GW Micro of Fort Wayne IN has developed a new type of PDA designed specifically for the blind and sight-impaired, called the VoiceSense. Running a modified version of Windows C, it has an audio guidance system, a full function PIM, web browser, MP3 player, Daisy talking book player, FM radio tuner, and MSN Messenger — all accessible through its custom Perkins-style Braille keyboard. The device has a 540MHz PXA270 processor, 1GB of RAM, and also boasts 802.11b/g, USB 2.0, audio in and out jacks, SD and CF card support, and runs 12 hours on a full charge. The PDA is available right now for $1,795, but the price goes up to $1,895 after July 15th.

More and more filmmakers and photographers are being swept up by the digital camera wave while others stay true to film. Regardless of an artist’s preference Sekonic seems to be able to dedicate equal time to both the digital and film mediums with the L-758DR Digitalmaster light meter.

Its Sekonic’s smartest light meter yet, with an alert that tells you when you are taking incorrect light measurements, and the capability to wirelessly connect to your PDA and access software such as pCAM and pCINE.

Whether a subject is photographed digitally or on film, its becoming nearly impossible to get lighting measurements wrong.

A few specs

• Exposure Profiling — Programmable to respond to light exactly like your digital camera or type of film
• Four Meters In One — Independent programming of Flash, Ambient, Incident and Reflected measuring modes customized to your digital camera or type of film
• Pre-Exposure Warning — Displays and alerts when a measured value exceeds your digital camera’s (or type of film) dynamic range
• Super Sensitive Flash Metering — Measures light beyond the limits of any camera (reflected flash measurements as low as f-2.0 (ISO 100)
• 1° Spot with Digital Display — Rectangular 1° spot viewfinder with vivid display

Bluetooth released new free software that will help for any future road trips. The TransSend allows you to transfer driving directions (say Google Maps) from a web page to your Bluetooth-enabled PDA or phone. This process is very simple, needing one or two clicks at the most to transfer all the data.

It accepts image formats such as .jpg, .bmp, .gif and .png and requires a Bluetooth-enabled Windows XP that uses Broadcom/Widcomm , Microsoft and Toshiba.

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But, only if we’re going by sheer size. Some consider this an amazing advance, but frankly, I would have hoped we’d come farther along. The iPhone seems to be a nice device, but is it so much more advanced than the Newton? My point? The Singularity is near, where computers will start designing themselves. That’s when we’ll start seeing the real advances. Even if they aren’t advances that we humans are certain to appreciate.

Not a day goes by where I don’t hear the question, “When does the Apple iPhone come out?” Some of us are already blacking out June 29th to wait in line for what could be argued as the most anticipated cell phone to launch since the Motorola Razor. Yeah, since the Razor…a phone that you probably replaced not once, but twice or even more. Like most people, I’ve always been skeptical about new cell phone models that can act as PDAs, especially ones that are meant to experience a high volume of data download. From managing your music, to pics, to videos, and other files, the iPhone is claiming to be the IT phone. The mother of all phones that can do no wrong, that’s why it doesn’t need a stylus…something that my brother always loses.

The biggest concern of any phone is the battery life. What good is the phone if I always need a charger nearby? With all the applications that will be used on Apple’s iPhone, it doesn’t seem likely that the battery life will be great, right? WRONG! Apple just announced that they’ve been fine tuning their baby so those of us ready to purchase it (4GB $499, 8GB $599) will be totally satisfied with the investment. So with the longer battery life than initially expected, including 8 hours for talk, 6 hours for Internet, 7 hours for video playback, and 24 hours for audio, it definately is “raising the bar”.

Apple also made sure the phone couldn’t be easily banged up by changing from a plastic surface to what they call “optical-quality” glass, virtually making it scratch proof for all the butterfingers out in the world. If that doesn’t make you excited, how about a new YouTube application that allows you to access over 10,000 videos when it launchs and every YouTube video by the end of the year? So, with its WiFi capability you’ll never be board at the bus stop.

If you ask me, I’d have to get a bit cliche and tell you this will be the best thing since sliced bread.