Category Archives: Gadgets

Zebronics Air Gear Headphones

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Zebronics has come up with an MP3 solution for wire free music as the Air gear MP3 player is the headset itself.

The Zebronice Air gear is worn behind the neck.These headphones look like Bluetooth headphones, and in fact,are the MP3 player itself.There is no device that needs to be plugged in to play music.The only time you need to connect the headphones to a wire is for charging or transferring music through the mini USB port located on the earphone.All the controls are located on the right earphone.The power on/off and the play and pause buttons are all combined into one button,whereas the volume controls and the next/previous buttons are also combined into two buttons.This is not very easy to use and takes a while to get used to.We faced a frequent problem between switching songs and controlling the volume.
Zebronics Air Gear Headphones
It is very delicate as the plastic neck band that holds the whole device together looks very likely to break if not handled with care.This device will not survive a trip in your bag, if you intend to travel a crowded train or bus during peak hours.

There is no management in transferring music, as you can directly drag and drop the songs you want into the removable disk folder. there is no shuffle or repeat feature available with this player, which means you have to be very selective of the songs you want to listen to, or it will be a cumbersome task to look for that one particular song you feel like hearing.

Priced at $49, it’s not the best of MP3 players. If the neck band was sturdier with a slight improvement in the sound quality, we would recommend it to users who don’t like wires, or to those who like listening to music while they exercise. So until an improved version of this wire free MP3 player comes out, we wouldn’t suggest you buy it.

Popularity: 38% [?]

Nikon D90 Digital SLR

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One of the key attraction of this month had to be the Nikon D90, which is also the costliest camera we’ve tested so far. Nikon has brought in the D90 to replace the trusted D80. The D80 was one of the best upper entry level to mid range cameras from Nikon. The D90 then has a lot to prove before it can earn its place.

Going through the D90′s key features, it certainly looks impressive. The D90 utilises a 12.3 Megapixel CMOS sensor going up from the D80′s 10.2 Megapixel CCD sensor. The sensor size remains unchanged. Most entry level cameras are supplied with an 18mm to 55mm lens which can be quite limiting to the kinds of photos you can take. We received the camera with a Nikkor DX 18 to 105mm VR zoom lens. This makes a good all purpose kit for wide angle and telescopic shooting.

Nikon D90 Front View

Nikon D90 Front View

The shape and size of D90 is somewhat larger then the D60 and also the D80 itself. The body is made with plastic, but feels extremely sturdy and the buttons are great as expected on any Nikon DSLR.

The D90 now comes with a 3 inch screen that is incredibly vibrant and crisp. The other thing that makes the camera interesting inclusion of Live View that allows you to use the LCD screen to focus. This is a feature rarely found on DSLRs.

The D90 is undoubtedly one of the easiest cameras to operate, if you have that a basic knowledge of using a decent point-and-shoot camera. All the functions of the camera such as ISO, White Balance, Exposure Metering and Focusing Modes can be accessed by holding down the respective buttons and rotating the jog dial. Shutter speed and aperture size have dedicated dials.

Its very difficult to criticize the D90 on quality as well. The 12.3 MP CMOS sensor does its job well. Photos turn out crisp across the entire aperture range. The lens isn’t made for marco photography, so, you will have difficulty with up-close shots. Mind you, great close ups can be shot by moving back and zooming into the target. Good depth of field can be achieved easily too. The flash is powerful and good enough for indoor photography every now and then.

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Popularity: 32% [?]

Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS

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The Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS is a camera very similar to the slightly superior IXUS 85 IS. It brings along a decently built design for people on the move. There aren’t too many settings and controls to play around with on this camera. It is made for users who want a camera that’s really compact to carry around – like a mobile phone of short.

One of the first issues is the battery door: as is the case with the IXUS 85 IS, the battery door here too feels weak and flimsy. Most of the interface design as well as the frame design is identical. The big change is in the Megapixel rating – the 80 IS is a 8 MP camera.

Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS

Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS

All the other Canon cameras in this price bracket run on AA batteries, but the IXUS 80 IS has a Lithium-ion battery. This, coupled with its compact design makes it a lot lighter than the rest. However, the shrunken size means its no longer chunky enough to hold in your hand as easily as the Powershot Series cameras.

Its overall performance isn’t bad at all. In just plain image and video quality tests, it lags behinds all the canon cameras, but not the others. Macro shots aren’t as easy to take as with the SX100 IS or the A720 IS. In video quality, once again, colors are a little too prominent, but the exposure meter helps changes the intensity of light instantly, and there’s not a lot of lag in lightning correction while moving from bright areas to dimmer ones. Overall, it’s a very good camera if you aren’t particular about pristine quality and manual controls.

Popularity: 17% [?]