This is a no-brainer if you ask me. SD Cards are one of the most ubiquitous memory card formats for cameras and camcorders. Yet for how popular they are, the main flaw they have always had is their seemingly flimsy build. New DSLRs are now water resistant, dustproof and shockproof, but what happens when you take the SD card out after it is full?

These new cards from Samsung are built to last. Solid, waterproof for up to an hour, and armored against the elements, these could easily save your precious photos and videos while taking a ride in the bottom of a backpack or camera case. Sign me up for a pair of these bad boys!

(via Crunchgear)

I think I am failing at my goal with this blog, just a little. Mostly because I heard nothing about these amazing little computers until Dell officially launched them today.

The Dell Inspiron Zino HD is a new model from Dell that takes some cues from the very smartly designed Mac Mini. Sharing a similar miniscule footprint, the Zino HD does for PCs exactly what the Mac Mini did when it first launch. Gave a small, powerful computer in a small package, for a great price.

Now, recently I posted about the updated Mac Minis, and how I would love to have one for a centralized media center computer. However, I am starting to reconsider that. As much as I love Mac, the Zino HD has a couple features that beat the Mac Mini completely.

The Zino HD comes with an impressive video card, easily capable of outputting full 1080p video, and can do so over the included HDMI port. Meaning seamless integration with your flat panel TV or home theater receiver. Options include up to 1TB of hard drive space, 8 gigs of memory and, wait for it…. a Blu-Ray optical drive.

<rant> Yes, Blu-Ray, the HD format that so far Apple has completely snubbed. I think this is a careful choice. Blu-Ray is a good format, but the truth is, modern HD video is leaning more and more to Internet delivery. But the film industry is still leaning heavily on physical media for distrobution, so for now, a Blu-Ray drive is an option I would like to have. </rant>

The Zino HD is a great option for a home theater PC, and has made its way near the top of my Christmas wish list!

I have to say, this thing looks like it could be a lot of fun.

THe BeamBox MiLi Evolution iPod projector is an amazing new little gadget. One of the first commercially available pico projectors, this one is designed specifically to allow your iPod or iPhone to project images and movies onto any surface, with images up to 60 inches. The resolution seems low at only 640 x 480, but when you think about it, packing a projector into something that small, its pretty darn amazing!

There are lots of possibilities for this thing, impromptu presentations, photo slide shows, or just sharing that funny youtube video you found with the whole office. Just point it at the wall, and hit play!

The BeamBox is available for pre-order now for a rather reasonable price of $350, and supports AV and VGA inputs as well. Yay for versatility!

(via Slashgear)

This is some rather cool tech that the military is working on. Similar to the BigDog robot that went around the tubes a year or so ago, this is a self-balancing robot, with only two legs this time. Using heel-toe walking like a human, it can walk rather quickly over uneven terrain. And I dig the shoes.

(via Crunchgear)

Well, they said it would have a dumb name, did we expect much else?

The Barnes & Noble nook eBook reader is the newest entry into the growing eReader market. A direct competitor to the Amazon Kindle, the nook offers similar free wireless service, 6-inch eInk display, and a large catalog of books direct from B&N.  It does have some advantages over the Kindle though. For example, the Kindle is limited to the wireless service offered by Amazon using Sprint CDMA cellular technology. The nook uses AT&T GSM service, in addition to built-in WiFi for faster use wherever an open network is available.

The biggest visual distinction is the nook’s second display. In addition to the eInk display, it also offers a multitouch LCD panel for browsing books, typing, browsing saved books, and other functions.

I liked the concept of the Kindle a lot, but it just didn’t seem quite right. The nook however pretty much fixes everything I didn’t like about the Kindle. I am excited for the possibilities, and would love to find one under the tree this Christmas.

So Apple just released some new computers today. Well not new, I guess, but updated. An updated polycarbonate Macbook. A revamped iMac line. And a refreshed version of the Mac Mini. But the one that really caught my eye, was this little beauty right here:

Yes, that is a Mac Mini running OSX Server. This little box has already got me thinking of so many possibilities I would love to try if I had the money. This would make the perfect home media server. It has all the connections of a normal Mac Mini, so it could easily be stashed in a home theater cabinet. With gigabit ethernet and Wireless N, file transfer and streaming would be no problem.

Here is my ultimate home theater set up idea: Mac Mini Server hooked up permanently to a nice big LCD HD screen. Install Boxee media front end, and set up server for access from any other computer in the house. I could leave Boxee running all the time for fast access, while using other computers to the house to centralize all my media onto the built-in dual 500 GB hard drives. I could stream to any computer using iTunes Home Sharing, or launch Boxee at any time to play media on the full home theater system.

The possibilities don’t end there. It is the perfect system for a small business looking for an internal server solution. Allowing collaboration on a amazingly simple level, this could turn any small business with haphazard networking into a humming hive of productivity.

And its the same price as a MacBook. $999. Ok, where did I leave my credit card?