New Sony PIIQ headphone lineup does style with wacky names

by Scott Carmichael on

With names like Marqii, Giiq, Triqii, Qlasp and Exhale, you’d think I’d be describing the members of a new manufactured all girl band – but these are actually the names for a new line of headphones from Sony. Not content to miss the stylish headphone bandwagon, Sony developed an impressive lineup of 16 different headphones, from a pair of DJ style on-ear headphones to a completely insane pair of gas mask styled in-ear buds.

The lineup consists of the following:

  • Exhale – 13.5mm driver with bass boost ports and a “gas mask” look
  • Qlasp – 9mm in-ear with lobe clasp (yes – these “hang” on like an earring)
  • Triqii – Flat cord, on ear and bass boosting drivers
  • Giiq – 30mm on-ear with a fully padded headband
  • Marqii – DJ style on ear headphones with a detachable cord and large 40mm drivers

Now, obviously not everything in this lineup will appeal to all tastes, but I do think that the designers managed to come up with some great designs. I’m not too thrilled with the gas mask look of the Exhales, and find them rather tasteless, but as usual, I’m sure someone out there disagrees with me, and will be heading to their local store to pick up a pair right now.

Prices are very reasonable and start at $14.99 for the Exhales up to $99.99 for the DJ friendly Marqii headphones. You’ll find the entire PIIQ lineup at the Sonystyle mini-site, or at your local Sony retailer.

Daily gear deals – $700 ultra small notebook, $70 iPod goggles and more

by Scott Carmichael on

Here are the hottest gadget deals for today, Monday June 15th 2009. Remember, these deals are often only valid for one day, so act fast before they are gone.
Looking for a small notebook? And by small, I mean really, really small. This Sony Vaio P just dropped to $699, mainly because Sony recently announced some upgrades to their lineup and as always, new models means good prices on old versions. Click here for this deal.

Woot.com is selling a 4GB pocket hard drive for $4.99. Of course, with USB flash drive prices at an all time low, $10 (after shipping) is not super hot, but still worth checking out. Click here for this deal.

Always wanted to look like you walked right off the set from Star Trek? Check out the MyVu video goggles for your iPod. These used to retail for about $250, but are now on clearance for just $70 with free shipping. Click here for this deal.

Finally in today’s lineup is this Audiovox portable DVD player with a bonus case/headphone kit. It is on sale for $78.77 and comes with a remote control and video cable(s). Click here for this deal.

“Hero on the Hudson”: Play it on Gadling!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Maybe it’s too soon for this, but there’s already a popular online game inspired by the recent emergency landing on the Hudson River. “Hero on the Hudson” isn’t terribly sophisticated, but it gets the point across. You are in the left seat, acting as US Airways Flight 1549 pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. Your plane is headed toward the Hudson River, and you need to take action.

This free game was put together by Orb Games Ltd. The company, which is based in Kiev, Ukraine, has been around since 2006 and is responsible for such popular (and viral) titles as “Duke Nukem Endangered Species,” “Star Wars Galaxies” and “Vivisector: Beast Inside.” Orb also developed games for Nintendo DS and Sony’s Playstation and PSP consoles.

According to company CEO Andriy Sharanevych, the “Hero on the Hudson” was created around a week and a half ago, only days after Sully brought his bird down west of Manhattan. Sharanevych claims that the miracle of the event is what prompted the game’s development: “We just wanted people to understand and not to forget that this is not for granted, so we tried to make a game that would remind everyone about this miraculous event.”

I know I’m a cynic, and I do wonder if this is just convenient admiration to mask just a bit of opportunism (which I really don’t fault anyway). Apparently, I’m not alone.

Find out what users think after the jump, and take your own shot at the landing!Sharanevych has received mixed feedback from users, many of whom have considered the game “heartless.” But, the CEO defends himself with the scripted monologue, “[W]e deliberately made it very simple to make a successful landing in the game, as this is the game about the miracle and not a tragedy. You can play a role of a pilot, who will save hundreds of lives behind him and bring joy, happiness and hope to millions of people.”

Stunt or salute, it’s definitely brought home results. “Hero on the Hudson was played more than 1.5 million times in the first week it was available. And, more traffic is expected.

Read the entire interview with Sharanevych here.

View our ongoing coverage of Flight 1549.

Ready to play? Click and hold with your mouse, then move it around to try to swing the plane into a safer landing position.

Play Games at AddictingGames

Sony Webbie offers HD video recording in a colorful $200 package

by Scott Carmichael on

The big development in video recording for 2009 will be affordable HD. Even though 2008 brought us a couple of decent and affordable pocket HD camcorders, most major consumer electronics players are working hard on their own lineup of HD snappers.

The Sony Webbie HD is camcorder made to look like most “normal” video camcorders on the market. The unit features a 2.5″ swivel LCD monitor, a 5 megapixel imaging chip and even a 5x optical zoom.

Recordings are made on Memory stick PRO Duo media (not included), and the quality can reach as high as 1440×1080 in 30 frames per second, which is substantially higher than other pocket HD camcorders in this price range.

The camera has a built in lithium-ion battery pack, suitable for up to 85 minutes of recordings, which is a little on the short side in my opinion.

Included in the box is an AC adapter, USB cable and video cables for HD and SD quality playback.

At $199 this thing is a real bargain, and I’ve been told that they are already showing up in Sony stores at your local mall, or directly from Sonystyle.com.

Later this year, Sony will be releasing a cheaper (and smaller) version of the Webbie, with a 2″ screen and a rotating camera lens. This cheaper Webbie also loses the optical zoom found on its big brother.

Daily deal – Sony Nav-U Portable GPS for $79.99 (with in-store pickup)

by Scott Carmichael on

Unless you are willing to pay for overnight shipping, your only option for getting last minute gifts is going to be good old fashioned brick and mortar shopping.

There are thankfully easy ways to bypass the crowds, and one of them is to order online for in-store pickup. That applies to my daily deal for today. The Sony Nav-U GPS unit is currently on sale at Sears.com for just $79.99, and is in stock in most of their stores.

The unit features all the usual GPS bells and whistles, as well as a photo viewer and text-to-speech street name prompts.

One word of warning; the low price will not show up until the final step of the checkout process, so don’t be alarmed when you see the site claim the unit costs $149.99.

(Via Fatwallet.com)