We all thought the format war was over, after one company toppled the rest followed suite and HD-DVD was no more.  Despite this it seems that not everything was as it seemed, in China the techincal bods have been hard at work undermining the Blu-Ray format.While many people saw HD streaming video straight to TV as the next technology, a new format, CBHD, has outsold Blu-Ray 3 to 1 in china.CBHD is a new format heavily based on HD-DVD, which has always been the better, higher density, cheaper format. CBHD has improved on this, and undercut the Blu-Ray prices.Currently Warner are the only studio officially backing CBHD, although with the Chinese Government and it’s 2 billion population supporting the new format, things could soon change.  Chances are that this new format might soon take over the Blu-Ray format completely.  Currently the CBHD format, outsells Blu-Ray three to one in China, and with the new government backing this is only set to increase.While Blu-Ray may be under threat from the new CBHD format, it has gained a strong foothold in the western world. This could protect it from being taken over by the CBHD format. This is still under dispute however, as most of the blu-ray sales are PS3 based.Only time will tell if the new cheaper CBHD format dominates the Blu-ray market, or if HD internet streaming will beat them all!

Panasonic have just released their new handheld digital camera, and it looks like it may just be a winner.

WIth the Panasonic FP8 the research bods decided to take an innovative new approach. Instead of simply increasing current specifications they did something rather radical.

After much stagnation in the digital camera industry, panasonic went to it’s customers and asked what they wanted.

Quite surprisingly the customers said they did not care that it’s current digital cameras could take pictures with 12 megapixel resolution, neither did they give the proverbial about being able to put a picture frame around someones face. Infact the only real complaint was that it can sometimes take up to 10 seconds for a camera to start up, and two seconds for it to take a photo.

The people up at Panasonic HQ thought long and hard about this, after all they have spent 10 years working out how to fit more mega pixels in to a smaller space. But in the end they admitted, maybe it was time to listen to the consumer.

And the results do not dissapoint, the Panasonic Lumix FP8 starts in under a second, it has a new high speed auto focus system, which before was the domain only of Sony. Even with this high speed picture taking you get anti-blur technology and auto flash/whitebalance settings to give you the perfect picture!

This dinky little camera even comes with HD video capabilities, a sweet topping to this already delecious treat!

My only worry is that Panasonic may have come a little bit too late with their realization. Sony alraedy has sone pretty quick consumer digital cameras with the DSC series, and many casual photographers swear by it. However the New Panasonic Lumix FP8 is a very strong contender, which will do Panasonic proud!

For those of us in the handheld world, rumours of the new Sony PSP Go have  been circulating for some months.  There have been many whispered stats, and plenty of fake ‘leaked’ pictures.  Sony have however finally put an end to this speculation and have given us our first hands on test of the PSP Go.

The Sony PSP Go has a brand new look, and while it may have plenty of upgrades there are a few downsides too, first and foremost the loss of the UMD slot means that your old games will not work on this, though it has made the device smaller, and increased it’s battery life.

The next main downside in my view is the smaller screen, the original PSP was just about bearable for watching the odd movie.  Now the screen has been downsized 4.3 to 3.8 inches widescreen you may just find it simply too small.

Infact a lot of the improvements to the Sony PSP Go make it feel more like an attempt to rival the iPod touch, but without the touch.  This comparisson has also sparked questions on why Sony have not integrated cell phone features in to this device, something which truely could put it up against the iPhone and similair portable multi function devices.

Despite this however the Sony PSP Go has plenty of features to keep it going.  Since UMD is no longer supported the PSP Go works soley on direct downloads.  To help support this it comes with a huge 16GB internal flash memory stick, with a slot for another flash card, if required!

The controls for the Sony PSP Go follow the usual playstation layout, it does take a little getting used to, since the controls are pushed together in to the small pop out layer.  This can feel a little bit more cramped, but since the control panel has it’s own section it there are less accidental button presses, which many people found a problem on the original PSP Go.

On top of the original PSP WiFi integration the PSP Go also includes bluetooth compatability.  This allows bluetooth headset integrateion, connection to a cellphone for 3G connectivity, and the possibility of connecting a PS3 on the horizon. Although with the new smaller screen I am not sure just how well that would work out.

The PSP Go allows for much easier integration with TV show, movie and music downloading. Unlike Apple, Sony did not create their own store for this.  Instead they partnered with eMusic, to allow users DRM-free digital media downloading over a WiFi connection. This will supply the top digital media at competitive prices to the PSP Go customers with none of the numerous restrictions placed on iPod users.

We expect to hear more details from Sony in the near future regarding the PSP Go, the world is waiting with baited breath for the technical specs behind teh latest version of the PSP!

The new medical iPhone application may seem like one of these miscellaneous apps which you never bother to download, but in my eyes this is the most import iPhone app out there today.

Let me reminisce for a few seconds.

Several years ago I was walking through York on a night when me and a friend came accross this young blonde girl having an asthma attack on a bridge.  Needless to say we called an ambulance, but in the meantime what were we supposed to do? Keep her warm or cool, give her water? We did not know.

This is where the new medical iPhone application comes in, it’s a hefty file, so i suggest you wait till you have a decent 3G or WiFi connection. But Download this!  It contains all the medical information you will need to cope with a basic medical crisis, something that could one day help you save somebody’s life!

In my eyes that makes this medical iPhone application the worlds greatest iPhone App!

I am a true gadget lover, I test hundreds and play with thousands, so when I saw the new Charging Mat for sale I bowed down.

The charging mat uses one wall socket and can charge up to four devices at a time.  it supports most current devices, and if it doesn’t it supplies additonal cables for $4.95 each!

At $40 the charging mat may seem a little bit expensive, but when you consider it can charge nearly any device, save you space and securely hold your hardware, well it suddenly doesn’t seem quite so much!

The silicon mat rolls up, and you can get a cigareet lighter adapter to charge your gadgets on the go!

Sony have repeatedly stated that they will not be releasing a netbook, today however they seem to have changed their mind.  Sony Vaio have released the W series, and while they don’t call it a Netbook it is small (Ten inches) lightweight and only an inch thick.

Where the new Sony Vaio W Series differs from normal netbooks is the price, costing around $100 more than your typical netbook.  However this is a new release and we do expect the prices to go down in the future. Sony are not known for their cheap prices though, so the future is uncertain!

Personally I like the newSony Netbook, it is smooth and has true Vaio reliability.  In some ways though I think it may flop, it just isn’t cheap enough for the netbook market.  Who know though, maybe some people want small, lightweight high quality, rather than the small crap netbooks that you get from most other suppliers!

If you’ve been searching for the perfect portable GPS navigation system, look no further than the Garmin nüvi 760 4.3-inch widescreen bluetooth portable GPS automobile navigator.  This GPS is really the best that money can buy – especially if you aren’t trying to go broke when purchasing one.  The dimensions are 4.8 x 0.8 x 2.8 inches and weighing in at only 2.8 pounds, this widescreen model features built-in bluetooth and FM.  Its also easy on the eyes because its got a 4.3 inch touch screen, 480 x 272 pixels, and Wqvga display with a color backlight.  We mentioned bluetooth and FM, which is a great deal because it allows you to make hands-free calling and offers traffic broadcasts by using a “silent” FM data channel, which determines the best route based on the traffic status.This model also preloaded with City Navigator and North American Nt Maps, along with the “Where am I/Where’s my car?” feature – which is something totally new and only offered by nuvi, the first GPS to answer two common questions: “Where am I?” and “Where’s my car?”.  At any given moment, your exact latitude and longitude coordinates can be given to you, along with the nearest address and intersection.  The nuvi 700 can also direct you to the closest gas stations, police stations, and hospitals.  And you no longer have to worry about not being able to find your car in a huge parking lot – this model can automatically track the exact spot the car was in the last time it was removed from the mount.  Unfortunately, it can’t carry you to the car, but we’ll wait for that to come out next year.  And for its last trick, the speed limit indicator displays speed limits for all highways and interstates.So, besides the fact that this GPS has a super user-friendly interface and the sleek, slim, and pocket-sized design is so pleasing to the eye, lets talk about price on the Garmin nuvi line.  No need to panic, we’ve found it on Amazon for $199, which is a lot better than the original price of $399.  In fact, less than a year ago, you would only been able to get a nuvi250W for $199.  Sound like a good deal?  You’re right – it is.Let’s face it, there is really nothing better than having a cool gadget that tells us how to get from A to B.  Now, thanks to the nuvi 760, you can hold the world in the palm of your hand at a very sweet price.