July 14, 2005, 1:37 PM PDT
Same look, updated specs for Philips LCDs
Posted by: Lara Luepke

Philips's new monitors won't officially be released until Monday, but I got a sneak peek at two new "professional class" LCDs: the 19-inch 190P6 and the 20-inch 200W6. Both new models are meant for business use (but are more than adequate for home use, too) and have built-in 2-watt speakers and USB 2.0 ports.

We reviewed the 190P6's predecessor, the Philips 190P5, and were impressed with its performance. With slightly improved specs, including a pixel response time that's improved from 16ms to 8ms, we're betting the 190P6 will live up to the high standard set by the previous model. In addition, Philips has added a sensor to the 190P6 that reads lighting conditions and adjusts screen brightness accordingly.

We're excited to see that Philips has joined other manufacturers, such as HP, in going wide-screen with their 20-inch monitors. They're more affordable than the 23- and 24-inch counterparts but still offer a good amount of screen real estate. The 200W6's response time is 16ms, a little slow in today's market, where most manufacturers strive for an 8ms response time, but still acceptable for a larger LCD.

Philips also added a no-dead-pixel policy they call PerfectPanel. They guarantee repair or replacement of any LCD monitor that displays even a single pixel defect. And, unlike many manufacturers, Philips promised me they include a digital cable with their monitors.

The MSRP for the 190P6 is $559.99, and the 200W6 costs $699.99.

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July 14, 2005, 10:44 AM PDT
The handheld company formerly known as PalmOne
Posted by: Bonnie Cha

It's official. As of today, PalmOne is, once again, Palm. Showing off a shiny new logo and stock symbol (PALM), the handheld manufacturer has played a mean game of musical names over the past few years but has come full circle to the name that started it all. Palm was the company's original name until it merged with Handspring in 2003 and lead to the PalmSource (software) and PalmOne (hardware) spin-offs.

It's all a little confusing, I know, but the good news is that today's announcement won't directly impact you. The company will continue with its Zire, Tungsten, and Treo lines, just with the Palm branding. In a press release, Palm president and CEO Ed Colligan said, "And while a lot has changed--our name, ticker, logo and headquarters--our vision remains the same. We believe the future of personal computing is 'mobile computing,' and we aim to deliver superior hardware and software solutions so that we can continue to set the bar in the industry." To Colligan's point about mobile computing, the company unveiled its new Mobile Manager line with the debut of the LifeDrive in late May, which was the first PDA with a built-in hard drive.

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July 14, 2005, 9:36 AM PDT
Sweet-looking Creative Zen Vision a reality
Posted by: James Kim

After we got our greedy litle hands on an early version of the Creative Zen Vision, we knew it was going to be a hit--that is, if it ever hit the U.S. market. Indeed, Creative has been churning out tons of new products and many of them--such as the Zen Sleek--haven't been confirmed for the States, though the Zen Touch is due for an update. But we've just heard that we'll be getting our review unit sometime in the next couple of weeks.

This is great news for those waiting for some new blood in the PVP market, which has been a bit dry of late. The compact Zen Vision is compatible with many video formats, including WMA, MPEG-4, and DivX. Plus, it has a fresh interface, a removable battery, and a CompactFlash slot.

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