The Zone

Kids and their tantrums! What would you do if you've learnt that your Level 70 character was killed by the swipe (or signing) of a credit card? 

Hot on the heels of its 14" screen cousin, the Samsung NP-X360 flew into our arms for a little hands-on this month. With a 13.3" screen and doing its best to beat the Macbook Air with its ultra slim design, the X360 revealed a startling statistic in comparison to a normal 13.3" notebook of the same class. Read all about it in our latest issue of HWM. (HWM July 2009)

UK-based DataSlide are introducing a storage technology which could be the next logical step after SSDs. Dubbed the Hard Rectangular Drive, the system makes use of several hundred read/write heads which are stationary, but data is written and read using media which oscillates on a plane. It's a bit sketchy on how they will achieve the final product with data transfer issues now faced, but the technology is capable of 160000 random read/write instructions and a 500MB/s transfer rate - all while consuming 4W of power! More to come soon as we keep an eye out on this technology.

We managed to get some hands-on time with the apolco P3, another teeny tiny LED projector. After having seen the early adaptors (and been forlornly disappointed by them) we were quite happy to see one that finally seems to work. More or less about the same size as a thick cigarette pack, the LED projector seems to be the perfect companion for today's netbook toting presenter on the go. Check out the full review in our latest issue of HWM.

Transcend is introducing its elegant new 7" PF730 Digital Photo Frame to the masses this June. Designed with a bright, hi-res 800x600 photo-friendly 4:3 aspect ratio display, the PF730 displays photos of virtually any resolution - no resizing needed. With 2GB of internal flash memory, users can opt to store their favorite photo collection onto the PF730, or view JPEG images taken with digital cameras using the included SD/SDHC, MMC and MS card reader. There's also a conveniently-located USB port to bring even more photos to the mix!

Apart from offering an Automatic Orientation Sensor (AOS) and advanced NaturaTone color modes to enhance your photo viewing experience, the PF730 is equally adept in multimedia playback, with a fully-featured MP3 player, video playback, alarm clock and calendar to add more fun to any office, bedroom or living room décor.