S is fully supported by Adobe Encore CS3 software, includes Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and Sony’s Vegas Pro 8 and DVD Architect Pro 5 software, providing video production professionals with another option for outputting high definition video on a Blu-ray Disc with MPEG-2 or H.264 compression.

Pricing and Availability

The Sony BWU300S Blu-ray Disc writer is available now with an RRP of $549.00 .

See: www.sony.com.au

New 10Mbps Business Broadband By Telstra

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Telstra is now offering a new broadband service that provides businesses with upload and download speeds of up to 10Mbps.Following a major upgrade of its symmetric business broadband network, this new service  is called Telstra Business Broadband (TBB) Ethernet and will replace the Business DSL service.

In a blog posted by Telstra’s Business Executive Director, Brian Harcourt, he said that unlike consumer ADSL which offers faster download speeds and slower upload speeds, TBB Ethernet is ‘symmetric’, offering the same speeds in both directions.

“TBB Ethernet is important for our customers as many currently use Business DSL and the maximum speed they can get is 4 megabits per second or less, depending on their distance from the Telstra exchange,” said Harcourt.

“As demand for bandwidth constantly increases, some are starting to find Business DSL is not really meeting their day-to-day needs. To deal with this problem up until now, businesses have had to look at getting a more expensive fibre connection to their premises – which for small and medium-size businesses is too expensive.”

“This upgraded service will help drive innovation in Australia’s small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), bringing increased reliability and a boost in upload and download speeds, up to 10 megabits per second,” continued Harcourt.

Brian Harcourt also said that the speed of the TBB Ethernet makes it possible to support quality IP telephony and applications like video-conferencing, offering big savings in telephone call costs and the travel budget. It will also help reduce waiting times for businesses that are often uploading big documents.

Hitachi External Drives Backs-up Data

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Hitachi has launched a new line of external hard drives that can store and back-up important data.


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The Hitachi XL Desktop Drive connects to a PC via USB and can store up to 2TB of data. It also comes pre-loaded with software that automatically protects files and folders stored on a laptop or desktop computer. In addition, the drive can vertically or horizontally and fits into any home office. Available in a smooth black finish, the Hitachi XL Desktop Drive comes in capacities of 2TB and 1TB.

Hitachi has also unveiled its X Mobile Drive, a USB-powered drive that comes in 320GB and 500GB. This external drive will also provide data backup functions using the Hitachi Local Backup software.

Hitachi’s Vice President of Asia Pacific, Robert Chu said, “We’re focused on making user-friendly products that combine excellent function with appealing design for all types of consumers. People are inundated with digital content daily, and many are not taking the necessary precautions to safeguard their content. With our new Hitachi XL Desktop Drive and Hitachi X Mobile Drive, we have a simple storage and backup solutions for just about anyone, depending on their various capacity needs, price ranges and colour preferences.”

The Hitachi X Series is now available and has the following RRPs:

·         Hitachi X Mobile Drive 320 GB: $99
·         Hitachi X Mobile Drive 500 GB: $119
·         Hitachi XL Desktop Drive 1 TB: $129
·         Hitachi XL 2 TB: $249

More Data For Telstra Pre-Paid Wireless

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Telstra announced that it will be giving its pre-paid wireless broadband customers more data allowances.


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Telstra’s new and improved pre-paid plans

According to the company, some of its new allowances offer customers up to three times more data at no additional cost, along with longer recharge expiry periods and a bonus 1GB of data for new users.

Customers who recharge $40 will now receive 1GB of data (up from 300MB), and those who select the $60 recharge option will receive 3GB of data, which is an increase of more than 2GB.

Telstra has also announced that it will be extending its recharge periods on selected allowances. The new 3GB allowance can be used for 90 days, while the 4GB allowance will offer 180 days of use before credit expires.

Acting Group Managing Director, Telstra Consumer, Ms Glenice Maclellan said, “With Telstra pre-paid there are no bills or fixed term contracts so it’s a great choice for people who want to keep track of what they’re spending month to month. We only charge customers for every kilobit of data they use so they can rest assured they’re only paying for what they use within the recharge period, giving them greater control and transparency.”

An HP Mini Netbook That Keeps On Going

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The HP Mini 5102 is a netbook that comes with a 10-inch touchscreen, a long-lasting battery life, and features that can simplify some tasks. The only problem is that it takes a long time to set this netbook up.


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The 5102 is available in three colours (Black, Red, and Blue) and sports a brushed aluminium lid. It is well-constructed and can probably withstand accidental bumps. Like any other netbook, the 5102 has a small profile (262 x 180 x 24.8 mm) and does not weigh a lot (starting at 1.2kg), which makes it perfect for on the go users.

The Mini 5102 has three USB ports, an SD/MMC card reader, a headphone and microphone jack, Ethernet port, and D-Sub out. A Wi-Fi adapter (802.11 a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1+ are also onboard the 5102. In terms of hardware, the 5102 runs on a 1.66 Ghz Intel Atom processor, has 2GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive, and a 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery that can last up to 10 hours.

Opening the lid reveals a well-spaced chiclet keyboard, a 10.1-inch LED-backlit HD 16:9 widescreen with a native resolution of 1366 x 768, and a 2 megapixel web camera used for video conferencing. The keyboard is responsive and maintained a similar layout to a full-sized keyboard. We did not have a hard time using the small touchpad, although its piano black finish was susceptible to fingerprints.

 

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Setting the unit up for the first time takes a while, so be prepared to spend about an hour and a half just to get everything up and running. The 5102 runs on Windows 7 Professional and is pre-installed with Corel Home Office, various HP tools (such as QuickSync, Wireless Assistant, and ProtectTools), McAfee Total Protection, Microsoft Office (60-day Trial), PDF complete, Roxio, and WinZip.

Since the 5102 runs on Windows 7 Professional, users may find it a bit slow compared to other netbooks being sold in the market. In order to speed things up, we recommend uninstalling unneeded bloatware. Since the 5102 comes with 2GB of RAM, it is able to do perform a couple of tasks without grinding down to a halt. The 10.1-inch touchscreen was a good addition, although it was not as responsive as we hoped it would be.

HP has included two programs that allow users to check calendar entries or surf the Internet without having to boot up the OS. The QuickLook and Quickweb buttons are located on the upper left side up the notebook for easy access.

The Mini 5102 lasted for 310 minutes in our battery drain test (max brightness and volume while playing a video on loop), which means that it can probably last the whole day if used wisely.

Overall, the HP Mini 5102 is a great home/office notebook as it has noteworthy specifications, long battery life, and solid build quality. The Mini 5102 is available now starting from $599.

HD Video Conferencing For Businesses

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LifeSize Communications have announced a new video capture and broadcast system that enables High-Definition video to be accessible anywhere.


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The LifeSize Video Center allows an organisation to stream, record and auto-publish video, audio and data content at a reduced cost. The architecture is the industry’s first solution to enable 20 concurrent recordings in HD, 1000 simultaneous live streams, and up to 350 simultaneous on-demand streams, all in HD video.

Chief Executive Officer of LifeSize Communications, Craig Malloy, said, “With its extraordinary performance at a price point that is within reach of any organization, LifeSize Video Center truly delivers on our commitment to drive innovation and make video communication easy and accessible to anyone, anywhere. Lifesize Video Center’s revolutionary one-touch HD streaming, recording, and auto-publishing capabilities can enable customers to develop innovative new applications of visual communications.”

LifeSize Video Center provides automatic operation for network administrators, content-creators and viewers alike. With its one-button recording, ‘choose your view’ functionality, and intuitive UI, users can immediately play back HD video from the Web-based portal.

LifeSize Video Center allows an organisation to communicate with employees across the organization and around the world, provide employees the flexibility to view HD training sessions wherever they are, whenever they are available, and even broadcast and record classes at the press of a button.

Other key features of LifeSize Video Center include push button recording, auto-publish capability, user controlled layout, record or stream function, customisable web portal content, and administrator control. 

Blockbuster Oz Experiences Rental Growth

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The Franchise Entertainment Group announced that its 320 Blockbuster stores achieved 3.5 per cent rental business growth in the 2009 calendar year.The company said that while the US Based Blockbuster International Incorporated has a poor financial reporting, it had no bearing on Blockbuster’s Australian stores. It also found its growth ‘encouraging particularly at a time when household budgets were under significant pressure.’

Franchise Entertainment Group’s Managing Director, Paul Uniacke said, “Blockbuster Australia continues to deliver strong revenue from its millions of loyal home rental customers. The brand is well placed and continues to invest, innovate and grow in 2010.”

“Blockbuster will be making some exciting announcements in the second quarter on how it will take home entrainment to the next level, delivering a wider range of choice and greater value to our customers,” added Uniacke.

The Blockbuster brand in Australia is owned and managed under a 10-year licensing agreement with FEG. It is the franchisor of Blockbuster, EzyDVD and Video Ezy franchises, representing over 900 entertainment retail and rental businesses across Australia and New Zealand.

Fujitsu Mini-Notebook Shares DVD Drive

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Fujitsu announced a new mini-notebook that comes with a DVD Sharing application that allows the optical drive to be used over a wireless connection.


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The Fujitsu LifeBook P3110 runs on an Intel processor (SU4100 – 1.30GHz, 800MHz, 2MB L2 Cache), weighs 1.6kg, and claims to last up to 6.7 hours. The company claims that the battery life can be extended to 7.2 hours by pressing the ECO button found on the P3110. It also offers a full-size keyboard that is spill-resistant and features a DVD Sharing application that shares its optical disk drive with other PCs via a wireless connection.

Fujitsu Australia’s Country Director, Ivan Chan said, “Fujitsu withholds our promise to deliver bona fide mobility and convenience with the latest technology, while persevering with our insistence on aesthetically pleasing and stylish designs without compromising on quality.”

The P3110 also comes with a built-in 1.3-megapixel camera with dual built-in stereo speakers, Bluetooth v2.1, and an 11.6-inch SuperFine WXGA back-light LED screen (1366×768).

The LifeBook P3110 is available in Glossy Black, Glossy Silver and Glossy Ruby Red for $1,099.